Randy Orton closed Friday’s SmackDown by luring Matt Cardona into a fake apology, hitting him with an RKO, and stomping his arm inside a steel chair, while Drew McIntyre and Jacob Fatu ended the show by falling off a railing outside the arena after brawling throughout the entire broadcast.
Orton’s Fake Apology
Orton returned to the ring for the second time in the night, this time in a drastically different mood from his earlier promo in which he embraced the Viper persona and declared he would beat Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. He was smiling and high-fiving fans on the way to the ring.
Orton sat down in the chair and said he owed an apology to everyone, specifically to Matt Cardona, whom he had punched backstage earlier in the night after Cardona tried to appeal to Orton’s friendship with Cody Rhodes. Orton asked Cardona to come to the ring so he could apologize in front of everybody.
Cardona came out. Orton said he has been out of his head the last few weeks and that he was legitimately sorry. He said action figures are cool, that he plays video games, and that he has known Cardona for 20 years. He asked Cardona to forgive him. They shook hands and hugged.
Orton then kicked Cardona low and hit an RKO. He sent Cardona to the floor and punched him on the announce table. Officials tried to stop Orton, but he waved them off, telling them he was fine. They backed away. Orton sent Cardona back into the ring, punched and kicked him repeatedly, placed a steel chair on Cardona’s arm, and stomped on it.
The attack mirrored what Orton did to Cody Rhodes last week and reinforced that the emotional promo he delivered earlier in the night was not a sign of internal conflict but a declaration of intent. Orton’s conversation with Jelly Roll backstage earlier in the show, in which he appeared to take Jelly Roll’s advice about being a better man to heart, was ultimately another layer of deception.
Orton said earlier in the night that he told Cody Rhodes he loves him but needs the killer instinct to win a 15th world championship. “I hear voices in my head. They counsel me. They understand. They talk to me,” Orton said. “The voices tell me I will beat Cody Rhodes and become the WWE Champion at the main event of WrestleMania.”
Orton announced during the segment that he plans to apologize to Cody Rhodes next week on SmackDown.
McIntyre and Fatu Fall Off a Railing
As Orton backed up the aisle after the Cardona attack, footage from outside the arena appeared on the screen showing Drew McIntyre and Jacob Fatu still fighting. The two had brawled throughout the entire show, starting with McIntyre smashing the windshield of Fatu’s vehicle in the parking lot before SmackDown went on the air and pulling Fatu out of the car. Fatu was busted open from the forehead during that initial attack.
The two brawled at ringside after McIntyre’s promo, with Fatu breaking through security and hitting a splash off the ringside barrier through the announce table. They fought again in the truck entrance area during the MFT backstage segment in which Tama Tonga told Solo Sikoa he has been “acting like Roman.” Security failed to keep them apart each time.
The final confrontation took place outside the arena on what appeared to be an elevated walkway or loading dock area. Fatu sent McIntyre against a wall and delivered headbutts. They ended up on the wrong side of a guardrail, and both men fell off the railing to the ground below as SmackDown went to credits.
General Manager Nick Aldis warned McIntyre earlier in the night that he was on the way to unemployment for being unable to keep his hands off Fatu.
WrestleMania 42 takes place April 18-19 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The WWE Championship match between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton is scheduled for Night 1. It appears that McIntyre vs. Fatu at WrestleMania will have a big stipulation.
