WWE Smackdown (3/7/25)

WWE Smackdown

Wells Fargo Center

Philadelphia, PA

March 7, 2025

Commentators: Wade Barrett and Joe Tessitore

Ring Announcer: Lilian Garcia

The fallout of Elimination Chamber has now hit Smackdown. Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre cost each other the match on Saturday, Randy Orton made his return after months out of action and the John Cena heel turns means a Cody Rhodes rebuttal. We begin with a graphic that LA Knight will meet Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE United States Championship as well as Braun Strowman going one on one with Solo Sikoa. Solo arrives with Tama Tonga and Jacob Fatu. Drew McIntyre arrives....and attacks Damian Priest. He says "What did you think was gonna happen?" McIntyre walks off and Priest is laid out. That's one way to start the show.

We hit ringside to introduce Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett. We get the same Elimination Chamber highlight package from Raw including the hilarious fan reactions. Here comes Randy Orton for a conference who hadn't been seen on Smackdown in a while. He says a lot of crazy stuff has happened since he's been gone. He says since he started, John Cena has always been on the top of the mountain and now he's The Rock's bottom. He says that gives a whole new meaning to the term "rock bottom". Orton says Cena has been one of his only friends in the business and Kevin Owens was another. He says both him and Owens have done vile things and crossed the line to get the job done. He respects Owens the wrestler because of how he fought and clawed to get to WWE. Its Kevin Owens the man he has a problem is and "never underestimate a jealous man's ability to destroy another man." Orton says Owens was jealous of Cody Rhodes not because he chose Roman as a tag partner, but because he wanted Cody's title. He brings up Owens wanting to destroy Sami not because he stayed neutral in the ladder match, but he was jealous that Sami became a bigger star than him. Randy asks what Owens had to be jealous about since he main evented Wrestlemania twice, including against Steve Austin. A year and a half ago doctors told him he'd never wrestle again and Owens pissed him off. Orton says when he rKo'd Owens normally he would have been satisfied but he felt the "old" voices in his head tell him to punt Owens so his family wouldn't recognize him. Orton promises Owens that Pat McAfee is only the second greatest punter in WWE. Great story here that Orton has to dig down deep for the venom in order to counter this sadistic side of Owens.

Nick Aldis is with WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton when US Champion Chelsea Green and Piper Niven walk in. Chelsea complains that Tiffany ruined her Canadian homecoming last week and says she knows her rights. Tiffany says she has the right to remain silent and to shut up. Piper takes exception of it and Tiffany says let's go one on one. Chelsea says she can't because Piper's her "secret service" but Aldis says he runs the show, not her. Aldis says it's gonna be Tiffany vs Piper later....and here we go. During the commercial break preceding the match, Cody Rhodes will be here tonight to speak about the beat down at Elimination Chamber. 

Match 1

Piper Niven vs WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton

Title isn't on the line, Tiffany just wants to do the world a favor by shutting up Chelsea by taking out her bodyguard first. Barrett "Piper is the equal of anyone in the division, including Stratton." They tie up to start and Niven backs her into the corner. They shove each other and Piper laughs before throwing her down out of a headlock. Tiffany goes up and over, backflips over Piper and locks in a headlock. Niven drops her with a shoulder block but misses the running senton. Tiffany hits the basement dropkick and a springboard hilo, covering for 1...2...no. Piper catches her mid-air and dumps her over the top rope to the floor. Piper hits a cannonball off the apron as we go to break. Back from commercial, Tiffany rallies with clotheslines and a shoulderblock. Tiffany hits another springboard back elbow in the corner and another basement dropkick. She covers for 1...2...no. Tiffany  gets backed into the corner with shoulderblocks by Niven. Piper misses a charge in the corner and Tiffany pulls her down by the hair. Tiffany hits a swanton bomb and covers for 1...2..no. Tiffany runs into a Bossman Slam and Piper covers for 1...2...no. Niven goes for the Vader Bomb but misses and Tiffany hits the Prettiest Moonsault Ever, covering for 1...2....3 to win the match. Joe Tessitore "It...IS TIFFY...TIME. Serviceable match to try to make Tiffany look good ahead of her showdown with Charlotte Flair.

Time of match: 7:43

Winner: Stratton by pinfall

No time to celebrate because here's Charlotte Flair for the beat down. Flair clips Tiffany's left leg and hits the figure eight to a chorus of boos. Charlotte as a heel makes sense and Tiffany looks like she has no chance.

We cut to Nick Aldis with a chart of current events surrounding the WWE Tag Team Championship. He has an actual chart to tell us what's going on. Its the "madness" for March...haha. The Motor City Machine Guns made their debut and defeated DIY for the tag straps in November, the Street Profitz had their shot but Tommaso Ciampa interfered to cost them the match. It was supposed to be a rematch but someone took out the Profitz allowing DIY to take their place against the Guns. DIY turned heel and won back the titles in the match. The Profitz were waiting for DIY but Pretty Deadly showed up and said it was Legada Fantasma that attacked them. Profitz then attacked Los Garza only to find out they didn't do it. DIY told Pretty Deadly to claim it was Los Garza because Kit and Elton wanted a title shot. When DIY laughed at them, Kit and Elton said their title shot was coming. At the Royal Rumble, DIY won the 2 out of 3 falls match after the Profitz interfered to make sure DIY kept the belts so they themselves could take it from then. Aldis says The Motor City Machine Guns will take on Los Garza and Pretty Deadly in a triple threat tag team match to determine the number one contenders while the Street Profitz get the title shot next week against DIY. Wouldn't that mean the winners of the next match are the number 2 contenders? Aldis concludes this by saying "Its simple." We cut back to Wade Barrett who says "There was nothing simple about that. While Nick Aldis is making our brains hurt with trigonometry, let me sum it up for you. Smackdown's tag division is a chaotic mess and tonight we're going to restore some order." 

Match 2

Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley) vs Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince and Kit Wilson) vs Los Garza (Angel Garza and Humberto Carillo)

Kit Wilson starts with Chris Sabin....until Angel Garza tags himself in and tells Sabin to get lost. Garza eat a dropkick to the outside but Garza hits one of his own. Garza rips his pants off but Shelley tags himself in. Carillo tags himself in as well but apier six brawl develops as everyone beats on each other. Pretty Deadly sends the Guns outside, but Los Garza drops Pretty Deadly off the apron with double superkicks. Angel and Berto hit moonsaults on the other four guys before Berto throws Shelley inside. Berto kicks him in the back and taunts the irate crowd. Berto scoop slams Alex and hits a standing moonsault for 1...2...no. Angel tags in as Carillo drags Shelley to the apron where Garza kicks him off. Garza does jumping jacks on the apron to taunt Pretty Deadly then chops Shelley outside. Back inside Prince tags himself in and punches away at Shelley. Kit tags in but Shelley fights his way out of the corner. Prince hits a European uppercut and goes to tag....then realizes he already tagged (haha). Kit goes up top and they hit the Steiner Bulldog. Kit covers for 1....2...no, the others break it up. Wilson hits a European uppercut and sends Shelley shoulder first into the buckle. Wilson hits two running elbow smashes in the corner and Prince tags back in. Shelley hits a double DDT and gets the hot tag to Sabin. He cleans house and hits a top rope frankensteiner on Carillo. He then hits a top rope tornado DDT and covers for 1....2...no. Kit blind tags in as it breaks down with everyone spamming finishers to clear out. Sabin suicide dives onto Prince, Carillo and Garza. Prince is thrown back in and they call for Skull & Bones. Wilson shoves Shelley off the top and Prince hits a backslide on Sabin for 1...2....3 to win the match. Wow! After the last two months, Pretty Deadly gets the future title shot? Pretty Deadly head for the hills as an excited Barrett declares them the winners.

Time of match: 7:06

Winners: Pretty Deadly by pinfall

Tessitore and Barrett bring us back to Elimination Chamber when Jade Cargill returned to attack Naomi. After commercial we're shown the Philadelphia Sixers in the crowd, poor bastards. Bianca Belair hits the ring for a conference and we're shown her being involved in the World Women's Championship match on Raw that resulted in Iyo Sky winning the championship. Bianca says she should feel on top of the world after winning Elimination Chamber and going to Wrestlemania but she can't focus because her friends are fighting. She says Jade and her elevated the tag division and Naomi stepped in so the hard work didn't go to waste. Bianca says Naomi became her best friend and she can't believe she did it, so she wants answer. Naomi and Jade aren't texting her so she wants answers right now from Naomi. Naomi comes out in a glitter neckbrace and Bianca what in the hell is going on. Naomi says this isn't what it looks like and to lock in with her. Naomi says she stepped up when Jade was out and Bianca stops her. She asks flat out if she attacked Jade and Naomi says the outside noise is distraction from getting their tag belts back from Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez. Bianca says stop talking about anything else but Jade. Naomi mocks saying "Jade" and says her true feelings is Jade has piggybacked off Bianca the entire time. Naomi has been forced to watch Jade succeed off Bianca's hard work while she had to push forward by herself. Naomi starts breaking into tears as she says she didn't say a word because she wanted them to get her flowers. She says she doesn't give a damn about Jade and Bianca starts shouting at her to stop. Bianca breaks down herself and wants to know "Yes or no" or she's walking out for good. Naomi says "I did it." Bianca shakes her head as Naomi pulls a line from her father-in-law by saying she did it for Bianca. Bianca says this hurts because she loved Naomi and she can't look at her anymore. Bianca says they're done and walks out. Naomi shouts to come back before saying THEY turned on her, calling Bianca an ungrateful bitch. Bianca turns around slowly but Jade Cargill arrives in a van. Jade storms out of the van and walks up to Bianca. Bianca nods as if to say "Do what you gotta do." Barrett says Naomi better get her running shoes on. Jade chases Naomi but catches her on the barricade. Cargill throws her across the announce table and into the ring post. She throws Naomi in the ring and hits Jaded on her. Jade stands tall over Naomi and I still say they used the wrong woman for the heel turn. Bianca as a heel would have been monumental and Bianca/Jade would be epic. Guess they want to told that off for a while. Byron Saxton catches up to Drew McIntyre who blames Damian Priest for Wrestlemania last year, Elimination Chamber and everything else. He says he's going to take it out on the "black sheep" of the Bloodline. Braun Strowman makes his entrance for the next match as we go to break. Back from break, we get a vignette of Lex Luger doing DDP Yoga with DDP himself when Cody Rhodes walks in to announce Lex is going into the WWE Hall of Fame. Well deserved and long overdue. Now Byron Saxton is with Charlotte Flair and Charlotte says Tiffany didn't listen to her. Charlotte says the division has gone soft and no one's on her level. B-Fab walks in to take exception of being called soft. Charlotte says no one compares to her but B-Fab says no one is bowing to her and Charlotte says everyone does it eventually. Charlotte challenges her to a match next week in Barcelona....good idea. Charlotte needs someone to run over to show she means business heading into Wrestlemania.

Match 3

Braun Strowman vs Solo Sikoa

Solo walks out by himself but you know his boys will show eventually. This stems from Solo costing Strowman the Elimination Chamber match and Carmelo Hayes pulling an Eddie Guerrero last week. Bell's gone and a shoulderblock goes nowhere to start. Strowman finally drops Solo with a shoulderblock and sends Solo over the top rope. Braun runs the pain train but Solo throws him into the ring steps. He hits the running ass bump to Strowman against the barricade as we go to break. Back from commercial Solo hits a Samoan Drop on the 380 pound Strowman. Solo hits the running hip in the corner and poses for the irate crowd. Solo runs into a big boot and a crossbody by Strowman. Strowman hits a forearm to the chest and hits the pain train on the floor. Back inside Strowman avalanches Solo but gets sent into the buckle twice. Solo hits two kicks and calls for the Samoan Spike. Instead he runs into the powerslam and Braun covers for 1....2...nooo. Tama Tonga runs in for the DQ and gets clotheslined for his trouble. Garbage match but we're not done yet.

Time of match: 6:56

Winner: Strowman by DQ

After Strowman sends Tonga flying, here comes Jacob Fatu for the stare down. They get in the ring forn the brawl and Strowman walks into two superkicks. Strowman falls to the floor and Fatu goes for the suicide dive. Strowman catches him and slams him off the announce desk. Fatu gets up and runs across the desk to drop Strowman with a shoulderblock. Fatu sends Strowman over the barricade and jumps on him. Fatu superkicks Strowman onto the ring crates. He goes for the samoan drop off the crates but instead Strowman chokeslams Jacob through tables set up below. Strowman poses for the crowd as the refs and Suit Brigade hold back Fatu from further punishment. Tessitore and Barrett wonder how Fatu got up from that so easily and its funny how Fatu became the silent assassin that Solo was just 2 1/2 years ago.

We cut to Byron Saxton outside the Philadelphia Flyers locker room who's with LA Knight. Knight wants to talk to ya. He says One Moment, One Time in Japanese because he's gonna slap Shinsuke back to factory settings. He says we're standing in the birth of the US in Philly and the rebirth of his US title reign. He's faced everything Nakamura has thrown at him and he's going to give the US better representation and everyone will pledge allegiance to the US Champion...YEAH!!

Chelsea Green is dressed like Cactus Jack and she's with a busted up Piper Niven. She tries to revive her by putting her sunglasses on sideways. Zelina Vega walks in and says she's got winner of tonight's street fight. Chelsea punches Piper in the stomach to say this is the last thing she needs. She grabs Chelsea by the tie and leads her to the ring. Hahahahahaha!

Match 4

Michin vs Chelsea Green (with Piper Niven) for the WWE Women's United States Championship in a Street Fight

Tessitore and Barrett laugh at Chelsea dressed as Mick Foley as she makes her entrance. Michin brings a trash can full of weapons to the ring and Green cuts her off to start. Chelease gets send into the barricade as Barrett says Michin trained at the ECW Arena. Michin waffles Chelsea with a cookie sheet and throws in a crowbar. Michin throws Hercules' old chain in the ring and heaves the garbage can in as well. Chelsea hits Michin with a chair as the bell finally rings as the crowd chants ECW. Michin hits a drop-toe hold on Chelsea on a chair as Chelsea gets backdropped on the chains. Chelsea bails and Michin bites her fingers. Tessitore "Are you kidding me?" Michin grabs a table much to the crowd's delight but Chelsea hits the backstabber, kicking the table away. Chelsea kicks Michin in the back as they go back to the ring. Chelsea ties up Michin with the chain and flings her around the ring with it. Chelsea drags Michin outside and heaves her into the barricade. Chelsea heaves Michin into the side of the ring and chokes her with the chain. Michin then uses the chain to ram Chelsea into the ring post. Michin frees herself and sprays her with a fire extinguisher. The crowd wants a table and Michin grabs it to a chorus of cheers....until Niven drops her from behind with a right hand. Piper heaves Michin back in the ring and holds her down with a trash can as Chelsea hits a Van Terminator (!!) on Michin. B-Fab hits the ring and chases Piper away with a singapore cane. Michin canes Chelsea Green a few times and dropkicks her into the corner. Michin sets the garbage can against Chelsea, twerks (Keith Lee approves) and hits the cannonball in the corner. She covers for 1...2...no. Michin sets up a pile of chairs but gets the table from the outside. The crowd chants ECW but Chelsea bulldogs Miachin into the bottom of the table. Chelsea sets the table up in the corner and goes for the Dreamer Driver, but Michin blocks it with Eat The Feet. Michin heads to the top rope and hits the senton off the top rope through the table. She covers for 1....2....noooo, someone in a hood pulls her out. Who the hell could this be? ITS ALBA FYRE! She hits a Canadian Destroyer on Michin on the pile of chairs, then rolls Chelsea on top of her for 1....2....3 to win the match. Alba takes her jacket off to reveal a business suit, THERE'S your next secret service agent for Chelsea. Alba helps her up as she retains in a great, fun match. Chelsea dressing up in different outfits every week is hilarious.

Time of match: 10:03

Winner: Chelsea Green by pinfall (still US Champion)

Santos Escobar gives Los Garza a tongue lashing for losing the match. Escobar is PISSED they lost to Pretty Deadly and I don't blame him. Escobar DEMANDS they win their next match and Garza walks off with Escobar. Andrade walks up to Berto and says he can be a breakout star if he goes with him. With Elektra gone, a breakup of Legada Fantasma seems imminent. Back from commercial, TKO is partnering with Saudi Arabia for future boxing fights, ah lovely.

After another Elimination Chamber highlight, here comes Cody Rhodes for his long awaited speech regarding the John Cena heel turn. Cody is still showing the shiner that Travis Scott gave him for real on Saturday. Cody sets the belt down and grabs a mic for his soliloquy. The crowd chants "Cena sucks" like its 2015 and Cody says "So, Philadelphia....city of champions....what...do you wanna talk about?" Cody goes on about how he has to face his four year old daughter asking what happened to his face. He says he had to tell a Cody lie and say he ran into a wall. He says it was a wall designed by the final boss The Rock, his associate Travis Scott and his Wrestlemania 41 opponent John Cena. He says he drove Cena around for two years and sponge his knowledge because he was a hero. So one day he'll tell his daughter that a great man, that did great things and never used to give up....gave up. Rhodes apologizes for his language and wants to know why Cena did this. Rhodes says it will be an epic speech from Cena but there is no justification for his actions. He's well aware he's talking to the whole world but for those in Philly tonight, he's going to tell a story. He says Dusty Rhodes was afraid of working in Philly and needed the Road Warriors to help him feel cool. Then Philly cheered Cody at MITB and helped him finish his story last year. He says Cena pointed at the WWE title and said "it gets heavier every day." Cody picks the belt up and says its not heavy enough. Rhodes says Cena is not the last of his kind as Cody is still here and if Cena wants some, COME GET SOME! Cody is definitely ready for Wrestlemania.

We cut to The Miz and Carmelo Hayes with Nick Aldis. Miz wants an interview with Cody on Melo Don't MizTV. Melo didn't agree to that but he wonders why Cody turned down The Rock's offer. Carmelo says Randy Orton's been on his couch playing Fortnite for four months and naturally Randy walks up behind saying Fortnite is for kids, he's been playing Elden Ring. Aldis says Randy's got a match next week with Carmelo Hayes in Barcelona. Melo shakes his head but Orton says he's on the one yard line, don't fumble. Back in the day the European tour would start after Wrestlemania in March but now that its in the middle of April, the tour comes first. On to the next match.

Match 5

Jimmy Uso vs Drew McIntyre

This has all the makings of a squash since Jimmy is just kind of there right now and Drew desperately needs a win. Jimmy doesn't wait, he punches Drew right at the start. Jimmy chops drew and throws him over the top rope. Jimmy's suicide dive is blocked by a right hand from McIntyre. Drew chops Jimmy in the corner and kicks him in the stomach. Drew chops Jimmy's chest as the crowd chants CM Punk. Outside Jimmy slams Drew's head into the announce table and hits a superkick. Jimmy tackles Drew over the announce table as we go to commercial. Back from break Jimmy chops Drew and kicks him in the ribs. Jimmy hits an enziguiri and a samoan drop. He covers for 1...2..no. Jimmy hits the ass bump in the corner on Drew and goes up top. Drew stops him but Jimmy stops the superplex attempt by shoving him off. Jimmy hits a superkick and covers for 1..2...no. Jimmy goes up to the top rope but misses the splash. Drew hits the Claymore Kick and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. As expected, Drew needed a big win for some heat back and Jimmy was the sacrificial lamb.

Time of match: 7:16

Winner: McIntyre by pinfall

After the match, Drew goes to jump Uso but here comes Damian Priest for the beat down. Priest punches him down and has to be restrained by the Suit Bridgade and referees. Priest breaks free long enough to superkick him in the head. This is definitely going to be settled at Wrestlemania.

We cut to Shinsuke Nakamura's Japanese promo. He says "There is no better location for the death of your dreams than the birth place of the United States." He says Knight will beg for mercy and will find none tonight.

Back from break, we get a promo for Street Profitz vs DIY for the WWE Tag Team Championships next week in Barcelona. Now they have to worry about Pretty Deadly as well. Profitz still want the smoke though. Byron Saxton is with DIY and they say they're the best and other tag teams can fight each other, but they're number one. Ciampa says the Profitz are big, bad and hoping to win, but Gargano says their dream is dead because DIY is too good. Ciampa and Gargano hold a moment of silence for the Profitz chances of winning. Saxton angers Gargano by talking almost immediately and Barrett tells Tessitore to be silent. Ha! We get a graphic for Barcelona next week, Profitz vs DIY, B-Fab vs Charlotte Flair, Carmelo Hayes vs Randy Orton and MizTV with Cody Rhodes. On to our main event...as Wade Barrett screams YEAHHH.

Match 6

LA Knight vs Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE United States Championship

Shinsuke takes forever to take his mask off during the intro and attacks at the bell. Knight runs into a knee to the ribs but Knight rallies with right hands. Nakamura bails to the outside but Knight gets caught on the apron with a running knee. Nakamura kicks Knight in the back and hits a sliding german suplex off the second rope. A charge in the corner eats boot and Knight hits a second rope bulldog. Knight clotheslines Nakamura over the top of the floor and baseball slides him. Knight hops up on the barricade and clotheslines Nakamura down. Back inside Knight goes to the second rope but Shinsuke pulls him off. Shinsuke hits a knee to the ribs and kicks Knight in the chest outside. Knight rams Shinsuke's head into the announce table a bunch of times and is dropped throat first on it. Knight screams YEAAHHH but is thrown into the ring steps. After breaking the count, Nakamura sends Knight back inside. Nakamura kicks Knight in the ribs and face then Shinsuke drops a knee to the face. He covers for 1...2...no. Shinsuke knees Knight in the ribs and kicks him in the side of the leg. They play "yay boo" with punches and Knight clotheslines him down. He hits a jumping neckbreaker and hits a powerslam. Knight does the Yeah Elbow and covers for 1...2..no. Knight goes for the superplex but Nakamura blocks it. Knight goes for a frankensteiner but Nakamura goes for the back superplex. He hits it and covers for 1...2...no. Nakamura knees Knight in the ribs and calls for the Kinshasha, but Knight counters with a clothesline. Nakamura still goes up to the top but Knight pounces to the top rope and hits the superplex. He hits the flying elbow drop and calls for the BFT. Nakamura bails and grabs a chair, but Knight takes it away. He goes to use it but stops himself, knowing he can't win that way. Nakamura kicks him away and brings the chair into the ring. Referee Charles Robinson grabs it and Knight charges only for Nakamura to move out of the way. Knight stops himself and Shinsuke loads up the mist. Knight ducks and Robinson gets sprayed with it. Knight rolls up Nakamura but Robinson can't count. Tessitore complains about it as Nakamura hits Scorpio Rising. He grabs the chair but it gets kicked in his face. Knight hits BFT and covers...but there's no ref. Another one runs in for 1......2....3 to win the match and title. We hit the credits with Knight as the new US Champion. Damn good match but peculiar to have Nakamura drop it back to Knight here instead of Wrestlemania. Oh well, the fans go home happy.

Time of match: 11:10

Winner: Knight by pinfall (New US Champion)

This kind of felt like the same format as Raw. Big speech (Punk/Cody), shocking title win (Iyo/Knight) and good tag team action. We got a month and change to Wrestlemania and taking titles off two of your champions seems rather odd. Nakamura vs Knight at Wrestlemania makes sense as well as Bianca vs Ripley....but we ain't getting one of the two for sure, if not both. Still, we got a whole month to build some stuff that's not already set in stone. Still, Jade getting her hands on Naomi again this soon after Elimination Chamber seems pointless if you want to drag something out another month. We got a new US Champion and matches set for Barcelona, not much more you can ask for. The next show after this will be Monday night in Madison Square Garden for Raw. I'll see you there.

WWE Smackdown (1/10/25)

WWE Smackdown

Moda Center

Portland, Oregon

January 10, 2025

Commentators: Joe Tessitore & Wade Barrett

Ring Announcer: Lilian Garcia

We're officially on the road to the Royal Rumble after the mixed bag that was the Netflix Raw debut. After spending half the show ass-kissing, hopefully Smackdown will be back to normal. We got a US title match tonight as Shinsuke Nakamura takes on LA Knight....YEAHHH. Roman Reigns defeated Solo Sikoa in Tribal Combat so it'll be interesting to see how the "new Bloodline" fares now that Solo has lost. Let's get to the show.

Joe Tessitore welcomes us to Smackdown as he brings up Rhea Ripley's victory over Liv Morgan on Raw for the World Women's Championship. Tessitore and Barrett gives an old school style intro in front of the desk with microphones ala Vince McMahon and Randy Savage from 32 years earlier since this is the 32nd anniversary of the first Raw. WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton is here, US Champion Shinsuke Nakamura is here with a cool looking hat as well as Paul Heyman. We then get an unnecessarily long recap of Raw from Monday before finally cutting to Paul in the ring.

Heyman introduces himself and says he's been waiting to address the island of relevancy. Paul says there's only officially one REIGNING, DEFENDING TRIBAL CHIEF and that's Roman Reigns. The crowd chants OTC and Paul says he has news from Roman he wants to share with the fans and WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. Here comes Cody Rhodes to hear the news and they shake hands in the ring. Heyman says Cody deserves respect from everyone for being the champion and Roman has asked him to say this to his face. Heyman says Roman Reigns has got the Ola Fala back and now he wants the WWE Championship back. Heyman says Roman is going to win the Royal Rumble and fight Cody at Wrestlemania. Heyman says "Respectfully, what do you want to talk about?" Cody grabs the mic but before he can say anything, Kevin Owens from the Uecker seats says he's got something to say. He wants to know why Cody would shake hands with The Rock. Owens says now he's shaking hands with Heyman knowing Reigns wants his title back. Owens says he did it to himself because he should have left Roman to rot but now Roman is back in power. Cody has enough and makes a mad dash toward Kevin and catches him on the stairs.

As they brawl, suddenly Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga have Paul Heyman cornered, ruh roh! Heyman begs off but here comes Jimmy Uso for the save. Jimmy superkicks Jacob twice and Tama once. Jimmy does Umaga bumps to both of them to clear the ring. Jimmy shakes hands with Paul and grabs a chair. He wails on Jacob and Tama but Jacob doesn't seem fazed. Jacob drops Jimmy with a running back elbow and its a double team. Jacob and Tama put a chair on Jimmy's head as a referee gets in the ring, only for Jacob to superkick him down. Jacob and Tama choke Jimmy with their boots but here comes Cody Rhodes back down the stairs. Kenny Dykstra of the Suit Brigade gets superkicked as well. Cody gets in and throws Tama over the top rope. Jacob wants some but he runs into a series of right hands. Cody clotheslines Fatu over the top and out as Tama pulls Jacob back. Wade Barrett says Solo Sikoa is nowhere to be found but crisis has been averted as we go to break.

Back from commercial Nick Aldis and the security team are trying to get rid of Tama and Jacob. Jacob throws all the security members down except one. He tells the last man standing he better think about his life right now when suddenly LA Knight bumrushes Jacob. Knight throws him out of the building and says to Aldis "I put his ass outside, now I got a title to win...yeahhhh". Aldis smiles as we cut to Michin in the ring. Piper Niven is wearing one of the finest sequined suits you'll ever see in Chelsea Green's intro. On to the match.

Match 1

Michin vs Chelsea Green (with Piper Niven) for the WWE Women's United States Championship

Bell rings and Michin goes for Eat Defeat right off the bat which causes Chelsea to look for a place to hide early. Chelsea goes for a big boot but misses, running into a series of strikes. Michin hits a sidekick and a dropkick, covering for 1...2..no. Tessitore says Michin has never held singles gold as she does the tarantula to Chelsea in the corner. Michin goes up to the top but misses a splash. Chelsea throws Michin outside as we get a graphic of Pretty Deadly vs Los Garza of Legada Fantasma up later. Chelsea throws Michin into the barrier and poses with Piper, sliding inside. Michin back inside gets forearmed in the back as we go to break. Back from commercial Michin fights out of a chinlock only for Chelsea to re-apply it. Michin counters with a back suplex and an elbow to the side of the head. Chelsea's charge in the corner eats boot and Michin hits two consecutive standing hurracaranas. Michin hits the dropkick into the corner before twerking much to Wade Barrett's delight. She hits the Long Back Attack in the corner and covers for 1...2...no. Michin walks right into Downward Spiral with Chelsea covering for 1..2...no. Chelsea screams in frustration before going to the top rope. Chelsea misses the missile dropkick and Michin responds with kicks to the head. Michin goes for the top rope but narrowly avoids Piper Niven trying to trip her up. She kicks Niven in the face and cannonballs on her. Michin goes to the top rope but Chelsea rolls through a crossbody, hooking the tights for 1...2...3 to win the match. Tessitore "and THAT is how she retains it". Good match and Michin plays the perfect opposition for Chelsea. Green is gaining steam as the US Champ for sure.

Time of match: 8:43

Winner: Michin by pinfall (still US Champion)

Post match has Niven in for the beat down. Piper hits a running senton of her own as Chelsea laughs it up at the entrance way. Michin will get another shot for sure some time soon. Back to Joe and Wade who goes over the tag team situation where Pretty Deadly and Los Garza interfered in the DIY/Motor City Machine Guns match. We're shown footage of earlier today where MCMG, Pretty Deadly and Los Garza are having a pow-wow with Nick Aldis. All three teams argue with each other M*A*S*H style until A-Town Down Under walk in as well. Pretty Deadly is happy to see them but not the other two. Aldis says tonight it'll be Los Garza against Pretty Deadly and Motor City Machine Guns against A-Town Down Under. Aldis warns Waller not to interrupt him again and Waller brushes it off. On to the next match.

Match 2

Los Garza (Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo) with Santos Escobar and Elektra vs Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson and Elton Prince)

Barrett asks why Joe Tessitore doesn't disco dance but he can't answer because Los Garza attacks at the bell. Los Garza sends Pretty Deadly outside and Humberto suicide dives Wilson. Angel teases an asai moonsault but Elton prince tucks his tail and bravely flees. Carrillo throws Wilson in and sunset flips in. Both men misses kicks but Berto finally hits an enziguiri. Berto hits a standing moonsault and covers for 1...2..no. Garza tags in and Wilson begs off before lunging for a tag.....nowhere close. Garza hits the Unit Slam and covers for 1...2...no. Garza hits a knee to the face with Wilson on the apron and tags in Berto. Berto covers for a deuce and hits a springboard armdrag. He hits another enziguiri and Barrett calls Wilson a disaster class tonight. Prince from the outside blind tags and snaps Berto off the top rope to the floor. Barrett "TICK....TICK...BOOM!" We go to commercial and back from break, Prince has a chinlock on Carrillo. Carrillo caters to the crowd to power up (the defacto face in this one) out of it. Carrillo forearms Prince down but misses the enziguiri. Wilson tags in but misses a charge in the corner. Berto gets the hot tag to Garza who cleans house. He hits backbreakers on both guys then hits a corner enziguiri. A high crossbody from Angel gets 1...2....no. Garza hits a hurracarana and Wilson shouts for DIY to come save him. Nobody comes out so Garza hits a superkick on Wilson, covering for 1...2...no. Garza kicks Wilson down but Prince pulls him down by the hair. Prince tags in officially and Escobar crotches him on the top rope. Los Garza hits the FTY on Prince with Carrillo covering for 1...2...3 to win the match. Kind of weird with Los Garza as the defacto faces despite being heels but still entertaining to watch. Once Fantasma's run is over, Carrillo could be a babyface singles star someday.

Time of match: 8:55

Winners: Los Garza by pinfall

Fantasma celebrates after the match as Tessitore says we'll see new WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton later. Before we go to commercial, LA Knight makes his entrance for his US Championship match.

Match 3

LA Knight vs Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE United States Championship

The big rematch from Survivor Series where Nakamura defeated Knight for the title. We get a highlight of Knight chasing off Shinsuke last week after his match with Andrade to show why this match is taking place. Bell's gone and Knight blocks a tie up to start. Knight gets a headlock to start but a shoulderblock goes nowhere. Knight ties up Shinsuke into the corner but Shinsuke reverses it. Knight rallies with right hands and a swinging neckbreaker. Knight boots Shinsuke in the corner who bails to the apron. Barrett blows the ending to the match by casually mentioning Knight throwing Jacob Fatu out of the arena earlier. Nakmura hits a running elbow on the floor and rolls Knight in. Shinsuke kicks away at Knight and chops him. That fires LA up who rallies with strikes but Nakamura kicks him in the leg. Shinsuke sets Knight up on the top rope and hits a running knee. Shinsuke eats an apron clothesline by Knight who dumps Nakamura over the top rope to the floor. Knight baseball slides Nakamura into the announce desk and Knight rams his head into it. Knight "Yeahhhhh". LA throws Shinsuke inside and proceeds to clothesline him over the top rope to the floor. Knight goes to ram Shin into the ring post but Nakamura reverses it, sending LA crashing into it as we go to break. Back from commercial, they play "yay/boo" in the center of the ring with Knight winning with a flurry of right hands. Knight hits a powerslam and hits the LA Knight Elbow, covering for 1...2..no. Knight hits the O'Connor Roll for 1...2....no. Shinsuke kicks Knight in the back and hits the sliding german suplex then kicks Knight in the head. Nakamura goes up to the top but Knight scales the top rope and hits a superplex, covering for 1...2..no. Knight rolls Shinsuke into a Billy Goat's Curse. Nakamura makes it to the ropes and Knight blocks a Fujiwara arm-bar by stacking him up for 1...2...no. Nakamura loads up the Kinshasa but Knight rolls him up for 1...2...no. The BFT is blocked and Nakamura hits a spinning back elbow. Nakamura goes for the Kinshasha and hits it. He covers for 1...2...NOOOOO, foot on the rope. Nakamura puts Knight on the exposed second turnbuckle but Knight moves at the last second. sending Shinsuke crashing into it. Knight hits the BFT and covers for 1...2....NOOOOO, here's Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga for the beatdown DQ. Garbage finish to a great match but they want to extend Nakamura's reign a little bit longer.

Time of match: 14:08

Winner: Knight by DQ (Nakamura retains)

Tama and Jacob kick the crap out of Knight and Fatu hits the pop-up Samoan drop. Tama sets Knight up in the corner and Jacob hits the Umaga twice. Tama rolls over Knight and Fatu hits the moonsault as Tessitore calls them unleashed mad dogs. Here comes Cody Rhodes and Jimmy Uso to make the save, double superkicks stunning Jacob. Cody sends Jacob into the ring steps and Jimmy sends Jacob into the crowd. Nick Aldis and The Suit Brigade come out but Cody cuts them off. He grabs a mic and says don't send Fatu and Tama out of here again, he and Jey want some tonight. Aldis says you got it and there's our impromptu main event later. Up next after commercial, its Tiffy time.

Back from break we get a highlight of Tiffany cashing in on Nia and winning the championship....but no Tiffy in the ring, instead the Motor City Machine Guns come out for their tag match. Talk about an unnecessary segment. Anyway, on to the next match.

Match 4

Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley) vs A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory & Grayson Waller)

Barrett says Waller and Theory are re-focused and united as Tessitore is skeptical as the bell rings. Shelley starts with an arm-ringer but Waller cracks him in the mouth. Waller tags in Theory and runs over to trip Sabin off the apron. Theory roughs up Shelley and sends him sternum first into the corner. Theory rams his head against the buckle and whips him into the other corner, finishing with a clothesline. Theory taunts the irate crowd but Shelley makes the tag to Sabin. Sabin hits a bulldog and covers for a 1 count as Theory tags in Waller. Waller "Aussie Aussie Aussie" Barrett "Oy, Oy, Oy". Sabin ducks under a kick but runs into a discuss punch by Waller. Grayson covers for 1...2..no. Waller doesn't see the blind tag to Shelley as Sabin slides out of the ring and trips up Theory. Shelley from behind pulls down Waller for the double kick. A double clothesline sends Waller to the floor as Sabin is tripped up by Theory in return. Shelley knocks Austin off the apron but walks right into a flatliner by Waller, covering for 1...2..no as we go to break. Back from commercial Theory and Waller double team Shelley as Theory covers for a deuce. Theory locks in a chinlock and Shelley powers out of it but gets elbowed down. Theory taunts the crowd and tags in Waller, but Shelley breaks free. Alex superkicks Theory and Sabin gets the hot tag Sabin rallies with right hands on Waller before kicking Theory off the apron. Sabin hits a missile dropkick on Waller and a standard one. Shelley tags in for a double baseball slide and Sabin finally hits the suicide dive onto both heels. Sabin hits a missile dropkick off the top and Shelley covers Waller for 1...2..no. Shelley tags in Sabin but Theory blind tags Grayson. Waller hits a high knee on Shelley and sends Sabin out of the ring. Waller runs into a superkick by Sabin but forgets Theory, who hits an elbow on Sabin. Waller tags in for the double punch and covers Sabin for 1...2..no. Sabin hits a jawbreaker that sends Waller retreating into the corner to tag Austin. Waller is sent out but Theory goes for A-Town Down. Sabin wiggles out of it and O'Connor Rolls Theory but gets up to drop Waller. Theory goes for his own Roll but Shelley tags in. Theory cuts him off with a right hand but gets superkicked by Sabin. All four men are down until Waller until Sabin & Shelley double team him. Sabin & Shelley hits Skull & Bones on Theory and Shelley covers for 1...2..3 to win the match. Damn good effort by both guys as Smackdown's tag division is gaining steam with DIY, the Guns, Pretty Deadly and A-Town Down Under just to name a few.

Time of match: 12:06

Winner: Sabin & Shelley by pinfall

We cut to DIY watching and they call A-Town Down Under stupid. Pretty Deadly walks up and says they had a deal, what gives? Ciampa says they didn't want help and Gargano says Prince & Wilson have too much heat on them. Ciampa goes to attack them but Gargano defuses the situation by saying they'll get their shots later, just trust them. Apollo Crews walks up and says if they're dumb enough to believe DIY, they'll get what's coming to them and it won't be the tag straps. Prince & Wilson are frustrated as we cut to Nia Jax with Candace Larae. Larae says Tiffany Stratton is on her way to the ring and Nia says she should go congratulate her herself...uh oh.

Back from commercial, here comes new WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton for a conference. Tessitore says 7 months ago Tiffany joined Smackdown and she won the title 7 days ago. Barrett says since the women got a chance at Money In The Bank, Tiffany continued the streak of 100% successful cash ins. Byron Saxton in the ring congratulates Tiffany and Stratton screams "ITS TIFFY TIME!" She calls it a Tiffy turn of events and says exactly what Tessitore said, she's been here 7 months and is now better than everyone else (still heeling). Saxton says she and Nia were friends and Nia bullied her but Tiffany says she played Nia like a fiddle, calling Nia stupid. Tiffany says she stole Nia's most prized possession and now she's at the Tiffy top of her game. She asks what time it is but here comes Nia Jax herself. Nia calls her an ungrateful little bitch and she could kill her right now. Nia says she'd be nothing without her and she made Tiffy. Nia says it took her long enough but congrats for finally cashing in. Nia says its Tiffy time...but time's up. Nia wants the belt back or says she's gonna take it....but here comes Bayley. Barrett "Saved by the Bayley". Bayley tells Nia to shut the hell up and tells Tiffy she thought she was stupid. Bayley says Nia put Tiffy under her wing and she still got outsmarted. Bayley says the only reason she lost to Nia at Summerslam is Tiffany and its only fitting she gets first crack at Tiffany. But wait there's more! Here comes Naomi and Bianca Belair the women's tag champions. Tessitore "Its getting crowded out here." Naomi says she had Nia beat last week and "Tiffer" screwed her, otherwise she'd be a double champion. Naomi says she deserves the first shot. Nia says nobody cares about Naomi and Naomi doesn't take kindly to that. Nia rams her and Bianca's heads together and Bayley bumrushes Nia. Tiffany rolls out of the ring unharmed as Bayley eats a headbutt. Bianca and the other two triple team Nia but Tiffany hits Prettiest Moonsault Ever on all four of them. Tiffany walks off with the belt but here comes Nick Aldis. He says let's do this right now, he's making a fatal four way match to determine the number one contender to Tiffany. Back from commercial, its on.

Match 5

Nia Jax vs Bayley vs Bianca Belair vs Naomi in a Fatal Four Way Match

Bell rings and Nia bulls all three others until she's triple teamed. Nia throws Bayley outside and sends Naomi into Bianca. A charge eats boot and Naomi pounds on Nia's back. They try a double suplex but Nia reverses it, damn near breaking their necks. Bayley bulldogs Nia and slugs away with forearms. Nia throws Bayley down and Naomi splashes Nia. Bianca shoulderblocks her and Naomi joins in, only to be shoved off by Nia. Nia bails to the outside and the action in the ring stops. Naomi, Bayley and Bianca circle but Nia pulls Bianca out, throwing her against the barricade. Naomi and Bayley double dropkick Nia off the apron before tying up. Bayley gets in a headlock and a shoulderblock, but Naomi counters with an armdrag. Bayley gets an armdrag but is crucifixed for 1...2...no. Jacknife pin by Bayley gets 1...2..no. Naomi slides under a clothesline and twerks to distract Bayley, catching her with a majistrol cradle for 1..2...no. Bayley gets pulled outside by Nia who sends her into the barricade. Naomi headbutts Nia back inside then hits a jawbreaker. Nia powerbombs Naomi for 1...2...no, Bianca makes the save. Bianca rallies with forearms but the KOD is blocked. Bianca backflips over Nia and dropkicks her before hitting a shoulderblock. Bianca fires away on the second rope but also gets powerbombed. Nia covers for 1....2..no, Bayley hits Nia in the head with a running knee. Bayley taunts Nia and rallies with punches then executes a back suplex. Bayley covers for 1..2...no. Bayley goes up to the top rope but gets slugged for it. Nia headbutts Bayley and goes for a samoan drop, but Naomi and Bianca powerbomb them both as we go to commercial. Back from break Naomi is with Nia one on one and hits a jawbreaker. Nia hits a spinning Rock Bottom and covers for 1...2..no, Bianca and Bayley break up the cunt. Bianca and Bayley stare at each other before slugging away at Nia. They bullrush Nia out of the ring and now its Bayley and Bianca one on one. They slug it out before Bayley hits an inside cradle for 1...2...no. Bayley rolls out of the KOD but Bianca blocks the O'Connor Roll. Bayley hits one for a deuce before Nia clotheslines them both down. Naiomi hits a big elbow and a Russian leg sweep. Naomi hits the split legged moonsault on Nia and covers for 1...2...no. Bayley goes up top and hits the flying elbow on Nia, covering for 1...2..no. Bianca goes upstairs and hits the 450 splash on Nia. Bayley throws her off and all three cover Nia, referee telling them only one at a time. Candace Larae runs to ring side and Bayley spots her. Nia bails to strategize with Candace as Naomi and Bianca hit a double Russian leg sweep on Bayley. Naomi and Bianca now are alone and its go time. Bianca hits a plancha outside on Bayley but Nia catches Naomi's suicide dive, ramming her against the side of the ring. Nia's samoan drop is blocked by Bianca and Belair spears her, covering for 1...2....no, Bayley breaks it up. Bayley To Belly on Bianca connects and she covers for 1..2...no, Naomi breaks it up, Naomi hits Ass To Mouth and covers for 1...2..Nia saves it. Nia hits a samoan drop on Naomi and covers for 1...2...no, Bianca breaks it up. Nia sends Bianca into the ringpost as Naomi drops Nia down. Bayley hits a knee to Naomi but runs into Sky High. Bianca hits a backspring moonsault and covers for 1...2...noooo. Bianca goes for KOD on Bayley but Candace pulls Bianca's hair right in front of the referee. Bianca pulls it away but accidentally whips Naomi in the ribs. Nia pulls Bianca outside where Bianca punches down Candace. Bianca and Nia go crashing over the announce desk as Bayley hits the rose plant on Naomi. Bayley covers for 1...2...3 to end the match. Outstanding effort from all four women with a nice story told. Bianca and Naomi refused to get it on but Candace essentially cost Bianca (and Nia by proxy) the match. Bayley is number one contender to Tiffany Stratton so we'll see how that plays out as the weeks go on.

Time of match: 17:18

Winner: Bayley by pinfall

Cody Rhodes is in the back with Jimmy Uso. Jimmy goes to apologize for Roman but Cody cuts him off saying it was inevitable Roman would come for the title. Cody walks off and Carmelo Hayes walks up. Melo asks what's good and says he's gonna let the 3 on 1 slide last week. He says he and Solo's crew are tapped in so don't try that again. Melo says he doesn't miss and Jimmy says with all the bricks he can build a house. Uso walks off leaving Melo frustrated. The main event is next as we go to break. Back from commercial Byron Saxton congratulates Bayley on her win and the match will be next week on Smackdown. Bayley says she's taking advantage of opportunities just like Tiffany and Tiffany has never beaten her. Least we got a main event next week as well as Los Garza vs MCMG. Solo Sikoa returns as well next week since losing Tribal Combat....4 days ago. They make it sound like he was gone for months. Fatu and Tonga make their way to the ring with Fatu screaming "The difference is your bloodline left you on the frontline to deadline. Fatu tells Cody to wake his ass up because this is a nightmare. Tama Tonga and Jacob Fatu make their entrance for the main event and Tessitore says without Solo, they're mad dogs off a leash. 

We go to commercial and after the break, we cut to a clip from Raw where John Cena enters the Royal Rumble. We then get a Royal Rumble graphic showing Roman and Cena in the Rumble match and Kevin Owens vs Cody Rhodes in a ladder match. On to the main event.

Match 6

Tama Tonga and Jacob Fatu vs Jimmy Uso and WWE Champion Cody Rhodes

Going to be interesting to see where Tama, Jacob and Jimmy fit in now that Wargames/Tribal Combat is over but for now we got this. Bell's gone and Cody starts with Tama and gets in a waistlock. Cody hits an uppercut and a front suplex. Cody works the left arm and tags in Jimmy who comes off the top with the left arm. Tama kicks away at Jimmy and headbutts him in the corner then Jacob tags himself in. He throws Tama out of the way to wail away on Jimmy. Jimmy knocks Tama off the apron but runs into the pop up samoan drop as we go to break. Back from commercial Jacob drops Jimmy with a clothesline and Tama tags himself in with a hilo. He goes "Yyayayayayyayaya" before knocking Cody off the apron. Tama locks in a nerve hold but Jimmy hits a jawbreaker to get out of it. Fatu tags in and rams Cody off the apron before hitting a senton on Jimmy. He covers for 1...2...no. Jacob hits the Umaga in the corner on Jimmy then hits a second one. He covers for 1...2...no. Barrett says to stop the match for Jimmy's health and without Solo, there's no one that can stop Jacob. Fatu stalls on the top rope and Jimmy elbows him off. Jimmy hits a skytwister press and gets the hot tag to Cody. Rhodes cleans house of Jacob and Tama, powerslamming Tama. Cody hits the disaster kick then throws Tama through the ropes. Cody pulls the top rope down to send Jacob flying and hits a suicide dive onto both. Back inside Cody hits the Dusty Punches on Tama and covers for 1...2...no. Cody snaps Jacob's leg off the second rope but Tama blocks CrossRhodes. Tama hits the elevated DDT on Cody and covers for 1...2...no. Jimmy tags in and they hit the Power Plex with Barrett saying its a shout out to Power & Glory. Jimmy covers for 1...2..no, Fatu breaks up the count. Cody hits the Cody Cutter on Fatu to send him outside. Jimmy hits a suicide dive to send Jacob through the ropes to the outside. Suddenly Kevin Owens hits the ring and Cody runs off to chase him to the back. Jimmy is by himself and gets rolled up by Tama for 1...2...no.  Jimmy superkicks Tama and goes for the top rope splash. He hits it and covers for 1..2...no, Fatu pulls him outside. Fatu tags in then turns around to ram Jimmy's head off the announce desk. Fatu throws Jimmy inside and hits the Impaler. Fatu hits the top rope moonsault and covers for 1..2...3 to win the match. Once Cody got taken out it was just a matter of time, still a good showing and it shows Jacob is a mean looking fella.

Time of match: 12:18

Winner: Fatu and Tonga by pinfall

Post match Cody and KO are brawling by the tech area. KO throws Cody on a set of crates and goes for a piledriver. Cody fights out of it and tackles him through a table. Both men are down and here's Shawn Daivari and Shane Helms to check on them. Tessitore signs off saying three weeks from tomorrow we got the Royal Rumble. Not a bad show after the fallout of Raw on Netflix but 3 hours is just too long. At least the matches were good and they're setting up some Royal Rumble storylines. KO vs Cody is going to be a war and having John Cena and Roman Reigns in the Rumble means one of them isn't facing Cody, if not both depending on who else is in it. Chelsea Green's antics are fun, Los Garza as the defacto faces were hilarious, Knight's chase for the US title continues to be entertaining. Just have to see what else develops as we head toward the Rumble. The next show after this is this Monday night's Raw at the SAP Center in San Jose. I'll see you there!

WWE Smackdown (10/11/24)

WWE Smackdown

Secours Wellness Arena

Greenville, SC

October 11, 2024

Commentators: Michael Cole & Corey Graves

Ring Announcer: Alicia Taylor

We're six days removed from Bad Blood and from the Smackdown side of things, the balance of power has begun to shift. Nia Jax defeated Bayley but is becoming increasingly paranoid over the intentions of Tiffany Stratton. Meanwhile Roman Reigns returned to the ring for the first time in six months to join WWE Champion Cody Rhodes to face Jacob Fatu and Solo Sikoa. When the Tongans got involved, Jimmy Uso made his return after six months to aid Roman in victory. But who was there to end the show to throw a monkey wrench in everything? The Rock! How will he factor into things? Lastly, at Bad Blood Triple H announced the Crown Jewel World Championship matches. World Heavyweight Champion Gunther faces WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and World Women's Champion Liv Morgan faces WWE Women's Champion Nia Jax. There's a lot going on so let's get on with the show.

We open the show with a graphic that LA Knight defends the US strap against Carmelo Hayes tonight. Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair defend the women's tag titles against NXT's Jakara Jackson and Lash Legend. Then we get a highlight of the main event of Bad Blood with Jimmy Uso helping Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes winning. Back to real time, here's Jimmy Uso making his first appearance on Smackdown in six months after being taken out by Solo Sikoa and the debuting Tama Tonga the Friday after Wrestlemania 40. Jimmy says he missed all the fans and "welcome to Friday night Smackdown." Jimmy says for 6 months he's been on the shelf thanks to his own brother Solo Sikoa. Jimmy says it wasn't even Solo, it was Tama Tonga that attacked him from behind because Solo didn't have the balls to do it himself. Tonight, he's kicking Solo's ass but here comes Roman Reigns to join in.

The crowd chants "OTC" and Roman says we're going to change things up for a bit. He wants Greenville to acknowledge Jimmy instead, cementing Roman's babyface turn as if there was any doubt by this point. Roman low fives Jimmy and says "moving on". Roman says he's not an older brother so he doesn't understand brotherly revenge. Too bad Matt aka Rosey died in 2017, would have been interesting to see where he would have fit in the Bloodline. He says he's not a wise man so he doesn't come up with the plans. Roman says he's the tribal chief and he takes what's his. Roman says for four years the Bloodline ran roughshod over everyone with title belts, money and power. Roman told Jimmy to buy as many houses as he wanted but now he doesn't like where he's at. He doesn't like being out of control and he meant being the GOAT and they are the Ones. Jimmy "Yeah, but we not though." Jimmy says he sees a chief with no tribe or Ola Fala. Jimmy says he came back because Roman needed him despite Roman not asking. Jimmy says they need help which cues a YEET chant. Jimmy says he knows one person they can get help from and Roman says "No yeet". Jimmy says Roman is his chief but he's the only one in the family that acknowledges him. Jimmy leaves Roman in the ring alone and the message is clear, Roman can talk all he wants but he's outnumbered for the first time in years. They can't beat Solo and his crew alone and Jimmy knows it. With Survivor Series a month and change away, you can see where this is going.

LA Knight makes his way to the ring for his title match as we go to break. Back from commercial, the old timers that were there at Bad Blood are given a shoutout as Carmelo Hayes makes his entrance. We're shown AJ Styles hurting his foot last week and having to stop his match with Hayes early, causing LA Knight to hit Melo with BFT.

Match 1

Carmelo Hayes vs LA Knight for the WWE United States Championship

Graves says Hayes is going to bring back the spinner title belt if he wins and Knight drops Hayes with a right hand to start. Hayes rolls over Knight but runs right into a clothesline. Melo recovers by throwing him against the second rope. Knight clotheslines Hayes over the top to the floor and Melo shouts at Andrade who apparently materialized out of thin air next to the announce table. Knight jawjacks him as well and drops an elbow on Melo as we go to break. Back from commercial, Knight is in a chinlock until he counters with a back suplex. Knight rallies with left jabs and an inverted atomic drop. Knight clotheslines Melo down and Hayes runs into the pop up powerslam. Knight hits the big elbow drop and covers for 1...2...no. Knight boots away in the corner but runs right into a superkick. Knight victory rolls a sunset flip for a deuce but Melo rolls through for 1....2..no. Knight hits a neckbreaker and hits the Yeah jumping elbow from the top rope, covering for 1...2...no. Knight calls for the BFT but Melo blocks it and hits an axe kick. He hits a suplex cutter and covers for 1...2....NOOOOOO. Melo calls for Nothing But Net but stops to look at Andrade just standing there. Melo misses but Knight's BFT is blocked by a Melo backslide for 1..2...no. Melo's suplex cutter is blocked and Knight purposely lets Hayes roll right into a BFT. He covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Damn good match and Hayes/Andrade is still going to be a thing moving forward. Andrade calls him a pendejo after the match for good measure.

Time of match: 9:01

Winner: Knight by pinfall

Jimmy Uso in the back walks up to WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. Jimmy says consider Bad Blood a favor but don't expect any more of those. Cody says Solo isn't the same guy as when Jimmy left and Jimmy says that's family business. Jimmy says Cody's handling business and taps the belt, saying respect. Bottom line is if we're gonna have a Wargames, its unlikely Cody will be involved. We cut to a graphic of Crown Jewel coming up on November 2nd in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. WWE Champion Cody Rhodes faces World Heavyweight Champion Gunther for the "Crown Jewel Championship". Then we get a graphic of Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson and they handle business at NXT. They says they're going to show Bianca & Jade what the Meta Girls are all about. Nice to see the NXT girls get a showcase here as we go to commercial. Back from break Lash and Jackson make their entrance in matching yellow outfits.

Before anything happens, Kevin Owens gets in the ring to interrupt. For those that didn't see the post-show, Kevin Owens attacked Cody Rhodes in the parking lot after Bad Blood to cement his heel turn. The Suit Brigade hits the ring to get him out of there and his mic is cut off. Kevin runs over and steals Corey Graves' headset says Cody Rhodes turned on him. Here comes Rhodes himself who's held back by the Suit Brigade while security hits the ring to hold KO back. Randy Orton runs out and pulls Cody away before getting in the ring. He holds Owens back and gets elbowed in the face. Orton decks him in return....uh oh. Orton has a look of regret as Owens is in shock. This just got interesting as we go to another commercial. Back from break its finally time for the tag team match....with NXT Champion Trick Williams in the crowd. Piper Niven and Chelsea Green are also at ring side as Michael Cole says Chelsea hasn't showered since she was thrown in the dumpster last week.

Match 2

Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson vs Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship

This is going to be a good one since Lash & Jakara have been killing it in NXT. Before the match, a pre-match interview shows Chelsea and Niven want a tag title shot but Bianca and Jade tell her she stinks. Inside the ring Lash and Jakara don't wait around, they attack at the bell. Lash sends Jade into the ring post and out while Jakara takes Bianca down by the hair. Lash tags in officially and hits a fireman's carry slam, covering for 1...2..no. Jakara tags in and they do a tower of doom in the center of the ring, Jakara covering for 1...2...no. Lash tags in for the wheelbarrow cutter, covering for 1..2...no, Jade makes the save.  Jade and Lash stare at each other and Lash decks Jade outside with a right hand, also throwing Bianca to the outside. Lash inexplicably kicks Chelsea Green over the table into the announce team causing Michael Cole to hilariously gag. Cole "GAG GAG, I MIGHT VOMIT! GET OFF ME! GAG GAG!" Bianca breaks out of Jakara's grip, slides in and tags Jade. Jade hops in and hits a big boot to Jakara, superkicking Lash off the apron. Jade and Bianca hit their wheelbarrow finisher on Jakara, covering for 1....2..3 to win the match. Very short but very sweet as well with a lot going on. The NXT girls got to get some shit in, Chelsea Green and Michael Cole's bit was hilarious and the champs retained all in 2 minutes. Lash was bigger than Jade and could be someone to keep your eye on moving forward.

Time of match: 2:10

Winners: Cargill & Belair by pinfall (still Tag Team Champions)

WWE Women's Champion Nia Jax heads to the ring with Tiffany Stratton in tow as we go to break. Back from break we're shown Randy Orton slugging Owens and we cut to Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes with Nick Aldis. Orton tells Cody to calm down and get on his bus and Randy says he'll talk to Owens. Nick says its Cody vs Gunther in 3 weeks and he needs Cody focused to win that match. Orton hands him the title belt and tells him he'll take care of it, he promises. Nick says "Randy Orton, voice of reason?" Yeah really, that's totally not Orton's style.

Nia Jax and Tiffany Stratton head to the ring for a soliloquy. 3 weeks from tomorrow it'll be World Women's Champion Liv Morgan against WWE Champion Nia Jax. Nia says she's got an agenda tonight so point one, she gives credit to Bayley. She says she actually broke a sweat against Bayley but she still ended up on her back. Nia says nobody can beat her, especially her counterpart Liv Morgan. Nia calls her a little girl and says she's going to annihilate her just like Bayley. Nia grabs Tiffany and gives her a hard headlock before saying when she beats Liv, its Tiffy time. Nia backs Tiffany down and says that's when she cashes in on Liv. Here comes Naomi for a rebuttal and she says the only reason Nia is the champion is the "broke down Barbie" helped her. Naomi says she can't win without Tiffany and Naomi beat Tiffany already. Naomi wants a piece of Nia and Nia replies that it took two of them to beat her. She tells Naomi to go find a partner and they'll go right now, but Naomi says she doesn't need anyone to help her win. Nia says she's sick of Naomi's face and Naomi says she can beat Nia right now. Nia says fine and tells Nick Aldis to get a referee right now. Here comes referee Ryan Tran.....and Judgment Day. Raquel Rodriguez, Liv Morgan and Dom Mysterio walks out. Liv says she's upset because they were going to make an example of Nia so they're just going to watch Nia lose just like she'll lose at Crown Jewel. Nia shoves Naomi down and we go to break. Guess we got an impromptu match.

Match 3

Naomi vs Nia Jax (with Tiffany Stratton)

Non-title, this is just for bragging rights. Back from commercial Naomi fights out of a samoan drop attempt. Naomi stands on Nia's back and rocks her with a right hand. Naomi ducks the line and slides underneath a clothelsine. Naomi's sunset flip is blocked and Naomi splashes her in the corner before avalanching her in the center of the ring. Nia covers for 1...2..no. Cole asks why Graves was touching Dominik's hair and Graves hilariously calls him a gentleman. Nia locks in a surfboard before throwing Naomi in the corner. Nia sends Naomi into the ring post and hits the Umaga, covering for 1...2..no. Nia locks in a chinlock but Naomi elbows out of it. Nia headbutts her but Naomi plants Nia with a headscissors, sending Jac onto the bottom rope. Naomi does a split legged leg drop and Nia bails to the outside. Naomi baseball slides Nia and dropkicks her into the ring post. Naomi bulldogs her off the barricade but jumps into a samoan drop on the floor. Nia calls Mysterio greasy and nasty as Dom replies "That smell is you" as we go to break. Back from commercial Nia scoop slams Naomi inside, but misses the running senton. Naomi kicks Nia twice and bulldogs her into the second turnbuckle. Naomi hits the top rope crossbody for 1...2..no, Nia kicked out. Naomi ducks the line and hits the springboard enziguiri to send Nia to the floor. Naomi hits a skytwister press to the floor and rolls Nia inside, but here's Tiffany to boot her in the ribs. Tiffany goes to waffle Naomi with the briefcase but Raquel takes it from her, causing Tiffany to shout at her to put it down. Naomi whirls Tiffany around and kicks her in the head as Raquel backs off. Naomi snaps Nia off the top rope but Nia catches her with a right hand. Nia goes for the Banzai Drop but Raquel distracts the ref long enough for Liv to whack Nia with it. Naomi powerbombs Nia off the second rope and stacks her up for 1...2...3 to win the match. Interesting big woman/little woman match with Naomi using her speed to thwart the monster. Liv and Raquel as the defacto faces was fun to see as they get one over on Nia and Tiffany.

Time of match: 9:53

Winner: Naomi by pinfall

The celebration for Judgment Day is short lived as Rhea Ripley runs out, unloading on Raquel. Ripley sends her into the barricade and backs up Liv & Dom toward the ring. Liv runs into the ring....right into Nia Jax. Rhea hits a big boot on Nia before railing on Liv. Dom hops up for the distraction as Liv, Dom and Raquel bails. Ripley stands tall to show she's coming for the strap. 

We cut to Carmelo who bitches to Nick Aldis about Andrade doing what he wants at ring side. Nick says he and Andrade are tied for 3 wins apiece so its time for Game 7. The winner faces LA Knight for a US title shot. Nick tells Melo not to miss as Legada Fantasma walks up behind him. Santos Escobar says he sees a pattern of Carmelo and Andrade in a permanent spot for a US title shot, why? Nick says Santos blew his chance to win and he's been waiting for him to bounce back. Santos says not just him but where's Elektra's title shot, or Los Garza. Angel "What about us?" Nick says next week Los Garza will face a team of Nick's choosing and if they win, they'll be worthy of a title shot. Santos asks how hard was that and walks off with the rest. Nick says they might regret this as they leave.

We cut to Solo Sikoa by himself rubbing the Ola Fala and says Jimmy is looking for revenge tonight, but he won't get it. Solo says Jimmy may be the big brother but HE'S the tribal chief and Jimmy will acknowledge him. We cut to another Detroit vignette saying next week....in other words, the Motor City Machine Guns are making their debut next week. 

Back from commercial, Cole makes fun of Graves for not having a sign in the crowd. We then cut to a highlight of last Friday's tag team title match between the Street Profitz, DIY and The Tongans. DIY and Profitz stole the show but it was the Tongans that retained. We cut to the Profitz and DIY arguing M*A*S*H* style with Nick Aldis in the middle. Nick "Gentlemen....and lady" and says unfortunately that was their shot and a new team's coming next week. They yell at each other for about 30 seconds but Aldis notices something else going on. He runs off and then yells for security. Oh no! Kevin Owens is beating the crap out of Randy Orton outside. Kevin tells Randy he picked the wrong side and security gets him out of there. Aldis checks on Orton and calls for the paramedics. Well that changed the tone in a hurry. After that, the New Bloodline make their way to the ring for the main event. Cole can't believe Jimmy challenged Solo with Solo's entire crew around him. Solo and the others put their fingers up as we go to break.

Back from commercial, we're shown the Florida Panthers getting their 2024 Stanley Cup Champions rings which has WWE title belts engraved into them. If only Jeremy Swayman of the Boston Bruins didn't allow that goal to Gustav Forsling with 93 seconds left in Game 6, things might have been different....but that's a rant for another blog. We're then shown a highlight of Hell In A Cell between CM Punk and Drew McIntyre before Jimmy Uso makes his entrance alone. Where the hell is Roman?

Match 4

Jimmy Uso vs Solo Sikoa (with Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa)

Cole says this is Jimmy's first match since he faced Jey Uso at Wrestlemania. We get a graphic of Solo putting Jimmy out the week after Wrestlemania and Jimmy is pissed. Bell's gone and Solo says to join him since he's the tribal chief. Solo says to acknowledge him like everyone else and Jimmy shakes his head. Jimmy rallies with a right hand and chops but Solo throws him in the corner. Jimmy hits an uppercut and another chop. Jimmy runs into a back elbow smash and Solo charges, but Jimmy pulls the top rope down to send Solo to the floor. Jimmy hits a suicide dive to the floor and throws Solo back inside. Jimmy jumps off the top right into a right hand by Sikoa. Sikoa says he's not little anymore and chokes Jimmy on the first rope. Jacob Fatu cheapshots Jimmy with the ref not looking and Solo says he's the tribal chief now. Solo headbutts Jimmy on the apron and taunts him. Jimmy sends him into the buckle and tries to suplex Solo to the floor. Solo blocks it and clotheslines him on the apron. Jimmy rallies with a kick but his springboard is stopped by a right hand by Solo to the floor. Solo distracts the ref and Jacob blasts Jimmy with a flying back elbow. Solo taunts the irate crowd as we go to commercial. Back from break, Solo hits the Umaga in the corner but Jimmy rallies with right hands. Jimmy rams Solo's head into the mat which Solo no-sells then hits a spinning heel kick. Solo puts Jimmy on the first rope where Jacob hits another cheap-shot. Solo headbutts Jimmy and tells him to get his ass up. Solo taunts Jimmy and goes for the samoan drop, but Jimmy counters with a DDT. Jimmy chops away at Solo but runs right into the spinning Solo. Solo covers for 1....2...noooo. Solo hits the Umaga in the corner and calls for a second one. Solo runs into the superkick and Jimmy rallies with more strikes. Jimmy's samoan drop is countered but Jimmy hits an enziguiri. Jimmy gets backdropped to the apron and he hits a kick. Jimmy off the top hits a crossbody for 1..2....no. Jimmy drops Tonga Loa and Jacob Fatu off the apron then blocks the Samoan Spike. Jimmy hits the samoan drop and covers for 1...2...no. Jimmy goes back to the top but Tama distracts the ref so Jacob can crotch Jimmy on the top rope. Solo hits the Samoan Spike and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Good match for what it was but the numbers game was too much for Jimmy. 4 against 1 was damn near impossible to overcome and Solo gets the win.

Time of match: 14:00

Winner: Sikoa by pinfall

Post-match the Bloodline beats down Jimmy but here comes Roman Reigns for the save. He superman punches Jacob in the aisle then snaps Loa off the top rope. Roman superman punches Loa and Tama and its now one on one with Solo....until Jacob Fatu attacks from behind. Fatu hits the Umaga in the corner and catches Jimmy with the superkick. Fatu hits the top rope moonsault on Jimmy and Solo hits the Spike on Roman. The New Bloodline taunt Roman and leave as Cole says Roman is indeed a tribeless chief. Solo poses in the aisle as Roman nods his head at Jimmy as the show ends. The message is clear, they need help.

Decent show that establishes a lot of good things. Cody has a huge challenge ahead in Gunther but Kevin Owens' heel turn just gave him another obstacle to worry about. LA Knight needs a clear challenger for the US title and Andrade/Melo's best of 7 might lead to one of them taking the strap. Nia Jax vs Liv Morgan being heel vs heel will be fun to watch them beat the crap out of each other. Michael Cole gagging was the highlight of the show but the biggest arc is Roman vs New Bloodline. It just might be time to call Jey Uso and Sami Zayn....or maybe The Great One, since he showed up randomly at Bad Blood. All in all we got Crown Jewel and Survivor Series on the horizon so let's see how this all plays out. The next show after this is Monday's Raw at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri. I'll see you there.