WWE Smackdown (3/21/25)

WWE Smackdown

Unipol Arena

Bologna, Italy

March 21, 2025

Commentators: Joe Tessitore & Wade Barrett

Ring Announcer: Alicia Taylor

Last week in Barcelona we crowned new WWE Tag Team Champions as the Street Profitz upset DIY to take the straps. Gunther defeated Axiom in his native country and its all but assured it'll be Damian Priest vs Drew McIntyre. This week Zelina Vega takes on Chelsea Green's bodyguard Piper Niven, CM Punk, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns will have a powwow, Jacob Fatu takes on Braun Strowman and we'll get more Wrestlemania hype for sure. Let's get the show started.

Joe Tessitore welcomes us to Bologna, Italy and we're 29 days away from Wrestlemania 41. Jade Cargill is in action against Liv Morgan (with Raquel Rodriguez in tow) and we also get Jacob Fatu (with Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga) against Braun Strowman. CM Punk is here too but before anything happens, here comes Randy Orton for a conference. The crowd sings his entire song as he makes his entrance. We get a highlight of Randy Orton defeating Carmelo Hayes last week and lining up to give him the punt until he spotted Kevin Owens. Before Randy can say anything, here comes Owens himself in an RKO t-shirt. Owens says he's there to say he was wrong for attacking him. He says that Orton didn't deserve it the same way Sami Zayn and Cody Rhodes did. Owens says he was mad that Orton took Cody's side and it made him angry and Orton knows all about letting anger get to them. Owens says he can forgive him for picking Cody's side if Orton can forgive him and he wants to move on. KO goes on to say he pulled Melo out of the ring last week to protect Randy from himself because he didn't want Orton to go back to 2009. Owens says to look to the future and at Wrestlemania they should go after the tag team championships together. Orton says he should come out there and kick his ass all over the arena and tells KO to shove his apology up his ass. Orton says Owens deserves a kick to the head and he went from "Fight Owens, Fight" to "Bitch, Owens Bitch". Orton says he hears voices in his head, they counsel him, they understand and whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas because at Wrestlemania, Orton's going to kick his head clean off his shoulders. Interesting promo as Kevin Owens pretty much figured out he unleashed a dormant monster and tried to stop it before it got worse. Wade Barrett on commentary confirms that Owens has no idea what he's done.

We're shown a highlight of Drew McIntyre attacking Damian Priest last week during his match with Shinsuke Nakamura. We got a tag match out of it and its next.

Match 1

Damian Priest and Jimmy Uso vs Shinsuke Nakamura and Drew McIntyre

Priest doesn't wait and attacks Drew in the aisle way but Shinsuke joins in for a two on one. Jimmy dives over the top and lands on both heels with Damian moving out of the way. Priest rolls Drew inside and the bell rings. Jimmy rallies with right hands and a superkick to the ribs. Jimmy upercuts Drew, ducks a line and chops Drew into the corner. Drew catches Jimmy in mid-air and hits an overhead suplex. Drew chokes Jimmy with his boot but Jimmy hits a jawbreaker. Nakamura tags in but Jimmy drops Shin off the apron. Nakamura trips Jimmy up and jump kicks Uso over the announce table before putting him on the apron. Shin hits a running knee on the apron and a knee to the ribs back inside. Shin covers for 1...2..no. Nakamura tags in Drew who chops Jimmy in the corner. Drew stomps on Jimmy's hand and applies an arm-bar. Drew throws Jimmy down and knocks Priest off the apron before delivering a suplex. Jimmy rallies with chops but gets dropped with a back elbow smash. Drew re-applies the arm-bar but Drew stops to drop Priest off the apron again. The distraction helps Jimmy hit a Samoan drop, forcing Drew to tag Nakamura. Shinsuke eats an enziguiri and Priest gets the hot tag. Priest goes to town on Shinsuke dropping him several times. Priest walks the top rope and hits a cross body. Priest calls for South of Heaven but Nakamura hits a spinning heel kick. Priest clotheslines Nakamura out of his shoes and covers for 1...2..no, Drew makes the save. Jimmy superkicks McIntyre out of the ring but Jimmy is sent flying by Shinsuke. Shinsuke turns around into South of Heaven and Priest covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Formulaic but the crowd loved Priest's comeback. Shinsuke and Jimmy were just window dressing as its Priest/McIntyre going into Wrestlemania.

Time of match: 7:43

Winners: Uso and Priest by pinfall

The celebration is short lived as McIntyre attacks Priest from behind after the bell. McIntyre punches away at Priest and says he's coming for him every time he sees him. Drew pounds away at Priest and calls for the Claymore. Drew hits it and says he's going to put Priest down until he stays down at Wrestlemania.

We cut to Braun Strowman working out before his match and WWE United States Champion LA Knight walks in to wish him luck. LA says they have the numbers advantage so he's got Braun's back in the match. Braun says the match is a number one contender's match for the US title and Knight says "YEAHHH". Was wondering what LA Knight was going to do at Wrestlemania, here's our answer.

We cut to Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair's brawl lest week and we go to a split screen interview with Charlotte and Tiffany after a commercial. Tessitore asks Tiffany first what her mindset is and Charlotte says "the queen speaks first" and Charlotte says she had a hard time buying Tiffany as a threat. Charlotte says Tiffany is compared to her but she only THINKS she compares to her, she's not that special. Tiffany says she's the champ and Charlotte non-chalantly says "By cash in?" Charlotte calls her delusional and at Wrestlemania 41 it will be the pinnacle of Tiffany's career but just another stepping stone for her. Charlotte calls her undeserving and Tiffany says Charlotte was her supporter and she looked up to her. Tiffany says she saw the real Charlotte as Charlotte mocks her saying she almost had a tear. Charlotte says she was a star in the making but said that because she had to. Tiffany says Charlotte has a habit of finding the hottest thing and throwing water on it and Charlotte says Tiffany has never been across from her, only underneath struggling. Tiffany says Charlotte is struggling because fans don't want her and Charlotte nonchalantly says wooing or booing they still react. Tiffany says she has her whole career to match Charlotte's accolades and Flair counters she'll be lucky to have a job at her age (she turns 39 in April). Tiffany says she's going to cement that the Universe runs on Tiffy Time and we cut here. Tiffany got absolutely SPANKED here and Charlotte countered everything she said like it was nothing. If Tiffany had to read off a script, that was totally unfair because Charlotte was ready. Still, it adds to the underdog vs queen storyline. Jacob Fatu makes his way to the ring alone (for now) for the next match. Tessitore says this is a match fans will drool over as we go to break. Back from commercial Wade Barrett shouts that Strowman is "ONE BIG S.O.BBBBBBBBBB"

Match 2

Braun Strowman vs Jacob Fatu

This is going to be a hoss fight and a half. Strowman gives him the crotch chop as the bell rings. Joe says January 25th on Saturday Night's Main Event was the start of this as Braun bumrushes Jacob into the corner to start. Braun headbutts him to no avail but misses a charge in the corner. Fatu shoulderblocks him in the corner and hits a headbutt of his own. Braun shoulderblocks him down but a charge in the corner eats boot. Braun backdrops Jacob and clotheslines him over the top rope to the floor. Braun throws Jacob inside and boots him in the head as Barrett says keep Fatu away from him. Strowman sends Jacob into the corner as Tessitore calls Braun the conductor of an Italian opera. Fatu bails and Strowman goes for the pain train, only for Fatu to throw him over the empty announce desk. Jacob hits a jumping clothesline from the apron and rams Braun into the announce table. Fatu headbutts Strowman outside but Braun rallies with a right hand. Strowman sends Fatu into the ring steps and rolls back inside to cater to the crowd. Fatu limps around before being thrown back in the ring. Fatu's Samoan drop is countered but Fatu hits a dropkick to the knee followed by a running clothesline. Fatu taunts him to get up and applies a nerve hold. Braun powers out of it but Jacob headbutts him down. Jacob hits a superkick, pop-up Samoan drop and a running senton. Fatu covers for 1...2...no. Braun crawls to the corner and Fatu hits the Umaga. He splashes Strowman in the corner but Strowman rallies with a big clothesline of his own. Strowman rallies with right hands, two clotheslines and a Samoan spike (!!) of his own. Braun rips his own shirt off and calls for the Pain Train. Braun runs over Fatu who goes spiraling over the announce table. Braun rolls Fatu inside, ducks the line and hits a spinebuster. Uh oh, here comes Tama Tonga who Braun cuts off. Solo Sikoa comes from behind to hit the Samoan spike for the DQ. That was a fun hoss fight but monumentally stupid of Solo & Tama to run in since it cost Jacob a US title shot. Guess Jacob doesn't care.

Time of match: 9:21

Winner: Strowman by DQ

Post-match beatdown has Solo and Tama beating down Strowman but Jacob doesn't like it. Solo orders Jacob to join in and Jacob reluctantly joins in. Help is on the way as here comes LA Knight. Knight knocks down Tama and punches away at the others. Jacob misses a charge in the corner and Strowman cleans house as Knight & Braun stand tall. Tessitore says Strowman is now number one contender for the title and they're going one on one next week. In the ring Strowman reminds Knight he's coming for the belt and Knight is just fine with that.

We cut to Cathy Kelley with the women's tag champs Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan. Cathy asks why she still has an issue with Jade when Naomi was the attacker. Liv says all this time Jade let everyone believe they attacked her when she could have told everyone a while ago (true). Liv runs down Bianca Belair and Jade then says she'll finish the job that Naomi couldn't. Raquel messes with Cathy's hair as she leaves...ha!

We get a graphic for the conference between Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and CM Punk later as Piper Niven makes her entrance for the next match as we go to break. Back from commercial we get a graphic of the end of the last match before cutting to an irate Jacob Fatu kicking things over. Fatu is mad they cost him a title shot and Solo says they're just trying to help. Fatu tells him he's taking care of himself "Uce" and to watch it. Ooooh, dissention in the ranks. It would make sense to have Solo vs Jacob at Wrestlemania to finally split the new Bloodline. We cut to Italian rapper Anna in the crowd as Zelina Vega enters to no pop.

Match 3

Piper Niven (with Alba Fyre and Chelsea Green) vs Zelina Vega

Vega wants a piece of Green but Piper said she had to go through her first, so here we are. Bell's gone and Piper towers over her. Zelina gets in the first slap and Piper throws her into the corner. Piper misses a charge and Zelina goes for an O'Connor Roll...bad idea. She does avoid an elbow drop and sends her into the corner. Zelina goes for Code Red but Piper shoves her off. Piper no-sells a whip and drops her twice with shoulderblocks. A third shoulderblock drops Zelina as Barrett brings up Chelsea's victory over Sol Ruca on NXT on Tuesday. Niven throws Zelina outside but Zelina jumps on her back inside with a sleeperhold. Piper just heaves her down and stomps on her. Piper goes for the Vader Bomb but Zelina pulls her off and rallies with forearms. Zelina hops on the second rope and hits forearms, taunting Chelsea and Alba. Zelina runs into a Bossman slam as we go to break. Back from commercial, Vega rolls up Piper for 1...2..no. Piper shoves her down then sends her into the corner. Piper heaves Zelina into another corner as Barrett says Vega is an anime fan. Niven taunts the irate crowd as Barrett pledges allegiance to Chelsea much to Joe's dismay. Barrett "She's the Champion of the United States, including us." Niven applies a Million Dollar Dream and a Glasgow Kiss. Joe mocks Chelsea and Barrett as Niven taunts the crowd again. Niven goes for a powerslam but Zelina slinks out of it. Niven hits a big right hand and goes for a gorilla press slam. Zelina reverses it into a chinlock until Niven backs her into the corner. Zelina goes for an Octopus hold according to Barrett then sunset flips for 1..2...no. Zelina hits a forearm and covers for another two count. Zelina hits a spinning back elbow and double knees into the corner. Zelina goes up top and hits the double knees to the ground, covering for 1...2...no. Zelina goes for the code red but its blocked. Zelina then hits a tornado DDT and covers for 1...2..no. Chelsea hops up on the apron and gets decked for her trouble. Zelina hits 619 on Piper and kicks Fyre in the head. She turns around right into a crossbody by Niven for 1...2...3 to win the match. Not the best cat and mouse match but hell of an effort for Zelina to essentially fight 1 on 3. She might be in the plans for a push.

Time of match: 12:15

Winner: Niven by pinfall

Back from commercial we get our road to Clash In Paris this coming August. Then we get a long recap of John Cena's epic promo from Monday and Cody's response. The best was the little kid that Cena singled out, there's a future villain arc. We get breaking news that Randy Orton will indeed face Kevin Owens at Wrestlemania 41. We cut to Jade Cargill with Cathy Kelley who apologizes for last week and asks if she's ready to face Liv. Jade says Liv wants to try it but she'll show her, and then when she's done with Liv she's coming for Naomi. Jade says tonight is a preview of what she does to Naomi.

Back from commercial we get the number 4 in the smoke vignette but at the last second the smoke reveals a 3 behind it. If this is a countdown, we got 3 weeks to figure out what this all means. On to the next match.

Match 4

Liv Morgan (with Raquel Rodriguez) vs Jade Cargill

Morgan interrupted Jade's interview last week and we got this showdown this week. Tessitore and Barrett bicker during Jade's intro about Liv & Raquel. Bell's gone and Liv runs right into a big boot. Jade caters to the crowd and taunts Raquel, backing her down. Liv from behind gets a right hand and is sent into the barricade. Jade heaves Liv into the ring and poses for the crowd. ObLivion is blocked and Liv misses an enziguiri. Jade misses a pump kick but blocks the Codebreaker. Jade hits a fallaway slam as Joe says Jade hadn't had a singles match since August 9th. Liv and Raquel go to leave but Jade chases after them and knocks Liv down. Jade throws Liv in the ring but misses a charge in the corner. Liv runs right into a powerbomb and Jade stacks her for 1...2...no. Raquel distracts Jade who hits the backstabber before sending her into the ring post. Jade falls out of the ring as we go to break. Back from commercial Liv has Jade in a chinlock, until Jade powers out of it. Tessitore says Liv Morgan had an amazing 2024 and she hits the 3 Amigos. Liv does the Eddie Guerrero pose and hits a shining wizard, but Oblivion is blocked. Jade german suplexes Liv and kips up. Jade rallies with shoulderblocks and a siperkick. Jade hits 2 running back elbows and a spinebuster, but doesn't cover immediately. Jade pulls Liv up and hits the F-5 (!!!) and covers for 1..2...no. Wade says Jade took too long to cover but here's Naomi for the distraction. Jade blocks ObLivion as Raquel hops up on the apron, allowing Naomi to clock Jade with a tag belt with the ref distracted. Liv hits ObLIvion and covers for 1..2...3 to win the match. That was Jade's first pinfall loss since her debut at the 2024 Rumble. Good cat and mouse act but just like Zelina, the numbers game is too much.

Time of match: 10:11

Winner: Morgan by pinfall

Naomi beats down Jade after the match as Wade says "Since 2008 I have never once seen this side of her, what the HELL??" Guess he missed her 2015 heel turn. Naomi throws Jade off the apron into the announce table in a call back to Jade getting thrown into the car. Naomi poses to a chorus of boos and that was desperately needed to make Naomi look strong for once. 

We get a highlight of McIntyre's attack on Priest before we cut to him leaving. Cathy Kelley walks up and asks what he's doing and Drew says Priest was a vulture picking at the bones the past year. Drew says Priest is as tough as he is stupid and if they want to fight, he'll be in London next week. Drew goes to leave but Seth Rollins walks up and smiles at him. 

We cut to a highlight of the Street Profitz winning the tag straps last week and they're up next for a pow-wow. We're shown "Signs of The Night" and Barrett wants to see the Liv-A Lisa as we go to break. Back from commercial, here come the Street Profitz for a soliloquy. The crowd chants "You deserve it" and Joe agrees. Ford says he's got news, the Profitz are the champions for the first time in four years.  Ford starts an "Ay, ay, ay" chant and Dawkins says its about damn time. Dawkins says they've been doubting themselves, questioning each other and....."you deserve it" breaks out again. Dawkins says it was all worth it and Ford says he can always count on him. Uh oh! That's usually a kiss of death. They hug it out and Legada Fantasma comes out. Santos Escobar cuts a promo in Italian much to the crowd's delight and congratulates them in English. Escobar says Los Garza are pissed but they're ready to take the titles off the Profitz. Cue Pretty Deadly where Kit Wilson says Santos can run his mouth but they're the number one contenders. Elton Prince tells them to step aside but Santos refuses. He says this is personal and to stay out of it. Ford "Woah woah woah woah woah woah". Ford says Deadly has their title shots but if Los Garza wants to go, let's go. Ford and Dawkins want the smoke much to the crowd's delight as we go to break. Back from commercial we get the orange luchador vignette which is clearly Ray Fenix about to make his debut.

Match 5

Los Garza (Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo) with Santos Escobar vs Street Profitz (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins) for the WWE Tag Team Championship

We're joined in progress with Ford hitting a rolling frog splash and covers for a 1 count on Garza. Ford hits a running knee but Garza chops out of it. Carrillo tags in who hits a dropkick and taunts the irate crowd. Berto chops Ford and tags in Garza for the Unit Slam. Garza taunts the crowd and tears his pants off, throwing them at Dawkins. Joe "He may regret that." Garza puts Ford on the second rope and pounds away with forearms then puts him in the tree of woe. Berto tags in to kick away before Ford gets the hot tag to Dawkins. Angelo hits the stinger splash on Berto but Escobar pulls the top rope down to send Dawkins to the floor. Carrillo hits a suicide dive as we go to break. Back from commercial, Garza has Dawkins in a surfboard as Escobar poses on the floor. Garza dropkicks Dawkins and covers for 1...2..no. Garza and Berto double team Dawkins and Berto covers for 1...2...no. Berto hits a scoop slam and taunts Ford. Carrillo hits a standing moonsault and tags out to Garza. Angel kicks him in the inner thigh and cheap shots Montez for good measure. Garza and Berto hit a Garza Special (Gory Special/Diamond Dust) and covers for 1....2..no, Ford stops the count. Dawkins drops Berto and gets the hot tag to Ford. Montez drops both members then clotheslines Berto down. Ford punches Berto on the apron and goes up top. He misses a top rope splash but hits a spinebuster, covering for 1...2..no. Ford goes up top again but Garza is kicked off. Berto kicks Ford and all three men go up top. They go for FTY but Ford just lands on his feet and turns slowly to look at them with the crowd in a frenzy. Here comes Dawkins to drop Garza with a big right hand as Ford hits a superplex on Carrillo. Ford covers for 1...2..no. Berto tags in Garza but Dawkins tags in as well. Dawkins hits sky high on Garza and backdrops Berto to the floor. Escobar hops up and is sent off for his troubles. Dawkins hits a hilo over the top onto all three members of Fantasma. While he was in mid-air, Ford made a blind tag. Garza rolls into the ring unaware and Ford hits the frog splash, covering for 1..2...3 to win the match. Decent match with the Profitz possibly heading into Wrestlemania as the tag champs. I said it before but when the inevitable split happens, Carrillo would be a heck of a babyface against Angel Garza.

Time of match: 14:32

Winners: Profitz by pinfall (still Tag Team Champions)

We're shown Paul Heyman arriving to the arena who pats the cameraman as we go to break. Back from commercial we're shown HHH's Hall of Fame video with his quad tear/MSG comeback highlighted. Its been debated for the last 24 years what his role would have been in the Alliance angle. We cut to DIY giving Pretty Deadly shit. Kit and Prince says they got a title shot next week in London. DIY says they'll help them win the titles for a title shot in return. Wilson and Prince tell them no and walk off. Motor City Machine Guns walk up and says welcome to the back of the line. Sabin and Shelley say they want DIY before they leave with DIY arguing.

Next week it'll be the Street Profitz against Pretty Deadly and LA Knight defends the US title against Braun Strowman. Here comes Roman Reigns with Paul Heyman in tow. The Italian crowd sings a football chant and Roman waits for them to stop before they go into an "OTC" chant. When that stops, Roman wants his acknowledgement and says he loves the crowd. Roman says Punk screwed him at the Royal Rumble so he screwed CM Punk in the cage match. He says Seth Rollins tried to kill him and he tried to kill him in return. Way to admit attempted murder on national television. Roman says he's going to be here for 20 minutes so if anyone wants some, come get some. Right on cue here's Seth Rollins wearing one of the finest blue sleeping bags you'll ever see. Rollins grabs a mic and conducts the crowd like he's Arturo Toscanini. He says Reigns messed up because he doesn't understand how dangerous CM Punk is. Seth says Roman should have let him finish Punk when he had the chance. Seth says it was never about him to Roman, it was about the two of them just like always. Seth says they can't co-exist at the same space and their story has a lot of pages written, and its about time they added another chapter. Seth opens his jacket but here comes CM Punk for a rebuttal. Punk climbs to the top rope and says this right hand isn't taped up to hold the mic but its time for facts. He calls them Chief and Grimmace and says neither of them have beaten him without the other's help. Punk says the Rumble was every man for himself and Heyman should have told him that. He says he saved his families ass in Wargames and is still owed a favor by Paul. He thanks Heyman for delivering Roman on a silver platter and Roman looks at Heyman. Punk attacks Roman from behind and they roll around before Rollins gets him some of Punk. Roman heaves Rollins off and its a three way brawl. Referee Ryan Tran tries to separate them as Wade Barrett says there's no way one man can stop this. Here comes the refs, security and Suit Brigade to stop them. Punk stands on the announce table with Hurricane Helms telling him to back off. Punk points to the Wrestlemania sign which causes Heyman to say no. Rollins bumrushes Punk but Roman Reigns uses the steel steps to drop both of them. Its utter chaos as the show comes to an end.

We're getting closer to Wrestlemania and now we're getting matches. Kevin Owens vs Randy Orton is confirmed with Priest vs McIntyre as well as the triple threat all but assured. We might get Jade vs Naomi as well. These 5 match cards for 3 hour shows are brutal but its Wrestlemania season. Next week we got Pretty Deadly vs Street Profitz and LA Knight vs Braun Strowman. As for this show, the crowd was hot except for Zelina Vega and the matches were good....just too much talk around them. Still, its all about Wrestlemania and the matches look great. The next show after this is Monday's Raw in Glasgow, Scotland. I'll see you there.

WWE Smackdown (3/12/25)

WWE Smackdown

Olimpic Arena

Barcelona, Spain

March 14, 2025

Commentators: Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett

Ring Announcer: Lilian Garcia

Welcome to Barcelona, Spain as the UK Rampage Tour continues with a special edition of Smackdown. Going into it, Cody Rhodes will be on Miz TV and DIY defends the tag belts against the Street Profitz. Pretty Deadly won the four corners tag match last week so they got winner of that. Alba Fyre joined Chelsea Green last week so her antics will be must see TV later. B-Fab challenged Charlotte Flair last week so we'll be seeing that as well. Let's get things going.

We open with a panoramic view of Barcelona with the fans already chanting to start. Cody Rhodes is here, so is Gunther, Carmelo Hayes, Randy Orton, DIY, the Street Profitz and Paul Heyman. We start the show with LA Knight in his gear on the way to the ring with a highlight of Knight winning the US strap last week against Shinsuke Nakamura. The fans are cheering so loud Knight can't even get a word in. He just repeatedly says "Yeah" until he says "los toros" and this is the first Smackdown in Barcelona which causes the fans to chant again. Knight "Mah gawd, I'm worldwide." Knight says the belt is where it belongs but here comes Jimmy Uso who doesn't look happy. Jimmy says he's not here to congratulate him, he's desperate. Jimmy says he can't make it to Wrestlemania unless he challenges Knight for the title. Before Knight can answer, here comes Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga. Solo says if anyone deserves a title shot its Jacob Fatu. Jacob actually gets a cheer as Solo says Knight got lucky a few weeks ago. Solo says Jimmy is the failure of the family and Jimmy says the only failure was trusting him as his brother, but the biggest failure is Solo losing to Roman Reigns in Tribal Combat. Those are fighting words in Solo's country so he and the others surround Jimmy and Knight. Tonga hits a hanging DDT on Jimmy and the three on 2 attack is on.....but here comes Braun Strowman. Strowman pain trains Tama before cleaning out Jacob and Solo. Jimmy and Knight join in to clear the ring. But wait! Here comes Nick Aldis to make this an official six man tag team match.

Match 1

Jimmy Uso, Braun Strowman and LA Knight vs Tama Tonga, Jacob Fatu and Solo Sikoa

We go to commercial as soon as Aldis says the match is official and when we come back, Solo is clobbering Jimmy in the corner. Jimmy goes up and over and chops Solo in the corner before punching him in the corner. Jimmy decks Tama and Jacob off the apron, but walks right into a Rock Bottom by Solo. Jacob tags in and hits a running senton. A graphic shows Damian Priest vs Shinsuke Nakamura later as Tama hits a hilo on his way in. Solo tags in and Jimmy says something to him before crawling in the corner. Solo hits the Umaga in the corner and headbutts him down. Jacob tags in and applies a nerve hold. Jimmy fights out of it and dives to tag in Knight. Knight punches away at Jacob but gets thrown in the corner. Jacob misses a charge and Knight hits a jumping neckbreaker. Knight hits a DDT and covers but Jacob no sells it, kicking out before a count. Jacob hits a superkick and headbutts Knight in the corner. Jacob misses a Stinger Splash and Knight hits the top rope elbow. Knight calls for the BFT but its blocked. Tama holds Knight and Fatu drops LA with a back elbow smash. Tama tag in to pound away on Knight and splashes him in the corner. Solo tags in and mocks the LA Knight chant. Knight punches his way out of it but gets sent into the buckle. Solo taunts Knight again before dropping him with a back elbow smash. Solo covers for 1...2...no. Tama tags in and headbutts the left arm. Tama headbutts Knight and delivers a snapmare before a basement clothesline. Tama covers for a deuce before Jacob tags back in. Fatu delivers a falling headbutt before tagging in Solo. Solo punches away on Knight in the corner but misses the Umaga. Knight rolls out of a back suplex and hits one of his own. Tama tags in but Knight gets the hot tag to Strowman. He cleans house of all three baddies and the crowd wants the pain train. Strowman plows all three of them on the floor and Jimmy suicide dives on the floor to send Jacob over the announce desk. Back inside Strowman hits the running powerslam on Tama and covers for 1...2..3 to win the match. Serviceable match and it got the crowd hot, not much more you can ask for.

Time of match: 10:09

Winner: Knight, Uso and Strowman by pinfall

The celebration is short lived as Solo hits the Samoan spike on Strowman after the bell. Knight throws Solo into the ring steps on the outside and sends him over the barricade with a clothesline. Jacob superkicks Jimmy on the floor and he attacks Strowman on the inside. Jacob hits the moonsault and calls for a second one. Jacob hits the second one and gets a big pop from the crowd. Fatu hits the third one and leaves with Tama....or not. He sprints back and plows not only Strowman but the barricade itself. Tessitore "Message sent to the monster". Yeah, I'll say. Fatu is a mean looking fella. We're shown a graphic of B-Fab and Charlotte coming up later along with a sit-down interview with Jade Cargill. Before the commercial break, we get a vignette of HHH being an inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Back from break, Tessitore glazes over the 1992 Dream Team as Wade Barrett picks his WWE dream team of Cody Rhodes, John Cena, Randy Orton, Gunther and Dom Mysterio. Tessitore is IRATE that he chose Mysterio and sends us to Cathy Kelley with Jade Cargill before the show started. With nobody in the arena, it looks like an AEW show. Jade says physically she's fine and hates that Naomi is playing victim. Cathy knows how did she know it was Naomi and why didn't she say anything earlier? Jade says she got hit from behind and thrown onto the car, she saw Naomi running away. Jade says that was supposed to be her best friend. She saw Naomi tag with Bianca like nothing happened so she had to take matters into her own hands. But wait, here comes Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez to interrupt. Liv says she told everyone she didn't do it and she blows a raspberry at Jade. Jade challenges Liv to a match next week and walks off. Guess we got a match next week. B-Fab cuts a promo in half Spanish and half English like she's Gerado. The match is next, let's get to it.

Match 2

B-Fab vs Charlotte Flair

Charlotte's heel run established her as a queen bee and B-Fab is having none of it, hence this match. Bell's gone and Tessitore says Charlotte was number 27 and didn't have to go that long to win the Rumble. Charlotte backs B-Fab into the corner and they tie up again. Charlotte arm drags her and drops her with a shoulderblock. Charlotte chops B-Fab three times but Fab hits a superkick, followed by a clothesline. B-Fab hits a half nelson slam as we go to break. Back from commercial Charlotte delivers her knee rolls but the Figure 8 is blocked. Fab is smacked and shoved by Charlotte but then rallies with right hands. She hits shoulderblocks in the corner and a suplex before hitting a sweeping kick in the corner. Charlotte takes her father's bump over the turnbuckle and Fab hits a big pump kick. Fab covers for 1...2...no. Flair superkicks Fab and hits Natural Selection before Charlotte taunts the irate crowd. Charlotte locks in the Figure 8 and B-Fab gives it up. Valiant effort by B-Fab but you knew this was coming, it was designed to put Charlotte over.

Time of match: 8:22

Winner: Flair by submission

Charlotte refuses to release the hold so here comes Tiffany Stratton to get her some. Referees, security and the Suit Brigade (Shane Helms, Shawn Daivari, Kenny Dykstra, etc) run in but Tiffany and Charlotte continue to brawl all over the floor area. Tiffany hits swanton off the top rope onto security and Charlotte. Petey Williams finally separates them as Kenny Dykstra drags Tiffany away. Good stuff. 

We cut to a Drew McIntyre vignette and he blames Damian Priest for all his problems lately. He beat Seth Rollins to win the World title only to be beaten up by CM Punk and cashed in on by Damian Priest. He got screwed by Punk at Clash At The Castle and again after winning Money In The Bank. Priest then eliminated Drew at the Rumble and pinned him at Elimination Chamber. McIntyre says this isn't about titles anymore, this is persona and he's putting Priest down for good so he can't take anything from him ever again. Once again Drew blames everyone else but himself for his problems.

Its time for Miz TV as The Miz makes his way to the ring as we go to break. Back from break Tiffany and Charlotte brawl back to the entrance with Miz trying to start his promo. The funny thing is there's about ten men out there and they can't separate two women. Tiffany climbs up onto the titantron and swantons the entire security team and Charlotte as well. The crowd loved it as Tiffany says "There's a new queen in town" as Charlotte stares a hole in her. Back in the ring Miz says "That was awesome." Miz says his guest tonight should have taken The Rock's offer and instead got beat up by two rappers, Travis Scott and John Cena (haahahahahhaa!). Miz says unlike himself, Cody Rhodes will not beat John Cena at Wrestlemania. Say what you will about Miz, he CAN boast that he retained the WWE title against John Cena at Wrestlemania. Here comes Cody but Miz cu1ts off the music much to the crowd's chagrin. Miz "I don't have time for sing-a-long with Cody Rhodes! I've already been interrupted by Tiffy Time" and Cody doesn't wait around. He hits the Dustin punch and Cross Rhodes immediately. Rhodes wears a Barcelona Nightmare shirt and says he doesn't want to talk to anyone but John Cena. He'll be in Belgium on Monday night to see Cena.

We cut to Shinsuke Nakamura with Nick Aldis and Shinsuke wants a re-match. Damian Priest shows up and wants Drew McIntyre. Shinsuke says something in Japanese and Priest answers in Spanish. Aldis says he has no idea what either of them are saying but if they want a match, they got one. Priest makes his entrance as we go to break. Back from commercial we get a vignette to signify Ray Fenix is on his way although he's not named.

Match 3

Damian Priest vs Shinsuke Nakamura

The rumor going around is Shinsuke's contract is up and he's leaving. If he loses this one, that could be a sign that the rumors are true. Bell's gone and they tie up to start before Priest gives a clean break. Priest locks in an arm-ringer before switching to a headlock. Shinsuke kicks away at him in the corner but Priest catches the leg. Priest throws him into the corner and rallies with right hands. A big right hand rocks Shnsuke and face plants him. Priest clotheslines Nakamura over the top to the floor as we go to commercial. Back from break, Nakamura has a pinfall attempt for 1..2...no. Shinsuke locks in a chin lock as Priest fights his way out of it. Nakamura hits an enziguiri and goes for the second rope elbow. Priest catches him in mid-air and hits downward spiral. Priest kicks away at Shinsuke and drops him with a discuss punch. Priest hits an avalanche in the corner and a broken arrow. Nakamura bails and Priest bullrushes him into the announce table, missing Wade Barrett by two feet. Priest walks the top rope and hits a cross body before calling for South of Heaven. Nakamura counters with a triangle choke but Priest sldies out of it. Priest turns Nakamura into a 360 spin with a lariat and calls for South of Heaven. Drew McIntyre pops up and sits on the announce table as Nakamura rolls up Priest for 1...2..no. Nakamura calls for Kinshasha but runs right into South of Heaven. McIntyre runs in to beat up Priest for the DQ. Good way to keep Nakamura's head by having him not take the fall there. It was a good match for what it was.

Time of match: 8:42

Winner: Priest by DQ

McIntyre rakes the eyes of Priest and Nakamura hits the Kinshasha to the back of the head after the match. McIntyre smiles at Shinsuke as Nakamura leaves. The crowd chants for CM Punk and McIntyre continues the beat down. McIntyre throws him outside then into the barricade. McIntyre throws him into another barricade and picks up the ring steps. Drew blasts Damian with the ring steps and goes to leave. He sees Priest getting up so he hits him with the Claymore Kick. McIntyre leaves Priest laying again as McIntyre says Priest has taken everything from him so he's got nothing left to lose. Sometimes that's all you need in a feud.

We cut to Cathy Kelley with DIY and she asks how they're so sure they're winning. Ciampa "Why is Smackdown the greatest tag team division in wrestling? Us!" Gargano says Street Profitz never win the big one and say the Profitz don't want the smoke, they want the choke. Here comes the Motor City Machine Guns and Alex Shelley says DIY are marked men. Chris Sabin says when they're done with the Profitz, the Guns will be waiting.

We cut to Randy Orton making his way to the ring for his first match since October 11th against Carmelo Hayes. Back from break some soccer players are shown in the crowd before we cut to Cathy Kelley with Chelsea Green, Piper Niven and Alba Fyre. Chelsea tells Cathy that she's been facing injustices like Nicholas Aldis and Michin. She says her administration is in full force but Zelina Vega doesn't agree. Vegas calls herself the next champion but Niven steps in and says you have to go through her first. Vega says fine, next week its her and Niven and then Chelsea is hers "byeeeee". On to the next match.

Match 4

Randy Orton vs Carmelo Hayes

The crowd sings along to Orton's theme as he makes his entrance. Tessitore "Every time Carmelo opens his mouth, there's always a massive challenge in front of him." Orton can barely get a reaction out of a girl in the front row and Melo just stares at her. Bell rings and Melo wants a hand shake to start. Randy goes for it and Melo pulls his hand away. Melo shoves him and Randy hits him with an uppercut before hitting nine punches in the corner. Randy heaves him into the ring post and out of the ring then slams him on top of the announce table as we go to break. Back from commercial, Melo has a headlock then calls for a suplex. Orton blocks it but Melo hits a chopblock to the left leg. Melo covers for 1...2..no. Melo locks in a chin-lock then wraps his legs around Orton's waist. Orton fights out of it but walks into a kick to the ribs. Orton responds with two lariats and a powerslam. Hayes blocks the second rope DDT and goes for the springboard crossbody, but Orton powerslams him. Orton covers for 1...2...no. Orton finally hits the second rope DDT and caters to the crowd. Orton goes to coil up but Hayes bails to the outside. Melo snaps Orton off the top rope and goes for Nothing But Net. He misses but still hits a springboard DDT, covering for 1....2..no. Melo says its over as he goes for Nothing But Net again. Orton stops him with a right hand and they play "yay/boo" on the second rope. Orton hits a superplex and Orton coils up. He goes for the RKO but Hayes blocks it. Hayes goes for First 48 but Orton blocks that. Hayes blocks a second RKO but Hayes hits First 48. Randy no-sells it, hits the RKO and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Tessitore "UNO, DOS, TRES INDEED!" Orton wins his first match in damn near 8 months and it was pretty fun with the crowd.

Time of match: 10:22

Winner: Orton by pinfall

Orton offers a hand shake after the match and Melo slaps him. Orton hits him with the RKO and goes to punt Hayes. Suddenly Kevin Owens appears out of thin air and Orton attacks him on the floor. Owens throws Orton into the post and makes a mad dash out of here. We're shown a graphic of Jacob Fatu crushing Braun Strowman from earlier before cutting to the New Bloodline in the back. Tama and Solo hype up Fatu and Jacob wants Strowman next week. Jacob "I'M BOUT TO DOG WALK YO ASS!"

Here comes Gunther in full gear as we go to break. Back from commercial we get a creepy vignette of a crowd of smoke and what looks to be the number 4. What the hell is that? Gunther grabs a mic for a soliloquy. Gunther says the road to Wrestlemania in Europe starts tonight in Barcelona. Gunther calls himself the greatest European wrestler ever and wishes he was in Madrid instead. Gunther says the fans loves Jey Uso because his waves his hands like an idiot but doesn't mean a damn thing when the bell rings. Gunther then calls out Axiom from NXT since he's from Spain and says he's going to make an example of him.

Match 5

Axiom vs Gunther

Non-title as Axiom is one half of the NXT Tag Team Champions.

Hell of a way to get on the main roster as Axiom faces the nearly unbeatable in his home town. They chain wrestle to start before Axiom ducks a chop. Axiom gets heaved out of a headlock as Gunther towers over him. Axiom kicks away at the legs and misses another chop. Axiom continues to evade Gunther with chops of his own. Tessitore admires the stick and move strategy as the crowd goes nuts. Gunther puts Axiom on the top rope but Axiom counters with an arm-ringer and a boot to the head. Axiom boots him in the head and the chest but runs right into a big chop. Gunther chops him again, delivers a snap mare and then a scoop slam. Axiom fights back with strikes in the corner but gets thrown backwards by Gunther.  Gunther kicks away at Axiom but Axiom fights back with kicks and chops. Gunther trips him up and applies the Boston Crab. Gunther then turns it into an STF and tries to rip Axiom's mask off. That fires up Axiom enough to fight out of it, but get chopped down. Gunther hits a knee to the ribs and backs Axiom into the corner. Gunther chokes him with his boot and once again goes for the mask. Axiom counters with a dragon screw on the apron, then dropkicks the left leg. Axiom hits a missile dropkick and forearms Gunther in the head. Gunther's powerbomb is blocked and Axiom hits an enziguiri. Axiom counters a suplex with an inside cradle for 1..2...no. Axiom dropkicks him down but Gunther counters with one of his own. Gunther hits the powerbomb and stacks him up for 1...2...nooooooo. Gunther can't believe it and goes up to the top rope. Axiom dropkicks him but is swatted away. Axiom hits a running high knee but the hurracarana is blocked....momentarily as he hits it anyway. He hits Golden Ratio and covers for 1...2....NOOOOO. Barrett says no one in NXT ever kicked out of that but this is a new level. Axiom and Gunther trade strikes and Axiom applies Rings of Saturn. Gunther rolls through it and hits the powerbomb. He hits a lariat and another power bomb before covering for 1....2....3 to win the match. Outstanding match and that's how you do big man vs little man.

Time of match: 9:24

Winner: Gunther by pinfall

Post match Gunther poses with the belt then puts the sleeper on Axiom. The refs pry Gunther off of him as Gunther leaves with more heat. We're shown a highlight of Monday's cage match where Roman Reigns unintentionally helped Seth Rollins win by dragging him out and kicking the crap out of him. Apparently Paul Heyman is up next as we go to break. Back from commercial we're shown Reigns not liking Paul Heyman helping up Punk so he spears him for good measure. In the ring Paul Heyman says tonight he's going to hype the crowd on two things. Heyman says this is Roman Reigns Day since WWE2K25 came out today. Heyman says wait till after the show to play the game and goes on to say people have a problem with Roman Reigns Day. One of them is CM Punk who Heyman calls his friend. A massive CM Punk chant breaks out but Heyman says its not Punk's day, and it damn sure isn't Seth Rollins day. Heyman says he hates the Seth Rollins chant and if anyone has a problem with him or Reigns, they can say it to Roman's face next week in Bologna, Italy. Heyman says that's not a prediction, that's a spoiler. Nice heel promo by Heyman while politely putting down Punk while demonizing Rollins.

Next week Roman Reigns will be in Italy along with Jade Cargill vs Liv Morgan. Zelina Vega takes on Piper Niven and Braun Strowman vs Jacob Fatu. We cut to the Street Profitz getting ready for tag action when Legada Fantasma walks up. Santos Escobar says they want them to win so Garza and Berto can take the titles off them. They laugh and Montez mocks their laugh. Dawkins says they're winning the straps and they want the smoke. They head to the ring as Tessitore says they haven't been tag team champions since January of 2021. Back from commercial, Jimmy Uso is favoring his shoulder when Gunther sits next to him. Gunther says he's got a younger brother and says he left Axiom laid out like a wet towel. He says that's going to happen to Jey and tells Jimmy to talk Jey out of facing him. Jimmy replies Gunther will lose at Wrestlemania and we'll be yeeting. Gunther says he tried and walks off.

Match 6

The Street Profitz (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) vs DIY (Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano) for the WWE Tag Team Championships

The Profitz kept the MCMG from winning at the Royal Rumble so they can beat DIY themselves, this is their chance. Dawkins starts with Ciampa and backs him into the ropes. Ciampa applies a headlock but eats a shoulderblock. Dawkins tags in Ford who dropkicks Ciampa down. Ford moonsaults Ciampa and covers for a deuce before Ciampa bails. Dawkins tags in and he decks Gargano with a right hand, but Ciampa puts the boots to him. Ciampa punches Dawkins down and Gargano tags in. Dawkins backdrops him to the apron but Gargano's springboard DDT is blocked. Dawkins heaves him away and Ford tags in for the flying crossbody. Montez drops Gargano with a lariat and caters to the crowd. Pretty Deadly watches from the back as Gargano shoves Ford off the apron into the barricade. Ciampa puts the boots to Ford on the outside before throwing him inside. Tommaso suplexes him off the top rope and delivers a running knee. Gargano and Ciampa taunt the irate crowd before Gargano throws Ford into the side of the ring. Back inside Gargano does a crotch chop to Dawkins to bait him in the ring. They double team Ford in the corner with frequent tags before Ciampa puts Ford on the second rope. Tommaso is headbutted off and Montez is pushed down by Gargano. Ciampa hits a death valley driver off the second rope and covers for 1..2...noooo. Ciampa goes for Fairy Tale Ending but Ford backdrops him off then avoids a Gargano splash. Dawkins gets the hot tag and cleans house, dropping Ciampa with a back elbow smash. Dawkins hits a spinning Stinger Splash and a DDT, covering for 1...2..no. Ford tags in and hits an assisted moonsault for 1...2...nope. Ford goes for the 450 Splash but eats Ciampa's knees. Gargano hits a Ribstabber on Ford and covers for 1...2...no, Dawkins makes the save. Ciampa slugs it out with Dawkins and both are dispatched as Ford hits a high knee on Gargano. Outside Dawkins throws Ciampa into the timekeeper but Gargano suicide dives onto Dawkins. Back inside Gargano jumps into what looks to be Cross Rhodes and Ford goes for the Doomsday Blockbuster. Ciampa stops it but is thrown out of the ring anyway. Ford kicks Gargano then Ciampa off the apron. Ford flips onto Ciampa out side then goes back to the top. Ford hits Doomsday Blockbuster and covers for 1...2...noooo, Ciampa makes the save. Dawkins throws Ciampa over the top rope and tags in. Ford jumps into a Ciampa knee and Tommaso distracts Dawkins long enough for him to miss a swanton. Ciampa tags in and hits a running knee. Ciampa hits Fairy Tale Ending with a Gargano superkick for good measure. Ciampa covers for 1...2...NOOOOOO. Gargano superkicks Ciampa by accident and Dawkins hits a spine buster. Ford tags in and hits the frog splash off the top. He covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Tessitore "DO WE HAVE NEW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS? YESSSSSS" The Street Profitz are the new WWE Tag Team Champions for the first time in four years. Good match and the Profitz are rewarded after going through so much the last few years. After the pseudo heel turn with Bobby Lashley that went nowhere to playing second fiddle to everyone, it was their time to shine.

Time of match: 11:52

Winners: Street Profitz by pinfall (new WWE Tag Team Champions)

We sign off with the new champs celebrating and that's two straight Smackdowns with a title change. All in all it was a good show and the crowd carried it. Priest and McIntyre is definitely headed to Wrestlemania and Tiffany FINALLY got one over on Charlotte. Axiom vs Gunther was a great big man/little man match and the tag title change lit the crowd up. The tag division is so loaded you could have anyone as the champs going into Wrestlemania. I see a multi team tag match unless Pretty Deadly wins next week. Chelsea Green continues to be entertaining and Jacob Fatu continues to get babyface pops. Guess we'll have to tune in to Raw to find out what happens next. Raw will be at a special start time of 3 PM on Netflix this coming Monday since they'll be in Belgium. I'll see you there!

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 (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.