Promises are a funny thing. Even villains, when they have a code of honor, can keep them, and there’s a big one that is at the heart of tonight’s WWE SmackDown from Milwaukee.
This week on Raw, Roman Reigns gave his word via Paul Heyman that he wanted to talk to Cody Rhodes on SmackDown and that he’d show up alone — no other Bloodline except for Heyman. In return, he asked that Rhodes also bring no backup, and Cody agreed.
It was somewhat reminiscent of the kind of agreement you’d see in movies, like a hostage exchange or drop of some sort. Meet me at this place, at this time, no cops.
Whether Reigns actually follows through will tell us a lot about how he’s feeling on the Road to WrestleMania. Does it make sense, at this point in his tale, that he’d be confident enough to stand across from Cody with no contingency plan? He did defeat Rhodes last year at WrestleMania, after all.
Or is Roman now paranoid and willing to go back on his word, a sign he’d do anything to keep the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship from even possibly slipping through his grasp?
It’ll also be nice to see Reigns take center stage on the Bloodline portion of things, as he’s been somewhat upstaged by The Rock the last few weeks. Pretty sure that’s never going to come up again somewhere down the road. Yep, probably never. Wink, wink.
There are important tag team matches in store as well, which will help shape the Tag Team Ladder match at WrestleMania. Buckle up and prepare, Milwaukee, because here we go.
WWE SmackDown results from Milwaukee:
(please scroll down for more details on any match or segment in bold)
- Cody Rhodes and Damage CTRL are shown entering the arena
- Santos Escobar def. Rey Mysterio by pinfall, in large part due to a distraction from Dominik Mysterio
- Bayley thanks Naomi for helping her last week, but Bianca Belair hasn’t forgiven the Role Model for what she did as leader of Damage CTRL, and Naomi ends up having to step between them as they bicker
- Backstage, Bianca and Naomi continue to have a conversation, to which Naomi says she can’t change what’s happened in the past and won’t back down when Damage CTRL is picking them off one by one
- Austin Theory and Grayson Waller def. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows by pinfall in a Tag Team Championship Qualifying Match, with Theory using the ropes for leverage to aid in his pinfall
- A hype video pushes Bron Breakker as a superior athlete
- Highlights are shown from Roman Reigns’ appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show”
- IYO SKY def. Naomi by pinfall thanks to aid from Damage CTRL; after the match, Naomi gets a dose of the poison mist from Asuka before Bianca Belair hits the ring with a vengeance, and is able to do pretty well against the whole group until numbers wear her down
- Jade Cargill will make her first official appearance as a SmackDown superstar next week
- Tiffany Stratton mocks Naomi as she’s trying to get the mist rinsed out of her eyes
- Nick Aldis is talking to Kevin Owens when they’re interrupted by Pretty Deadly, and KO ends up challenging them to a tag team match alongside Randy Orton; K.O. ends up punching both members of Pretty Deadly in the face at once, as he does
- Footage is shown of LA Knight rolling up at the house of AJ Styles and starting a fight with him, then dashcam video shows Knight getting arrested
After showing up to @AJStylesOrg's home and starting a fight, @RealLAKnight was arrested. He's since been released after AJ refused to press charges. 🚔👀
Save it for #WrestleMania, boys… 😳#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/dZR4539VSV
— WWE (@WWE) March 23, 2024
- Street Profits def. Authors of Pain by pinfall in a Tag Team Championship Qualifying Match
- Paul Heyman is on the phone telling Roman Reigns that Cody Rhodes is here alone, and that his public awaits
- Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes go face to face, and when it turns out Reigns actually did bring The Bloodline with him, Cody has backup too in the form of Jey Uso and Seth Rollins
Naomi learns going it alone against IYO SKY isn’t really a great idea
Is IYO even going to make it out to the ring? Cameras find her backstage scrapping with Bayley, but she gets the better of it and refs finally tell the WWE Women’s Champion to get to the ring.
SKY has to weather an early storm, and the crowd gets behind Naomi as she rallies to hit a springboard bulldog of sorts for a near fall that leads to a commercial break.
Yes Corey Graves, Milwaukee is starting to feel the glow after the break. She splashes into a split but gets only another two count.
You feel like Damage CTRL is going to interfere at some point, and perhaps others may get involved too. Maybe soon after Naomi hits a superplex and rolls through to produce another near fall.
Ah here come the Kabuki Warriors and Dakota Kai, perfectly timed to set their leader up for an Over the Moonsault to win it.
Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes exchange insults, and neither came alone
So far so good for Reigns sticking to his word, as Roman comes to the ring accompanied only by Paul Heyman. The Tribal Chief asks for and is handed a mic, talking about how he kept his word and showed up without the Bloodline. He asks everyone to acknowledge him while Cody is shown walking toward the entrance.
After commercials, Rhodes makes his way out to join Reigns in the ring. Cody says he’s as much a man of his word and also came alone, to which Roman calls him a fool.
From Reigns’ perspective, Rhodes is unfit for the position of face of the company. He scoffs at Cody aligning himself with Seth Rollins, reminding Rhodes that Rollins eventually stabbed him in the back.
Cody of course remembers The Shield, but asks if Roman remembers the first team that defeated them. He also says he has his “bullet cufflinks” on so he knows all about factions and betrayals, and he’s banking on Rollins hating Reigns more than he hates Cody.
There’s also a good question: Can Roman trust The Rock? Who’s really in charge of The Bloodline anyway, the Tribal Chief or the Final Boss? A “Roman sucks” chant breaks out in response.
Reigns retorts that Rhodes said the same thing to The Rock in reverse, then ridicules him for promising things and failing to deliver like a politician. All Cody will ever be is No. 2, while he’s No. 1 … forever.
Talking about how Reigns grew up in the business like he did, Rhodes says he’s accepted the idea that the next generation of youngsters will grow up wanting to be the next Roman. Cody disagrees about being No. 2, though, saying he’s the one and offering a handshake and good luck at WrestleMania.
Reigns shakes Heyman’s hand instead and they leave the ring. But Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa are approaching the ring through the crowd, and the American Nightmare looks surrounded.
Cody cracks a smile, though, as Jey Uso and Seth Rollins are also out in the crowd. It’s a big standoff to end the show, like something out of a movie.
