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Friday Night SmackDown aired as a pre-taped broadcast this week from inside the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut.
The women’s action began with a video package recapping the match between Chelsea Green and Michin for the Women’s United States Championship at Saturday Night’s Main Event last weekend. An interview filmed after the show aired where Chelsea Green told “Bryan” (Byron) Saxton that she always knew this was going to happen, and that while Byron might be surprised, she is not, having been wrestling for the past ten years. She worked her entire life to be an overnight success, and this is her time as she is now in the history books, where she belongs. She would have been there three years ago, but she was released; she would have been there in 2015, but she wasn’t hired, a reference to her stint on that year’s edition of Tough Enough alongside Sonya Deville, Mandy Rose, and others. Now is the time, and as we saw on her social media accounts, she spent the next day going to Disneyland.
Nia Jax and Candice LeRae are speaking backstage when Tiffany Stratton walked in to wish them good luck for their Women’s Tag Team Championship match against Bianca Belair and Naomi, mentioning that she couldn’t wait to be there ringside to have their hands raised. LeRae interjects, mentioning that her and Jax think it is best for Stratton to stay out of the match. She does add, however, that Stratton could take some notes to see what a championship victory looks like, but if she wants to help, she could get some champagne, balloons, and streamers after LeRae and Jax win the titles. Stratton then walks off awkwardly after LeRae tells her that they need to keep strategizing.
Women’s Tag Team Champion Bianca Belair and Naomi are interviewed by Byron Saxton just before the main event tag team match. Bianca states that it has been a rough couple of weeks, and while she will eventually find out who attacked Jade Cargill, she’s not going to allow what happened to Jade to get her and Naomi stripped of the titles because she knows that’s what Nia and Candice want, and she is not going down without a fight. Thankfully, she has Naomi, who tells her she’ll always have Bianca’s back. Naomi knows how important the titles are to Bianca and Jade, and they are important to her as well, which is why she’s going to go out there and do everything she needs to in order to walk away as Women’s Tag Team Champions.
The two teams then make their entrances and the match was on! The EST was inside the ring for most of the match, with Jax and LeRae doing their best to try and put her away throughout. Naomi was eventually tagged in to much fanfare, launching hits against the Irresistible Force and powerbombing her to the point of the Women’s Champion bleeding on her forehead.
Tiffany Stratton would make her way out, Money in the Bank briefcase in hand, trying to give it to Jax, but the referee would notice and the Queen of the Ring winner was sent onto the floor at ringside. Naomi would pin The Poison Pixie after a split-legged moonsault to get the victory and become Women’s Tag Team Champions with Belair, and the show would end with both women raising their championships in the air.
Make sure to share your thoughts on this week’s episode of SmackDown in the comments below, and have a happy and safe holiday season!
