Posted on 6/28/125 by Bob Magee
– Over a live shot of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Michael Cole
welcomed us to tonight’s show. We then got an elaborate pyro
display inside the Kingdom Arena to kick off the night.
– Tiffany Stratton, Nia Jax, the Street Profits, Zelina
Vega, Giulia, Jade Cargill, and Asuka were all shown
arriving in the arena.
Cody Rhodes kicks off SmackDown
“The American Nightmare” arrived to a great ovation from the
Riyadh crowd as he headed down to the ring to open up
SmackDown. The King of the Ring crown was on a podium in the
middle of the ring.
Before Rhodes could say a single word, his King of the Ring
opponent, Randy Orton interrupted as the fans sang along to
his theme song. Orton got himself a microphone and asked the
fans if they watched Raw this past Monday and if they saw
Cody Rhodes face Jey Uso. He put over the match as a
potential Slammy Award candidate for “Match of the Year”.
Orton then told Rhodes that he needed to be the King of the
Ring, because the crown stood for redemption because he made
it to the KOTR finals last year but lost to Gunther.
On the USA Network broadcast of SmackDown, a disclaimer ran
stating that the Orton/Rhodes segment experienced technical
issues during the initial live broadcast of this episode.
The segment, as aired on USA, appeared to be shot with the
ringside cameras for the portions that didn’t air on the
live broadcast in the afternoon.
Orton said that the crown also stood for retribution against
John Cena because what the Undisputed WWE Champion did to
him in Backlash in front of his family and friends. He
needed to right that wrong as well. Orton told Rhodes that
everyone knew how much they respected one another, but he
couldn’t let his personal feelings about Cody get in the way
in the gold. He said that he would do anything and
everything to make sure he’d leave Riyadh as King of the
Ring.
Rhodes responded by saying he was thankful for everything
that a student could want to hear from his teacher,
referring to the kind remarks that Orton said about him a
couple of months ago. He said he knew Orton needed to win
it, but whether it’s John Cena or CM Punk, he needed to win
King of the Ring more. Rhodes concluded by saying that
tomorrow, “RKO” will still be the most dangerous three
letters in WWE, but Orton wouldn’t be King of the Ring after
all was said and done. That’s because, as Rhodes said, he’d
win.
**********
– Solo Sikoa and JC Mateo were backstage, as the former gave
his ally an order to make Jimmy Uso remember what it feels
like to have no backup with him in his match coming up now.
Jimmy Uso versus JC Mateo (w/ Solo Sikoa)
Mateo used his strength to ram Uso into the corner before he
blasted him with repeated strikes as the referee pulled him
away. This gave Uso the time to mount a bit of a fightback,
but Mateo grounded him right away. Uso kicked Mateo down to
the outside and looked for a dive, but Solo Sikoa got in the
way and stopped him from taking a dive as we got a break in
the action.
We returned from break with Mateo catching Uso after a top
rope dive and slamming him down to the math. Mateo impressed
with a standing moonsault onto Uso for the near-fall. Mateo
then continued to work over Uso’s back with a reverse
bearhug submission. Uso escaped and took down Mateo with a
corkscrew from the top rope, which created some much-needed
separation for him.
Uso began his comeback with strikes a-plenty, but he
couldn’t lift Mateo up for a Samoan Drop. Uso answered with
a kick to the face instead, before crunching Mateo in the
corner with a running hip strike. As Mateo retreated
outside, he got blasted by a suicide dive from Uso. At
ringside, Solo Sikoa grabbed at Uso’s leg to create a
momentary distraction, which allowed Mateo to recover and
put an end to things with the Tour of the Islands.
After the match, Sikoa talked with Uso and tried to curry
favor with him. An offer for a hug was refused with a slap
to Sikoa’s face. This led to Mateo and Sikoa beating down
Uso until Jacob Fatu ran in for the save. The United States
Champion caught Mateo with his pop-up Samoan Drop before he
faced down Sikoa, who wisely backed out. This allowed Fatu
to hit his jumping moonsault onto Mateo. Uso and Fatu faced
down one another before Jimmy pushed Fatu out of the way to
hit an attacking Sikoa with a superkick.
JC Mateo def. Jimmy Uso via pinfall
All signs seem to point to Jacob Fatu losing his U.S.
Championship tomorrow at Night of Champions, but the stuff
with Fatu and Jimmy Uso as uneasy allies is a bit of an
interesting story.
**********
– #DIY, the self-appointed leaders of the SmackDown Tag Team
Division tried to rally the other teams to do something
about the Wyatt Sicks. SmackDown GM Nick Aldis entered the
scene and made a match for Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa
against Andrade and a mystery partner.
– Giulia and Zelina Vega made separate remarks about their
Women’s United States Championship match coming up next.
Women’s United States Championship Match: Zelina Vega (c)
vs. Giulia
Vega tried to go for an early pinfall attempt but got met by
some pinfall attempts from Giulia as a result. The two women
exchanged kicks before Giulia took advantage with a suplex.
Vega answered with a knee that sent Giulia to the outside,
as she then flew off the top with a moonsault.
SmackDown returned with Vega caught in a submission by
Giulia as she then got stomped onto the mat. As Vega rolled
to the outside, Giullia looked to continue the punishment,
but Vega threw her against the stairs and hit a running
Meteora on to the prone Giulia. Inside the ring, Vega went
on the attack, as she countered an attempt of the Northern
Lights Bomb by Giulia. From the top rope, Vega caught Giulia
with another Meteora for the near-fall.
As Vega tried to head to the top, Giulia intercepted and hit
an amazing superplex. Vega recovered landed a Code Red, but
Giulia rolled on the pin so that her feet touched the ropes.
A missed moonsault led to consecutive Arrivederci Knees from
Giulia, followed by the Northern Lights Bomb, which brought
Giulia the Women’s United States Championship.
Giulia def. Zelina Vega via pinfall to win the Women’s
United States Championship
A good enough match that seemed rough in some spots, but we
got the right winner in all of this as Giulia wins her first
main-roster championship title. What comes next for Giulia
as a champion on SmackDown should be fun to see.
**********
– The commentators made note of SmackDown heading to two
hours last week before tossing to a recap of everything that
went down between Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair last week.
Backstage, Charlotte was walking and met by Alexa Bliss, who
proposed that they not necessarily be friends, but allies of
mutual benefit.
Queen of the Ring Finals Interview
Wade Barrett was in the ring as he prepared to interview
Jade Cargill and Asuka about their Queen of the Ring finals
match taking place at Night of Champions tomorrow.
Once both women were in the ring, Barrett asked Cargill
about what made her so confident that she’d be able to beat
Asuka tomorrow. Cargill answered by saying that when she
sees Asuka, she sees an opportunity to prove why she belongs
here. She said that at Summerslam, she didn’t just plan on
taking the title, but taking the whole damn throne.
Asuka replied by saying that Cargill may be strong, but
power isn’t everything. She said that she has skills and
experience. She said that nobody was ready for Asuka. Before
Cargill could provide a rebuttal, Ms. Money in the Bank,
Naomi interrupted.
Naomi said that while Asuka and Cargill are fighting for
Queen of the Ring, she has all the power. Naomi teased that
she could cash in during the Last Woman Standing match
tonight or at Night of Champions tomorrow. She said that she
had the power to ruin all of Cargill’s dreams just like
that. As Naomi walked down to the ring, Cargill got
frustrated and pushed past Asuka to go after her. This
titled Asuka the wrong way as she laid out Cargil with a
kick. Naomi got on the apron and taunted Cargill.
**********
– Nick Aldis and Adam Pearce were backstage talking about
their plans for the Women’s Tag Team Championship when
Aleister Black interrupted them. Ron Killings stormed into
the scene and was still looking for John Cena after what
happened last week. Aldis said that Cena was here for CM
Punk, but Killings would have none of it, as he left in
search of Cena. Black soon left as well, seemingly in
pursuit of Killings.
– The cmmentators recapped Los Garza winning the AAA World
Tag Titles at TripleMania Regia two weeks ago.
#DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) versus Andrade & Rey
Fenix
Andrade and Ciampa started things off in this match with a
lockup exchange. Andrade backed Ciampa into his team’s
corner as Fenix tagged in and the two launched a salvo of
double team attacks. With both #DIY members draped across
the middle ropes, they got rocked by tandem kicks from Fenix
and Andrade. Up top, Fenix and Andrade soared and took down
Gargano and Ciampa on the outside with stereo dives.
We returned from the break with #DIY looking to take
advantage against Fenix, but the speedy luchadore avoided
calamity to create some needed separation. Before Andrade
could get tagged in, Gargano pulled him off the apron, which
opened Fenix to get blasted with a running knee to the back
of the head by Ciampa.
On the top rope, Fenix fended off Ciampa and walked across
the top rope to kick him square in the face. Andrade finally
got the hot tag as he was a house of fire against both
Gargano and Ciampa. Andrade caught Gargano’s slingshot spear
and hit him with an elbow, followed by a reverse tornado
DDT. One, two… not quite #DIY caught Andrade with a Shatter
Machine, but couldn’t get the match done as we got yet
another break in the action.
We resumed with Andrade and Gargano once again in a standoff
on the top rope. Gargano tried to do a rolling powerbomb,
but Andrade blocked it and hit his running knees in the
corner. Double stomp by Andrade on Gargano wasn’t enough.
Fenix took Ciampa out of the equation with a dive to the
outside, which left Gargano and Andrade to duke it out in
the ring.
Fenix recovered and tagged himself in as he hit an
incredible dive/rolling German suplex on Gargano for the
close two-count. Fenix lifted Gargano up for a Muscle Buster
as Andrade headed up top, but Andrade got pushed off. #DIY
took advantage and hit their superkick/Fairy Tale Ending
combo, but Fenix kicked out at two.
Wild chaos ensued with Ciampa missing out on the knee, as
Fenix hit his Black Fire Driver, followed by Andrade sealing
the deal for his team with The Message and the three.
Andrade & Rey Fenix def. #DIY via pinfall
A hot tag team match from start to finish. I was thoroughly
entertained by the performances from all four competitors.
Simply put, just some great tag action here.
**********
– John Cena’s recent appearance on The Late Show was shown
before we got a recap of Cena’s rivalry with CM Punk, which
included a clumsy edit of Punk’s pipebomb to omit Vince
McMahon’s name.
– After the Punk/Cena video was done, Ron Killings showed up
at ringside and stated that he was the truth, the whole
truth, and nothing but the truth. He once again called out
John Cena for a fight. Aleister Black appeared behind him
and he floored Killings with a Black Mass kick. “I guess in
a way, we’re even now, Ron,” said Black.
– Backstage, Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford were interviewed
about their WWE Tag Title defense against the Wyatt Sicks
coming up next.
– Aleister Black was confronted by Damian Priest backstage.
Priest said that if Black was looking for payment from Ron
Killings, that he do it face to face next time. Carmelo
Hayes showed up and tried to warn Priest to keep his
distance from Killings, but got told to back away.
WWE Tag Team Championships: Street Profits (Montez Ford &
Angelo Dawkins) (c) versus The Wyatt Sicks (Joe Gacy &
Dexter Lumis)
Lumis and Ford started off in the ring, with the latter
doing his creepy crawl, and being met with some fists from
Ford in response. After an acrobatic dodge from Ford, Gacy
tagged himself in and floored his foe with a running senton.
Just then, the rest of the SmackDown tag team division
appeared at ringside, as Gacy caught Ford with his
somersault clothesline.
SmackDown returned with Ford and Lumis taking each other
down with a double running splash. Both men managed to get
the tag to their respective partners, with Dawkins using his
surprising speed to get the momentary advantage. As Lumis
ran across the ring, he got pulled away by Los Garza. #DIY
attacked Dawkins at which caused a disqualification.
A mass brawl ensued with Erick Rowan entering the fray, but
getting taken down by multiple superkicks from Fraxiom and
the Motor City Machine Guns. Uncle Howdy entered and got
Axiom with Sister Abigail. The Street Profits went wild with
consecutive dives on the Wyatt Sicks and the SmackDown tag
division. In the ring, Ford and Dawkins stared down Uncle
Howdy, as it was clear that the Wyatt Sicks’ war with the
SmackDown tag division was far from over.
Street Profits vs. The Wyatt Sicks ended in a No Contest
Honestly, not much to say about this match, as it ended in a
schmozz before it could truly get going, but I did kind of
enjoy the post-match chaos with all the tag teams brawling.
**********
– Jacob Fatu was confronted by Jimmy Uso, as the two talked
about that their mutual assistance was just a matter of
respect. Jimmy said that what Fatu did to Solo Sikoa was
what he should’ve done a long time ago. The two seemed to
part on somewhat of a common ground as Fatu left Jimmy
alone.
WWE Women’s Championship (Last Woman Standing): Tiffany
Stratton (c) versus Nia Jax
Jax went after Stratton right away after the ring
announcer’s introductions. She took out a turnbuckle pad
cover, which gave Stratton time to recover and fight back
outside of the ring. Her attempts were stopped with a steel
steps strike to the ribs by Jax. The announce table was
cleared aside by Jax, as she then hit a Samoan Drop across
the exposed table. Stratton struggled to get back up, as we
went to a break.
SmackDown returned with Stratton dropping Jax with a
crossbody from the top rope. She headed up the opposite
corner and hit a Swanton Bomb. Jax got herself up briefly,
but she got blasted with a two-footed dropkick. Jax was able
to get back up as she lifted Stratton on her shoulders and
dropped her onto the exposed turnbuckle.
Stratton got herself back up on the count of eight, but she
was thrown out of the ring by Jax afterwards. While Stratton
writhed on the floor, Jax kept her eyes on her championship
foe, tossing her into the barricade. Jax placed Stratton on
a table setup at ringside as she then headed to the apron.
Jax absolutely splattered Stratton with a splash through the
table, but the WWE Women’s Champion was able to get up at
the count of nine.
Jax pulled out two more tables from underneath the ring
while Stratton once again made it back to her feet. We took
another break with the two tables being set up and Stratton
armed with a kendo stick. During the “break”, Jax tried to
run at Stratton on the top of the stage, but she crashed
onto one of the screens instead, as the fight found its way
back to the ring.
The action returned with Jax hitting Stratton repeatedly
with a steel chair. Stratton was dragged across the ring as
Jax came down on her with the Annihilator. With a chair
draped across Stratton, Jax hit yet another Annihilator.
With the referee counting her down, Stratton just made it at
nine, but got hit with a kendo stick by Jax. One more table
was set up in the ring as Jax hoisted Stratton on her
shoulders and headed up the top. Stratton escaped the
attempted Samoan Drop and instead hit a powerbomb on Jax
through the table. As both women were down, the referee
started his count. Both Jax and Stratton made it to the
count of nine.
Naomi ran down and tried to cash in, but Stratton
intercepted and hit her with the Money in the Bank
briefcase. Stratton took advantage and also hit Jax with the
briefcase, as she then followed with a Prettiest Moonsault
Ever onto both Jax and Naomi. Jax miraculously got herself
up at the count of nine.
Stratton fought out of a superplex attempt through the two
tables, as she instead struck Jax with the MITB briefcase
once, more which sent Jax through the two tables! Jax was
left knocked out cold and unable to answer the count of ten,
which gave Stratton the win and the successful WWE Women’s
Championship defense.
Tiffany Stratton def. Nia Jax to retain the WWE Women’s
Championship
Kind of a middling match that somewhat picked up by the end
with Naomi’s attempt at a cash in and the final table spot.
Other than that, nothing much to write home about. But, at
least, the feud between Stratton and Jax should be done and
dusted now.
**********
John Cena and CM Punk face-to-face
“Get used to it, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this is what a winner
looks like,” started off Cena. He said that CM Punk was a
loser because he had been outsmarted, outmaneuvered, and
outgunned, and there’s nothing that Punk can do about it.
Just then, Cena’s old “Basic Thuganomics” theme interrupted
as CM Punk entered dressed as a parody of Cena, jorts,
jersey, and all. “Yo, check it, this is Basic Punkanomics,”
Punk talked about how he was stealing Word Life. Punk called
Cena a “Temu Macklemore” with ‘Mackeless Rhythm” and that
he’s buried more talent than the Undertaker.
Punk said if Cena never ate his vitamins or fixed his bald
spot, he’d be a Boston mall cop. He called Cena a “fish
belly white” Hulk Hogan but somehow more problematic. It
should be noted that Punk was speaking this promo in rap.
Punk said that in six months, Cena might be a superhero
(washing his underwear for James Gunn), but he’ll always be
The Marine to him.
“We all see you, and we’re looking at a washed-up bum,” said
Punk, who then called Cena a leech, phony, and an ass
kisser. Punk said that tomorrow, there was one more wish to
make, because Cena was the Drake to Punk’s Kendrick. Punk
did a mic dropped and the show ended abruptly (or at least
appeared to because the producers’ credits and copyright bug
never appeared on-screen).
Well, that was certainly an interesting way to end the final
build for this title match, and given what Punk’s been up to
since arriving in Saudi Arabia, I’m certain that this promo
won’t convince his most ardent haters to start cheering for
him, which is understandable. It’s honestly been hard for me
to decouple any sort of past comments Punk might’ve made
about Saudi Arabia’s government when it’s been kind of made
a part of the story for this match based off of Cena’s
previous promos. So, with that in mind, I kinda find it hard
to get really invested in what was being done with this
closing salvo from Punk.
Overall, a very strange SmackDown before Night of Champions,
and the bizarre technical glitch that basically erased the
opening Randy Orton/Cody Rhodes segment, followed by various
other hangups on the production side as I watched the global
Netflix feed kinda made things have a weird vibe to it.