Tag: bloodline

WWE SmackDown live results: Women’s title match, Bloodline six-man tag

Posted on by Colin McGuire

On the first WWE SmackDown of 2025 and with a return to three hours, WWE Women’s Champion Nia Jax will defend her title against Naomi on a sparsely announced card as of this writing.

Jax defeated Naomi in November to retain her title, but the champion was part of a losing effort last week as she teamed with Tiffany Stratton & Candice LeRae and came up short against Naomi, Bayley & Bianca Belair.

In a trios match that will main event the show, the OG Bloodline (Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso & Sami Zayn) will face The Bloodline (Jacob Fatu, Solo Sikoa & Tama Tonga) in Jimmy’s first match since breaking his toe at Survivor Series.

WWE United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura will go one-on-one with Andrade in a non-title match. Nakamura defeated Andrade in November after Andrade ran into an exposed turnbuckle. To receive a future title shot, Andrade must win tonight.

Join us for live coverage starting at 8 PM Eastern.

**********

– Michael Cole welcomed everyone into the show as footage of Phoenix aired. Cole then threw to last week’s developments regarding Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens. Afterwards, Cody made his entrance inside the arena. He was dressed in a suit.

The Cody Rhodes promo

This was pretty good. Cody continues to show good fire in his program with Owens and I get a kick out of both Owens and McIntyre never really being wrong in their logic for why they have issues with the babyfaces. That said, it felt like McIntyre’s words here were dripping in foreshadowing and I think that extends beyond the attack Owens showed up to execute, so it should be compelling to see how things play out between Drew and Cody over the coming weeks. Speaking of weeks, with four of them left until the Royal Rumble, I wonder how they’re going to stretch out Owens and Cody beyond simple pull-aparts each week. In some ways, it’s already a bit stale, considering how much those two worked with each other in 2024. It’d be nice if they found a way to freshen things up going into their ladder match.

Cody took in a bunch of cheers and then shouted “Phoenix” before saying they all want to talk about the same thing. He said WWE is on the cusp of changing everything and it starts tonight by SmackDown going three hours. Cody referenced Raw going to Netflix and said his excitement was tempered because he cannot be involved because he is not cleared to wrestle because of Kevin Owens. Cody noted that management was concerned about him even being there at all, but at the Royal Rumble, he will compete with Owens in a ladder match. Drew McIntyre’s music then hit and McIntyre walked out through the main entrance.

McIntyre took his time stepping into the ring, but he got there. McIntyre stepped towards Cody and … hugged Cody. Cody looked confused. McIntyre said he wasn’t there to hurt Cody; he was there to help Cody. McIntyre said Cody is about to screw up his entire life’s work and Drew is looking out for him. McIntyre said right now is the best generation of wrestlers WWE has ever had and Cody is the quarterback of it all. McIntyre noted how he knows what it’s like to want to compete, but management won’t let that happen. McIntyre said he can see that Cody needs a friend and Cody interrupted McIntyre.

Cody asked Drew if he wanted to help him and Drew said yes – because he always tells the truth. Cody said he and McIntyre are kindred spirits in the way they left WWE and came back for success. Cody listed off other ways they are the same, but essentially said it didn’t matter because Cody said he didn’t believe McIntyre. Cody then invited McIntyre to “come and get it.” McIntyre said he was telling Cody the truth again – he wasn’t there to hurt Cody; he was there to help Cody. Drew stepped out on the apron and told Cody he needed to watch his back. McIntyre stepped off the apron and Owens attacked Cody from behind. McIntyre slowly walked to the back.

Owens and Cody brawled in the ring and Cody briefly had control. Officials ran out to separate the two and Cody broke away to leap at Owens. Owens found himself on the outside of the ring and the two jawed at each other from afar. Owens was pushed back up the entranceway by the officials. Cody sold head pain in the ring as he scowled at Owens. Cody’s music hit to end things.

**********

– The Bloodline was shown arriving to the building earlier in the day. Naomi and Bianca Belair got the same treatment. Ditto for Nia Jax and Andrade.

Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Andrade [8:48]

It was nice to see the crowd rally behind this match by the time these two went to the finish. As for the body of the bout, it was fine enough. I’m not too much of a fan of Andrade continuously taking losses, but I’ve been whining about that for long enough in this space now that I should probably stop. I like the freshened up Nakamura a little more each time I see him. His entrance is plodding, but effective and even the face paint kind of/sort of works. This was nothing near the level of some of their matches years ago, but a solid TV match is a solid TV match and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Nakamura went at Andrade to begin the match, but Andrade rebounded quickly and hit a moonsault onto Nakamura, who was on the outside, about 40 seconds into the match, the show went to a commercial break. The show returned and Andrade was working a comeback, including a leaping elbow. Andrade fired up the crowd, but ran into a knee from Nakamura. With Andrade draped over the second rope, Nakamura landed a German Suplex before heading to the top and hitting a knee to Andrade’s head. Nakamura then ripped off the top turnbuckle covering.

Andrade dropkicked Nakamura into the exposed buckle and followed it up with a Meteora, which earned Andrade a two-count. Andrade went to the top and landed his double miss-then-make moonsault for a good near-fall. Andrade set up for The Message, but Nakamura countered … only for Andrade to land a spinning back elbow for a very good near-fall that actually looked like it should have been a three count. Andrade placed Nakamura on the top rope, but Nakamura blocked a super-plex attempt and slammed Andrade’s head on top of the ring post. Nakamura hit the Kinshasha from there and got the win.

Almost instantly after Nakamura was announced as the winner, LA Knight’s music hit and Knight pounded on Nakamura. Knight went for a BFT, but Nakamura escaped and walked away. Knight grabbed a microphone and said one way or another, he will collect what’s owed to him, which is the U.S. title. Knight then did his catchphrase to end the post-match shenanigans.

**********

– Apollo Crews were walking backstage and ran into Pretty Deadly. Santos Escobar showed up with Legado Del Fantasma and accused Pretty Deadly of lying to his faction. Los Garza then half-attacked Pretty Deadly before Nick Aldis showed up and broke things up. Aldis then told Pretty Deadly they needed to have a chat.

– Aldis was shown talking to Pretty Deadly after a commercial break and asked about who attacked the Street Profits. #DIY showed up and Aldis said all four wrestlers were on thin ice. #DIY told Pretty Deadly that it’s important they leave Phoenix as tag champs later tonight. Gargano then said “Yes, boy,” and the Pretty Deadly duo were excited.

Michin defeated Piper Niven [6:57]

A seven minute match that lost nearly three minutes to commercials. Add all the hours you want, WWE; some things will never change. This was fine for what it was and I don’t really have an issue with them running things back between Green and Michin. I don’t know how you top a Dumpster Match, if you go a stipulation route between the two, but maybe the booking minds have something good in mind.

Michin ran at Niven to start the match, but Niven caught her and ran Michin into a corner. Michin came back and took Niven down on the outside of the ring. Things were going well for Michin until Niven caught her and hit a sidewalk slam before the show went to a commercial break. The show returned and Michin had control after landing a Bulldog. Michin went for Eat Defeat, but Niven countered and went for a Cannonball, but Michin moved and hit one of her own. Michin saluted Chelsea Green mockingly and hit a Pele Kick on Niven for a two-count.

Michin went to the top, but Niven moved and landed a Piper Driver on Michin for a two-count. Niven set up for a Vader Bomb, but Michin got her feet up. Michin followed that up Eat Defeat and got the win.

**********

– Paul Heyman was shown entering the arena as the show went to break.

– A Naomi vignette aired when the program returned.

The Paul Heyman/Bloodline segment

This was a good go-home segment for the Tribal Combat match on Monday, especially if Roman was never going to show up. I also like touch that had Sikoa never get physical with Heyman. Does that mean Heyman might be in cahoots with Sikoa and his version of the Bloodline now? Probably not, but I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t feel like a swerve is coming one way or another on Monday. Also: Man, this show missed Paul Heyman. He makes good things great and great things can’t-miss. I don’t know why they didn’t advertise his appearance beforehand. Makes you wonder if a Reigns appearance might have been in play up until the final minutes. Then again, there is more Bloodline later on in the show.

Heyman walked into the ring and did his “Ladies and gentlemen …” thing. Heyman said he wanted to set something straight – on Monday, they will find out who is the real Tribal Chief. Heyman said Roman Reigns and Heyman trained Solo Sikoa to become the next Tribal Chief – but not right now. Heyman then recalled everything that happened at WrestleMania 40 and said Sikoa sized the moment and stole the Ula Fala from Reigns’s bag. Heyman called Sikoa a “twisted son of a b#@!.”

Heyman said Sikoa went out and found a band of filthy animals who don’t belong in pro wrestling. He said Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa, who aren’t welcome in the United States and cited Jacob Fatu as someone who isn’t even welcome in the United States prison system. Heyman said on Monday, there must be a winner and there must be a loser. Heyman said the only Tribal Chief Roman Reigns will win on Monday. Heyman started to walk out of the ring and Sikoa’s music hit. Out came Sikoa, who was alone.

Sikoa stood across from Heyman in the ring and the crowd chanted “OTC!” Heyman said he was about 10 seconds away from pissing in his pants because the last time they did what they were doing, Sikoa had Heyman put through a table. Sikoa put out his hand for Heyman’s microphone and Heyman gave Sikoa the mic. “Solo sucks!” chants began. Sikoa told Phoenix, Arizona to acknowledge him and the boos broke out.

Sikoa said it was time for Heyman to come to terms with the truth. Sikoa said Heyman owes CM Punk a favor and now Sikoa was asking Heyman for a favor – to hold the Ula Fala during Monday’s Tribal Combat match. Sikoa said if Roman wins, Heyman will put the Ula Fala around Roman’s neck and Sikoa will acknowledge Roman as the Tribal Chief. However, Sikoa said when he beats Roman – and he will – Heyman will have to put the Ula Fala around Sikoa’s neck and that will mean he owns Heyman and Heyman will be Sikoa’s Wise Man forever. At that point, Sikoa said, Roman will have no choice but to finally acknowledge him.

Heyman received the microphone back from Sikoa and Heyman laid the microphone down in the mat before leaving the ring. Sikoa’s music hit to end the segment.

**********

#DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) fought Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) to a no-contest for the WWE Tag Team Championship [10:52]

The was perhaps the best MCMG WWE TV match thus far and the crowd responded as such. That’s promising because as I’ve been saying for the last couple weeks in this space, Shelley and Sabin simply have not been able to find a crowd to give a hoot about them when they make their SmackDown entrances. This was a step in the right direction. I don’t mind the copout finish – this was a tag title match that wasn’t even advertised ahead of time – but I say that only with the caveat that these two teams get more time somewhere down the line and can truly have an opportunity to move a live crowd, which it felt like they were about to do here. The other end of that? Please don’t make this a four-way ordeal that includes Pretty Deadly and Angel and Berto.

Ciampa and Sabin started the match. Sabin quickly gained the upper hand with an arm drag. Shelley tagged in and MCMG kicked Gargano to the outside. Sabin tagged in and MCMG landed a double clothesline on Ciampa. While running the ropes, Gargano tagged himself in and that led to Ciampa and Gargano being on the outside. Sabin leapt through Shelley’s legs and hit a suicide dive on Gargano and Ciampa. The show then went to a commercial break.

The show returned and the heels were on the offensive until Ciampa ran into a leaping kick from Sabin. Shelley received the hot tag and Gargano tagged in as well. Shelley landed a neck-breaker on Gargano for a two-count. Sabin tagged in the two hit stereo splashes on Ciampa and Gargano, who were on the outside. Back in the ring, Shelley tagged in and MCMG worked a series of double-team moves on Gargano before a pin attempt that Ciampa broke up.

Sabin and Ciampa traded strikes in the middle of the ring. Lots and lots of super-kicks were had by everyone all four wrestlers were down in the middle of the ring. Ciampa and Shelley wound up being the legal men and Ciampa chopped the hell out of Shelley. Shelley returned the favor. Sabin tagged in and MCMG landed a fury of double-team moves on Ciampa. MCMG went for Skull And Bones, but Pretty Deadly ran out and distracted MCMG. #DIY took advantage and it looked like Gargano was going to get the win after a super-kick, but Shelley kicked out at the last tenth of a second. Los Garza ran out to chase Pretty Deadly away and right as MCMG looked as though they might win, the brawl between Pretty Deadly and Los Garza spilled into the ring and that ended the match.

**********

– Nia Jax and Candice LeRae were talking in the locker room and Jax wondered where Tiffany Stratton was. Jax then told LeRae to make sure Bianca Belair doesn’t interfere in her match later.

– Sami Zayn was walking backstage and ran into Carmelo Hayes. Zayn talked about how Melo ran away last week and Melo said Zayn could “get this work.” Jey and Jimmy Uso showed up and asked Melo if they have a problem. Melo kind of pouted and left. Zayn walked away to get ready for the main event and the Usos ran into Kevin Owens, who told the Usos they need to watch their backs.

– Cody was walking backstage and Aldis walked up to him. Aldis said Cody seems like he’s hellbent on not making it to the Royal Rumble. Aldis pleaded with Cody to think about his future. Aldis said if Cody won’t do that, Aldis will do that for Cody. Cody said Aldis is the boss, but Cody is the champ, and because of that, he deserves the ability to call his shot. Cody said if he sees Kevin Owens or anyone who looks like Kevin Owens, he will “drop them on site.”

Nia Jax defeated Naomi to retain the WWE Women’s Championship [19:32]

Naomi started quick with a pair of kicks. Naomi went for Jax’s legs, but Jax rebounded and toyed with Naomi as a response until a drop-toe-hold took Jax down. Naomi was on the apron and Naomi kicked Jax in the head, but Jax came back with a headbutt that took Naomi to the floor. Jax posed in the ring and the show went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Naomi got caught only to be slammed by Jax for a two-count. Naomi tried to fight back, but Jax cut her off with a bodyslam and an elbow drop for a two-count. Jax worked a rear chin-lock and that was broken up when Jax ran Naomi into the ring post. Jax crushed Naomi’s head against the ring post and a two-count from Jax came after that. Jax lifted Naomi, but Naomi rolled into a sunset flip and a pin attempt. Jax hopped up and clotheslined Naomi.

Jax set up for her finisher, but Naomi kicked Jax’s leg and followed that up with a double-stomp and her split-leg-drop for a two-count. Jax ran at Naomi, but Naomi moved and Jax ran into the ring post. Jax found herself on the outside and Naomi landed a suicide dive before rolling Jax back into the ring. Naomi landed a series of double axe-handles. Naomi hit an enziguri and an impressive Samoan Drop for a good near-fall.

Naomi set up for a split-legged moonsault, but Jax cut Naomi off and put her in a Tree Of Woe. From there, Jax hit a leg drop from the second rope for a good near-fall. Jax set up for her finisher again, but Naomi pulled Jax off the ropes and landed a Tornado DDT for another good near-fall. Naomi planted Jax with a draping DDT for another good near-fall. The show then actually went to yet another commercial break at about the 13-minute mark of the match.

The show came back and Naomi landed a Blockbuster for a two-count. Out of nowhere, Naomi slammed Jax for a great near-fall. Belair and LeRae started brawling on the outside of the ring while Naomi went for a submission. Jax broke it and threw a tag title at Belair to break up the outside brawl. Jax went to the second rope and Naomi cut her off … until Jax countered with an attempted powerslam from the second rope, but Naomi countered that with a slam of her own.

Tiffany Stratton’s music hit and Stratton finally looked like she was going to cash in, but instead, Stratton hit Naomi in the head with her briefcase. After that help from Stratton, Jax hit her finisher on Naomi and got the win.

Tiffany Stratton defeated Nia Jax to become the new WWE Women’s Champion [0:04]

Finally. It felt like it was coming tonight, and I hoped it was coming tonight, and the crowd hoped it was coming tonight, and damn it, if they would have ended the segment with Stratton simply helping Jax retain, every single viewer on television and in the arena would have screamed about how this whole story jumped the shark … but it didn’t. I loved it. The crowd loved it. Actually, I loved everything about this, including the match between Naomi and Jax, who had another really good wrestling match before all the MITB stuff. Better yet, they were given almost 20 minutes, so for those of us not all that happy that SmackDown added an hour to its programming, the ability to give matches like this almost 20 minutes is a fruitful tradeoff. Naomi and Jax worked their asses off. If you watch one thing from this episode, it’d be this match. The Heyman promo is a strong No. 2, to boot. Really good stuff here. It’s fun when SmackDown gets fun, and that doesn’t happen as much as it used to these days. Kudos to everyone involved.

After the match, Jax tried to attack Belair and Stratton hit Jax with her briefcase to an enormous pop. Belair hit a KOD on Jax and Stratton threw Belair over the commentary table. Stratton then officially cashed in with Jax out. Stratton hit the Prettiest Moonsault Ever and within four seconds, Stratton was your new WWE Women’s Champion. The crowd went nuts.

**********

– A vignette setting up the Bloodline match on Monday aired.

– The Bloodline was shown walking backstage and Jacob Fatu kept screaming “I love you, Solo!” Fatu said he was going to show the world what happens when the world doesn’t acknowledge the one and only Tribal Chief. Sikoa’s music hit and the trio walked to the ring for the main event with about 35 minutes left in the program.

– Byron Saxton caught up with LA Knight backstage. Knight said he was talking to Nick Aldis about why he attacked Nakamura. Knight said he returned the favor when it came to how Nakamura attacked Knight every week before their U.S. title match last year. Knight then announced that next week, he will take on Nakamura for the United States Championship.

– The Usos and Sami Zayn made their way through the concessions stands and the crowd to make their entrances for the main event.

The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu & Tama Tonga) defeated Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso & Sami Zayn [22:37]

The outcome was predictable, if only because Sikoa is the one going into a Very Important Match at WWE’s next Very Important Event. But that didn’t take anything away from the finish, which I thought was kind of clever, with Jey thinking he had the thing won and Sikoa using the Spike to get the victory. I probably could have done without the McIntyre appearance near the end, but lest we forget: Raw on Netflix is coming and he has a match with Jey Uso. Anything over 20 minutes felt like a bit too much here, especially with the extended entrance from the babyface team, and because of that, it felt like this would have probably been a better dark match, but who am I to judge. In all, a fine-enough main event (though Tiffy’s cash in would have probably made for a better moment to end the show, if we’re being honest). Three hours, eh? We’ll see.

All six men stood in the ring and brawled immediately to start the match. Sikoa and his Bloodline found themselves on the outside of the ring and the show went to a break. Back from the break, Jey worked Fatu’s arm until Tonga was tagged in. Jey and Tonga locked up and Tonga got the best of Jey at first. Jey came back by whipping Tonga into a corner and Zayn tagged in to hit a double axe-handle from the second rope on Tonga. Jimmy tagged in and kept control for the babyfaces until Sikoa interfered and whipped Jimmy’s neck across the top rope.

Sikoa tagged in and worked over Jimmy. Before long, Jimmy got the upper hand and tagged in Zayn, who fired up against Sikoa, complete with a clothesline. Zayn came off the middle rope, but Sikoa caught Zayn and hit Zayn with a Spinning Solo. The show then went to a commercial break. Back from the break, Sikoa hit a Samoan Drop on Zayn. Zayn fired back with a chop, but Sikoa came back with a chop of his own. Tonga tagged in and worked a wild ground and pound on Zayn.

Fatu tagged in and landed a hip attack on Zayn. Sikoa tagged in and headbutted Zayn. It wasn’t long before Zayn hit a Blue Thunder Bomb on Sikoa, out of nowhere, and got the hot tag to Jey. Tonga tagged in as well, but Jey controlled Tonga with kicks, punches and chops. Jimmy tagged in and the Usos hit stereo enziguris. Jimmy and Jey then faced Fatu, who was clotheslined over the top rope. Jey hit a pop-up neck-breaker on Tonga for a good near-fall.

A brawl broke out on the outside of the ring while Tonga DDT’d Jey for a near-fall inside the ring. Fatu tagged in, but Jey super-kicked him and tagged in Zayn, who tagged in Jimmy. Jey, Jimmy and Sami hit hip attacks on Fatu and Zayn and Jey landed suicide dives on Tonga and Sikoa. Jimmy, inside the ring, hit an Uso Splash on Fatu for a two-count. Fatu super-kicked Jimmy and went to the top, where Fatu hit a splash and a moonsault on Jimmy, but Zayn broke up a pin attempt.

Fatu threw Zayn over the top rope and set up Jimmy for something, but Jimmy ran Fatu into a corner. Jey tagged in and Jimmy and Jey hit a double super-kick for a two-count. Drew McIntyre then walked out with no music or anything of the like. Jey was distracted before he hit a suicide dive on McIntyre. Jey went to the top, but missed a splash on Fatu. Fatu followed that up with a pop-up Samoan Drop for a nice near-fall. Sikoa tagged in and Jey super-kicked Sikoa. Jey speared Fatu, but Fatu wasn’t the legal man. After Jey hit a splash and went for a pin, Sikoa returned to the ring and hit the Samoan Spike on Jey for the win.

The show ended with a rundown of the Raw on Netflix card and The Bloodline standing tall in the ring.

WWE SmackDown live results: Women’s Tag Team title match

Posted on by Colin McGuire

The WWE Women’s Tag Team titles will be on the line on WWE SmackDown tonight, taped last week in Hartford, Connecticut.

With Jade Cargill out due to an injury, Bianca Belair will now team with Naomi to defend the titles against reigning WWE Women’s Champion Nia Jax and Candice LeRae. Naomi filling in for Cargill was approved last week by general manager Nick Aldis.

Johnny Gargano, one half of WWE Tag Team Champions #DIY, will go one-on-one with Alex Shelley, part of former champs the Motor City Machine Guns. It will be their first singles match since 2016.

The show is expected to feature the fallout from last weekend’s Saturday Night’s Main Event when undisputed WWE World Champion Cody Rhodes defeated Kevin Owens and then was taken out with a package piledriver after the broadcast ended.

The new Bloodline are also expected to make their presence felt tonight in addition to a surprise rematch from a recent SmackDown bout.

**********

– A video recap of Saturday Night’s Main Event opened the show.

– Bianca Belair and Naomi were shown walking backstage. Ditto for Nia Jax, Candice LeRae, Motor City Machine Guns and #DIY. Solo Sikoa’s Bloodline then made their entrance.

The Bloodline segment

I really like the Drew McIntyre wrinkle here. Between him and Kevin Owens, the modern day Paul Levesque heel is one that actually appears to be smarter than everyone around them and is simply sick and tired of being sick and tired. Who can’t relate to that? As such, it’s hard not to at least empathize with people like McIntyre and Owens, which isn’t historically what a heel should be … but hell: Welcome to the Triple H Era. Anyway, a strong verbal exchange to open the show. Sikoa has improved so much on the mic between when he started leading his version of the Bloodline and the current day.

Sikoa stood in the ring and told SmackDown to acknowledge him. Everyone booed and chanted “OTC!” Sikoa said Roman Reigns sat on his boat and challenged Sikoa to a Tribal Combat match and the crowd gave Sikoa the “What?” treatment. Sikoa stopped and said instead of saying “What?” they need to acknowledge him. The crowd went back to booing and chanting “OTC!” Sikoa proceeded to accept Reigns’s challenge for the Jan. 6 Raw on Netflix. Sikoa said he will walk out as the Tribal Chief and the Head Of The Table. Sikoa looked into the camera and told Reigns that after Jan. 6, Roman could hop back on his boat and head back to the island of irrelevancy.

Drew McIntyre’s music hit and McIntyre slowly walked out of the entranceway. McIntyre took his time getting into the ring. McIntyre grabbed a microphone and stared at Sikoa. Sikoa said he was really happy when McIntyre kicked Jimmy in the face last week. Sikoa then said Drew better have a damn good reason for why he’s interrupting him. McIntyre said he wanted to beat Sikoa within an inch of his life. McIntyre wondered if Sikoa ever wondered when Drew would come for him. McIntyre noted how Sikoa cost McIntyre the world title at Clash At The Castle and caused his family pain and misery.

However, McIntyre said that Sikoa was the only one in his family who had the balls to stand up to Roman Reigns. McIntyre wondered what he should do. McIntyre told Sikoa needs to take Roman Reigns out for good. After Sikoa does that, McIntyre said he and Sikoa could finish their business. Jimmy Uso appeared with a crutch and attacked McIntyre out of nowhere. Those two fought into the crowd and LA Knight’s music hit. Apollo Crews, Andrade and Knight ran to the ring and attacked Sikoa, Fatu and Tonga. The show then went to a commercial break.

The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga & Jacob Fatu) defeated LA Knight, Andrade & Apollo Crews [16:39 of TV time]

Goodness, gracious. A SNME video package and all Bloodline business took up the first 35 minutes of the episode. And I don’t even think we saw the full match as there was some questionable editing that popped up here. I wonder how this played with the (presumably) tired live crowd last week. Now for the real question: Is it time to wonder who LA Knight pissed off yet? The guy somehow gets over, stays over for at least a couple years, finally gets a title run, loses that title a few months later, and is now … teaming with Andrade and Apollo Crews to lose to Solo Sikoa’s Bloodline? That a bit suspect. Anyway, the match here kind of dragged (even with the editing), but it got the job done in terms of getting Sikoa a win before heading into his showdown with Reigns in a couple weeks on Raw. Fatu felt less dominant here, which was a tiny bit disappointing. Maybe an off night? Maybe a conscious booking decision? Here’s hoping for a bounce back soon.

The match was joined in progress and Crews was working over Tonga, complete with a press slam. Knight tagged in and hit a swinging beck-breaker on Tonga. Andrade tagged in and chopped Tonga. Crews then tagged back in and the two hit back elbows on Tonga for a two-count. Andrade tagged back in and kicked Tonga, but Tonga fought back a little until Andrade took Tonga down and Fatu ended up on the outside with Tonga. Crews tagged in and the two landed dual splashes on Fatu and Tonga. Knight went to the top rope and taunted Sikoa, who stayed away from the scene.

Back inside the ring, Crews attempted to keep the upper hand, but Tonga tagged in Fatu and Tafu took Crews out with a leaping elbow. The show then went to a commercial break. The show returned and Sikoa had control over Crews. Fatu tagged in and bodyslammed Crews. Fatu went for a running splash, but Crews got his knees up and and tagged in Andrade, who came in and took out Fatu. Andrade hit a Meteora on Fatu for a two-count. Andrade went to the top and landed the miss-then-not-miss a moonsault spot for a two-count.

Sikoa tagged in and Fatu fired up, lifting Andrade for a scary-looking spot as Sikoa helped Andrade over the top rope. At some point, Fatu tagged back in, but the program showed a replay of the scary spot, so nobody saw it. In any case, Fatu hit a pop-up Samoan Drop on Andrade inside the ring as the show went to another commercial break. The program returned and Fatu kept his dominance up over Andrade until Fatu went for a hip attack in a corner and Andrade moved. Ultimately, Andrade got the hot tag to Knight, who ran in and stomped on Tonga.

Knight clotheslined Fatu and hit a running knee on Tonga. Sikoa got involved, but Knight hit a neck-breaker on him. Crews tagged in and landed a splash from the top rope for a two-count on Tonga. Out of nowhere, Nakamura showed up and took Knight out while Crews worked a Crossface on Tonga. Sikoa broke that up and things broke down. Sikoa officially tagged in after dragging Tonga to their corner. Sikoa hit a hip attack, Spinning Solo and a Samoan Spike on Crews to get the win.

**********

– MCMG were interviewed backstage by Byron Saxton. Alex Shelley said he had one thought – payback. Chris Sabin chimed in and noted how Gargano showed them who he truly is. Shelley said he was going to make sure Gargano knows he made the biggest mistake of his life. Sabin looked like he was going to accompany Shelley to the ring, but Shelley told Sabin to hang back for the match.

– A video package chronicling Chelsea Green’s win on SNME aired. After that, Green was interviewed by Saxton after SNME on Saturday night. Green said she always knew she’d win and she’s worked her entire life to be an overnight success. Green said it was “red, white and green.” Saxton talked about the historical significance of the win. Green said she is in the history books, where she belongs. Green brought up being released be WWE and being passed up by WWE in the past. Green said she was going to go to Disney World to celebrate.

– Graves threw to a video package chronicling the Kevin Owens/Cody Rhodes developments from SNME.

– Owens was shown in a dark place somewhere in a building. He said what happened after SNME was not his fault. Owens said there were a lot of people to blame for it and he was screwed out of winning the championship. Owens said what happened to him was a tragedy and travesty. Owens said he should be standing there the Undisputed WWE Champion, but he’s not. Instead, he took Cody’s belt and he’s not going to give it back until he gets what he wants. Owens said he hasn’t snapped yet and it can all get a lot worse. Owens said nobody wants him to snap. Owens said what happens next is on WWE officials including Nick Aldis and Triple H.

– Gargano and Ciampa were talking backstage. Ciampa said it surprised him that Shelley is dumb because MCMG can’t win the tag titles back in a singles match. Gargano said Shelley wants his revenge and Ciampa needs to stay in the back for his match against Shelley. Ciampa told Gargano to “go get him” and said he wouldn’t move a muscle.

The Grayson Waller Effect with Braun Strowman

Close your eyes. Picture this segment. Whatever you see or whatever you think you’d see – that’s exactly what it was.

Waller welcomed everyone in and Theory made his presence known as well. Waller said his guest is the first transfer to Friday nights on SmackDown: Braun Strowman, who walked out dressed as Santa Claus. Stowman threw gifts into the crowd on his way to the ring. Once in the ring, Strowman faked going to give Waller a gift, but instead, he didn’t. Waller said Strowman helped “all the poor people in Hartford,” and Strowman responded in anger before sitting down.

Waller talked about how he invested a lot of money into his new talkshow set. Waller said he was surprised Strowman would come on the show, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense because he realized how much he’d want to be around A-Town Down Under. Strowman appeared agitated. Waller offered up the ultimate alliance – Strowman and A-Town Down. Strowman slammed his hand on the GWE desk and Carmelo Hayes’s music hit. Melo walked out with a microphone.

Melo said everyone knows his match against Strowman last week wasn’t fair. Melo said nobody can humble greatness and told Strowman he wanted to run it back “right here, right now.” Strowman said he’s show Melo what The Braun Effect is. Strowman threw some fake palm trees at Melo and a referee walked to the ring for a presumed match between Strowman and Melo – after a commercial break.

**********

Carmelo Hayes defeated Braun Strowman via count out [3:32]

Eh. I can’t say I’m a fan. Melo just can’t help but find himself in series of matches against people. At the very least, this will be a best of three with Strowman, but who knows – maybe they’ll get to best of seven and LA Knight will be the special guest referee for that seventh match. Back to this match. Strowman just came back. He was obviously protected here because a fluke count out loss is almost meaningless, but the whole thing just felt unnecessary and boring (in terms of booking, at least). Bah humbug.

Hayes started the match by kicking Strowman’s leg. Braun no-sold it. Hayes punched Strowman, but that just seemed to make Strowman angry. Hayes slid to the outside and Strowman chased Hayes around the ring. When the two got back into the ring, Melo cut Strowman off, but Strowman shoved Hayes off. Strowman threw Melo back into the ring, but Melo kicked Strowman’s leg again. Melo then jumped into an attempted chokeslam, but Melo countered by planting Strowman. Strowman got up and ran at Hayes, but Hayes pulled the top rope down and Strowman went to the outside.

Hayes ran around the ring, but Strowman took Melo down once Melo ran into Strowman. Melo leapt at Strowman, but Strowman caught Melo. Strowman threw Melo back into the ring, but nobody noticed the count was at nine. So, with Melo back in the ring, Strowman was on the outside as the referee counted to 10. So, Hayes got the win via count out. Hayes then ran through the crowd and Strowman chased Hayes.

**********

– Nia Jax and Candice LeRae were talking backstage and Tiffany Stratton walked into the frame. LeRae told Stratton to stay away from ringside during their tag match later. Stratton walked away looking dejected.

– Melo was shown walking backstage and ran into Legado Del Fantasma. Strowman showed up and asked Santos Escobar where Melo was. Angel pointed Strowman in a direction and Strowman ran into Pretty Deadly. Hayes then attacked Strowman with a chair and took Strowman out, but Strowman got up and kept walking with his mad face on.

Johnny Gargano defeated Alex Shelley [10:03 of TV time]

As I write this, we are about 20 minutes from this episode of SmackDown concluding and this has to be the most uninspired WWE television show of 2024, tape delay or not. My goodness. This match was weirdly uninteresting. Two very good wrestlers combining for a cold-as-ice bout that never clicked into any gear – not just the often-referenced “next gear,” but any gear at all. The whole thing was disappointing at best. The #DIY/MCMG thing just isn’t working and someone somewhere needs to figure out how to get both teams in a different direction.

Shelley backed Gargano into a corner and pounded on him until Gargano worked his way out and chopped Shelley. Gargano ran towards Shelley, but Shelley moved and gained control. It didn’t last for long because Gargano came right back and stomped on Shelley. The pace, early on at least, was slower than expected. With Gargano on the apron, Shelley hit a neck-breaker and then kicked Gargano in the head. Shelley followed that up with a running knee outside the ring. The show then went to a commercial break.

Back from the break, Gargano had control back inside the ring. Gargano went for a slingshot spear, but Shelley got his leg up and kicked Gargano. The two then traded chops. Shelley went for an arm bar, but Gargano countered into a roll-up for a two-count. Shelley planted Gargano and went back to work on Gargano’s arm. Shelley then chopped Gargano repeatedly. Gargano came back and kicked Shelley twice before running Shelley’s head into the second turnbuckle for a two-count.

Gargano went for a Gargano Escape, but Shelley got to his feet and before long, planted Gargano face-first into the second turnbuckle. Shelley went to the top, but Ciampa showed up and distracted Shelley. Sabin walked out and chased Ciampa away. In the meantime, Shelley hit a cross-body from the top, but Gargano rolled through and held Shelley’s tights to get the win.

**********

– Saxton interviewed Belair and Naomi guerrilla position. Naomi said she has Belair’s back forever and she said she knows how important the tag belts are to Belair and Cargill and she’d do everything in her power to make sure they win. Naomi then made her entrance for the main event.

Naomi & Bianca Belair defeated Nia Jax & Candice LeRae to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship [11:05]

I don’t know what was up with Jax appearing to be busted all types of open near the end of the match because right before the show ended, we saw Jax again and there was barely any blood to be found, but that looked nasty for a second. Either way, this was a pedestrian main event on a less-than-pedestrian SmackDown. I don’t mind taped shows, but this felt so much like everyone was mailing it in on the basis of the holidays that these two hours were a hard watch. I guess this means Naomi is officially a world tag team champion now, so it should be interesting to see what happens when Cargill rejoins the conversation. For now, this was a completely missable episode of SmackDown. Driving around to look at Christmas lights never felt more appealing.

Belair and LeRae began the match and Belair threw LeRae across the ring. Belair then lifted LeRae, but LeRae got out of it and tagged in Jax. Belair worked a headlock and then kicked Jax. Naomi tagged in and Naomi landed the split splash on Jax while Belair hit her moonsault on Jax. That was good enough for a two-count. Jax almost instantly got up and took Naomi out. From there, the show went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Belair had control until Jax tagged in and hit a Samoan Drop on Belair for a two-count. Jax went to work on Belair’s back. Belair ran at Jax, but Jax moved and Belair hit the ring post. Jax worked on Belair’s neck, but Belair fought out of it, but Jax kept Belair cut off from Naomi. LeRae tagged in and hit a missile dropkick on Belair before following that up with a Senton off Jax’s back. All of that earned LeRae a two-count.

Jax tagged back in and grabbed Belair’s braid. Belair somehow wiggled away from Jax and LeRae after there was some miscommunication amongst the heels and Naomi received the hot tag. Naomi hit an X-Factor on Jax for a two-count. Jax ran at Naomi, but Naomi moved and Jax hit the ring post. Naomi tried a split-legged moonsault, but Jax moved and set up for her finisher, but Naomi got up and hit a powerbomb on Jax, whose head was super busted open. Belair landed a 360 splash on Jax, but only got a two-count.

Stratton appeared and walked down to ringside. LeRae hit a Tornado DDT on Belair, but Naomi saved a pin attempt. Jax jawed at the referee, so the ref didn’t see the tag between Naomi and Belair. Jax grabbed the MITB briefcase from Stratton, but the ref stopped Jax from using it. Back in the ring, Naomi hit the split-legged moonsault on LeRae to get the win. After the match, Belair officially handed Naomi her tag title and the babyfaces posed in the middle of the ring. They then posed on the second rope with their belts as the show went off the air.

WWE Survivor Series WarGames live results: Bloodline vs. OG Bloodline

Posted on by Steve Khan

WWE returned to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Saturday for Survivor Series, headlined by The Bloodline vs. the OG Bloodline in a five-on-five WarGames match.

The show will also feature a women’s WarGames match with teams headed up by blood rivals Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley.

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Gunther will defend the title against former champion Damian Priest while U.S. Champion LA Knight defends against Shinsuke Nakamura, and Intercontinental Champion Bron Breakker defends against Ludwig Kaiser and Sheamus in a three-way.

**********

Date: November 30, 2024
Location: Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC 

**********

Show Recap — 

COUNTDOWN SHOW —

A large crowd was outside Rogers Arena watching the preshow despite the chilly weather and light rain. Michael Cole, Big E, and Wade Barrett hosted the first portion of the preshow.

There was a long history of WarGames video package. 

They started counting down the top 10 Survivor Series moments. Number 10 was Shawn Michaels winning the world title in the first Elimination Chamber match in 2002. 

To kill more time, they aired a video of male wrestlers reacting to their WarGames match from last year. 

********

Gunther & Ludwig Kaiser interview 

Cathy Kelley interviewed Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser. Kelley said people were questioning Gunther’s confidence. Gunther said it would be up to him to show them. Gunther quickly moved on and was happy that Kaiser had an IC title match. Kaiser called it a special night for both of them. The title has lost all prestige since Gunther lost it and it would be up to Kaiser to restore it.

Bron Breakker interview 

Jackie Redmond interviewed Bron Breakker (wearing a Scott Steiner t-shirt). Bron respected both of his opponents. However, Bron warned Kaiser that he wasn’t the one he should be trying to prove himself against. 

Meanwhile, Sheamus bought into false hope he read online that made it seem like he should just be given the IC title because he’s never won it before. It didn’t work like that. Bron played for the Baltimore Ravens and never won a Super Bowl but that didn’t mean he should just be given a ring. Bron told Sheamus to go to the retirement home. 

******** 

The number 9 Survivor Series moment was Iyo Sky hitting a dive while in a trash can at WarGames last year. Number 8 was Steve Austin being run over by a car in 1999. 

The announcers spoke about their favourite Survivor Series moments. I only bring this up because Cole said he always thinks of the Montreal Screwjob. This, of course, got booed because they’re in Canada. His actual favourite was the debut of the Shield, specifically mentioning Dean Ambrose along Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. He noted the impact they’ve had and where they are now in their careers. 

They aired the backstage footage of CM Punk’s return last year.

They did a feature on a fan from Victoria, BC who has been campaigning for years to bring WrestleMania to Vancouver. 

The number 7 Survivor Series moment was the “Rocky” debut of Rocky Maivia. Number 6 was WWF defeating The Alliance in 2001. (Vince McMahon was not shown.) Number 5 was Becky Lynch beating Charlotte Flair in a champion vs. champion match in 2021. Number 4 was The Rock and John Cena beating Miz and R-Truth in 2011. 

To kill even more time, there were videos throughout the show of Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods hanging out at WWE HQ.

Kelley interviewed William Regal. He put over WarGames and was happy to be part of it tonight.

The number 3 Survivor Series moment was The Shield debuting to help Punk retain the title over Cena and Ryback. Number 2 was Punk’s return last year. Number 1 was the debut of the Undertaker in 1990. 

Women’s WarGames will open the show. 

WWE SURVIVOR SERIES 2024 —

Michael Cole and Corey Graves are tonight’s announcers. 

Vancouver Canucks anthem singer Elizabeth Irving sang the American and Canadian national anthems.

The two women’s teams, LA Knight, the new Bloodline, Paul Heyman (wearing a suit and tie), CM Punk, Sami Zayn and Jey Uso, and Roman Reigns and Jimmy Uso were shown arriving at the arena. 

After the show intro, Cole ran down the rules of WarGames. 

********

The women entered separately. The first entrance was at 6:08 pm and the match started at 6:16 pm. 

Ripley wore a cool custom protective mask. Bayley had “WAR” shaved into the side of her head. The Smackdown heels wore matching white and black gear, while the Raw heels wore matching black and white.

Women’s WarGames: Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Iyo Sky, Naomi & Bayley defeated Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan, WWE Women’s Champion Nia Jax, Tiffany Stratton, Raquel Rodriguez & Candice LeRae (38:11) 

Bayley and Jax started. They were even for the first five minutes but Jax drove Bayley into the cage with a hip attack right before Naomi entered. 

Naomi used a colourful kendo stick (to match her gear). The crowd chanted “Happy birthday” to Naomi (she turned 37 today). Naomi had also brought a toilet seat in the ring and she placed it over Jax’s head and did the stink face. 

Candice LeRae entered next. The crowd booed because they wanted Stratton. The babyface advantage made no difference because Jax fought off her opponents and was standing tall by the time LeRae entered. They placed Bayley on top of two upright chairs and LeRae gave her a springboard moonsault. 

Belair entered next and she brought in a fire extinguisher and table, to the delight of the crowd. The babyfaces finally did gain control as Stratton entered next. 

Stratton smashed Belair over the head with a trash can lid (a rare shot to the head in WWE these days, but Belair definitely got her hands up). It was 3-on-3 and the heels easily took over thanks to Stratton. Naomi targeted Jax and hit her as lightly as possible with a chair. 

Sky entered next and she got a decent reaction. She grabbed a purple and gold trash can and immediately climbed up the side of the cage instead of entering the door. Sky placed the can on top of the cage but LeRae cut her off. Sky knocked her off the cage and hit a flying dropkick. 

Rodriguez entered next. Everyone waited around as she looked for something under the ring but I don’t think she ever found what she was looking for. She helped her team gain the advantage, even though, again, the teams are even. 

The crowd chanted “We want Mami,” as Jax and Rodriguez took a page out of AOP’s book by powerbombing Sky and Naomi into each other before powerbombing them onto Belair and Bayley. 

Ripley entered next. She went after Rodriguez but Stratton made the save. The heels had control even though the babyfaces had the numbers advantage. Naomi made a save for Ripley. 

With everyone down, it was time for the crowd to chant, “This is awesome.” (Objectively, this match has been poor so far.) 

Everyone traded moves which included the toilet seat and Belair’s braid being used as a weapon. Ripley used her face mask to headbutt Jax. 

Ripley stood tall and awaited Morgan who was the final entrant. Morgan marched to the back to grab a baseball bat. Morgan entered the match “officially” started 27 minutes in. 

Ripley removed her face mask and attacked Morgan but Jax saved her from a Rip-tide. Heels held down Ripley, and Morgan whaled her repeatedly in the mid-section with the bat. Everyone traded moves again until Jax hit Bayley with a Samoan drop for two. 

Sky climbed the right side of the cage even though nobody was in that ring. Stratton climbed the other side as the remaining eight wrestlers split into groups of four. They brawled with each other and awaited the biggest spot of the match. Sky placed the garbage can over her body and wiped out one group with a moonsault off the cage, while Stratton wiped out the other group with a senton bomb. 

Stratton seemingly looked for a weapon but pulled out her MITB briefcase instead, which got a big pop. Stratton seemed unsure which champion to cash-in on. Rodriquez screamed at her until Sky sprayed them both with the fire extinguisher. Ripley handcuffed Rodriguez to the top rope. 

Former Damage CTRL teammates Bayley and Sky argued until Jax knocked them both down. Belair and Naomi drove Jax through a table with a double powerbomb but Morgan broke up the cover with a bat shot on Naomi. 

Morgan gave Bayley an Oblivion with a chair but Ripley broke up the cover. Ripley set up Morgan for Rip-tide but Rodriguez was still able to break it up even though she was handcuffed. Morgan hit Ripley with a chair-assisted Codebreaker. 

Morgan and Ripley battled atop the top rope until Ripley hit an avalanche Rip-tide through a table for the pinfall win. The crowd was happy. The winning team posed together atop the cage. 

(If you missed this, you can just watch from the 28 minute mark after everyone enters. Even then, this wasn’t much of a match outside of two or three big spots.)

Cole announced a sold-out crowd of 17,828. This is the largest WWE arena gate in Canadian history. 

(They also plugged Elimination Chamber in Toronto, a show I will attempt to attend.) 

******** 

They used the noise meter graphic for LA Knight’s entrance. They put it up before his entrance but the meter didn’t go up the way they expected when his music hit (even though he did get a good reaction) so they quickly took it down. 

Nakamura wore all black. 

Shinsuke Nakamura defeated LA Knight to win the United States Championship (9:43) 

Knight had the advantage for the first four minutes until Nakamura hit a back elbow. Knight came back with a safe version of a burning hammer. Knight tried a leaping superplex but Nakamura saw it coming and hit an avalanche reverse exploder for two. 

Knight avoided a Kinshasa and hit a flying elbow drop. Instead of going for a cover, he set up for BFT but Nakamura rolled in between the two rings, onto the metal plate joining the rings. 

Knight went after him but Nakamura raked his eyes and hit a reverse DDT onto the metal plate. Nakamura followed with a Kinshasa for the pinfall win. Nakamura is a three-time US Champion. 

The crowd was quiet for the match but popped for the surprise win. 

(On the preshow, Redmond said a WWE title has never changed hands in Vancouver, so this would be a first if that’s true.) 

********

There was a sponsored segment where Maxxine Dupri and Akira Tozawa gave Otis a new t-shirt to try on. Otis put it on and loved the shirt but was wearing nothing below the waist. He walked bare-assed down the hallway (this was blurred.) 

Belal Muhammed was shown in the crowd. 

******* 

Cole said Kaiser has had an incredible year. In 2024, he has a 8-16 record on TV, 7-7 in singles matches. 

Triple Threat Match: Bron Breakker defeated Sheamus and Ludwig Kaiser to retain the Intercontinental Championship (14:25) 

Kaiser attacked Sheamus outside the ring until Bron hit him with an incredible leaping shoulder tackle. Bron took control over Sheamus in the ring and took time to do some push-ups. Sheamus and Kaiser wound up fighting outside the ring until Bron wiped them both out with a leaping clothesline over the announce table. 

Sheamus was dumped into the crowd but he wound up hitting ten beats of the Bodhrán to both guys over the barricade. Kaiser grabbed Sheamus’ shillelagh but Sheamus took it away and knocked him over the barricade with it. 

Bron invited ‘old man’ Sheamus back into the ring so Sheamus hit him with a Celtic Cross for a nearfall. Bron came back with a Frankensteiner. He went for a spear but Sheamus dodged it and Bron crashed into a chair that was wedged between the ropes. 

Sheamus followed with a Brogue Kick and had it won but Kaiser yanked the referee out of the ring right before the potential three count. The crowd booed. Kaiser hammered away at Sheamus with the shillelagh. Kaiser was proud of himself until Sheamus nailed a knee strike for a nearfall. The crowd chanted, “This is awesome.” 

Kaiser hit Sheamus with a Finlay/Kaiser roll and DDT but Bron killed Kaiser with a spear. Bron followed with a spear to Sheamus for the pinfall win. 

(This was good. The crowd was into Sheamus and Bron but it seemed like they wanted to see Sheamus finally win the title.) 

********

(So much time passed between the last match and this one that I got logged out of WordPress due to inactivity.) 

Gunther defeated Damian Priest to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (19:18) 

Priest hit a shoulder tackle early on and appeared to hurt his shoulder. The ref checked on him but Priest immediately waived him off. Gunther was out of the ring and smiled when he saw this. 

They kept wrestling but after Priest hit a slam, he started selling his shoulder again. As the ref checked on Priest, Gunther took advantage and booted his shoulder. Gunther targeted Priest’s shoulder from there until Priest eventually hit an enziguri. 

The crowd was quiet but they woke up a bit as Priest fired up for his comeback. He hit a flatliner for two. Priest tried for a Razor’s Edge but he couldn’t do it because of his shoulder. Priest instead applied a triangle choke but Gunther escaped and applied a sleeper before hitting a powerbomb for two. 

Priest hit a hurricanrana off the top and finally hit the Razor’s Edge for two. Priest failed twice to hit a chokeslam thanks to his shoulder and Gunther responded with a Kimura but Priest got a rope break. (The Kimura was the second reference to Brock Lesnar on WWE programming this week.)

Gunther played to the crowd as he repeatedly clotheslined Priest. Priest came back with a lariat for two.  

They battled on the top rope until Priest shoved Gunther into the ring but Priest fell to the outside as a result. (A few idiots chanted “You f*cked up,” not realizing this was the planned spot. And it’s a dumb chant anyway.) 

The ref checked on Priest but Priest told him to give him a second. As the ref checked on Gunther, Finn Bálor ran down and gave Priest a Coup de Grace off the steel steps. The ref saw Bálor but didn’t think anything of it. 

Gunther booted Bálor for fun before giving Priest a powerbomb. Gunther applied a sleeper until Priest passed out. Gunther retained. 

Cole said Gunther was pissed at Bálor because he wanted to prove he could win on his own. 

(This was pretty good but not great. I’m not sure weeks of making Gunther act like a wimp really helped. They could go to another rematch based on this so Gunther can finally prove himself. In this build to this match, Priest called himself the king of the streets, so they could do a street fight.) 

******** 

The new Bloodline and Bronson Reed entered together, wearing all black. The original Bloodline entered separately (as the women did earlier), wearing red and black. 

Zayn, Jimmy, Punk, Reigns and Jey enter in that order. The crowd assumed Jey would entered after Jimmy but he didn’t (they began chanting “Yeet” after Jimmy’s entrance). Jey entered last, in part because he was starting the match. But he also entered last at the previous PPV. 

After Sikoa’s team was already in their cage on the stage, Punk shoved one of them from the outside to rile them up. Punk and Reigns awkwardly entered their cage together, along with Jimmy and Sami.

Men’s WarGames: Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso & CM Punk defeated Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa & Bronson Reed (41:53) 

Jey started against Tama Tonga. Tama got the heat on Jey and went for a cover, but of course, there are no falls until everyone enters. The crowd chanted, “You f*cked up.” 

Jey fought back just in time for Bronson Reed to enter. Reed, who has killed people with his finishing move, decided to grab a bunch of chairs and toss them in the ring. Jey chucked the chairs at Reed but Reed ran him over with a body block. The heels worked over Jey as the crowd took turns lightly chanting for Zayn and Punk. 

Jimmy entered next and wiped out both heels on his own before helping Jey to his feet.  The Usos worked well together and took control. 

Tonga Loa was about to enter next to the dismay of the crowd, but Sikoa held him back and Jacob Fatu entered instead. Jey gave him a Samoan drop but Fatu popped right up and knocked him down. The heels took over. 

Punk was about to enter next but Reigns blocked the door. Reigns nodded at Zayn who entered instead. Punk stared a hole through Reigns. 

The crowd chanted “Olé” for Zayn who ran wild on the heels. Fatu caught him out of the air but Jimmy superkicked Fatu. Zayn and Jimmy did their special handshake before putting the boots to Fatu. 

The heels took over anyway as they often do and Tonga Loa entered next. It’s like they knew he wouldn’t get a reaction because the first thing he did was grab a table. This normally gets a big pop — Raquel Rodriguez got a pop earlier before putting the table away — but poor Tonga Loa didn’t get a reaction. 

The heels took over and you can skip the three minutes of action. The clock ran down and Reigns was about to enter next, but because he moves so slowly, Punk ran by him and entered instead. 

Punk teased that he wouldn’t get in the ring, but instead grabbed a tool box (like the one that busted open Drew McIntyre) and used it as a weapon against the heels. 

Punk took out everyone and gave Fatu a bulldog onto the toolbox but Fatu popped right up and knocked him down. 

Sikoa entered next with the new Bloodline firmly in control. Fatu gave The Usos (who were stacked up) a moonsault and Reed gave Zayn a Tsunami. Punk tried to fight back but they swarmed him. 

Sikoa brought his own chain and lock and locked the door. Reigns entered 15 seconds later but he couldn’t get in the ring. I guess they didn’t watch the women’s match earlier when Iyo Sky climbed the cage voluntarily. Reigns did that here and it didn’t get much of a reaction because we saw it already. 

Reigns wiped out the heels with a cross body off the ropes and the match “officially” began about 29 minutes in. Reigns helped his friends up to their feet—except Punk. Punk got up on his own and got in Reigns’ face. Paul Heyman entered ringside and tried to rally his guys. 

The two teams stood tall in each ring, 30 minutes into the match, and faced off. 

After some stalling, there was a spot where Reigns went for a spear on Sikoa but he moved and Reigns speared Punk by accident (as Punk set up Fatu for a GTS). This wasn’t timed well so it didn’t look good at all. Sikoa gave Reigns the Samoan Spike for a nearfall. 

Fatu went for a step-up moonsault but he tripped and began tending to his leg. Reigns speared Fatu moments later. 

Reed placed Reigns on a table and climbed all the way to the top of the cage. He went for Tsunami but Punk pulled Reigns to safety and Reed crashed through the table. The crowd chanted for Punk. Reigns helped Punk to his feet and the crowd popped but Fatu attacked them both. 

Sikoa gave Reigns the Spike but the Usos superkicked him. The Usos gave Fatu a 1D. Jey speared Loa, Zayn gave Tonga a Blue Thunder Bomb, and Jimmy splashed Fatu through a table off the top of the cage. 

Zayn helped Jimmy, Jey and Punk to their feet, while the Usos helped Reigns to his feet. The new Bloodline was down as Sikoa got to his feet. Sikoa was on his own against the originals. 

Sikoa ate superkicks by the Usos, a Zayn Helluva Kick, a Punk GTS, and a Reigns spear. Reigns pinned Sikoa for the win. 

— Reigns, Zayn, Jey and Jimmy hugged as Punk looked on. Punk embraced Jimmy, Jey and Zayn individually. Reigns offered Punk a handshake and Punk obliged. Punk hugged Heyman and told him that when he’s owed a favour, he was coming for it. 

Reigns put his arm around Heyman for a moment but did not hug him and kind of moved on quickly. 

Punk initially left on his own but came back out. The babyfaces posed together with Heyman. 

(This came to a nice conclusion, I guess, but I wouldn’t call it a good match. Like the opening match, you can skip everything that happened before the final competitors entered. The two WarGames matches totalled 80 minutes and you could skip a full 60. That’s not a good thing.)

WWE Crown Jewel review: A show that happened

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Image: WWE

In case you missed it, there was a WWE premium live event on Saturday in Saudi Arabia.

Cody Rhodes and Liv Morgan won their Crown Jewel championship matches, earning huge, gaudy-looking title belts….that were immediately walked over to WWE’s amusement park/museum/whatever it is a short walk away from the arena and put on display, not to be seen on television for at least a year.

Does this all matter? Not really. Will it be talked about much on Monday? My feeling is no.

Saturday’s show in Riyadh was fine, easy to watch, and went by fast. It advanced the latest in the Bloodline drama, the centerpiece of WWE storytelling at the moment. It was a typical show in Saudi Arabia where the focus was making the country happy by giving them a gimmick that’s for them and them only because they are very special. You get very special status, after all, if you give WWE $100 million dollars a year for two shows.

Crown Jewel’s main event saw Rhodes defeat Gunther with the Bret Hart finish from WWE WrestleMania VIII to become the men’s Crown Jewel Champion. This was a fine main event, but I wouldn’t call it outstanding. The heat was just kind of there and I was expecting more from these two, especially when you consider that this was a champion vs. champion match. But like most of these matches, it is unlikely I will remember most of it by this time next month.

The women’s Crown Jewel Championship went to Morgan who defeated Nia Jax after 1000 people interfered in a match that was not that good. Okay, now I want to talk about my least favorite storyline in WWE right now which is Tiffany Stratton teasing the MITB cash-in. You see, WWE loves to do this tease each year. They spent most of last year and this year with Damian Priest agonizing over whether or not to shoot his shot, and now it’s Stratton’s turn.

After so many years of the same trials and tribulations, it’s boring and trite to see this play out yet again. This year, they have turned up the annoyance factor to 11 as Stratton teases cashing in this briefcase in every single solitary segment she is in. It has now become her entire character. To be frank, I don’t care if she cashes in anymore, especially against Nia Jax who is well on her way to winning Most Overrated in the Observer Awards.

As usual, the Bloodline vs. Bloodline six-man tag match was more about furthering their story than what went down in their match. Not that this was bad, as it was heated and there was some good action here and there, but the story coming out of the match is stronger than the match itself with Solo Sikoa pinning Roman Reigns to score the win for his team, setting up a future singles match down the line. As the new Bloodline picked the bones of the old after the match, Sami Zayn came down for the save but took out Reigns by accident. So not only are Jey Uso and Reigns still not getting along, Zayn has inserted himself back into the story and no one trusts anyone, especially after The Usos saw Zayn talking to Sikoa on SmackDown. Intriuge, especially with Survivor Series just weeks away!

The United States title match saw LA Knight retain the title over Andrade and Carmelo Hayes. Probably the right choice as he’s way more over than the other two despite the good matches Andrade and Hayes have been having on SmackDown. This was cool and had some neat spots, but it didn’t last that long. Knight has now beaten both of these guys multiple times, so I don’t know where you go with them after this. Maybe they’ll just wrestle against each other forever. 

Kevin Owens and Randy Orton didn’t have a match. Instead, they brawled, took out officials, and capped it off with Owens giving Orton an elbow off a platform onto a bunch of tables. Owens is definitely in line for a title match sooner than later, so him doing a job doesn’t make sense and I feel Orton is also getting a title shot somewhere down the line. What happened here was probably for the best.

Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill retained their Women’s Tag Team titles in a pretty good four-way match that was filled with action. This had its strong moments, particularly whenever Damage CTRL were on offense. We’re kinda just waiting to see where the Belair and Cargill team goes as WWE will want to split them, but when will they pull the trigger?

Seth Rollins defeating Bronson Reed was fine, but I kinda expected more of a wild brawl all around the ring and while the finish played into that, most of this was just a wrestling match — a perfectly fine wrestling match, yes, but just a match nonetheless. Reed immediately got back up to his feet after taking a curb stomp, so there’s probably more here to come.

So that wraps up Crown Jewel, a show that will go down in the record books as a Show That Happened. Up next for WWE is Survivor Series, where we’ll likely see Bloodline vs. Bloodline. Finally!

Fight Game: AEW All In preview

Posted on by Garrett Gonzales

John LaRocca and I are back to talk about the major topics in the world of wrestling on this week’s Fight Game Podcast. Jeremy Finestone from Speaking of Strong Style joined us in the last half of the show to go over the fallout from this year’s NJPW G1 and preview Sunday’s AEW All In.

We recorded this show live on the F4W YouTube free channel, which you can watch below.

We kicked off with our Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down winners and losers of the week before going through our Top Five topics which included:

  • The upcoming PPV/PLE schedule over the next three weeks
  • The continuation of the Judgment Day saga in WWE
  • If Solo Sikoa is still relevant in the Bloodline storyline
  • G1 Climax 34 fallout and predictions for Wrestle Kingdom
  • AEW All In preview

Click Here to Listen (sub needed)

The Latest: Bloodline attacks Paul Heyman, more from SmackDown

Posted on by Denise Salcedo

Welcome to another episode of The Latest with Denise Salcedo breaking down the biggest wrestling news headlines of the week so far.

Topics:

  • The Bloodline attacks Paul Heyman on WWE SmackDown
  • LA Knight, Tiffany Stratton, Naomi qualify for WWE Money in the Bank
  • WWE announces deal to bring WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, SummerSlam to Indianapolis
  • Kayla Braxton thanks WWE on last night with company
  • Rhea Ripley & Buddy Matthews get married