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Friday Night SmackDown invaded the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida tonight. This week continued to have the Queen of the Ring tournament as its main focus for the women’s division as we are only eight days away from crowning a new King and Queen of the Ring in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, May 25th.
The show would open with one half of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, Bianca Belair, coming out for her match in the Queen of the Ring tournament against Tiffany Stratton.
The two would lock up to begin. Tiffany pulled at Bianca’s braid, but unfortunately for her, the EST of WWE got up quickly and would unload some impressive flexibility on the Buff Barbie. It was noted that Bianca was still wrestling with the hurt knee she got in her first round match last week and was continuing to fight through the pain. That knee would be targeted by Tiffany before the first commercial break, being thrown into the ring post and steel steps.
Once the show returned from the break, the knee continued to be a source of damage for Bianca but she continued to remain confident despite being at a disadvantage. She was nearly able to get a KOD in but it would be reversed by Tiffany as the two fought tooth and nail to make sure the other wouldn’t be able to win. Ultimately, Tiffany inflicted a rake in the eye and tried to pin Bianca, but she kicked out, frustrating Stratton and setting her up for another KOD that would give Bianca the victory.
Cathy Kelley would interview Bianca following the match and Bianca would say that while her knee is not fully one hundred percent, she did not become the EST by making excuses. She shows up and shows out every single time, and next week, nothing is stopping her from becoming Queen of the Ring, injured knee or not.
Another interview took place as Byron Saxton stood backstage with the other half of the Women’s Tag Team Champions, Jade Cargill. Cargill spoke about her opponent later on, Nia Jax, saying that Jax is one of WWE’s best. But to Jade, Jax is just in her way. Bianca interrupts to have a conversation with her tag team partner. Cargill questions the well-being of her injured knee, but Bianca says not to worry; she’ll be fine, especially if she has to face her next week. Cargill tells her to just take everything one match at a time, and leaves to go get ready. Something tells me this won’t end well between the two.
Nia Jax is with Cathy Kelley, who conducts another interview, but her question gets interrupted by Jax, who mocks her opponent and adamantly claims that Jade Cargill will NOT be Queen of the Ring.
Back from the commercial break was Jade Cargill who made her entrance in preparation for what would be ahead of her in just a few moments. Once the match kicked off, the two traded attacks on each other, seemingly trying to prove who the more dominant woman was. Jade’s daughter was present for the match as an audience member, with Nia going out of her way to tell the girl, “YOUR MOM SUCKS!”. From that moment on the match became even more personal, with Jade slamming Nia’s head into the commentary table and Jax consequently clotheslining her into the barricade. Jax begins to make a mess of the ringside area and gets ready to openly attack Cargill with a steel chair, but Jade would pull the chair out of her grasp and use it to hit Jax.
Jade ended up getting disqualified, meaning Nia was the winner and would advance to the semifinals of the tournament. Jax and a visibly bloodied Cargill continued to fight after the match was already over, with officials having to restrain them. The altercation continued briefly, but officials would get a hold of both of them again.
The last women’s interview for the night featured WWE Women’s Champion Bayley. Her thoughts on the tournament are once again interrupted by the duo of Chelsea Green and a snoring Piper Niven. Chelsea claims that Bayley was the only reason Piper lost last week to Jade Cargill, as the champion had supposedly sprinkled the “bad Bayley juju” to them. Bayley says that right now isn’t really a good time for them to have a talk, but they can talk in the ring next week. She then lets out a short laugh and trails off, with Chelsea and Piper having giddy expressions on their faces.
Here’s what’s scheduled for SmackDown next week:
Bianca Belair vs Nia Jax in the semifinals of the SmackDown Queen of the Ring tournament; the winner will go on to face either IYO SKY or Lyra Valkyria of Raw in the finals of the tournament at King and Queen of the Ring in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, May 25th.
