Last night's episode of SmackDown in Perth, Australia, was headlined by a Last Man Standing match pitting Damian Priest against Aleister Black.
They've been feuding on and off for months now, but what looked set to be the culmination of their rivalry ended with a shocking heel turn. Former Women's United States Champion Zelina Vega is Black's wife, and appears to have formed an alliance with him on screen.
As Black and Priest fought on the equipment boxes outside the ring, Vega made a surprise appearance and begged the former Judgement Day to stop his attack. She then locked eyes with her husband, signalling that her appearance was a deliberate move to distract the former World Heavyweight Champion.
That allowed Black to hit his opponent with a fireball to the face, followed by his signature Black Mass. Priest was sent crashing into a table below, and couldn't get back to his feet by the count of 10.
Despite winning her first singles title in WWE, Vega has been languishing in the company for a while. She's allied with the LWO, but the company hasn't done much with them, and fans had their hopes dashed when she wasn't reunited with the returning Andrade last night.
After all, her role as his manager made them one of the most standout acts in NXT for a time, but an alliance with Black should benefit them both hugely in the long run.
Earlier this year, Vega said this about showing a more ruthless side of herself in WWE:
"I feel like it has been wanting to come out for a while. Because I also feel like Zelina has been held down for quite a bit, especially being a babyface. When I was a heel, I got to say whatever I wanted. I was like, let me check before I start saying sh*t. But I’m like, she’s been held down as a babyface, especially when it comes to the mic, because you hear all the time, ‘Oh my God, Zelina was so much better as a heel…’ blah blah."
"It’s because I could say where the f*ck I wanted, and no one bat an eyelid. Just like, oh, that’s Zelina being Zelina. But as a babyface, it was like, Oh, you don’t want to sound like a heel. You don’t want to talk like that. You don’t want to be saying this. I’m like, okay, okay, that’s cool, but now I have a reason to be mad, and now I have a reason to talk the way I want to talk to whoever I want to talk to."
You can check out some highlights from SmackDown in the X posts below.