We are officially 36 days away from the greatest WrestleMania of all time, WrestleMania 40. A lot has happened over the past few weeks starting from the 2024 Royal Rumble. Since then, fans have witnessed some exciting moments both inside the ring and outside the ring. The 03/01 episode of Friday Night SmackDown has added more to the ongoing WrestleMania saga. Here is a rundown of everything that happened at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.

The Rock returns to SmackDown

Dwayne Johnson, Roman Reigns, & The Bloodline were last seen on the February 16 episode of SmackDown where it was made official that The Rock is now a member of the Bloodline. The show was opened by the Bloodline. However, Johnson was nowhere to be seen. The wrestling family was met with the loudest of boos by the audience. Apart from that, The Tribal Chief was met with chants of “Cody.” He was left disappointed with the lack of pop from fans this week. Due to this Reigns wanted to leave the arena. However, his Wiseman, Paul Heyman tried to save the day. Heyman stated that The Rock would be present tonight and the camera panned to Reigns showing his disappointment. Johnson returned after the commercial break in his signature late-90s heel attire. Reigns was furious after seeing Johnson getting a louder pop than him.

It didn’t take much time for Johnson to start bashing the audience with his harsh and sarcastic words. But even he was not able to stop the “Cody” chants. So, Johnson decided to respond to Rhodes’ challenge. He stated that he will not be accepting his challenge just because he does not want to. But he decided to provide a counteroffer. Johnson stated that instead, he wants a tag team match against Rhodes and his “walking clown emoji friend” Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 40 Night 1. He stated that if Rhodes and Rollins win the tag team match against him and Reigns, the Night 2 championship bout will be “Bloodline free.” 

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But if they lose that fight, anything that The Bloodline will do to interrupt the match that night will be legal. But just as Johnson was about to finish his promo, he was interrupted by an angry Roman Reigns. The Tribal Chief said that the only thing he needs from Johnson is to acknowledge him. The Rock called Roman Reigns his Tribal Chief and acknowledged him.  Following that, Johnson let Roman Reigns end the promo.

Backstage Segment: Grayson Waller and Austin Theory were seen watching Randy Orton’s defeat at Elimination Chamber. They were first interrupted by an angry LA Knight who was looking for AJ Styles. Then Randy Orton saw the two and stated that he wanted to fight either one of them tonight.

Naomi vs Tiffany Stratton

The two had some score to settle as Stratton was the one who eliminated Naomi at the 2024 Elimination Chamber. Naomi was dominating inside the ring. But that doesn’t mean she will be able to defeat Straton this quickly. In the first half of the fight, Naomi failed twice to pin Stratton. However, Naomi was not going to go down so easily. But she was no match to Straton’s moon-sault. The latest member of SmackDown pinned the former champion thus securing her win.

Winner: Tiffany Stratton

Bayley’s search for retribution

Bayley has a score to settle with Asuka and Kairi Sane as the two led to the cracks in Damage CTRL. Bayley faced the Kabuki Warriors with the help of Dakota Kai who returned to the ring after 9 months. The bell rang and the Kabuki Warriors ambushed Bayley and she was left all alone in the ring. However, Sane was sent out of the ring and it was just Asuka and Bayley in the ring. Asuka made another tag and Sane entered the ring. Bayley was desperate to make the tag and just when she was about to tag Kai, she betrayed her, thus establishing Bayley is all by herself in this fight. The tag team match ended with Bayley receiving another betrayal.

Result: The match ended with Dakota Kai betraying Bayley.

Bron Breakker vs Xyon Quinn

Breakker’s second SmackDown match was against Quinn of NXT. As soon as the bell rang, Breakker hit him with a spear which knocked Quinn out and thus secured his win.

Carlito vs Santos Escobar

The reason why Escobar turned on his role model, Rey Mysterio was due to a returning Carlito. The Caribbean Cool had accused Escobar of leaving the brass knuckles at the 2023 Crown Jewel which cost Rey Mysterio his U.S. title. This led to bad blood between Escobar and Mysterio which made him leave the LWO. Tonight, Escobar faced his arch-nemesis in a street fight match. The two stars did not waste a single second and pounced on each other as soon as the bell rang. After a while, Carlito decided to put a bin on Escobar’s head and bashed him with a steel chair.

But he was not going to go down so easily. After failing to pin him, Carlito was about to set up the table. However, he was attacked by Escobar. After some back and forth, Escobar’s henchman entered the ring. Just when all hope seemed lost for Carlitio, Rey Mysterio returned. He walked into the arena with the help of crutches.  While everyone thought it was because he was injured, it was to deceive everyone and use them to beat up Escobear’s henchman. Myseryio helped Carlito secure the win.

Winner: Carlito (With the help of Rey Mysertio)

Randy Orton vs Austin Theory

Kevin Owens made his way to the commentary table ahead of the bout as everyone knows how much Owens loves to see Theory and Waller getting beaten to a pulp. Orton did not waste much time after the bell rang and performed a European Uppercut following 9 punches. However, Waller caused a minor distraction and the match started to slip from Orton’s hands. However, The Viper was able to bounce back because he is Randy Orton. He then performed a spine buster on Theory and Waller. Orton was in his natural form. However, Theory did get an upper hand over him for a brief moment. But the only thing Orton needed was an RKO to secure his win.

Winner: Randy Orton

However, the celebration was cut short when Waller attacked Orton. This prompted Owens to enter and help the icon. After helping him, Orton showed a sign of respect before walking away.