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Gunther laid out WWE Champion Cody Rhodes after Friday’s SmackDown main event, with Rhea Ripley accepting Jade Cargill’s title challenge for Clash in Italy.
The Friday, May 22 episode of WWE SmackDown ended with Gunther standing over WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, holding the Undisputed WWE Title above his head moments after Rhodes had defeated Sami Zayn in the main event. Zayn, who had taken the loss, returned to the entrance ramp but chose not to intervene.
The post-match attack capped a string of storyline beats designed to position Gunther as the next challenger heading into Clash in Italy, WWE’s upcoming international premium live event.
Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley returned to the show after a week away to accept Jade Cargill‘s title challenge for the same Italy card. Ripley spent most of the night in friction with Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, with the three eventually pulled into an impromptu storyline ahead of Saturday Night’s Main Event.
The full match card and segment breakdown is posted on WWE’s official SmackDown results page for May 22, which logs each finish and post-match angle in order.
Elsewhere on the card, United States Champion Trick Williams retained against challenger Carmelo Hayes in an impromptu title match accepted on the same broadcast, with Ricky Saints’ interference sealing the finish. Tiffany Stratton retained the Women’s United States Title against Lash Legend with help from Chelsea Green.
WWE also debuted a new talent. Blake Monroe, brought up to the main roster, had her first on-screen appearance Friday night. Chelsea Green’s attempt to introduce herself was rebuffed, and Monroe walked away before Nia Jax ran Green over and warned her to stay out of Monroe’s business.
The eWrestlingNews in-ring recap captures the full segment-by-segment build, including the Monroe debut sequence and the closing Gunther attack.
A separate storyline involving Solo Sikoa, Damian Priest, the MFTs faction, and Royce Keys continued through the night. Sikoa defeated Priest with help from the MFTs. Keys ran out to save Priest from a beatdown and was, in an unexpected turn, briefly choked by Priest himself before being released.
The episode’s lighting kept dropping mid-show. Storyline-wise, the cuts traced to Danhausen, who was apparently running cloning experiments backstage. WWE has been seeding the comedy thread for several weeks.
The full broadcast aired on USA Network and is available on the ESPN App, Netflix, Peacock and CW. Highlights are posted on WWE’s official YouTube channel as a single-cut compilation of the night’s finishes.
Clash in Italy follows in the coming weeks. The next SmackDown is Friday.
