WWE Friday Night Smackdown Live Coverage - March 1st, 2024

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The Rock returns to SmackDown in Arizona

Tonight, The Great One turns up the heat in Glendale, Arizona as The Rock returns to SmackDown. The Rock has seemingly joined The Bloodline and forged an almighty alliance with Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, coming into direct opposition to Cody Rhodes and World Heavyweight Champion Seth "Freakin" Rollins. With The Rock back in the desert and on a crusade against the WWE Universe, what should we expect from The Great One?


:smackdown:

– Tonight's Smackdown opens with a recap video package of the WWE Elimination Chamber: Perth premium live event from this past weekend.

– We head inside the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, AZ. as Corey Graves and Wade Barrett welcome us to the show.

– Roman Reigns' theme music hits and out comes The Bloodline to kick off this week's show. Roman Reigns, Solo Sikoa, Jimmy Uso and Paul Heyman all make their way out and head to the ring together.

After they settle in the ring, "The Tribal Chief" soaks up the moment and then begins. "Glendale, Arizona ... ACKNOWLEDGE ME!" The crowd reacts. Reigns says "..it used to be louder." He then tries saying, "Phoenix, Arizona ... ACKNOWLEDGE ME!" The fans boo and start chanting "Rocky! Rocky!"

Reigns says he's gonna try this one last time and if we don't get on the same page, he's fulfilled his contractual obligation and he's leaving. He tries his opener a third time. He then shakes his head and says, "We're done here." He tells Heyman to fire up the jet. Heyman tells him they have further business. "We can't leave yet. Just give me a moment ..."

Paul Heyman then takes over on the mic. He says in just a moment, "The People's Champ" and The B.D.E. (Best Damn Ever?) of WWE and greatest movie star of all-time will be out here live ... THE ROCK! "After this commercial break," he adds. And on that note, we head to a commercial break.

FINALLY ... The Rock Has Come BACK To Glendale, AZ!

When we return, The Rock's theme is already playing and we see him in the middle of walking out on the stage in a long-sleeve version of one of his heel $5,000 shirts. He stays on the stage for a while and soaks up the reaction, which starts positive and shifts to boos.

He walks side to side and then begins his walk to the ring with shades on. He settles in the ring with The Bloodline standing together on one side and himself on the other. Fans chant "Rocky! Rocky! Rocky!" but then loudly boo as he begins raising the microphone to his face.

The Rock asks if the fans are sure they want to boo him. He says he's got some gospel and some news to share. "Apparently Glendale is 10 miles away from Phoenix. Assuming the answer's yes, but, are there a lot of people from Phoenix here tonight?" He says he knew it. He says he did some research and learned the number one city for cocaine and meth use is Phoenix, AZ.

"And here's what that means ... FINALLY, your life has meaning, because FINALLY you cactus-lovin' crackheads have something worth shootin' in your veins," he says before doing his "FINALLY ... The Rock has come BACK to Arizona!" catchphrase. The fans respond with loud "Rocky! Rocky!" chants.

He gloats about selling out everywhere he goes. He says wrestling is cool again because of The Rock, Roman Reigns and The Bloodline. He brings up Cody Rhodes' challenge. He says no. He then says they have a counter-offer. He calls Seth Rollins a walking clown emoji and then issues a challenge for night one of WrestleMania XL, the biggest tag-team match in the history of WWE.

The biggest tag-team match in the history of pro wrestling, Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins against Roman Reigns and The Rock. But it ain't gonna just be a regular tag match. If you two jabroni's beat us, on night two, your championship match will be free from The Bloodline. No Jimmy, no Solo, no Wise Man, no Rock. They'll be barred from night two.

They'll get contracts to make it official. If you beat us on night one, then Cody, you've got a shot to "finish your story" one-on-one against Roman Reigns. But if The Rock and Roman Reigns beat them on night one, then on night two, Cody vs. Roman is "Bloodline Rules" which means anything goes. Maybe Rock sits alongside Pat McAfee for commentary. Maybe Jimmy Uso is the ref. Maybe Solo sings the national anthem.

The fans pop for the Solo line and end up cutting Rock off with loud "Solo! Solo!" chants. He says or The Rock will just walk in the ring and bash Cody's brains in, and it'll be legal. He tells Cody he and his walking clown show Seth have some thinking to do. He wants their answer next week in Dallas. He says if they don't accept it, The Rock will do everything in his power to make sure he doesn't win the title.

Roman Reigns calmly but sternly responds to The Rock before agreeing to go along with this idea. He says he'll go along with it but he needs The Rock to do one thing first. "Acknowledge me." He stares The Rock down. The fans go nuts. The Rock takes his sunglasses off. "Roman Reigns ... my family, I acknowledge you as my Tribal Chief." He sticks his hand out. Reigns shakes it. The two hug. Rock wraps up with his catchphrase with Roman finishing with "What the Bloodline is cookin'".

– Backstage, we see Austin Theory and Grayson Waller watching footage on their phone and laughing about it. Randy Orton comes in and pretends to laugh along with them before telling them they get to choose which one of them gets their ass kicked by him later tonight. Waller tells Orton that Theory was saying earlier he wanted to fight him.

Orton slaps Theory on the back and says good and walks off. Theory confronts Waller for again throwing him under the bus. Waller tries spinning it like it's a main event against Orton and that's a good thing. We head to another commercial break.

Naomi vs. Tiffany Stratton

When we return from the break, we see Tiffany Stratton in the middle of making her entrance to the ring. Already in the ring is her opponent, Naomi. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with our first match of the evening.

The fans immediately chant "Tiffy-Time!" and the commentators acknowledge her getting over with fans. Stratton starts off strong but then Naomi takes over. After Naomi hits a facebuster, she goes for the cover but Stratton kicks out and rolls out to the floor to recover.

As she does, we head into a mid-match commercial break. As we settle back in from the break, we see Stratton in the offensive lead. Naomi starts to fire up for a comeback, but Stratton cuts it short and ends up pulling off the win to continue her recent momentum.

Winner: Tiffany Stratton

:womenstag:

Undisputed WWE Women's Tag-Team Championships: Bayley & Dakota Kai vs. The Kabuki Warriors (C)

Now we shoot to a video package looking at the history of Damage CTRL, which sets us up for our second match of the evening, which features four of the Damage CTRL members doing battle with the Undisputed WWE Women's Tag-Team Championships on-the-line.

With that said, the theme for Bayley hits and out she comes with Dakota Kai. The two head to the ring as we head to a pre-match commercial break. When we return, The Kabuki Warriors, accompanied by IYO SKY, make their way out and head to the ring for this title defense.

All four women collide and the fight is immediately on. We see Bayley and Asuka end up kicking things off for their respective teams. Bayley gets beaten down and Asuka and Kairi Sane take turns beating her down. Bayley finally gets to her corner for the tag, but Dakota hops off the apron.

Dakota Kai reveals she set Bayley up. Bayley fights off Asuka and Sane and heads out to fight Kai for screwing her over, but all of Damage CTRL team up, including The Kabuki Warriors, Dakota Kai and IYO SKY, to beat down Bayley in four-on-one fashion in the ring.

Winners: No Contest

– We see Bron Breakker walking backstage, as he's up next when we return. On that note, we head to another commercial break.

– As we settle back in from the break, we see Damage CTRL walking backstage laughing after what they just did to Bayley. Jade Cargill stops them in their tracks. She walks off to meet with Nick Aldis.

Bron Breakker vs. Xyon Quinn

Back inside the arena, Bron Breakker makes his way out to the ring for our next match of the evening. Already in the ring is his opponent, Xyon Quinn. The bell sounds, Breakker hits a Spear, 1-2-3, the bell sounds again. Literally.

Winner: Bron Breakker

Street Fight: Carlito vs. Santos Escobar

Corey Graves and Wade Barrett point out that the Damage CTRL isn't the only faction to break up in recent weeks/months. With that said, we see an elaborate video package looking at the LWO splitting up and Santos Escobar reforming Legado Del Fantasma.

After the package wraps up, we return inside the arena where Carlito's theme hits. He makes his way out to the ring for his scheduled Street Fight against Santos Escobar. As he settles in the ring, we shift gears and head into a pre-match commercial break.

When we return from the break, an "In Memory Of" graphic airs for the late Michael "Virgil" Jones, who passed away earlier this week. Carlito is finishing up his entrance in the arena as Corey Graves does a live ad read. Carlito's theme cuts off and Santos Escobar's plays.

Out comes Santos Escobar accompanied by the rest of Legado Del Fantasma for this Street Fight. They stand back as Escobar heads to the ring by himself. The bell sounds and the fight is on. After some early back-and-forth action, fans start chanting "We want apples!"

Carlito reaches under the ring, but doesn't pull out an apple. Instead, he pulls out a Kendo stick for a big pop. He reaches back under and this time he does pull out an apple. Why didn't he just deliver the apple the first time? Anyways, Santos takes over before he can do anything.

On that note, we head into a mid-match break. When we return, we see Santos dominating. Carlito fights back and stuffs a trash can over Santos and then beats the piss out of it with a Kendo stick. A table is set up. As Carlito seems to have this one finished up, out comes Legado Del Fantasma.

They all beat down Carlito and it seems to be over, but somehow Carlito kicks out. Legado Del Fantasma begin setting up another table, but as they do, out comes the LWO duo to help Carlito even out the numbers disadvantage. Legado Del Fantasma end up beating them all down.

Rey Mysterio's theme hits and the crowd erupts as he comes out on crutches. The commentators talk about him not being medically cleared. Legado Del Fantasma notice he's on crutches and head out to bully him. Rey reveals he was playing possom and starts beating them down with the crutches. Carlito finishes Santos off and gets the win.

Winner: Carlito

– Backstage, we see LA Knight looking for AJ Styles and causing hell in the process. Nick Aldis approaches him and the two have words. After that, we head back inside the arena where Corey Graves and Wade Barrett announce Logan Paul's return and Bobby Lashley vs. Karrion Kross for next week's show.

Randy Orton vs. Austin Theory

Inside the arena, we hear Kevin Owens' theme song. Out comes "The Prize Fighter" to join Graves and Barrett on special guest commentary for our final match of the evening. Austin Theory's theme hits and out he comes with Grayson Waller for our final match of this week's program.

On that note, we head to a quick pre-match commercial break. Upon returning, the theme for Randy Orton hits and out comes "The Apex Predator" to a big pop from the Glendale crowd. He settles in the ring and the bell sounds to get this one officially off-and-running. Orton dominates the early offense, but when the action hits the floor, things change.

After Grayson Waller provides a distraction, we see Theory hit a big slam on Orton on the edge of the commentary desk. On that note, we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break, our final advertising time out of the evening.

Upon returning from the break, we see the action has resumed inside the ring, and it is still Theory who is very much in the offensive lead. Owens jokes about how all the monitors are broken at commentary now because of Theory's actions before the break. Orton fights back and he stops Theory as he heads to the top-rope.

Theory goes for a Blockbuster off the top but Orton adjusts with a super-plex in mid-air. Orton heads out and slams Waller on the commentary desk. Owens gloats about untieing Waller's shoe afterwards. Orton hits a draping DDT on Theory in the ring and drops to the mat and pounds it, entering Viper mode.

Austin Theory avoids an RKO and hits a Blockbuster for a near fall attempt. Fans break out into "Randy! Randy!" chants as Theory continues to work over the WWE legend. Theory hits a big running forearm for another close pin attempt. Theory goes for a draping DDT on Orton, but Orton avoids it.

Theory goes for a rolling, leaping spot but rolls and leaps right into a perfectly-timed RKO from Orton. Orton covers him and gets the win.

Winner: Randy Orton

– Waller hits the ring to attack Orton afterwards, but Owens drops his headset and hits the ring to help out. Waller and Theory double-team Owens, but Owens fights back and Theory out with a Stunner.

Waller avoids the Stunner but turns into an RKO from Orton. Orton and Owens look at each other and then go about their business. We see highlights of the main event and after they wrap up, Orton is posing on the ropes as his theme plays and Owens stands in the middle of the ring. That's how this week's show goes off the air.