Cody Rhodes is set to kick off tonight’s SmackDown from Omaha, Nebraska. His appearance will come after he was attacked by the Bloodline last Friday and ultimately forced to watch as the faction put Randy Orton through a table.
Rhodes is set to face Bloodline leader Solo Sikoa at SummerSlam on August 3 with the Undisputed WWE Championship on the line.
Also set for tonight, Logan Paul will appear. Last week, SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis granted LA Knight a United States title match at SummerSlam as long as Knight could get Paul to sign a contract for the match. Paul is set to respond to Knight’s challenge tonight.
After weeks of interacting, Michin will square off against women’s Money in the Bank briefcase holder Tiffany Stratton. Michin came up on the losing side of her match against Nia Jax last week.
On tap as well is Carmelo Hayes vs. Andrade. Hayes is looking for payback after Andrade took him out of the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match two weeks ago.
Our live coverage starts at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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– A video recapping last week’s Bloodline/Cody/Randy Orton drama opened the show.
– Corey Graves welcomed everyone into the show inside the arena. Cody’s music hit and off we went with the first segment.
The Cody Rhodes segment
Basic stuff. Hard as they try – and it’d be unfair to say that WWE hasn’t at least somewhat heated up the SummerSlam main event between Sikoa and Cody – but the match still doesn’t feel like a Big Show title match and we’re two weeks and one day away from it. So, it’s tough to buy into Cody firing up over Sikoa or the Bloodline as long as Roman Reigns or The Rock isn’t around, and as such, these kinds of promos always feel lacking. Meanwhile, Theory & Waller are great foils and they played their parts well here, but can we get to their split already? At this point, it feels overdue.
Cody walked out not in a suit and instead in one of his American Nightmare shirts with the sleeves cut off. Boxer Terence Crawford was shown sitting in the front row and Cody walked over to him for a fist-bump before hopping into the proceedings. The crowd started loud “Cody!” chants. Cody opened by saying he wants to talk about Randy Orton. Cody said before Orton was a friend, he was a mentor and he wouldn’t be standing there as Undisputed WWE Champion without Randy Orton. A “Randy!” chant began and Cody paused.
Cody talked about feeling guilt that the Bloodline put Orton through a table last week. Cody called Orton family and his brother. Cody said Orton wouldn’t want Cody to talk about guilt and shame and instead, Cody said he wanted to talk to the camera and the man responsible for the attack: Solo Sikoa. Cody remembered how he told Sikoa that Sikoa wasn’t ready before WrestleMania 39. Sikoa paid Cody back by costing Cody the title at that ‘Mania. Cody said “The Enforcer” was a cute nickname, and somewhere Arn Anderson smiled. As Cody kept going on, A-Town Down Under’s music hit and Austin Theory, alongside Grayson Waller, walked out.
Theory noted how Jacob Fatu attacked Theory last week because of Cody. Theory said his cheek was swollen and Cody said that was because Waller kneed Theory in the face. Waller and Theory got on the apron as Waller told Cody he wouldn’t have won his title without Orton and stepped into the ring … but Cody attacked Theory and Waller quickly. The tag team worked the numbers advantage and threw Cody to the outside, oddly enough, near where Crawford was and Crawford gave Cody a chair. Cody took care of Theory and Waller with the chair and Cody’s music hit to end the segment.
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– Carmelo Hayes was shown getting his hair worked on in a dressing room. The video was stylized and Hayes spoke to the camera saying he’d beat Andrade.
– Cody was walking backstage and ran into Nick Aldis. Cody asked Aldis if he could take on Waller & Theory in a handicap match later. Aldis responded by saying Cody has until the end of the night to find a partner.
Andrade defeated Carmelo Hates [9:45]
For something that felt sort of thrown together, this was one of the better undercard SmackDown matches in recent memory. Both guys came to prove a point and they did just that. Good stuff. Not really having a feel for who might win added to it, too, because both guys haven’t been lighting the world on fire since hitting the SmackDown roster, so the stakes here felt weirdly higher than I expected. My only complaint was that we lost a couple minutes of it to a commercial break, but SmackDown is going to SmackDown. We can always rely on that.
The action was fast early as the two traded a series of takedowns and pin attempts. Both guys cut each other off repeatedly, but Hayes ultimately took control with a backwards draping springboard leg drop onto Andrade, who was hanging from the second rope. The show then went to a commercial break with Hayes having the advantage.
The show returned and a replay of a Spanish Fly aired as Hayes worked Andrade’s arm. The two ran the ropes and Andrade landed a tough clothesline to reset the match. On their feet, the two traded strikes until Andrade hit a pair of dragon-screw leg-whips. Andrade pumped up the crowd (and the crowd complied) before hitting a running double-knees on Hayes. Before long, Hayes came back with a tilt-a-whirl face-buster.
Hayes and Andrade battled on the top rope and Andrade executed his missed monsault into a standing moonsault sequence that the crowd really seemed to love for a nice near-fall. The two traded more strikes until Andrade got in his spinning back-elbow for another good near-fall. Andrade went to the top and jumped into a First 48, but Andrade kicked out at 2.8. Hayes went to the top and missed Nothing But Net and from there, Andrade hit The Message for the win.
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The Bayley/Nia Jax segment
The two were shown on a split screen. Jax cut off Corey Graves, who tried to ask a question. Jax said everyone should start feeling bad for Bayley because Jax is going to put Bayley down at SummerSlam. Bayley said Jax hasn’t changed after all these years. Jax demanded to be called the Queen of the Ring. Bayley said Jax walks around like she owns the place and Bayley recalled how Jax took Bayley out of her SummerSlam match in 2017. Bayley called Jax “big, clumsy and reckless.”
Jax stewed and got silent for a second. Jax said she’s coming for the title because she wants to take it off Bayley. Bayley responded by saying she has bad news for Jax: Bayley said she has changed after all these years herself and she will walk out of SummerSlam with the WWE Women’s Championship. Jax was flustered, tore the mic off her shirt and stormed out of the frame to end things.
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– Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair were shown walking backstage and they ran into Chelsea Green and Piper Niven, the latter of whom called Cargill and Belair losers. Both teams wanted to talk to Nick Aldis and stood outside of Aldis’s office. Belair challenged Green to a match and just like that, we went to the ring.
Bianca Belair defeated Chelsea Green [0:56]
The match wasn’t even a minute. That’s all.
Green started the match by slapping Belair in the face and Belair returned the favor. Belair followed that up with a German Suplex. Soon after that, Belair set up for a KOD, but Green worked out of it to roll Belair up … only to have Belair roll Green up for the win. Cargill celebrated with Belair in the ring and Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn popped up on the video screen. The champs said “we’ll see” about a tag title rematch.
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The LA Knight/Logan Paul contract signing
This was good and surprisingly stiff. The match had some heat already, but these two pulled no punches in this verbal exchange. I wasn’t able to grab all the one-liners in real time so if you can go back to watch the segment, I’d suggest doing it because it’s worth it. The story that Knight has given his life to wrestling while Paul could take it or leave it is compelling because it’s probably not all that far from the truth. Calling Knight by his real name actually packed a tiny punch in this situation, too, which doesn’t happen much anymore because it happens too much across all companies. I liked this a lot. Both guys were very good.
Nick Aldis stood in the ring and introduced LA Knight. The crowd, still, even after all this time, was very much into LA Knight. Paul then made his entrance and the crowd boo’ed the hell out of him. “LA Knight!” chants broke out. Paul lobbed a lot of insults at Knight and asked the crowd why he should give Knight a shot at the U.S. title. Knight got a microphone said maybe Paul was right and maybe Paul should take a walk … but then Knight recounted how he walked down the aisle a year ago and told Paul where he could stick his bottles of Prime.
In the meantime, Knight pointed out, Paul became U.S. champion. Knight called Paul the man as long as he holds the U.S. title. Knight said he thought he’d ask for a shot at it and Paul said no. Knight said he took things into his own hands and showed up at Paul’s house. Knight said none of it led to Knight getting what he wanted, which was the U.S. title. Paul cut Knight off and called him by his government name, “Shaun” (from Hagerstown, Maryland, as a matter of fact). Paul said Knight’s existence is defined by what Knight does in the ring but that’s not the case for Paul. He followed that up by saying the last name “Paul” is in the zeitgeist.
Paul said Knight doesn’t move like Paul and Knight is not “him” and for someone who defines himself by what happens in the ring, he hasn’t done anything noteworthy in the last 20 years. Paul made the comment that Knight isn’t The Rock, which at this point, felt dated. Knight said Paul was a fraud and said Paul’s brother would jump in the ring with Mike Tyson, but Logan doesn’t have the balls to step in the ring with Knight. That fired up Logan up and Logan signed the contract. Logan said after SummerSlam, he’ll take everything from Knight and Logan did the “Yeah!” catchphrase. Paul threw the contract at Knight and Aldis had to separate Knight and Paul.
Paul went to leave the ring and Knight picked up the contract. Knight turned his back and Paul ran back into the ring to attack Knight. The two battled and Knight nearly hit the BFT, but Paul got out of it and left the ring. Knight’s music hit to end the segment.
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– A Tiffany Stratton “Pink Bubblegum” video aired.
– Knight was shown walking backstage and ran into Santos Escobar, who reminded Knight that he was in the match at MSG a few weeks ago and Escobar did not get pinned. Knight said he has some free time and if Escobar wants to get in touch with Knight, Escobar’s mom has his number. Escobar kind of/sort of set up a match between he and Knight for next week.
Michin defeated Tiffany Stratton [8:05]
Michin is in this weird place in WWE Land. She never really gets a credible win – as in, on her own – but she does benefit from getting important victories, to the point where she even got a world title shot against IYO SKY some months ago. That said, it was nice to see her get a win here, but the story was Bayley and Jax, as that’s the place to which we are building in two weeks at SummerSlam. I’d be shocked if the Stratton/Jax story doesn’t take a major turn that night in Cleveland. But we’ll see.
Michin had control early and landed a a Cannonball for a one count. Stratton rolled to the outside and Michin ran after Stratton until Michin ran into Jax, who stopped Michin. Stratton took advantage of that and hit her cartwheel into an Alabama Slam on the outside. The show then went to a commercial break. The show returned and Stratton had control inside the ring. Stratton hit a double knees for a near-fall. Stratton followed that up with a back elbow and a makeshift pop-up powerbomb. Stratton tried the Alabama Slam again, but Michin fought out of it and hit a back elbow.
Michin fired up and landed a series of kicks, ending the fury with a neck-breaker. Michin then hit a Tornado DDT for a two-count. Stratton came back with a running kick to Michin’s chest and got a two-count out of it. Stratton put Michin on the top turnbuckle, but Michin countered with a shotgun dropkick off the top. Stratton rolled to the outside and Michin ran the ropes … until she was cut off by Jax. Stratton took advantage of that with a rolling Senton. Bayley appeared out of nowhere and threw Jax into the timekeeper’s area.
Bayley hit Jax with the MITB briefcase. Bayley then broke the briefcase open and beat the hell out of the briefcase for some reason. The result of all of this was Michin rolling Stratton up for the win. After the match, Bayley rolled the beat up briefcase back into the ring. Bayley and Michin celebrated outside the ring.
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– The Bloodline were shown in a dark room. Solo Sikoa said life is so good when you are the Tribal Chief. Sikoa said life is also busy because of that because he doesn’t have a moment to himself. Sikoa wondered who would step up and be Cody’s partner later, which, by proxy, would disrespect the Bloodline. Sikoa said if you are on Cody’s side, you are against the Bloodline. Sikoa said tonight better a handicap match or someone will pay the price.
– Next week, a six-team No. 1 contender match will happen for the WWE tag titles. Bayley & Michin will take on Jax and Stratton. Plus, there will be Knight vs. Escobar.
– Cody was shown walking backstage and Kevin Owens walked into the frame. Owens said he’d see Cody out there and we got the camera shot following Owens to the ring as Owens’s music hit.
Cody Rhodes & Kevin Owens defeated A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory & Grayson Waller) [11:59]
Different week, same story, when it comes to inserting Kevin Owens into the Randy Orton role from last week. I said this earlier, but I’ll say it again: I understand and appreciate WWE’s attempt at building the new Bloodline (Wolfpack 2.0, as I like to call them) as menaces and Sikoa has certainly gained some things by being put in this role. But … it just doesn’t feel SummerSlam main event worthy to me yet. It might never get there, actually. In the meantime, I do think these angles are doing some good for Sikoa, Loa, Tonga and Fatu (especially Fatu, who looks every bit the star we all thought he’d look if he ever made it here). I just don’t think it’s Undisputed WWE World Champ Match Worthy. On the other side of things, it’s too bad for Theory and Waller. They’re good at being the Guys To Always Lose, but come on, WWE. Let’s break these two up and start another story by now. Please?
The action spilled outside early and Theory grabbed Owens by the beard at one point. Waller held Cody before long and Theory pounded on Cody. Waller was the legal man and Waller worked over Cody until Cody fired up and got the first hot tag to Owens. Owens came in and stomped a mud hole in Waller. Everyone went back outside the ring and Owens landed clotheslines on Waller and Theory. Back inside the ring, Owens hit a Cannonball on Waller. Owens then went to the top and went for a Swanton, but Waller got the knees up and tagged in Theory, who hit a rolling dropkick on Owens.
Waller tagged in and landed an elbow on Owens for a two-count. The show then went to its final commercial break. When the show came back, Waller and Owens battled on the top rope until Owens hit Waller off the top and followed that up with a Swanton. Cody then received the hot tag and started beating the hell out of Theory. Waller got a blind tag, but Cody hit a DDT on Theory. Waller ran in and landed a rolling Facebuster for a two-count.
Theory tagged in and Waller nearly hit Theory, but Owens landed a Stunner on Waller and Cody hit the CrossRhodes on Theory for the win. Cody and KO celebrated until the Bloodline’s music hit and out came the Bloodline. Owens and Cody battled with the Bloodline outside the ring. The two set up to put Sikoa through a table but Jacob Fatu cut everything off and took out Owens while Cody watched the Bloodline work over Owens, which included multiple hip attacks from Fatu.
As Tonga and Loa held Cody, Fatu hit a flying headbutt on Owens. The Bloodline lifted Cody and they triple-powerbombed Cody through the announce table. Tonga put a chair around Owens’s neck and ran Owens into a ring post. The Bloodline posed with their fingers in the air over Cody as the show went off the air and the crowd chanted “We want Roman!”
