Below are a couple of top SmackDown news stories of the day:
• In the opening match of SmackDown this past Friday (which was the post-Crown Jewel episode), Bobby Lashley defeated Carlito of the Latino World Order.
Dutch Mantel (Uncle Zebekiah in WWF / Zeb Colter in WWE) didn’t enjoy this match and cited the age of the performers in this match as the reason (Lashley is 47 and Carlito is 44).
Below is what he said:
“I actually enjoyed the show. That first match, though, with Bobby Lashley and Carlito, that was, to me, very boring. They slowed it down. How old is Bobby Lashley? Late 40s? How old is Carlito? Carlito is gotta be 40, isn’t he?
But anyway, I thought that kind of drug a little bit in the end, and they cranked it up a little bit. I will give the whole show tonight a ‘b’ because it was decent.”
This episode drew 2.20 million viewers with a 0.57 rating in the 18-49 demo, which is up from previous week’s 2.12 million viewers with a 0.58 rating.
• At Crown Jewel, WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio lost the United States Championship to Logan Paul.
This past Friday on SmackDown, Santos Escobar turned heel on Mysterio and attacked him.
Today, Rey took to Instagram to reveal that he underwent knee surgery. Below is what he posted:
“Knee surgery was successful 🙏🏼 @dugasmd1
Now payback on Santos Escobar is on the horizon! Pagarás por los daños #Santos”
No word yet on how long Mysterio will be out of action.
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