Sometimes pointing at the WrestleMania sign isn’t enough. Sometimes you have to get in the ring and actually look your opponent for the biggest show of the WWE year in the eye and show them that you aren’t backing down. Conveniently, that’s what’s happening tonight on WWE SmackDown, in Evansville, Indiana.
Rhea Ripley has the momentum, having battled through the Royal Rumble to earn her shot, and in an overall sense for being an important part of The Judgment Day. Charlotte Flair has the SmackDown Women’s Championship and owns a previous WrestleMania victory over Rhea. Something has to give, though it would be surprising if either woman flinched tonight.
The Firefly Fun House is also making its return this week. Bray Wyatt warned the winner of a certain big, meaty men slapping meat match at Elimination Chamber he’d have his eye on the winner. That means Bobby Lashley will almost certainly be in the crosshairs of Wyatt and his puppet friends.
How about some matches, since this is a wrestling show? One that has weeks of buildup behind it will see Rey Mysterio once again go up against Karrion Kross. The bigger problem for Rey is that his son has promised to accompany Ripley to pay dad a visit, and that never turns out well.
And Imperium will be in six-man tag action against Braun Strowman, Ricochet and Madcap Moss — which sounds like a pretty even matchup except that Moss has apparently been leaning on the edge of going to the dark side.
WWE SmackDown results in 60 seconds:
- Kayla Braxton wants a word with Jimmy Uso, who says he hasn’t spoken to Jey yet despite many efforts to do so, but he wants his brother to look him in the eye tonight
- Imperium def. Braun Strowman, Ricochet and Madcap Moss by pinfall
- Drew McIntyre, who came out on the ramp to watch the previous match, is assaulted by the Viking Raiders, though Sheamus comes to his aid
- Rey Mysterio vows to put an end to Karrion Kross, but Dominik Mysterio is unimpressed with Santos Escobar‘s show of respect for his dad
- Jimmy Uso tells Solo Sikoa things feel different in the Bloodline since Montreal, and Paul Heyman suggests maybe Solo should hang back tonight so Jimmy can settle things with his brother alone
- LA Knight wants to talk about the other L.A., but The New Day don’t think he’s earned it, and Kofi Kingston would love the chance to shut him up
- Kofi Kingston def. LA Knight by pinfall
- Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley have a brief showdown after Dominik Mysterio spends a lot of time running his mouth
- Shayna Baszler def. Natalya by submission
- Firefly Fun House asks a pressing question: Can you keep a secret?
- Heyman tells Jimmy Uso he needs to handle things with Jey Uso, or Roman Reigns will next week
- Karrion Kross def. Rey Mysterio by submission thanks to interference from Dominik
- Jimmy Uso wants to talk to Jey, but he ends up talking to Sami Zayn instead … and the drama continues
Scroll down for more details on every match and major non-match segment.