WWE SmackDown results, highlights (Mar. 14): Street Profits win tag team gold

Barcelona, Spain couldn't have been happier to host "WWE SmackDown" for the first time.

To make the festivities feel all the more special, both major champions Cody Rhodes and Gunther made appearances to continue the WrestleMania 41 hype. Tiffany Stratton didn't have a match, but she made her presence felt with plenty of physicality, as did other champions like LA Knight. By the night's end, however, a pair of new titleholders stood tall.

New week, new champs

It's now been two "WWE SmackDown" main events in a row where a new champion (or champions) was crowned. This week, DIY saw their title reign as the WWE Tag Team Champions end thanks to the new, edgier Street Profits.

WWE almost has too much to work with in the "WWE SmackDown" tag team division, and that's prevented any solid storylines from building since DIY's (never-ending) saga with Motor City Machine Guns. Regardless, any matchup you make between teams guarantees a great match, and tonight's was no different.

The Street Profits have been one of the best tag teams since they joined WWE, so having them hold gold once again feels right. There was an awesome Doomsday Blockbuster sequence toward the finish that nearly got the win. Ultimately, an accidental super kick to Tommaso Ciampa from Johnny Gargano spelled the end for the now-former champs. Everything here was executed well, and the Profits will next defend their titles against Pretty Deadly at a date to be determined. I still don't care for "P.D.," but I'm always glad to tune in for anything Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford.

Location, location, location

The Barcelona crowd was incredible before the show even started. These international locations are deprived of weekly programming, which makes any show feel like WrestleMania. I almost want to say WWE should go overseas more often for "Raw" or "SmackDown," but the shows feel so much more special in cases like this. If you didn't know LA Knight was a mid-card champion, you would have thought he was the biggest superstar champion in the company when he opened the show.

Seriously, this felt like we went through a time machine to the "Attitude Era" — or were about to witness a soccer game. Knight was the perfect guy to play to the crowd and start their proper buildup for the night.

Unfortunately for Knight, his moment in the Spanish sun was cut short by Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa, who attempted to stake their claims for U.S. title shots (Sikoa vouching for Jacob Fatu). I was hopeful we might get an impromptu triple-threat match out of all this despite Uso and Sikoa (or Fatu) being undeserving of a title shot. Instead, The Bloodline attacked, and Braun Strowman made the save to make a trios tag match on the spot.

The match was fine. It was fan service more than anything, which was a great way to further warm up the hot Barcelona faithful. Strowman got the pin with a powerslam on Tama Tanga, making The Bloodline feel even more insignificant since Sikoa's loss to Roman Reigns in January. Fatu has been the only member getting over and pushed, so I don't know how he doesn't get a big program sooner rather than later — whether that's a U.S. title shot at WrestleMania, or a collision with Sikoa. For now, we need that Strowman casket match (or some insane stipulation) because Fatu is being made to look like the Samoan version of The Fiend — unkillable.

Brawl-calona

Ringside brawls have become the new default for a feud, and it might be the stupidest thing ever.

WWE needs to have a built-in brawl counter on screen because it feels like they happen every week. On this "WWE SmackDown," Tiffany Stratton felt the need to attack Charlotte Flair after Flair beat B-Fab, then held onto the Figure-8 submission after the tap. Sure, this was a "get-back" since Flair attacked Stratton last week, but this just makes Stratton look like an immature and inexperienced champion. At least Flair gave the mildest reason for her attack. There's no substance to any semblance of a storyline between these two. And that's a shame because of how easy it would be to tell.

The brawls are a dull and overused trope now, and no, it doesn't help to keep it going into other segments like Miz TV right after. Honestly, this feels like the replacement for the announce table breaks.

🔪Attempted Murder of the Night

Drew McIntyre ruined the Damian Priest vs. Shinsuke Nakamura match by attacking Priest to give him the DQ win. That match felt like an impending burial of Nakamura after his U.S. title loss last week, so why book it? Especially just to have it end like that. The immediate answer? Have McIntyre nearly kill Priest.

I just can't care about this feud for either guy after knowing McIntyre completely dropped his intentions of stopping Roman Reigns from a return to prominence. The man on a mission story was so much more compelling than "dude who blames other dude for all his downfalls." How original.

Strong in defeat

WWE is in the middle of showing a hidden talent. It's weird because the hidden talent of making a wrestler look strong in defeat shouldn't be "hidden." This week alone, the company has done a phenomenal job making Axiom lose nothing despite literally losing twice — first to The Hardy Boyz, then Gunther.

As a Spaniard, the NXT Tag Team Champion was another treat for the Barcelona crowd, as he got a match to shine against the World Heavyweight Champion. Axiom looked excellent, and the two delivered a banger. It was random, like most of Gunther's "Road to WrestleMania 41," but no one loses when this is the quality on display.

👍UP & UP👍

1. Cody Rhodes appeared, hit a Cross Rhodes on The Miz and left. The Miz subtly roasted Rhodes before he entered for Miz TV, and Rhodes wasn't having it. He briefly hopped on the microphone to question John Cena and tease Monday's "WWE Raw." That's all that segment needed to be, so this was short and sweet. There's nothing to add until Cena's appearance (hopefully) on Monday.

2. Circling back to the Barcelona crowd, they sang every notable entrance song at the top of their lungs. That atmosphere couldn't have been any better.

3. Randy Orton's match with Carmello Hayes felt like a PLE main event. That aforementioned crowd was mad hyped for that one, and Orton rightfully got the win, but Hayes never looks weak in defeat. Kevin Owens made a surprise return to save Hayes from a punt kick after his post-match disrespect to "The Viper."

🤷It happened🤷

1. Paul Heyman cut a promo, propping up Reigns and bashing Seth Rollins with minimal CM Punk mentions. He completely ignored how he consoled Punk after the cage match loss on "WWE Raw" this past Monday, which was interesting. Surely, there will be more wrinkles from that when we see Reigns next week, like he teased.

👎DOWN & OUT👎

1. Jade Cargill had an empty arena interview with Cathy Kelley before the show. It started strong, as Cargill reflected on the Naomi incident before she was interrupted by Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez. The Women's Tag Team Champions just randomly started walking by them through the arena. They were upset about being accused of the attack, and trolled Cargill for it, teasing a match next week. But their involvement in this segment felt so weird. With Bianca Belair in the Women's World Championship scene, she and Cargill obviously won't revisit the tag titles for a while, so this better end next week.

2. WWE commentary hasn't been doing it for me lately. Every team has a good half and a horrible half. I touched on Pat McAfee recently, and now Joe Tessitore has become very overbearing and annoying — that's without even mentioning Booker T on NXT. The less we talk about him, the better. It's just bad, man.

👑 Uncrowned Gem of the Night 👑

There was no way B-Fab was knocking off Flair in Flair's first singles match back. I'm just happy we saw Flair in action before her big title match with Stratton, but the Uncrowned Gem of this "WWE SmackDown" was B-Fab.

Last week was a surprising but welcome highlight of B-Fab's strong character work when she stood up for the roster in front of Flair to set this match up. There's something there with B-Fab despite her future as a major player feeling uncertain. She has the confidence and holds herself like a big deal. Against someone like Falir, she didn't look lost either. Here's to hoping she gets more TV time going forward.

👑Barcelona added a ton to this "WWE SmackDown." Crown score: 8/10 👑