WWE SmackDown returned to American soil in Buffalo, NY, for a show that begins the road to Survivor Series. The Original Bloodline is back once againwhen Sami Zayn came to Smackdown to face Roman Reigns and Jimmy Uso, with Jey Uso by his side. After being rejected at first, Roman finally fought side-by-side with Sami against The Bloodline, as the teams look almost certain to take part in this year’s War Games.
Kevin Owens put Randy Orton out of action for the foreseeable future by hitting him with the banned pile driver despite his history of neck injuries. Bayley stole the win from Candice LeRae Motor City Machine Guns continued their winning streak by defeating A-Town Down Under Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill defeated Nia Jax and Tiffany Stratton in more tag team action and WWE revealed it will introduce a US Women’s Championship in the coming weeks.
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United States Women’s Championship
WWE’s Stacked Women’s Division gets a new title
For the better part of the last decade, WWE’s women’s division has gone from strength to strength. After decades of being an afterthought, the present and future look incredibly bright. Women’s Intermediate title is needed and long overduenot just because of the talent of WWE’s current main roster.
NXT continues to grow in reputation and stature and there is a wealth of talent emerging from there over the next year or two. WWE’s women’s division is about to have a host of genuine legends on the card, alongside huge, innovative young workers from around the world. There will be a million opinions on who should be the first US Women’s Champion, but everyone will agree that the Championship is good news.
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War games
Five On Five Makes Survivor Series Main Event More Interesting
All signs have pointed to the culmination of The Bloodline’s uncivil war at Survivor Series in War Games. Sami cut his best promo in months, hitting all the emotional beats about what was great about his time with Roman and The Usos. After Roman initially refused his advances, the night would end with Sami saving Roman with a Helluva Kick to Solo Sikoa. The Original Bloodline ended SmackDown with their loved ones in heaven and the world was once again a happy place.
Roman Reigns had previously asked Sikoa for a one-on-one match to decide who the real Tribal Chief is, but in his rebuttal, Solo issued the challenge to Roman Reigns for a 5-on-5 War Games match. After Solo originally bluffed that Sami Zayn was Bloodline’s fifth man, only for the original Bloodline to reunite, we’re all tied at 4-on-4. Whether that means both teams recruit an extra member or that this year’s War Games stick with both four-member teams, this is not a match you want to lose.
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Jacob Fatu
Mic time for the future main event
WWE has known they have something special with Jacob Fatu since the first time he appeared on WWE TV in June. Paul Heyman winced at the mention of his name, while commentators made him feel like he was the son of Jason Vorhees and Thanos. Fatu remained strong for almost six months and on SmackDown the Samoan werewolf did an intense promotion on behalf of Solo Sikoabefore his Undisputed Tribal Chief Ceremony.
Snarling and full of murderous intensity, Jacob Fatu’s promo felt like something out of primetime ECW. Punching the canvas with menacing intent, Fatu is one of the few men in WWE who could call out Roman Reigns and not cower in fear. The lines are beginning to be drawn for the Survivor Series War Games. Fatu will be a problem for everyone inside these cages.
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Tomás Ciampa
The Blackheart adds some spice to DIY
DIY is a reliable class act that delivers great combinations with superhuman regularity. Those are the niceties out of the way because Ciampa and Gargano have been missing something else in recent months. Even in their short-lived tag team title run, these are two men who have had some of the best rivalries and matches across all WWE brands over the last 10 years. They are NXT and indie wrestling royalty. So why has everything been so “meh”?
This was a big night for DIY as Tommaso Ciampa turned to the dark side. Crushing the two members of Pretty Deadly as Patrick Bateman after being refused a table at Dorsia, Ciampa is determined to eliminate the Motor City Machine Guns. Johnny Gargano is fighting with his partner’s intensity, especially when Tommaso lost at The Street Profits to score a title shot on next week’s Smackdown. This one is just getting started, but it instantly makes DIY and the entire SmackDown tag team division more interesting.
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Randy Orton
Kevin Owens puts the Viper out of action
After leaving Crown Jewel on a stretcher, it was a surprise to see Randy Orton emerge backstage and storm towards the ring. After wasting no time, Orton shouted KO and Owens stood at the top of the ramp with dead eyes and a blank expression. In a list full of menacing men, Kevin Owens is currently the most dangerous star in WWE, and boy did he prove it.
Appearing in a shirt with Kevin Is Right written in bold letters, Owens dropped Orton with a career-threatening piledriver. Randy was sidelined for over a year with back injuries that led to spinal surgery, something that was on KO’s mind when deciding how to inflict the most damage possible on Randy Orton. The prolonged silence on the broadcast as Randy screamed in agony all the way to the bottom of the gurney was chilling. Kevin Owens’ reign of terror continues.
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A city below
Former tag team champions are in trouble
A 90-day tag team championship reign is nothing to be sniffed at. This is longer than The Bloodline and DIY, but since I lost the belts, Things are on a downward spiral for A-Town Down Under. This was another high-profile loss for the newly crowned Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns and the clearest indication yet that this is a slide that may not be stopped.
Austin Theory has always struggled to gain momentum, both while Vince McMahon was signing him and at the hands of the new regime. Australian Grayson Waller has all the ingredients to be one of the best heels in professional wrestling. They’ve been a good foil for each other so far, but a split has been caused since they lost their championships. When it finally arrives, a moment of trial by fire awaits both men. The sooner this happens, the better at this point.
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Kevin Owens’ new t-shirt just says Kevin Is Right in white font on a black shirt.
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Candice Lerae and Bayley have only faced off once, with Lerae emerging victorious in October 2022.
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A-Town Down Under hasn’t won a tag team match on SmackDown since May 3rd.
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The Motor City Machine Guns’ last three wins have all come against the three most recent SmackDown tag team champions.
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It’s easy to speculate an Intercontinental Championship for women on Raw at this point.
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Sami Zayn needs to thank his lucky stars. Kevin Owens didn’t see the end of SmackDown.
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Three matches in six days for Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair. Putting in that work.
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Is this the first SmackDown this year that doesn’t feature Cody Rhodes?
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Next week’s SmackDown will include two title matches: Nia Jax vs Naomi for the WWE Women’s Championship and Motor City Machine Guns vs The Street Profits.