Posted on 6/14/125 by Bob Magee
– After WWE’s signature open, we got the rundown for
tonight’s King and Queen of the Ring qualifiers, as well as
the arrivals of Jacob Fatu and Naomi to the arena. We then
went to Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett at the commentary
table as they teed up a recap of Money in the Bank and all
that transpired last Saturday night.
The Undisputed WWE Champion entered the scene to the usual
gamut of cheers and boos from the crowd. He instructed ring
announcer Mark Nash to give him a very enthusiastic
announcement before getting started with his promo.
Cena started off by talking about “Wrestling’s Mount
Rushmore”, which he said consisted of nothing but him. He
said that yes, there have been great wrestlers and great
talkers, but that nobody in the past, present, or future is
comparable to him. Cena said that he will always outmaneuver
people not because he doesn’t give up, but because he’s
smarter than us. Cena claimed that he was always a thousand
steps ahead of everyone because he had six months to scout
out his foes for his retirement tour. He knew that even if
he lost the Royal Rumble, he could just use his seniority to
guarantee himself a spot in the Elimination Chamber, and his
unpredictability led to his WrestleMania victory. Cena
suggested that he used the time teaming up with Logan Paul
to force CM Punk into a corner by making him admit himself
as a “hypocrite” (alluding to Punk’s infamous refusal to
wrestle in Saudi Arabia).
Cena said that he wins matches before they even started and
that he has cracked every puzzle and crunched every code,
and that we wouldn’t appreciate him until three years after
he was gone. He said that the math says that there will be
nobody worthy to ever hold the WWE Title ever again. Enter
Cody Rhodes.
The American Nightmare entered the ring and took a mic, as
he started by facetiously asking Cena if everything he
claimed he was about being smart “was true”. He said it was
distressing that everything Cena said was right about his
claims, and that while he had a grand master plan, Cena
didn’t account for getting pinned last Saturday. Rhodes said
that he wasn’t part of Cena’s plan, but that Cena was part
of his own plan. “So, John Rushmore, where does that leave
you and I?” asked Rhodes. The theme music of Randy Orton
interrupted as the man himself walked down to a great
ovation.
Orton said thad everyone who watched Backlash in St. Louis
saw that he had Cena beaten and ready to be punted, right up
until somebody “saved the day”, and it made him realized
that he had to do whatever it takes to get Number 15. He
said he loved Cody as a brother, but if it came down to
things, he wouldn’t hesitate to put his friend down. Now it
was LA Knight’s turn to interrupt proceedings.
Knight said that all week long, he heard the whole world
saying “we want L.A. Knight” and that he was looking right
at WWE’s “establishment” in the ring. Knight said that
Cena’s master plan didn’t include him and he was going to
throw that plan out the window. Knight said that he was
going to drop Orton, Rhodes, and a “genius balding bitch” in
Cena, with everybody saying “L.A. Knight, yeah!” Cena
thought himself above all this and decided to make his exit.
As Cena left the ring, Ron Killings ambushed him from the
stage as he laid into his former hero with blow after blow.
Officials entered the scene to separate Killings from Cena,
who was left down and out by the former R-Truth’s assault.
As a way to set up potential King of the Ring winners, this
segment wasn’t bad in establishing Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton,
and LA Knight as favorites to win in a couple of weeks. Of
course, I kind of expect some twists to be thrown along the
way, particularly with Rhodes’ chances, as WWE might feel
like delivering a curveball for his inevitable rematch
against Cena.
I do have to address the implication of CM Punk’s morals
being used as a storyline beat with Cena attempting to get
Punk to admit he was a “hypocrite” by facing him in Saudi
Arabia, however. To say it’s a “dicey” proposition to invoke
the controversial nature of WWE’s Saudi Arabia shows as a
storyline would be an understatement. I’m not sure how to
feel about it in the grand scheme of things.
**********
– Backstage, John Cena was seen arguing with SmackDown GM
Nick Aldis about Ron Killings’s actions from before the
break. We couldn’t hear a word said, but it was clear that
Cena was certainly incensed with what happened to him at the
hands of Killings.
King of the Ring Qualifying Fatal-Four Way Match: Randy
Orton vs. LA Knight vs. Carmelo Hayes vs. Aleister Black
The bell rang as Hayes and Black faced off with one another
as Knight and Orton just looked on briefly before they mixed
it up in the ring. As Knight was fighting with Orton in the
corner, Hayes attempted a roll-up pin, but Knight kicked
out. Black threw Hayes out of the ring and fell victim to an
apron moonsault from Black. Orton and Knight traded finisher
attempts, as Black couldn’t connect with Black Mass. This
led to a break in the action.
We returned with Hayes getting dropped by Knight, as he was
then stomped in the corner by the former United States
Champion. A prone Orton also suffered the same fate at the
hands of Knight. Hayes bounced back and kicked Knight as he
then twisted Black and connected with a springboard legdrop
on Knight. Hayes was on fire with a Fosbury Flop on Black
outside the ring. Orton made his way outside and hit his
announce table backdrop on Black, but got shoved into the
apron by Knight.
In the ring,. Knight propped Hayes up the top rope as the
two dueled with strikes. Knight got the better of Hayes and
tried for a superplex. Hayes blocked it and shoved Knight
aside. Orton stepped in but also got pushed aside by Hayes.
Black drilled Hayes with a knee, which appeared to open him
up for a superplex, but Hayes once again got the advantage
as he then hit a Frog Splash on Knight. One, two… Black
broke up the pin, which led us to another break.
SmackDown returned from commercial with all four men in the
ring. Knight rolled up Orton as he attempted a BFT on Black
that couldn’t connected. Black opened things up with a knee
and kick to the face of Hayes. Orton cut Black off at the
pass as he delivered his signature offense, including a
barrage of powerslams on his three opponents. Orton dragged
Hayes over to the apron and looked to deliver his draping
DDT. He held Black in position as he wanted to hit a double
DDT, but Knight snuck up on Orton and hit a jumping
neckbreaker for the close near-fall.
WIth all four men back in the ring, Knight connected with
the BFT on Black. Hayes managed to break up the pin, but he
paid for it with a slam from Knight. Up on the top rope,
Knight tried to deliver his diving elbow, but Bronson Reed
cut him off, as Bron Breakker hit a spear on Knight. Hayes
looked to capitalize on the opportunity with a diving, but
he caught by Orton for an RKO that sent Hayes crashing onto
Knight. Orton with the cover on Knight and this one’s done.
Randy Orton will now face Sami Zayn in the King of the Ring
semifinals.
Randy Orton def. LA Knight, Aleister Black, and Carmelo
Hayes via pinfall to advance to the King of the Ring
Semifinals
A very fun opening fatal four-way and the involvement from
the two Brons from Seth Rollins’ faction in attacking LA
Knight certainly does spice things up.
**********
– Jacob Fatu appeared backstage as we’d hear from him after
the break.
Jacob Fatu addresses his Money in the Bank actions
The United States champion entered to a great ovation from
the Lexington crowd as we got a recap of last week’s
SmackDown and Solo Sikoa’s insulting remarks that led to the
“I HATE YOU!” heard ’round the world at Money in the Bank a
night after.
As the fans chanted for him, Fatu started off by saying that
they were going to keep it 100. “Just because you’re family,
don’t mean that you could go behind their back and try to
snake ’em,” said Fatu. He noted that Solo Sikoa’s attempt to
take all the credit for his success was exactly why he had
to remind Sikoa at Money in the Bank what happens “when you
don’t get in where you fit in,” Before Fatu could go on any
further, Solo Sikoa interrupted on the Titantron.
Sikoa claimed that he brought Fatu in and made him into a
superstar by helping him become the champion he could be.
Sikoa said that next week, he was willing to take Fatu back
next week and that he needed to hear four words from him: “I
love you, Solo.” Sikoa warned Fatu that he brought him into
this world, and that he could take him out of it just as
easily.
Whether or not this segment between Sikoa and Fatu next week
will bring the debut of another Bloodline member or the
return of the Tongans to perhaps align against Fatu will be
interesting, to say the least.
**********
– Nick Aldis was backstage with Chelsea Green’s Secret
Hervice of Alba Fyre and Piper Niven, as Green herself was
FaceTiming and not in the arena. Aldis said that he was
putting Fyre in Green’s place for the Women’s King of the
Ring Qualifier match later tonight After Fyre and Niven
left, Zelina Vega entered and wanted to face off with Giulia
next week.
Queen of the Ring Qualifier Fatal-Four Way Match: Jade
Cargill vs. Nia Jax vs. Michin vs. Piper Niven
As Jax and Cargill faced off, we got Niven and Michin duking
it out as well. After Cargill and Michin took out their
respective foes, they entered the ring and got themselves
into a lockup. Cargill caught Michin for a tilt-a-whirl
backbreaker, as she tried for a suplex. Michin avoided hit
and delivered a running hurricanrana on Cargill followed by
a dropkick. Niven pulled Michin out of the ring and slammed
her right to the floor, along with a running senton on her
fallen foe.
In the ring, Jax recovered and went to work on Cargill, who
tried to fight from underneath. Jax dropped Cargill with a
Samoan Drop as Niven entered and hit a running senton on
Cargill. As Jax and Niven faced off, they agreed on a truce
against Cargill. That alliance seemed to go nowhere as
Cargill fought both off. With all three fighting it out at
ringside, Michin saw this as an opportunity to hit a
moonsault from the apron as we went to a break.
Back from commercial as Niven and Jax’s alliance was
starting to pay dividends at the expense of one Jade
Cargill. The two women continued to punish Cargill with a
flurry of running hip drops on her. Their truce broke down
as Niven’s pinfall attempt was stopped by Jax. Their
argument allowed Michin to enter the fray with hurricanranas
on Jax and Niven. Michin tried for a rana on Cargill, who
blocked that and turned it into a powerbomb for the two-
count.
After Niven took out Cargill, Michin caught her with Sliced
Bread. Jax broke up the count successfully, however. Niven
and Jax saw Cargill prone outside the ring and once again
teamed up as they threw her right into the commentary table,
as Wade Barrett got inadvertently taken out in the process!
In the ring, Michin tried her luck at fighting the two
titans facing her, but she got dropped by a double chokeslam
from Jax and Niven.
Jax turned against Niven with a headbutt to the cranium as
she had Michin at her mercy with the Annihilator. Niven
broke up the count, which led to her and Jax brawling it out
at ringside. Niven used her strength to send Jax through the
barricade. Inside the ring, Niven hit a Viper Bomb on
Michin, but Cargill stepped in at the last second to finish
things off with Jaded. One, two, three. This one’s done.
With Cargill’s victory, she will now face Roxanne Perez in
the Queen of the Ring semifinals.
Jade Cargill def. Piper Niven, Michin, and Nia Jax via
pinfall to advance to the King of the Ring semifinals
A fun fatal-four way match with some nice highlights like
Cargill getting thrown into the commentary table, as well as
the impressive-looking Jaded on Niven that closed out the
match.
**********
Naomi speaks about her Money in the Bank victory
Ms. Money in the Bank said that we were all looking real
surprised, and real shocked but she didn’t know why. She
said that she took what she deserved and now she had the
Money in the Bank contract. Naomi talked about how
throughout all the time she was fighting Nia Jax for the WWE
Women’s Championship, Tiffany Stratton was there to target
her. And now she was out for payback, and it was going to
feel so good when she hits Stratton with the Money in the
Bank Briefcase to become the new WWE Women’s Champion. This
brought out Tiffany Stratton herself to interrupt Naomi.
Stratton said that Naomi talked a big game, and asked why
she doesn’t just cash in that title right here and now. She
said that Naomi was all talk and no action, and that it was
her chance to prove everyone wrong. “Do I look stupid to
you?” asked Naomi, as she said that she was going to cash in
when Stratton least expect it. In the meantime, though, she
was going to enjoy making Stratton’s life hell, as she then
told her to “proceed with caution”.
As Stratton watched Naomi leave, Nia Jax attacked the WWE
Women’s Champion as she then took her out with the
Annihilator. Naomi looked like she was going to cash in, but
Jax scared her off.
Not sure how I feel about another retread of Tiffany
Stratton versus Nia Jax as hinted here, mainly because it’s
a feud that’s kinda been run into the ground at this point,
especially with Stratton having beaten Jax multiple times
now.
**********
– Earlier today, Nick Aldis met with SmackDown’s tag
division regarding what needed to be done with the Wyatt
Sicks. We learned that we’d see the Motor City Machine Guns
take on the Sicks in tag team action.
Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) vs. The
Wyatt Sicks (Dexter Lumis & Joe Gacy)
Gacy and Lumis started off fast with tandem offense that
left Sabin flat-footed. As the legal man, Lumis dropped
Sabin with a back suplex as Gacy entered the match and
continued the Sicks’ advantage. Springboard moonsault by
Gacy on Sabin maintained the attack against the tag veteran.
Gacy and Lumis looked to have double team move, but Sabin
avoided calamity as Shelley was tagged in. The Motor City
Machine Guns took over with stereo crossbody presses on Gacy
and Lumis as SmackDown took a commercial break.
We returned from the break with both Shelley and Gacy down
in the ring as the former got the hot tag on their partner.
A dropkick by Sabin sent Gacy back to his corner with Lumis
tagging himself in. Sabin kept control over Lumis with a
series of dropkicks as he then tagged in Shelley. On the
apron, the MCMGs hit a double-team dropkick on a stunned
Lumis outside the ring. Shelley and Sabin looked to have the
Skull and Bones, but Lumis escaped as Gacy hit the Machine
Guns with his springboard double clothesline.
Sabin escaped the clutches of the Sicks as he tagged Shelley
back in. The veteran Motor City Machine Guns ratcheted in
with a double team dropkick on Lumis as they once again
appeared to have Skull and Bones lock and loaded. Gacy saved
Lumis at the last second as the two looked towards Uncle
Howdy for instructions. Lumis then headed up top for a
legdrop on Sabin to score the victory for the returning
Wyatt Sicks.
The Wyatt Sicks def. Motor City Machine Guns via pinfall
(Joe Gacy pinned Chris Sabin)
It’s nice to see the Wyatt Sicks back after a long time away
from the ring, and this story of them going after the entire
SmackDown tag division does give them at least something to
do. This tag match contained lots of fast-paced tandem
offense between the two teams and I enjoyed it.
**********
– Backstage, John Cena confronted Jimmy Uso and asked if he
saw Ron Killings. Cena said that he was on the way to the
ring right now as he told Jimmy to tell Killings to meet him
in the ring.
John Cena calls out Ron Killings; CM Punk appears
For the second time of the night, John Cena was out in the
ring with a purpose. He got right to it as he said that
there was a level of disrespect he could tolerate. Cena said
that R-Truth crossed some lines as he then challenged him to
fight right now. However, instead of Ron Killings, the
static of CM Punk’s theme music interrupted. Punk himself
appeared not long after to a great reaction from the
Lexington crowd.
“Is it it great to be alive on a Friday night in Lexington,
Kentucky or what?” asked Punk to start off his promo. He
said that the people were tired of being disrespected by
Cena and that with a microphone in his hand, there are
levels of disrespect that haven’t been reached.
Maybe Punk was acting too much like Obi-Wan Kenobi looking
for Anakin Skywalker inside Darth Vader, but that he was
ready to put that aside so that Cena could give this great
Lexington crowd a happy ending.
“Why?” asked Cena, as he said it would be a waste of his
time. Cena said that the people don’t matter, basketball
didn’t matter, and horse racing didn’t matter, only being
champion mattered. Punk said that for the record, he did
give Cena an out, but he chose to do things the “CM Punk
Way” ironically. Punk said that he was going to get real
right now and that the disrespect was about to begin.
“You tell a strong man a lie to offend him,” Punk noted,
stating that it pissed him off when Cena called him a
hypocrite. “Conversely you tell a weak man the truth, and
that offends him,” Punk continued as he said Cena couldn’t
beat him and if Cena was out to ruin wrestling, he was going
to save it instead.
Punk talked about he might not be as confident a man dressed
like he struck out at t-ball (as Cena is apparently dressed
as tonight), which he pointed out made him sound like PG
John Cena. He then dug further and said Cena’s talk about
“ruining wrestling and taking away the title” made him sound
like CM Punk, ironically enough.
Punk said that he was going to follow Cena to Mars or Hell
just to beat his ass for the title. He said that he sees
right through Cena and that he always has, and that was the
truth.
And speaking of the Truth, Ron Killings once again snuck up
on Cena and struck him from behind. Killings applied a STF
on Cena as Punk mocked him, “and the Truth hurts.” Security
and officials poured in to keep Killings away from Cena as
the Champ retreated.
A good promo from Punk, but again, I’m not entirely too sure
about the idea of his previous reluctance to wrestle in
Saudi Arabia and the subsequent negative connotations about
these WWE/Saudi shows being used in-story.
**********
– Ron Killings was pacing back and forth backstage as Nick
Aldis admonished him for his attacks on John Cena. Aldis
asked Killings what it is that Killings wanted, as the
former R-Truth answered that he wanted a match against John
Cena next week. Aldis obliged and made it official: John
Cena vs. Ron Killings next week on SmackDown.
Queen of the Ring Fatal-Four Way: Alexa Bliss vs. Alba Fyre
vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Candice LeRae
LeRae went after Bliss as Fyre targeted Flair in the early
goings of this match. Flair fought off Fyre and threw Bliss
onto LeRae in the corner before she tossed her out of the
ring. Flair teed off on Fyre and LeRae with cascading chops,
but the two ended up taking advantage as they teamed up on
Flair. The two showed some surprising teamwork for a bit,
but Flair managed to fight them off. Bliss re-entered the
fray with a diving crossbody on Flair. An attempted Sister
Abigail by Bliss was broken up by Fyre and LeRae as we got a
break in the action.
Friday Night SmackDown returned with Flair on the top rope
as LeRae and Fyre intercepted her at the pass. Bliss emerged
and we got the Tower of Doom superplex that took everyone
save for Bliss out on the canvas.
Bliss stood up first as she went to town on her competitors
up until a codebreaker by LeRae stopped her advance. In the
ensuing chaos, Flair hit Natural Selection on Bliss as she
locked in the Figure Eight. LeRae broke it up with a
springboard Lionsault as Fyre dropped Flair with a reverse
facebuster. The cover, but Bliss broke it up in the nick of
time. Bliss dropped Fyre with a DDT as she headed up top and
connected with Twisted Bliss. One, two… Flair stops the
count just in time! LeRae rolled up Flair, but to no avail.
A spear by Flair on LeRae nearly had the match won. Flair
locked in Fyre in the Figure Eight, but Bliss hit LeRae with
Sister Abigail. The cover by Bliss and the three is enough
as Fyre didn’t tap out in time.
Alexa Bliss def. Candice LeRae, Charlotte Flair, and, Alba
Fyre via pinfall to advance to the King of the Ring
Semifinals
The finish with Bliss getting the pin while Charlotte
attempted in vain to make Fyre tap out to her submission
made for a good way to end this contest.
**********
– Backstage, CM Punk wished Cody Rhodes good luck in his
main event King of the Ring qualifier match coming up next.
Next Week on SmackDown:
King of the Ring Semifinals 1: Randy Orton vs. Sami Zayn
Queen of the Ring Semifinals 1: Alexa Bliss vs. ???
Ron Killings vs. John Cena
King of the Ring Qualifying Fatal-Four Way Match:
Cody Rhodes vs. Damian Priest vs. Andrade vs. Shinsuke
Nakamura
The bell sounded and all four men simply sized each other up
before Nakamura rolled out of the ring, but Rhodes took
exception as he dove through the ropes to take him out.
Andrade would then dropkick Rhodes to the outside as he and
Priest duked it out in the ring. Priest hit a Broken Arrow
on Andrade, which allowed Rhodes to strike. Outside the
ring, Nakamura attacked both Priest and Rhodes as Andrade
headed up top. An impressive moonsault from the post by
Andrade took out Priest, Rhodes, and Nakamura as we got
ourselves a commercial break.
Our main event returned with Nakamura sending Andrade to the
outside, as he then hit a nice sliding German suplex on
Priest. In the opposite corner, Nakamura stomped away on
Rhodes, but missed out on a running knee strike, which
opened him to a figure-four from the American Nightmare. Off
the top rope, Andrade splashed onto Rhodes to break the
hold, while Priest went to work on both men. Priest headed
outside and leapt off the steel steps to hit an axe handle
on Nakamura.
Priest tried to go for Old School, but Rhodes cut him off,
which gave Nakamura a chance to break up the hold. Armbar by
Nakamura is broken up by Rhodes, as the former Undisputed
WWE Champion pulled out the Slim Jim-branded table and set
it up at ringside. Rhodes grabbed Andrade and looked to
deliver a superplex, but couldn’t. Priest joined in, but
Nakamura stopped the attempt. Nakamura then dropkicked
Rhodes from the apron, which sent him right into the Slim
Jim table, which took us to the final commercial break of
the night.
We returned from break with Andrade and Nakamura in a
standoff at the top rope until Priest interrupted the
proceedings. After Priest dropped Nakamura with a slam,
Andrade soared with a moonsault as Nakamura recovered to
kick Andrade in the face. At that moment, Cody Rhodes
recovered and went on a tear against his three opponents.
Disaster Kick to Andrade, followed by an attempted Cross
Rhodes on Nakamura, but that gets countered. Modified
Kinshasa by Nakamura wasn’t enough as Andrade broke up the
pin.
With Nakamura in the corner, Andrade hit the running
Meteora. He tried to do the same to Priest, but he was
intercepted. Spinning elbow by Andrade on Priest was
followed by The Message. Nakamura, however, broke up the pin
attempt by Andrade. As Rhodes stirred back up, Nakamura and
Andrade dueled, which opened them up for a double Cody
Cutter. Priest’s Razor’s Edge was reversed into a Cody
Cutter. Rhodes delivered Cross Rhodes onto Andrade as
Nakamura snuck up on him and looked to finish off the
American Nightmare. Rhodes escaped and hit Cross Rhodes.
One, two, three, and that’s it, over. Cody Rhodes wins and
advances to the King of the Ring Semifinals.
Cody Rhodes def. Shinsuke Nakamura, Damian Priest, and
Andrade via pinfall
Certainly an expected outcome in SmackDown’s main event, but
it was at least a fun one. The unpredictability will come if
Cody advances to the King of the Ring finals and faces
either Orton or Sami Zayn.
All in all, a standard SmackDown show that was at least
engaging at some points, with some entertaining in-ring
action and a nice followup on the Ron Killings/John Cena
story. The build towards King of the Ring is looking a bit
predictable, but it should be interesting if there’ll be a
curveball or two thrown our way to spice things up.