WWE Smackdown Results: Rollins, Rhodes accept stipulations for Mania tag match

March 8, 2024 Jack Wannan NEWS, Show Reports
Photo Courtesy: WWE

WWE’s Friday Night Smackdown program landed at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas this week as part of the Road To Wrestlemania. The card included a face-to-face meeting between Wrestlemania’s headlining fighters, appearances from Tiffany Stratton and Dragon Lee, and more.

Logan Paul announces Prime Energy as new WWE canvas sponsor

WWE United States Champion Logan Paul came to the ring to kick off the show. He bragged about his time in WWE, which started in Texas just under two years ago. He then announced that he has a surprise for the crowd: It was then unveiled that Prime Energy Drinks will be the official canvas sponsor for all WWE Premium Live Events, starting at Wrestlemania. Paul then brought out his business partner, KSI.

Just as KSI and Paul were about to pose for a photo, Randy Orton’s music hit. While it looked for a moment as if Orton wasn’t going to come out, he then suddenly emerged from the crowd. Paul escaped an RKO attempt, but KSI didn’t. Orton then picked up a bottle of Prime that KSI brought to the ring with him, took a sip, said it was good, and then poured it on KSI.

Randy Orton and Kevin Owens pick up win, avoid brass knuckles from Logan Paul

Randy Orton remained in the ring following the break, as he teamed up with Kevin Owens for a match against Grayson Waller and Austin Theory. This was a match that saw Waller and Theory struggle with chemistry, as Orton and Owens would remain a step ahead of them. The finishing sequence had Owens break up a move from Theory and Waller, then throw Theory in the air — as is usually seen in his Pop-Up Powerbomb finisher — for an RKO from Orton.

Logan Paul ruined Orton and Owens’ celebration, jumping them from behind. He then pulled out brass knuckles and attempted to strike Orton with the weapon. Orton kicked Paul in the stomach and then disarmed him of the brass knuckles. Paul dodged a brass knuckles punch attempt from Orton, causing him to nearly strike Owens.

Bayley talks Damage CTRL

Bayley appeared backstage for a sit-down interview to discuss her falling out with the rest of Damage CTRL. “Things have felt off between us for so long, but I never thought it would get to this point,” she said.

Bayley said that she will do everything in her soul to break Damage CTRL, and that they underestimated her.

Backstage, Bianca Belair walked in on Naomi watching the segment. Naomi expressed sympathy for Bayley, but Belair said it was Bayley’s fault. Belair dismissed Naomi’s thoughts on Bayley being betrayed because she wasn’t in WWE for a portion of the faction’s existence.

The Final Testament attacks Bobby Lashley

Bobby Lashley and Karrion Kross looked to settle their rivalry in a grudge match next. The match went at a pretty pedestrian pace until Akam and Razar did a run-in attack on Lashley. The Street Profits came in for the save, with Angelo Dawkins doing a dive off the ring apron to take both of them out at one point. Lashley went back to going after Kross as B-Fab took out Scarlett.

Akam and Rezar came back into the ring and attacked Lashley, making it a three-on-one situation. Kross landed his Final Prayer finisher — albeit having a little trouble sticking the landing — to end the segment.

Tiffany Stratton picks up quick win

Tiffany Stratton was given another singles appearance this week, being matched against Michin this time. The match was just a few minutes, with Stratton hitting the Prettiest Moonsault Ever for the win after escaping a Styles Clash attempt.

WWE then aired a video package with AJ Styles. He explained his reasoninging for taking Knight out of the Elimination Chamber last month, saying that Knight didn’t deserve his spotlight and had been taking opportunities away from him. Styles said Knight was an “underachieving, undertalened loudmouth desperately in need of humbling and I am a phenomenal choice for the job.”

In reaction to seeing this video, Knight destroyed a TV backstage with a chair.

Dragon Lee overcomes Angel with roll-up pin

In the last match of the night, Legado Del Fantasma’s Angel went one-on-one against Dragon Lee. Angel faked a knee injury early in the match, using this awkward moment to score a dropkick on Lee.

Lee gained momentum as the fight came back from commercials, but had his run of moves broken by a solid superkick from Angel. Lee snuck by Angel with a win right after, reversing a pop-up powerbomb attempt into a roll-up pin for the victory. Legado Del Fantasma beat up Lee after the match, causing the segment to end with all of them standing over him.

Damage CTRL were seen backstage making a response to Bayley’s sit-down interview. They said that Bayley was easy to manipulate, and that the plan was always for Sky to take over the faction. The segment ends with Dakota Kai offering to see Bayley in the ring next week. It was announced after the break that Bayley will face Kai in a singles bout on the next episode of Smackdown.

Just before the broadcast went to a break, Nick Aldis was seen knocking on the locker room for Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins. He peaked inside and seemingly didn’t see the wrestlers, causing him to ask security guards where they went. He then stormed out of the frame. After the broadcast returned, Rey Mysterio’s return was promoted for next week’s episode of Smackdown.

Seth Rollins, Cody Rhodes accept stipulations laid out by The Rock

Roman Reigns came to the ring for the final segment of the night. Separately, The Rock made his entrance right after. Reigns started by asking Dallas, Texas to “acknowledge us,” a slight alteration from the usual line that just asks for the crowd to acknowledge him.

Immediately after that moment, Cody Rhodes’ music hit. Rhodes, along with Seth Rollins, made their entrance through the crowd. A series of security guards came from backstage as the broadcast went to commercials.

Back from the break, Rhodes said that everyone in the ring should take in the moment. He then addressed The Rock’s challenge for Wrestlemania. If anyone needs a refresher, The Rock called for a tag match with Reigns and The Rock teaming against Rhodes and Rollins on the first night of Wrestlemania. He also added a stipulation to the match: If Rock and Reigns won, The Bloodline would be allowed to interfere with Rhodes’ match against Reigns on night two. If Rhodes and Rollins won, they would stay away from the title fight.

Rhodes questioned if The Rock is allowed to propose a stipulation, since he acknowledged Reigns as his Tribal Chief. Rock then interrupted Rhodes and reiterated the stipulations. Rock briefly stopped talking due to the crowd chanting “Diarrhea,” in reference to the “Diarrhea Dwayne” phrase that Rollins recently debuted.

Rollins cut The Rock off while he was finishing a rundown of the stipulation: “Will you shut the hell up?” Rollins called Rock “Mr. Midlife Crisis,” then accepted the challenge. Reigns then laughed, questioning if Rhodes will let Rollins answer for him. “You must be an idiot. You must be from Texas or somethin’.” That line got a boo from the crowd. Reigns took a questionable jab at Rollins’ fashion choices, referring to him as a “crossdresser.”

The Rock then mentioned that he’s a board member of TKO Group Holdings, meaning he’s the boss of everyone in the ring. He told Rhodes that he will never get a shot at the title again if he loses at Wrestlemania. The Rock then called Rhodes a “mistake” since he was born two decades after his siblings. Rhodes slapped The Rock — security hadn’t budged by this point. Smackdown then went off air, leaving fans with the suspense of wondering what happened after that shot.

About Jack Wannan 467 Articles
Jack Wannan is a journalist from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He writes and reports on professional wrestling, along with other topics like MMA, boxing, music, local news, and more. He graduated from Toronto Metropolitan University in 2023 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He can be reached at [email protected]
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