After winning a fatal four-way last Friday against Naomi, Nia Jax & Bianca Belair, Bayley gets her WWE Women’s Championship shot versus Tiffany Stratton on tonight’s SmackDown.
Stratton won the title two weeks ago after betraying Nia Jax and cashing in her Money in the Bank briefcase. This will be Stratton’s first title defense since winning the belt.
Bloodline member Solo Sikoa will return to television after he lost a Tribal Combat match to Roman Reigns on Raw two weeks ago. Not only did Sikoa lose the match, but he lost the Ula Fala to Reigns as a stipulation of the bout.
Los Garza (Humberto & Angel) will be in action against Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin). The former defeated Pretty Deadly while the latter beat A-Town Down Under last week to set up tonight’s match.
Also on tap, Jax will team with Candice LeRae to take on WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Belair & Naomi. Plus, Carmelo Hayes goes one-on-one with Jimmy Uso.
Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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– Joe Tessitore welcomed everyone into the show. Tessitore was shown walking through the crowd with Wade Barrett as he spoke about the history of the building. Barrett then yelled that it is Tiffy Time because she will make her first title defense tonight. Stratton was then shown walking in the parking lot earlier in the day. Bayley was shown walking backstage. Jimmy Uso and Carmelo Hayes were featured in similar spots. Tessitore then said there was only one person deserving of opening the show. Barrett called him the Hometown Hall Of Famer himself. Rey Mysterio’s music hit.
The Rey Mysterio/Kevin Owens segment
The Big Royal Rumble Declaration Announcement was cute the first few times WWE did it on SmackDown and Raw, but can we please agree it has run its course by now? Rey Mysterio is a legend by every metric fathomable, but this didn’t do much for me – not even the delusional Kevin Owens could make it compelling. Nobody actually thinks Mysterio can win the Rumble (and, for that matter, nobody actually thinks Owens is WWE’s current Undisputed Champion, either). The hometown pop was nice, and it’s always welcome to see Mysterio not have to spin his wheels in the midcard, like he’s been doing for months on WWE TV, but this fell a bit flat.
Rey stood in the middle of the ring while the crowd cheer. He soaked in “619!” chants. Rey formally welcomed everyone to Friday Night SmackDown and said it was the home of the 6-1-9. Rey said it was good to be home in front of his people. Rey said he requested to be out there because he wanted to declare his entry into the 2025 Royal Rumble. Rey noted how in 2006, he entered at No. 2 and became the winner of the Rumble match that year. He followed that up by reminding everyone how he became a world champion at WrestleMania 22.
Rey said the competition is heavy for this year’s Rumble match. He cited Drew McIntyre, CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and John Cena. Rey reflected on the fact that when he won in 2006, he did it for a friend and the crowd went bonkers with “Eddie!” chants. Out of nowhere, Kevin Owens’s music hit and Owens walked out with the Winged Eagle belt. Owens stood in the entryway with a microphone.
Owens said he was sorry for interrupting Rey, but he had to go out there because he heard Rey talk about how he was going to win the Rumble. Owens said he doesn’t respect many people more than he respects Mysterio. Owens touted how he main evented ‘Mania with Stone Cold Steve Austin and won the tag titles with his then-best friend at a WrestleMania. Owens said he stood there as the true, rightful WWE champion.
Owens said there was one thing left for him to accomplish and that was step into the ring with Rey Mysterio. Owens said he will root for Rey to win the Rumble match, but he wants Rey to promise to pick Owens as his champion to face at ‘Mania after Owens beats Cody and Rey wins the Rumble match. Rey told Owens he wasn’t the champion – with all due respect. Rey said if he goes on to win the Royal Rumble and Owens beats Cody, Rey would be more than happy to face Owens. Owens yelled at Rey, saying he is the champion and he earned it and he deserved it.
Mysterio tried to calm Owens down. Mysterio told Owens he was acting delusional – like Owens was his son Dominik. Owens tried to attack Rey with the Winged Eagle, but Rey thwarted the attempt and ran Owens out of the ring. Rey’s music hit to end the segment.
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– Naomi and Bianca were talking backstage and they talked about how they still didn’t have any leads on who attacked Jade Cargill forever-and-a-day ago. Naomi said they need to focus on tonight and getting their get-back against Jax and LeRae. Naomi told Belair to wrap her braid so they don’t repeat what happened last week when there was some miscommunication in the fatal four-way.
– Nick Aldis was shown talking to Mysterio backstage and Aldis told Rey that he will face Owens later on in the episode. Cody Rhodes walked into the shot and Rhodes told Aldis he had been cleared with a clean bill of health. Aldis said he had an addendum for the ladder match at the Rumble contract and he’d need Cody to sign it. Cody said he’d sign it once Owens signed it.
Bianca Belair & Naomi defeated Nia Jax & Candice LeRae [10:35]
A fine television match. Nothing special, but not necessarily because of the women’s work, but because these four have been stuck in a SmackDown vortex for what feels like years. Either singles or tags. Throw in Cargill, whenever she was around. Add Bayley and Tiffy every now and then. Nothing about this felt fresh. It was even kind of surprising that Jax and LeRae took the clean loss because Jax went from being Women’s Champion to losing in non-title tag matches in a matter of weeks. SmackDown’s women’s division needs a shot of life. Here’s hoping slotting Tiffy as its champion will provide that, but only time can tell.
Jax attacked Naomi to start the match. LeRae took out Belair. Jax and Belair ended up being the legal women and the heels had control. LeRae tagged in and Belair gained the advantage over LeRae. Jax interfered, but it didn’t sway Belair, who pressed LeRae out of the ring and onto Jax. Belair posed for the crowd and the show went to a commercial break.
The show returned and the heels had control. LeRae went to the second rope and went for a cross-body, but Belair rolled through and lifted LeRae for a slam, but LeRae grabbed Belair’s braid to take Belair down. It looked like Belair would tag Naomi, but Jax pulled Naomi off the apron and Belair was stuck with LeRae in the ring. LeRae kicked Belair and tagged in Jax, who Samoan Dropped Belair.
Jax ran at Belair, but Belair moved. LeRae intervened and it was enough for Jax to get to the second rope and lift Belair. Belair fought off Jax and landed a cross-body on Jax from the top rope. Naomi then received the hot tag and kicked Jax in the head before she planted Jax for a two-count. Naomi hit a split-legged moonsault on Jax, but LeRae broke up the pin. Belair tagged in, but Jax fired up against the two and dropped them both.
LeRae tagged herself in as Belair landed a spear on Jax. Belair went for a springboard move, but LeRae cut her off with a basement dropkick. Jax hit a Senton on Belair and LeRae covered Belair for a good near fall. LeRae ran at Belair, but Belair threw LeRae into a corner. Belair covered LeRae, but Jax tried to break it up with a leg drop. Belair moved and the leg came down on LeRae. Naomi then tagged in and hit her finisher on LeRae to get the win for her team.
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– Byron Saxton interviewed Bayley earlier in the day. Saxton asked Bayley what the match against Tiffy means to her. Bayley said the night will be huge for her and reflected on last year around this time when she won the Royal Rumble and beat IYO SKY at ‘Mania. Bayley said she felt like she could have done better as WWE Women’s Champion and her reign was cut short because of Tiffany Stratton. Bayley noted how Tiffy turned on her best friend and that makes her want to beat Tiffy that much more.
– Michin was shown talking with B-Fab in the locker room. B-Fab told Michin to keep her head up because Michin will eventually take Chelsea Green down. Piper Niven and Green entered the shot and Green correctly pointed out that she is the only women to successfully defend the Women’s U.S. title in history. B-Fab stood up and Niven got in her way. B-Fab said she was going to talk to Aldis about getting a match with Niven later tonight.
– Jimmy Uso was walking backstage and towards the ring. Jimmy said his brother is getting a title match, so it’s time for Big Jim to step up and try to get his. Jimmy’s music hit and the camera followed Jimmy through the entranceway and into the ring.
– Carmelo Hayes made his entrance with a microphone. Hayes walked out and said Roman is going to the Rumble while Jey has a world title shot, but Jimmy has nothing going. Melo asked Jimmy how he could take shots at him while he’s sitting on the bench. Melo told Jimmy he’d show him why Melo don’t miss.
Jimmy Uso defeated Carmelo Hayes via DQ [11:53]
This was better than I thought it would be and it’s a shame the finish was nonsense. Then again, you had to think it would be, what with Sikoa’s return advertised and Jimmy not having enough of a story with Melo to warrant a match just yet. Some of those near-falls towards the end of the match had me and they did a great job of grabbing the live crowd, too. Or, at least, the “This is awesome!” chants suggested as much. Fatu looked almost stand-offish as Sikoa made his entrance, so this next segment should be interesting to digest.
Jimmy jumpstarted the match when Melo stood on the apron and Jimmy threw Melo into the ring. Jimmy unloaded on Melo briefly, but Melo came back and stomped on Jimmy. Melo chopped Jimmy before running into an arm-drag neck-breaker combo that Jimmy hit. Jimmy went for a hip attack, but Melo moved. It didn’t matter much because Jimmy punched Melo and then suplexed Melo on the apron. Jimmy followed that up with a dive on Melo on the outside. The show then went to a commercial break.
The show returned and it was just about 9 p.m. EST. Hayes had control, as is typically what happens when babyfaces have the upper hand and the show goes to break – the heels turn it around by the time the program comes back. Anyway, Jimmy attempted to fired up and went a splash, but Melo moved and hit Jimmy with a springboard reverse DDT for a two-count. Melo ran the ropes and both guys hit clotheslines on each other at the same time. Both wrestlers were down to reset the match.
Jey took control when the two re-engaged, but Melo came back and planted Jimmy for a two-count. Melo ran the ropes and that brought into a tall pop-up Samoan Drop from Jimmy, which led to a good near-fall. Jimmy fired up the crowd and went to the top rope, but he jumped into a First 48 from Melo and that resulted in a great near-fall. “This is awesome!” chants from the crowd broke out. Melo went to the top rope, but Jimmy moved out of a Nothing But Net attempt. Jimmy followed it up with a super-kick and that led to an even better near-fall.
Jimmy landed a hip attack and lifted Melo, but Melo rolled Jimmy up for a two-count. Jimmy then speared Melo and went to the top, but Jacob Fatu appeared and stood on the ring apron. Tama Tonga then pushed Jimmy off the top rope to earn Jimmy the DQ win. After the match, Fatu hit a hip attack on Jimmy while Tonga DDT’d Jimmy. Fatu and Tonga stomped on Jimmy and Melo got to his feet to congratulate Fatu, but Fatu clotheslined Melo. Fatu then hip attacked Jimmy. Solo Sikoa’s music then hit and Sikoa walked to the ring.
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The Solo Sikoa/Jacob Fatu segment
Oh, boy, I loved the Fatu portion of this. He showed excellent fire and even though the crowd tried to hit him with the dumb “What?” treatment, he pushed through to prove his point. This was a much more grounded Fatu, too, and not just a blind follower who yells about his love for his Tribal Chief. The more serious he is, the better, and this was the most serious we’ve seen him on the mic in WWE. Anyone who has seen his work in MLW knows he has a lot more to offer than “I love you Solo!” and this was the first time WWE fans got to see that – even if it was a tiny example. As for Sikoa dropping the mic and saying nothing … I love that, too. The more open-ended things are with that side of the Bloodline 2.0, the better.
Sikoa stood in the ring and Fatu handed Sikoa a microphone. The crowd booed the hell out of everything. Before Sikoa said anything, he dropped the mic, took off his red jacket and left through the crowd. Fatu stared at Sikoa as he walked away. Fatu didn’t look happy (but when does he?). Fatu picked up the microphone Sikoa dropped. Fatu screamed, “So, this is what it comes to, huh?” Fatu said he was tired of the disrespect and the hate and the envy. Fatu said even on a bad day, nobody could touch him. Fatu said he could give a damn if anyone cheers or boos him, but one thing he won’t do is let people think he never got his.
Fatu asked if people thought he was losing it and was crazy. Fatu said the craziest thing about the situation is that he’s just getting started. LA Knight’s music then hit and Fatu squared up, but Knight ran in from the crowd and took out Fatu and Tonga. Or, well, he tried to, at least, until Fatu got the upper hand. Braun Strowman’s music then hit and Braun walked out. Tonga tried to hit Strowman with a splash, but Braun caught Tonga and disposed of him. Fatu and Braun engaged in a stare down, but Tonga pulled Fatu out of the ring to end the segment.
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– Los Garza were shown backstage and Santos Escobar walked up to them. Escobar was happy they exposed Pretty Deadly as liars last week. Escobar said Los Garza will take a tag title opportunity away from Motor City Machine Guns tonight. Escobar said if they want respect, they must take it. The LDF members came together as the scene ended.
Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) defeated Los Garza (Angel & Berto) [11:57]
This was another better-than-expected special. It’s easy to forget that Angel and Berto can work, and you had to know that MCMG would bring out the best of them, anyway, and that’s what happened here. All told, it was probably one of the better MCMG matches in WWE (save for the Pretty Deadly silliness at the end here). This presumably sets up a rematch between MCMG and #DIY, but we’ll see (Saturday Night’s Main Event, perhaps?). It’s happening slowly, but it’s also happening surely: The crowds are responding more and more to MCMG each week. It’s encouraging, even if it feels like baby steps.
Shelley and Angel started the match. They traded a series of quick moves until Angel choped Shelley and tagged Berto in and he landed a rolling moonsault on Shelley. The move was good enough for a two-count. Shelley came back with a series of chops and things broke down between the four wrestlers for a brief minute. Ultimately, Sabin and Berto were the legal men and Sabin worked a head-lock. Berto caught Sabin eventually and spin him around until Angel kicked Sabin and pulled off his rip-away pants. Berto and Angel landed kicks to the front and back of Sabin and the show went to a commercial break.
Back from break, Berto landed a wild double-team roll-over face-buster on Sabin. Angel tried to keep Sabin from gettin the hot tag to Shelley, but it didn’t work and Shelley took the heels out after becoming the legal man. Sabin tagged in and and the two hit dragon-screw leg whips on Berto multiple times for a two-count. Shelley tagged back in and worked a figure-four on Berto. Angel tried to run in, but Sabin caught him and put him in a figure-four, too. Berto got to the ropes for a break and things calmed down.
Shelley was pushed into the second rope turnbuckle via Berto and Berto followed it up with a fallaway slam for a two-count. With all four wrestlers in the ring, Los Garza hit some type of odd double-team move on Shelley (and Sabin, I guess?) to get a near-fall. “This is awesome!” chants broke out. Los Garza lifted Shelley, but Sabin saved the day and cleared the ring. Sabin hit a suicide dive on Angel and Berto on the outside. Back insdie the ring, MCMG set up their finisher, but Pretty Deadly intervened. The interference didn’t work and MCMG hit Skull and Bones on Berto for the win.
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– Aldis was walking backstage and ran into Kevin Owens. Aldis needed Owens to sign the addendum to the world title match at the Royal Rumble, but Owens said he wouldn’t sign it until Cody signed it. Owens told Aldis to stop trying to distract him as he prepares for his match against Rey Mysterio.
Piper Niven defeated B-Fab [2:18]
A glorified squash to keep the story between Michin and Green going, so it’s hard to be too mad at it. As a bonus, B-Fab got some TV time out of it, too, which is always good because as I said earlier, the SmackDown women’s division needs a freshening up and putting faces on TV that we don’t see each week is a way to do that. Let me guess: A tag involving these four wrestlers that leads to a rematch between Michin and Green for the U.S. title? You heard it here first.
Niven ran at B-Fab, but B-Fab moved and Niven ran into a corner. B-Fab planted Niven for a one-count. B-Fab ran at Niven, but Niven caught her and slammed her. With the two back on their feet, B-Fab DDT’d Niven for a two-count. B-Fab kicked Niven to the outside. B-Fab rolled Niven back into the ring and clotheslined Chelsea Green on the outside. B-Fab rolled back into the ring and Niven hit a Senton and Piper Driver for the win. After the match, Green and Niven attacked B-Fab until Michin’s music hit and Michin ran out with a kendo stick. Michin worked over Niven. Green and Niven retreated to end the segment.
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– Tessitore led a tribute to Bob Uecker, who died this week.
– Saxton interviewed Tiffany Stratton backstage. Saxton said Bayley was extremely driven to win the WWE Women’s Championship. Tiffy said Bayley has had a career of big moments, but Tiffy has had big moments, too. In fact, Tiffy said, she is a Big Moment and now it’s Tiffy Time. Tiffy said toodles and left Saxton standing in the hallway.
Kevin Owens defeated Rey Mysterio [15:33]
So … what’s this addendum Nick Aldis is adding to the contract for Cody v. Owens at the Royal Rumble? I thought this match was going to set up that reveal, but all we got was yet another brawl between Cody and Kevin. In the meantime, the match was pretty good, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel like Rey going 15 minutes doesn’t seem like the best idea these days. He held his own for the most part – and Owens made sure to take care of him – but this lost some steam as it wore down and I’m a little surprised we got a kick-out of the Stunner. So much for that move being protected to the millionth degree on WWE TV anymore. Still, it was nice to see Rey out there and even better to see a (semi) clean finish. The post-match stuff was fairly boilerplate.
Both wrestlers tuned into the crowd after the bell rang and let things simmer. Rey got the best of Owens once the two engaged. Owens threw a fit. Owens eventually knocked Mysterio to the outside. Mysterio returned to the ring and took down Owens before he tried again and Owens caught Mysterio for a slam. Owens followed it up with a Senton. Owens ran Mysterio chest-first into a corner. Owens hit a knee on Mysterio and the action spilled outside. Mysterio did the 619 spot on Owens and sent Owens into the barrier on the outside. From there, Mysterio landed a sliding splash under the bottom rope. Both guys sold pain outside the ring as the show went to a commercial break.
The show returned and Owens had the upper hand inside the ring, throwing Mysterio into a corner chest-first. Owens ran at Mysterio, but Rey moved and Owens ran into the ring post. Mysterio went to the top and hit a splash on Owens before landing a bulldog for a two-count. Rey set up for a 619, but Owens got back to his feet and super-kicked Mysterio. Owens went for a pop-up powerbomb, but Mysterio turned it into a tilt-a-whirl DDT for a two-count.
Owens was perched on the top rope, but Owens headbutted his way out of it. Owens then hit a frog splash for a near-fall. The crowd launched into “Eddie!” chants. Owens set up for a super-plex, but Rey turned it into a sunset flip from the top and he followed that up with a modified Destroyer for a near-fall. Mysterio went for a springboard splash, but Mysterio missed. Owens followed up with a Stunner and Mysterio actually kicked out of it at two.
Owens went to the top rope and went for Swanton, but Rey got his knees up and hit the 619. Mysterio went to the top, but Owens stumbled into the referee, which knocked Mysterio off the top rope. From there, Owens landed the pop-up powerbomb to get the win. After the match, Owens threw his belt aside and pulled Mysterio up to shake his hand. Owens bowed at Mysterio and set up for a package piledriver, but Cody’s music hit and Cody ran out to attack Owens. Tons of officials ran out to break the brawl up to varying degrees of success. Owens stood in the crowd and posed with his belt. Cody looked angry in the ring and the show went to a commercial break.
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– Aldis was shown talking to Cody backstage. Aldis said Cody and Owens are out of control. Aldis said next week at Saturday Night’s Main Event, Owens and Cody will relinquish their belts and sign the contract with the addendum (whatever that is), with the special enforcer for the signing being Shawn Michales. Also at SNME, Braun Strowman will take on Jacob Fatu.
– Next week on SmackDown, LA Knight will take on Tama Tonga. Also worth noting, Pretty Deadly will go head-to-head with MCMG.
– Pretty Deadly were walking and ran into #DIY. Ciampa was angry that Pretty Deadly “handed” the victory to MCMG earlier in the night. Ciampa said Pretty Deadly were a joke and everyone was laughing at them. Ciampa left and Gargano told Pretty Deadly it was tough love and they truly believe in Pretty Deadly. Gargano said they want to make life better for Pretty Deadly and walked away. Apollo Crews then walked in and told Pretty Deadly working with #DIY has gotten them nowhere. Gargano ran in and attacked Crews by throwing him into a road case.
– Bayley made her entrance for the main event and the camera showed Roxanne Perez sitting in the crowd. So. Well. Angle alert.
– A Charlotte Flair vignette aired. It almost looked like a set-up package for a “Love Is Blind” story. To be fair, it was a mildly different vibe for the former champ.
Tiffany Stratton defeated Bayley to retain the WWE Women’s Championship [20:03]
Eh. Underwhelming. The women worked hard, but this crowd decided early it wasn’t going to do its part and that hurt the match. There were a few clunky spots and the Bayley/Perez story didn’t really advance outside of a quick exchange of glares towards the end of the thing. It’s kind of tough throwing Stratton – who is still very young and very much a rookie(ish) – into a 20 minute match, even if Bayley is the sort of gatekeeper these days in the women’s division, what with Charlotte out, and Sasha and Becky gone. I was hoping for more, but it just never kicked into another gear. Even so, it’s a credibility-building win for Stratton and that can’t hurt.
The match started with about 20 minutes until the top of the hour. The two locked up repeatedly, but no one got the better of it. They traded pin attempts to no avail and locked up again. Tiffy posed a few times and Bayley set up for a Bayley-To-Belly, but Stratton blocked it. Bayley clotheslined Stratton over the top and with Stratton on the outside of the ring, the show went to a commercial break.
Back from the break, Bayley hit a draping neck-breaker and the action spilled outside. Bayley went for some dropkicks, but Stratton telegraphed it and ran Bayley into a ring post. Back inside the ring, Stratton went to work on Bayley’s arm. With Bayley on the apron, Stratton took out Bayley’s legs two times to plant Bayley on said apron. Stratton ran around the ring – but it only led to Stratton running into a forearm from Bayley.
Bayley rolled Stratton back into the ring and the two traded forearms. Stratton clotheslined Bayley and went for a running hip in the ropes, but Bayley moved. As a result, Bayley went for a suicide dive, but Stratton caught Bayley and trapped her between the ring and the ring curtain. Stratton then hit a hip attack of her own. Bayley tried to get back into the ring, but Stratton hit a knee to keep Bayley on the outside. Stratton went for a splash on the outside, but Bayley caught her and landed a Bayley-To-Belly. Both wrestlers were down on the outside of the ring and the show went to its final commercial break of the night.
Back to the action, Bayley hit a suplex from the second rope (sorry, but a super-plex comes only from the top rope, damn it) for a two-count. Bayley went back to the top, but Stratton cut her off and went to the top herself. Stratton landed a Senton and a powerbomb for a good near-fall. Stratton worked a version of an arm-bar, but Bayley rolled out of it and threw Stratton to the outside. Bayley slammed Stratton onto the announce desk and then suplexed her before she jawed at Roxanne Perez in the crowd.
Bayley went to the top rope and connected with the flying elbow for a nice near-fall. Bayley worked a cross-face until Stratton got out of it and hit a spine-buster for a two-count. Bayley hit a Bayley-To-Belly on Stratton after a few seconds of nothing for a near-fall. The crowd was nearly silent for all of this. Stratton set up for Prettiest Moonsault Ever, but Bayley cut her off and sunset-flipped her into a corner for a two-count. Bayley slammed Stratton for a near-fall, but Stratton came back and got a two-count from a backslide. Stratton finally hit her Alabama Slam and followed it up with the PME for the win. Stratton quickly walked up the aisle as the credits rolled to end the show.
