Tag: wwe smackdown live results

WWE SmackDown live results: The Last Time is Now tournament continues

Posted on by Marc Quill

The Last Time is Now tournament continues tonight on WWE SmackDown from MVP Arena in Albany, New York.

The show will feature two first-round matchups, including one between two former World Champions Jey Uso and The Miz. The other pits LA Knight against a yet-to-be-revealed mystery opponent.

The winners will progress further in the bracketless tournament that will determine John Cena’s last-ever opponent for next month’s December 13 edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event.

After a confrontation, new WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill will take on B-Fab in a non-title bout.

Sami Zayn will also be on the show as he has a message for Solo Sikoa after last week — when he attempted to get at Sikoa and the MFTs but was unable to. In storyline, Zayn was not medically cleared in storyline. We’ll see if tonight’s message has something to do with a Zayn return.

Plus, Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY are in the house as the WarGames build continues.

Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern.

**********

– We opened SmackDown on a recap of what happened last week with Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, along with the Kabuki Warriors and the new alliance of Nia Jax and Lash Legend. The chaos involving these groups led to WarGames being declared by IYO SKY and the returning Rhea Ripley.

Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY kick off SmackDown

The dynamic tandem made their way to the ring to the loud ovation from the fans in Albany. Once the two got into the ring, Rhea Ripley addressed how things have devolved into chaos since she was gone due to her broken nose. Ripley mentioned that the Kabuki Warriors think they’re untouchable because they’re the Women’s Tag Team Champions, and that Lash Legend & Nia Jax similarly though they were untouchable because of their added numbers. Ripley said that the numbers game meant that Jax & Legend were also making a lot of enemies, as SKY mentioned that there’d be nowhere to hide in WarGames. Ripley then introduced their two partners for the Match Beyond in two weeks: Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss.

Bliss started that if Jax & Legend wanted to get dirty, that was fine by her. If the Kabuki Warriors wanted a fight, they’re on, too. Flair interrupted by saying that she couldn’t pretend to do this anymore, as she told Ripley that she couldn’t trust her as she was a “snake”. It’s something that she couldn’t look past even with a common enemy. Flair called Bliss her friend, but she couldn’t go through with this WarGames match, as she walked out.

Interesting start, which is definitely meant to give the babyface team at Survivor Series a bit of adversity heading into next week.

**********

– Michael Cole and Corey Graves teed up the action ahead for tonight, including WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill vs. B-Fab, plus LA Knight vs. a mystery opponent in the Last Time is Now tournament.

The Last Time is Now Tournament First-Round Match: Jey Uso vs. The Miz

Miz and Uso locked horns to start us off before the latter struck with a clubbing blow to the back of his foe. Uso answered back with strikes to the face, but found himself down on the mat with a knee driven to the gut by Miz. In the corner, Miz went for his signature clothesline, but Uso countered that into a backslide pin for a two-count.

Uso escaped an early Skull-Crushing Finale attempt as he then clotheslined Miz to the outside. He then took off with a suicide dive, wich was the cue for a break in the action.

As we returned from commercial, Miz had the advantage as he dropped Uso face first on his knees from the corner, followed by a spike DDT that wasn’t enough to pick up the win. Miz then kicked repeatedly at Uso’s chest, but failed to hit the last kick as the former World Champion turned that into a neckbreaker for a near-fall. As Miz scurried into the corner, he avoided a running hip strike from Uso. He then decided to do a spoof of John Cena’s shoulder charges, Protoplex and the Five-Knuckle Shuffle.

Uso recovered and superkicked Miz, as he then tried to lift him up on his shoulders. Miz wriggled free and delivered the Skull-Crushing Finale. One, two…. NO! Miz lifted Uso up on the top turnbuckle as he tried for an avalanche Skull-Crushing Finale. Uso escaped and hit some sort of drop from the top instead. This led into the Spear, and the Uso Splash for the three and the victory.

Jey Uso def. The Miz via pinfall to advance in The Last Time is Now Tournament

A decent match, though I was surprised this went down cleanly without any sort of WarGames-adjacent shenanigans. It was certainly better than Uso’s last singles match at Saturday Night’s Main Event a few weeks back.

**********

– As Nick Aldis was meeting with Ilja Dragunov, they were interrupted by an incensed Tommasso Ciampa, who stood with Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae. Ciampa was upset at being snubbed by Dragunov once again. The U.S. Champion explained that he only gives opportunities to those who are honorable and deserve a shot at the title, and he’s found one such individual. Mr. Aldis left this scene and was met by Paul Heyman and Bronson Reed of The Vision, who wanted to chat wit him.

– We got a video of John Cena talking about how he became a wrestler. This was a tease for an interview with Cena conducted by Tom Rinaldi that will be released soon.

– Back with Nick Aldis, who requested for security to come to his office. Paul Heyman mentioned that he had an agreement regarding WarGames, stating that he was free to pick anyone across all brands. Aldis reiterated that as he asked Heyman and Reed to leave. Cody Rhodes showed up and explained that he showed up because his friends were held to the fire by The Vision and that he’d be willing to put himself through the fire next. This led to a major match being made tonight: Cody Rhodes vs. Bronson Reed for the WWE Championship.

U.S. Title Open Challenge: Ilja Dragunov (c) vs. Axiom

We started hot right away as Dragunov and Axiom were engaged in a chain wrestling duel. The U.S. Champion missed on a chop as Axiom rolled underneath, which seemed to impress Dragunov a fair bit. Axiom followed with a headlock takeover, but was felled by a running shoulder block from Dragunov afterwards. Dragunov went for a back elbow, but Axiom dodged it and hit a dropkick that sent him out of the ring.

As Axiom tried to go to the top rope, Dragunov intercepted him and left him sat on the top rope. After a brief skirmish, Dragunov headbutted Axiom down to the mat, as he then followed that with a senton for the near-fall. We then went to a picture-in-picture break at this point.

SmackDown returned to full-screen action as Dragunov connected with a German suplex. Axiom escaped and caught his championship foe with a release Northern Lights suplex. As both men got themselves back up, Axiom blasted Dragunov in the face with a strike, as he then leapt from the top rope with a shotgun missile dropkick for the two-count. Axiom took shots at the chest of Dragunov, who responded with a hard boot to the face.

Dragunov’s attempt at a Constantine Special was reversed into an armbar by Axiom. The U.S. Champion used his strength to break free of the hold with a deadlift powerbomb. Axiom got ahead of an attempted H-Bomb and turned that into an incredible leaping springboard DDT for the close near-fall. With Dragunov stunned in the corner, Axiom lifted him up the top rope and was looking for an avalanche Spanish Fly. Dragunov tried to fight back, but could not prevent the Spanish Fly from the top.

Axiom had Dragunov locked for the Golden Ratio, but he was intercepted by a fierce Torpedo Moscow. An H-Bomb from the U.S. Champion put an end to this Open Challenge and brought victory for Ilja Dragunov.

After the match, Dragunov showed respect for Axiom’s effort in this one as he shook the challenger’s hand.

Ilja Dragunov def. Axiom via pinfall to retain the United States Championship

Another solid U.S. Title Open Challenge match. Dragunov has been just on a tear since his return with fantastic matches one after the other, and this week’s match was no exception. Axiom was a perfect challenger for Dragunov and looked great even in defeat.

**********

– During the commercial break, we saw Tommasso Ciampa brutally attacking Axiom before Nathan Frazer chased him off.

Sami Zayn addresses The M.F.T.s

The former U.S. Champion was out as he made his way to the ring and began by greeting the Albany crowd.

Zayn said that since he came to SmackDown, there were some extremely high highs and extremely low lows. He talked about how he beat Solo Sikoa for the U.S. Title and that he did some incredible things, like facing John Cena in his last-ever SmackDown ever. Zayn mentioned that the last four weeks have been incredibly rough on him as he wasn’t medically cleared yet. He was forced to watch Sikoa and the M.F.T.s attack his friends and people that he respected. And now, that will end tonight, as Zayn challenged Sikoa to face him right now.

On cue, Sikoa walked to the ring, surrounded by his motley crew. Sikoa talked about how he knew the real Sami Zayn: someone who was a pathetic, a liar, and selfish. He claimed that Zayn didn’t care about the people in the back or the people in Albany. That was in contrast to Sikoa, who said that he cared about his “family” and their loyalty to him. Sikoa told Zayn that he knew nothing about loyalty or love of his family. Sikoa threatned to do harm Zayn as he was “still wounded”. He motioned for the M.F.T.s to approach Zayn in the ring.

Sikoa stopped them from going on the attack as he wanted Zayn to be 100% and medically cleared, because he was coming for him. Zayn answered that he was medically cleared and that if Sikoa wanted to do something about it, he’d do something about it right now. Zayn then burst Sikoa’s balloon by stating that he wasn’t here alone. Just then, Shinsuke Nakamura, the Motor City Machine Guns, and Rey Fenix evened the odds as they helped Zayn clear the ring of the M.F.T.s.

Bless Zayn for trying to generate interest into this feud, but it’s still kind of doing nothing for me even with that. This Bloodline retread just is not clicking for me at all, I’m sorry to say.

**********

– Cody Rhodes was approached by Jey Uso, who wished him luck for his Undisputed WWE Title match later on tonight. Jimmy Uso then showed up and told both Rhodes and brother Jey that he spoke with CM Punk, who officially put Jimmy on their WarGames team for Survivor Series.

– Backstage, Nick Aldis declared that in two weeks we’d see the M.F.T.s take on the team of Sami Zayn, the Motor City Machine Guns, Rey Fenix, and Shinsuke Nakamura in a 5-on-5 Traditional Survivor Series match. The Wyatt Sicks’ VHS glitches were shown as Solo Sikoa and Mr. Aldis left.

The Last Time is Now Tournament First-Round Match: LA Knight vs. Zack Ryder

Ryder was revealed as Knight’s mystery opponent moments before this match got underway. He got a great reaction from the crowd.

As the bell rang, Ryder went for an early school boy roll-up pin, but that was clearly not enough this early into the match. Knight countered a Rough Ryder attempt, but was sent out of the ring, which was the cue to take us into the commercial break.

We resumed the match from the break with Knight getting sent hard into the corner by Ryder. This was met in kind with a nice back body drop from Knight shortly after. Knight avoided a clothesline from Ryder, as he then unleahsed a flurry of punches, followed by the neckbreaker for the near-fall. Knight continued on the offensive, but a reversal on a scoop slam led to Ryder picking up some momentum. As Knight was left down and out in the corner, this left him open to Ryder’s Broski Boot for a close near-fall.

Knight countered an attempt at an Unprettier from Ryder into a reverse DDT. The elbow from the top was avoided by Ryder, who turned that into the Rough Ryder on his foe. One, two… Knight was able to kick out at two. Knight’s BFT was countered into a roll-up pin, by Ryder, as he headed up to the top rope. Ryder’s attempt at a standing legdrop was turned into a powerbomb by Knight, who then soundly finished off Ryder with the BFT for the three.

LA Knight def. Zack Ryder via pinfall to advance in The Last Time is Now Tournament

Zack Ryder was a nice surprise, and it was at least nice to see LA Knight back in the winning column here for this match.

**********

– As Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY, and Alexa Bliss were discussing what to do with Charlotte Flair walking ou on them, they were ambushed by the Kabuki Warriors, Nia Jax, and Lash Legend. The Jamie Noble-led vanguard of security officials got them to back off after the ambush.

Jade Cargill vs. B-Fab

B-Fab escaped an early chokeslam attempt by Cargill, as she then hit her with a dropkick and repeated elbows in the corner. B-Fab’s attempt at a pump kick was met by a fierce elbow to the face from Cargill, who followed that up with a fallaway slam. Cargill managed to connect with the chokeslam on B-Fab. This was followed by the powerbomb on her foe. Not satisfied with just one powerbomb, Cargill then dropped her with one more powerbomb, then the Jaded for the dominant victory.

After the match, Michin ran in to check up on B-Fab, which caught Cargill’s attention. The WWE Women’s Champion shoved her down afterwards.

Jade Cargill def. B-Fab via pinfall

Just kind of there in terms of being a match, and with how barebones the SmackDown’s women’s division is, that’s not a good sign. Not saying that B-Fab should be having competitive matches with the WWE Women’s World Champion, but sub-three minute matches are not the way to do it.

**********

– Nick Aldis revealed two more The Last Time is Now tournament matchups: Carmelo Hayes vs. Bronson Reed and Penta vs. Finn Balor, with these match set for next week’s SmackDown.

Next Week on SmackDown:

  • The Last Time is Now Tournament: Carmelo Hayes vs. Bronson Reed
  • The Last Time is Now Tournament: Penta vs. Finn Balor
  • Fraxiom (Axiom & Nathan Frazer) vs. #DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommasso Ciampa)

– We got remarks from Aleister Black, with Damian Priest once again being the subject of discussion for him. Black said that they forced Priest to break his code, and now he had greater things in mind, namely those who hold championships on SmackDown.

Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Bronson Reed (w/ Paul Heyman)

The main event started off fast and furious as Rhodes went on the attack against Reed. A running thump from the Aussie put an end to that flurry as he maintained the assault on ringside with another running thump.

Our main event returned from the break as Rhodes nailed Reed with the Disaster Kick. This fired up the Undisputed WWE Champion as he attempted to blast Reed with the Dusty elbow strikes. Reed countered that into Jagged Edge, but he missed on the Tsunami. This left Reed open for a Cody Cutter for the close near-fall. As Reed scurried outside to the ring, Rhodes went for a suicide dive, but Reed intercepted him with an elbow.

Outside the ring, Reed had Rhodes in sight for an avalanche run, but he was met at the pass by the Undisputed WWE Champion. Things broke down once Bron Breakker and Logan Paul ran in to attack Rhodes as this match ended in a DQ.

The Usos ran in for the save as they cleared the ring of Paul and Breakker. Jimmy and Jey dropped Paul with a 1D, as they then grabbed a table from underneath the ring. Drew McIntyre showed up, despite being suspended. Nick Aldis confronted Paul Heyman about this outside the ring, as the heels got the upper hand in the ring. The Levesque & Fitting credits saw us off once more with The Vision standing united in the ring.

Cody Rhodes def. Bronson Reed via DQ to retain the Undisputed WWE Championship

**********

An okay ending to an otherwise better-than-average SmackDown once again carried hard by the U.S. Open Challenge. WarGames is at least setting up quite nicely, and presumably Roman Reigns will fill out the babyface team in the coming weeks. Perhaps, even John Cena.

Other than that, when I say that this show was decent, it is, of course, in comparison to the previous weeks of rather milquetoast episodes. The M.F.T.s storyline continues to just be kind of there, but I am enjoying everything surrounding the U.S. Title and the Ciampa/Dragunov feud that’s been building in the background of it. At the end of the day, a decent show is certainly better than a forgettably bad one.

WWE SmackDown live results: Wrestlepalooza go-home show

Posted on by Marc Quill

The final WWE SmackDown before Wrestlepalooza, WWE’s first PLE on ESPN, will feature an interaction between WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and his next challenger Drew McIntyre.

Rhodes returned last week after a month away to save Randy Orton from a potential Claymore kick through the announce table. Tonight, Rhodes and McIntyre will have a contract signing to make their Wrestlepalooza title match officially official.

In an exclusive interview, Brock Lesnar will address his Wrestlepalooza matchup against John Cena. Last week, Lesnar delivered an F5 to R-Truth after demanding a face-to-face with Cena.

United States Champion Sami Zayn continues his open challenge series with Carmelo Hayes stepping up to the plate, much to the chagrin of his tag partner, The Miz.

A WWE Women’s Tag Team title match originally set to take place in France will come to fruition tonight as Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair defend against Chelsea Green & Alba Fyre.

Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

– We opened tonight’s SmackDown with the arrivals of Drew McIntyre, Cody Rhodes, Chelsea Green and the Secret Hervice, Carmelo Hayes, and Sami Zayn to the Huntington Center in Toledo, OH.

– Inside the arena, Michael Cole and Corey Graves welcomed us to the show as they talked about tomorrow night’s Wrestlepalooza. Cole said that Brock Lesnar wanted to do the sitdown interview right now as he left commentary. However, Lesnar made his entrance and it appeared that the interview would happen in the ring instead.

Brock Lesnar interview ahead of Wrestlepalooza

Lesnar grabbed Cole and held him over his shoulder as he made his way into the ring. Inside the ring, Lesnar continued to threaten Cole before Corey Graves entered the ring and pleaded with him to not attack Cole. He got an F5 for his troubles as the crowd chanted for John Cena. Lesnar then directly addressed the camera, yelling that he was coming for John Cena’s blood tomorrow and that it was D-Day. Lesnar paced around ringside and destroyed the Prime Hydtration station before he once again entered the ring to hit Graves with another F5. Various referees and security surrounded the ring while Lesnar yelled for Cena to come get himself some. He then left the ringside area, as the crowd jeered.

Pretty much a last gasp attempt to add fuel into this Cena/Lesnar Wrestlepalooza match that’s barely had a build. I can’t say if they succeeded on that front, though. That said, I guess we’ll have to find out tomorrow whether or not this match that has been haphazardily built will be any good at all.

**********

– We returned from the break with Cole and a few WWE road agents checking up on the fallen Graves, who was still out cold from being on the receiving end of two F5s.

– Backstage, Brock Lesnar was walking as he was confronted by Paul Heyman and The Vision’s Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed. Lesnar simply said that he and Heyman should talk before he left. SmackDown GM Nick Aldis warned The Vision to not cause anymore problems tonight, especially with the Cody Rhodes/Drew McIntyre contract signing to come. Heyman said that he and the Brons were simply here to enjoy the show.

– Back in the arena, Cole returned to the commentary table and was at a loss of words for what happened to his commentary partner. He said that in the years he’s been on commentary, he never felt as helpless as he did tonight. Cole said that if that’s what awaited John Cena tomorrow, he doesn’t know if even Cena had the answers.

WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships: Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Alba Fyre & Chelsea Green

Flair and Green started off the match here with a lockup. Green took a shot at Bliss in the corner, but ate an elbow from Flair as a result. Bliss tagged herself in and went to work on Green and Fyre for a moment. The challengers took advantage after Bliss was dragged into their corner. Green connected with a dropkick, as Bliss was then slammed into the ringpost by Fyre. This took us into the break.

During the break, the Miz took over for Graves as he joined Cole on commentary.

We returned from the break with Bliss desperately trying to get the tag. She almost got the tag, but Flair was pulled from the apron by Fyre, which gave Green a chance to continue her attack on Bliss. Green taunted Flair and ended up missing on the shoulder charge to Bliss. This allowed Bliss to finally get the hot tag for Flair.

Flair teed off with chops on both Green and Fyre, before she blasted the latter with a somersault clothesline. Flair tried to set up for the FIgure-Eight, but Green provided a distraction as she ate a big boot. Fyre went for the roll up, but couldn’t get the pin. As Flair headed up top, Green grabbed at Flair’s leg, which allowed for Fyre to connect with the Swanton Bomb. Bliss broke up the pin at the last second.

A double suplex from the challengers was turned back as Bliss and Flair delivered stereo Natural Selections to Green and Fyre instead. Flair ended up getting the pin on Green to get the victory and the successful Women’s Tag Title defense.

Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss def. Chelsea Green & Alba Fyre via pinfall to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships

A decent defense for the tag champs, who continue to be a popular act with fans. I’m curious now as to who steps up to Flair and Bliss.

*********

– Backstage, B-Fab tried to get The Street Profits on the same page, but was interrupted by Michin, who told B-Fab that Nick Aldis wanted to talk to them about getting a chance at Giulia and Kiana James. Montez Ford told Angelo Dawkins that he was going to talk to Nick Aldis about getting back into the tag picture, as Bo Dallas tried to get into Dawkins’ head. Ford got into Dallas’ face, but Erick Rowan attacked the Profits to leave them laying.

– We got a backstage skit with R-Truth and Los Garza telling us how to download the ESPN app in order to watch Wrestlepalooza tomorrow.

– Fraxiom were set for a match, but got attacked by Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed. Paul Heyman soon walked down the ring and did his usual introduction. He said that Fraxiom reminded him of the Usos, because both were down, out, victimized, and lying on their backs. As Heyman continued to talk, Nathan Frazer and Axiom got up on the top rope and took out the Brons with dual dropkicks. The two then unleashed a barrage of dives on Breakker and Reed to leave them staggered.

Nick Aldis appeared on stage and decided to book a tag match between Fraxiom and the Vision’s duo, which was to take place right now.

The Vision (Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed) vs. Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer & Axiom)

The match returned from break joined in progress, with Breakker working over Axiom in the corner. Axiom fended off Breakker momentarily, but got thrown overhead instead with a back drop. Breakker got a full head of speed and absolutely flattened Axiom with a lariat. Reed entered the match with a tag and continued to pummel Axiom with a senton. Breakker got the tag once more as he suplexed Axiom before pulling down the straps. He attempted a spear, but was met with a calf kick from Axiom. This allowed Frazer to get the hot tag.

Frazer had Reed staggered with a dropkick, as he soared from the top with a frog splash. Reed kicked out at two and avoided a moonsault before he dropped Frazer with the Jagged Edge. The Aussie headed up top for a Tsunami but was stopped temporarily by Axiom. Reed shoved Axiom below right into a spear from Breakker. Reed then finished Frazer off with the Tsunami.

After the match, Heyman tried to announce his men as the winners, but were interrupted by The Usos on the titantron. Jimmy and Jey were already in Indiana and said that they were going to lock things down as they welcomed The Vision to the Uso Penitentary.

The Vision def. Fraxiom via pinfall

Just a short and sweet match to give the Brons some momentum heading into their tag match with the Usos tomorrow. Bron Breakker’s spears continue to be a thing of beauty.

*********

– We got a sizzle reel for WWE’s full court press on ESPN in anticipation of tomorrow night’s Wrestlepalooza event.

Nia Jax in-ring promo

Jax asked what she was sick of, before she took a shot at the Toledo crowd. She then went on to say that she was sick of the SmackDown women’s division claiming that they were the alpha females, when she was the “true” alpha female of the division. Jax took credit for taking Tiffany Stratton out, which prevented her from showing up on the NXT Homecoming this past Tuesday. Jax then took a shot at Jade Cargill, saying that she should trade places with her, as Cargill was apparently not talented. Jax said that she was the alpha and that she’d annihilate any storm or any Tiffy time, any damn time.

This brought out the WWE Women’s Champion out for a rebuttal. Tiffany Stratton said that the people have had enough of Nia Jax being in the women’s division. She said that Cargill was not a superhero here to save the division. And since Jax and Cargill were committed to acting so delusional, Stratton said that she was here to prove that she was the one, true WWE Champion. Stratton attempted to walk down the ring to confront Jax, but was stopepd by a gaggle of referees. Jade Cargill made her way and decked a few security personnel.

Before Cargill could enter, Nick Aldis stopped things as he announced that next week on SmackDown, we’d see Stratton vs. Cargill vs. Jax in a triple threat match for the WWE Women’s Championship.

This match was reportedly set for tomorrow’s Wrestlepalooza, but postponed due to an apparent injury to Stratton, so it seems like they’re moving to have this match happen next week instead. That said, hopefully it’s the last we see these particular set of players in the women’s title picture together.

*********

– We got another R-Truth skit about the ESPN App, as he told the Motor City Machine Guns and Rey Fenix how to use it, again neglecting to mention the $30 monthly price tag of the new app.

U.S. Championship Open Challenge: Sami Zayn (c) vs. Carmelo Hayes

The action kicked off with Zayn and Hayes trading hammerlocks in a show of chain wrestling prowess. After that, Hayes used his athleticism to hit Zayn with a dropkick after a leapfrog dodge. Hayes continued to hit Zayn with blows to the back, but found himself on the receiving head of a forearm strike by the U.S. Champion. On the apron, Zayn looked like he was going for something big, but Hayes stunned him with a a guillotine leg drop as we took a break in the action.

SmackDown returned as Hayes had the upper hand on Zayn. The challenger had his foe floored with a leg drop for the near-fall. Zayn fought back with a clothesline on Hayes, as he then followed that up with an axe handle from the middle turnbuckle. Zayn dragged Hayes to the corner and teed off on him with repeated punches to the face, much to the chagrin of the Miz on commentary. Zayn then spun Hayes’ world right round with a tornado DDT, but couldn’t pick up the win there.

Zayn headed up to the top rope, but Hayes recovered and avoided the high-risk attempt. Hayes, however, couldn’t avoid Zayn’s Michinoku Driver, which got yet another near-fall. Hayes caught Zayn on the button with a big knee to the face as he headed up top for a frog splash. Zayn got his knees up at the last second, which sent Hayes scurrying to the corner and right into the crosshairs for a Helluva Kick. Hayes intercepted Zayn with a superkick as both men went down and we went to a second commercial break during this match.

We returned from break as Zayn attempted the Exploder Suplex into the corner, but Hayes managed to block it. On the apron, Zayn got dropped with a flip over the rope by Hayes, which had his wrist caught up in the middle rope. Hayes then headed up top and got the Frog Splash, but could not secure the victory. Hayes followed that up with the First 48 after successfully countering a Blue Thunder Bomb attempt by Zayn. One, two… no!

Hayes lifted Zayn up for a cutter, followed by springboard neckbreaker on the U.S. Champion. Zayn managed to avoid the Nothin’ But Net from Hayes and turned that into a Blue Thunder Bomb for the rare victory with that signature maneuver.

Sami Zayn def. Carmelo Hayes to retain the United States Championship

Another solid match for Zayn in this U.S. Open Challenge he’s run as of late. I’ve been enjoying these matches, which have become the highlight of SmackDown every week.

*********

– Kit Wilson was talking with Nick Aldis about hypermasculinity, as Damian Priest stormed in and demanded a shot at Aleister Black. Wilson got upset at Priest’s demands, calling it a case of toxic masculinity, as he ended up being thrown through the wall by an irate Priest.

– The second part in the retrospective of John Cena and Brock Lesnar’s rivalry was shown.

Wrestlepalooza on ESPN Card

  • Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena
  • AJ Lee & CM Punk vs. Becky Lynch & Seth Rollins
  • Jimmy & Jey Uso vs. The Vision (Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed)
  • Women’s World Championship: IYO SKY vs. Stephanie Vaquer
  • Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Drew McIntyre

– We got a vignette from Solo Sikoa as he showed appreciation for Tonga Loa for showing loyalty to him since day one. He said that he owed it to Tonga to be a champion, and that his loyalty would be rewarded as long as Tonga was part of his Family Tree. Tonga then said that he loved Solo to end the vignette.

Cody Rhodes/Drew McIntyre contract signing

In the ring, SmackDown GM Nick Aldis said that the main event of Wrestlepalooza would be the Undisputed WWE Championship match, of which the contract would be signed for in mere moments. Aldis then introduced the challenger, one Drew McIntyre, to the ring.

The surly Scotsman made his way to the ring and immediately took a mic. Before he could utter a word, the theme of Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes interrupted, which brought out the American Nightmare to the usual reaction of cheers from the crowd.

Once both Rhodes and McIntyre in the ring, the champion took to the mic. He said that fifteen years ago today, he and McIntyre won the Tag Team Championships, and that no one wasn’t talking about it, mainly because it wasn’t his or McIntyre’s story. It was the story of the people, and they didn’t care about the lore and wanted to see two people fight.

Rhodes listed off McIntyre’s past accolades, as he said that he was a “keyboard warrior” as of late. He urged on McIntyre to do his talking on social media because it’d be the last time he’d get one up on him. McIntyre showed his phone to Rhodes, with a post that said “Thank you, Cody.”

McIntyre responded that this match without intereference or shortcuts was what he wanted all along, before he called Rhodes a cardboard champion that was unwilling to compromise the main event of Wrestlepalooza. McIntyre said that the crowd would eventually turn on Rhodes and all he’d be left with is to say that “Drew was right”.

Rhodes fired back asking McIntyre what would happen if his legacy now was to be the man who lost the first main event of the ESPN Era. As both men signed the contract, McIntyre delivered a blindside headbut on Rhodes and attacked the champion at ringside.

As McIntyre had Rhodes at his mercy against the announce table, the Scotsman refused to hit the Claymore kick, stating that he wanted him to be at his best tomorrow at Wrestlepalooza. As McIntyre tried to walk away, Rhodes dove through the middle rope to tackle McIntyre. The two continued to fight as referees tried to separate the two. As the producers credits for Paul Levesque and Lee Fitting popped up, McIntyre popped Rhodes with a boot to the head. We ended the final SmackDown before tomorrow’s Wrestlepalooza with McIntyre taunting Rhodes, stating that it was going to be the last time he’d be sleeping with the title for a long time.

*********

A decent final segment to build up, again, another haphazardly-built feud for this first ESPN PLE where it just happened within a span of a week. That seems to be a pattern with this Wrestlepalooza card, with the exception of CM Punk/AJ Lee vs. Seth Rollins/Becky Lynch, which seems to be the best-built match out of the five matches set to take place tomorrow.

As a go-home show for Wrestlepalooza, this SmackDown was okay on that front. The Sami Zayn U.S. Open Challenge continues to be the stand out of these weekly shows, as the matches there have been excellent. Other than that, everything else just ranges from okay to mediocre, sorry to say.

WWE SmackDown live results: John Cena makes his final Chicago appearance

Posted on by Marc Quill

A huge episode of SmackDown takes place in the Chicago area tonight at Allstate Arena.

With his December retirement approaching, John Cena will appear on SmackDown for the final time. It will also be the last Chicago appearance for Cena, who is coming off a victory against Logan Paul at Clash in Paris and heading toward an expected clash with Brock Lesnar at Wrestlepalooza.

A hometown appearance by CM Punk — and possibly the return of his wife AJ Lee — have been teased. The two are reportedly set to face Seth Rollins & Becky Lynch in a mixed tag match at the upcoming Wrestlepalooza PLE.

Following his United States title victory, Sami Zayn will appear tonight. Zayn has said he’s looking to start his reign off with a bang.

There will be a Women’s United States Championship match with Giulia defending her gold against Michin. Plus, rivals Damian Priest and Aleister Black meet in a singles match.

Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

– Over shots of Chicago, we were welcomed to the show by Michael Cole. Shots of Damian Priest, Aleister Black, Michin, Giulia (with Kiana James), as well as hometown hero CM Punk arriving to the Allstate Arena were shown.

– Inside the arena, Cole (who’ll be on SmackDown for the next two months in the place of Joe Tessitore) and Corey Graves tossed to a recap of Clash in Paris last Sunday.

John Cena kicks off SmackDown

To a loud reaction from the Chicago faithful, John Cena made his way down to the ring to open the evening. Once Cena entered the ring, he took the mic and began to address the crowd, but was interrupted by “thank you, Cena” chants. He acknowledged the chants because it meant something special to him that it came from the Chicago crowd.

Cena talked about how people told him at the start of the retirement tour to enjoy it while it lasted, but he was focused on getting his mojo back and give his absolute best. However, tonight, Cena said he was just here to take it all in. He said that tonight is what makes Chicago special, and that the crowd’s reactions were apparently enough to bring people back into WWE. The crowd chanted “AJ Lee” in response to that.

Cena said that this was the last time for him in Chicago, and the last time he’d ever be on SmackDown as he recounted his debut 23 years ago on this very show. Cena talked about the moments he had in Allstate Arena, like fighting Triple H at WrestleMania 22 or facing CM Punk at Money in the Bank 2011. Cena noted that there’s always been talk about who the greatest crowd was, but in his eyes, there was no question. The Chicago crowd let Cena experience humility, failure, and above all else, joy. He went on to thank the crowd and told them to enjoy a hell of a night tonight.

Before Cena could exit, the music of the new U.S. Champion Sami Zayn interrupted. In the ring, Zayn said that he didn’t want to interrupt Cena’s moment as the crowd booed him unexpectedly. He wanted to thank Cena on behalf of everyone in the back for what he did for us. Zayn wanted to bring things full circle, as he remembered how he debuted against Cena as the U.S. Champion. And as such, he was going to debut the Sami Zayn U.S. Open Challenge with Cena’s permission. The former U.S. Champion approved of Zayn’s proposal and tried to leave again. Zayn stopped Cena and said he wanted to pay it forward to Cena and give Cena a shot at the U.S. Championship, much like he did a decade ago.

Zayn didn’t want to do it in a month, or next week, but rather right now. “If you want some, come get some!” Zayn challenged Cena. Naturally, Cena accepted the challenge.

A solid opening segment as Cena and the Chicago crowd really got things going here, and Zayn’s appearance sets up a huge opening bout.

United States Championship: Sami Zayn (c) vs. John Cena

The match was already in progress heading out of the commercial break as Cena and Zayn locked up in the middle of the ring. Zayn threw Cena with an arm drag before he applied an arm submission for a moment. Cena responded with an arm drag of his own as he had Zayn in a headlock. Zayn attempted a springboard leapfrog, but couldn’t quite get all of it, but that gave him the upper hand on Cena. Zayn delivered a suplex on Cena and looked for another one. Cena, however, countered with a suplex on Zayn.

Zayn whipped Cena hard into the corner, which didn’t seem to please the very pro-Cena crowd in Chicago. Cena threw Zayn with a particularly hard Irish whip that sent the U.S. Champion flying into the corner. We took a break with both men down in the ring.

Our match returned with Zayn being hoisted up by Cena for an AA attempt that the U.S. Champion just barely escaped. Cena turned Zayn’s attempt at a springboard move into a successful Attitude Adjustment, but could not pick up the three. As Cena recovered, Zayn tried to hit the Exploder Suplex, but that got turned around into a Kevin Owens-style pop-up powerbomb by Cena.

Both men struggled to get up on opposite corners as Cena charged at Zayn, but missed and ended up hitting the corner. Zayn missed on a Helluva Kick and fell victim to an Angle Slam courtesy of Cena. One, two…. NO! As both men got themselves up in the middle of the ring, they began to trade strikes until they took one another down with clotheslines, which took us to a second commercial break.

During the break, Cena once again paid tribute to Kurt Angle with an Ankle Lock on Zayn, who responded with an Attitude Adjustment on Cena. Once we returned we got a replay of what happened during the break, which was interrupted by Zayn hitting the Helluva Kick on Cena. One, two… Cena kicked out at 2.9999999!!!! Zayn dragged Cena to the middle of the ring before he headed to the top rope. Cena got up and hoisted Zayn up for a GTS, but that still wasn’t enough to earn him the U.S. Championship.

In the corner, Cena sized up Zayn and beckoned him to get up, as he hit an Edge-styled Spear on his foe. Zayn still kicked out of it. Cena attempted an RKO, but Zayn countered that. He then immediately put Zayn on the top rope and looked for an avalanche AA, which he connected with. As both men were left down and out after that, the music of Brock Lesnar interrupted.

Lesnar pulled the referee out before he hit an F5 on Zayn as he entered the ring. He then put Cena on his shoulders and delivered an F5 to him. He then grabbed Cena and hit one more F5 to his foe.

Sami Zayn vs. John Cena went to a No Contest

That was a fantastic match that was unfortunately ruined by a non-finish meant to build towards a match that honestly does nothing for me at all.

**********

– We learned that John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar will happen at Wrestlepalooza, as Nick Aldis was looking to address what was going on. Carmelo Hayes walked up to Aldis and wanted a U.S. Title match, but the Miz butted in and tried to get a WWE Tag Title Match for him against the Wyatt Sicks. Aldis said he’d take it under advisement as he walked off. Hayes seemed unhappy with Miz speaking on his behalf again, as Becky Lynch was seen arriving to the arena.

Damian Priest vs. Aleister Black

Black attacked Priest as he was making his entrance as things turned into a brawl at ringside. Black struck Priest with a knee to the face that drove him over the barricade.

As we returned to SmackDown, Priest walked his way back into the ring, but got kicked in the head by Black for his troubles. Now with both men in the ring, the match began proper. After Priest missed a punch, Black took over with another kick to the noggin. Priest recovered with a surprise headbutt to Black, who answered with a modified crucifix submission.

Black took Priest down with a top-rope Meteora for the two-count, as we took an oddly-timed commercial break just a couple of minutes into this one.

The action resumed as Priest had Black stunned on the top rope and hoisted high for a Razor’s Edge. Black escaped and got the spinning elbow, followed by a running knee on Priest for a near-fall. Priest struck Black from the corner with a pair of elbows of his own, followed by a fierce clothesline. Priest maintained momentum with a barrage of elbows that left the Dutchman reeling. Old School crossbody by Priest managed to send Black rolling to the outside.

Black was then slammed with a Flatliner on the apron as Priest set aside the announcer table covering. Priest lifted Black above him and threw him with a Razor’s Edge onto the table. In the ring, Black tried to beg off Priest, but was lifted for South of Heaven, but Black created a distraction via referee, which gave him the opening for Black Mass on Priest and the victory.

Aleister Black def. Damian Priest

That was a fairly decent, hard-hitting match, and the right guy did certainly get the win in this case. This Priest vs. Black feud has been good and I honestly want to see more of it.

**********

– We got a Twisted Tea-sponsored video promo where Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton exchanged words about one another ahead of their match on next week’s SmackDown. We also learned that Brock Lesnar will be on next week’s show, and that Tiffany Stratton will defend here WWE Women’s Championship versus Jade Cargill in a SummerSlam rematch.

– Jade Cargill was shown studying tape of that aforementioned first match as Nia Jax rolled up and talked trash to her.

– Becky Lynch was told by SmackDown GM Nick Aldis that there could not be anymore issues even as he knew that CM Punk was in the building.

Women’s U.S. Championship: Giulia (c) (w/ Kiana James) vs. Michin

Giulia and Michin didn’t waste anytime as they traded quick blows to start off. Michin seemed to get the better of Giulia in the exchange, with momentum maintained in the ring by way of a well-placed dropkick. The Women’s U.S. Champion stopped that cold as she caught Michin’s baseball slide attempted and turned that into an elevated neckbreaker to the outside.

We returned from the break with Giulia battering Michin with headbutts, but was met with a pair of German Suplexes by the challenger. Michin had Giulia stunned in the corner with a running cannonball as she set up Eat Defeat. Giulia escaped and delivered the sitout driver, but she couldn’t put this one away. Michin fought back with a sitdown powerbomb for the two. Kiana James got involved on the apron and found herself flattened by a legdrop from Michin. Unfortunately for the challenger, this left her open to Giulia’s Arrivederci knee for the three and the successful title defense.

Giulia def. Michin via pinfall to retain the Women’s U.S. Championship

An alright match, but I feel there wasn’t really enough time to let this cook, so to speak.

**********

– Charlottle Flair was lamenting about her knee injury at the hands of the Secret Hervice, when Alexa Bliss and “Dr. Lilly” showed up to assure her that the “power of friendship” will heal Flair’s pain.

Seth Rollins & Becky Lynch close out SmackDown

Seth Rollins made an unannounced arrival to the Allstate Arena, as he appeared in the crowd with a microphone in his hand. Rollins said that tonight we would be all witnesses to history, because the “legend” of Chicago’s hometown hero CM Punk would die for good tonight. And to do the honors with him, Rollins introduced his “sexy, brilliant, incredible Irish wife” Becky Lynch.

Lynch stood in the ring while Rollins remained in the crowd, and the “AJ Lee” chants grew louder and louder. “How dare you chant another person’s name while I’m standing in this ring!?” admonished Lynch, who boasted about being the greatest women’s wrestler of all time, and it wasn’t just her saying it. Lynch took some digs at Chicago’s sports teams for being terrible, just like CM Punk was.

Punk himself entered to a massive reaction from his hometown crowd, which he took all in as he made his way down to the ring. Punk said to Lynch that this wasn’t about her, but rather the cowardly husband that was hiding in a skybox. Lynch remained defiant as ever, as she asked how Punk’s pride was feeling after what happened on Raw this past Monday. Punk told Lynch that she would let the crowd chant AJ Lee’s name because we were in Chicago. Punk said that he could call in a favor to Bayley or Rhea Ripley to deal with Lynch, who once again antagonized Punk with slaps to the face and mockery.

“You’re an embarrassment to the city of Chicago, and that’s saying a lot,” said Lynch. Punk answered that this was a situation that he expressedly wanted to avoid because he never put his hands on a lady. Thankfully, though, there was someone he knew that would. AJ Lee’s music played as she made her entrance to a loud, loud reaction from the hometown crowd.

AJ skipped around in her usual manner before she entered the ring to confront Lynch. AJ went after Lynch with strikes off a Lou Thesz Press. Lynch tried to escape, but got a hard slap for her troubles from AJ. Punk challenged Rollins to face him before he entered the ring and gave his wife a hug.

The championship couple of Rollins and Lynch were left retreating as SmackDown faded to black with Punk and AJ standing tall.

**********

I will say ending SmackDown with the hometown heroes getting the upper hand and a big return for AJ Lee was the right call to make. Other than that, this show fell off a bit of a cliff for me after the disappointing non-finish to Cena vs. Zayn. That isn’t to say the show was terrible, just that nothing really stood out for me after getting robbed out of a good finish in that opening contest.

WWE SmackDown live results: John Cena returns to Dublin

Posted on by Marc Quill

Editor’s note: This is a live post for the international airing of WWE SmackDown on Netflix. If you do not want to be spoiled before the U.S. airing at 8 p.m. Eastern, you have been warned.

WWE goes global on the road to Clash in Paris as SmackDown heads to Dublin, Ireland’s 3Arena for tonight’s episode.

Ahead of his match with Logan Paul at the August 31 PLE, John Cena will be in the house for his final Dublin appearance as an active wrestler.

The feud between WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss and Chelsea Green’s Secret Hervice continues as Flair battles Piper Niven in a singles match.

After a backstage skirmish last week, the Motor City Machine Guns go heads-up against Melo Don’t Miz (Carmelo Hayes & The Miz).

In more tag team action, The Street Profits take on two members of The MFTs.

The announced lineup is rounded out by Aleister Black vs. R-Truth.

**********

– The voice of lead commentator Joe Tessitore set up the night ahead from the Three Arena, as Logan Paul, the Street Profits, Solo Sikoa’s M.F.T.s, Charlotte Flair, and the Secret Hervice were shown arriving at the arena.

– From inside the arena, we saw Tessitore and Wade Barrett discuss the night before they announced that they were starting off SmackDown with a hometown superstar. That hometown superstar was, of course, current Women’s Intercontinental Champion, Becky Lynch.

Becky Lynch’s Irish Homecoming

Lynch entered the ring to a massive reception from the hometown Dublin crowd, who chanted her name and cheered her on.

“Look at us, lads! We’re on the telly!” Lynch started off as she talked about how this was the first-ever live televised WWE event from Dublin, Ireland. The crowd chanted “we deserve it” in response. Lynch said that she remembered coming here as a fan and how Randy Orton made eye contact with her at one of these events. She noted how that experience made her life and always dreamed of being here. Lynch said that now that this was happening, she noted that the crowd did not deserve it at all. She claimed that she petitioned to get this show cancelled.

The crowd loudly chanted for Lyra Valkyria, but Lynch protested because that since Valkyria lost against her, she’ll no longer get a chance at her Women’s Intercontinental Title. Lynch complained about the lack of media coverage she received in Ireland, because she was the hero of the Irish people. She talked about how she was immensely let down by the Dublin crowd because of their lack of appreciation as she put over her accomplishments like winning the first women’s main event of WrestleMania and being a New York Times best-selling author, and having a “very hot American husband” (Seth Rollins, to be exact). Lynch mocked the crowd’s “CM Punk” chants towards her, stating that “nobody wanted to see that old ass”.

Lynch continued to complain about getting off her jet, and Irish heroes like Katie Taylor, Barry Keoghan, and Bono. Before she could continue her tirade, the WWE Women’s Champion, Tiffany Stratton, interrupted to loud cheers from the crowd.

Stratton said that she couldn’t understand how Lynch could be ungrateful to Dublin, Ireland, and how she was on the wrong show. She talked about how Dublin understood that it was “Tiffy Time” before she told Lynch that she could either leave, or she’d make her leave.

Stratton’s old rival, Nia Jax, decided to interrupt at this time. Jax asked Stratton why she had to worry about Becky so much before she ran down the Dublin crowd. She declared that Stratton had bigger problems right now, and she was standing in front of her. Jax attacked Stratton, as Lynch joined along until Jade Cargill made the save. Cargill took out Jax with a pump kick as Lynch attempted to sneak up for an attack. Jax tried to get into the ring, but was met by a dropkick from Stratton that sent her to the outside.

Nick Aldis appeared on the ramp and announced that it’d be Lynch & Jax versus Stratton & Cargill in our main event tonight.

A hot opening segment to set up our main event match tonight, and Becky heeling it up on her hometown crowd was kind of funny.

**********

– Carmelo Hayes was walking backstage when Fraxiom talked to him. Nathan Frazer and Axiom gave credit to his efforts last week, but they noted how the Miz tried to steal his thunder last week. The Miz himself appeared and tried to stir up trouble, but Hayes seemingly had nothing but kind words for his partner as the two headed off for their match.

Melo Don’t Miz (The Miz & Carmelo Hayes) vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley)

Miz and Hayes argued a bit about who’d start off until the former WWE Champion took charge. That was until Hayes tagged himself in and ended up being the one to get this going against Sabin.

Sabin and Hayes got it going with a series of lockups until Sabin took over with a pair of armdrags. Hayes dodged acrobatically over Sabin as Miz blind tagged himself into the match. The MCMGs showed great tag team acumen as they took both Hayes and Miz out to the ring. Stereo baseball slides were followed by a suicide dive by Sabin that knocked both Hayes and Miz down as we headed to a break in the action.

We resuumed with Shelley as the legal man trying to get to his corner and doing so as he tagged Sabin back into the match. The tag veteran went to work on Miz with a diving tornado DDT that only got a count of two. Sabin sized Miz up in his team’s corner as the Machine Guns rattled Miz with a modified Magic Killer. Hayes dove in at the last minute to save the match for his team.

Sabin and Shelley dropped Hayes with a double team drop kick as they looked for the Skull and Bones. Miz escaped and looked to have the Skull Crushing Finale, but Sabin reversed it. Hayes tagged in and had Sabin dead to rights for Nothin’ But Net, but Miz once again tagged in. Hayes took out Sabin with the Lungblower, but got clotheslined by Shelley to the outside.

A vulturous Miz snuck in and got the pin on Sabin for the win.

Melo Don’t Miz def. Motor City Machine Guns via pinfall

Kind of a sloppy tag match to start the show, but this story of Miz stealing Carmelo Hayes’ glory for himself and stringing him along with it is at least interesting.

**********

– Jimmy Uso was interviewed backstage about the announcement his wife Naomi made on Raw this past Monday. Sami Zayn congratulated the soon-to-be parents as he hugged Jimmy. Solo Sikoa and the M.F.T.s rolled up and said that Jimmy and Naomi’s newborn will have plenty of new family members to welcome them into the world. Jimmy gave an emphatic “no yeet” to that. Zayn then told Sikoa that he wouldn’t be facing “the underdog”, but rather, “WrestleMania main eventer” Sami Zayn when it came time for the U.S. Title to be defended.

Piper Niven (w/ Chelsea Green & Alba Fyre) vs. Charlotte Flair

Flair entered to the match without tag partner Alexa Bliss to the match, who was stated to have been not cleared to appear due to the attack from the Secret Hervice last week.

Niven slammed Flair down to the match and whipped her across to the corner. Flair got herself onto the apron and warded Niven with a boot as she then headed up top with a diving crossbody. As Flair tried to head up to the top rope again, Chelsea Green got on the apron to cause a distraction. This gave Niven the opening to hit an Abyss-style Black Hole Slam to gain the upper hand as we headed to the break.

SmackDown returned as Niven crushed Flair in the corner with a running hip attack, but couldn’t get the fall on her foe. Niven ascended to the top and looked for a Viper Bomb, but Flair dodged at the last second. The former WWE Women’s Champion then teed off on Niven with repeated chops, a clothesline, and a big boot. Flair taunted Green as she headed to the top and connected with the moonsault. One, two… not quite.

Niven escaped Flair’s Figure Eight attempt, but got felled by a Spear. That wasn’t enough for the win, however. As Flair locked in the Figure Eight, Alba Fyre created a distraction, which allowed Green to rake Flair in the eyes. In the end, Niven got the upset win on Flair with a Michinoku Driver for the duke.

Piper Niven def. Charlotte Flair via pinfall

Chelsea Green and the Secret Hervice getting the upper hand two weeks straight on the Women’s Tag Champs is a nice change of pace from them being the usual punching bags, so that’s at least nice to see.

**********

– Kiana James and Giulia were discussing business until Michin interrupted and called her shot. James said that Michin had to go through her before she could get a shot at Giulia’s Women’s United States Championship. Michin was more than happy to oblige her on that challenge.

John Cena returns to SmackDown

The star of Peacemaker made his way to the ring to a loud ovation from the Dublin crowd, who proudly sang his entrance theme. Cena ran down in his usual manner and looked like he had a spring in his step once he finally got into the ring. We got the “Never Seen 17” introduction for Cena from ring announcer Mark Nash before Cena got right down to business.

However, before Cena could even utter a word, Logan Paul interrupted and sauntered his way down to the ring. The fans chanted “f*** you Logan”, which prompted Paul to tell the crowd mockingly that they were getting muted on TV. Paul taunted the crowd and threatened to spit in each and everyone of their faces. He put himself over as allegedly “the person we came to pay to see”. Paul called Cena an “actor who knew how to wrestle”. As the crowd once again chanted “shut the f*** up”, Paul complained that their chanting would get the sound muted on TV with their cussing.

Paul put himself over as a guy who works harder than everyone at the back, and told Cena he was a corporate pawn who’d do everything he was told to do. Paul kept rambling as he asked to play a game called “Who’s the Imposter?” He asked whether the guy who stayed to be himself or the guy who went away to pretend to be someone else was the imposter. Paul yelled that this was “his house” now.

When Cena finally spoke, he called Paul an undeniable presence, tremendous athlete, and a future WWE Champion. He said those things that he believed to be true, and that it made him upset. He said that there was one term that was stuck on Paul for years: “Outsider” (or as the Dublin crowd said instead, “wanker”.) Cena called Paul a “disappointment” instead. He said that Paul was using WWE as a branding opportunity to buy another Pokemon card, as he tipped over the PRIME bottle display at ringside.

Cena blasted Paul for claiming that he “put his life on the line” for a total of 23 matches, which he found insulting. Cena talked about how he did the same, but for a total of 23 years through a multitude of live and televised events, including matches against Sheamus in 2010 in Dublin. Every time Cena stepped in the ring, whether he had 100 moves or 5 moves or 1 move, he said that he only had one question to himself: “what could he give to this business”. In Paul’s case, that question, according to Cena, was “what could he take?”

Cena then said that Logan Paul wasn’t an outsider, but he was a parasite. Cena put over deserving stars that he could’ve been facing like Dominik Mysterio, Seth Rollins, AJ Styles, The Usos, and Jacob Fatu, just to name them all. Cena said he was wasting his time entertaining Paul’s challenge, but he was a man of his word and Paul got lucky by being first in line. Cena told Paul knew about hustle, but nothing about respect.

“As for your co-habitation agreement, I read the news, homey, you’ve got plenty of legal trouble,” said Cena. The 17-time World Champion then told Paul that he’d either understand what it meant to give yourself up for this business at Clash in Paris, or Paul would get the ever-loving shite beaten out of him.

Thing’s got physical when Paul shoved at Cena, which led to him getting dropped with an Attitude Adjustment.

Cena was in his element with this promo tonight, as he certainly brought down the hammer on Paul as only he could with a classic “fine speech” takedown promo.

**********

– Jade Cargill and Tiffany Stratton discussed strategy backstage as they looked to be on a united front against Becky Lynch and Nia Jax.

– An angry Logan Paul was confronted by Drew McIntyre, who bluntly told him that he was scared of the mystique of John Cena. He said that Paul was going to make this right tonight, whatever it took.

The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) (w/ B-Fab) vs. Tonga Loa & J.C. Mateo (w/ The M.F.T.s)

It is said that the winners of this match would face Melo Don’t Miz next week on SmackDown for a shot at the Wyatt Sicks’ WWE Tag Team Championships.

The Profits had the upper hand early on as Ford dropped Loa with a standing moonsault. Mateo entered the match and took over with strikes on Ford in the corner for a bit. Ford recovered and hit the Famouser on Mateo and looked to have a dive from the apron locked and loaded. However, Loa tripped Ford up and sent him right into the outside ringpost shoulder-first, which led to a break.

Our match returned from the break with Mateo hitting Ford with a clothesline, followed by a standing moonsault of his own. Ford dodged out of the way of Mateo’s running strike as Loa got himself into the match with a tag. Ford managed to throw Loa out of the ring as Dawkins got the hot tag. The big man of the Street Profits went to work with a running shoulder block on Mateo, followed by a flapjack on Loa.

Dawkins lifted up Mateo on his shoulders, but couldn’t get the Electric Chair drop down. Loa broke up the pin after a Street Profits double team move. Ford, now the legal man, wanted to head up top for a move, but Solo Sikoa’s distraction allowed Talla Tonga to intervene. This let Mateo deliver the Tour of the Islands on Ford. That wasn’t enough to secure the win for the M.F.T.s, however.

Jimmy Uso ran up and hit Talla with a chair as they began to brawl in the crowd. While Sikoa was up on the commentary table, Sami Zayn tripped him up and hit a modified Helluva Kick. The finish saw Mateo get pinned after a a Montez Ford frog splash.

The Street Profits def. The M.F.T.s via pinfall

A decent tag match, and the crowd did come alive for Sami Zayn and Jimmy Uso running in to take out the M.F.T.s members at ringside.

**********

Aleister Black vs. R-Truth

R-Truth appeared and said that he wasn’t going to be able to make it tonight, stating that he wouldn’t make it because he ended up in Dublin, Georgia instead. However, Truth said he’d made a call to one of his good friends.

Out came Damian Priest, who was looking to get some revenge after having his jaw broken by Black three weeks ago. After a short skirmish, a vanguard of referees and security ran in to break things up. After some effort, the fight was broken up.

Aleister Black vs. R-Truth never happened

**********

Drew McIntyre demands answers regarding Cody Rhodes

While the commentary discussed Cody Rhodes’ condition, Drew McIntyre appeared and once again angrily asked about a medical update on Rhodes. McIntyre said that he had an update of his own: “Cody Rhodes is a little bitch”. He said that he did Rhodes a favor and gave him more than enough time with the Undisputed WWE Championship. While McIntyre continued to talk, Randy Orton snuck up behind him and hit an RKO out of nowhere on McIntyre.

Randy Orton’s return is certainly going to be used to set up a match with McIntyre at Clash in Paris while the title match between McIntyre and Cody Rhodes will be likely taking place at Wrestlepalooza next month.

**********

Next Week on SmackDown

  • United States Championship: Solo Sikoa (c) vs. Sami Zayn
  • Tag Team Contender’s Match: Melo Don’t Miz vs. The Street Profits
  • WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss vs. The Secret Hervice

Becky Lynch & Nia Jax vs. Tiffany Stratton & Jade Cargill

Lynch and Stratton started off with strikes in the ring before she took down Jax and Lynch with a dive to the outside. While Stratton tried to get into the ring, she was being held by the leg by Lynch as Jax hit a leg drop on her. We then went to the final break of the evening.

When SmackDown returned, Cargill and Lynch re-entered the match and faced off. Cargill unleashed a flurry of strikes on Lynch, followed by a spinebuster. Lynch tried to go up top, but was caught by Cargill, who hit a Fallaway Slam on her foe. A stunned Lynch was blasted with a superkick from Cargill, followed by a tilt-a-whirl sitout powerbomb. Lynch managed to kick out at two. Jax got the tag as she snuck up on Cargill while Lynch ran off.

Cargill avoided the Annihilator, as she turned it into a powerbomb instead. Stratton and Cargill ended up getting the victory in our main event after hitting a combination of moonsaults on the fallen Jax.

Tiffany Stratton & Jade Cargill def. Nia Jax & Becky Lynch via pinfall

– Before we ended our night truly, John Cena was seen walking out of the arena, as SmackDown GM Nick Aldis told him he had just heard from Brock Lesnar. Before we could hear what that was, Logan Paul hit Cena with his punch and ran off.

**********

A weirdly paced main event that felt very much a victim of things getting rushed. In fact, a lot of the evening felt like things were strangely timed, as if a segment might’ve ran too long. That ended up affecting the majority of the show.

All in all, a nothing-to-write-home edition of SmackDown, other than the great John Cena verbal takedown of Logan Paul, Becky Lynch’s opening promo, and Randy Orton’s return. Just nothing really stood out to me from what we got tonight.

WWE SmackDown live results: Drew McIntyre addresses attack on Cody Rhodes

Posted on by Marc Quill

Following last week’s SmackDown main event, Drew McIntyre sent a message to WWE Champion Cody Rhodes by attacking him and hitting a Claymore kick through the side of the commentary table.

McIntyre will appear on tonight’s SmackDown to address his attack and perhaps stake his claim for a future title shot ahead of Clash in Paris.

Alexa Bliss takes on Piper Niven of the Secret Hervice after Bliss’s partner and co-Women’s Tag Team Champion Charlotte Flair defeated Chelsea Green last week.

“Melo Don’t Miz” will reunite tonight in tag team action as Carmelo Hayes and The Miz take on Fraxiom. Last week, Hayes was seeking a singles championship, but got roped into a tag match by Miz who had supposedly spoken to SmackDown GM Nick Aldis about it.

The Street Profits & DIY will renew their rivalry when they face off. Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa have blamed the former WWE Tag Team Champions for letting the SmackDown tag division fall into chaos after losing their titles to the Wyatt Sicks.

Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

– Following the WWE signature and flyover over Boston’s skyline, we got shots of Drew McIntyre arriving at the arena, as well as a recap of the damage caused by the surly Scotsman after he hit a nasty Claymore kick on Cody Rhodes through the side of the commentary table last week.

Solo Sikoa and the M.F.T.s open SmackDown

The United States Champion and his “family tree” arrived on the scene to open our show. Once Sikoa and his group entered the ring, he said that the M.F.T.s. were in the building to remind everyone that he and his group ran SmackDown. And if anyone didn’t like that? Too bad.

Last week, Sami Zayn came out and tried to show up on SmackDown, and that forced Sikoa and the M.F.T.s to show up on Raw to, in his words, “stomp his ass out”. Sikoa declared that Zayn was stomped out, alongside Jimmy Uso and Jacob Fatu. He once again challenged anyone to come out from the back to face him, but the music of Sami Zayn cut Sikoa off, and out came the man himself. Zayn walked to the ring alone and stopped on the apron, with mic in hand.

Zayn said that he was just out here to talk. He asked Sikoa if he could just talk with him. The U.S. Champion told his M.F.T.s to back off as he stood face to face with Zayn. The Montreal native said that this past Monday, if he had beaten Rusev, there was a possibility he could’ve been fighting for the World Title at Clash in Paris, and now that wasn’t going to happen thanks to Sikoa’s group. He noted how he felt furious, but after some long thoughts, Zayn noted that he was finally liberated. Zayn had been so focused on chasing the World Title that he hadn’t had time to focus on other things in WWE, and for that he wanted to actually “thank” Sikoa.

Zayn said that there was one title that he hadn’t held in WWE aside from the World Title, and that was the United States Championship. Sikoa taunted Zayn that he would never win the U.S. Title and yelled at him to get out of “his show” as he didn’t want to see him ever again. In actuality, it turned out, Zayn was now officially a member of the SmackDown roster. Sikoa took something away from Zayn, and now the Canadian was going to take the U.S. Title away from Sikoa.

As Sikoa tried to strike at Zayn, we had ourselves a skirmish. The M.F.T.s stepped in and delivered a numbers game-enhanced beatdown until Jimmy Uso ran in for the save. The M.F.T.s’ advantage was still too much until Jacob Fatu made the save. As the M.F.T.’s forces were sent to a retreat, Talla Tonga saw himself sent outside by a triple superkick from Zayn, Uso, and Fatu.

Nick Aldis stepped in and made it official that our main event tonight would be Zayn, Fatu, and Uso versus any three of the M.F.T.s in a six-man tag match.

Moving Sami Zayn to SmackDown was a good lateral move, even though it pulls him into the so-called “Bloodline Vortex” once again. That said, I think I’m ready for him to be the next U.S. Champion.

**********

– Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett welcomed us to the show as they tossed things over to Byron Saxton, who was standing by with Chelsea Green and her Secret Hervice. Green was asked, in her words, how we got here. Green claimed she could’ve been severely injured after getting a faceful of cake last week, as Piper Niven and Alba Fyre promised to “confiscate” Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss of their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships.

Alexa Bliss (w/ Charlotte Flair) vs. Piper Niven (w/ Chelsea Green & Alba Fyre)

The ring and ringside LED displays were adorned with a King of the Hill logo, to promote the recently-released reboot of the beloved animated series.

Bliss asked for a moment prior to the match as she put her Lilly doll aside. Niven pounced on the attack with stomps on Bliss as she pointed at Lilly. Green tried to take it from outside the ring, but Charlotte backed her off. In the ring, Bliss jumped on the back of Niven and tried to apply a sleeper hold to ground her larger foe. Niven used her power to break the hold successfully as she had the physical advantage on Bliss at this point in the match. She floored Bliss with a textbook Black Hole Slam as we headed to a commercial break.

SmackDown returned with Bliss taking advantage after she avoided a Niven cannonball during the commercial break. She hit Niven with repeated running moonsaults, but those weren’t enough to secure the three count. Niven regained momentum with a headbutt, which finally allowed her to hit Bliss with the corner cannonball. Bliss avoided possible calamity by dodging the Viper Bomb. As Bliss tried to head up top, Green got on the apron to provide a distraction, but Flair stopped her. Fyre then got on the apron, but got kicked away by Bliss. In the end, Bliss got the rollup victory on Niven.

After the match, the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions found themselves on the wrong end of a three-on-two attack from Green and the Secret Hervice.

Alexa Bliss def. Piper Niven via pinfall

Kind of a nothing match, if we’re being honest. But, it’s at least nice to see Green and her stable actually look credible for once with their post-match beatdown.

**********

– Tiffany Stratton and Jade Cargill were arguing backstage as Nick Aldis tried to bring some peace to the situation. Nia Jax soon appeared, and was told by the WWE Women’s Champion to simply “bring it” if she wanted another shot at her.

Melo Don’t Miz (Carmelo Hayes & The Miz) vs. Fraxiom (Axiom & Nathan Frazer)

Axiom & Hayes started us off in this match until Miz tagged himself in, much to his partner’s annoyance. Joe Gacy of the Wyatt Sicks was shown standing in the crowd, which got Axiom’s attention. Gacy’s tag team partner Dexter Lumis was shown lurking in the crowd as well.

Axiom and Miz got themselves into a battle of flipping attacks until the former NXT Tag Champion used his speed to escape, as Frazer entered the match. Miz was flummoxed by Frazer’s speed as he decided to let Hayes handle him. Frazer flipped across the ring and caught Hayes with an enzuiguiri. Fraxiom used their high-flying double team attack to rattle Melo Don’t Miz with an all-out dive assault. We went to a break at this point.

SmackDown returned with Hayes having a resthold applied on Axiom, as he then hit a superkick on him. Axiom countered an attempted powerbomb with a hurricanrana that got a near fall. Hayes finally connected with that powerbomb, but could not put Axiom away. Hayes tried to get at Frazer, who avoided the attack. Axiom took advantage and hit a kick to the face of Hayes. Frazer got the hot tag as he made off with supersonic speed to floor Miz with a moonsault.

Frazer looked for the Phoenix Splash, but Miz rolled out of the away as he hit Frazer with a big knee. Hayes tagged in and tried for a springboard attack, but Frazer met him at the rope and hit an inverted Spanish Fly instead. Hayes somehow kicked out at two. On the top rope, Hayes tried to head up top, but Axiom stunned him with a kick. This opened Hayes up for the Spanish Fly/Phoenix Splash combo from Fraxiom. Miz broke up the count by stepping onto the back of Frazer, followed by a DDT afterwards.

On the top rope, Frazer hit Hayes with a jumping kick and looked for a jumping Spanish Fly with Axiom. However, Miz stopped Axiom with a DDT on the apron. Back on the top rope, Hayes countered Frazer with an amazing top rope cutter. As Hayes was looking for Nothin’ But Net, Miz selfishly tagged himself in and stole the win with a Skull-Crushing Finale, much to Hayes’ chagrin.

The crowd was hot for this match, and the story of Miz trying to steal the glory of Hayes is at least interesting, and presuming that this leads to a tag title match with the Wyatt Sicks, the supernatural faction will surely take advantage of Miz’s duplicity to defend their tag team gold.

Melo Don’t Miz def. Fraxiom via pinfall

**********

– Tiffany Stratton was approached by Kiana James, who offered her services of being a client of hers, which included benefits such as a custom pink World Championship. Stratton refused James’ services as she walked off. Michin then appeared and stated that she had Giulia next. James said that this was “under advisement”.

Drew McIntyre addresses his attack on Cody Rhodes

The Scotsman stepped into the ring and talked about people asking why he did what he did last week to the Undisputed WWE Championship. He asked for the clip to be played again, which brought a smile to a face. McIntyre asked us to listen closely, as he said that apparently did “not” attack Cody Rhodes. He then accosted Joe Tessitore about a medical update on Rhodes. He ranted about how that management was hiding Rhodes’ medical condition.

McIntyre said that he wasn’t mad at Rhodes, that he instead felt sorry for him because of how much he put the weight of the fans and the WWE management on his shoulders. McIntyre noted that he was once in Rhodes’ position, but he moved on afterwards. He noted that Rhodes was nothing without “his story”, as he boasted that McIntyre didn’t attack Rhodes… he was attacked instead.

McIntyre walked us through what happened and put his own spin of the events that transpired last week. He noted that he defended himself, and that while Rhodes was good at pissing people off, McIntyre said he was good at taking people out. He declared himself the “real nightmare” as he walked off.

Uninterrupted McIntyre segment here, which presumably will lead to a Clash in Paris title match, and likely to give Cody Rhodes a break while filming his Street Fighter role, or at least prepare for it.

**********

– The Street Profits were confronted by Solo Sikoa and the M.F.T.s just before their match against #DIY. As the Profits left, Sikoa asked Talla Tonga what he was looking at, as something in the distance caught the big man’s attention. We got a glimpse of who exactly Talla was looking at after the M.F.T.s walked off, and it was a faraway Erick Rowan lurking menacingly.

#DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) (w/ Candice LeRae) vs. The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) (w/ B-Fab)

As the bell rang, Ford caught Ciampa with a dropkick, but found himself hit with a boot that sent him to the #DIY corner not long after. Gargano & Ciampa blasted Ford with a tandem of running boots into the corner.

Ford avoided a chop block from Ciampa as he then tagged Dawkins. The titanic Dawkins used his strength and speed to keep the #DIY duo cornered. Outside the ring, LeRae got herself in the way of Dawkins, which allowed Ciampa to hit him with a kick. Gargano, Ciampa, and LeRae sat on the apron and did their happy clap, which took us to the break.

The action picked up from commercial with Gargano and Dawkins down on the mat after a slam from the latter. Both men tagged in their respective partners as Ford soared with a high crossbody from the top rope on Ciampa. He countered Gargano with a Famouser, followed by a jumping neckbreaker on Ciampa. Ford leapt up with a splash on Ciampa for the near-fall.

The Profits showed great teamwork with an assisted double team back suplex on Ciampa. As Ford headed up top for the Blockbuster, B-Fab was sent to the steps by LeRae outside the ring. This created a distraction and allowed #DIY to hit their superkick-into-Fairy Tale Ending. Dawkins slid in the last second to break up the count. Ford avoided a superkick from Gargano as he sent him into Ciampa instead. While Ford was on the apron, LeRae took him out with a leaping hurricanrana, In the ring, Gargano hit Ford with his slingshot DDT, and the action turned to chaos. Outside the ring, LeRae got smashed with a knee from B-Fab, and in the end, the Profits secured victory after a high-flying frog splash from Ford on Ciampa and the three.

The Street Profits def. #DIY via pinfall

Just a fun tag match. The Street Profits are always reliable for fast-paced tag action, and pitting them against #DIY is a recipe for some exciting tag team action.

**********

– Carmelo Hayes tried to ask Nick Aldis for a singles shot at the United States Championship when the Miz once again tried to speak for his partner’s behalf. Chris Sabin of the Motor City Machine Guns taunted Hayes by asking if he was “Him” or if he was “His” (as in belonging to Miz). This led to Aldis scheduling the MCMGs versus Melo Don’t Miz for next week’s show.

– We got a recap of John Cena and Logan Paul’s encounter from last week’s show, which led to a match between the two to be booked for Clash in Paris.

– R-Truth was asked about John Cena’s recent “attitude adjustment”, to which he seemed overjoyed about. Before he could get further, Aleister Black confronted him. He wanted to know which Truth he was getting, as Truth got serious and stepped up to Black. “There he is, Mr. Killings,” said Black as he told Truth to see him next week.

– Backstage, Sami Zayn wondered if Jacob Fatu was going to be cool with them teaming up together in our main event. Fatu told Zayn to stay out of his way, as he walked off with a “yaddamean”, which confused Zayn.

Next Week on SmackDown

  • John Cena returns
  • R-Truth vs. Aleister Black
  • Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) vs. Melo Don’t Miz (Carmelo Hayes & The Miz)

The M.F.T.s (Solo Sikoa, Tanga Loa, J.C. Mateo) (w/ Talla Tonga) vs. Sami Zayn, Jimmy Uso, Jacob Fatu

We got things going with Mateo and Uso as our legal men. Mateo backed Uso into the corner and clubbed him with strikes. Uso escaped and stunned Mateo as Zayn tagged in and tried his best to maintain momentum. Mateo used his strength to run Zayn into his corner, as Tanga Loa entered the match with a tag. Tanga threw Zayn outside and caused a distraction for Talla Tonga to kick Zayn with a big boot, which took us to the final break of the evening.

SmackDown’s main event returned from commercial with Sikoa pummeling Zayn near the M.F.T. corner. The feisty Quebecer tried to fight back, but Sikoa asserted control and brought Mateo into the match. Zayn avoided a running splash in the corner from Mateo, and looked for a tag. Sikoa punched Uso away and taunted Fatu as he continued to attack Zayn.

As Zayn was on the top rope, he roared back and hit a tornado DDT on Sikoa, which created some much-needed separation for him. Finally, Jacob Fatu was tagged in as he unleashed his wrath on Tanga Loa. Fatu struck Tanga with repeated headbutts, followed by the running hip attack. Mateo got sent over the top rope with a clothesline by Fatu, as a flying dive from Uso to the outside left him out cold. In the ring, pop-up Samoan Drop by Fatu was not enough to end the match as Tanga kicked out.

Fatu headed to the top rope as Sikoa stopped him long enough for Tanga to get the knees up on the moonsault. Sikoa tagged in and hit a diving splash on Fatu. One, two… not yet! Fatu and Sikoa traded superkicks until a double-down clothesline from the two took one another out. Zayn entered the match with a tag and a Blue Thunder Powerbomb on Sikoa. Mateo broke up the count and ate a superkick from Uso as result. Fatu superkicked Tanga before he sent Talla Tonga over the announce table with a suicide dive to the outside.

In the ring, Sikoa’s Samoan Spike was reversed into an Exploder Suplex by Zayn, followed by the Helluva Kick for the one, two, three in our SmackDown main event.

As SmackDown ended, Fatu finally showed respect to Zayn as the two embraced and celebrated with Jimmy Uso to end the night.

Sami Zayn, Jacob Fatu, and Jimmy Uso def. The M.F.T.s via pinfall

**********

A solid TV main event match that did its job of establishing Sami Zayn as a credible threat to Sikoa’s U.S. Title as well as solidify him as a top face along side Jacob Fatu. It was also rather nice to get a clean finish to the match after the last two episodes of Raw & SmackDown gave us inconclusive DQ finishes and beatdown segments to end them.

All in all, a fairly decent episode of SmackDown that did its best to fill two hours without stars like John Cena or Cody Rhodes to carry the bulk of the show. If there is a downside, I think it’s with how the WWE Women’s Championship feels kind of shuffled off to the side, as champion Tiffany Stratton only had two backstage segments and the fact that Nia Jax & Jade Cargill are being teased as challengers again does highlight how small the main event scene of the SmackDown women’s division is. Hopefully that’s something that’s to be addressed in the near future, and Bianca Belair’s return, whenever that is, should help alleviate that somewhat.

WWE SmackDown live results: SummerSlam fallout

Posted on by Marc Quill

At SummerSlam, Cody Rhodes reclaimed the WWE Championship in a hard-fought street fight against “the real” John Cena that saw the two men show tremendous respect for one another following the match. Rhodes is scheduled to appear tonight in Montreal’s Bell Centre to address his championship victory and potentially find out who his first title defense will be against.

Meanwhile, Cena will kick off SmackDown to not only discuss his defeat at SummerSlam, but also being attacked post-match by a returning Brock Lesnar.

Motor City Machine Guns will face Talla Tonga and JC Mateo of the MFTs in tag team action. The team of Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley were one of five teams who came up short in dethroning the Wyatt Sicks in a hotly contested TLC match at SummerSlam.

The MFTs are coming off a mixed night at SummerSlam where Solo Sikoa retained the United States title against Jacob Fatu inside a steel cage — but Fatu and Jimmy Uso left Mateo and Tonga Loa laying after.

Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

– SmackDown opened with a recap of the SummerSlam Sunday main event between Cody Rhodes and John Cena, as well as the Brock Lesnar return after the match.

John Cena opens SmackDown

We didn’t waste any time as John Cena opened SmackDown, with his usual babyface entrance back in full force after SummerSlam. The Montreal crowd responded with a loud cheer for Cena as he addressed the camera, telling Stu the Cameraman “let’s go to work” before he ran down to the ring, full of vigour.

Ring announcer Mark Nash did the introduction for Cena, but added that the “Last Real Champion” was here to celebrate with all the fans.

“Man, we have come a long way,” began Cena. He said for the longest time, WWE was afraid to come to Montreal because they thought the audience would hijack the show. Cena said that he wasn’t afraid of that possibility because he knew that the audience was the show. If we watched at home, we could see the crowd go and wish we were there. Cena noted that the Montreal crowd was so loud that he could barely hear himself talk.

For the crew in the back, Cena said that it could get scary if the crowd started singing. “Some performers might get scared,” but Cena said that he might’ve been afraid, but the crowd helped him through it by letting him embrace and enjoy every single second. He said that it didn’t last forever, unfortunately, as the crowd chanted “Thank you, Cena”.

He said that he’s been coming here for over two decades, and that he had shared many valuable moments in this ring, and that all he had to say was: thank you. Cena reminded the crowd that after tonight, he has 11 dates left before retirement. Cena admitted that every time a day goes by, he gets more and more afraid, and he thanked everyone for that.

Cena said that no matter how much he gave to the crowd in the little amount of time left, that it wouldn’t be enough. Cena continued by saying that he was also afraid that after he was gone and WWE moved on without him, he’d be forgotten as a result. Cena finally addressed Brock Lesnar, stating that there’d be no universe ever that he’d back down against Lesnar’s challenge.

Cena said that he’s afraid that Brock Lesnar has just gotten a “John Cena problem”, and that everyone in the locker room has also got themselves a “John Cena problem”. Cena declared that he was ready to go down guns blazing, because the last time was now. “If you want some, come get some!” challenged Cena.

The music of Logan Paul heralded the arrival of the so-called YouTube influencer to the ring. As the crowd booed, Paul said that this version of John Cena made him sick. Paul noted how he once respected Cena, but no longer as he “switched up” in his eyes.

As Paul entered the ring, Cena told him that he might’ve made the biggest mistake of his life. Paul claimed that the people didn’t know who John Cena was, and that he did WWE better than any professional wrestler. Cena responded by calling Paul the “biggest dumbass he had ever seen in his life”.

Paul called Cena a liar as he wanted to face him in a match, if Cena was in the mood for giving matches. Paul said that we would see this match in a beautiful French-speaking country… Paris, France. As Paul rambled on, Drew McIntyre snuck up on Cena and helped Paul ambush him. Cody Rhodes ran in to make the save to help Cena clear the ring of Paul and McIntyre.

Cena accepted Paul’s challenge for Clash in Paris, but it was clear that Paul and McIntyre wanted a fight. He then threw down the challenge for Paul and McIntyre to take him on and Rhodes for a tag match tonight. “The Champ is Here!” declared Cena, referring to our new Undisputed WWE Champion in the form of Cody Rhodes.

A rather interesting opening segment that seemed more centered on Cena’s final goodbye than directly addressing the Brock Lesnar/SummerSlam fallout, as well as giving us a match for Clash in Paris with Cena vs. Paul. The promo itself was back to a usual Cena babyface one, and it’s honestly good to hear it again, because Cena is a natural at these types of promos as opposed to the ones we got during his recently-wrapped heel run.

**********

– The Motor City Machine Gunes were asked backstage about their chances against Talla Tonga and J.C. Mateo of the M.F.T.s. They said that their road to the top began with this match.

– Rhodes/Cena vs. Paul/McIntyre was made official for later tonight.

The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) vs. Talla Tonga & J.C. Mateo (w/ Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga)

Mateo and Shelley opened the match as the two traded offense until Shelley and Sabin used a double team attack to floor Mateo and send him to the outside. Sabin took down Mateo with a five-hole suicide dive as the MCMGs did a number on Talla Tonga.

Tama Tonga got on the apron, which caused a distraction and gave Talla the time to pick Sabin off the apron and throw him into the barricade, which sent us to a break in the action.

We returned to the match as Talla had Shelley locked in a bearhug before he slammed the tag veteran to the mat. Shelley found a way to create separation as he elbowed Mateo before he got the tag on Sabin.

Sabin attempted to take down Mateo, but had to hit multiple superkicks before he did the job with a springboard DDT for a near-fall. The Machine Guns then attempted a double team on Mateo as they took Talla down from the apron. This gave Mateo time to recover and slam down Sabin. The cover, but Shelley broke it up.

A double superkick from Sabin and Shelley stunned Mateo, but Talla got involved and prevented the Skull and Bones with a boot to Shelley on the top rope. He then chokeslammed Sabin to pick up the victory for the M.F.T.s.

Talla Tonga & J.C. Mateo def. Motor City Machine Guns via pinfall

An okay match. Nothing really much to say, but does seem to set up Talla and J.C. as challengers for the Wyatt Sicks. Not sure what that will look like, but it’s at least worth keeping an eye on.

**********

After the match, Solo Sikoa got on the microphone and declared that he and his M.F.T.s were what greatness looked like. He said that we were looking at the soon-to-be WWE Tag Team Champions and the most dominant United States Champion. Sikoa said he was feeling good and ready for a fight, but the problem is that nobody was wanted to fight him. He said that this was the last place that he wanted to fight so he was ready to celebrate.

SmackDown GM Nick Aldis interrupted him and that he found someone who was also ready for a fight. That someone being a person that Sikoa knew all too well and one that Montreal knew well. Sami Zayn then entered to a raucous ovation from the hometown crowd.

Solo Sikoa vs. Sami Zayn

The match officially kicked off after a commercial break as Zayn and Sikoa stared down one another across the ring. The crowd broke out in an “ole ole ole” singalong as this was happening. Zayn and Sikoa finally locked horns in the middle of the ring as the latter forced his opponent into the corner. Sikoa tried to beg off Zayn by throwing up the Bloodline ones, but got a slap in the face for his troubles.

Zayn responded with punches in the corner before Sikoa regained control with a running shoulder block. The United States Champion chopped at Zayn in the corner before he struck with some punches of his own. Zayn escaped and once again hammered away at Sikoa in the corner. Zayn sent Sikoa to the outside with a clothesline and sized him up for a dive. He soared over the top rope with a dive that took down Sikoa, but soon found himself surrounded by the M.F.T.s by the commentary table.

In the ring, Sikoa provided a distraction, which allowed Tama Tonga to hit Zayn with a clothesline from the apron, which took us to a break in the action.

We came back from the break with Zayn connecting on a sunset flip powerbomb to Sikoa from the top rope for a close near-fall. Zayn followed that up by attempting to lift Sikoa up, but to no avail. An attempted Blue Thunder Bomb was met by a Spinning Solo from the United States Champion. One, two… Zayn just managed to kick out.

Sikoa sized Zayn up for a Samoan Spike, but Zayn got a boot up and threw him in the corner for an Exploder Suplex. Zayn locked in and looked like he was about to hit a Helluva Kick, but Tama Tonga provided the distraction. Another Exploder was followed by an attempted Helluva Kick, but J.C. Mateo this time provided a distraction. Talla Tonga got up on the apron and faced off with a defiant Zayn, but this opened him up for a superkick from Sikoa. The U.S. Champion looked to have this won with a Samoan Spike, but Zayn turned that around and got the surprise rollup pinfall win to a huge ovation from the hometown crowd. Zayn immediately rolled out of the ring to avoid an M.F.T. beatdown as Sikoa looked stunned at losing in such shocking fashion.

Sami Zayn def. Solo Sikoa via pinfall

This was a nice little match, and Sami getting the hometown hero win was a good change of pace.

**********

– We got a promo from the Wyatt Sicks. Uncle Howdy said that the Sicks would never lead us astray, and that when they spoke, they only spoke the truth. The Sicks said they woke the SmackDown tag division up to their true reality. This was clear that this was about something bigger than the Tag Titles, and that there were more lessons to be learned.

– Backstage, the Street Profits and #DIY got into an argument, with Tommasso Ciampa calling the Profits a bunch of “motherkillers” for what happened to Candice LeRae. The bickering continued until Nick Aldis interrupted. He said that the TLC match didn’t keep everyone in check, but that would start next week with #DIY vs. the Profits next week on SmackDown.

Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair’s Championship Celebration

The new WWE Women’s Tag Champions had themselves a Championship Celebration, which happened to fall on Bliss’s birthday. In the ring, was a cake that said “Congratulations Charlotte! – Alexa”, which Flair tried to pass off as a birthday gift to Bliss.

Flair said that if Bliss and her were tag partners, then Lilly the doll needed a tag partner of her own. Flair then unveiled “Charlie”, a doll that looked quite similar to Lilly. Bliss thanked Flair for the appreciation, but it wasn’t enough. Flair said that she needed something and Montreal needed something. And that something was a hug. Bliss said she didn’t know if that was necessary, but Flair beckoned her partner to give her a hug.

Chelsea Green and the Secret Hervice interrupted before we got a hug. Green said that while she was a proud Canadian, seeing the Montreal crowd cheer for Bliss and Flair made her want to turn her passport in. She dissed the Montreal Canadiens and then said that the we should be celebrating her homecoming instead.

Flair said that she had one more gift for Bliss: kicking Chelsea Green’s ass tonight. As Green tried to back away, Nick Aldis appeared with a referee who wore a bowtie. The referee was apparently a “birthday gift” for Bliss as Aldis then made Flair vs. Green official, and we’d see that match after the break.

– Backstage, Carmelo Hayes tried to pay a visit to Nick Aldis, but was met by The Miz instead. Hayes was upset that Miz ignored him for two months and he wanted to get a shot at the United Staes Championship. Miz said that he supposedly got a tag team match for him and Hayes next week. Hayes tentatively agreed and left. Nick Aldis appeared and it was clear that Miz had not spoken to to the SmackDown GM about this supposed tag match.

Charlotte Flair vs. Chelsea Green

Flair had the advantage early on as she forced Green out of the ring for the time being. Green got the upper hand in the ring with a boot to the face. Green then slammed Flair’s face on the turnbuckle, but got countered and hit with a chop to the face.

On the apron, Flair fended off Alba Fyre and Piper Niven before she took the top rope and hit a diving crossbody for the near-fall. The Secret Hervice provided a momentary distraction, that didn’t provide any sort of advantage for Green. A rollup attempt by Flair was turned into a moment of opportunity for Green as she pushed her into the middle turnbuckle. That took us into an oddly-placed ad break.

We returned to the match and we found out that the birthday cake from the birthday celebration for Bliss was placed outside the ring while the match was in progress.

Flair blased Green with chops followed by a walkover clothesline and a high-angle German suplex on the Canadian. Flair then connected with Natural Selection, but Green kicked out at two. As Flair tried to run at Green, she was met with a big boot. Flair quickly recovered and tried to head up top. Green stunned Flair and landed a superplex for the close near-fall. A flustered Green motioned to the Secret Hervice to bring the birthday cake to her, as Fyre and Niven slid it into the ring.

On the outside, Bliss took out both members of the Secret Hervice with a dive. In the ring, Green set Flair up for a Un-Pretty-Her on the cake, but Flair reversed it and delivered an Un-Pretty-Her of her own on Green instead. In the end, Flair made Green submit to the Figure Eight for the win.

Charlotte Flair def. Chelsea Green via submission

A fun little segment and an entertaining match afterwards with a funny finish to the proceedings.

**********

– Tiffany Stratton was interviewed about what was next for her. She said that she’d just keep on doing what she had been doing for the past 216 days. Jade Cargill interrupted and promised that it’d be different next time she and Stratton faced off. Stratton said that it’d be a different story, but with the same ending: her winning out. As Stratton left, Cargill was confronted by Kiana James and Giulia. Cargill said that she’d go after Giulia’s Women’s U.S. Title on her own time. Finally, Michin showed up and offered to help Cargill out against Giulia and Kiana.

– We got a video from Aleister Black, where he said that he was granted the power to use violence to stop a greater violence being committed. Black said that he is an eye for an limb and and an eye for a life kind of guy. Black took credit for giving Damian Priest a hairline fraction in his jaw following his attack on last week’s SmackDown.

– John Cena was walking backstage and was met by Ron Killings/R-Truth, who seemed happy that the “real” Cena was back. Cena played along and acted like Truth had turned heel for the past five months and only since turned back face. Cena gave Truth an appreciative pat before he walked off for our main event up next.

Cody Rhodes & John Cena vs. Logan Paul & Drew McIntyre

Rhodes and Paul started off our main event with a tie up in the middle of the ring, as Rhodes took him down with a running shoulder block. Paul responded with a standing headlock that he failed to keep on as Rhodes fought back with his signature drop down slap to the face. After a suplex, Rhodes tried to tag Cena, but Paul rolled him up and dragged the Undisputed WWE Champion back to the his corner as McIntyre tagged into the match.

McIntyre failed to get any momentum as Rhodes slammed him with a running powerslam. Meanwhile, Paul ran a distraction, which gave McIntyre the chance to blast Rhodes with the Glasgow Kiss headbutt. In the ring, McIntyre provided a distraction of his own as Paul hit Rhodes with a clothesline at ringside, which took us to the final ad break of the night with about 7 minutes to 10:00pm.

We returned to our main event with McIntyre attempting to prevent Rhodes from making the tag to Cena. Rhodes managed to create some needed separation as he avoided a shoulder charge from McIntyre, which sent the Scotsman crashing into the corner. This allowed Cena to get the hot tag as he unleashed his Five Moves of Doom on legal man Paul. The Montreal crowd was on fire as Cena delivered the Five Knuckle Shuffle, followed by the Attitude Adjustment. McIntyre made the save by breaking up the pin. McIntyre tried to target Cena for a Claymore Kick, but Rhodes intervened.

In the ring, Cena was hit by a low blow from Paul to cause the DQ finish. After the match, Paul and Cena brawled to the back while Rhodes and McIntyre continued to mix it up at ringside. The fight took a turn as McIntyre smacked Rhodes across the face with the Undisputed WWE Championship. With the Champion prone next to the edge of the commentary table, McIntyre delivered a particularly vicious Claymore Kick that managed to break the bottom of the commentary table entirely to end our night.

Cody Rhodes & John Cena def. Logan Paul & Drew McIntyre via Disqualification

**********

Kind of a hard reset of sorts, particularly with the past five months for John Cena as he abruptly turned back face. Main event was fine, and the post-match extracurriculars set up the already-announced Cena vs. Paul match and a presumed Undisputed WWE Championship match (and presumably writing Cody Rhodes off until Clash in Paris so he can film Street Fighter).

All in all, an average SmackDown at best.

WWE SmackDown live results: SummerSlam go-home show

Posted on by Marc Quill

The final WWE SmackDown before this weekend’s two-night SummerSlam goes down tonight in Newark, New Jersey. A pair of title matches are scheduled for the episode, as well as a confrontation between SummerSlam opponents John Cena and Cody Rhodes.

Cena and Rhodes will meet in a street fight this Sunday for the Undisputed WWE Championship. The last time both men were in the same ring, Rhodes laid out Cena and forced him to sign the contract for their title bout.

Last week, Rhodes challenged Cena to bring “the real” version of himself at SummerSlam for the street fight. Cena will undoubtedly bring his response to that challenge tonight.

Also set for this evening is Giulia defending her Women’s United States title against former champ Zelina Vega in her first title defense. Giulia’s new “business partner” in Kiana James could factor into how this match plays out.

Damian Priest finally gets his chance to take down Aleister Black in singles action after weeks of being vexed by his new rival. Black took exception to Priest sticking up for Ron Killings and has taken out his frustrations on the former World Champion.

Los Garza will also defend their AAA Tag Team titles on tonight’s show in an open challenge. Plus, Jimmy Uso faces off against the debuting Talla Tonga.

Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

– Over shots of Newark, New Jersey and the Prudential Center, Joe Tessitore welcomed us to the shwo. He pointed out the steel cage hanging above the ring. Jimmy Uso, The M.F.T.s, Aleister Black, and Damian Priest were shown arriving at the arena.

John Cena and Cody Rhodes face off before SummerSlam

The Undisputed WWE Champion arrived to the ring in his usual, understated manner, dressed in New York Jets-themed “The Last Time is Now” gear. The crowd serenaded Cena with “Let’s Go Cena / Cena Sucks” chants before he instructed ring announcer Mark Nash to give him an appropriately bombastic intro.

Before Cena could even say a single word, the entrance theme of his SummerSlam foe, Cody Rhodes, interrupted. The American Nightmare made his way down to the ring to address Cena face to face.

The crowd filled the air with an eclectic mix of chants as the SummerSlam opponents stood in the ring. Cena started by saying that he told Rhodes that he was exhausted, and that a match at SummerSlam would be too difficult for him. He said that Rhodes forced him into one of the most dangerous matches in WWE. He only had one thing to say to Rhodes “Thank you”, because that was the boot in the ass he needed. Cena said that for 25 years, he had forged a legacy of respect and hard work. And that five months ago, he flushed that into the toilet for “shock TV”. He said that the people on his team (The Rock and Travis Scott) left him alone in the aftermath, which made him try to pretend something he was not. Cena said that he wanted to take the WWE Championship home not to ruin wrestling, but so that the fans wouldn’t forget about him.

Cena said he was so hung up about how we all saw him tomorrow, that it made him blind to how stupid he was acting today. Cena said that Rhodes did what a good friend should do, by forcing him to face it and forcing him into a fight. Cena said that the Street Fight at SummerSlam was going to get him back to who he really was. According to the Undisputed WWE Champion, August 1st, 2025, was the day that John Cena truly came back to WWE.

Cena said that he didn’t know who’d leave SummerSlam with the title, but the fans would leave as the winners, because we’d finally see John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes in a battle between the best. He told Rhodes that if he wanted some, to come get some. He said that on Sunday, the only platinum rapper showing up to whip Cody’s ass was him. “The Champ is Here!” Cena concluded.

Rhodes asked for two cans of beer to be given to him before he simply told Cena “welcome back”. The two men popped open the cold ones and shared a toast. Rhodes left Cena in the ring, so that the Champ could take in the cheers from the crowd as this segment ended.

Well, this was certainly an interesting segment, to say the least. But, this seemed like a hard reset for Cena to be a face for the latter half of his retirement run. It also seemed like they brushed aside whatever partnership with Travis Scott was developing. Whether or not it leads to a Cody Rhodes heel turn as a result remains to be seen, but it does adds intrigue to the SummerSlam main event, assuming we don’t get swerved one more time to end the night.

**********

– Tessitore and Wade Barrett tossed to footage of a Jelly Roll training session earlier today where Logan Paul and Drew McIntyre made their presence clear by attacking Jelly.

– PJ Byrne, the lead actor from the new USA Network series The Rainmaker (which, sadly, has nothing to do with Kazuchika Okada) was shown in the crowd.

Women’s United States Championship Match: Giulia (c) (w/ Kiana James) vs. Zelina Vega

Vega and Giulia began with a tie-up before coming at a stalemate and a faceoff. The two attempted to trade strikes, but Giulia won out with a one-handed STO slam for an early pinfall attempt. Giulia continued the punishment on Vega with a mix of elbow strikes and chops, followed by a stalling suplex. Vega managed to kick out at two afterwards as she then left Giulia on the apron with a flip. She sent the Women’s United States Champion to the outside, as she then connected with a diving Meteora to the outside, which took us to a commercial break halfway through.

We returned to action with Giulia slamming Vega down face first with a wheelbarrow faceplant. She then locked in some sort of modfied Camel Clutch on Vega, who then countered it into a roll-up pin that Giulia kicked out of. Giulla regained momentum with a vicious stomp, but couldn’t capitalize after getting kicked in the corner by Vega.

Vega launched into her comeback as she delivered a saito suplex on the champion, followed by the running Meteora to the corner. Giulia avoided a dropkick and lifted Vega onto the top turnbuckle. Giulia looked to deliver a superplex, but Vega wriggled herself free and delivered an avalanche German suplex onto the Women’s U.S. Champion instead. One, two… Giulia managed to kick out at two.

Once again, Giulia put Vega up on the top turnbuckle and hit a series of headbutts to stun her foe. With Vega dazed, Giulia hit an avalanche butterfly suplex, followed by the Arrivederci Knee, and the Northern Lights Bomb. Vega somehow kicked out at 2.99999999 to somehow survive that salvo of Giulia’s signature moves.

Giulia looked for another Northern Lights Bomb, but Vega rolled her up for a close near-fall. Backstabber by Vega gave the challenger an opening she needed. Vega ascended to the top for the moonsault, but Giulia blocked it and pulled up Vega to finish this title defense with an emphatic Northern Lights Bomb.

A solid opener and a great title defense for Giulia. What’s not great, is that this was Giulia’s first match in over a month. She is a great talent who certainly deserves to be showcased more and I will say that tonight’s match was a good start. Now it falls on WWE to book Giulia more consistently so that she gets a chance to show up and show out like she did tonight.

Giulia def. Zelina Vega via pinfall to retain the Women’s United States Championship

**********

– Solo Sikoa and the M.F.T.s were interviewed, where we learned that he apparently asked for the steel cage to be above the ring tonight. Sikoa denied those claims as he talked about Talla Tonga’s debut tonight against Jimmy Uso and how it was about sending a message.

AAA Tag Team Championships: Los Garza (Angel & Berto) (c) vs. Mr. Iguana & Psycho Clown

Before the match, Santos Escobar addressed the crowd as he demanded the crowd to show respect to the AAA World Tag Team Champions, Los Garza. He chatised the crowd for not showing the respect deserved, as he then challenged any tag team in the back to face Angel and Berto for the AAA Titles.

Mr. Iguana (alongside La Yesca) and Psycho Clown were revealed to be the mystery opponents for Los Garza.

Psycho Clown and Angel started things off for their respective teams. Angel fell victim to a hurricanrana from Psycho, followed by a springboard crossbody. The masked clown looked good as he handled both Garzas easily early on. He ripped off his mask to reveal another one underneath, as he hit a popup forearm on Angel.

Berto got the blind tag, which allowed him to take advantage by tripping up Psycho as he tried for a springboard move. The AAA World Tag Champions began to work over on Psycho in their corner as the fans chanted for Mr. Iguana. Angel and Berto hit a double team kick on a prone Psycho as the former locked in a resthold to keep his foe grounded.

Psycho fought back with a kick to the face of Angel, which gave him some separation and time to get the tag to Mr. Iguana. The eclectic lizard floored Berto with a helicopter spin as he introduced La Yesca into proceedings. He delivered the Iguanarana on Berto as he then slammede Angel with a crucifix pin for the near fall. Angel and Berto caught Mr. Iguana as he tried for a dive to the outside and sent him right into Psycho Clown. Mr. Iguana was brought back into the ring and left at the mercy of Los Garza on the top rope. They dropped him with a super MTY from the top rope. Iguana managed to kick out at two as he tagged in Psycho Clown.

Psycho tried for a crossbody but got blocked, as they then landed the MTY to retain their AAA World Tag Team gold.

Los Garza def. Psycho Clown & Mr. Iguana via pinfall to retain the AAA World Tag Team Championships

It was an entertaining tag match, yes, but having the AAA-aligned talent lose on their WWE TV debut will certainly not help shake the notions that the WWE/AAA deal is a one-sided partnership more than anything else.

**********

– Logan Paul and Drew McIntyre were asked backstage about their attack on Jelly Roll earlier today, but the two said they’d explain why they did what they did later tonight.

– A video package setting the stage for the massive six-team TLC Match for the WWE Tag Team Titles at SummerSlam was shown.

Aleister Black vs. Damian Priest

Priest and Black locked horns in the middle of the ring to start as the latter took advantage with an attempted hammerlock. Priest escaped and withstood a kick to the thigh from Black. The Dutch brawler tried for another kick, but he got met with Priest’s own onslaught of kicks, which sent him to the outside. Priest leapt off the steel stepst to drop Black with a clothesline. On the apron, Priest tried for a kick, but he missed and got jettisoned to ringside, as Black then took off with a dive over the ropes. With Black in the driver’s seat, we took a break in the action.

SmackDown returned as Priest attempted to fight back, but he got felled by a knee to the face from Black. The cover from Black, but Priest kicked out. Black taunted Priest, who hyped himself back up and roared back with elbow strikes, a slam, and an Old School crossbody. Priest sized up Black and rocked him with a running clothesline as Black managed to kick out at two.

Priest tried for the Razor’s Edge, but Black escaped the attempt. A kick from Priest sent Black to the ringside area. Priest had a full head of steam and ran for a charging attack, but he was intercepted with a knee to the face from Black. As Black headed up top for a moonsault, Priest avoided calamity and pounced him over the announce table. Priest cleared away the commentary table, but got a faceful of chair from Black, which ended this match in a disqualification.

After the match, Black was far from done as he smashed the chair over the back of Priest. He then struck Priest in the face with the chair, which left him stunned against the steel steps. Black slammed Priest’s head against the steel steps repeatedly as he delivered one Black Mass kick to leave his rival down and out.

Damian Priest def. Aleister Black via disqualification

That match was shaping up to be a good one until the DQ finish, but I will say it was a decent way to get some heat on Black with the post-match attack. That said, it does feel odd that despite being the catalyst for Black’s heel turn, Ron Killings/R-Truth has essentially become persona non grata as it relates to this story, which raises the question of whether or not Truth feels any important at all after being brought back.

**********

– Backstage, Tiffany Stratton was confronted by her SummerSlam opponent, Jade Cargill. The two traded barbs ahead of their match tomorrow, as Cargill promised to finish what she started now that there’d be no distractions or cash-ins to worry about.

Talla Tonga (w/ Solo Sikoa) vs. Jimmy Uso

Uso started right way by trying to chop down Talla in the corner. On the top rope, Uso tried for a dive, but he got dropped by a punch from Talla, who took over the match with a hard clothesline that felled his opponent. Talla delivered a leg drop with those massive tree trunk legs of his onto Uso, as Sikoa trash talked Uso from the outside. Talla had the clear upper hand on Uso, up until he got sent over the top rope and onto the apron. Uso flew through the ropes and temporarily stunned Talla with a suicide dive, which took us to the break.

We returned with Talla in the driver’s seat as he attacked Uso in the corner. Talla took pleasure in mocking Uso for a bit before Jimmy tried to get momentum back. Talla withstood the storm and once again had Uso at his mercy in the corner with strikes. Uso avoided a running charge from Talla and left him momentarily dazed with a kick. An attempted Samoan drop from Uso failed as Talla was too strong for it. Uso headed up top and got grabbed by the throat by Talla. Chokeslam attempt was reversed by Uso, as he nailed a series of superkicks. Solo Sikoa got on the apron and got a kick for his troubles as Uso then delivered a spear on to Talla.

Uso headed up top and looked for the splash, but Talla caught him and hit a chokeslam for the one, two, three and the victory in his debut match.

After the match, Sikoa summoned J.C. Mateo and Tama Tonga to continue the punishment on Jimmy Uso as the United States Champion called for the steel cage to be lowered. Jacob Fatu ran down and entered the ring before the cage lowered completely. Sikoa made a run for it, as did Talla Tonga. This left Mateo and Tama to be picked apart, pillar to post, coast to coast by Fatu. With Mateo and Tama prone on opposite corners, Fatu laid them out with running hip charges and leaping moonsaults.

Talla Tonga def. Jimmy Uso

I can say that Talla Tonga did not look bad in his debut, and Jimmy Uso tried his best to make him look good for his debut. The post-match extracurriculars with Jacob Fatu laying waste to two-fourths of the M.F.T.s was a fun bit of business.

**********

SummerSlam Saturday Card

  • Gunther vs. CM Punk (World Heavyweight Championship)
  • Raquel Rodriguez & Roxanne Perez vs. Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss (Women’s Tag Team Championship)
  • Roman Reigns & Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed
  • Randy Orton & Jelly Roll vs. Logan Paul & Drew McIntyre
  • Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill (WWE Women’s Championship)
  • Sami Zayn vs. Karrion Kross

SummerSlam Sunday Card

  • Street Fight: John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes (Undisputed WWE Champipnship)
  • Dominik Mysterio vs. AJ Styles (Intercontinental Championship)
  • Steel Cage Match: Solo Sikoa vs. Jacob Fatu (United States Championship)
  • No DQ, No Countout: Becky Lynch vs. Lyra Valkyria (Women’s Intercontinental Championship)
  • Triple Threat: Naomi vs. IYO SKY vs. Rhea Ripley (Women’s World Heavyweight Championship)
  • Tables Ladders & Chairs Match: The Wyatt Sicks (c) vs. #DIY vs. Fenix/Andrade vs. Motor CIty Machine Guns vs. Fraxiom vs. The Street Profits (WWE Tag Team Championships)

– Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair were interviewed about their tag match tomorrow. Flair said that Bliss has had her back and been there for her, even if she’s been annoying. The two traded barbs with one another before they walked off.

Logan Paul & Drew McIntyre close out SmackDown

The two men who will face Randy Orton and Jelly Roll tomorrow night at SummerSlam made their way down to the ring to deliver some final remarks before their match.

Paul said that he and McIntyre were trying their best to defend WWE from outsiders, and that we didn’t understand what it took to compete at SummerSlam, which according to Paul, Jelly Roll thought was a “hotdog eating contest”. Paul said that he was tired of outsiders thinking they could step into WWE and compete, which Jelly Roll was in his eyes. He called Jelly a “country star, not a superstar”, and that he does not belong in WWE.

McIntyre said that whatever happens tomorrow will be on Randy Orton’s conscience. He said that he had God on speed dial, because when Drew McIntyre prays, bad things happened. Before Paul and McIntyre could continue, Jelly Roll arrived to the arena , and he wasn’t alone… as Randy Orton accompanied him. The two made their way down to the ring as Nick Aldis tried to stop the two from getting to the ring, but to no avail.

Once Orton and Jelly got to the ring, they began throwing hands with Paul and McIntyre. A vanguard of security officials ran down to the ring to get this fight to stop, to little success. McIntyre and Paul were sent outside as more officials got everybody finally separated. In the ring, Orton calmed himself down, as he turned to Jelly and hyped him up. Orton delivered an RKO on two of the security officials as the last of the trio got dropped by a Jelly Roll chokeslam. Orton and Jelly stood tall in the ring and jawjacked with Paul and McIntyre as we closed out the final SmackDown before SummerSlam.

**********

That was a decent way to end the night with the Jelly/Orton vs. Paul/McIntyre stuff, but I probably would’ve prefered if Cena and Cody’s segment from the beginning was the final one to send us home before SummerSlam, since the hook of whether or not Cena’s change of heart was legit would’ve at least made an interesting cliffhanger to leave us on before Sunday.

All in all, this was an okay go-home SmackDown before SummerSlam. The matches we got ranged from good (Priest vs. Black) to great (Giulia vs. Vega), and it did an admirable job to sell fans on the two-night event that’s coming this weekend.

WWE SmackDown live results: John Cena-Cody Rhodes contract signing

Posted on by Marc Quill

With their Undisputed WWE Championship match at SummerSlam coming up in two weeks, current champion John Cena and challenger Cody Rhodes will put pen to paper to make things official tonight on WWE SmackDown.

The last time Rhodes and Cena were in the same ring was at last month’s Money in the Bank when Rhodes pinned Cena in a tag team match.

Also scheduled for tonight is Fraxiom vs. DIY vs. Andrade & Rey Fenix vs. Motor City Machine Guns in a fatal four-way bout to determine the next challengers for new WWE Tag Team Champions, The Wyatt Sicks.

Charlotte Flair is set to face Raquel Rodriguez in singles action tonight. Rodriguez and tag partner Roxanne Perez retained their Women’s Tag Team Championships after surviving a fatal four-way tag match at Evolution this past Sunday.

Stephanie Vaquer vs. Alba Fyre is also set for tonight. Plus, Jacob Fatu is slated to appear and will continue his feud with Solo Sikoa.

Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

– Following the WWE signature, we abruptly went right to the parking lot as we saw a car accident involving the members of the M.F.T., as Adam Pearce and law enforcement officials tried to sort out what was what. Cody Rhodes walked by and conferred with Pearce about the contract signing he’ll be having with John Cena later tonight for their SummerSlam match. After Rhodes left, we saw Solo Sikoa and his group trying to figure out what the heck just happened.

– Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett discussed Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair’s situation post-Evolution, as we found out that Bliss and Flair will have a Women’s Tag Team Championship match against current champions Raquel Rodriguez & Roxanne Perez. Bliss agreed to be in Flair’s corner for her match against Rodriguez, which kicked off tonight’s action.

Charlotte Flair (w/ Alexa Bliss) vs. Raquel Rodriguez (w/ Roxanne Perez)

As the bell rang, Flair and Rodriguez locked up in the middle of the ring before the two exchanged standing switches with no clear advantage for either woman. Rodriguez soon gained momentum with consecutive shoulder blocks, but Flair responded with a rough-looking hurricanrana, followed by a clothesline and a crossbody to the outside. In the background, Kiana James was seen talking with Giulia.

At ringside, Roxanne Perez tried to sneak up on Flair, but Alexa Bliss warded her off. This allowed Rodriguez to take advantage as she tossed Flair onto the ringpost, which sent us to our first break of the evening.

We resumed with Rodriguez lifting up Flair in a modified torture rack submission, but eventually got countered. Rodriguez maintained her advantage with a series of stomps and strikes onto the downed Flair, followed by a twisting Vader Bomb. Flair recovered and began to light up Rodriguez’s chest with her signature chops, followed by a somersault clothesline. Flair delivered a German suplex as she headed up to the top and connected with a crossbody. Rodriguez rolled right through and turned it into a tornado powerslam of her own for the near-fall.

Rodriguez attempted to lift Flair up for the Tejano Bomb, but Flair countered and hit a big boot. Roxanne Perez tried to create a distraction, but this allowed Alexa Bliss to take advantage as she struck Rodriguez with one of her pompoms, as Flair rolled her up for the pin and win.

Charlotte Flair def. Raquel Rodriguez

A decent match to start the show, but the bigger story is how well-received Flair and Bliss’s “Allies of Convenience” tag team has been with fans. Perhaps Flair’s excellent Players’ Tribune article from last week has helped gain her new fans, but in any case, I’m enjoying this storyline so far.

**********

– Adam Pearce was confronted by three police officers, who were seeking Jacob Fatu as a “person of interest”. The cops found Fatu in another area and walked off with him to get some answers from him regarding the hit and run from the start of the broadcast.

– A video package showing Tiffany Stratton and Jade Cargill talking about their impending WWE Women’s Championship Match at SummerSlam was shown.

– The commentators discussed the ongoing situation with Ron Killings, Aleister Black, and Damian Priest, including Black’s attack on Priest last week. We then went to Earlier Today footage of Priest looking for Black, and being confronted by Carmelo Hayes. Priest said that he didn’t know why he was trying to play peacemaker, because he’s the man who goes into the ring and gets business done. This led to Hayes challenging Priest to a match for tonight.

– We got a vignette for the new Naked Gun movie that focused on Cody Rhodes’ cameo in the film, which releases on August 1st.

Carmelo Hayes vs. Damian Priest

Hayes got things started with a sneak attack as Priest was playing to the crowd on the top rope. Priest soon recovered with a big boot to the fast, which allowed him to finally take off his entrance jacket. In the corner, Priest worked over Hayes with repeated strikes, as he then sent him out to the ring with an elbow to the face. Outside the ring, Hayes slipped free from Priest’s grasp and dropkicked him against the ringpost, which took us to the break.

Our show continued with Hayes having the advantage over Priest as he trash-talked him. Priest got himself hyped up and took advantage of Hayes’ hubris and struck him with a flurry of offense. Priest targeted Hayes for his clothesline, but got suckered in with an arm guillotine across the top rope. Hayes took over with a springboard clothesline as he tuned up the band for some Sweet Chin Music in Shawn Michaels’ hometown. Priest countered, but Hayes delivered his own version of La Mistica and escaped a Razor’s Edge attempt from his foe.

On the top rope, Hayes couldn’t connect with dive, as he escaped another South of Heaven attempt from Priest. Hayes headed up top once again and hit a frog splash on Priest for the two count. The battle spilled outside as Priest slammed Hayes across the commentary table. Priest tried to go for Old School, but Aleister Black appeared on the apron and tripped him up to cause the disqualification.

Black laid out Priest with the Black Mass kick as Hayes backed out of the ring wisely.

Damian Priest def. Carmelo Hayes via Disqualification

This match was really picking up steam up until the disqualification, but the Black vs. Priest feud should be interesting. Of course, Ron Killings, after his big return at Money in the Bank, seems kind of like an afterthought once he left John Cena’s orbit, which is odd, given how he’s a central figure of this feud.

**********

– We got a creepy video of the Wyatt Sicks where they talked about their plans for the SmackDown tag team division and their quest to strip the division of their vanities and desires one by one.

Solo Sikoa and The M.F.T.s’ frame-up revealed

The United States Champion and his faction headed to the ring to discuss the accident that had happened to them at the start of tonight’s SmackDown.

“Ladies and gentlemen, tonight is the perfect example of who Jacob Fatu really is,” started off Sikoa. According to Sikoa, without his guidance, Fatu is reckless, doesn’t care about anybody, and all he cares about is himself. Sikoa took credit for giving everything to Fatu, bringing him to WWE, and making him a champion. He said that Fatu didn’t deserve any of this because he was so selfish for betraying his family. “Once a criminal, always a criminal,” said Sikoa.

Backstage, we saw Jacob Fatu arriving at the arena as he was apparently not the person of interest that the police were looking for. Incensed, Fatu headed down to the ring and was ready for a fight with Sikoa and the M.F.T.s. As Fatu was making his way down to the ring, Jimmy Uso got the drop on the group with an ambush. Fatu and Uso laid waste to the M.F.T.s until Tala Tonga pulled Uso out and looked like he was about to chokeslam Uso through the commentary table. Fatu took Tala out with a dive to the outside.

Tala recovered and emerged from the commentary table. He eventually got taken down by a double team superkick party from Uso and Fatu. A Fatu-assisted crossbody by Uso took Tala out over the timekeepers area. Fatu attacked Sikoa inside the ring and was about to hit a hip attack with a chair draped over Sikoa’s neck. J.C. Mateo intercepted Fatu, which gave Sikoa enough time to escape. This was a bad move, as Fatu and Uso proceeded to take out their frustrations on Mateo and Tanga Loa.

The voice of Adam Pearce interrupted, as he announced for SummerSlam that Sikoa will defend his United States Championship against Fatu in a steel cage match. He then called for the cops to arrest Sikoa for framing Fatu for the “accident” earlier. As Sikoa and the M.F.T.s were being taken away by the cops, Fatu and Uso stood tall in the ring.

This was a pretty fun segment, I must say, and the alliance between Jacob Fatu and Jimmy Uso is one I didn’t expect to end up enjoying like I did here tonight.

**********

– We got a recap of a brawl that broke out on Jimmy Kimmel Live as Jelly Roll and Randy Orton got into it with Logan Paul and Drew McIntyre, including Jelly Roll chokeslamming Paul through a table.

Stephanie Vaquer vs. Alba Fyre (w/ Piper Niven)

Fyre and Vaquer traded offense early on in the match as things kicked off fast and furious. Vaquer headbutted Fyre and looked to hit a dive from the apron, but she was intercepted by a kick from Fyre. Vaquer then got rocked by a dive to the outside by Fyre. In the ring, Vaquer recovered with a kick of her own as she then delivered the Devil’s Kiss to the delight of everyone.

Fyre attempted for a Gory Special, but Vaquer countered and finished things off with the SVB for the victory.

After the match, Piper Niven attacked Vaquer and looked to hit the Viper Bomb, but Vaquer escaped and managed to fend off Niven with a superkick.

Stephanie Vaquer def. Piper Niven

This was honestly tragically short. I think Vaquer and Niven could’ve gone on a bit longer than what they had to work with here, which is a shame because both women are talented and can certainly go in a match that lasts longer than three minutes or so.

**********

– The Street Profits were asked about their loss to the Wyatt Sicks last week. They said that the Wyatts as the WWE Tag Champions is not a reality they want to face, and that they’ll be coming for the tag titles again. #DIY confronted the Profits and mocked them for losing last week as they headed down for the tag team fatal four-way coming up next.

Fatal Four-Way Tag Match: #DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) vs. Rey Fenix & Andrade vs. Fraxiom (Axiom & Nathan Frazer) vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley)

We kicked off with Sabin and Frazer starting off the action as the two traded acrobatics with one another until #DIY snuck in and attacked both men. This prompted Andrade and Rey Fenix to enter the fray as things broke down. Fraxiom intercepted the two with superkicks as they tried for a dive of their own. The Machine Guns pulled Frazer and Axiom out of the ring and ended up getting their dives in on Gargano and Ciampa to the outside, as we took a break in the action.

SmackDown returned with Shelley and Sabin fending off the #DIY duo, as Axiom tagged himself into the match. The masked Axiom and Frazer proceeded to get their moments in with a bonanza of dives on all their opponents. A modified Total Elimination nearly brought Fraxiom the win, but Andrade interrupted and got himself into the match with a tag.

Andrade and Fenix united with amazing chemistry as Fenix nailed Axiom with the spinning kick in the corner, followed by the Three Amigos on Frazer. A frog splash by Fenix saw the pin get interrupted by the Machine Guns. Things broke down briefly between all four teams as they brawled it out in the ring. It turned into total chaos as Andrade and Fenix took advantage of the situation.

#DIY tagged themselves in and took out Fenix and Andrade as a Project Ciampa from Tommaso Ciampa on Axiom was unable to put this one in the books. We got another break at this point of the match.

Our main event match trucked along with Sabin and Shelley on a roll and having Axiom at their mercy for Skull and Bones. Andrade and Fenix broke things up as the former headed up top. Axiom stopped Andrade’s advance and hit the Spanish Fly to the top rope followed by Frazer’s Phoenix Splash. #DIY attempted to steal the victory, but Andrade and Fenix intervened in the nick of time. In the ensuing chaos, only Andrade and Ciampa were left as Candice LeRae tried to draw the distraction. Ciampa tried to roll up Andrade, but couldn’t get the win.

Gargano and Ciampa attempted a double team, but a malfunction at the junction between the #DIY duo led to the finish, as Fenix took Gargano out with a dive to the outside, which left Ciampa at the mercy of Andrade’s Message and the three.

Andrade & Rey Fenix def. #DIY, Fraxiom, and Motor City Machine Guns via Pinfall

That was a fast and frenetic tag match that I really enjoyed. Just some tremendous action from these four teams from start to finish.

**********

Next Week on SmackDown

  • WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The Wyatt Sicks’ Joe Gacy & Dexter Lumis vs. Andrade & Rey Fenix
  • Alexa Bliss vs. Roxanne Perez
  • Jelly Roll, Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre, and Logan Paul appear live

Cody Rhodes & John Cena contract signing

Raw GM Adam Pearce — who was filling in for Nick Aldis tonight — was in the ring as he introduced both Cody Rhodes and John Cena for the contract signing for their Undisputed Men’s WWE World Championship match at SummerSlam.

Rhodes entered first and didn’t waste time in signing the match contract before he asked San Antonio what they wanted to talk about. He talked appreciation about being made to feel like a Texan, because his father and brother were Texans. Rhodes talked about a post that was overanalyzed but the message was clear: do not flinch and thanks for coming along for the ride. He discussed about how he didn’t flinch for hsi return, fighting with a torn pec, fighting his best friend, and when the Final Boss came for his spot. However, as Rhodes said, he flinched at WrestleMania when he lost to John Cena. Rhodes said it was an unenviable task to be the one to take it away from one of the most beloved wrestlers in our game, but this was important for him.

At this point, Cena made his way down to the ring. Once inside the ring, Cena said that he had some bad news for Rhodes, that he wasn’t going to be at SummerSlam. This was supposedly because he was filming a movie for Netflix in New York, and advised to not take part in anything physical as a result. Cena claimed that this was a decision only made tonight, and one that was a “tough decision” because it was best for business.

Cena said that the crowd didn’t know how hard it was for him to be here tonight, and that right now, physically and emotionaly, just being here is all he can give the crowd. Cena thanked the crowd for his patience and understanding in this matter. Cena walked out of the ring as Rhodes took off his jacket and started to fight on the ramp.

The fight broke down as Cena got the upper hand. He retrieved the WWE Championship and looked like he was going to blast Rhodes with it, but Cody intercepted him with a kick. The title belt ended up in Rhodes’ hands as he smashed it across Cena’s face. WIth Cena stunned on the table, Rhodes headed up top and crushed Cena with a diving splash. Afterwards, Rhodes used Cena’s hand to sign the contract as he revealed that it was going to be a Street Fight at SummerSlam for the Undisputed WWE Championship.

SmackDown ended with Rhodes holding the WWE Title and standing tall over Cena in the process.

**********

Cena using his Hollywood position for heel heat to beg off defending his title was a nice heel move and a nice twist on the old contract signing trope, and the Street Fight stipulation does add some sauce to the WWE Title rematch at SummerSlam. Hopefully, Travis Scott doesn’t decide to amble back into the proceedings once again.

This was actually a good edition of SmackDown featuring a fantastic tag match and some entertaining in-ring segments with the M.F.T.s/Fatu & Uso stuff, plus the contract signing angle to cap off the show. It was certainly better than last week’s effort, that’s for sure.

WWE SmackDown live results: Night of Champions fallout

Posted on by Marc Quill

WWE SmackDown makes its return to two hours tonight with the fallout from Night of Champions, where a new King & Queen of the Ring were crowned.

Cody Rhodes defeated Randy Orton in the King of the Ring finals to earn himself an Undisputed WWE Championship rematch against John Cena, while Jade Cargill bested Asuka to become Queen of the Ring and Tiffany Stratton’s SummerSlam challenger for the WWE Women’s Championship. Both Rhodes and Cargill are set to appear tonight.

Also scheduled for tonight is Stratton herself as she selects who she will defend the title against at Evolution.

A new United States Champion was also decided at Night of Champions with Solo Sikoa capturing the belt from Jacob Fatu with the help of Tala Tonga, the former Hikuleo and newest member of Sikoa’s faction. Fatu will certainly be looking to get even on tonight’s broadcast.

Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

– Following the WWE signature, we saw Solo Sikoa arriving to the arena with J.C. Mateo and the United States Championship in tow. As Sikoa noted that it was time to celebrate, Jacob Fatu jumped into the scene and attacked both Sikoa and Mateo in an ambush. Fatu took Mateo out of the car and threw him against the door as security led by SmackDown GM Nick Aldis appeared to get Fatu to back off.

Cody Rhodes opens SmackDown

The 2025 King of the Ring, Cody Rhodes, made his way to the ring to a huge ovation from the crowd, Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett recapped Rhodes’ victory over Randy Orton at Night of Champions to ssecure the crown.

With his crown in one hand and a microphone in the other, Rhodes asked the Pittsburgh crowd, ‘what do you wanna talk about?” Before starting, Rhodes gave a shout out to Cam, a young fan sat in Club 66, who was battling Leukemia. Once that was done, Rhodes said that the King of the Ring crown represented where we’ve been, mentioning past King of the Ring winners like Bret Hart, Booker T, and Stone Cold Steve Austin. He said it also stood for where we were going: the Main Event of SummerSlam in the form of a WrestleMania rematch against John Cena.

Before Rhodes could go on any further, “Voices” signalled the arrival of Randy Orton, the man who Rhodes defeated at Night of Champions. Orton started by reminding his friend that for weeks and weeks, he told Rhodes that he wouldn’t hesitate. But, at Night of Champions, he had Rhodes “dead to rights” and ready to rearrange his skull with a punt, but he hesitated. However, Rhodes pulled the trigger instead, something that Orton respected. Orton told Rhodes to promise him that he not squander the opportunity earn to go on to SummerSlam and kick John Cena’s ass.

Drew McIntyre made a shocking return for the first time since Saturday Night’s Main Event a couple of months ago. With mic in hand, McIntyre mocked Orton and Rhodes for having “beta male energy”, stating that “the alpha” — as in himself — has returned. McIntyre said Orton lost the psychological battle due to Rhodes supposedly “buttering him up” for months and stabbing him right in the back. He then turned his attention to Orton’s surgically repaired back, and pointing out how Rhodes targeted that surgically-repaired back.

McIntyre lambasted Orton for losing his edge as the Legend Killer, because that legend of Randy Orton was “dead”, as far he was concerned. McIntyre then turned his attention to “Super Cody”, stating that he wanted him to win at SummerSlam, because this was a match he was looking forward to, and because he wanted to be the one to rip that title off of Rhodes’ hands. As McIntyre turned, Orton delivered an RKO to him out of nowhere. Orton and Rhodes shared a tense staredown as the segment ended.

Very interesting opening segment, with Drew McIntyre’s big return and the gears being turned for a potential Randy Orton heel turn, which is kind of hitting the same beats as the Kevin Owens’ turn against Cody Rhodes last year. Still, when that turn does happen, it should be a good story, nonetheless.

**********

– Earlier Today footage showed Charlotte Flair talking to Nick Aldis, learning that she’ll be in a Women’s Tag Title qualifier match against the Secret Hervice and Michin & B-Fab, with the winner going on to Evolution II. Alexa Bliss appeared and revealed that she was going to be Flair’s partner for the match.

– Backstage, Drew McIntyre walked up and demanded a match against Randy Orton, but was informed by Aldis that Orton had left. However, McIntyre will get his shot at Orton next week at Saturday Night’s Main Event, which worked for him. McIntyre turned to see Jacob Fatu, and then left. Aldis informed Fatu that if he wanted a shot at Solo’s Bloodline, he could find a partner to take on two of them in tag team action. Jimmy Uso appeared and stepped up to be Fatu’s partner.

WWE Women’s Tag Team Qualifier Triple Threat: Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair vs. Secret Hervice (Alba Fyre & Piper Niven) vs. Michin & B-Fab

The match got underway with Bliss, Michin, and Niven starting off for their respective teams. Before Bliss could do anything, Flair blind tagged herself in as she then kicked B-Fab off the apron. Flair chopped away at Niven, but got hit with some chops by Michin. It was a kick frenzy by Michin that got stopped short, at least until Michin took out Flair outside the ring. Niven then took flight to take down Michin & B-Fab. Fyre then got her turn as she leapt from the top to wipe out Flair and B-Fab with a dive to the outside, which took us to a break.

We returned from break with Niven landing on Flair with a senton, but only getting a two count. A missed senton on Michin allowed B-Fab to enter the match with a tag. B-Fab took down Flair and Niven with kicks galore on both. Flair countered a neckbreaker attempt and tried for a Figure-Eight. B-Fab shoved Flair into her corner, which allowed Bliss to get the hot tag. Bliss was on fire and almost had B-Fab set up for Sister Abigail, but Michin made the save with a kick. Fyre caught B-Fab offguard with a Canadian (or Scottish?) Destroyer, as Niven then connected with the Black Hole Slam.

The Secret Hervice’s attempted double team was intercepted by Flair and Bliss. Flair condescendingly tapped Bliss on the head, which was counted as a tag by the referee. This allowed Bliss to enter as the legal woman and hit Twisted Bliss on Fyre to get the pin and win, qualifying for the Women’s Tag Title match at Evolution II.

Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss def. The Secret Hervice and Michin & B-Fab via pinfall

A decent match, but the finish with Charlotte’s attempt at being condescending towards Alexa Bliss kind of backfiring on her was a nice touch.

**********

– Earlier Today footage showed Nick Aldis admonishing the SmackDown tag division for causing chaos in the Wyatt Sicks vs. Street Profits WWE Tag Title match last week. This would end up with Andrade & Rey Fenix vs. FrAxiom booked for tonight, as well as an eight-man tag match being booked with the Wyatt Sicks against four stars from the SmackDown tag division.

Eight-Man Tag Match: The Wyatt Sicks (Uncle Howdy, Joe Gacy, Erick Rowan, & Dexter Lumis) vs. Berto, Johnny Gargano, Chris Sabin, & Montez Ford

Berto and Gacy got things going, as the latter blasted the former with a clothesline from the corner, followed by a running senton. Gacy looked to continue the momentum, but Berto caught him with a springboard elbow strike. Lumis got the tag and threw Berto around before Gargano entered the match. Gargano tried to make “peace” with Lumis, but ate a punch, followed by a slam for the two-count.

Uncle Howdy stepped into the ring, which led to all competitors stepping into the ring as things descended into chaos. Rowan tried to chokeslam Gargano and Berto, but got a stereo superkick from Sabin and Ford for his troubles. The SmackDown tag division stalwarts then kicked Rowan to the outside as Ford looked to get some momentum going. Rowan recovered and caught Ford before he threw him into a superkick by Lumis, leading to a commercial break.

We returned with the Wyatt Sicks working over Ford in their corner, as Lumis and Gacy did their “powerbomb into the opponent” spot. Lumis held Ford in a submission, but couldn’t maintain it. Chris Sabin got the tag and floored Lumis with a missile dropkick. Sabin used his speed to take out the entirety of the Wyatt Sicks in their corner, as he then unexpectedly teamed up with Gargano for a double kick on Gacy.

More chaos unfolded as we saw Ford take flight to wipe out Gacy and Lumis just near the entrance ramp outside the ring. Berto looked to soar, but got taken out by Uncle Howdy, who threw him over the ropes. In the ring, Howdy had Sabin right where he wanted him with the uranage as he then tagged in Rowan. The former Bludgeon Brother did what he does best and went on the attack, but Sabin dropped him with a slam. As Sabin looked to get a tag, Gargano had second thoughts and backed away from the apron as he locked eyes with Rowan. This left Sabin at the mercy of Rowan’s Iron Claw Slam to give the Wyatt Sicks the win here.

The Wyatt Sicks def. Chris Sabin, Johnny Gargano, Berto, and Montez Ford via pinfall

This was an alright tag match, though I enjoyed the concept of #DIY’s attempts of marshalling the SmackDown tag division to unite against the Wyatts unraveling because of the two (or at least Johnny Gargano in this particular match) actually being afraid of the Sicks.

**********

– We got a vignette from Giulia as she talked about her Women’s United States Championship victory last week on SmackDown. She stated that we were about to witness her beautiful madness as the Women’s U.S. Champion.

Tiffany Stratton chooses her Evolution II opponent

The WWE Women’s Champion made her way down to the ring to make an important decision regarding her opponent for Evolution II. Stratton said that since she became the Women’s Champion, she’s had a target on her back, but Nia Jax’s revenge wasn’t enough to stop her from becoming the Last Woman Standing. She turned her attention to Jade Cargill, the woman she’ll face at SummerSlam… but only after she defeats the opponent that she’l choose to face at Evolution II.

Stratton was interrupted by the 2025 Queen of the Ring herself, Jade Cargill. With a mic in hand, Cargill talked about how she was crowned Queen of the Ring by beating one of the best in Asuka. Cargill warned Stratton that she had a choice to make, and that if she chose wrong, Stratton might not make it to SummerSlam. But, it didn’t matter to Cargill, because she’d beat whoever she’d end up facing at SummerSlam. Stratton interrupted and revealed she a surprise for everyone… in the form of the WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus.

Once Stratus entered the ring, Stratton talked about how she invited her to the ring, stating “what would Evolution be without some Stratusfaction?”, as she then issued a challenge to the Canadian for title match at Evoltuion. Stratus talked about how the women had to fight just to have a single match on the card, but now at Evolution II, we’re going to have a card of incredibly talented women. Stratus gave thanks to Stratton for letting her kids see her in the ring, but those kids of hers haven’t seen their mom as a champion.

Stratton said that this wouldn’t be easy because this isn’t the Attitude Era anymore, and that whether it was Stratus at Evolution or Cargill at SummerSlam, the WWE would still run on Tiffy Time at the end of it all.

Trish returning as Stratton’s Evolution opponent borne out of a respect the two had when they teamed up at Elimination Chamber is at least a nice thread to follow up on for this match.

**********

– Solo Sikoa spoke from his “office” as he introduced the newest member of his family, Tala Tonga (the former Hikuleo), Sikoa said that this group was nothing like a bloodline, but it was now stronger than ever. Sikoa said that he and JC Mateo would join forces in their tag match later tonight, as he concluded that “his” family was now complete.

– Backstage, Trish Stratus was met by Jade Cargill, who warned her that if she defeated Tiffany Stratton at Evolution II, she’d be facing her at SummerSlam. As Stratus left, Naomi snuck up on Cargill with a shot using her Money in the Bank briefcase. SmackDown GM Nick Aldis, who’s had quite the busy night, checked up on Cargill afterwards.

FrAxiom (Nathan Frazer & Axiom) vs. Andrade & Rey Fenix

We got started with Andrade and Frazer mixing it up in the middle of the ring and neither getting a n advantage. Frazer dodged Andrade before he made the tag to Axiom as Fenix leapt into battle with a dive. Fenix landed on his feet after an attempted DDT from Axiom. All four men began to trade blows in the ring as Andrade got sent to the outside. Frazer and Axiom blasted Andrade and Fenix with repeated dives to the outside, which took us to the break.]

SmackDown resumed with Frazer having Fenix caught in a submission hold. FrAxiom used their unorthodox tag team offense to keep Fenix grounded at the moment. Fenix escaped out of an Axiom hold as he kicked Frazer off the apron. Fenix then took down Axiom with a flipping DDT before Andrade got the hot tag.

El Idolo was a house of fire against both Frazer and Axiom, as he then paid tribute to Eddie Guerrerro with the Three Amigos suplexes. Fenix followed up the homage to Eddie with a Frog Splash that only got a two-count. With a cry of “Animo!”, Fenix headed up top, but was intercepted by Frazer. A dogfight at the top rope saw Frazer floor Fenix with the superplex, followed by a supkerick. Cover by Axiom was broken up by Andrade, who shoved Frazer into the pin.

After another commercial break, we resumed with Frazer’s Phoenix Splash being adeptly dodged by Fenix as Andrade entered the match. With Frazer stunned in the corner, Andrade crushed him with the corner Meteora for the two-count. Andrade had Frazer in his sights for a high-risk maneuver and connected with the double moonsault. Axiom broke up the pin just in time as he then took Fenix out from the apron.

FrAxiom had Andrade caught with the Spanish Fly & Phoenix Splash combination maneuver. Rey Fenix made the last-second save by leaping onto Frazer followed by a codebreaker on Axiom. The makeshift team of Andrade and Fenix soon took advantage with the latterr hitting an Adios Amigo kick on Axiom, and the former blasting Frazer with a vicious spinning elbow. The finish came when Fenix leapt over a prone Frazer in the ring right into Axiom at ringside. This gave Andrade the opening needed to deliver The Message to Frazer for the three.

Andrade & Rey Fenix def. FrAxiom via pinfall

Just some fun and fast tag team action between two high-flying teams. I really enjoyed this one from start to finish. Just a lovely showcase for the SmackDown tag division.

**********

– Damian Priest confronted Aleister Black, wanting to talk to him about Ron Killings, as he revealed to Black that he’d be facing Killings next week on SmackDown. We also learned that at Evolution II, it’ll be Tiffany Stratton vs. Trish Stratus for the WWE Women’s Championship, as well as Jade Cargill vs. Naomi.

Next Week on SmackDown

  • WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The Street Profits vs. The Wyatt Sicks’ Joe Gacy & Dexter Lumis
  • Ron Killings vs. Aleister Black

Solo Sikoa & J.C. Mateo vs. Jacob Fatu & Jimmy Uso

Sikoa tagged in Mateo to avoid Fatu’s wrath early on. Mateo took the brunt of the punishment from Fatu and Uso up until a thump brought Jimmy down to the ground. Sikoa entered the match and felt brazen enough to mock Fatu’s signature dance while he had Uso grounded with the Spinning Solo, which led to one final break in the action.

Our main event resumed from the commercial with Sikoa and Mateo having the advantrage over Jimmy Uso. Mateo got the tag and flattened Uso with a standing moonsault. In the corner, a prone Uso was squashed by a splash from Mateo. Another attempt at a splash by Mateo was missed, as Uso dodged and then delivered a Samoan Drop, which created some needed separation. Fatu got the hot tag as he unleashed an assault on Sikoa with the senton, followed by a splash in the corner.

Fatu cracked Sikoa with ten headbutts in the cornered, as he then caught his foe with a spinning elbow. Fatu blasted both Mateo and Sikoa with superkicks, which left them stunned in separate corners. Fatu took both men out with consecutive hip attacks. Uso and Fatu flew through the ropes with dives that ook out Mateo and Sikoa.

In the ring, Sikoa kicked Fatu with a superkick, as he had the Samoan Spike loaded. Fatu countered and planted Sikoa with the Impaler DDT. Fatu then brought an end to this match with the jumping moonsault from the top and the three to get the pin on the new U.S. Champion.

Post-match, Fatu wanted to continue his revenge on Sikoa as he cleared away the commentary table before he kicked Sikoa onto it. Fatu headed up to the top, but got intercepted by Tala Tonga, who emerged from the ring. Tala slammed Fatu from the top rope, as Tanga Loa soon joined in on the attack against Jimmy Uso. Tala crushed Uso with a superkick, as Mateo hit the Tour of the Islands afterwards.

This “family” soon turned their attention on Fatu, as Sikoa dropped him with the Samoan Spike. Sikoa ordered his men to drag Fatu towards the commentary table as they delivered the Shield Triple Powerbomb through the reinforced announce table. The Paul Levesque & Lee Fitting producer credits popped as SmackDown ended with Sikoa’s “family” standing tall.

**********

Pretty much a standard main event and big beatdown segment from Solo’s not-quite Bloodline group to end this two-hour SmackDown.

All in all, just a run-of-the mill episode of SmackDown, but the FrAxiom vs. Andrade & Fenix match was at least exciting and it’s always nice to see Drew McIntyre back in the fray, as well as the teasing towards a Randy Orton heel turn.

WWE SmackDown live results: John Cena vs. Ron Killings, King & Queen of the Ring semifinals

Posted on by Marc Quill

John Cena’s appearance on SmackDown last week was not a happy one for the Undisputed WWE Champion as he was twice attacked by Ron Killings. Cena also had to contend with his Night of Champions opponent CM Punk having some harsh words for him.

Tonight on SmackDown, Killings gets his hands on Cena when they face off inside Van Andel Arena, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The first two King & Queen of the Ring tournament semifinal matches will go down tonight as Randy Orton faces Sami Zayn in the men’s match and Alexa Bliss takes on the returning Asuka in the women’s match.

United States Champion Jacob Fatu was given an ultimatum by Solo Sikoa last week: pledge his love to Solo or face the consequences. We’ll see how WWE follows up on that tonight.

Women’s United States Champion Zelina Vega announced that she plans to call out Giulia after being attacked by the former NXT Women’s Champion several weeks ago.

Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

– After a live shot of the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, we were welcomed by shots of Randy Orton, Sami Zayn, Alexa Bliss, Asuka, plus Solo Sikoa and JC Mateo arriving to the arena. We then saw Ron “The Truth” Killings before we got LA Knight making his way down to the ring to open SmackDown proper. Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett talked about Knight’s involvement in the King of the Ring fatal-four way qualifier from Raw this past Monday.

LA Knight opens SmackDown

“Let me talk to ya,” Knight started off the proceedings in his usual manner. He circled back to Money in the Bank where Seth Rollins and his faction screwed him over, something he couldn’t let slide, so he decided to pay it back by screwing one of them (Bron Breakker) out of the King of the Ring. When Rollins’ faction took out Knight last week in his King of the Ring qualifier, Knight decided to screw over the other member of the group (Bronson Reed) in response. Knight then said that there was only one way this would end: with Seth Rollins himself facing off against him right here and now.

The voice of Paul Heyman signaled the arrival of Rollins’ Wise Man to the arena. Heyman admonished the crowd for booing Rollins’ name and “screwing up the cue”, so he did the introduction again. Knight told Heyman to shut up and get to the point by asking why he was here. Heyman entered the ring and siad that there was indeed a lot of bad blood between Knight and Rollins. However, with all due respect to the Grand Rapids crowd, Heyman said that he was the “biggest” LA Knight fan in all of WWE. As such, Seth Rollins, according to Heyman, has allowed him to say that Knight needs to get the hell out of Grand Rapids, Michigan because something bad will happen to him before the end of the night.

Knight responded by saying that he’s heard Heyman make that threat before because he’s a swindler and someone who leeches on to someone “hot” to leech on their popularity. Knight said that if Heyman couldn’t bring Seth Rollins to him, then there was only one thing that they could do instead: LA Knight versus Paul Heyman right now. Knight said he was going to take his stuff off and turn his back on Heyman to give him the first shot, stating to make it count otherwise he’d make it hurt.

Heyman rolled out of the ring and said that his threat to Knight wasn’t a prediction, it was a spoiler. On cue, Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed walked down the stage and made their way to go after Knight in a two-on-one assault. Rollins’ vanguard had their way with Knight as the announce table was ripped apart in the melee. Before the two could do any more damage, Knight emerged from the timekeeper area with a steel chair and used it wisely in warding off Breakker and Reed. Heyman returned to ringside and got the two to back off for now.

********************

– Backstage, Heyman talked with Breakker and Reed, stating that they’d have everything in control. Byron Saxton showed up to inform the group that Nick Aldis has made Bronson Reed versus LA Knight official for later tonight.

Queen of the Ring Semifinal: Alexa Bliss versus Asuka

Asuka and Bliss circled the ring as the bell rang before they got into a lockup. Asuka blocked a Bliss shoulder blcok, but got felled by a dropkick instead. The recently-returned Empress answered with a shoulder block of her own as she then followed with a hip attack that sent Bliss out of the ring to take us into a break in the action.

We returned with Asuka having her way with Bliss by way of a submission hold. Bliss escaped and launched into Asuka with a flip neckbreaker, followed by a senton for the two-count. Asuka recovered and answered with a flurry of strikes, followed by a snap German suplex and a knee to the face of Bliss. One, two… not enough. Bliss dodged a big kick from Asuka for the roll-up, but found herself in a roll-up of her own after a failed Sister Abigal attempt.

With Bliss still recovering, Asuka headed up top for the missile dropkick, but Bliss blocked it as she hit her signature DDT for the close near fall. Bliss went up to the top rope and had Asuka in position for Twisted Bliss, but hesitated as she dropped down. Asuka took advantage and locked in her Asuka Lock armbar hold on Bliss, who escaped in desperation by rolling towards the rope. Hangman’s neckbreaker by Asuka kept Bliss grounded momentary. Bliss intercepted an attempted running attack from Asuka and placed her in a tree-of-woe position for the dropkick. She headed up top to look for the Twisted Bliss once more, but Asuka blocked it with her knees, which stunned Bliss long enough for Asuka’s Empress Impact knee for the one, two, three. Asuka wins to earn a berth in the Queen of the Ring finals.

Asuka def. Alexa Bliss via pinfall to advance to the Queen of the Ring Finals

Solid opening bout between two talented women wrestlers. It’s great to see Asuka back in the fold and looking as good as ever in the ring, and she and Bliss had themselves a great match right here..

**********

– Backstage, Jade Cargill, B-Fab, and Michin were seen watching the previous match. B-Fab and Michin said that it was maybe time to make their own impact in the women’s tag division and headed off to talk to Nick Aldis about it. Byron Saxton then interviewed Cargill about facing Roxanne Perez on Raw next Monday and the possibility of facing Asuka in the Queen of the Ring Finals.

– Alexa Bliss was confronted by Chelsea Green and the Secret Hervice, but then soon found themselves joined by Charlotte Flair. Which led to Charlotte challenging Green to a match later tonight. Green got upset Bliss stated that she didn’t need Flair’s help, to which Flair said that she wasn’t there to help Bliss at all.

Aleister Black versus Kit Wilson

Before the match could even get started, Kit Wilson was attacked by Ron Killings in the ring. Killings locked in the STF before he took the microphone. Killings angrily demanded that John Cena get out here now to face him right now.

The usual gaggle of security officials and road agents showed up to calm Killings down, as Jamie Noble in particular got Killings to leave the ring peacefully, and the scheduled Black vs. Wilson match apparently called off on the account of Killings’ pre-match attack.

Aleister Black versus Kit Wilson never took place

**********

– We got a Papa Johns’ sponsored recap of Goldberg’s return and subsequent challenge to Gunther for Saturday Night’s Main Event.

– Jamie Noble continued to talk to Ron Killings, who was angry about John Cena not showing up. Aleister Black then confronted Killings for interrupting his match, but Damian Priest appeared to to keep the peace. As Black left, Priest called out Killings for his anger and told him to focus that rage on John Cena later tonight instead. Priest promised that he and Killings would go out for a night downtown later once Cena was taken care of.

Cody Rhodes addresses King of the Ring

Before Rhodes could even utter a single word, the theme of his King of the Ring semifinals opponent, Jey Uso, interrupted. Out came the “Yeet Man” himself to a loud reaction from the Grand Rapids crowd. The crowd continued to do the Yeet dance and chants as Uso made his way down to the ring. Once everything calmed down somewhat, Uso called for another encore as his theme music played once more.

After that was done with, Uso started by telling Rhodes that he didn’t even have to say anything because they’ve both been in the trenches together. From fighting one another, to fighting together as tag champions, to finishing their respective stories at WrestleMania. However, on Monday, there’s only room for one of them. Uso said he knows that Rhodes is going to bring it, and that it’s nothing personal, but it’s only business. At the end of it all, though, Uso said that there’d be only four letters, one word, uh-uh… Yeet.

As Rhodes and Uso showed respect, Sami Zayn entered the ring and joined in. As he took the microphone, Zayn said that he got to share the ring with two great friends, who are also two of the greatest that the business has to offer. He said that between the three of them standing in the ring, there was only one who wasn’t a World Champion. Zayn said he was proud of Jey Uso for winning at WrestleMania, and that he was the first one to congratulate Cody Rhodes for finishing his story at WrestleMania. With that, Zayn said he hoped Rhodes and Uso understood that it was time to finish his own story.

“Voices” rang through the Van Andel Arena, which brought out Zayn’s King of the Ring semifinal foe, Randy Orton to the ring. Orton reiterated to Rhodes what he said last week about doing whatever it takes to get to John Cena and win his 15th World Championship. He turned his attention to Uso and said while he had respect for him, it’d be “three letters and one move” if he faced off with Jey in the King of the Ring Finals. Orton then said that he meant every word that one day, Sami Zayn will be a World Champion, but SummerSlam won’t be that day. That’s because of the three most dangerous letters in sports entertainment: R-K-O. The segment ended with Cody Rhodes not even getting a chance to say a single word.

**********

King of the Ring Semifinals: Randy Orton versus Sami Zayn

The match started after the commercial break with Zayn having Orton caught in an arm submission that eventually got countered into a classic Orton resthold. After that submission exchange, Zayn cornered Orton with repeated chops that sent him out of the ring. Zayn looked like he was going for a dive to the outside, but Orton backed off, which caused Zayn to backtrack at the last second. Orton took his time to get himself back in the ring and trapped Zayn in the corner, which led to the referee breaking it up. Orton gave Zayn a poke in the eye in the scuffle.

The fight moved to the outside, with Orton nailing his trademark announce table back suplex on Zayn. Amidst the crowd’s chants of “one more time”, Orton obliged and hit another announce table back suplex on Zayn, which took us to a break mid-match.

SmackDown returned with Orton teeing off on Zayn with a punch to the head. Zayn did a springboard dodge to leap behind Orton as he then floored him with a clothesline. Zayn connected with a big elbow followed by the axe handle. Zayn’s Blue Thunder Bomb attempt was countered by Orton, who unloaded with his clotheslines, followed by a vintage scoop powerslam. Orton kept up momentum with the draped DDT on the ropes.

Orton had Zayn in his sights for an RKO, but Zayn rolled out of the ring to avoid calamity. Orton stepped out of the ring and slammed Zayn’s face against the announce table. Orton tried for yet another table back suplex, but Zayn countered and gave Orton a taste of his own medicine instead. In the ring, Zayn avoided a shoulder charge from Orton, which sent the Viper into the ringpost instead.

Zayn targeted Orton for a Helluva Kick, but got intercepted into a snap powerslam for his troubles. One, two… Zayn just barely kicked out! Orton dodged a Helluva Kick at the last second, as he looked to connect with the RKO. Zayn turned that around and turned it into a Blue Thunder Bomb. Orton just somehow kicked out at the last possible second. Zayn headed up top and missed on a dive. Orton’s first RKO was blocked, but one last attempt sealed the deal for the Viper as the pin and win put him in the King of the Ring finals.

Randy Orton def. Sami Zayn via pinfall to advance to the King of the Ring Finals

Some really good stuff from Orton and Zayn here, and there were a few moments throughout where I though Zayn would pull off the upset win. That said, while Orton’s win moves us to (likely) a showdown with Cody Rhodes at King of the Ring, what happens now with Zayn after this loss — and especially with Karrion Kross being a thorn in his side will be interesting to see. In any case, Orton vs. Zayn delivered a fantastic match.

**********

Nia Jax addresses her attack on Tiffany Stratton

Jax started by saying that Tiffany Stratton approached her to get some guidance, and that she repaid that help by supposedly betraying her. The WWE Women’s Champion herself interrupted and called Jax the “toxic ex she couldn’t get away from”, and told her to admit that she’s so jsut so much better than her. Jax said that Stratton should prove it by facing her again without a kicking a chair in her face. Stratton said that she agreed, and that next week… she will face Jax for the WWE Women’s Title in a Last Woman Standing match. Jax and Stratton brawled for a bit, with Jax getting the better of Stratton and flooring her with a series of leg drops.

Naomi ran down to the ring and tried to cash in Money in the Bank on the fallen Stratton, but Jax pulled her out of the ring repeatedly to prevent it. Stratton recovered and kicked Naomi off the apron, which sent her crashing onto Jax. Stratton took this time to make her escape while Naomi and Jax were left laying in front of the announce table.

**********

– A video package of CM Punk and John Cena’s rivalry was shown.

Charlotte Flair versus Chelsea Green (w/ Piper Niven & Alba Fyre)

Green wrestled with her face mask covering her broken nose.

The match started off with Green cheapshotting Flair and getting the advantage early on. Flair rolled over the turnbuckle and landed on her feet on the apron to create some separation between her and Green. Flair fended off Piper Niven and Alba Fyre at ringside before she headed up top with a diving fist strike on Green. With the referee distracted by Niven at ringside, this allowed Fyre to get on the apron to grab at Flair, which gave Green the opening to hit a neckbreaker on the former WWE Women’s Champion. That took us to a break in the action.

We returned with Flair attempting to mount a comeback as she fired away with chops on Green’s chest before she took her down with suplex. Flair gave Green a mocking salute before tried to set up for the Figure-Eight. Alba Fyre got on the apron to cross a distraction, as Green nailed a Rough Ryder.

Green took off her mask and looked to put Flair away with the Un-Pretty-Her, but couldn’t connect. Flair hit a Spear, but Green kicked out. In the ensuing chaos, Flair applied the Figure-Eight on Green, who tapped out.

Flair didn’t have time to celebrate as Piper Niven stormed the ring and delivered a Senton. Alba Fyre and Green joined in on the attack of Flair before Alexa Bliss made the save. Bliss hit the Sister Abigail on Green as the Secret Hervice were forced into a retreat. Bliss tried to offer a hand to Flair, but she got rebuked instead.

Charlotte Flair def. Chelsea Green via submission.

Not much to write home about in terms of this match, and its main purpose was to largely continue the weird sorta-alliance/frenemy situation that’s unfolding with Charlotte and Alexa Bliss.

**********

– JC Mateo was seen taping himself up as he asked Solo Sikoa what the plan would be for Jacob Fatu. Sikoa said that there wouldn’t be a need for anything physical as tonight would be the night Fatu “comes home”.

Will Jacob Fatu rejoin Solo Sikoa?

Solo Sikoa got into the ring and said that he was out here alone and ready to welcome Jacob Fatu with open arms, as he then called out the United States Champion so they could talk things over. Fatu entered the scene with his U.S. Title in tow and the crowd cheering him on.

Once Fatu entered the ring, he and Sikoa stared one another down. Sikoa said that he wasn’t here to fight Fatu, because he wanted it to be known that he always loved Fatu, no matter what. Sikoa said that one thing he learned about being Tribal Chief was learning to love family, even when they fight and argue. He pledged Fatu to move forward and do things together as one.

Sikoa insisted that nobody wanted Fatu here, except him. Which is why he brought him into WWE to help change his life and to put food on the table for his family. And he did all that because Sikoa claimed to love Fatu, and that he didn’t have anybody else to turn to. Sikoa said that Fatu was all he got and all he needed. Even if Fatu didn’t say those four words, Solo was willing to say those four words for everybody to hear. “I love you, Jacob,” said Sikoa.

Fatu got his chance to respond, asking if it comes down to “loving” him. Fatu said that Sikoa was using him to gain power, fight his battles, and to stay Tribal Chief. “Hell, you brought me in, so I could bring you fame? So I could bring you gold?” asked Fatu. The U.S. Champion said that Sikoa was the one who was acting different ever since Fatu won. Maybe, the problem, as Fatu said, was the U.S. Title itself. Fatu laid it down on the mat and asked Sikoa to fight him for the title.

Fatu then threatened Sikoa, stating that if he ever came his way, then he knows what’s coming. Sikoa tried to attack Fatu with the Samoan Spike, but he got caught instead. JC Mateo entered the ring and helped Sikoa take down Fatu. The two Neo-Bloodline members attacked Fatu in a two-on-one assault until Jimmy Uso attempted to make the save. Mateo and and Sikoa got the better of Jimmy until Fatu recovered and made short work of the two. Fatu and Jimmy shared a tense staredown as the former tried to hit his jumping moonsault on Sikoa, who rolled out of harm’s way.

**********

Bronson Reed (w/ Paul Heyman & Bron Breakker) versus LA Knight

Knight snuck up on Breakker from the crowd to throw him into the ring post, which angered him greatly. Reed got Breakker to calm down as the match became officially underway.

Reed blocked an Irish whip attempt, but missed on a shoulder charge into the corner, which gave Knight the opening to stomp away on him. Reed recovered and wanted to slam Knight, but got countered into a kick to the face instead. On the apron, Knight tried to leap at Reed, but got caught. A jumping neckbreaker by Knight was subsequently countered by Reed through the use of his size.

Knight avoided a senton from Reed as he headed up top and caught him with a diving neckbreaker. Reed rolled out of the ring and blocked Knight’s baseball slide dropkick. Knight tried again for a high-risk move and connected with the dive onto Reed to the outside, which took us to a break.

We returned from break with Reed attempting a superplex on Knight from the top rope. Knight battled to break free and won out, as he shoved Reed down to the mat. Knight had him in position for his jumping leaping elbow. One, two… Reed kicked out! Knight’s BFT attempt was countered by Reed, who landed a Death Valley Driver for the near-fall.

Reed lifted Knight up and delivered a thumbs down as he looked for a powerbomb. Knight reversed that into a DDT. Breakker got on the apron but got smacked down by Knight for his troubles. Reed got sent to the outside as Knight looked for a dive… but Breakker hit a Spear on Knight to cause the DQ finish.

As Reed held Knight in position, Breakker hit his super Spear with brutal force. Reed then followed that up with consecutive Tsunamis. As referees got shooed away, Reed headed up top and hit a final devastating Tsunami on Knight. The vanguard of Seth Rollins’ faction stood tall as it appeared that Paul Heyman’s threat was quite accurate.

LA Knight def. Bron Breakker via DQ

Just a standard match, but the post-match angle does give the muscle of Seth Rollins’ as-of-yet nameless group some neeeded menace.

**********

Next Week on SmackDown

  • Women’s United States Championship Match: Zelina Vega (c) vs. Giulia
  • WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The Street Profits (c) vs. The Wyatt Sicks’ Joe Gacy and Dexter Lumis
  • WWE Women’s Championship Match (Last Woman Standing): Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Nia Jax

– We learned from Jacob Fatu that he will defend the United States Championship against Solo Sikoa next Saturday at Night of Champions.

Ron Killings versus John Cena

Killings started off hot by tackling Cena and forcing him to the outside as he aggressively went after the Undisputed WWE Champion at ringside. Back in the ring, Killings threw Cena into the corner with force as we headed to a picture-in-picture break. Killings performed Cena’s own shoulder tackles and then the spin-out powerbomb as seen in picture-in-picture.

SmackDown returned from picture-in-picture with Cena nailing the Five-Knuckle Shuffle on Killings. Attitude Adjustment attempted, but Killings escaped and hit a Lou Thesz Press in response. Cena rolled out of the ring and took his WWE Championship, seemingly walking out on the match. Killings tried to go after Cena, but got blasted with the WWE Title, causing a DQ.

Ron Killings def. John Cena via Disqualification

CM Punk ran down and started to scuffle with Cena. Punk attempted to hit Cena with the WWE Title, but got blasted with a kick to the groin. Cena answered with a belt shot of his own before he took the Slim Jim-branded table from underneath the ring.

Cena struck Punk with the WWE Title once more as he delivered an Attitude Adjustment through the Slim Jim table. Cena grabbed a microphone and started his own version of the Pipe Bomb promo.

Cena said that he hopes Punk can listen and digest, because before he can leave in six months with the WWE Title, there’s a lot of things he has to get off his chest. Cena said that he doesn’t hate Punk, but he hates the idea that Punk is the best in the world. Cena called himself as the Greatest of All Time, and that Punk is the “greatest bullshitter of all time”.

Cena said that he’s jealous of Punk because of how he’s conned everyone into believing in the myth that he’s the best in the world, but they don’t believe a goddamn thing he says, because Punk changes his values as much as Cena changes his shirts. Cena gave a Punk-like shoutout to Nick Nemeth, Matt Cardona, and Claudio Castagnoli. Cena accused Punk of regurgitating the same “five microphone moves of doom”, stating that Punk is no longer the “voice of the voiceless”, but a capitalist. Cena said that Punk isn’t against TKO, but he’s “Mr. TKO”.

Cena said that at Saudi Arabia, Punk is going to face some loud music in the form of the fact that it’s been Cena who’s been the greatest of all time for over 25 years. He said that Punk was “best in the world” for 7 minutes and 14 years ago. And after at Night of Champions, if Punk does prove he’s the best in the world, then it’s a small world after all. “You’re welcome, Grand Rapids,” said Cena.

Cena demanded that Punk better bring his A-Game to Night of Champions because if Grand Rapids is any indication, the mood is starting to change. Cena told Punk to rest up because at Night of Champions, it would be the Greatest of All Time versus Best in the World, and that it would The Champ would be here. “I just ripped off your own promo to make you look foolish,” Cena concluded his promo.

As iffy as the idea of using CM Punk’s history of refusing to work in Saudi Arabia as part of this build is, this Cena promo was at least a decent inversion of the Pipebomb. That said, the committment to this evil John Cena gimmick continues to face resistance from a crowd that just wants to cheer the guy regardless, so the moment he turns face is essentially just now on a ticking clock. I don’t begrudge Cena for having fun being the bad guy, but it’s quite clear that the crowd would just rather cheer him.

SmackDown this week was kind of middle of the road, with nothing really sticking out for me personally, other than the excellent Orton vs. Zayn and Asuka vs. Bliss matches, as well as Cena’s Pipebomb parody Everything else felt just kinda there, and I do wonder what the impending move to two hours in two week’s time will mean for the overall flow of the show.

WWE SmackDown live results: Money in the Bank go-home show

Posted on by Colin McGuire

One night before Money in the Bank takes place, all of the MITB participants — as well as the four wrestlers competing in the PLE’s star-studded tag team main event — will be in the building for WWE SmackDown.

Undisputed WWE Champion John Cena, World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso, Cody Rhodes, and Logan Paul are all set to make an appearance on tonight’s show. Cena will team with Paul to face Rhodes & Uso at Money in the Bank on Saturday night.

Additionally, the men and women competing in the respective MITB ladder matches will be on the show. On the men’s side, that includes Solo Sikoa, Seth Rollins, El Grande Americano, LA Knight, Penta, and Andrade.

On the women’s side, Rhea Ripley, Roxanne Perez, Giulia, Stephanie Vaquer, Alexa Bliss, and Naomi will appear ahead of their ladder match.

Ripley, Bliss & Vaquer are teaming up tonight to face Naomi, Perez & Giulia in a six-woman tag. Plus, Knight will go one-on-one with Aleister Black.

Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

– Joe Tessitore welcomed everyone into the show as shots of outside the Intuit Dome aired. The scene then transferred to Bakersfield, where SmackDown was happening.

– Cody Rhodes, Rhea Ripley, Alexa Bliss, Stephanie Vaquer, Naomi, Giulia, Roxanne Perez and all four members of the new Paul Heyman group were shown walking backstage, outside and everywhere in between. The Heyman group, led by Seth Rollins, made their way to the ring for the first segment.

The Paul Heyman group segment

Rollins soaked in the fans singing his song briefly after the four of them entered the ring. The crowd turning to barking in the key of Bron Breakker. “CM Punk!” chants then broke out. These people just could not make up their minds. Anyway, Rollins eventually just said “Bakersfield,” and ran through his introduction. Rollins said he will take everything at Money In The Bank and then have control over the entire industry. “OTC!” chants began. Rollins said Roman could hear them because he’s off on the island of irrelevancy.

Rollins said they were there to deliver a message – anyone who stands in their way will suffer the same fate as anyone who has already stood in their way. Rollins referenced Sami Zayn, Roman Reigns and CM Punk as people who stood in their way and noted how they are all out of commission. Rollins said Reigns has never cared about the fans while Rollins, indeed, has cared about the fans. Rollins said there is nobody who can stop him. On cue, Solo Sikoa’s music hit and Sikoa walked out with Jacob Fatu and JC Mateo.

Sikoa and his group took their time entering the ring. Sikoa asked Rollins about what he previously said and Rollins reiterated everything. Sikoa said if nobody was going to stop Rollins … well, Sikoa and his group were standing there and they could, in theory, stop them. Sikoa said Rollins had his own Bloodline going on. Sikoa asked if Bron was supposed to be Jey Uso and if Bronson Reed was Sami Zayn. Sikoa looked at Heyman and said, “Long time, no see.” Rollins stepped in and told Sikoa to choose his words carefully. Sikoa said he would win the MITB contract and all the power will be Sikoa’s.

Rollins called Breakker the future of the industry while Sikoa was not. Rollins said Reed could snap Sikoa with his fingers. Rollins said Sikoa’s family would rather stab him in the back than have his back and turned his attention to Fatu. Rollins said it looked like Fatu wanted to say something and Sikoa told Rollins to shut his mouth. Rollins then called Fatu “Solo’s bitch.” Rollins said it took a lot of guts for Sikoa to come out and talk to them. Rollins said he felt a little threatened by one Fatu in the ring, but it wasn’t Sikoa. Sikoa took off his suit jacket and Breakker stepped up. Fatu then stepped up to Breakker. Rollins then stepped to Fatu. The Heyman group left the ring and that ended the segment.

As Rollins and his group left, Jimmy Uso ran in and took out Sikoa and his group. Uso will face Mateo in the first match of the night.

This was fun. I was a little surprised the crowd didn’t side a little more with Sikoa and his boys because there really were a lot of layers attached to the fact that Sikoa led his people out there to confront a group put together by Paul Heyman. They only touched on it briefly, but it was enough to remind some of us that there are a lot of different ways a story like that could go. In the meantime, the Fatu/Breakker stare down was really well done and boy, it was kind of a trip to see Jonah and Jeff Cobb face off on the far side of the ring. We aren’t in New Japan anymore, Dorothy. Good stuff all around and a hot start to a go-home show that appears to have a hot crowd behind it. You can’t ask for much more than that.

**********

Jimmy Uso vs. JC Mateo

The match was joined in progress and Uso had the upper hand. Uso came off the top and hit a cross-body for a one-count. Uso came off the ropes and Mateo suplexed Uso before going to Uso’s chin and mouth. Sikoa told Uso it wasn’t too late for him to come back to Sikoa’s group. Mateo kicked Uso and slowed things down. Uso fired up, but eventually ran into a back elbow from Mateo. Mateo chopped Uso repeatedly before he ran at Uso and Uso moved, sending Mateo to the outside. Uso hit Mateo with a shoulder block through the ropes and onto the floor. Uso went to the top, but Mateo dropkicked Uso off the top and to the outside of the ring. The show then went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Uso was rallying until Mateo clotheslined Uso and landed a standing moonsault on Uso. Mateo hit a running elbow in a corner, but Uso came back with a Samoan Drop to reset the match. Uso hit a fury of strikes on Mateo, including a step-up enziguri. Uso came off the top with an Uso In The Wind, and got a two-count out of it. Uso ran at Mateo, but Mateo caught him and hit a spinning back suplex for a nice near-fall. Mateo ran at Uso, but Uso got an elbow up and followed that with a pair of super-kicks and a spear. Uso went to the top, but Sikoa hopped up on the apron. Uso and Fatu then engaged in a stare down, btu Fatu on the apron. Mateo leapt at Uso and Uso moved, so Mateo hit Fatu off the apron. Uso rolled Mateo up for the win. After the match, Fatu left on his own while Mateo yelled at Fatu.

Match result: JImmy Uso defeated JC Mateo (11:23 of TV time)

An OK television match (and that might even be sort of kind). Like it or don’t like it, it’s hard to deny that there was no real reason it should dragged on as long as it did – and through two commercial breaks, to boot. The long walk towards Fatu breaking out on his own continues, but this felt like a significant development because it was Mateo who was fired up after the match and it was the first real time we saw him show any type of emotion since showing up in WWE. Back to the match: Jimmy needed that win, so I’m glad he got it. On the other end of things, we can probably all agree that Mateo will survive even though he now has a loss on his WWE record. The showdown between Mateo and Fatu can’t come soon enough, though, because these Bloodline angles have no problem dragging out much longer than they actually should.

**********

– Zelina (no Vega, according to the graphic listed on the television screen) ran into Giulia backstage and told Giulia would have to pry the U.S. title from her lifeless body. Giulia said Zelina was confident and Zelina walked away while Giulia looked on.

– Fatu ran into Damian Priest backstage. Priest told Fatu he’s been where Fatu currently is and he doesn’t envy that. Priest said at some point, he’ll be coming for the U.S. title. Fatu said if Priest doesn’t take care of business, Priest will be at the back of the line like everyone else.

Zelina Vega vs. Piper Niven in a Bakersfield Brawl

Good news. Vega got her last name back in the graphic that popped up on her way to the ring. Niven threw Vega to the mat repeatedly to begin the match. Eventually, Vega grabbed a kendo stick from under the ring and worked Niven over with it. For reasons impossible to explain, Vega threw the stick to the outside of the ring and went for a pin, but Niven kicked out right away. “We want tables!” chants inevitably began. The action spilled outside and Niven caught Vega before slamming Vega’s head down on the ede of the apron. Niven followed up with a basement cross-body against the LED screen on the side of the ring. The show then went to a commercial break.

The show returned and a chain had been introduced during the break. Niven choked Vega with it before kneeing Vega into the bottom turnbuckle. Niven set up a chair and attempted to slam Vega, but Vega turned it into a DDT on the chair. Niven sold it by rolling outside, where Vega hit a moonsault on everyone, including Fyre, Green and Niven. Vega went to the top, but Niven cut her off. Vega fought back and landed a Super Code Red from the top, but Fyre pulled Vega off Niven. Green then beat down Vega as Niven came to. Niven yelled for Fyre to get a table and Green and Fyre did just that.

Niven slammed Vega on the floor as her crew set up the table inside the ring. With Vega on the table, Niven went to the second rope, but Giulia appeared and attacked Green and Fyre. Giulia hit Niven with the kendo stick and Vega powerbombed Niven through the table. That was enough to get Vega the win.

Match result: Zelina Vega defeated Piper Niven (10:44)

After the match, Giulia entered the ring and raised Vega’s hand before, wouldn’t you know it, attacking Vega. Giulia then picked up the U.S. title and stood tall over Vega.

Vega receives slightly better responses from the live crowd each week and this was no exception. Good for her on that. This was a fairly PG brawl, as one would expect, but the final sequence with Niven going through the table looked like it might leave Niven with an ache or two tomorrow morning. I like the insertion of Giulia into the Vega/Green program and we have to think this leads to Giulia eventually holding that U.S. title, which will instantly give it some much-needed credibility. My only request? Can we get to that point sooner than later? My impatience, these days, knows no bounds.

**********

– Jey Uso was shown in the locker room and Cody Rhodes came up to talk to him. Jimmy Uso walked into the frame. Jey said they’ll worry about tomorrow, tomorrow, after Cody and Jimmy asked Jey if he was OK.

– An Aleister Black vignette aired. Black recalled how LA Knight stole his victory in the MITB qualifying match. Black said he wants to take away Knight’s security and he wants things to be Knight and Black to see what’s left of Knight. Black said if Knight beats him, he will shake Knight’s hand and admit defeat.

LA Knight vs. Aleister Black

Before the match, Knight obtained a microphone and held it out as the crowd chanted his name. Knight said it was that time of the year (yeah!) and it’s Money In The Bank season (yeah!). Knight said if you do a little bit of math, this is his third year in a row being in MITB. Knight asked the crowd if they thought the third time will be a charm. Knight said he’s not satisfied with that. He ran down the other participants in the ladder match, including Seth Rollins, with whom Knight noted he hasn’t had a lot of interaction. Knight said Rollins isn’t going to burn anything down because instead, Rollins will get burned by Knight. Before long, Knight capped his minutes off with the catchphrase. Mercifully, the lights went out and Black’s music hit in an attempt to move things towards actually starting the match. Before that could happen, though, the show went to a commercial break.

The two locked up when the show returned, so maybe they just stood there and looked at each other during that two-and-a-half minute commercial break? Some mysteries might never be solved. More locking-up continued all around the ring continuously until the crowd … well, the crowd never really responded to it. Black took Knight down and worked a side head-lock. Knight came back with an elbow and a vertical suplex for a one-count. Knight went for a DDT but Black didn’t comply and instead kicked Knight in the head. Knight came back with a tough clothesline that was good enough for a two-count.

Black landed a jaw-breaker and a step-up knee for a two-count. Black followed up with a snap-suplex, which was good enough for a two-count. Black landed a series of strikes, complete with a leg-sweep. Black went for a springboard move, but Knight charged Black and both wrestlers went over the top and to the outside. The show went to another commercial break as Black and Knight sold the spill.

Back to the action and Black successfully executed the springboard moonsault on Knight inside the ring. “This is awesome!” chants broke out. Black went for Black Mass, but Knight ducked it and Knight hit his jumping neck-breaker into his modified powerslam. From there, it was the top-rope elbow attempt, but Black got a boot up. The two went back and forth with punches and kicks. Black went for the moonsault again, but Knight caught Black and hit a Burning Hammer. Black then rolled to the outside. Seth Rollins ran in and gave Knight the Stomp, which was enough to end the match.

Rollins set up for another Stomp, but Black stepped into the ring to stop Rollins. Breakker then showed up and speared the hell out of Black. Reed landed a Senton on Knight and then Breakker speared Knight.

Match result: LA Knight defeated Aleister Black via DQ (10:20)

I’m not a fan of the finish, but this was a good match while it lasted. In fact, it was one of Knight’s better television matches in recent memory and you have to think that as a thing or three to do with Black. Knight seemed fired up and Black got the best out of him because of it. I was wondering how they’d get out of the match because I couldn’t imagine Knight losing going into MITB, but it also seems too soon for Black to lie down. Insert Seth Rollins, and the result writes itself. The way the Rollins group is bulldozing everyone, it kind of feels like an NWO-lite feel and I like that. Oddly enough, that idea feels kind of/sort of fresh these days when it’s done right. And right now, Heyman and Rollins and their guys are doing it right.

**********

– Nick Aldis and Adam Pearce announced that next week, the King and Queen Of The Ring tournaments will begin. The winners of the tournaments will receive world title shots later at Summer Slam.

– Byron Saxton interviewed Jade Cargill backstage and Saxton asked Cargill about competing in the Queen Of The Ring tournament. Cargill noted how she is the storm and she can’t wait to tear through the Queen Of The Ring tournament. Saxton asked about Bianca Belair and Cargill was going to respond, but Charlotte walked into the frame. Charlotte told Cargill there is only one queen in WWE. Tiffany Stratton then walked in and started her march to the ring for the next segment.

– A Legado Del Fantasma vignette aired. They talked about competing at Worlds Collide. They put over their opponents in the six-man tag at Saturday’s event.

– American Made were interviewed backstage. Chad Gable said his confident was high going into his match with Vikingo at Worlds Collide. Gable said the AAA Mega Championship will come home with him. Andrade walked into the frame and spoke to Gable in Spanish. Penta then pulled up and made fun of Gable in Spanish. Gable got angry and said El Grande will put them both through a ladder tomorrow night. Aldis showed up and made a match pitting Penta & Andrade against the Creeds for later tonight.

The Tiffy Time segment

Tiffy said everyone on Saturday is going to try and pull a Tiffy from last year and reach for the stars. Stratton said everyone in the match is championship match is great, but after the match, whomever wins will have their world revolve around Tiffy. Tiffy asked everyone what time it was and the crowd shouted “Tiffy Time!” Rhea Ripley’s music hit and Ripley walked out. Ripley grabbed a mic once inside the ring and recalled how she’s never had to be in a MITB match before. Ripley said she knows what it feels like to be a champion and she misses that feeling. Stephanie Vaquer’s music hit and out, she came. As Vaquer made her entrance, introductions for the upcoming match was made. As such, Alexa Bliss’s music hit and Bliss made her entrance for the match as well. The show then went to a commercial break.

**********

Rhea Ripley, Stephanie Vaquer & Alexa Bliss vs. Naomi, Giulia & Roxanne Perez

Vaquer and Giulia started the match and the pace was fast. They traded a bunch of pin attempts and Vaquer set up for the face-planting viral move (Devil’s Kiss), but Giulia countered and planted Vaquer. Naomi tagged in and went for Devil’s Kiss on Vaquer, but Vaquer worked out of it. Things broke down and all six women brawled, highlighted by Vaquer executing the Devil’s Kiss on Naomi. After the things settled down, Naomi and Vaquer were battling in the ring with Naomi getting the best of it, complete with the other heels interfering. Perez tagged in and worked over Vaquer until Giulia tagged in a short time later. Naomi quickly tagged in, too, and lifted Vaquer, but Vaquer worked out of it and tagged in Bliss.

Bliss whipped Naomi into a corner and then pulled her down by her hair. Bliss hit a basement dropkick on Naomi and a dive on Giulia and Naomi on the outside. Perez reinserted herself and threw Bliss into the ring steps. The show then went to a commercial break. The show returned and Naomi was working over Bliss. Naomi ran at Bliss, but went face-first into a buckle. Still, Naomi lifted Bliss to stop a tag, until Bliss DDT’d Naomi and got the hot tag to Ripley. Perez also tagged in.

Ripley hit a fallaway slam on Perez and took out the rest of the wrestlers as the crowd chanted “Mami!” Ripley landed a Razor’s Edge on Perez. She followed up with a boot to the face, but Naomi broke up a pin attempt. The match broke down and Bliss hit Sister Abigail DDT on Giulia. Ripley then tried a RipTide on Perez, but Perez countered into a spike DDT and everyone was down. There was a chant from the crowd that forced the audio to be spotty. Perez tried to tag Naomi into the match, but Naomi left the match after hopping off the apron. The three babyfaces ganged up on Perez and Ripley hit RipTide on Perez for the win.

Match result: Rhea Ripley, Alexa Bliss & Stephanie Vaquer defeated Naomi, Roxanne Perez & Giulia (12:01)

The match of the night so far. Perez, especially, as acclimated really well to the main roster, despite the footsie that the bookers have played with her between NXT and the main roster. Vaquer looked good, too, and better yet, it really finally feels like Giulia has arrived in WWE. Her NXT run felt a tiny bit off in a handful of ways, but something clicked in the last couple months and this feels like The Real Giulia – or at least the one we’ve come to love from her work in Japan. The Naomi wrinkle was a fun way to get to the finish and I suspect she wins the ladder match Saturday night. In the meantime, this was a very good preview for what’s on tap for this year’s women’s MITB festivities.

**********

– Sikoa was shown talking to Mateo backstage. Mateo asked Sikoa if he trusted Fatu and Sikoa said as long Fatu follows Sikoa’s lead, everything will be OK. Sikoa said Fatu loves him and Fatu isn’t “all that smart in the head.” Sikoa said all Fatu thinks about is himself and he’s “all gas and no brains.” Sikoa said he has it all under control. As Sikoa and Mateo walked away, it was revealed that Fatu was standing right around the corner, listening to all of it.

– While the Sign Of The Night stuff unfolded, a Bo Dallas/Wyatt Sicks VHS vignette cut in and aired in lieu of it. Dallas/Howdy said he’s watched the tag division and he said they returned not for nostalgia or closure, but to rip open the wound of apathy and take what they are owed. He said the time for repentance has passed and everyone needs to accept their condemnation and they will not be forgotten. The entire SmackDown tag division was shown watching the video backstage together. Montez Ford spoke up and said he knows they are all afraid and they need for forget about the tag title for one moment and instead, need to focus on the Wyatts. Fraxiom said they need to teach the Wyatts a lesson. MCMG told #DIY they want to get their hands on the Wyatts, too. Each team left the scene on their own and left Aldis alone in the room.

Penta & Andrade vs. American Made (Julius Creed & Brutus Creed)

Penta and Andrade jumpstarted the match, landing dives on both Creeds on the outside. Andrade and Brutus started the match, but Julius ran in and Andrade took care of him, too. Andrade hit double-knees on both brothers in separate corners. Penta tagged in and took care of both Creed brothers, too. Penta did the Penta Walk, but the brothers attacked him while doing so and briefly, they took control. Penta quickly recovered and Andrade tagged in, but Julius took out Andrade’s knee. Brutus tagged in and hit a standing moonsault for a one-count. The show then went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Andrade was getting worked over by the brothers until he hit an enziguri on Julius and tagged in Penta, who who unleashed a fury of moves on Julius. With the ref distracted, Gable hopped onto the apron and tried to take Penta’s mask off until Vikingo ran in and took care of Gable. There was some chaos, but Penta hit the Mexican Destroyer on Brutus and got the win.

Match result: Andrade & Penta defeated The Creed Brothers (Julius & Brutus Creed) (7:57)

After the match, Seth Rollins’s music hit and the Heyman group came back down to ringside to face Penta and Andrade. Heyman’s group surrounded the ring and a brawl broke out between Breakker, Rollins, Reed, Penta and Andrade. The crowd booed as the heels got the best of it. Breakker landed a spear on Andrade while Reed hit a Senton on Penta. Rollins then stomped both Penta and Andrade. Reed went to the top and connected with a Tsunami on Penta. Officials ran out to help and the show went to a commercial break.

Again, I really, really, really like this Heyman group takeover stuff. That was a really nice touch to the aftermath of this match. I suspect it won’t continue without the MITB thread after this weekend, but we can appreciate it while it happens. As for the match itself, it was pretty good. I maintain that the women had the match of the night, but this had great action and the crowd was super up for Andrade and Penta, which added to the proceedings. It’s wild to me, watching Vikingo run through GCW talent only a handful of years ago, doing that 720 splash through tables near and far, grabbing a cup of coffee in AEW, and now playing a run-in role in the last match of the night on a SmackDown. This business, man. There’s nothing like it.

**********

– The show returned and Paul Heyman had a microphone and called everyone “Bakers Bitches.” Heyman said his group doesn’t fear the future because they are the future. Heyman said he didn’t understand why anyone would boo that. Heyman said Rollins already told everyone everything that would happen and all the things he said did, in fact, happen. Heyman asked if the crowd understands that Rollins and the group are “the vanguards of the destiny of WWE.” Heyman said everyone can boo all they want, but at MITB, Rollins will become Mr. Money In The Bank. Heyman said after that, whenever Rollins damn well feels like it, will propel the entire industry into a vision all of his own. Heyman said the greatest honor of his professional life will be calling Rollins the reigning, defending … and then Cody Rhodes’s music hit to cut the whole thing off.

The Cody Rhodes/Jey Uso/John Cena/Logan Paul segment

Cody stood in front of the entire Heyman group to start the segment. Rollins stepped forward. Cody stepped forward as well. Jey Uso’s music hit and Uso made his entrance through the crowd. The show went to a commercial break and when it came back, the Heyman group was out of the ring. Cody asked everyone what they wanted to talk about. Cody mentioned John Cena and the crowd launched into “Let’s go Cena/Cena sucks!” chants. Cody mentioned how seeing Cena stand next to Paul is like seeing “Michael Hayes standing next to the Hardy Boyz.” The problem with the line was that nobody reacted. At all.

Jey took the microphone and everyone yeet’d, but quickly, John Cena’s music hit and Cena made his entrance to the “John Cena sucks” singalong. Cena cut his music and soaked in the chants coming from the crowd. Cody took off his suit jacket. Cena motioned for the ring announcer to reintroduce him as the greatest of all time, as he’s done in past weeks, and Mr. Nash obliged. Out of nowhere Logan Paul showed up and attacked Cdoy and Uso. Cena hit an AA on Uso. Paul landed a Paul-verizor on Cody. Paul went to the top and hit a frog splash on Cody. Paul followed up with a frog splash on Uso.

Cena grabbed a microphone and said nobody will come to save the fans or wrestling. Cena said he’s been telling everyone for half of a year – “your dream of what WWE is will be ruined. This is your future. I take this home. He takes that to the top.” Cena was talking about the championship belts. Cena said the last real champion and the moment maker, the last future face of WWE, Logan Paul … Cena didn’t add anything to that sentence and Paul and Cena held up the respective world titles. Cena rolled Cody into the ring and hit an AA on Cody. Paul rolled Uso into the ring and Paul hit Uso with his right hand.

Cena yelled “You can’t handle the truth!” It was a play on R-Truth (let’s hope, at least). Cena noted how everyone was hypocrites for chanting for “Truth.” “We want Truth” chants kept going. Cena called everyone losers and said it was his last time in Bakersfield. Cena finished by saying winners write the history books. Again, Cena and Paul held up the respective world titles. The show ended with Uso and Cody selling pain.

Good heat for the heels going into what most of us think is a throwaway tag match Saturday night at MITB. If anything, it will probably be designed to make Jey Uso take some damage going into his world title match against Gunther on Monday, but the way this episode ended, it’s hard not to imagine Cody and Jey going over. We’ll see, I suppose. The only real disappointment of the segment was the fact that it started with Cody staring down the entire Heyman group by himself, only to have the show go to a commercial break and come back without any of the Heyman group in the ring. As Keenan Thompson would say, “What up with that?” All told, it was a fine go-home show. People who expect this to be the typical SmackDown should tune in on a random Friday in July because this usually ain’t it (as the kids would say). Tonight was chaos and fun and build and heat and action. If only they could keep that up … .

WWE SmackDown live results: John Cena & Cody Rhodes appear

Posted on by Colin McGuire

Cody Rhodes made his return to WWE television last weekend when he attacked John Cena on Saturday Night’s Main Event. It was the first time Rhodes had appeared since losing the Undisputed WWE Championship to Cena at WrestleMania 41.

Tonight, Cena and Rhodes will both be in the building for the first time on SmackDown since before WrestleMania. Cena is set to team with Logan Paul at Money in the Bank next weekend against Rhodes & Jey Uso.

After missing a handful of weeks due to injury, Bianca Belair is set to return to SmackDown this evening as well. It will be a homecoming for Belair as the show will take place in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Two Money in the Bank qualifiers are set for tonight. On the men’s side, it will be Jacob Fatu vs. Carmelo Hayes vs. Andrade. The winner will join Solo Sikoa, Penta, LA Knight, and Seth Rollins in the men’s ladder match.

As for the women, it will be Jade Cargill vs. Naomi vs. Nia Jax tonight. The winner joins Alexa Bliss, Roxanne Perez, Rhea Ripley, and Giulia in the women’s ladder match.

Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

– A video recap of Saturday Night’s Main Event aired to open the show.

– Joe Tessitore welcomed everyone into the show. Cody and Bianca Belair were shown walking backstage. The camera followed Belair from the back, through the entranceway and into the ring.

The Bianca Belair/Naomi segment

The crowd chanted “EST!” as Belair stood in the middle of the ring. Belair said she had to sing “Rocky Top” and called for the music to be hit. The music was, indeed, hit. The crowd sang along and … wait … is this a pro wrestling show or College Gameday? I was convinced someone would interrupt it, but as it turned out, the crowd got through the whole thing. Anyway, Belair shouted out her mom and dad in the crowd and those in Knoxville who show up and show out for her. She called this her “safe space” and said she had to come back to Knoxville to heal. Belair said she is the EST of WWE and the crowd showered her with another chant. Belair shouted “Welcome to Friday Night SmackDown,” and Naomi’s music hit. Naomi walked to the ring.

Naomi said she was glad Belair was back on SmackDown and Belair told Naomi it wasn’t the time for this. The crowd booed the hell out of Naomi. Naomi said she thinks about what happened between them every day. Belair asked Naomi what she wanted from Belair. “You suck!” chants began. Naomi looked emotional and begged for Belair’s forgiveness. Naomi said she’s been trying to communicate with Belair for months and she wants them to move forward. Naomi said she went by Belair’s parents’ house to try and get a hold of her earlier in the day, but no one was there, so Naomi broke into the house. Naomi talked about seeing some photos of Belair being happy and it reminded Naomi of how happy they were as tag champs.

Belair said Naomi betrayed her trust and recalled what Naomi did with Jade Cargill. Belair said if Naomi ever goes to her family again, she will do more to Naomi than what Naomi did to Cargill. Naomi started the cry real tears. “EST!” chants began. Naomi gathered herself and said it wouldn’t be good for both Belair and her mom to be in a wheelchair. Naomi said she would hate for something bad to happen to Belair “right here and right now.” Cargill’s music then hit and Cargill walked to the ring with purpose.

Cargill kicked Naomi to the mat and stared at Belair. Cargill tossed Naomi out of the ring and Belair and Cargill stared at each other. Cargill went to leave the ring, but Nia Jax’s music hit and out came Jax to set up the first match of the night.

It was nice to see Belair back and even nicer to see that this story really is picking up where it left off. Things don’t seem to be great between Cargill and Belair, but nobody is saying anything, which only adds to the tension. Naomi, meanwhile, is a professional cryer, which has added an entirely new dimension to her character that comes in super handy these days, considering the story they are telling. I still can’t get over them actually carving out a minute for everyone to sing along to “Rocky Top,” but perhaps I’m just grumpy. OK. Yeah. I’m just grumpy. Anyway, this was a strong opening segment with good emotion from everyone involved.

**********

Jade Cargill vs. Naomi vs. Nia Jax in a Money In The Bank Qualifier Match

The match was joined in progress and Naomi was pounding on Cargill in the middle of the ring. Naomi appeared to bite Cargill’s hands/fingers and stomped on her. Naomi hit a dropkick on Cargill, who was down in a corner. Naomi slapped Cargill and landed a split splash from the second rope. Cargill broke a pin attempt up by grabbing onto the bottom rope. Jax reinserted herself into the match and hit a hip attack on Cargill. Naomi took Jax out after that by slamming Jax on the apron.

Naomi came off the second rope but Cargill caught her and hit a fallaway slam on Naomi. Cargill followed up with clotheslines, but Jax broke up a pin attempt. Jax Samoan Dropped Cargill and headbutted Naomi before posing. Jax hit a leg drop on both of her opponents and then threw Cargill to the outside. Jax went to the second rope and hit a leg drop on Naomi from said second rope, but Naomi kicked out at 2.9. Jax went for a Samoan Drop, but Naomi rolled through and pinned Jax for a two-count. The show then went to a commercial break.

Back to the show, Naomi and Jax were teaming up on Cargill until Naomi tried to pin Cargill and Jax had to pull Naomi off Cargill. Naomi rolled up Jax to no avail and Jax hit a running Senton on Naomi. Cargill returned to the match and fired up, landing a series of splashes on her opponents. Cargill managed a spinebuster on Jax, but Naomi followed that up quickly with a Meteora on Cargill. Cargill came back with Jaded on Naomi, but Jax broke up the pin attempt. All three women were down to reset the match.

Jax went to the second rope, but Cargill cut Jax off. Jax eventually came off the second rope to hit a double cross-body on Naomi and Cargill. Still, Jax couldn’t get a pin on either wrestler. Cargill hit a Samoan Drop on Naomi from the middle rope, but Cargill flew in from the top to hit a frog splash on Jax for a nice near-fall. The three traded blows and Naomi went to the top rope, but Cargill cut Naomi off. Jax stumbled over and powerbombed Cargill while Cargill super-plexed Naomi. Jax went for her finisher on a stacked Cargill and Naomi, but Naomi moved and Jax hit it on only Cargill. Naomi then rolled up Jax for the win.

Match result: Naomi defeated Nia Jax & Jade Cargill to earn a spot in the Women’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match (12:19 of TV time)

Jade Cargill looked pretty good here. She’s clearly putting in work to be better in the ring and it’s paying off. I also think I find myself saying some version of this about her each week she wrestles, so I apologize for being redundant, but she really does deserve some credit. Plus, she took a tough-looking finisher from Jax. Umpf. Naomi going over is a fun development. It also suggests that she will be somewhat of a non-factor in the MITB ladder match because someone is probably going to play a role in taking her out (cough, Cargill, cough). Even so, Naomi’s character work is so good these days that it’s nice to see her rewarded with a spot in one of WWE’s marquee matches of the year.

**********

– Solo Sikoa was walking backstage and ran into R-Truth. Sikoa made fun of Truth for “talking to ghosts.” Truth looked at JC Mateo and said he had never seen him before. Truth asked Sikoa if Mateo was Solo’s son, which was funny. Truth said he was going to ask Nick Aldis for a match with Mateo later. Jacob Fatu chimed in and said he needed to go take care of business for himself tonight and left the group backstage.

– Nick Aldis ran into Chelsea Green backstage and Green wore a mask because of what happened to her nose last week. Green said it was a deliberate action via Zelina Vega. Green said Aldis needed to strip Vega of the Women’s U.S. Championship. Aldis denied that request. Green advocated for Alba Fyre vs. Vega for later in the show. Aldis made it official.

– Byron Saxton interviewed Tiffany Stratton backstage. Saxton asked Tiffy how she was handling the pressure of being the champion. Tiffy said she’s prepared because she’s always been a girl everyone has been obsessed with. Tiffy said whoever cashes in on her will make a big mistake. Naomi walked into the frame and told Tiffy that she would win the ladder match and cash in whenever and wherever she wants. Tiffy rolled her eyes as Naomi walked away. Alexa Bliss showed up and told Tiffy she shouldn’t worry about Naomi and instead, Tiffy should worry about Bliss. Bliss walked away to end the quick segment.

– A vignette looking at the NXT North American Championship match for Worlds Collide aired.

R-Truth vs. JC Mateo

Mateo ran Truth into a corner. Mateo then threw Truth in a corner. Mateo did it again. Mateo went for a splash, but Truth moved and followed up with a series of shoulder-blocks, the final one of which took Mateo down. Truth lifted Mateo, but Mateo landed on Truth and followed up with a standing moonsault. Mateo went for a Senton, but Truth moved and called for a Five Knuckle Shuffle. Truth actually hit it. Truth lifted Mateo, but collapsed and as a result, Mateo landed Tour Of The Islands for the win.

Match result: JC Mateo defeated R-Truth (2:20)

After the match, Mateo roughed up Truth until Jimmy Uso ran out with a chair for the save. With Jimmy’s attention turned to Sikoa, Mateo attacked Jimmy until Sikoa stopped Mateo from going in on Jimmy presumably because Sikoa is trying to get Jimmy back.

As close to a squash as you get on WWE TV these days. Mateo is off to a strong start with these wins; I just wonder if it’s translating into actually getting over to the WWE audience. I understand Truth’s appeal, but man. Can we at least try another bit at some point? It was mildly surprising to see him do the Cena stuff here after Cena just disposed of him on SNME. I kind of/sort of thought/hoped that would mean the bit was officially over. I was wrong.

**********

The tag division segment

Ford spoke first and said the SmackDown tag division is the greatest tag division of any brand in any company and the Profits are leading the charge. Dawkins chimed in and listed the teams coming after them. Dawkins brought up the Wyatts and Ford said they’d happily defend their tag titles against anybody. On cue, Fraxiom’s music hit and out, they came.

Nathan Frazer spoke first and talked about how they didn’t get a fair shake last week. Ford congratulated Fraxiom and noted how they had Fraxiom beat until the Sicks got involved last week. Axiom said they’ll never know for sure. Frazer interjected and said they should run things back. Motor City Machine Guns’ music hit and out, they came. Alex Shelley noted how the Profits never beat MCMG just like they’ve never beat Fraxiom. #DIY’s music hit and out, they came.

Candice LeRae did the talking and called MCMG nerds. Chris Sabin told LeRae to shut up and Gargano responded with anger and said they brought LeRae in to even the odds because there is a conspiracy going on against #DIY. Gargano brought up the Sicks and Ciampa told Gargano they don’t talk about them. Ciampa said they killed the tag division they built and Ciampa called for a moment of silence for the tag division. The lights went out, of course, and wouldn’t you know it, the Wyatt Sicks showed up.

The Sicks took out everyone in front of them. Howdy gave Frazer a Sister Abigail to end things and the Sicks posed in the ring as their music played.

I was kind of hoping for more in terms of a follow up to the Sicks’ return last week, but this was a sort of nothing-happening segment. Does this lead to a five-way for the tag titles? More so, does this lead to the Sicks winning the aforementioned tag titles? I’m not so sure that’d be the best booking move – that tag division is finally rolling with teams that have identities and matches that continuously deliver. Would a move like putting the tag titles on some version of the Sicks stagnate the progress? Perhaps time will tell. For now, this segment wasn’t much of much.

**********

Los Garza (Berto & Angel) vs. Je’Von Evans & Rey Fenix

Ethan Page sat in on commentary. Fenix and Angel started the match. Fenix leapt at Angel, but Angel caught him and it ultimately ended up dual headbutts. Berto and Evans tagged in and Berto landed a springboard moonsault from the second rope for a two-count. Evans came back with a wild dropkick and a cutter on Angel. With the heels on the outside, Fenix tagged in and they hit a stereo super-kick on Berto, who came off the top and into the middle of the ring. Fenix went for a pin, but Berto kicked out and the show went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Angel draped Evans in between the ropes in a corner before running a knee into Evans. Berto tagged in and planted Evans with a Gaza Special, but Evans kicked out of a pin attempt. Berto worked a headlock. Evans leapt across the ring for a hot tag, but came up just short. Evans had to kick Berto in the head in order to ultimately get the hot tag to Fenix. Angel tagged in as well. Fenix took the heels out, complete with a double springboard moonsault on Angel. Evans tagged in and hit a springboard clothesline on Angel. Berto then kicked Evans and all four men were down to reset the match.

“This is awesome!” chants broke out. Evans and Angel traded chops while on their knees. The two got to their feet and traded punches until Angel landed a springboard powerbomb on Evans for a near-fall. Loz Garza lined up their finisher on Evans, but Fenix broke it up. Fenix walked the ropes and stomped on Angel. Evans then came off the top to take out Los Garza on the outside of the ring. Page stood up and got in Evans and Fenix’s faces. With the referee turned around, Page threw Fenix into the commentary desk. Evans took Page out and then inside the ring, Evans went to the top, but Escobar distracted the referee and Page pushed Evans off the top. Los Garza hit their finisher on Evans for the win.

Match result: Los Garza (Berto & Angel) defeated Je’Von Evans & Rey Fenix (12:16)

A good showing for Evans on the Big Stage and even Fenix took another step forward in his WWE development, as he’s been doing the last week or two. Garza was in desperate – and I mean desperate – need of a win, so I’m fine with them getting one here with the help of Ethan Page (also, by the way, it was nice seeing Ethan Page on the Big Stage as well). All four guys came to work and while the spots were many (by WWE standards), they didn’t over-do them and the result was an entertaining match with the highlight being the flashiness of the Evans/Fenix team. It only makes me wonder: Exactly how far away are we from a Lucha Bros reunion?

**********

– An Uncle Howdy quick vignette aired.

Zelina Vega vs. Alba Fyre

Vega’s entrance was not televised, but Fyre’s was. So much for being a champion these days. Fyre attacked Vega to start things out. Vega came back briefly, but Fyre took Vega down with a shoulder-block. Before long, Fyre ran Vega into a corner, but Vega came back and Fyre rolled to the outside. Fyre pulled Vega down and hit a pendulum bullhammer (Wade Barrett’s words), which was an elbow to the face. Vega put Fyre in position for a 619, but Green distracted the referee. Fyre took advantage of that and kicked Vega. Fyre saluted … the hard cam? … and the show went to a commercial break.

Back from break, Fyre continued to have control until Vega hit a knee to Fyre’s head and both women were down. Vega inevitably fired up and landed a Meteora in a corner. Vega came off the middle rope with a double-knees and got a two-count out of it. Fyre lifted Vega, but Vega countered with a neck-breaker, but then missed a moonsault from the top. Fyre went to the top and hit a Swanton Bomb for a nice near-fall to which nobody in the crowd reacted.

Vega found herself on the outside of the ring and Green tried to hit Vega with her mask, but Green instead hit Niven. Back inside the ring, Vega landed a Code Red on Fyre and got the victory because of it.

Match result: Zelina Vega defeated Alba Fyre (11:04)

Here’s the thing I can’t wrap my head around. Lyra Valkyria is involved with Becky Lynch – a first-ballot WWE hall-of-famer who is as popular as anyone in the company – for the women’s IC belt. The other secondary title? That’s on SmackDown where, each week, the crowds somehow get quieter and quieter for these women’s U.S. title matches. I can try to get a kick out of the idea that Green and her crew just can’t beat Vega. That’s fine. But these live crowds are killing any momentum this program might ever have – and this program needs it far more than the women’s IC title program because, as I stated … well … Becky Lynch. Green and Vega are good performers – and this match was all right, I guess? – but the women’s U.S. title picture needs a kick in the face to get off the ground. Sadly, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to get it anytime soon.

**********

– Miz and Melo were talking in a locker room and Miz reminded Melo that he gave up his chance to be in the match for Melo. Miz said if Melo wins, he will make sure “they” are Mr. Money In The Bank. Melo stopped Miz and Miz asked Melo who he thinks got him in his position and Melo said it was Melo who got himself there. Melo said he goes out there and does it better than anyone else. Melo told Miz he needed to let Melo be Him. Melo tried to set up the catchphrase, but Miz didn’t complete it, so maybe that thing is on the road to the end?

– A Giulia vignette aired.

– Vega was walking backstage and ran into Giulia, who told Vega that she sees Vega’s title. Vega just walked away.

The Damian Priest segment

Priest said he’s breathing fresh air since beating Drew McIntyre at SNME. Priest talked about how their beef lasted for over a year, but they took it into a cage. Priest said they went to war and he put Drew’s “ass in the past.” Priest said he had one thing he wanted to say to Drew – he still can’t stand Drew’s ass, but he can appreciate the fact that Drew was a warrior in the cage. Priest talked about how he has his eyes on a championship and that championship is held by Jacob Fatu.

Priest said he respects the hell out of Fatu. Priest said, “real talk, I’m proud of you, congratulations, that’s real,” to Fatu. Priest said he doesn’t respect Fatu’s crew and at some point Fatu and Priest will handle business inside the ring. Priest said if Fatu’s family wants to get involved, they’ll get some, too. Priest landed his catchphrase, threw the microphone down and left the ring. On his way to the back. Jacob Fatu made his entrance for the next match. Priest and Fatu slowly walked past each other and engaged in a mini stare down.

Yeah, I’m all right with a Priest/Fatu program for the U.S. title. I still don’t quite think Priest should come out on top, but that’s just because I’m hopelessly in love with Jacob Fatu. Even Priest said he likes the guy; he just doesn’t like the people with whom Fatu surrounds himself. That’s curious because it sure does feel like Fatu is about to not be associated with those people, but we’ll see. In the meantime, Fatu and Priest should have some really good matches.

**********

Jacob Fatu vs. Andrade vs. Carmelo Hayes in a Money In The Bank Qualifier Match

Fatu and Andrade went to work on Melo to start the match. Melo rolled to the outside and Andrade and Fatu went at it. Andrade went to the top and landed a cross-body from the top, but Melo threw Andrade to the outside and attacked Fatu. Melo tried to throw Fatu into the ropes, but Fatu blocked it and punched Melo in the face. Fatu ran the ropes but Miz grabbed Fatu’s foot. As a result, Melo went for a roll-up, but Fatu blocked it, only to be kicked to the outside. Melo went for a dive, but Andrade cut off Melo and Fatu was left alone with Miz. Fatu super-kicked Miz and sent Miz into the barricade. Fatu followed up with a hip attack on Miz against the barricade. Fatu stood there and the show went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Fatu went for a hip attack on Andrade, but Andrade moved. Melo and Andrade were left and Andrade got the best of it. With both opponents in respective corners, Andrade hit a double-knees on Fatu, but then ran into being planted by Melo. Fatu woke up and took a super-kick from Andrade. Melo went to the second rope, but that resulted in a Spanish Fly from Andrade. Fatu reinserted himself and hit some Swantons on Melo and Andrade. Fatu teased a moonsault, but Andrade pulled Fatu’s leg. Andrade went to the top and hit the double-moonsault attempt on Fatu, but Melo broke up a pin attempt.

“This is awesome!” chants broke out. The three men traded blows on their knees. Melo hit a DDT on both guys after a springboard from the second rope. Andrade hit a Poison-Rana on Fatu and that left Melo and Andrade in the ring. Andrade pulled Melo to the outside, where the exchanged blows. Fatu super-kicked Melo and went for a hip attack on Melo and Andrade into the barricade, but both Melo and Andrade moved, so Fatu went flying. An expletive chant broke out in the crowd, which was muted, and the show went to another commercial break.

Back from the break and Fatu was still out. Andrade and Melo traded strikes in the middle of the ring. Melo went to the top, but Andrade cut Melo off. Fatu reappeared and threw both guys, which resulted in a weird assisted Spanish Fly from Andrade to Melo. Fatu landed a Swanton on Melo from the top, but Andrade broke up the pin attempt. Fatu ran at Melo, but Melo got a boot up. In a fun spot, Andrade hit a back elbow on Fatu, who had Melo on his shoulders, but Fatu kicked out when both guys tried to pin Fatu.

Solo Sikoa and JC Mateo made their ways to ringside. Fatu perched Melo on the top rope. Fatu had both Melo and Andrade on his shoulders and hit a Samoan Drop on Andrade but not Melo. Fatu missed a moonsault on Andrade, but Melo hit Nothing But Net on Fatu. Andrade and Melo traded a bunch of pin attempts. Before long, all three guys were down on the mat at about the 19-minute mark.

Fatu hit a spike DDT on Andrade. Fatu ran Melo into a corner and followed up with a hip attack. Fatu landed another spike DDT on Andrade and followed that up with a double-jump moonsault, but Sikoa hopped on the apron and told Fatu to do it again. Mateo started yelling at Fatu to do it and Jimmy Uso showed up to take care of Mateo and Sikoa. With all the confusion, Andrade hit The Message on Melo and got the win.

Match result: Andrade defeated Carmelo Hayes & Jacob Fatu to qualify for the Men’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match (20:28)

I love it. I loved all of it – the match, the booking decision – all of it. Andrade going over was a mild surprise (there was no way Fatu was winning, the way this was all set up), but I’m happy he gets a spot in, as I said earlier in this review, one of WWE’s most marquee matches of the year. He’ll have a lot to add to it, too, as you know that guy can impress when it comes to high spots and ladders. Back to this match – it was one of the best SmackDown matches I’ve seen in at least a year? Maybe longer? They gave them time to cook and those three fellas delivered a fantastic meal.

**********

– Byron Saxton interviewed LA Knight backstage. Knight talked about how he punched his ticket to MITB. Knight said if it was a one-on-one match, he’d call his shot, but he understands now because this will be his third MITB match. Knight said it’s anybody’s game, but … Knight stopped talking as Aleister Black walked into the frame. Black spoke in a riddle and walked away. Cody was shown walking backstage and the crowd erupted.

– Fatu was shown wrecking the backstage area, yelling at Solo that he was tired of everything. Solo appeared and said he was just trying to help. Fatu said for the last time, he’s saying he does not need Sikoa’s help. Fatu stormed off.

– A Worlds Collide card rundown happened and the graphic for Gable vs. Vikingo did not include the AAA Mega Title Match descriptor, unlike what happened on Raw this week. WWE, get your stuff together.

The Cody Rhodes/John Cena segment

Cody stood in the ring with a microphone and soaked in some chants. He stalled for a bit to grandstand for the crowd. The European “Cody Rhodes” song broke out in the crowd. Who knew Knoxville, Tennessee, was this close to London? Cody asked the crowd what they wanted to talk about and was cheered in a loud way. Cody said they could talk about Mania 41. Cody said he went home and drowned his sorrows with the “Tennessee Cough Syrup.”

Cody said he had a doubtful moment and he reached out to a friend. Cody said he asked his friend if he was a good champion. Cody said the friend’s answer was, “With everything that you faced in the ring and with everything that you faced behind the scenes, you were a good champion.” Cody said that made him feel good. Cody said that made him think about his whole year, including AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, HHH and The Final Boss. Cody said the scary part about The Rock asking for his soul was that Rock was serious and that Rock’s offer still stands (hey-yo!).

Cody brought up John Cena and rabid “Let’s go Cena/Cena sucks!” chants began. Cody said Cena did exactly what he said he’d do. Cody said he hesitated when Cena gave him a choice and that if Cena ruins pro wrestling, Cody is partly to blame. Cody spoke to the camera and said he will never hesitate with Cena again. Cody said he needs Cena to knows that Cody will “burn his ass up” in reference to Cena. Cody said it was his first night back on SmackDown and he was getting a little worked up. Cody wondered what he could do for the WWE Universe and as such, Cody said he had a surprise. The crowd Yeet’d accordingly. Cody’s surprise, it turned out, was the arrival of Jey Uso, who came in through the crowd and holy hell, that crowd went nuts.

After Jey finally made it to the ring, Jey called for a repeat of the entrance and the Yeet-ing and all of that. His second celebration was cut off by John Cena’s music. Cena walked out to his black-and-white gimmick. “John Cena sucks!” chants were shouted in step with Cena’s music. Cena walked to ringside and grabbed a microphone. Cena found the ring steps and used them to get into the ring. Cena said he was upset because Cody and Jey were “professional wrestling’s biggest wannabes.” Cena told Cody and Jey to their faces they were Cena wannabes. The crowd kind of/sort of cheered Cena.

Cena called Cody too desperate and Uso too lazy. Cena said there is only one other person in WWE who embodies hustle, loyalty and respect and that’s his partner for MITB. Logan Paul’s music hit and Paul made his entrance. Paul garnered a lot of boos, so at least that worked out. Cena said the crowd was mad because Logan Paul “does WWE better than professional wrestler.” Cena said Paul is paying everyone’s mortgage. Cena said everyone in the building came to see Cena and Paul. Cena got a lot of cheers; Paul did not.

Paul said he could walk on water and everyone would find a way to tell him it’s because he can’t swim. Paul said he speaks the truth and Cena does as well. Paul called the Tennessee people “stupid” and “stupid.” Paul said everyone wil live long, pathetic, miserable lives, but at least they will be able to say they saw Paul and Cena stand together. A “Shut the f— up” chant started and you can imagine what that did to the censors. Paul said he should be standing next to Cena as a champion because he should have been the one to leave SNME as the World Heavyweight Champion. Paul called Uso lucky.

Paul said Uso or Cody can’t do anything in the business without having things handed to them. Paul called Cody and Uso nepo-babies. Paul said Cena and Paul were self-made men. Paul said five years ago, nobody would have believed that Logan Paul would be a WWE superstar. Paul noted how nobody would believe that he would be tagging with the GOAT. Paul said his time is now while Cena is the last real champion. Paul said at MITB, they can come get some. Uso said they didn’t have to wait, Cody talked about “polishing his Peacemaker” in reference to Cena, and the four brawled. Cody and Jey stood tall as Cody’s music played and Cody held up Cena’s title and the show ended.

This is smart. They anticipated Cena getting the babyface reactions and threw Paul into the mix as a means to mitigate the impact of the Cena not-so-heel-turn. It was on display here as Paul took the bulk of the promo, which wasn’t all that great (but also not that bad, to be fair), and Cena just stood in the background. Each time Cena’s name was brought up, the crowd cheered heavily. But hearing that name come out of Paul’s mouth made the crowd boo just a little harder. It’s clever. The last thing they wanted to do with this program was kill Cody’s momentum as a babyface and if nothing else, it’s clear that they are at least trying to compromise that potential damage. Even so, Cody had the off-handed comment about The Rock’s offer still being on the table and I’m sure the IWC sleuths will have a field day with that. In the meantime, this was a strong return (to SmackDown) for Cody and a heat-generating segment for their tag match at Money In The Bank.

WWE SmackDown live results: Fraxiom challenge for Tag Team titles

Posted on by Colin McGuire

Two weeks after Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer & Axiom) defeated The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) in a non-title match, the teams will meet again on SmackDown tonight with the WWE Tag Team title belts on the line.

Fraxiom defeated DIY last week before Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa attacked Frazer & Axiom in a post-match beatdown. Motor City Machine Guns made the save for the babyfaces.

Also tonight, two Money In The Bank qualifying matches will take place. On the women’s side, it will be Charlotte Flair vs. Giulia vs. Zelina Vega. The winner joins Roxanne Perez, Rhea Ripley, and Alexa Bliss, who have already qualified for the Saturday, June 7 PLE.

On the men’s side, we will see LA Knight vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Aleister Black for a spot in the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Whoever wins will join Solo Sikoa, who secured a spot in the men’s match last week.

Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

– Joe Tessitore welcomed everyone into the show as footage of Savannah, Georgia, aired.

– The Street Profits, Fraxiom, Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Solo Sikoa, JC Mateo and Drew McIntyre were shown walking in and around the building. As McIntyre walked, Damian Priest appeared out of nowhere and attacked McIntyre. Officials ultimately broke the two up.

The Tiffany Stratton/Alexa Bliss/Charlotte Flair segment

Tiffy started by asking Savannah, Georgia, what time it was. Stratton reflected on how she walked into Money In The Bank last year while this year, she stands as the WWE Women’s Champion. The Charlotte match was brought up. Last week’s Nia Jax match was brought up. Stratton said at MITB, someone will have the same opportunity she once had. As Stratton spoke, Alexa Bliss’s music hit and Bliss walked out.

Bliss said she didn’t think she and Stratton had formally met and then proceeded to list off her accomplishments in WWE. Bliss said she had her eye on Tiffy and weirdly added that she initially felt bad for Charlotte but then realized she shouldn’t feel bad for a queen (so I guess that interaction a couple weeks ago is already dead?). Bliss talked about how she doesn’t know Tiffy and she told Tiffy that if she thought her rise to the top was quick, Tiffy will have to take note of how fast her downfall will be. Charlotte Flair’s music then hit and out walked Flair.

Flair started talking with a microphone in hand while walking to the ring. The crowd booed the hell out of her. Charlotte said she might be the most humbled champion in the history of WWE. Charlotte congratulated Tiffy on beating her at Mania. Charlotte said she’s done everything there is to do in the business except win Money In The Bank. Charlotte said she will take her title back after she wins the MITB briefcase – as well as the spotlight. Charlotte said when she wants something, she doesn’t wait; she just takes it.

Tiffy questioned the hypocrisy of Charlotte because Charlotte had said cashing in the MITB briefcase was the easy way out. Tiffy called Bliss and Charlotte the standard while Tiffy is “the upgrade.” Tiffy worked in reminding everyone that it will be Tiffy Time and Tiffy’s music hit. Then, while Tiffy started her walk to the back, Giulia’s music hit and out she came, presumably for the first match. Giulia stopped and engaged in a stare down with Tiffy as they crossed paths.

Fairly basic stuff from everybody involved, but two things of note: One, Bliss felt really, really, really comfortable on the mic – more so than I remember her being even before she was off for a couple years. And two, as I mentioned earlier … so we’re just going to forget that Bliss/Charlotte thing from a couple weeks ago? That’s a bummer because that was intriguing. I don’t know what they had in mind, but they could have tried anything and it would have been more compelling than a lot of whatever’s been happening on Friday nights. Outside of those two things, this was fine enough, I suppose. If anything, it was a clever way to set up the first match while not having to put Giulia through having to cut a live promo in a language that isn’t her best language quite yet.

**********

Charlotte Flair vs. Giulia vs. Zelina Vega in a Money In The Bank qualifier match

Things were slow to start as Charlotte and Giulia teased locking up, but Vega kept getting in the way. Charlotte eventually threw Giulia into Vega and lifted Giulia briefly until Giulia stomped Charlotte’s head into the canvas. The two traded chops until they clotheslined each other at the same time. Vega reinserted herself into the mix and DDT’d both Charlotte and Giulia at the same time for two-counts. Vega and Giulia found themselves on the outside and Charlotte followed. Before long, Vega hit a moonsault on both Giulia and Charlotte on the outside. The show then went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Giulia and Charlotte were roughing each other up inside the ring. Giulia wound up on the apron and Charlotte kicked her to the floor. Vega came off the second rope and Charlotte caught her, but Giulia came off the top rope and took both women down for two-counts. The three traded blows until Giulia took Charlotte down and got a two-count out of it. Charlotte hit a cross-body off the top on both women. Vega came right back and worked a submission Vega, but Giulia hit a knee on Vega. Charlotte took out Giulia and got a two-count out of it. Charlotte stood tall and walked over both women to get to the top rope.

Charlotte landed a moonsault on both Giulia and Vega, but both Vega and Giulia kicked out at two. Giulia came right back and worked a Rings Of Saturn on Charlotte. Vega dropkicked her opponents and amped the crowd up before hitting a 619 on Giulia and Charlotte. Giulia then barely kicked out of a spear from Charlotte. Vega was on the outside and Charlotte went for a Figure Eight, but Vega broke up the move. Vega then landed a Code Red on Giulia, but Charlotte broke that pin attempt up. The crowd started dueling chants and the match reset.

Charlotte missed a spear on Vega, but booted Vega in the face. Charlotte worked a Figure Eight on Vega, but Giulia broke it up. Giulia followed up with a Northern Lights Bomb on Vega and that was good enough to earn her the win.

Match result: Giulia defeated Charlotte Flair and Zelina Vega to earn a spot in the women’s Money In The Bank ladder match (13:31).

A good MITB qualifying match. There seemed to be some timing issues with Giulia and Charlotte, but Vega came to fight and stood out in a good way. The crowds might not make a noise for her, her entrance, or anything she does in the ring, but damn if she doesn’t work her ass off each time she goes out there. Giulia going over was the right call as Vega is stuck in the mid-card, complete with mid-card title, and Charlotte would have felt stale, even if there is something to the fact that she’s never won a MITB briefcase. The women’s ladder match is shaping up to be pretty good/interesting/compelling/fun. As for tonight, it was a good strong first Big Win for Giulia on the main roster. It might take a little bit for her to adjust to the main roster style – just as she had her best-ever NXT match and looked like The Real Giulia, to boot! – but I’m pulling for her.

**********

– A #DIY vignette aired.

– Vega was shown walking backstage, selling pain from the match and Chelsea Green walked into the frame with the Hervice. Green called Vega a loser and Vega attacked Green. The Hervice intervened and Michin and B-Fab showed up. All the women brawled and Nick Aldis ran in to break things up. Michin yelled for a tag match between Michin/B-Fab and the Hervice. Aldis made the match for later.

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Chris Sabin

The two locked up to begin the match. Sabin arm-dragged Ciampa and Ciampa sold arm pain. Sabin went to work on Ciampa’s arm. Ciampa came back and stomped a mud hole in Sabin, which woke up the crowd. Ciampa chopped the hell out of Sabin and stomped on Sabin’s face. Sabin fired up and took Ciampa out. The action spilled outside after Ciampa came back with a Willow’s Bell DDT. Ciampa ran Sabin into a corner and then pat himself on the back. The show then went to a commercial break.

Back to the show, both guys were down. Sabin tried to kick Ciampa, but Ciampa blocked it. Sabin brushed it off and landed a leaping kick on Ciampa for a two-count. Ciampa rolled outside to talk to Gargano and Sabin and Ciampa battled on the apron, exchanging chops. Ciampa ended all that as he dropped Sabin on his head on the apron. Ciampa set up for a Fairytale Ending, but Sabin countered into a dragon-screw leg-whip, which was followed by a Tornado DDT. Sabin got a two-count out of it.

Sabin went to the top and Gargano hopped on the apron to distract him. Alex Shelley confronted Gargano and Ciampa botted Shelley in the face. Sabin hit a cross-body on both Gargano and Ciampa on the outside. “This is awesome!” chants began. Sabin went to the top, but Ciampa cut him off. Sabin pushed Ciampa off and Ciampa sold a leg injury. The referee checked on Ciampa and Candice LeRae showed up to attack Sabin. Ciampa took advantage, rolled down his knee pad, hit Sabin with the knee and got the win.

Match result: Tommaso Ciampa defeated Chris Sabin (11:13).

I really like pairing LeRae with Ciampa and Gargano. It might have major NXT black-and-gold vibes, but those three work really well together and this keeps LeRae on TV without having to be Nia Jax’s sidekick. I’m excited to see what’s next for that trio. The match itself was pretty good. It never quite kicked into the next gear, but that’s more a function of the television format, including the commercial break that tends to stagnate matches that could be very good and force them to only be merely good. That said, Ciampa and Sabin are pros and this was a solid professional wrestling match.

**********

– Fraxiom were interviewed backstage by Byron Saxton. They were fired up about being the best tag team in the world and said they could cement that if they beat the Profits later in the show.

– A video package on John Cena and R-Truth aired.

– Priest was about to make his entrance, but he and McIntyre instead brawled through the curtain and down to ringside. WWE officials broke them up and Priest grabbed a microphone. Priest screamed into the microphone said tonight, he will get his “pile of flesh.” Priest then broke through security and the two went back to brawling until they were broken up again.

– Solo Sikoa was shown talking with JC Mateo backstage. Jacob Fatu walked up and Fatu asked to speak in private. Sikoa said they could talk there because they are family. Fatu said he didn’t trust or like Mateo. Fatu said Mateo isn’t his blood or his family. Mateo stepped to Fatu and Sikoa stopped him. Sikoa said Mateo has to channel that energy for his match later. Sikoa said he never left like Roman has left and he wants everyone to come together as a family. Fatu told Sikoa to stop talking and hit his go-away line to end the segment.

– Charlotte was shown walking backstage and she ran across Alexa Bliss, who said it was important to have friends. Bliss was speaking with her doll Lilly and told Charlotte she’d see her at Money In The Bank, but then remembered Charlotte lost earlier and said, “Sorry.”

The Secret Hervice (Piper Niven & Alba Fyre) vs. B-Fab & Michin

B-Fab and Niven started the match, but Fyre quickly tagged herself in. Niven knocked Michin off the apron and hit a Senton on B-Fab. Fyre kept kicking B-Fab in a corner as Green shouted things off camera. Niven tagged in and worked somewhat of a Million Dollar Dream on B-Fab. Niven sidewalk-slammed B-Fab. Eventually, B-Fab knee’d Piven in the face and got the hot tag to Michin, who fired up and dropkicked Fyre. Green hopped up on the apron to distract the referee, but Zelina Vega showed up and took Green out. Niven ran Vega off while inside the ring, Michin hit Eat Defeat on Fyre. B-Fab tagged in and landed her finisher on Fyre and that got her team the win.

Match result: Michin & B-Fab defeated The Secret Hervice (Piper Niven & Alba Fyre) (3:45)

Quick and painless. I wonder if this leads to a six-woman tag for tomorrow night’s Saturday Night’s Main Event. Time will tell. B-Fab has improved so much and Michin feels like she’s really sinking her teeth into her character more than ever. The Hervice, meanwhile, are gold anytime they step through the curtain. That said, a sub-four-minute match was probably the right call.

**********

– The Profits were interviewed backstage. Dawkins said it’s a big night for Fraxiom and the Profits. Dawkins started shouted how tonight isn’t a friendly exhibition. Ford chimed in a mocked Fraxiom for being called the best tag team in the world. Ford said they would walk out the same way they walked in – as tag champs. Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu and JC Mateo walked by the Profits on their way to the ring and the five people engaged in a quick stare down. Fatu and Mateo made their entrance, alongside Sikoa, for the next match.

– A Legado Del Fantasma vignette aired. They were sitting at a dining room table with glasses of wine. Escobar told Berto and Angel they are capable of achieving greatness together. Escobar said at Worlds Collide, they will come together as the best they have to offer. Escobar said they will stand victorious in front of their people. Escobar tried to make a toast, but Berto seemed despondent. Escobar told him to see the vision. Berto stood up, drank the wine, and left. Escobar told Angel to let Berto go because soon, Berto will understand.

– Jimmy Uso and Rey Fenix were backstage hyping themselves up for the next match.

Jimmy Uso & Rey Fenix vs. Jacob Fatu & JC Mateo

Uso and Fatu technically began the match, but Mateo tagged himself in, which made Fatu angry. Mateo took Uso down quickly and stomped on him in a corner. Fatu then tagged himself in and that made Mateo angry. Fenix tagged in and kicked Fatu in the head. Mateo ran into a bunch of superkicks. With Mateo and Fatu on the outside, Fenix hit a corkscrew plancha on both guys. Fenix got incredible height out of it. A replay aired and the show went to a commercial break.

Back to action, Mateo had the advantage in the ring against Uso. Mateo even hit a standing moonsault on Uso. Fatu tagged in and landed a hip attack on Uso. The crowd ate it up. Fatu eventually hip-attacked again. Mateo tagged in and placed Uso on the top rope. Mateo teased a German Suplex, but Uso fought out and knocked Mateo off the top. Fenix then received a hot tag from Uso. Fatu tagged in as well and Fenix walked the ropes, taking everyone out, complete with a poisonrana on Fatu for a very good near fall.

Fenix stepped to Fatu and Fatu landed a pop-up Samoan Drop before going for a hip attack, which he missed. Mateo tagged in and went for a German Suplex, but Fenix landed on his feet. Uso tagged himself in and hit a cross-body on Mateo, but Fatu broke up a pin attempt. Fenix missile-dropkicked Fatu to the outside. Fenix tried to followed it up with a splash, but Fatu caught Fenix and threw him over the commentary desk. Inside the ring, Uso hit a spear on Mateo and went to the top, but Sikoa hopped up to distract Uso. Uso missed the splash as a result and Mateo executed Tour Of The Islands for the victory.

Match result: Jacob Fatu & JC Mateo defeated Jimmy Uso & Rey Fenix (12:26).

Do you know how hard it is to type “JC Mateo” after, for so long, you typed “Jeff Cobb?” The amount of times I had to correct myself here … anyway, enough of my whining. I like the friction between Mateo and Fatu, but something seems a little off about Mateo. As Jeff Cobb, he was never not a badass. And I’m not so sure this is on purpose, but pairing him with Fatu, who came in with a rocket strapped to his entire soul, hasn’t been the best idea? Maybe? Whatever it is, Mateo doesn’t look as powerful or engaged or even crisp as he would if he was just introduced as his badass self, minus the Bloodline (or at least the overpowering Fatu). I digress. The crowd was up for this and it might just have been Rey Fenix’s best showing on TV since arriving in WWE. It’s worth 12-and-a-half minutes of your time. And sure, it kind of seemed like a hodgepodge of wrestlers at times, but it worked and it worked well.

**********

– Byron Saxton was talking backstage and LA Knight walked into the frame. Knight said Sikoa has a first-class seat to watch Knight win the MITB briefcase in two weeks. Knight said the odds have always been against him, but in Los Angeles, it will be Knight standing tall. Knight said that 24 hours a day, seven days a week, he is living, talking and breathing Money In The Bank. He then offered up his catchphrase to end the segment.

The R-Truth segment

The proceedings began with the “What’s up?!” bit. Truth said people asked him how he’d handle fighting his childhood hero, but Truth said they don’t get it because he’s not fighting his childhood hero and instead, the man who attacked him is a man Truth doesn’t recognize. Truth said he can’t figure out where things went wrong or how he could have prevented things. Truth said he realized a problem – power. Truth said Cena used to call him his friend or brother, but the more power and fame Cena got, the more disconnected he felt.

Truth said the phone calls stopped from Cena. Truth said he felt Cena was always annoyed with him because whatever Truth did was wrong. Truth said he blamed himself and he was worried he did something to upset Cena. Truth said he talked to other people and they felt the same way Truth did. Truth said Cena isolated himself with power. Truth called out Cena’s ego. Truth said Cena stopped having fun so now Cena gets mad when someone else wants to have fun. Truth said he doesn’t like who Cena has become and he doesn’t believe Cena is happy. Truth said Cena is the GOAT and the crowd booed. Truth said he wasn’t sure if he could bring Cena back, but he’ll try, and Cena will not take Truth’s joy away from him.

Truth said if he’s going to save wrestling, he has to save Cena. Truth said he won’t want to put his hands on Cena, but if he has to, he’ll beat the … everything … out of Cena. Truth said he misses his hero and he can’t deny that. As such, Truth said if Cena wins on Saturday night, “we riot.” Truth yelled “What’s up?!” and jumped, did a split, and that was it.

I don’t even know what to say about what’s become a farse of a retirement tour for Cena. A weak explanation for his turn due to The Rock disappearing. Cena mean-mugging and pouting any week he shows up. And now, while the guy has six months left, we’re going to waste a date on a completely silly match with R-Truth? This ain’t workin’, brothers. Truth did the best he could here. The lack of Cena on a weekly basis makes these things hard and it’s not like Truth is out here each week, cutting eight-minute promos on his own because they have him positioned as a person to cut eight-minute promos on his own each week. God bless him. This whole thing is too silly for my admittedly-basic-and-probably-bad taste.

**********

– A video recap of Raw’s main event aired.

– A Naomi/Jade Cargill/Nia Jax vignette aired. It turns out, this will be the women’s MITB qualifier match next week.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Aleister Black vs. LA Knight in a Money In The Bank qualifier match

Nakamura was quickly disposed to the outside as the match began. Black and Knight went at it as the crowd chanted “We want tables!” Knight hit his jumping neck-breaker on Black and stomped on him in a corner. Knight ran at Black, but Nakamura tripped Knight up and disposed of Knight to the outside. Nakamura and Black were left to go one-on-one inside the ring and the kicked each other twice at the same time. After a quick fury, Black took control with a knee and Nakamura rolled to the outside. Black went for a moonsault, but Knight popped up and super-plexed Black from the top to the canvas. Nakamura ran in and hit Knight with a jumping knee. The show then went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Black had the upper hand on Nakamura. Black landed a springboard moonsault, but Knight broke up a pin attempt. Knight lifted Black and the two attempted their finishers on each other, but each wrestler countered. Ultimately, Knight dropped Black and Nakamura dragged Knight to the outside, where he ran Knight into the ring steps. Black and Nakamura went head-to-head and traded strikes. Knight returned and threw Nakamura to the outside. From there, Black hit a knee on Knight and threw him to the outside. Black then twice went for high-risk moves on the outside and neither Knight or Nakamura caught him.

Anyway, Black rolled Knight back into the ring, but Knight DDT’d Black. Knight followed up with a leaping elbow, but Nakamura reinserted himself with a knee to Knight’s head. Nakamura covered Knight, but Knight grabbed the rope to break up a pin attempt. Nakamura went for a knee, but Black caught up. It didn’t matter because Nakamura rank Black into the ring post. Nakamura fired up, but instead ran into Black Mass. Knight reappeared, threw Black to the outside and pinned Nakamura for the win.

Match result: LA Knight defeated Shinsuke Nakamura and Aleister Black to earn a spot in the men’s Money In The Bank ladder match (11:01).

I’m kind of surprised they didn’t go with Black here, but at some point, someone really ought to take full advantage of how over LA Knight is with these live crowds. Still, it is kind of funny to see how the only two men’s MITB ladder match participants, as it currently stands, is Solo Sikoa and LA Knight while the women have Roxanna Perez and Giulia. The former is a stale SmackDown third-hour match. The latter is an exciting NXT PLE main event. This match was fine, even though I feel for Black with how everyone sort of bailed on him each time he tried to something neat. Nakamura is not the Nakamura of old, LA Knight’s strong suit is most definitely not in-ring work and then … there’s Black, who is a very good professional wrestler. It worked in its own way, but this will not go down as the match of the night.

**********

– The Miz and Carmelo Hayes were shown talking backstage. Miz asked Melo how many times he had to take a Black Mass before Melo would listen to him. Miz told Melo he put Melo in a qualifier match for MITB next week. Miz put over how important MITB is. Miz said he wouldn’t be where he is if it wasn’t for the MITB contract. Miz said that’s how much he believes in Melo. Miz did the catchphrase to end the segment.

– A Jey Uso/Logan Paul vignette aired.

– The commentary team ran down the SNME card for Saturday night. Added to it will be Zelina Vega, who will face Chelsea Green for the Women’s United States Championship.

– Fatu, Mateo and Sikoa were walking backstage. Aldis walked up to them and said next week on SmackDown, the final triple threat qualifier for the men’s MITB match will take place. Aldis said Fatu will be in that match. Fatu said, “I love you, Solo,” and Sikoa said, “He hadn’t said that in, like, six months,” and it was very funny.

– A Bianca Belair vignette aired. She said the past six months have been some of the most challenging, frustrating times of her career. She lost friendships and her first match at Mania, etc. Belair said sometimes, she wants to give up, but she can’t let those things define her. Belair said she’ll get through it because she’s healing her finger and in her heart and “here’s to a new beginning.” Belair said the only consistent thing in life is change and her best is yet to come.

– Next week, Andrade, Melo and Fatu will face off in the MITB qualifier match. On the women’s side, Cargill, Naomi and Jax will compete for their ticket to MITB. John Cena will return as well. And, finally, Bianca Belair will be there. It is in Knoxville, Tennessee, after all.

The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) vs Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer & Axiom) for the WWE Tag Team Championship

Axiom and Dawkins began the match. Dawkins overpowered Axiom at first. Dawkins worked Axiom’s arm and Ford was animated on the apron. Axiom backed into his own corner and Frazer tagged in to work a head-lock on Dawkins. Dawkins ran the ropes and ultimately shot Frazer off and shoulder-blocked him to the mat. Ford tagged in and dropkicked Frazer for a two-count. Dawkins tagged back in and slowly worked on Frazer until Frazer hit an enziguri and tagged in Axiom. Things broke down and Frazer and Axiom hit a series of dives onto the Profits on the outside. The sequence ended with a top rope moonsault from Axiom onto the Profits. The show then went to a commercial break.

Back to the action and Dawkins was working a headlock on Axiom. Ford tagged in and drove his shoulder into Axiom, who was in a corner. Dawkins tagged back in and hit his spinning splash in said corner for a two-count. Axiom slapped Dawkins repeatedly and hit a DDT from the second rope. At about the nine-and-a-half minute mark, Frazer received the hot tag. Ford tagged in as well. Frazer ran the ropes and eventually landed a running shooting-star press on Ford. With Frazer on the apron, he first stumbled, but ultimately landed a springboard missile dropkick on Ford for a two-count. Dawkins tagged in and the Profits took back control with back-drop. The show then went to its final commercial break at about 11 minutes.

When the show returned, Ford was working over Axiom, who fired up and hit Ford with some chops and kicks. Axiom went for a rear-naked choke. Frazer ran in and worked a choke on Dawkins, who threw Frazer onto Axiom to break everything up. All four wrestlers were down in the ring as the match went to its home stretch. Frazer tagged in and hit a step-up enziguri on Ford. With Ford on the top, Frazer ran up to the top repeatedly to hit a super-plex. Axiom tagged in and kicked Ford as Frazer suplexed him and that was good enough for a two-count.

Frazer ran at Dawkins on the outside, but Dawkins cut him off with a right hand. Ford tagged in Dawkins and Dawkins put Axiom on his shoulders for the Blockbuster from the top. Frazer then broke up a pin attempt and all four wrestlers were down once again. “This is awesome!” chants broke out. Dawkins went to the top, but Axiom cut him off and delivered a Spanish Fly from the top. Frazer tagged in as well and hit the Phoenix Splash, but Ford returned from the outside and broke up the pin attempt. #DIY ran down to the ring with LeRae and hopped on the apron. MCMG appeared, too, and brawled with #DIY.

Ford landed a splash on the teams outside the ring. Frazer missed a splash on Dawkins and Dawkins landed a spinebuster on Frazer. Ford tagged in and went to the top, but the lights went out. Inside the ring, the Wyatt Sicks stood as the lights came back on. The faction took out everyone in sight. Uncle Howdy gave the Mandible Claw to Frazer. “This is awesome!” chants broke out. Howdy gave Gargano a Sister Abigail. The Sicks posed in the middle of the ring with what looked like a birthday cake (it was Bray’s birthday earlier this week). Howdy blew out the candle on the cake and the show ended.

Match result: Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer & Axiom) fought The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) to a no-contest (21:17).

They had a good match while they had it, and though I’m usually down on cheap finishes to matches like this, the Wyatt Sicks return sure did pack a punch. I can’t be mad at it. I’m not exactly sure why they targeted the entire SmackDown tag-team roster, but perhaps that will be explained later. Either way, the return was pulled off really well. In the meantime, the guys who worked the actual main event put a good bout together despite the crowd feeling dead for most of it (be better, Savannah). I don’t know what this means moving forward for the tag division, but I like the uncertainty of it all. On to next week.

WWE SmackDown live results: Money in the Bank qualifiers begin

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: May 16, 2025
Location: First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, NC

**********

Show Recap — 

Tiffany Stratton and Nia Jax were shown arriving. 

There was a Backlash recap video focusing on the SmackDown matches. 

Opening segment 

Solo Sikoa, Jeff Cobb, and Jacob Fatu entered to kick off SmackDown. They entered to Sikoa’s music and tron. The crowd chanted for Fatu and booed when Sikoa spoke. 

Sikoa said Roman Reigns losing the title at WrestleMania ruined everything and he was here to take it all back. It would start with Sikoa winning Money in the Bank and bringing the title back where it belonged. 

Fatu grabbed the mic from Sikoa. He already told us he was bringing the U.S. title to the family and would step up to anyone who got in their way. Fatu went to do his catchphrase, but Sikoa interrupted him and mocked him in the process. Sikoa wanted to help Fatu, and the title on his shoulder was proof that Sikoa loved Fatu. 

Sikoa wanted to hear Fatu say, “I love you, Solo.” Fatu said it, but not in his usual inflection. Sikoa wanted to hear him say it the way he used to say it. He yanked Fatu by the shoulder to grab his attention, which Fatu didn’t appreciate. 

LA Knight’s music hit. They turned their attention to the stage, but Knight appeared from the crowd. He briefly attacked Cobb, but bailed through the crowd before they could kill him. 

(They kept referring to Jeff Cobb as “J.C.” during this segment. Sikoa said it repeatedly, and Joe Tessitore called him that, too.) 

********

There was a segment backstage with Michin and B-Fab, along with Chelsea Green and her crew. Basically, Green wasn’t happy to learn that the outside parties wouldn’t be at ringside for their triple threat match. Alexa Bliss appeared to wish them luck, and she entered for the opening match. Green threatened to put tariffs on everyone. 

Money in the Bank triple threat qualifying match: Alexa Bliss vs. Michin vs. Chelsea Green

Early on, Bliss and Michin repeatedly and easily disposed of Green from the ring. They tried double baseball slide dropkicks and Bliss’ connected, but Green was already down by the time Michin tried hers. Bliss and Mchin were way too proud of themselves, and the time spent celebrating allowed Green to wipe them out with a dive. That led to a break two minutes in. 

Green worked over Bliss during a break until Michin dropped her with consecutive German suplexes and a sit-out powerbomb. Michin twerked before hitting both women with a cannonball in the corner. There was a somewhat convoluted triple-down spot that led to a light “This is awesome” chant. 

Michin hit Green with Eat Defeat, but Bliss broke up the cover. Bliss hit Michin with Twisted Bliss, but Green yanked Bliss out of the ring. Green hit Michin with Unprettier, so Bliss returned the favour by yanking Michin out of the ring. 

Bliss hit Green with Sister Abigail for the pinfall win, which, so far, easily got the biggest pop of the night. 

Tessitore called this an outstanding match. It wasn’t. 

Match result: Alexa Bliss defeated Chelsea Green and Michin (9:01)

******** 

Axiom & Nathan Frazer vs. Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa

Fraxiom hit a series of dives early on, and one of them sent Ciampa into some fans in the front row. However, Gargano pulled the ropes down on Axiom as he went for a springboard move, and DIY took over from there. That led to a break three minutes into the match. 

Believe it or not, the heels maintained control during a break, but Frazer made a hot tag and a comeback as soon as they returned. He hit Gragno with a standing shooting star for two. Gargano avoided a Phoenix splash and hit Frazer out of mid-air with a superkick. DIY hit Frazer with a double-team finisher, but Axiom broke up the cover. Ciampa hit Frazer with Project Ciampa for a nearfall. 

Frazer hit Gargano with a superplex, and Axiom superkicked Gargano as Frazer hit a brainbuster, but Ciampa broke up the cover with a running knee strike on Axiom. The crowd got really into this sequence and chanted, “This is awesome.” 

Ciampa ripped at Axiom’s mask until Frazer took him out. Axiom then caught Gargano in a cradle for the pinfall win. 

— DIY attacked the babyfaces post-match until the Motor City Machine Guns made the save. Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin raised Fraxiom’s hands. 

This was fun, and the finish left enough for a potential rematch. 

Match result: Fraxiom defeated DIY (11:19) 

********

Jax was shown warming up. Naomi could be seen lurking in the background. 

The Street Profits congratulated Fraxiom on their win. Montez Ford let them know they earned a tag title match next week. Fraxiom looked forward to it. Angelo Dawkins warned them that they were 100%, and they hoped Fraxiom were too. (Frazer was pumped for the match, while Axiom tried to keep him focused.) 

********

R-Truth sit-down interview 

Wade Barrett sat down with Truth for a sit-down interview earlier today. Barrett asked about John Cena giving him an AA through a table at the press conference. 

Truth said he was under constant pressure—career, family, friends, and bills. But regardless of all that, you could always depend on John Cena. Truth kept spouting Cena’s catchphrases as real-life advice, including “Never give up.” 

Barrett told him he was crazy. Barrett said Truth saved Cena from losing the title, and Cena repaid him by putting him through a table. Truth said that wasn’t the real John at the press conference. Truth didn’t want to fight John, but he would beat him to his senses if he had to. 

The match was set for Saturday Night’s Main Event: John Cena vs. R-Truth. (Non-title, presumably.) 

Truth knew it seemed impossible, but his hero told him to never give up, and he lived by three words: hustle, loyalty and respect. Barrett wished him luck. 

(I hate Dumb R-Truth, so I thought this was dumb and a waste of a John Cena match.) 

********

Damian Priest challenged Drew McIntyre to a cage match. Priest said the hospital would have to identify McIntyre by his dental records. 

Aleister Black vs. Carmelo Hayes (w/The Miz)

Miz pulled Hayes from safety as Black tried a dive. Black looked around like an idiot, acting like he didn’t know where his opponent went, so Hayes wiped him out with a flip dive to take over as they went to break. 

(There appears to be a group of young fans who know that chanting, “This is awesome,” is a thing at wrestling shows, because they randomly started doing it as Hayes had the heat during the break.) 

Black made a comeback as soon as they returned from break and eventually hit a bridging German suplex for two. A Miz distraction allowed Hayes to get back on offence for a couple of two counts. 

Black shoved Hayes into Miz, knocking him off the apron. They did some stuff until Miz attacked Black for the DQ. Stupid. 

— Black dropped Miz with his kick post-match, but Hayes decked Black and laid him out with a diving leg drop. 

Don’t watch this. 

Match result: Aleister Black defeated Carmelo Hayes via disqualification (10:28) 

********

Backstage, Bliss told Byron Saxton she wanted to be the first woman to win MITB twice. She left Saxton to approach Charlotte Flair. Bliss wanted to be friends with Flair and noted that Flair took her under her wing in NXT, but Flair claimed she did not remember that. 

Giulia left Nick Aldis’ office, and Aldis introduced her as the newest member of the SmackDown roster. (Fans cheered.) Aldis invited Flair into her office to discuss MITB. Before she did, Flair told Bliss to stay out of her way because he didn’t need her.

******** 

There was a video package for Stratton vs. Jax tonight. 

Drew McIntyre promo

McIntyre entered to a mixed reaction. It seemed more positive than negative. 

McIntyre addressed Priest’s promo. He said Priest claimed he was in the McIntyre vortex. McIntyre has been stuck in this vortex for over a year, and being stuck there was the only reason Priest was relevant. McIntyre said he beat Priest “clean” in a street fight. Priest was obsessed and jealous. 

McIntyre was everything Priest ever wanted to be, but McIntyre was better in every single way, and he would’ve been a grand slam champion if not for Priest. Priest was trying to take out the competition. That’s why he chokeslammed him off a platform and onto the concrete. 

McIntyre accepted the cage match (for SNME). McIntyre guaranteed that only one man would walk out of the cage, while the other would leave on a stretcher. (Notably, McIntyre didn’t guarantee who would be leaving on a stretcher.) 

As McIntyre left, he crossed paths with Solo Sikoa and crew as Sikoa entered for his match. 

This was a typically good McIntyre promo for a feud that should be over. 

********

The announcers ran down the card for SNME: 

  • Cage match: Drew McIntyre vs. Damian Priest 
  • John Cena vs. R-Truth (non-title) 
  • CM Punk & Sami Zayn vs. Seth Rollins vs. Bron Breakker 
  • Jey Uso vs. Logan Paul for the World Heavyweight Championship 

******** 

Jeff Cobb accompanied Sikoa to ringside and was officially referred to as JC Mateo. 

Money in the Bank triple threat qualifying match: Solo Sikoa (w/JC Mateo & US Champion Jacob Fatu) vs. Jimmy Uso vs. Rey Fénix

Sikoa wanted to form an alliance with Jimmy Uso, but, of course, he did not comply. Fénix wiped out Uso and Sikoa with a flying crossbody outside the ring, but Sikoa caught him moments later with a Spinning Solo in the ring. Even though that’s his finisher, he did not go for a cover. Instead, Sikoa gave Jimmy a Spinning Solo on the announce table, likely knowing it was time to head to commercial break. 

After a boring heat segment during a break (Sikoa stalking over both guys), things were meant to pick up when they returned, but there was a big mix-up. Fénix waited forever as Sikoa held him up for a Jimmy dive. Jimmy finally went for the dive, but Fénix ducked. Jimmy caught him in a roll-up, but the referee simply did not count. The crowd chanted for tables. 

Twelve minutes into the match, Fatu decided to get involved, but Jimmy superkicked him off the apron. Sikoa gave Jimmy the spike, but Fénix hit Sikoa with a rope-walk punt. Fénix knocked “JC” off the apron, but the distraction allowed Sikoa to hit Fénix with the spike for the pinfall win. 

This was no good. 

— LA Knight attacked the heels post-match. He held a chair as they surrounded him on the announce table. Aldis entered and made a match between Knight and “JC” right now. 

Match result: Solo Sikoa defeated Rey Fénix and Jimmy Uso (13:05)

******** 

LA Knight vs. JC Mateo (w/Sola Sikoa & US Champion Jacob Fatu)

Making his WWE in-ring debut, Jeff Cobb/JC Mateo wrestled in black jeans, black dress shoes, and a black t-shirt. 

This went through a break as the fans watched silently. Knight did not make his comeback immediately after the break. Instead, JC cut him off with an overhead suplex. 

Knight fought out of a long bear hug spot as the Toronto Maple Leafs went up 2-0 against the Florida Panthers and finally made his comeback, but JC responded with a spinning back suplex and a standing moonsault for two. 

Knight took out Sikoa and Fatu with a dive off the middle rope, but JC caught him with Tour of the Islands for the pinfall win. 

Boy, did this ever feel like time-filler. It’s not his fault, but this wasn’t a particularly interesting debut for Cobb, even if he won. 

Match result: JC Mateo defeated LA Knight (15:21) 

********

Angel Garza met with Santos Escobar backstage. Escobar urged him to find Berto and bring him home. Escobar wanted loyalty from Angel. 

Shinsuke Nakamura cut a pre-taped promo on LA Knight and Aleister Black. 

Next week on SmackDown: 

  • MITB triple threat qualifier: Aleister Black vs. LA Knight vs. Shinsuke Nakamura 
  • MITB triple threat qualifier: Charlotte Flair vs. Giulia vs. Zelina Vega 
  • The Street Profits vs. Fraxiom for the Tag Team Championships 

********

Jade Cargill warned Tiffany Straatton that she would win her MITB qualifying match and face the winner of tonight’s title match. Stratton said Cargill would never be good enough to cash in on her. 

WWE Women’s Championship: Tiffany Stratton vs. Nia Jax

Early in the match, Jax used a hip attack to drive Stratton’s head into the ring post. It was a good spot, and even Tessitore, who often sounds on the verge of sleep, really sold it big. This led to commercial break two minutes into the match. 

Stratton tried fighting back during the break, but Jax hit a middle rope Samoan drop for two. After the break, Jax tried a hip attack again, but Stratton moved, and Jax collided with the ring post. Jax shoved her over the barricade, but Stratton leaped off the barricade and hit a hurricanrana into the post. Stratton followed with a flying crossbody for two. Jax responded with a pop-up Samoan drop and senton for two. 

Stratton hit a back handspring elbow and a spinebuster for two. The crowd chanted for Stratton as Jax hit her with consecutive powerbombs. Jax did not pin her for some reason, but instead hit a running leg drop for two. Jax went for an avalanche body slam, but Stratton countered into a powerslam. 

Naomi entered with a chair to her music, about ten minutes in. Cargill entered to her music and chased Naomi through the crowd. 

Jax missed a tackle and went shoulder-first into the ringpost. Stratton followed with a PME for a close nearfall. The announcers freaked out and said Jax was the first to kick out of Stratton’s finisher. 

Stratton went back to the top, but Jax shoved her off and hit a Samoan drop onto the announce table (which didn’t break). 

Jax went for the Annihilator, but Stratton slipped underneath for a powerbomb attempt. Stratton couldn’t hit the move, and Jax fell on top of her for the Annihilator, but Stratton just barely got a rope break. (This wasn’t a perfect-looking spot, but it looked brutal, which made for a great nearfall.) 

Jax was pissed because she thought she had it won, so she left the ring and grabbed the title belt. Jax gave the belt back to the referee to distract him and grabbed a chair instead. As the ref put the belt away, Stratton dropkicked the chair right into Jax’s face. It was a stiff chair shot, and Jax’s head bled immediately. 

Stratton followed with PME for the pinfall win, and the crowd popped. 

This was pretty good, with lots of nearfalls and an exciting closing sequence. Hopefully, Jax is ok from the dropkick. 

Match result: Tiffany Stratton defeated Nia Jax to retain the WWE Women’s Championship (13:47)

WWE SmackDown live results: Backlash go-home show

Posted on by Colin McGuire

One night before John Cena steps up for the first defense of his 17th World title reign, the Undisputed WWE Champion will return to SmackDown tonight.

Cena is set to renew his rivalry with Randy Orton at Backlash on Saturday. Orton appeared on last week’s SmackDown episode and cut a promo on Cena, who did not make an appearance. Tonight, we’ll get Cena’s final words before facing Orton.

Also tonight, Solo Sikoa will team with Jacob Fatu to face the duo of LA Knight & Damian Priest. Knight and Priest will be two of the participants in a fatal four-way for Fatu’s United States title at Backlash. The fourth competitor will be Drew McIntyre.

Jade Cargill and Nia Jax will square off to determine the number one contender to Tiffany Stratton’s WWE Women’s Championship. Cargill teamed with Stratton last week to defeat Jax and her partner Naomi.

Plus, Aleister Black is set for action against Carmelo Hayes.

Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

– The show opened with Damian Priest walking towards the ring. Byron Saxton interrupted his walk and asked him about the Backlash Fatal Four-way. Priest was talking and LA Knight walked up and Knight told Priest that anyone who gets in the way of him and his U.S. title will receive backlash tomorrow night. Priest said he was concerned that Knight wouldn’t have his back in the opening tag match. Knight said if Priest has his back, he’ll have Priest’s back and Knight told someone to hit his music. Knight then made his entrance for the first match.

LA Knight & Damian Priest vs. Jacob Fatu & Solo Sikoa

Priest and Knight argued about who was going to start the match and Sikoa attacked both of them. Priest ended up officially starting the match for his team. Priest bounced back from the initial attack and took Sikoa down before posing in Fatu’s face. Priest successfully executed Old School on Sikoa and fired up the crowd. Priest went for a clothesline, but Sikoa rolled to the outside. Priest then hit a double axe-handle on Sikoa and jawed at Fatu, who was taken out by Knight’s dropkick through the ropes. With the heels down, Priest and Knight bickered as the show went to its first commercial break.

The show returned and Sikoa was working Priest’s neck back inside the ring. Priest struggled to get the tag to Knight, but Sikoa knocked Knight off the apron once Priest got free. Sikoa capitalized with a Samoan Drop and a two-count. Fatu tagged in and landed a running Senton. Fatu headbutted Priest and followed that up with a hip attack. Sikoa tagged back in and soaked up boos. Sikoa got a running start, but Priest fired out of the corner with a kick to Sikoa’s head. Knight and Fatu tagged into the match.

Knight had the upper hand and hit his spots, including a jumping neck-breaker and a leaping elbow. Knight set up for the jump-up elbow, but Priest tagged himself in and clotheslined the hell out of Fatu. Priest set up for South Of Heaven and Knight tagged himself in. Sikoa took advantage of the babyfaces arguing … until Knight landed the BFT on Sikoa for the win.

Match result: LA Knight & Damian Priest defeated Jacob Fatu & Solo Sikoa (10:07)

After the match, Knight and Priest threw punches at each other until Fatu broke it up and attacked both babyfaces, ramming them into ring posts and hitting hip attacks. Fatu held up his U.S. title as the crowd cheered … until Drew McIntyre showed up and Claymore Kicked Fatu. McIntyre then held up the U.S. title.

I liked the disruption to the cookie-cutter approach SmackDown has been taking to open its shows. They had a match, a commercial break and a post-match beatdown all within the first 20 minutes whereas we’ve been seeing far too many 20-plus-minute promos to begin Friday nights. Hopping directly into a match was a welcome change of pace. I’m also glad they got this match out of the way early because … well … it didn’t feel like a lot of thought was put into that booking, considering the last few weeks. Anyway, the match was fine. Standard. Inoffensive. Pick any of those words and you wouldn’t be wrong. The “babyfaces arguing for the sake of creating tension” is a tired trick – and especially in WWE – so the Knight/Priest stuff only annoyed me. Perhaps I’m just grumpy. And finally, while Sikoa taking the loss was the expected outcome, do we see him play a part in Saturday’s four-way finish that separates him from Fatu? The crowds love to cheer Jacob. Why not pull the trigger on an official turn?

**********

– R-Truth was standing outside with a “Let’s Go Cena!” sign. Jimmy Uso walked up and told Truth that Cena sucks. Jimmy Yeeted and walked away as Truth kept chanting for Cena.

– McIntyre was walking backstage and Saxton rushed over to talk to him. McIntyre said the U.S. title match should be a one-on-one match between him and Fatu. McIntyre noted how Knight shouldn’t be in the match because he lost at WrestleMania. McIntyre questioned why Priest is in the match, too, because Priest lost at Mania, too. McIntyre said he wants to take the title off Fatu to become a Grand Slam Champion. McIntyre mocked Fatu’s “All gas and no breaks” catchphrase and said he’d be the next U.S. champion.

– The Secret Hervice and Chelsea Green were shown in Nick Aldis’s office and they were mourning losing the Women’s U.S. title. Zelina Vega and Aldis walked in. Green said Vega has no girlfriends, so Vega challenged Green and Niven to a tag match. Vega said she’d bring one of her girlfriends. The show went to a commercial break after Green and the Hervice’s entrance.

– An Aleister Black vignette aired. Black said he buried his former WWE character and what he found six feet under wasn’t death – it was the truth. Black said he came back because he is the consequences the company needs. Black said he’s more than a man who whispers in shadows. Black said it’s bigger than good vs. evil because he’s there to confront everyone mentally and physically. Black said he hasn’t figured Carmelo Hayes out yet and the vignette ended.

– Vega made her entrance for the next match first and then pointed to the entranceway to introduce … Alexa Bliss.

Alexa Bliss & Zelina Vega vs. Chelsea Green & Piper Niven

Niven and Vega started the match and Niven got the best of Vega. Green tagged in and went for a splash, but Vega moved. Vega then went to work on Green, setting up Vega (and Niven) for a dual 619. Vega landed it and got a two-count out of it. Vega teased tagging Bliss into the match, but Green attacked Vega. As a result of all that, the heels got the upper hand and Green tagged in Niven, who put Vega down. The heels saluted the crowd(?) and the show went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Vega was crawling towards Bliss, but Niven cut off Vega. Niven lifted Vega, but Vega countered with a DDT and alas, Bliss received the hot tag. Green tagged in, too, and Bliss worked over Green with a series of strikes and even a dragon-screw leg-whip. Bliss landed a Blockbuster on Green for a two-count. Bliss ran into an elbow and Green climbed to the top, but Bliss cut off Green and dropkicked Green. Bliss hit Twisted Bliss on Green, but Niven broke up a pin attempt. Vega landed a Code Red on Niven. Bliss followed that up with a Sister Abagail DDT on Green for the win.

Match result: Zelina Vega & Alexa Bliss defeated Chelsea Green & Piper Niven (8:19)

I’m a little lost on returning Bliss like this (other than the obligatory home state factor). Isn’t the plan for her to work with the Wyatt Sicks? Why waste her return on a throwaway tag match with an ice cold secondary women’s champion … on WWE’s worst weekly television program? I hope there’s a plan for her moving forward. That aside, this was a fine match and it was nice to see Bliss get her greatest hits in. Green and Niven did a really good job putting both Vega and Bliss over and while Vega took the bulk of the match, Bliss hit a nice stride as everything went to the finish. Here’s hoping something big is on the horizon for Bliss, who always packs a punch when she returns.

**********

– Rey Fenix ran into Santos Escobar backstage and Fenix reminded Escobar that he beat him last week. Escobar said he had something to say and Los Garza attacked Fenix, running him into road cases. Andrade showed up and showed concern for Fenix.

– An SUV pulled up to the arena and Charlotte Flair stepped out of it.

– A video package on John Cena and Randy Orton’s history aired.

The Charlotte Flair segment

Charlotte told Dayton that their queen has arrived and some people cheered. Charlotte said she had the greatest match in WrestleMania history and recalled how she was out for two years, but still took Tiffy to her limit. A photo of Tiffy at Mania was shown on the big screen. Charlotte said she was there to announce her path to the WWE Women’s Championship. People booed and Charlotte acted petulant, saying she’s the GOAT of women’s wrestling. Charlotte said if the crowd continued to be disrespectful, she would leave Dayton and never come back. The crowd booed heartily. Charlotte threw the microphone down and left the ring. As Charlotte left, Jade Cargill’s music hit and Cargill made her entrance. Charlotte stood in the entranceway and the two engaged in a stare down.

Cargill got a microphone once she stepped into the ring and told Charlotte to head to the back of line because Charlotte had her chance. I’m not sure if this was scripted because Cargill kept talking over her theme music, so either production got it wrong or Cargill took a chance.

I like this approach for Charlotte. She’s a better heel than she is a babyface anyway, and the story of her playing into the boos each week could have her positioned as the next Dominik Mysterio, heat-wise. Plus, the segments don’t need to be long. Come out. Throw a fit. Soak in the reactions. Storm off. Maybe they’re finally going to get it right with her after all?

**********

– Charlotte and Aldis were walking and talking backstage. Aldis told Charlotte to be a leader, not leave and not throw a temper tantrum. Charlotte got back to her SUV to, in fact, leave, and Alexa Bliss stood there. Bliss told Charlotte that they should chat.

Jade Cargill vs. Nia Jax

Before the match began, Tiffany Stratton’s music hit and Tiffy walked out to ringside. Stratton sat next to the commentary table, but she did not sit in on commentary. Cargill and Jax locked up to begin the match. Jax jawed at Tiffy and then turned her attention back to Cargill, taking Cargill down repeatedly. Jax mocked Cargill’s pose. Eventually, as the crowd chanted, “You can’t wrestle!” Cargill hit a flying shoulder tackle, which took Jax down. Jax bounced back and hit a Samoan Drop on Cargill before landing a leg drop for a two-count. The show then went to a commercial break.

Back from break, Jax went to sit on Cargill, but Cargill moved. Cargill lifted Jax and delivered a Samoan Drop on Jax. Cargill suplexed Jax and landed a super-kick – plus a spinebuster – for a two-count. Cargill went for a boot, but Jax countered into a powerbomb. Jax stood on the second rope, but Cargill cut her off and pressed Jax to the mat. Cargil climbed to the top and landed a frog splash for a nice near-fall. Cargill tried to set up for Jaded, but Jax threw Cargill across the ring. Cargill came right back with a running kick to Jax’s head.

Out of nowhere, Naomi appeared and attacked Stratton. Cargill saw Naomi and took her attention away from Jax. As a result, Jax attacked Cargill, hit her finish and won the match.

Match result: Nia Jax defeated Jade Cargill to become the No. 1 Contender for the WWE Women’s Championship (10:03)

This was pretty good. Cargill really has improved her in-ring work and it shows in little ways – the way she fires up, the commitment to selling, etc. – and as such, these two worked hard to put on a good television match. I tend to wonder how this Naomi/Cargill program will eventually be blown off. Does it involve Bianca Belair? A Hell In A Cell? At this point, with the rinse/repeat stagnation in which they appear to be, it’s going to have to be something big. I’m not saying their feud isn’t working; I’m just saying it’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out. In the meantime, this was a nice offering from Jax and Cargill, even if I can’t say I’m thrilled to see another Cargill/Stratton match/program.

**********

– The Street Profits were walking backstage and ran into Michin and B-Fab. The women told the Profits that they look banged up, but they still look good. Montez Ford said something brief and the Profits continued their walk to the ring.

– A Becky Lynch vignette aired.

The Street Profits segment

Ford and Dawkins walked out with various parts of their body taped up, selling the impact of the TLC match a couple weeks ago. Ford said the Profits have been the talk of the town and they put on the greatest TLC match of all time a couple weeks ago. Ford said, “That’s right, the guerrilla fears us.” Ford said what happened is what will always happen, and it’s that the Street Profits will come out on top. Fraxiom’s music hit and they walked out with microphones. Nathan Frazer said it feels good to be on Friday Night SmackDown.

Frazer said the Profits could be the best tag team in the game right now. Fraxiom stepped into the ring and said Frazer Shawn Michales told them to take any opportunity they get. Axiom spoke up and said the tag titles would look great on Fraxiom. Dawkins said Fraxiom has one only two matches and he was wonder if they really think they deserve a title shot. Ford yelled about Fraxiom wanting a title shot. Aldis walked out, so you know what that means: Aldis booked a match between Fraxiom and the Profits right now. A referee showed up and the show went to a commercial break.

The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) vs. Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer & Axiom)

The match was joined in progress and Frazer had the upper hand, working over Dawkins. The action spilled outside and Dawkins ran Frazer into the corner of the commentary table. Axiom checked on Frazer and rolled Frazer back into the ring to beat the count. Ford tagged in and hit a splash on Frazer while selling rib pain. Ford kicked the back of Frazer and tagged in Dawkins, who landed a splash on Frazer for a two-count. Dawkins hit his spinning splash on Frazer in a corner for a two-count. Eventualy, Frazer fired up and kicked Dawkins before tagging Axiom into the match. Fraxiom executed an array of their quick moves, complete with dives to the outside. Frazer and Axiom fired up the crowd and the show went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Frazer and Dawkins were both down in the middle of the ring. Axiom and Ford tagged in and Ford landed a bunch of clotheslines on Axiom. Ford hit a back suplex and continued to sell rib pain before launching into a standing moonsault for a two-count. Axiom kicked Ford and Frazer tagged in. Frazer rolled up Ford quickly, but then ran into a kick to the head from Ford. Ford was perched on the top rope and Frazer went to the top with him. Dawkins tagged himself in and put Frazer on his shoulders. From there, they hit the super-duper Blockbuster on Frazer, but Axiom broke up the pin attempt.

“This is awesome!” chants broke out. Ford went to the top, but jumped into a kick from Axiom. Dawkins then kicked Axiom. The match broke down and Frazer ran into a punch from Dawkins. With Dawkins on the top rope, Axiom hit a Spanish Fly and Frazer followed it up with a Phoenix Splash. At the very last tenth of a second, Ford broke up the pin attempt while attacking Axiom and all four men were down to reset the match.

Dawkins ran into a Golden Ratio from Axiom on the outside of the ring. Ford, meanwhile, went to the top rope inside the ring and missed a frog splash. Fraxiom connected with the Catapulta Infernal and that was enough to get them the win with Axiom pinning Ford.

Match result: Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer & Axiom) defeated The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) in a non-title match (13:25 of TV time)

After the match, the teams shook hands inside the ring and they all raised their arms together.

Fantastic stuff all around. I’m even sort of annoyed that I missed the first few minutes because the match started during a commercial break. The Profits told a great story, selling the pain from their TLC match a couple weeks ago and giving them an out for losing to the main roster rookies. Speaking of those main roster rookies, I can’t recall a better tag team debut run for a team in recent WWE memory. Motor City Machine Guns made a splash by winning the tag titles on their debut night, but the live crowds never seemed to buy into them. Fraxiom, however, seem to connect with the live crowds and their flashy, quick, aggressive offense is striking a chord. Run this back on a PLE with five more minutes and a title change and I’ll bet you 5,000 MJF Coins that it’s one of the best WWE matches of 2025.

**********

– Tiffy was looking for people backstage and ran into Jax and Tiffy said she’d save a spot at the loser’s table for Jax and it will be right next to Charlotte Flair.

– A video package on Gunther vs. Pat McAfee aired.

– The Miz was talking to Melo backstage and told him it’s all about him and showing everyone that Melo is the 10th Wonder Of The World. Miz said Melo will run the plays exactly as Miz designed them. Miz kept asking Melo, “Who’s Him?” Melo responded in kind. Miz yelled a lot. Miz and Melo made their entrance for the next match.

Carmelo Hayes vs. Aleister Black

The bell rang and the two stood in their respective corners. About 20 seconds into it, they locked up and traded hold attempts. Melo went for a springboard splash, but Black moved and the two stared at each other for a few seconds. Black kicked Melo and Melo wound up on the outside. Black followed up with a moonsault onto the floor. Black returned to the ring to break the count and ran at Melo, but missed and found himself hung up on the crowd barrier. Melo then dropkicked Black over the barrier and posed as the show went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Black kicked Melo right in the face. Black followed up with a leaping knee, which took Melo down. The two were out on the canvas and the match reset. Back on their feet, the two traded blows. Black eventually got the best of it and hit a springboard moonsault from the second rope for a two-count. The two traded a handful of moves until Black slowed it back down with a Brainbuster. Miz hopped up on the apron and Black went over to him. Melo ran at Black, but Black moved and Melo hit Miz. Black then rolled up Melo for the win. After the match, Black hit Black Mass on Miz and sat in the entranceway.

Match result: Aleister Black defeated Carmelo Hayes (9:14)

This was as good as expected, but if we’re being honest, I was secretly hoping it would be better than expected. Between the finish and the post-match, it’s hard to think Miz, Melo and Black are now moving on from all this, so maybe we’ll soon get a 15-minute TV classic in the vein of the work Melo did with Andrade last year. Melo was great in selling the viciousness of Black’s strikes and Black was much smoother than he was last week against Miz. I like this slight shift in attitude for the Black character. Like he said in the vignette earlier, he’s not all smoke and mirrors and he’s not just a guy who speaks in riddles anymore. He feels like a real fighter now more than ever before. It’s subtle, but it’s needed.

**********

– Sikoa and Fatu were shown talking in a dark area backstage. Sikoa said they need a plan for Backlash and Fatu flipped out. He ended by calming down and saying he’s all gas and no breaks. He asked Sikoa if he knew what he meant and Sikoa said he did. Fatu walked away.

– Fraxiom ran into MCMG backstage and MCMG said it will eventually be Fraxiom vs. MCMG, but wouldn’t you know it – #DIY showed up and attacked both teams. Ciampa and Gargano focused more on Fraxiom and lectured them before storming off into the ether.

Rey Fenix & Andrade vs. Los Garza (Berto & Angel)

Fenix started the match and Los Garza put the boots to him. Berto became the legal man went to work on Fenix, complete with a dropkick for a two-count. Berto lifted Fenix, but Fenix knee’d his way out of it and tagged in Andrade. Angel tagged himself in and Berto knocked Fenix and Andrade to the outside. Berto and Angel went to the top and hit dueling moonsaults on Andrade and Fenix on the ringside floor. The show then went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Berto was working Andrade in the ring. Andrade eventually ducked a couple kicks and hit a Poison-Rana. Both guys were down and Andrade got the hot tag to Fenix. Angel tagged in as well and Fenix took care of both heels as Escobar looked annoyed. Angel lifted Fenix and kicked him in the chest. Things broke down and all four wrestlers executed moves on each other and all four were down in the middle of the ring. “This is awesome!” chants began. Angel and Fenix traded chops on their knees. Angel had Fenix in a corner and Berto tagged in to hit a moonsault on Fenix before Andrade broke up the pin attempt.

With Berto in a corner, Fenix hit a spinning animal kick. Escobar hopped onto the apron and distracted the ref as Berto had Fenix pinned. Fenix kicked out eventually and we were back to having all four wrestlers involved in the action. Andrade hit a back spinning elbow on Angel while Fenix landed the Adios Amigo on Berto. Fenix landed a splash on Angel outside the ring as Andrade hit The Message on Berto for the win.

Match result: Andrade & Rey Fenix defeated Los Garza (Angel & Berto) (10:23)

After the match, Escobar entered the ring and scolded Berto, who slapped Escobar’s hand away from his chest. Berto left the ring and Angel looked confused. Berto stormed off to the back and Angel remained in the ring with Escobar.

It’s about time to split up Legado Del Fantasma, don’t we think? Elektra Lopez is out of the company. Los Garza keeps having solid tag team matches, but the faction is as cold as anything else on the show (which, to be fair, is a lot these days when it comes to SmackDown). Escobar, Berto and Angel are all very talented, but outside of these throwaway tag team matches that Berto and Angel are almost guaranteed to lose, they don’t have a lot behind them. As for this match, the four wrestlers delivered well enough, even if it was a bit odd to see Fenix team with someone not named Penta. Everybody worked hard, though, and there are many worse ways to fill 10-and-a-half-minutes on a show like this.

**********

– The commentary team ran down the card for Saturday’s Backlash show.

The John Cena segment

Cena made his entrance to a mixed response. The “Let’s go Cena/Cena sucks!” chants were loud. Cena called in Ring Announcer Nash to do the introduction bit he’s been doing. Someone threw a Michelob Ultra bottle into the ring and Cena actually picked it up while stopping Nash from speaking. Cena threw the bottle out of the ring and told Nash to keep going. Nash completed his introduction and the crowd cheered as much as they booed. Cena snarled.

Cena said, “Tomorrow, your childhood dies.” He added that the reason they are reduced to throwing empty bottles of beer is because they know how important Backlash is. Cena noted how Randy Orton wasn’t there and Orton was smart for not being there. Cena said Orton is preparing for the biggest moment of his career. Cena said he first wrestled Orton 25 years ago and since then, they have shared almost 100 appearances together. Cena said they are the two names that define what it is to have “Ruthless Aggression.” Cena said if you are of a certain age, you either cheer Cena or Orton and the crowd cheered loudly for Cena.

Cena said at Backlash, it will be Cena vs. Orton for the final time. He reiterated that everyone’s childhood will die at Backlash. Cena said he will prove three things – life isn’t fair, winners write the history books and Randy Orton is a liar. Cena said the person Orton has been lying the most to has been himself. Cena brought up the Hustle, Loyalty and Respect stuff. Cena said Orton has used his stardom and connections to keep him from doing hard work. Cena said Orton is the GOAT of wasting his potential. Cena said Cena is the GOAT because “I am hustle.”

Cena called out Orton for cashing a check and called Orton lazy in clever way that included being a piece of furniture. Cena said Orton is over-celebrated and over-paid. Cena said Orton is the GOAT at doing the bare minimum. Cena said Cena is the GOAT because “I am loyalty.” Cena mocked Orton for reminding everyone that he’s a third-generation superstar. Cena said the only thing Orton has ever done in life is ride Cena’s coattails. Cena said at Backlash, Orton will kill the legend of Randy Orton. Cena said Orton will be “just like his 2006 drug test – a failure.” Cena said Orton is the GOAT at making a mockery of what a WWE superstar shoudl be. Cena said Cena is the GOAT because “I am respect.”

Cena said Saturday is a historic moment for WWE and he held up his belt saying he is what the last world champion looks like. Someone in a Randy Orton hoodie ran into the ring, but Cena gave him an AA. The Real Randy Orton then appeared and RKO’d Cena. Cena stood tall as the crowd cheered loudly for him. Orton picked up Cena’s belt and kissed it. Orton then held it high as his music played. The show ended with Orton looking to the crowd and holding up the title while standing on the second rope.

Cena felt rushed, but damn it if he didn’t memorize a ton of lines for this thing. Kudos to him for that. Turns out being a Hollywood superstar really can help certain aspects of your pro wrestling career. I wasn’t expecting much from this segment and I didn’t get much. It’s Cena ridiculing the fans, whining about everyone around him and giving his now-signature pouty face. It might have been novel when it started a couple months ago, but this is so one-note, it’s almost hard to watch. There’s no way Orton takes the strap off him at Backlash, but I’m already so over this Cena bit that I would actually be happy if they somehow decide to go with Orton in his hometown. Overall, this served as a fine-enough go-home show for Backlash, which is a below-mid PLE, so it doesn’t say much. Either way, below-mid knows below-mid. And I can attest to that.