WWE SmackDown Live Results, Highlights, and Grades for March 12, 2019

A War of Words Between Randy Orton and AJ Styles

The tensions between AJ Styles and Randy Orton hit and all new high here, as Randy Orton first came out to “get something off his chest.” Orton went on a tirade about how SmackDown Live isn’t “The House That AJ Styles Built,” because Orton himself was on SmackDown all the way back in 2002. According to The Viper, SmackDown is “The House That Randy Orton Built.”

His words didn’t fall on deaf ears, and AJ Styles made his way to the ring to give a strong rebuttal. Styles responded to criticisms of his independent wrestling experience, pointing out that AJ’s “indie buddies” are all over the locker room and saying Orton himself never could’ve made it on the independent scene.

Orton finally got fed up and said “rent is due” for AJ Styles, which led to AJ saying Orton was welcome to collect at WrestleMania 35. The challenge was made, but Orton left the ring before responding. Their clash seems imminent, but what will we see between these two along the way?

Grade: A+, Randy Orton was in rare form here with a great promo that made the classic criticisms of AJ’s “indie” experience feel fresh, and AJ’s reply added plenty of hype to their surely eventual clash.

Asuka vs. Sonya Deville

Mandy Rose challenged Asuka for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at WWE Fastlane, but came up short after an attempted assist by Sonya Deville backfired. With that outcome in mind, Deville came to this match with Mandy Rose at her side and was looking for retribution for Fastlane.

It was great to see Sonya Deville back in singles action, and she put up a great fight early on. Asuka kept control, but Deville was able to dodge a dropkick off the turnbuckle and hit a big spear to gain some momentum.

The action spilled to the outside for a moment, but things got thrown off as Sonya made her way back into the ring. Mandy Rose grabbed onto the apron for stability and caused Deville to slip much in the way that Rose did at WWE Fastlane.

The distraction gave Asuka the chance to slap the Asuka Lock onto Deville and pick up a submission victory. After the match, Mandy Rose confronted Sonya Deville at ringside and appeared to leave her behind due to frustration over what had happened.

Grade: B+, This was a decent match that could’ve been longer, but put another nail in the potential break-up of Deville and Rose while keeping Asuka’s strength as champion in mind.

In a brief backstage segment, we heard from The IIconics. Billie Kay and Peyton Royce started off by congratulating the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, The Boss ‘n’ Hug Connection, for defeating Tamina and Nia Jax at WWE Fastlane. They repeated their call for Sasha Banks and Bayley to show up on WWE SmackDown to face The IIconics and fulfill their promise to defend the titles anywhere and everywhere.

Grade: A, The IIconics are fantastic and their constant pursuit Sasha Banks and Bayley will make the eventual match even better.