{"id":314017,"date":"2025-10-18T18:13:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T18:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/314017\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T18:13:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T18:13:12","slug":"smackdown-recap-reactions-qb-unhinged","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/314017\/","title":{"rendered":"SmackDown recap & reactions: QB Unhinged"},"content":{"rendered":"

We didn\u2019t have to wait long to see Cody Rhodes on this week\u2019s episode of Friday Night SmackDown, as the WWE champion opened the evening to address his match against Seth Rollins at Crown Jewel. He said the world heavyweight champion split himself to the bone in order to defeat him, and while he doesn\u2019t believe they need to ever step foot in the ring across from each other again, that\u2019s not how these things work. But he does have plenty of business to attend to on his home show, and so does Cody on his.<\/p>\n

That being Drew McIntyre vs. Jacob Fatu in a number one contender\u2019s match. He was excited about it, and they revealed the winner would get the match at Saturday Night\u2019s Main Event in two weeks.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t long before Fatu ran into Rhodes backstage and welcomed him to the Shark Tank, the Bay Area, his home area. The crowd was eating up everything he was saying, riding with him the whole way.<\/p>\n

All gas, no brakes with it.<\/p>\n

Rhodes welcomed the challenge.<\/p>\n

Later still, just as we were about to get to Fatu vs. McIntyre, they showed the former laid out, blood everywhere. McIntyre demanded to be named number one contender, and SmackDown GM Nick Aldis pushed back because, well, yeah, obviously it was DM Hunk who left Fatu in a pool of his own blood.<\/p>\n

Instead, Corporate Cody, as Drew calls him, rushed out, completely usurped Aldis\u2019 authority, and said let\u2019s just have a title match right now before kicking off a huge brawl all around the arena.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why he\u2019s our quarterback,\u201d proclaimed Vic Joseph on commentary.<\/p>\n

Eventually, they made it to the ring and they actually rang the bell, Rhodes still wearing his dress pants. You\u2019ll never guess how the match ended, though.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right \u2014 Rhodes used the belt as a weapon and got himself disqualified. He retains the title, even while losing the match. The fans booed, because the finish sucked, but they didn\u2019t end the show there. Instead, Rhodes set up the announcer\u2019s desk, with Graves pleading with him not to go this far. He never actually got to deliver on a Cross Rhodes because Aldis had a bunch of WWE personnel show up to drag McIntyre away. The champ responded to this by rushing to the top rope and diving onto the entire group, the top contender in the middle of it all.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how they ended the show instead, dragging McIntyre away while Rhodes angrily screamed at him.<\/p>\n

The Miz was going to be the guy to answer Sami Zayn\u2019s United States championship open challenge this week but Carmelo Hayes returned the favor and kept him from doing so. That story will continue, maybe forever at this rate.<\/p>\n

It worked out rather well for us all, because none other than Ilja Dragunov stepped in to fill the void, making his long awaited return to television. He clearly spent his time away in the weight room, not to mention in a tattoo artist\u2019s chair getting some fresh new ink on his neck.<\/p>\n

He looks downright dangerous.<\/p>\n

He is downright dangerous.<\/p>\n

You won\u2019t be surprised to read Dragunov looked like he hadn\u2019t missed a single day, and they absolutely tore the house down in an unreal back-and-forth slugfest.<\/p>\n

There was a bit of outside interference, in the sense that Solo Sikoa walked out and distracted Zayn briefly. However, he was able to quickly recover and avoid Dragunov\u2019s next attack. It was just after, however, that Ilja hit the H-Bomb and that did the trick.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve got a new U.S. champion.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth pointing out, Corey Graves on commentary pushed hard that Solo\u2019s appearance absolutely affected the outcome of the match and therefore it wasn\u2019t exactly an entirely clean loss for Zayn, which means it wasn\u2019t as big of a win as it could have been for Dragunov. But it didn\u2019t feel that way watching it live as a fan.<\/p>\n

After, when the two babyfaces were about to shake hands, the MFTs hit the ring to lay them both out. This after they had already put Rey Fenix down backstage for doing a photoshoot near them while they were walking.<\/p>\n

Credit where it\u2019s due, they\u2019re trying to get this group over as a significant threat on the blue brand and this is the way to do that. Solo promised to make the family tree champions once more, and that\u2019s when The Wyatt Sicks cut in. At some point, we\u2019re going to get some kind of something with these two groups but something is missing for me in all this.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not even sure what it is either. Anyone else feel that way?<\/p>\n