Cody Rhodes and Gunther faced off to end “Friday Night SmackDown” as the former will defend the Undisputed WWE Championship against the latter at Clash in Italy on Sunday.
Rhodes had plenty to be upset about. Gunther was forced into a title match thanks to a favor that Paul Heyman owed him. Gunther attacked Rhodes from behind multiple times in the week since. Gunther promised that the sneak attacks were over as he came out to address Rhodes.
Gunther had pointed words for Rhodes, again.
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“I’m pretty new to ‘SmackDown’ but figured out pretty quickly that this show has to be all about you,” Gunther began. “And if it’s not about you, you find a way to make it about yourself. And it might not be your fault, Cody, because you’re just a product of the culture you grew up in where egotism and narcissism and nepotism gets rewarded. It gets you one ahead of everybody else. And it’s very fitting that your name is the ‘American Nightmare’ because right now, you’re the perfect symbol of the crumbling American dream.
“I know what you’re thinking, it may be low-hanging fruit. But I’m talking about the concept of the American dream. What they told me as a boy is if you want to max out your life, you got to leave home behind, you got to move to America and from discipline, hard work and sacrifice, you can achieve it all. I’ve done that. I’ve earned the position that I’m in. Whereas for you, everything was just one phone call away.”
Gunther went over Rhodes’ pro wrestling career and everything that he did was just one phone call away. He said that made Rhodes “a little, entitled brat.” Gunther said, for him, all of that was unnecessary. He said his goal was to “protect this sacred sport” from people like him and that he was a “mark” for himself.
Rhodes said Gunther was a “liar.”
“Yeah because every kid dreams of becoming a professional wrestler, of carrying the ‘chip and not getting that attention, right? You don’t want the attention that comes with carrying the WWE championship. You don’t want to be on the poster for Clash in Italy. You don’t want to be on the first hour of ESPN on the featured match. You don’t want the third-party appearance, the talk shows, the media, you don’t want the weight that comes with the WWE championship. You don’t want a crowd that knows and signs every single word of your song. You don’t want that?
“I’m going to tell you something – I know that you want it. Otherwise, I’d be talking to a 330-pound version of yourself in front of a couple hundred people at an indie show. But instead, I’m talking to the most refined, most dangerous, the peak form of an athlete you have made yourself.”
Rhodes said he was going to come “this close” that Gunther “desperately” seeks and that he was going to find out the worst thing he could ever find out.
“You’re just not that good,” reminding Gunther that he was “easy to find, but hard to beat.”
Gunther shot back that he took out legends like Goldberg, A.J. Styles and John Cena and that Rhodes would be next on his list.
Sami Zayn left Cody Rhodes in the ring to get attacked by Gunther last week on “Friday Night SmackDown.” Gunther put Rhodes in a sleeper hold while Zayn turned his back and walked down the ramp following his own loss to the undisputed WWE champion.
Zayn addressed Rhodes early in the night. Rhodes and Zayn met in the back. The “American Nightmare” said he had nothing to say to Zayn after last week.
“Maybe you should. Maybe you should start by saying you’re ‘sorry.’ Last week, I didn’t ask for a fight with you,” Zayn said. “I didn’t want to fight my friend. You asked for that fight. And even still, in spite of that, in spite of everything that’s gone on between you and me, when Gunther got involved last week and he started to choke you out, what did I do? I had your back. I took care of him. I did the right thing. I tried to help you. And how did you repay me? You stuck me with the Cross Rhodes from behind like a knife in my back.”
Rhodes questioned Zayn’s sentiments. He reminded Zayn that he was the one who watched him get choked out.
“I wanted to help, Cody. Every instinct in me was saying, ‘Help him. Help him.’ I wanted to do that. You know why? Because that’s how I’m wired. I’m a good guy,” Zayn said. “I’m the last real good guy around here apparently. And it took everything in me not to help you right there You know why I didn’t? Because as I watched life fade from your eyes my instinct in that moment was to leave you there so you could learn a lesson.”
Rhodes, apoplectic, said that when he was finished with Gunther, “hopefully I could teach you a lesson, too.”
Zayn continued to have his therapy session with Johnny Gargano. But Gargano was still catatonic. Matt Cardona interrupted the chat and Zayn tried to show Gargano he was still getting disrespected. Zayn challenged Cardona to a match before the night was over.
The crowd was hot for Rhea Ripley as Jade Cargill, Michin and B-Fab came down to the ring to addressed fans in Barcelona. Cargill reminded them that she was “one-of-one” and didn’t need their approval. Michin said the “future is now.” Just as Cargill’s group was getting warmed up Ripley interrupted them.
Ripley and Cargill will square off for the WWE Women’s Championship at Clash in Italy on Sunday – a week after Cargill pinned the champion in a six-woman tag team match at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
“Jade, every single week you come out here and try to throw around your dominance acting like 90% of your success isn’t you using people to try to make yourself look better,” Ripley said. “And the detail you continue to forget is when it’s just you and me in this ring, I beat you. I beat you at WrestleMania, and this Sunday, I’m gonna beat you again. So, you can continue to throw around your self-claimed dominance, because when the match is done, you will be looking up at your true champion.”
Cargill smirked as the crow rallied behind “Mami.”
“Do you hear how stupid you sound?” Cargill asked. “You really think this division revolves around you? No, these women that you talk about, they’re with me because they want a piece of power and you, you’re so damn weak that you need to work with women who don’t even like you.”
Ripley didn’t come alone. As soon as Cargill mentioned Ripley’s cronies, Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss made their way down to the ring. Flair told Cargill to not confuse her own “hype for ignorance.” Bliss agreed that Cargill had an “ego of a legend,” but against Bliss and Flair, she had the “resume of a rookie.”
SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis came down and made a match between Bliss and Cargill after they exchanged fighting words. The four women on the outside eventually got into a brawl while Cargill and Bliss continued to battle in the ring. Bliss missed on Twisted Bliss. Cargill hit Jaded and pinned Bliss for the win.
Cargill added another blow, hitting Jaded on Bliss again onto a chair. Ripley and Flair came back out and chased Cargill out before any more damage could be done.
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Trick Williams has been on fire since he made his debut on the SmackDown roster a few months ago. He’s capitalized on every opportunity was afforded to him, including winning the United States Championship at WrestleMania 42 over Sami Zayn.
Williams said there hadn’t been a better superstar to prove that he’s the future of pro wrestling than him. He declared himself a participant for the King of the Ring Tournament
As his legacy grew, the ghosts from NXT past have haunted him. Carmelo Hayes continued to hover around Williams as it has appeared the two have been on a collision course for quite some time. Hayes interrupted Williams’ speech right after he made his decree.
Hayes said King of the Ring was “grown folks business” and that once he took care of Ricky Saints, he was going to deal with Williams. But Williams said Hayes was being “melodramatic” and suggested that Hayes was making excuses.
“If you grew an inch for every time you made an excuse, then maybe … you can see Trick Williams face-to-face, eye-to-eye, man-to-man and realize I’m just better than you,” Williams said as the two got nose-to-nose.
Saints came out and said no one wanted a “telenovela” and they wanted to see him. Saints said that once he was done with Hayes, he was going after the U.S. title. Williams said that Saints made him “sick.” As Saints retorted, Williams hit him with a backhand slap. He said that the winner between Hayes and Saints would get the next title shot.
Hayes and Saints would both get counted out in their match.
