Results
- Jey Uso def. Rusev (The Last Time is Now Quarter-Final)
- LA Knight def. The Miz (The Last Time is Now Quarter-Final)
- Charlotte Flair def. Asuka
- Solo Sikoa, JC Mateo, Talla Tonga, Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa def. Sami Zayn, Rey Fenix, Shinsuke Nakamura, Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin (Traditional Survivor Series Match)
Jey Uso takes down Rusev in Last Time is Now Tournament
This week’s episode of WWE Friday Night Smackdown, a somewhat rare taped edition of the show from the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, opened with a recap of the previous episode, where it was revealed that AJ Lee and Becky Lynch will compete in tomorrow’s Survivor Series: WarGames bout.
Backstage, we saw LA Knight expressing frustration that he didn’t receive a bye in The Last Time is Now tournament after Sheamus withdrew from the quarter-finals due to injury. However, he promised that he will put a beating on his unknown next opponent.
Speaking of the John Cena tournament, bracket action got things started tonight, with Jey Uso and Rusev facing off in a singles bout. Reminder: The winner of this tournament will be the retirement opponent for Cena last month.
Is it a little obvious who will win here? Yeah. But anyway, here we go: Rusev had the advantage before the break, beating down on Uso with strikes then throwing the former World Heavyweight Champion down with a thudding slam just before the show cut away. Uso battled his way out of a bear hug after the show returned and started to mount a comeback. After scoring a series of headbutts then punches, Uso dropped Rusev. He tried for a Samoan Drop, but was unable to lift Rusev up.
Rusev tried for The Accolade, but Uso escaped before the move was locked in. Rusev was sent out of the ring then hit with a tope suicida from Uso, who didn’t get his momentum killed too much by the failed Samoan Drop.
Uso got the Samoan Drop upon second attempt, but was still some distance away from putting Rusev away. Uso connected with a spear, but Rusev kicked out at one! He tried to follow up with an Uso Splash, but Rusev reversed with a superkick in mid-air. Uso kicked out at two.
Rusev shouted “Game Over!” then locked in The Accolade. Was Uso going to tap out? Obviously not. While he faded a little, Uso eventually reached the ropes to break the hold. Rusev screamed “This is for you John!” then attempted his own Attitude Adjustment. This flashy move-stealing ended up hurting Rusev, as Uso escaped and hit a spear, then came off the top with an Uso Splash for the pinfall win. Not a bad match but pretty straightforward and short. Not much to really say about that. The winner will face LA Knight vs. TBA on Raw.
Backstage, The Miz was seen begging Nick Aldis to get the spot against Knight in the tournament. Aldis said no, arguing that it’s only fair that it’s a randomly selected wrestler. R-Truth came up to Aldis (in the comedic relief spot, making testicle jokes since Aldis was taking balls out of a roller to select who will face Knight), and this distraction allowed The Miz to take a piece of paper out of a ball Aldis had pulled, swapping it out with his own piece of paper. Aldis looked at the paper in the ball and was fooled… So The Miz is in tonight – forget any hopes about a surprise à la Zack Ryder or Dolph Ziggler.
Jade Cargill crashes fellow champ Chelsea Green’s party
The long-awaited championship celebration for WWE United States Champion Chelsea Green took place next. Green dethroned Giulia three weeks ago and didn’t receive pyro after her win – this bothered her, causing her to demand a formal ceremony from Nick Aldis.
Green pitched her case as the best women’s champion in North America, since she’s Canadian and has titles from America and Mexico. Green then said that the pyro she had asked for is next. She counted down from five (including in Spanish and French, which made me laugh out loud), but was cut off… By WWE Women’s World Champion Jade Cargill!
Cargill wiped out Alba Fyre with a forearm then hit Green with a Jaded. Cargill stormed off as Green’s pyrotechnic show played out, so at least she got that.
I was not a fan of Giulia getting her spotlight hurt more by losing the title, but Green is simply so good in her heel role and has been a strong midcard name on Smackdown this year. I don’t mind that she’s back in this position with the belt.
Cargill mentioned afterward backstage that her attack on Green was her making a statement to the entire locker room. She bumped shoulders with B-Fab and said: “You got something to say? Yeah, I thought so.”
Michin came up to B-Fab after. Michin teased taking a shot at the champ, saying that somebody needs to “check” her.
New opponent? No problem. LA Knight takes down The Miz
The Last Time is Now tournament continued next, with LA Knight facing short-notice opponent The Miz. If this were a live show and not taped, maybe Aldis would’ve seen some posts on social media about the sneaky way Miz got into the match and could’ve overruled his decision earlier in the night.
Knight had a solid start to the match, forcing The Miz to try and take a breather at ringside. Knight met Miz at ringside with a baseball slide then threw the former WWE Champion back into the ring. Miz caught Knight as he was coming through the ropes, giving him the advantage in the match.
Miz tossed Knight into the ropes, but Knight came back with a neckbreaker. Miz sent Knight face-first into a top rope, causing him to fall to ringside. Miz ran Knight into barricades as the show went to a break.
Knight started to gain some momentum as the show returned, scoring a series of punches, a side-Russian Legsweep and a neckbreaker for a two-count. The match went to the top, where Knight scored a superplex for another near fall.
Knight tried for a BFT, but Miz reversed it into a roll-up attempt. Miz scored a head kick then a DDT right after, earning him a near fall of his own. Miz tried for the Skull Crushing Finale, but Knight reversed it into an inverted DDT.
Miz caught Knight coming out of the corner with a move, instead hitting his Skull Crushing Finale. However, Knight kicked out again. Miz couldn’t get the Figure Four, instead locking in John Cena’s STF submission. Knight teased possibly tapping but eventually made it to the ropes.
Miz raked the eyes of Knight then looked for a roll-up, but referee Charles Robinson noticed that Miz was using the ropes to elevate himself during the pin. Knight reversed a second Skull Crushing Finale into a BFT for the win. Wrestlers emulating Cena moves are 0 for 2 on the night. This match didn’t overstay its welcome but definitely lacked something.
Backstage, Ilja Dragunov was asked about facing Tama Tonga next and mentioned that he’s willing to host a U.S. Open Challenge bout against him. Tommaso Ciampa entered the frame and once again made his case for a shot against Dragunov. “You bring up a good point,” Dragunov replied. “I will think about it… Jackass.”
Charlotte Flair earns Survivor Series: WarGames advantage
The advantage in the women’s Survivor Series: WarGames match was decided next, with team representatives Asuka and Charlotte Flair facing off in singles action. Wrestlers enter one-by-one in a WarGames match, meaning one of the two squads has a brief advantage during the entrance portion of the bout. Who will get that advantage? That’s what this match was made to determine.
Michael Cole noted that Charlotte Flair and Asuka were meeting for the 15th time in one-on-one action, but were facing off for the first time in two years.
The fight went to the ring apron early on, where Asuka dropped Flair with a head kick just before the show went to a break. Flair came off the top with a crossbody, but Asuka rolled through the move to instead go for a pin attempt. Asuka scored a few strikes then came running off the ropes, but ate a big boot to the head from Flair.
Flair landed a fallaway slam, perfectly positioning Asuka for a moonsault, which she scored for a near fall. Flair scored a German Suplex, then Asuka responded with one of her own. Asuka got a two-count after a sliding knee to the head of Flair.
Asuka landed a knee then put Flair in an armbar, but Flair powerbombed her way out of the move. The fight went to ringside, where Flair tossed Asuka over the announce table. Asuka tried to take out Flair with her mist, but Flair got out of the way. Instead, Asuka’s mist took out WWE’s timekeeper. The setup to this was odd, Flair just sort of stood around for 10-15 seconds before the mist moment.
The fight went back to the ring, where Flair escaped an Asuka Lock by trying for a roll-up pin. Flair then hit the Natural Selection for the pinfall victory. Flair, Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY, AJ Lee, and Alexa Bliss will have the advantage in tomorrow’s women’s WarGames match.
MFTs win Traditional Survivor Series match, Wyatt Sicks invade post-match
A little under 24 hours before Survivor Series: WarGames goes down at Petco Park in San Diego, California, a traditional Survivor Series five-on-five elimination tag team match closed out this week’s episode of Smackdown. Solo Sikoa and his MFTs (Tama Tonga, Talla Tonga, Tonga Loa and JC Mateo) took on a collection of babyface names led by Sami Zayn (feat. The Motor City Machine Guns, Shinsuke Nakamura and Rey Fenix). This match aired commercial-free, which was pretty neat.
JC Mateo was the first one to get taken out in this match, eliminated by a double-team pin combination from MCMG. The tag duo had a lot of momentum before that fall, taking out many of the MFTs at ringside with dives.
Nakamura tried for a Kinshasa to Tonga, but was distracted by Sikoa, who briefly attempted a Samoan Spike from the ring apron. This allowed Tama Tonga to avoid the finisher from Nakamura then instead eliminated him with this finisher, The Cutthroat.
The Guerrillas of Destiny had some double-team work in the ring against Fenix. Tama Tonga scored a Spinebuster, but Fenix kicked out at two. Fenix reversed a move from Tonga into a hurricanrana pin attempt, earning him a fall.
MCMG tried to take out MFT team captain Sikoa with Skull & Bones, but Sikoa’s teammates prevented that from happening. Talla Tonga gave Shelley a nasty chokeslam onto the ring apron, then rolled him into the ring for a pinfall. It was 3 on 3 at this point.
Talla Tonga wiped out Sabin with a nasty lariat, earning him yet another pinfall and giving the MFTs an advantage in the match for the first time.
Fenix tried to gain some momentum, wiping out Sikoa and Talla Tonga at ringside with a top-rope dive. However, his run was brought to a sudden end when he ate a nasty back elbow from Tama Tonga in the ring, eliminating him via pinfall.
So it all came down to Zayn, no stranger to the underdog position, trying to take down three MFTs in a row.
Zayn got Tama Tonga out first, catching him in the corner with a Helluva Kick for the pinfall. Zayn battled at ringside with Talla Tonga. Talla missed a running kick to Zayn, sending him over the barricade and into the timekeeper’s area. This fall caused Talla to get counted out, eliminating him from the match.
Zayn made it one-on-one, but still had to beat the biggest name of them all, MFT leader Solo Sikoa. Solo got on Zayn immediately, hitting a pair of Spinning Solos and a frogsplash off the top. But, none of it could put him away.
Sikoa tried for a top-rope move, but Zayn reversed it into a Sunset Flip Powerbomb, giving him a two-count. Sikoa sent Zayn crashing into a corner of the ring after a headbutt. Sikoa came charging in for a move, but instead was hit with an exploder suplex from Zayn.
Zayn looked for the Helluva Kick, but instead Sikoa hit him with a Superkick. Zayn reversed a Samoan Spike into a roll-up, which Sikoa kicked out of. Back up to his feet, Zayn was immediately dropped with a Samoan Spike, earning Sikoa the pinfall win. The MFTs win this year’s traditional Survivor Series match, and Sikoa is the Sole Survivor. Or Solo (Sikoa) Survivor?
Sikoa planned on celebrating as the show went off air, but the Wyatt Sicks had other plans. Most of the faction appeared on the ring apron, staring Sikoa down. The one man missing from the picture, Uncle Howdy, appeared behind Sikoa and gave him a Sister Abgail just before the show went off air. I haven’t been too big on this MFT feud versus Zayn et al., but I honestly quite enjoyed this match. Despite going as long as it did, especially without the crutch of TV breaks, this was a solid main event.
