Cody Rhodes Brings Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn Back Together
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This week's SmackDown started with Cody Rhodes acting as a mediator and ended with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn getting back together as friends. Meanwhile, Drew McIntyre and Sheamus battled it out for the chance to be the No. 1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship, Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley brawled, LA Knight was made to look like a fool twice, Dominik called out his father again, and Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez were the first women's tag team to qualify for a Fatal 4-Way WrestleMania match.Here are your winners and losers for SmackDown, March 17, 2023:
Winner/Loser: Rhodes Can't Get Owens and Zayn on the Same Page
Cody Rhodes started the show and asked the fans what they wanted to talk about. Instead of focusing on his opponent at WrestleMania, he tried to be the peacemaker between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, bringing both men out to try and hash out their issues. It didn't work and the two former friends said a lot of what's been said before. There was one exception. Owens said he heard Sami every time he told them they don't need to be friends as long as they just work together. Owens asked why he would even want to team up with someone who doesn't want to be friends.
Zayn caught up with Owens outside the arena and said they were friends. In fact, they were more than friends, they were brothers and he told him he loved him. Owens left anyways.
Winner/Loser: Rhea Ripley and Dominik vs Zelina Vega and Santos Escobar
Dominik and Rhea Ripley got a win over Vega and Escobar and while the win was necessary to build up the heels. The real build came after the match was Dominik waited for Rey Mysterio to come to the ring and talk about their issues. Rey admitted he missed a lot of his son's growing up but he still loves him. He said he did so they could have a good life and that he needs to admit the Mysterio name bailed him out of a lot of trouble. He said he's having a hard time with all of this and he wants Dom with him as he goes into the Hall of Fame. What he won't do is fight him. "You're not worth it son. I'm not gonna fight you now, I'm not gonna fight you never. And I won't fight you at WrestleMania either." Rey walked away again.
Like the first segment, this was more of the same in this storyline. We've seen these two have this conversation.
Winner/Loser: Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez
WWE has decided to add a Fatal 4-Way Women's Tag Match to the WrestleMania card and they are holding qualifiers to see who will get to compete. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez earned the first slot with a win over Emma and Tegan Nox. This match didn't offer a lot and lasted only a few minutes, with a predictable outcome. It feels like there could be more of these filler matches to get to a match that won't garner a ton of interest on the actual WrestleMania card.
Winner: Ripley and Charlotte Flair Promo
What appeared at first to be another repetitive promo between two WrestleMania opponents actually boiled over and the trash-talking turned into a massive brawl that needed WWE officials to separate the two women. There was no slowing Flair and Ripley down once they started fighting and a few officials got nailed in the chaos.
This is exactly what this rivalry needed if this match was going to headline one of the nights of WrestleMania. To date, these two hadn't really gotten heated. This turned to knob up all the way to high.
Loser: LA Knight
After a backstage argument between LA Knight and Xavier Woods, the only injury-free member of New Day called out Knight and said they should fight later that evening so Woods could finally shut up the trash-talking self-proclaimed 'megastar.'
Not only did Woods not really do that with a roll-up win, but Knight losing on the road to WrestleMania is also puzzling. In fact, when was the last time Knight won a match? Backstage, after the loss, Knight picked a fight with Rey Mysterio and got decked for his troubles.
Winner: Sheamus Vs. Drew McIntyre
A physical matchup was expected and the hope was that no distinct winner would come out of this bout so that a Triple Threat Match would be announced. Fans got both.
Imperium attacked both Sheamus and Drew McIntyre when a double kick knocked both men down to the point they couldn't answer a 10 count. Taking pride in having beaten down two competitors who practically wiped the other out, Adam Pearce appeared on screen and said he was making a Triple Threat Match official for WrestleMania.
This will make the bout between these three wildly entertaining, while also opening the door for Gunther to sneak out a win and keep rolling as the Intercontinental Champion.
Winner: Owens and Zayn Hug It Out
When Sami and Jey confronted each other to close the show, an emotional promo didn't take long to break down into a fight and that led Jimmy Uso to come into the ring and give the numbers edge to The Usos. Owens' music then hit and The Prize Fighter snuck into the ring from behind as Jimmy and Jey watched the entryway. Owens cleared the ring and then he and Zayn embraced. Cody Rhodes was shown backstage watching on the monitor with a smile on his face.
Not only did WWE create the narrative that Cody was responsible for the reuniting of Owens and Zayn -- which, of course, fans will appreciate -- the friends brothers are back together and will likely wrestle for the tag team championships at WrestleMania.
