Posted on 6/21/125 by Bob Magee
After a live shot of the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids,
Michigan, we were welcomed by shots of Randy Orton, Sami
Zayn, Alexa Bliss, Asuka, plus Solo Sikoa and JC Mateo
arriving to the arena. We then saw Ron “The Truth” Killings
before we got LA Knight making his way down to the ring to
open SmackDown proper. Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett talked
about Knight’s involvement in the King of the Ring fatal-
four way qualifier from Raw this past Monday.
LA Knight opens SmackDown
“Let me talk to ya,” Knight started off the proceedings in
his usual manner. He circled back to Money in the Bank where
Seth Rollins and his faction screwed him over, something he
couldn’t let slide, so he decided to pay it back by screwing
one of them (Bron Breakker) out of the King of the Ring.
When Rollins’ faction took out Knight last week in his King
of the Ring qualifier, Knight decided to screw over the
other member of the group (Bronson Reed) in response. Knight
then said that there was only one way this would end: with
Seth Rollins himself facing off against him right here and
now.
The voice of Paul Heyman signaled the arrival of Rollins’
Wise Man to the arena. Heyman admonished the crowd for
booing Rollins’ name and “screwing up the cue”, so he did
the introduction again. Knight told Heyman to shut up and
get to the point by asking why he was here. Heyman entered
the ring and siad that there was indeed a lot of bad blood
between Knight and Rollins. However, with all due respect to
the Grand Rapids crowd, Heyman said that he was the
“biggest” LA Knight fan in all of WWE. As such, Seth
Rollins, according to Heyman, has allowed him to say that
Knight needs to get the hell out of Grand Rapids, Michigan
because something bad will happen to him before the end of
the night.
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Knight responded by saying that he’s heard Heyman make that
threat before because he’s a swindler and someone who
leeches on to someone “hot” to leech on their popularity.
Knight said that if Heyman couldn’t bring Seth Rollins to
him, then there was only one thing that they could do
instead: LA Knight versus Paul Heyman right now. Knight said
he was going to take his stuff off and turn his back on
Heyman to give him the first shot, stating to make it count
otherwise he’d make it hurt.
Heyman rolled out of the ring and said that his threat to
Knight wasn’t a prediction, it was a spoiler. On cue, Bron
Breakker and Bronson Reed walked down the stage and made
their way to go after Knight in a two-on-one assault.
Rollins’ vanguard had their way with Knight as the announce
table was ripped apart in the melee. Before the two could do
any more damage, Knight emerged from the timekeeper area
with a steel chair and used it wisely in warding off
Breakker and Reed. Heyman returned to ringside and got the
two to back off for now.
– Backstage, Heyman talked with Breakker and Reed, stating
that they’d have everything in control. Byron Saxton showed
up to inform the group that Nick Aldis has made Bronson Reed
versus LA Knight official for later tonight.
Queen of the Ring Semifinal: Alexa Bliss versus Asuka
Asuka and Bliss circled the ring as the bell rang before
they got into a lockup. Asuka blocked a Bliss shoulder
block, but got felled by a dropkick instead. The recently-
returned Empress answered with a shoulder block of her own
as she then followed with a hip attack that sent Bliss out
of the ring to take us into a break in the action.
We returned with Asuka having her way with Bliss by way of a
submission hold. Bliss escaped and launched into Asuka with
a flip neckbreaker, followed by a senton for the two-count.
Asuka recovered and answered with a flurry of strikes,
followed by a snap German suplex and a knee to the face of
Bliss. One, two… not enough. Bliss dodged a big kick from
Asuka for the roll-up, but found herself in a roll-up of her
own after a failed Sister Abigal attempt.
With Bliss still recovering, Asuka headed up top for the
missile dropkick, but Bliss blocked it as she hit her
signature DDT for the close near fall. Bliss went up to the
top rope and had Asuka in position for Twisted Bliss, but
hesitated as she dropped down. Asuka took advantage and
locked in her Asuka Lock armbar hold on Bliss, who escaped
in desperation by rolling towards the rope. Hangman’s
neckbreaker by Asuka kept Bliss grounded momentary. Bliss
intercepted an attempted running attack from Asuka and
placed her in a tree-of-woe position for the dropkick. She
headed up top to look for the Twisted Bliss once more, but
Asuka blocked it with her knees, which stunned Bliss long
enough for Asuka’s Empress Impact knee for the one, two,
three. Asuka wins to earn a berth in the Queen of the Ring
finals.
Asuka def. Alexa Bliss via pinfall to advance to the Queen
of the Ring Finals
Solid opening bout between two talented women wrestlers.
It’s great to see Asuka back in the fold and looking as good
as ever in the ring, and she and Bliss had themselves a
great match right here..
**********
– Backstage, Jade Cargill, B-Fab, and Michin were seen
watching the previous match. B-Fab and Michin said that it
was maybe time to make their own impact in the women’s tag
division and headed off to talk to Nick Aldis about it.
Byron Saxton then interviewed Cargill about facing Roxanne
Perez on Raw next Monday and the possibility of facing Asuka
in the Queen of the Ring Finals.
– Alexa Bliss was confronted by Chelsea Green and the Secret
Hervice, but then soon found themselves joined by Charlotte
Flair. Which led to Charlotte challenging Green to a match
later tonight. Green got upset Bliss stated that she didn’t
need Flair’s help, to which Flair said that she wasn’t there
to help Bliss at all.
Aleister Black versus Kit Wilson
Before the match could even get started, Kit Wilson was
attacked by Ron Killings in the ring. Killings locked in the
STF before he took the microphone. Killings angrily demanded
that John Cena get out here now to face him right now.
The usual gaggle of security officials and road agents
showed up to calm Killings down, as Jamie Noble in
particular got Killings to leave the ring peacefully, and
the scheduled Black vs. Wilson match apparently called off
on the account of Killings’ pre-match attack.
Aleister Black versus Kit Wilson never took place
**********
– We got a Papa Johns’ sponsored recap of Goldberg’s return
and subsequent challenge to Gunther for Saturday Night’s
Main Event.
– Jamie Noble continued to talk to Ron Killings, who was
angry about John Cena not showing up. Aleister Black then
confronted Killings for interrupting his match, but Damian
Priest appeared to to keep the peace. As Black left, Priest
called out Killings for his anger and told him to focus that
rage on John Cena later tonight instead. Priest promised
that he and Killings would go out for a night downtown later
once Cena was taken care of.
Cody Rhodes addresses King of the Ring
Before Rhodes could even utter a single word, the theme of
his King of the Ring semifinals opponent, Jey Uso,
interrupted. Out came the “Yeet Man” himself to a loud
reaction from the Grand Rapids crowd. The crowd continued to
do the Yeet dance and chants as Uso made his way down to the
ring. Once everything calmed down somewhat, Uso called for
another encore as his theme music played once more.
After that was done with, Uso started by telling Rhodes that
he didn’t even have to say anything because they’ve both
been in the trenches together. From fighting one another, to
fighting together as tag champions, to finishing their
respective stories at WrestleMania. However, on Monday,
there’s only room for one of them. Uso said he knows that
Rhodes is going to bring it, and that it’s nothing personal,
but it’s only business. At the end of it all, though, Uso
said that there’d be only four letters, one word, uh-uh…
Yeet.
As Rhodes and Uso showed respect, Sami Zayn entered the ring
and joined in. As he took the microphone, Zayn said that he
got to share the ring with two great friends, who are also
two of the greatest that the business has to offer. He said
that between the three of them standing in the ring, there
was only one who wasn’t a World Champion. Zayn said he was
proud of Jey Uso for winning at WrestleMania, and that he
was the first one to congratulate Cody Rhodes for finishing
his story at WrestleMania. With that, Zayn said he hoped
Rhodes and Uso understood that it was time to finish his own
story.
“Voices” rang through the Van Andel Arena, which brought out
Zayn’s King of the Ring semifinal foe, Randy Orton to the
ring. Orton reiterated to Rhodes what he said last week
about doing whatever it takes to get to John Cena and win
his 15th World Championship. He turned his attention to Uso
and said while he had respect for him, it’d be “three
letters and one move” if he faced off with Jey in the King
of the Ring Finals. Orton then said that he meant every word
that one day, Sami Zayn will be a World Champion, but
SummerSlam won’t be that day. That’s because of the three
most dangerous letters in sports entertainment: R-K-O. The
segment ended with Cody Rhodes not even getting a chance to
say a single word.
**********
King of the Ring Semifinals: Randy Orton versus Sami Zayn
The match started after the commercial break with Zayn
having Orton caught in an arm submission that eventually got
countered into a classic Orton resthold. After that
submission exchange, Zayn cornered Orton with repeated chops
that sent him out of the ring. Zayn looked like he was going
for a dive to the outside, but Orton backed off, which
caused Zayn to backtrack at the last second. Orton took his
time to get himself back in the ring and trapped Zayn in the
corner, which led to the referee breaking it up. Orton gave
Zayn a poke in the eye in the scuffle.
The fight moved to the outside, with Orton nailing his
trademark announce table back suplex on Zayn. Amidst the
crowd’s chants of “one more time”, Orton obliged and hit
another announce table back suplex on Zayn, which took us to
a break mid-match.
SmackDown returned with Orton teeing off on Zayn with a
punch to the head. Zayn did a springboard dodge to leap
behind Orton as he then floored him with a clothesline. Zayn
connected with a big elbow followed by the axe handle.
Zayn’s Blue Thunder Bomb attempt was countered by Orton, who
unloaded with his clotheslines, followed by a vintage scoop
powerslam. Orton kept up momentum with the draped DDT on the
ropes.
Orton had Zayn in his sights for an RKO, but Zayn rolled out
of the ring to avoid calamity. Orton stepped out of the ring
and slammed Zayn’s face against the announce table. Orton
tried for yet another table back suplex, but Zayn countered
and gave Orton a taste of his own medicine instead. In the
ring, Zayn avoided a shoulder charge from Orton, which sent
the Viper into the ringpost instead.
Zayn targeted Orton for a Helluva Kick, but got intercepted
into a snap powerslam for his troubles. One, two… Zayn just
barely kicked out! Orton dodged a Helluva Kick at the last
second, as he looked to connect with the RKO. Zayn turned
that around and turned it into a Blue Thunder Bomb. Orton
just somehow kicked out at the last possible second. Zayn
headed up top and missed on a dive. Orton’s first RKO was
blocked, but one last attempt sealed the deal for the Viper
as the pin and win put him in the King of the Ring finals.
Randy Orton def. Sami Zayn via pinfall to advance to the
King of the Ring Finals
Some really good stuff from Orton and Zayn here, and there
were a few moments throughout where I though Zayn would pull
off the upset win. That said, while Orton’s win moves us to
(likely) a showdown with Cody Rhodes at King of the Ring,
what happens now with Zayn after this loss — and especially
with Karrion Kross being a thorn in his side will be
interesting to see. In any case, Orton vs. Zayn delivered a
fantastic match.
**********
Nia Jax addresses her attack on Tiffany Stratton
Jax started by saying that Tiffany Stratton approached her
to get some guidance, and that she repaid that help by
supposedly betraying her. The WWE Women’s Champion herself
interrupted and called Jax the “toxic ex she couldn’t get
away from”, and told her to admit that she’s so just so much
better than her. Jax said that Stratton should prove it by
facing her again without a kicking a chair in her face.
Stratton said that she agreed, and that next week… she will
face Jax for the WWE Women’s Title in a Last Woman Standing
match. Jax and Stratton brawled for a bit, with Jax getting
the better of Stratton and flooring her with a series of leg
drops.
Naomi ran down to the ring and tried to cash in Money in the
Bank on the fallen Stratton, but Jax pulled her out of the
ring repeatedly to prevent it. Stratton recovered and kicked
Naomi off the apron, which sent her crashing onto Jax.
Stratton took this time to make her escape while Naomi and
Jax were left laying in front of the announce table.
**********
– A video package of CM Punk and John Cena’s rivalry was
shown.
Charlotte Flair versus Chelsea Green (w/ Piper Niven & Alba
Fyre)
Green wrestled with her face mask covering her broken nose.
The match started off with Green cheapshotting Flair and
getting the advantage early on. Flair rolled over the
turnbuckle and landed on her feet on the apron to create
some separation between her and Green. Flair fended off
Piper Niven and Alba Fyre at ringside before she headed up
top with a diving fist strike on Green. With the referee
distracted by Niven at ringside, this allowed Fyre to get on
the apron to grab at Flair, which gave Green the opening to
hit a neckbreaker on the former WWE Women’s Champion. That
took us to a break in the action.
We returned with Flair attempting to mount a comeback as she
fired away with chops on Green’s chest before she took her
down with suplex. Flair gave Green a mocking salute before
tried to set up for the Figure-Eight. Alba Fyre got on the
apron to cross a distraction, as Green nailed a Rough Ryder.
Green took off her mask and looked to put Flair away with
the Un-Pretty-Her, but couldn’t connect. Flair hit a Spear,
but Green kicked out. In the ensuing chaos, Flair applied
the Figure-Eight on Green, who tapped out.
Flair didn’t have time to celebrate as Piper Niven stormed
the ring and delivered a Senton. Alba Fyre and Green joined
in on the attack of Flair before Alexa Bliss made the save.
Bliss hit the Sister Abigail on Green as the Secret Hervice
were forced into a retreat. Bliss tried to offer a hand to
Flair, but she got rebuked instead.
Charlotte Flair def. Chelsea Green via submission.
Not much to write home about in terms of this match, and its
main purpose was to largely continue the weird sorta-
alliance/frenemy situation that’s unfolding with Charlotte
and Alexa Bliss.
**********
– JC Mateo was seen taping himself up as he asked Solo Sikoa
what the plan would be for Jacob Fatu. Sikoa said that there
wouldn’t be a need for anything physical as tonight would be
the night Fatu “comes home”.
Will Jacob Fatu rejoin Solo Sikoa?
Solo Sikoa got into the ring and said that he was out here
alone and ready to welcome Jacob Fatu with open arms, as he
then called out the United States Champion so they could
talk things over. Fatu entered the scene with his U.S. Title
in tow and the crowd cheering him on.
Once Fatu entered the ring, he and Sikoa stared one another
down. Sikoa said that he wasn’t here to fight Fatu, because
he wanted it to be known that he always loved Fatu, no
matter what. Sikoa said that one thing he learned about
being Tribal Chief was learning to love family, even when
they fight and argue. He pledged Fatu to move forward and do
things together as one.
Sikoa insisted that nobody wanted Fatu here, except him.
Which is why he brought him into WWE to help change his life
and to put food on the table for his family. And he did all
that because Sikoa claimed to love Fatu, and that he didn’t
have anybody else to turn to. Sikoa said that Fatu was all
he got and all he needed. Even if Fatu didn’t say those four
words, Solo was willing to say those four words for
everybody to hear. “I love you, Jacob,” said Sikoa.
Fatu got his chance to respond, asking if it comes down to
“loving” him. Fatu said that Sikoa was using him to gain
power, fight his battles, and to stay Tribal Chief. “Hell,
you brought me in, so I could bring you fame? So I could
bring you gold?” asked Fatu. The U.S. Champion said that
Sikoa was the one who was acting different ever since Fatu
won. Maybe, the problem, as Fatu said, was the U.S. Title
itself. Fatu laid it down on the mat and asked Sikoa to
fight him for the title.
Fatu then threatened Sikoa, stating that if he ever came his
way, then he knows what’s coming. Sikoa tried to attack Fatu
with the Samoan Spike, but he got caught instead. JC Mateo
entered the ring and helped Sikoa take down Fatu. The two
Neo-Bloodline members attacked Fatu in a two-on-one assault
until Jimmy Uso attempted to make the save. Mateo and and
Sikoa got the better of Jimmy until Fatu recovered and made
short work of the two. Fatu and Jimmy shared a tense
staredown as the former tried to hit his jumping moonsault
on Sikoa, who rolled out of harm’s way.
**********
Bronson Reed (w/ Paul Heyman & Bron Breakker) versus LA
Knight
Knight snuck up on Breakker from the crowd to throw him into
the ring post, which angered him greatly. Reed got Breakker
to calm down as the match became officially underway.
Reed blocked an Irish whip attempt, but missed on a shoulder
charge into the corner, which gave Knight the opening to
stomp away on him. Reed recovered and wanted to slam Knight,
but got countered into a kick to the face instead. On the
apron, Knight tried to leap at Reed, but got caught. A
jumping neckbreaker by Knight was subsequently countered by
Reed through the use of his size.
Knight avoided a senton from Reed as he headed up top and
caught him with a diving neckbreaker. Reed rolled out of the
ring and blocked Knight’s baseball slide dropkick. Knight
tried again for a high-risk move and connected with the dive
onto Reed to the outside, which took us to a break.
We returned from break with Reed attempting a superplex on
Knight from the top rope. Knight battled to break free and
won out, as he shoved Reed down to the mat. Knight had him
in position for his jumping leaping elbow. One, two… Reed
kicked out! Knight’s BFT attempt was countered by Reed, who
landed a Death Valley Driver for the near-fall.
Reed lifted Knight up and delivered a thumbs down as he
looked for a powerbomb. Knight reversed that into a DDT.
Breakker got on the apron but got smacked down by Knight for
his troubles. Reed got sent to the outside as Knight looked
for a dive… but Breakker hit a Spear on Knight to cause the
DQ finish.
As Reed held Knight in position, Breakker hit his super
Spear with brutal force. Reed then followed that up with
consecutive Tsunamis. As referees got shooed away, Reed
headed up top and hit a final devastating Tsunami on Knight.
The vanguard of Seth Rollins’ faction stood tall as it
appeared that Paul Heyman’s threat was quite accurate.
LA Knight def. Bron Breakker via DQ
Just a standard match, but the post-match angle does give
the muscle of Seth Rollins’ as-of-yet nameless group some
needed menace.
**********
Next Week on SmackDown
Women’s United States Championship Match: Zelina Vega (c)
vs. Giulia
WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The Street Profits (c) vs.
The Wyatt Sicks’ Joe Gacy and Dexter Lumis
WWE Women’s Championship Match (Last Woman Standing):
Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Nia Jax
– We learned from Jacob Fatu that he will defend the United
States Championship against Solo Sikoa next Saturday at
Night of Champions.
Ron Killings versus John Cena
Killings started off hot by tackling Cena and forcing him to
the outside as he aggressively went after the Undisputed WWE
Champion at ringside. Back in the ring, Killings threw Cena
into the corner with force as we headed to a picture-in-
picture break. Killings performed Cena’s own shoulder
tackles and then the spin-out powerbomb as seen in picture-
in-picture.
SmackDown returned from picture-in-picture with Cena nailing
the Five-Knuckle Shuffle on Killings. Attitude Adjustment
attempted, but Killings escaped and hit a Lou Thesz Press in
response. Cena rolled out of the ring and took his WWE
Championship, seemingly walking out on the match. Killings
tried to go after Cena, but got blasted with the WWE Title,
causing a DQ.
Ron Killings def. John Cena via Disqualification
CM Punk ran down and started to scuffle with Cena. Punk
attempted to hit Cena with the WWE Title, but got blasted
with a kick to the groin. Cena answered with a belt shot of
his own before he took the Slim Jim-branded table from
underneath the ring.
Cena struck Punk with the WWE Title once more as he
delivered an Attitude Adjustment through the Slim Jim table.
Cena grabbed a microphone and started his own version of the
Pipe Bomb promo.
Cena said that he hopes Punk can listen and digest, because
before he can leave in six months with the WWE Title,
there’s a lot of things he has to get off his chest. Cena
said that he doesn’t hate Punk, but he hates the idea that
Punk is the best in the world. Cena called himself as the
Greatest of All Time, and that Punk is the “greatest
bullshitter of all time”.
Cena said that he’s jealous of Punk because of how he’s
conned everyone into believing in the myth that he’s the
best in the world, but they don’t believe a goddamn thing he
says, because Punk changes his values as much as Cena
changes his shirts. Cena gave a Punk-like shoutout to Nick
Nemeth, Matt Cardona, and Claudio Castagnoli. Cena accused
Punk of regurgitating the same “five microphone moves of
doom”, stating that Punk is no longer the “voice of the
voiceless”, but a capitalist. Cena said that Punk isn’t
against TKO, but he’s “Mr. TKO”.
Cena said that at Saudi Arabia, Punk is going to face some
loud music in the form of the fact that it’s been Cena who’s
been the greatest of all time for over 25 years. He said
that Punk was “best in the world” for 7 minutes and 14 years
ago. And after at Night of Champions, if Punk does prove
he’s the best in the world, then it’s a small world after
all. “You’re welcome, Grand Rapids,” said Cena.
Cena demanded that Punk better bring his A-Game to Night of
Champions because if Grand Rapids is any indication, the
mood is starting to change. Cena told Punk to rest up
because at Night of Champions, it would be the Greatest of
All Time versus Best in the World, and that it would The
Champ would be here. “I just ripped off your own promo to
make you look foolish,” Cena concluded his promo.
As iffy as the idea of using CM Punk’s history of refusing
to work in Saudi Arabia as part of this build is, this Cena
promo was at least a decent inversion of the Pipebomb. That
said, the committment to this evil John Cena gimmick
continues to face resistance from a crowd that just wants to
cheer the guy regardless, so the moment he turns face is
essentially just now on a ticking clock. I don’t begrudge
Cena for having fun being the bad guy, but it’s quite clear
that the crowd would just rather cheer him.
SmackDown this week was kind of middle of the road, with
nothing really sticking out for me personally, other than
the excellent Orton vs. Zayn and Asuka vs. Bliss matches, as
well as Cena’s Pipebomb parody Everything else felt just
kinda there, and I do wonder what the impending move to two
hours in two week’s time will mean for the overall flow of
the show.