There are a lot of little things WWE did well in this storyline with The Bloodline. Keep it up this week Friday Night SmackDown When Roman Reigns was raging at Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa about Jey Uso getting up and disappearing since the Royal Rumble.

When Jimmy didn’t do exactly as he wanted, as quickly as he did, Raines ordered him to go find G.I. But when he did, he said, “I want to know where your brother is.”

We do not have”.

It speaks to Reigns and the method he chooses to control the group as a whole. You are only with him when you are an asset to him, and when you are not, he is not demanding of you. It’s a classic manipulation tactic that keeps those who care about a series, always looking for that approval, and always being let down.

Until they finally come out, like G.I.

Roman’s main concern isn’t G and how he feels but the timing of that absolutely falls short. It’s WrestleMania season, there are threats to the throne, and he needs the family to be a cohesive unit now more than ever. “If we weren’t, there wouldn’t be any more of this.”

When the time came, Reigns sent Jimmy and Solo out to eat so he could get to the ring himself and tell how he felt about Sami Zayn. He wanted to talk to Cody Rhodes — someone who really deserves his attention, he said — but fans wanted him to talk about Sami, so he told us what he learned when he looked Sami in the eye.

He is greedy. He wants more and more only when Roman has already given so much.

bastard.

Zayn appeared, to everyone’s delight, to attack him from behind. When Reigns got the upper hand, Sami speared him. He grabbed a chair but before he could deliver another cathartic slap, the champion bailed out of the ring. Zayn made it clear with his own words shortly after that he had never wanted anything before but he was sure of it now.

tournament.

Jimmy and Solo show up just then, there to do what The Bloodline always does. Before they could fully take Zayn out with a chair around his neck, Reigns stopped it and agreed to Sami’s wish, so he could really send a message.

They will fight for the title in Montreal at Judicial Department In front of all of Sami’s family, so that he can take Sami away from them like Sami took Jay away from him.

It was all really cool, a perfect follow-up to what happened in Royal Rumble.

You don’t think this thing is over, do you?

Of course not!

You don’t think it’s going to speed up the pace a bit, do you?

Of course they didn’t!

Well, I’m mostly messing around here. I’m not crazy about all of this supernatural stuff, but at least they tell a meaningful story that they make sure we know they’re going to carry on. It’s a low bar but I give them credit for clearing it. And if that’s who we think of him playing Uncle Howdy, there’s a lot of potential in all of this.

So I’m going to do what many like to tell me – wait and see.

all the rest

• Braun Strowman & Ricochet def. Imperium to win the SmackDown Tag Team Title Contender tournament. They will get their chance at The Usos next week. This was the bottom line they had to come to, considering they wouldn’t book a heel program and decided not to face The Banger Bros against the champions for the time being. This match was good, and next week’s matchup will likely be strong as well, but it feels out of place with everything else going on about The Bloodline right now. They could use that to play with things, and I’d give them credit if they did, but I’m not too excited about this.
• They shot an angle involving NASCAR with drivers supporting Rey and Dominik Mysterio on their way to the two racing each other at the track. This was just some good synergy with the old brand, with FOX getting an upgrade for both shows. Rey won the race after Ricky quoted Bobby and Dom claimed a foul while blaming Rhea Ripley’s absence for his loss. That was actually kind of cool, even though I haven’t raced since the ’90s.
• Charlotte Flair successfully defended the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Sonya Deville, holding it to the figure eight. The match was a solid one, and they still found their way around Flair as a babyface champ. I’ll admit it didn’t feel all natural, no pun intended, this week, but if the idea is to let her go out and have some good matches with talented wrestlers while actively defending her title, I’m not at all against it.
• The Vikings Raiders beat The Brawling Brutes, and that was just the way for The Banger Bros to hit the scene to put boots on them. They haven’t gone anywhere else after that, at least not yet, but there’s clearly more to come. And when that happens, it must be a…sigh…a pop.
• Natalya won the Fatal 4-Way to earn entry to the women’s Elimination Chamber match later this month in Montreal. It was a good four way due to it being a TV match that wouldn’t get much time off. Natty didn’t look like the favorite to win the eventual Chamber match, but they had to get her on the card in Montreal. I mean, come on, right?

It is very rare SmackDown Don’t make an interesting show. This was no different.

Tell me how you felt about it.