Solo Sikoa starts his hostile takeover of The Bloodline
By Shakiel Mahjouri
• 1 min read
The Bloodline has found new blood as Solo Sikoa starts his ascent to the throne. WWE SmackDown launched a new era for The Bloodline, one possibly led by someone other than Roman Reigns.
The first SmackDown after WrestleMania was loaded with intriguing steps towards new storylines. Sikoa introduced a new member to The Bloodline while bidding farewell to another, seemingly without consent from Reigns.
SmackDown also welcomed back Cody Rhodes for the first time since he became undisputed WWE universal champion at WrestleMania 40. Rhodes, looking to make his first title defense next month at Backlash, announced a mini-tournament to determine his challenger.
CBS Sports was with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from Little Caesars Arena in Detroit
The Bloodline makes major changes, Rhodes looks ahead to Backalsh
The Bloodline is entering a new era. For the first time in three-and-a-half years, "Tribal Chief" Roman Reigns was not world champion. As a consequence, their locker room was acquired by Rhodes. Solo Sikoa intended to storm the room before Kevin Owens cut him off. Heyman told Sikoa that this was the spoils of war. Heyman informed Sikoa and Jimmy Uso that Reigns tasked them with retrieving the WWE undisputed universal championship.
In the ring, Heyman expressed accountability on behalf of Reigns for his loss to Rhodes. Heyman confessed that Reigns took his eye off the ball at WrestleMania 40, choosing revenge on Seth Rollins over beating Rhodes. Sikoa interrupted Heyman to remind him that losing matters. The group's enforcer said there were consequences for losing before looking at older brother Jimmy Uso, who lost to Jey Uso at WrestleMania. Jimmy was heated over what Sikoa was implying.
Sikoa embraced Jimmy Uso and told him he loved him. Suddenly, a hooded figure attacked Jimmy. The hooded figure was revealed as Tama Tonga, son of Haku, and a longtime New Japan Pro Wrestling star. Heyman protested but Sikoa took out Jimmy with a pair of Samoan Spikes. Heyman tried to call Reigns to stop the attack, but Sikoa grabbed his phone and smashed it under his foot. Sikoa wrapped a steel chair around Jimmy's face and sat him in the corner. Heyman yelled, "This isn't what the Tribal Chief wants!" Sikoa ignored Heyman and bulldozed Jimmy. Referees ran to assist Jimmy as The Bloodline walked out.
Backstage, Tonga approached a teary Heyman and said "by order of The Tribal Chief." Sikoa stared Heyman down before the two walked up. A distraught and perturbed Heyman muttered, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Rhodes kicked off SmackDown to reveal a series of matches to determine his challenge at WWE Backlash next month. Two triple threat matches took place on Friday night with the winners meeting next week in a one-on-one contender's match.
LA Knight def Santos Escobar and Bobby Lashley via pinfall after catching Escobar with BFT. It was checkmate for Knight in the first of two triple-threat title eliminators. Knight came out on top in a messy no-disqualification match that saw Legado del Fantasma and Street Profits interfere on behalf of their respective group captains. The match's big spot welcomed back the Tower of Doom as Bobby Lashley powerbombed Knight who suplerplexed Escobar. Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo were the first faction to get involved, laying out Escobar's opponents. That spurred Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins to even the playing field. A whiffed spear to the corner removed Lashley from the equation. Escobar walked into a BFT as Knight scored the win.
AJ Styles def. Rey Mysterio and Kevin Owens via pinfall after hitting an avalanche Styles Clash on Mysterio. This was a great triple-threat match between three of the best veterans in pro wrestling. The action was crisp and creative. Down the stretch, Owens landed a double German suplex on his opponents. Mysterio masterfully hit Styles with a hurricanrana soaring out of a monkey flip by Owens. The match ended after Styles hit an avalanche Styles Clash on Mysterio off the ropes and down onto Owens. He pinned Mysterio to qualify for next week's match. SmackDown went off the air as Styles and Knight, opponents at WrestleMania, stared each other down.
A terrific episode of SmackDown from start to finish. It's a fine example of how much WWE benefits from two-hour programming. Everything on the show felt like it mattered. This new development in The Bloodline is compelling and a refreshing change from the group's recent direction. Rhodes' first title defense is also shaping up to be good. A war of words with Knight makes for tremendous viewing while a showdown with Styles screams dream match. Grade: A
What else happened on WWE SmackDown?
- Bron Breakker def. Cameron Grimes via pinfall with a spear in a short match.
- Bayley cut an emotional promo about becoming WWE women's champion and teased her first title challenger.
- Naomi def. Tiffany Stratton via pinfall with a jackknife pin to become the No. 1 contender for Bayley's title. Bayley vs. Naomi takes place next week.
- Logan Paul bragged about retaining the United States championship in a video recorded on his phone, calling it the "Logan Paul Levesque era."
- Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill def. Chelsea Green and Piper Niven via pinfall after Cargill hit Jaded on Green.
- A fatal four-way tag team match is booked next week to find challengers for A-Town Down's new SmackDown tag team titles. The participants are Street Profits, Legado del Fantasma, New Catch Republic and AOP.
