Vince McMahon's Promo, Brock Lesnar's Complicated WWE Return, More Friday Takes

Heading into Friday's block of wrestling, a lot of people had their eyes on WWE and SmackDown in particular.

The news that broke this week about WWE's board of directors investigating CEO Vince McMahon over alleged misconduct dominated the headlines, so when it was revealed that he would appear on SmackDown, people were curious.

The blue brand featured a huge match between Roman Reigns and Riddle in the main event, with the WWE Universal Championship on the line, too.

We also saw some segments involving the tag team division and the return of Brock Lesnar at the end of the night.

Over on Rampage, many would argue Jon Moxley and Dante Martin had the match of the night.

Let's look at a few things that took place during our usual Friday night of wrestling.

If you are not up to date on the situation going on with McMahon and WWE right now, Jordan Valinsky of CNN has you covered with a full rundown that was published Friday.

This week's SmackDown opened with Mr. McMahon coming to the ring and addressing the WWE Universe. This was announced ahead of time, so there was a lot of speculation about what would be said.

He told the crowd he was happy to be in Minneapolis and quickly mentioned the WWE catchphrase, "Then, now, forever, together." And that was it.

After all of the news that came out about WWE investigating McMahon and him stepping down as CEO while it takes place, nobody knew quite what to expect from this appearance.

Some people expected some kind of in-character speech, and others thought he might actually address what was going on with him. We didn't get any of that.

Let's just be honest about this. There was absolutely no reason for this to happen. It was pointless and accomplished absolutely nothing other than maybe boosting McMahon's ego a bit, which is like trying to add air to a balloon that is already on the brink of popping.

WWE's tag team division has been a source of criticism in 2022. A lot of fans feel that despite having a handful of really great teams, WWE has failed to utilize the division properly.

The Usos have been heavily featured, and a few other teams like The New Day, Alpha Academy and Street Profits have been in regular rotation, but we seem to get the same matches over and over without much variety.

WWE put Shanky and Jinder Mahal with The New Day this week, but it looks like The Modern Day Maharaja may not have a partner much longer. They do not seem to be on the same page at all, especially when it comes to Shanky's love of dancing.

WWE has teams like Los Lotharios and The Viking Raiders barely doing anything of substance, and The Mysterios aren't even feuding with another team. They have been fighting Veer for weeks.

Not only could one big division allow for a lot more variety over having two small divisions, but there are a few possible additions that could be made to make things even more interesting.

We already have Sheamus, Ridge Holland and Butch as a trio, Judgment Day could get into the hunt for tag gold, and we could always see Bobby Lashley and Cedric Alexander give it a go since they appear to have found some common ground this week on Raw.

Even Gunther and Ludwig could contribute. WWE has every tool necessary to build one of the best tag team divisions in the world, but repetitive feuds and not using everybody who is available is going to keep holding it back until we see some changes.

This week's SmackDown featured Riddle taking on Reigns in the main event of the evening in what is arguably the biggest match of The Bro's career. He didn't win, but he made his mark.

Even though he has been in the main event of TV tapings before, this was his first foray into fighting a world champion in WWE, so he was clearly taking this opportunity seriously.

As annoying as his character can be to some people, it would be hard for anybody to deny Riddle's athletic ability. He has speed, power, agility and an MMA background that gives him versatility with strikes and holds.

The only thing holding him back aside from public perception is his gimmick. He doesn't necessarily need to be more serious, but he needs to rely less on the Cheech and Chong stuff and more on connecting to the entire audience.

With time and a few tweaks, Riddle could be a regular in the main event scene for years to come. He just has to find that one thing he is missing.

After the main event match between Reigns and Riddle, Lesnar made his return to WWE programming and proceeded to deliver an F-5 to The Tribal Chief.

While this might make sense to build toward a SummerSlam showdown, it feels like the Match between Reigns and Drew McIntyre at Clash at the Castle is a foregone conclusion now.

On top of that, if Reigns does defeat McIntyre, WWE has effectively established that nobody else on the roster can give him a run for his money.

While it is great to portray somebody like him as a dominant force, you never want to devalue the rest of your roster to do that. Right now, it feels like the main event scene in WWE is just Reigns and Lesnar, and everybody else is fighting for scraps.

WWE clearly has certain people prioritized, but it needs to start building some new top stars soon. It can't keep relying on the same few guys to carry the world title picture anymore.

Moxley and Martin had a fun, competitive fight on this week's Rampage, but the implication seemed to be that BCC might be scouting the young man for future membership.

While there are certain things that would make sense about putting a bright talent like him with a group of veterans and another up-and-coming star like Wheeler Yuta, Martin is not the right choice for the group.

For one thing, he is too much of a babyface right now. Part of what makes him fun to watch is his underdog quality. If he started beating people up every week with Moxley and Bryan Danielson, he might lose that bit of his charm.

Also, Darius Martin will eventually return and want to reunite with his brother. For now, keeping Martin as a solo act who is aligned with Matt Sydal sometimes seems like the best way to use him.

The crowd is already behind Dante, so making any kind of drastic shift right now might not be the best long-term idea.