As I count myself among them, I feel comfortable saying this: Wrestling fans aren’t always the most patient bunch. A not insignificant percentage of them have been clamoring for the debut of Jade Cargill, for instance, and that’s finally happening tonight on WWE SmackDown in Uncasville, Conn.
WWE clearly was in no hurry to rush the former AEW champion into the fray, despite an impressive debut earlier this year at Royal Rumble. Part of it was likely getting Cargill used to the WWE style of in-ring work, given that she’s still not super experienced compared to many of the company’s other wrestlers.
But the other part was making sure Jade could have the proper impact at a time when storytelling is so strong up and down the card, so it will be interesting to see what’s been cooked up for her.
There seems to be a logical foil for her in Damage CTRL, which still has a lot of power on SmackDown between IYO SKY and the Kabuki Warriors. Could we see Cargill come to the aid of some of the faces who have been standing against the group?
If so, that could even lead to a spot for Jade in a multi-person match at WrestleMania, which would be a good way to use her.
Speaking of WrestleMania, two tag team matches tonight will fill the final two spots in the Six-Pack Ladder match for the men’s tag team titles, which should be a spectacle. Our picks are Street Profits and New Catch Republic, though the former may get caught up in their larger feud with The Final Testament.
Let’s see what this show has in store for us.
WWE SmackDown results from Uncasville:
(please scroll down for more details on any match or segment in bold)
- A brief clip of The Rock’s attack on Cody Rhodes from Raw is played, and we see Bianca Belair and Dakota Kai entering the arena earlier today
- Pretty Deadly def Randy Orton and Kevin Owens by pinfall … but only because Logan Paul sneaks out from under the ring and lays out KO with brass knux
- Alas, Orton realizes that Paul is probably still under the ring and drags him back out, but Pretty Deadly ensure he doesn’t get driven through the announce table … then pay for it by eating a Stunner and an RKO; Paul is chased by Orton and Owens to the back, where he jumps into a Corvette and speeds off
- IYO SKY cuts a promo calling Bayley a narcissist and taking fans to task for siding with her, but just as she’s wrapping up, Bayley appears and attacks her, tearing up the photo backdrop until they can be separated
- Jade Cargill signs on the dotted line with SmackDown
- Kayla Braxton talks with Damage CTRL, and Dakota Kai wants to know why there’s a fuss being made over Cargill and Bayley before turning her attention to Belair, who she faces tonight in the main event
- After Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn get only a passing moment of Aldis’ time, AJ Styles angrily expresses his displeasure with the GM’s actions to ensure LA Knight won’t be here tonight; elsewhere Bobby Lashley and B-Fab fire up the Street Profits
- Austin Theory and Grayson Waller def. Street Profits by pinfall in a WrestleMania Six-Pack Ladder Match qualifier; the critical moment comes when Karrion Kross appears on the big screen and shows that he and Scarlett have beaten up Lashley and the B-Fab in the back, and after the match, Kross and the Authors of Pain beat down the Profits … and eventually Lashley
- Santos Escobar wants to thank Dominik Mysterio for helping him against Rey Mysterio, which brings the Hall of Famer to the ring with the LWO flanking him; their discussion turns into a challenge: Rey and a partner of his choosing vs. Escobar and Dom, with Rey revealing that his partner will be the newest member of the LWO, Dragon Lee …
- … but a brawl breaks out after Zelina Vega and Elektra Lopez light the spark, which is eventually won by the LWO
- Bianca gets well wishes from Naomi, who says she has Belair’s back if Damage CTRL plays the numbers game
- The Judgment Day wants to know why Dom went and freelanced and they don’t seem super thrilled with his response, but Finn Balor calms everyone else down
- New Catch Republic def. Angel and Berto by a pinfall in a WrestleMania Six-Pack Ladder Match qualifier
- A replay of The Rock’s attack on Cody Rhodes on Raw is played, including his continuation of said attack even after the show went off the air
- Paul Heyman appears and insists that The Rock took out Rhodes by order of the Tribal Chief; Solo Sikoa says he’ll see Jey Uso next week and take him out by orders of the Tribal Chief
- AJ Styles wants to chat about home invasions, but LA Knight launches an in-arena invasion this time
- A Tiffany Stratton hype video features her promising to show everyone what Tiffy Time is all about
- Bianca Belair def. Dakota Kai by pinfall, and both Naomi and Jade eventually help her fight off a post-match attack by Damage CTRL
Jade Cargill signs on the dotted line with SmackDown
GM Nick Aldis says his only goal since assuming the position was to make SmackDown the very best show, and he believes signing this superstar will take him another step closer to that goal. Yes, he’s talking about Jade, who looks unbelievable as always as she heads to the ring.
Cargill says it’s about damn time after she signs the contract offered by Aldis. She says SmackDown has one of the best female rosters in the world, but they aren’t her, a once-in-a-lifetime superstar. Jade says she has a weather update: The storm has arrived.
AJ Styles may have provoked LA Knight a bit too much
Styles blames the fans for being the reason that Knight came to his house and assaulted him in the front yard. Now AJ wants the biggest possible spotlight so he can expose him as “the overachieving, undertalented piece of trash that he is.”
Despite Aldis asking him to stay away, Styles guarantees Knight is there and dares him to come to the ring. A guy in a hoodie jumps over the barricade, but it’s not the Megastar and he gets led away by security.
Oh but Knight is there, wearing glasses and a wig. He gets the best of a small scrap, then hops on the announce table to vow that he’ll get the dub when they collide at WrestleMania.
Bianca Belair takes down Dakota Kai, and a storm comes to help her afterward
Kai has not wrestled all that much since her return from injury, but she’s looked good when she has and we’d expect that to continue here. Bianca shows off her ridiculous strength with rolling suplexes like it’s no big deal.
There’s cool camera work coming out of a commercial break, with the camera circling the ring and capturing the action from every angle. The presentation continues to be very up close and tight on the wrestlers for a bit, though it does switch back to the hard cam at times.
The fans get an “EST” chant going as Kai is taunting her. Bianca is able to hoist Dakota from the other side of the ropes into a deadlift suplex, one of those moves that makes you go “damn.”
The KOD follows quickly to end it, but the Kabuki Warriors jump the victor as soon as the bell rings. As she promised, Naomi comes running down to help Bianca, but the numbers are against our heroes. The fans eventually realize what’s going on and chant for Jade Cargill, who obliges and strides to the ring.
Cargill quickly mows through Kai and the Warriors, locking eyes on Asuka who has escaped the worst of it. Six-woman tag at WrestleMania, anyone?