– Michael Cole welcomed everyone into the show as footage of
Nia Jax, Naomi, the Motor City Machine Guns and the Street
Profits entering the building from earlier in the day aired.
The show went to the ring, where Cody’s music hit.
The Cody Rhodes segment
Cody showed good fire here and it was nice to see Aldis get
some significant live television time in front of the crowd.
Because Code-Man (I still can’t believe Cody referenced
Orton calling him Code-Man out loud here) appeared in
fighting clothes, I sort of thought we’d either get a match
or a brawl of some sort, but maybe he’s already on his way
to Georgia for College Gameday by the time these words even
hit the internet. Either way, it was good logic for why he’s
so fired up about Owens doing what he did to Orton and I
still commend everyone involved, including the company, for
selling the piledriver’s danger as a move. This wasn’t
special, but it moved the story forward and sometimes,
that’s all you need.
Cody made his entrance not in a suit, and instead in sweat
pants and a t-shirt. Cody looked angry and focused as
footage from last week’s piledriver angle was shown. Cody
said, “Kevin Owens, you have crossed quite the line,” and
then called for Owens to come to the ring. Nothing happened,
so Cody yelled for Owens to appear. Nick Aldis, instead,
walked to the ring with a microphone. Aldis said he knew
Cody was angry and Aldis noted how Orton has severe cervical
trauma.
Aldis explained how and why the piledriver has been banned
in WWE for so many years. Aldis said Owens crossed a line
last week and until things are figured out, Aldis cannot
have Owens at the shows. Cody said Aldis was giving Owens
what he wanted and instead, Aldis should let Cody handle
things. Cody kept going on and Aldis stopped Cody from
talking. Aldis asked Cody if he thought it was about money
because he knew it wasn’t about money. Aldis said if he
gives the roster an inch, they take a mile. Aldis said Owens
cannot be at the shows until the situation is resolved
internally.
Cody questioned “internally?” Cody asked Aldis to “be real,”
and said he knows Aldis is a wrestler and a good man. Cody
asked Aldis if he was the one in the ambulance with Orton
and how Aldis would react. Cody referenced his celebration
at WrestleMania 40 and how Orton told Cody he was proud of
him and it was a moment he’d cherish forever. Cody noted how
it bothers him Owens is saying Orton’s injury is because of
Cody, so Cody said if he can’t handle his business in a WWE
ring, he wondered what Aldis expected Cody to do. Cody told
Aldis the ball is in Aldis’s court and Cody won’t be waiting
long. Cody dropped the mic and Cody’s music hit to end the
segment.
**********
– Backstage, Jimmy Uso was walking and ran into Jey Uso and
Sami Zayn. Jimmy said Roman Reigns was on the way and he
wants everyone to meet in the same room together later. Zayn
said there was someone he could ask when it came to who the
fifth member of their team could be at War Games. Zayn told
the Usos he’d catch them later.
Bayley defeated Candice LeRae & B-Fab to advance in the
Women’s United States Championship tournament [9:54]
This was clearly designed to get B-Fab over as a wrestler –
as opposed to her usual gig as a manager – and it mostly
worked. B-Fab, for her part, did a great job showing up when
she was called upon and LeRae and Bayley seemed more than
happy to give her the spotlight as much as they could. As
such, good work all around. I had my guard up for a LeRae
upset because she seems to be getting a mini-push, but
there’s only one first women’s U.S. champion, so Bayley
going far in this tournament – and potentially winning it –
would make sense if that’s what the creative minds choose to
do. On the way, though, both Bayley and LeRae were able to
elevate B-Fab, and that was a good thing.
LeRae dropkicked Bayley’s knee and that took Bayley outside.
B-Fab then slammed and clotheslined LeRae for a two-count.
B-Fab kicked LeRae and Bayley got back into the mix. B-Fab
then double-clotheslined Bayley and LeRae right before the
show went to a commercial break. The show returned and
Bayley was working over B-Fab, complete with an elbow to the
back of B-Fab’s neck from the second rope. That was good
enough to get Bayley a two-count, but LeRae broke up the pin
attempt.
The women traded blows as they fought on their knees. B-Fab
and Bayley teamed up on LeRae until LeRae clotheslined the
babyfaces and the match reset. LeRae went to the top and B-
Fab cut her off. LeRae fought B-Fab off, but Bayley was able
to get the upper hand on LeRae. B-Fab got up and involved
and the sequence ended with LeRae hitting a cross-body on
Bayley for a two-count. B-Fab slammed LeRae for a two-count
and Bayley returned to the mix, where she ran into an
inverted neck-breaker from B-Fab, which earned B-Fab a two-
count.
Bayley came back with a Bayley-To-Belly on B-Fab, but LeRae
reappeared and almost stole a win. LeRae went for a
moonsault, but B-Fab moved. Before long, B-Fab slammed
Bayley and kicked LeRae to the outside. B-Fab went for
another kick on Bayley, but Bayley rolled B-Fab up and got
the win.
**********
– Sami Zayn was shown talking to LA Knight backstage, but we
couldn’t hear what they were saying. Knight then walked to
the ring for his U.S. title open challenge.
– Footage of The Rock on The Tonight Show from earlier this
week aired. Turns out, The Rock is GW’s Entertainer Of The
Year.
– B-Fab was shown backstage and Chelsea Green and Piper
Niven walked up to her. Green said when her and Niven
because the first-ever U.S. women’s champion, maybe they’d
let B-Fab hold it someday. B-Fab said the two of them
couldn’t hold the title at the same time and Michin walked
into the frame with a kendo stick. Green and Niven left
quickly.
– LA Knight made his entrance and had a microphone. The
crowd cheered “LA Knight!” Knight said “Let me talk to ya!”
and the crowd loved it. Knight said everyone is looking for
his U.S. title. Knight said Zayn asked him to join the
Bloodline Civil War. Knight said it wasn’t his fight and he
doesn’t need it or want it. Knight said if the Bloodline
just destroyed each other, he’d be fine with that. Knight
said he wasn’t going to defend his belt two times a year
like Logan Paul did, and instead called to action the U.S.
Championship open challenge. Santos Escobar walked out
flanked by the rest of Legado Del Fantasma.
Escobar grabbed a microphone and asked Knight why he
couldn’t say something cool and interesting. Escobar told
the crowd it sounded like they were from a different planet.
Escobar said it should be, “Es. Co. Bar. Si!” Escobar said
it’s time for someone to shut Knight up. Escobar since
Elektra Lopez is going to bring the women’s U.S. title to
LDF, Escobar wants to do the same for the men. Knight said
he already beat Escobar, so he could give Berto a shot.
Berto attacked Knight and the show went to break, so it
looks like we’ll join the match in progress soon.
LA Knight defeated Berto to retain the United States
Championship [4:00 of TV time]
The match was fine for what it was, but, man I liked the
post-match stuff with a retooled Nakamura. That was great.
First, it’s good to see him back, and second, it’s even
better to see him with a new, more ominous coat of paint.
I’m very, very interested to see how Knight and Nakamura
work together moving forward. Here I was, wondering if
Knight was going to keep spinning his wheels as a champion
with no real challengers, but Nakamura changed that
instantly. Good stuff.
The show returned and Berto had control over Knight. Knight
went for his leap-to-the-top rope spot and in a rare turn of
events, hit it. The development didn’t matter, though,
because Berto pushed Knight off the top and eventually
worked an abdominal stretch. Knight fought his way out of it
and clotheslined Berto over the top and to the floor. Knight
repeatedly slammed Berto off the commentary table. Knight
rolled Berto back into the ring and landed a DDT for a two-
count.
Berto came back with a roll-up and a kick and dragged Knight
to a corner. Berto went for a moonsault, but Knight got a
leg up. Knight followed up with a pop-up slammed, but Berto
moved when Knight went for an elbow. Berto perched Knight on
the top rope and set up for a super-plex, but Knight fought
Berto off and landed the top rope elbow drop. Knight hit the
BFT after that and got the win.
After the match, Nakamura appeared out of nowhere, wearing
facepaint and looking kind of cooler than he’s looked in a
long time in WWE. Nakamura laid Knight out and walked away.
**********
– The Usos were talking backstage and Zayn approached them
saying it wasn’t looking good for finding a partner. The
three then walked into Roman Reigns’s dressing room and the
show went to a break.
– A video hyping the Royal Rumble in Indianapolis aired.
– The Usos and Zayn were standing in Reigns’s locker room
and Reigns finally walked in. Zayn said they had been to Raw
and SmackDown and there is nobody who wants to work with the
Bloodline. Jey asked Roman if he “made that call.” Solo
Sikoa’s music hit and Sikoa and his Bloodline made their
entrance ringside. Roman stood up and left his dressing
room. Zayn and the Usos followed him.
The Bloodline segment
I’m still not a fan of Seth Rollins being the fifth man for
Roman’s team – there’s just too much history to ignore for
this viewer and to shoehorn Rollins in based solely on the
idea that he hates Bronson Reed with the passion of a
thousand red hot suns doesn’t do it for me for more reasons
than I have the space to type tonight. Still, this was a
good brawl segment and a good beatdown from the heels. WWE
has done good by Reed since he came back over from New Japan
and this furthered that winning streak. Michael Cole sounded
like he wondered if this meant Reed would join Solo’s
Bloodline for good after all this resolves itself at War
Games, but that won’t be the case … right?
Solo told Milwaukee to acknowledge him. The crowd booed
heavily. Roman’s music hit instantly and Reigns walked out
with Jimmy, Jey and Sami. The teams stared each other down
as Roman’s group hopped onto the apron. The teams brawled
and Jey hit a dive onto most of Solo’s Bloodline. Fatu took
back control for the heels and Sikoa set up for a Samoan
Spike on Zayn, but Roman speared Sikoa. Zayn then landed a
dive onto everyone except Fatu. Alone in the ring were Fatu
and Roman and boy, the crowd was there for it.
Fatu distracted Roman and Bronson Reed showed up to take
down Roman. Reed and Fatu stared at each other and Reed
landed a splash on Roman. Fatu followed that up with a hip
attack on Roman. Jey, Jimmy and Zayn tried to fight back
against Reed and Fatu, but the heels were too much. Fatu
landed a moonsault on Zayn and Reed hit a Tsunami on Jimmy.
Roman, on the outside of the ring, took out Tonga Loa.
Reigns hit a series of Superman Punches on everyone … until
Sikoa hit a Samoan Spike on Reigns … and Fatu followed that
up with a moonsault … and Reed followed that up with a
Tsunami. Finally, WWE officials ran out to break things up.
The heels stood tall to end the segment.
**********
– Kevin Owens posted a video on social media and Michael
Cole threw to it. Owens said he got to the arena, but he was
turned away for what he did to Orton last week. Owens said
it was messed up because all he did was show up when Orton
told him to show up. Owens said he got a call from Aldis
asking Owens to be at next week’s SmackDown in Salt Lake
City. Owens said he shouldn’t show up, but he will and he
will do so for himself. Owens said when he shows up, he will
just be doing his job.
Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin)
defeated The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins)
via DQ [7:58]
Lots of (misguided?) male aggression in the SmackDown tag
team division these days. The Profits are pissed. Ciampa is
looking to murder people. The Machine Guns, meanwhile, are
simply just the peaceful new guys. They didn’t ask for any
of this. Anyway, I’m not a fan of these types of finishes,
but I actually prefer this over the Profits taking another
loss. Both teams looked good and I like the chippiness of
Montez Ford these days. MCMG continue to struggle to elicit
a meaningful response from the live crowds and that’s
concerning, but maybe a program like this, where everyone
around them is just angry as hell (and aren’t going to take
it anymore), can help get the champs some reactionary
momentum.
Ford and Sabin started the match. Ford looked series and
worked kind of/sort of like a heel. Sabin hit a pair of arm-
drags and Shelley tagged in. The two hit a series of double-
team moves, but they were good enough for only a couple one-
counts. Ford fired up and hit a strong clothesline. Shelley
rolled to the outside and Dawkins shoulder-blocked Shelley
over the commentary table as the show went to a commercial
break.
The show returned and Shelley continued to receive
punishment. Quickly, Sabin received the hot tag, however,
and Sabin took out both Profits. The action spilled outside
and MCMG tried their damndest to get the crowd fired up.
Back inside the ring, Shelley planted Ford after Sabin
dropkicked Ford in the back of the head. Sabin tagged in,
but before long, the Profits regained control and set up for
their finisher. With Ford on the top rope, Ciampa showed up
and attacked the Profits. Gargano showed up late and tried
to pull Ciampa away from everyone. Ciampa then shoved
Gargano to the ground and left the ring.
After all the commotion, MCMG tried to shake hands with the
Profits and Dawkins leveled Shelley. The Profits angrily
left the ring to end things.
**********
– Naomi was shown in the back and Bayley showed up. Naomi
congratulated Bayley on her win earlier in the night. Bayley
told Naomi she can’t trust IYO SKY and Jade Cargill and
Bianca Belair walked in. Bianca is still unhappy with Bayley
after all these months and she made it a point to remind
everyone of that. Cargill told Naomi that if anyone
interferes, Cargill and Belair have Naomi’s back.
– Next week, Bianca Belair, Chelsea Green and Blair
Davenport will wrestle as part of the women’s U.S. title
tournament. Plus, Kevin Owens and Cody Rhodes will go face-
to-face.
Nia Jax defeated Naomi to retain the WWE Women’s
Championship [12:08]
This was very good – especially the last five minutes. It
was one of those cases where you start the match knowing
there is no chance of a title change and by the time you get
to the end, you are convinced the title should have changed
hands a couple times over. Those women worked super hard to
get it there and boy, did it pay off. Whatever it was Naomi
pulled off as a counter from the top near the end of the
match was quite the visual. Even better, Naomi was kind
of/sort of protected in the loss and they could run this
back, no problem. The end of the show with Roman calling the
Wise Man was a lot of fun. Here’s hoping we see Heyman soon.
His presence in the Bloodline saga has been noticeably
missed since Roman came back. This was a strong final 20
minutes of the program, so if you only have 20 minutes to
spare, use the fast-forward button accordingly.
Jax had control early and sort of just toyed with Naomi,
swinging her around and landing a splash in a corner. Jax
went for an elbow, but Naomi moved and followed that up with
a kick to the head. Naomi then hit her split leg drop. Jax
clotheslined Naomi and threw Naomi to the outside. Naomi
executed a sunset flip, but Jax came right back with a
clothesline and a one-coun. Jax worked a chin-lock. Jax
missed a strike and Naomi briefly tried to come back, but
Naomi ran into an elbow from Jax, who then pounded Naomi’s
head into the mat. Jax, in a wild move, lifted Naomi and hit
what appeared to be a very stiff headbutt. Naomi popped up
and got Jax to the outside, where Naomi hit a suicide dive.
The show then went to its final commercial break of the
night.
The show returned and Jax took down Naomi for a two-count.
Jax landed a headbutt to Naomi’s back. Jax then worked a
single-leg crab. Jax went for a powerbomb, but Naomi kind of
turned it into a Destroyer for a two-count. Naomi then
kicked Jax in the head and hit a cross-body from the second
rope. Naomi followed that up with an enziguri. Naomi hit the
Rear View out of nowhere, but it resulted on only a near-
fall. Naomi ran at Jax, but that meant she ran into a pop-up
Samoan Drop from Jax.
Jax set Naomi up for her finisher, but Naomi stood up and
dumped Jax to the floor. Naomi then hit a cross-body block
on Jax on the outside. Backstage, Liv Morgan and Raquel
Rodriguez were shown attacking Cargill and Belair. Back in
the ring, Tiffany Stratton attacked Naomi while the referee
was checking on Jax. Jax went to the second rope, but Naomi
cut Jax off. It didn’t matter because Jax went for a body-
slam from the top, but Naomi countered it into … something …
and that earned her a near-fall.
Bayley ran out and attacked Stratton and Naomi rolled up Jax
for a good near-fall. Naomi ran Jax into a ring post and hit
a split-legged moonsault on Jax for a very good near-fall.
Naomi went to the top and Candice LeRae attacked Bayley at
ringside. As a result, Jax hit a Samoan Drop from the top
and followed that up with her finisher for the win.
After the match, Stratton, LeRae and Jax stood tall in the
ring. The show cut to Reigns in his dressing room. Reigns
had his cellphone and said “Call … the wise man.” A response
said “the number you have reached is not in service; this is
a recording.” Roman dropped his phone as a dial tone rang
and Roman looked all types of upset as the show went off
air.
