WWE SmackDown live results: Hulk Hogan tribute

With SummerSlam fast approaching, Cody Rhodes will appear tonight on WWE SmackDown inside Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. He’ll continue the build to his upcoming Undisputed WWE Championship street fight against John Cena ahead of the August 2-3 PLE.

Rhodes made the match official during a contract signing last week after it turned into a brawl with Cena, who tried to back out of the SummerSlam match until Rhodes retaliated and put Cena through a table to send a message.

The Wyatt Sicks’ Dexter Lumis and Joe Gacy will have their first defense of the WWE Tag Team titles against Andrade and Rey Fenix, who won a fatal four-way bout on last week’s SmackDown to earn a shot on tonight’s show.

Alexa Bliss will be in action to take on Roxanne Perez, ahead of her and Charlotte Flair teaming up to take on Perez and Raquel Rodriguez for the Women’s Tag Team titles at SummerSlam. Last week, Bliss helped her partner Flair pick up the win against Rodriguez in singles action.

Randy Orton, Jelly Roll, Drew McIntyre, and Logan Paul are all scheduled for tonight’s show in advance of their tag match at SummerSlam.

WWE has also announced that tonight’s SmackDown will pay tribute to the late Hulk Hogan, who passed away yesterday at the age of 71. Several legends are expected to be in attendance.

Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

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Following the WWE signature open, we went inside to the Rocket Arena to see the entire SmackDown locker room stood on the stage, with a memorial graphic for Hulk Hogan. Paul “Triple H ” Levesque talked about Hogan’s legacy as he then asked for a ten-bell salute in Hogan’s memory. We then got a video tribute for Hogan’s career.

– Once we got back from the break, Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett briefly talked about Hogan some more before being interrupted by Logan Paul.

Logan Paul hosts live edition of Impaulsive TV

The so-called “Maverick” opened things with his Impaulsive TV set inside the ring. He asked why the Cleveland fans weren’t chanting for their hometown hero. Paul said that Cleveland did raise him, but it didn’t make him. In fact, he supposedly “made” Cleveland. Paul said that he and the crowd inside the Rocket Arena had nothing in common, because while he made it out, he didn’t. Paul talked about how tonight was about giving back to the community, by way of holding a special live edition of his Impaulsive TV show. Paul disparaged Jelly Roll for a bit before the man himself interrupted him.

Jelly said that the only thing Paul inspired was “little asshole kids filming themselves to be assholes”. He noted that Cleveland did not like Paul at all, as the Impaulsive TV host got him to shut up. Paul put himself and Drew McIntyre over as two of the most impressive stars in WWE right now. He asked Jelly Roll just who the hell he thinks he is. Jelly responded that he was the guy that was going to put Paul in a bodybag and ship him back to West Lake.

Jelly called Paul a “silver spoon kid” as he said that he was getting in the ring not just for himself, but for those who had been ever picked on by high school jocks. Jelly talked about how he was a WWE fan for his entire life, and how the company represented him and “every single one of us”. Jelly discussed how his story has inspired millions of millions of people as he called Paul “soft as Charmin” and a “Prime-peddling punk-ass bitch.”

Drew McIntyre entered the ring as he and Paul outnumbered Jelly Roll. At this point, Jelly said that he didn’t come alone as Randy Orton walked down the ramp to even the odds. Once Orton entered the ring, we got a fight right off the bat. McIntyre got the upper hand on Orton with a rake to the eye as he went after Jelly Roll. In the ring, McIntyre asked Paul to go after Jelly. Orton pulled McIntyre out of the ring, which allowed Jelly to fight back with elbows and a shoulder block.

Paul kicked Jelly in the midsection as he loaded up his fist for his signature punch. Jelly recovered and delivered a Black Hole Slam, which sent Paul scurrying.

I’ve been clear in the past about how how this feud wasn’t working for me at all, but I have to give some credit to Jelly Roll, as his work at the Performance Center has seemingly paid off. Other than that, the tag match at SummerSlam is still something I’m not looking forward to very much.

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– We got a video from Andrade & Rey Fenix discussing their chances against The Wyatt Sicks in their WWE Tag Team Championship match tonight.

Alexa Bliss (w/ Charlotte Flair) vs. Roxanne Perez (w/ Raquel Rodriguez)

Bliss went for consecutive early roll-ups on Perez,, to no avail. Perez slammed Bliss’s head down on the mat to gain a momentary advantage as she then slapped Bliss in the face. That seemed to anger Bliss, who threw Perez in the corner as the action spilled outside. Bliss dove onto Perez on the outside, as Charlotte Flair and Raquel Rodriguez stared one another down to take us to the break.

We returned with Bliss mounting a comeback on Perez as she unleashed her flurry of offense, topped off by a dropkick on the button. She blasted Perez with her flipping neckbreaker and lined up for the Sister Abigail DDT. Perez raked Bliss in the eye, which allowed Rodriguez to interfere with a strike to Bliss. Perez headed up top for the moonsault and connected. The cover, but Bliss kicked out as Flair threw Rodriguez over the timekeepers’ area.

Rodriguez recovered and kicked Flair in the face outside the ring. Bliss had Perez dead to rights with the Twisted Bliss, but she leapt outside to take out Rodriguez instead. As Bliss tried to enter the ring, Perez rolled her up and did the classic heel trick of holding the ropes for leverage to pick up the sneaky win.

Roxanne Perez def. Alexa Bliss via pinfall

A fine match and the cheating victory by Roxanne does make the “series” even between the SummerSlam opponents in singles action ahead of next week’s Women’s Tag Team Championship match.

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– After Cathy Kelley interviewed Jade Cargill, Chelsea Green appeared and talked trash about Cargill. Unbeknownst to Green, Cargill was behind her and attacked her as she dragged her to the ring and we got an impromptu match.

Jade Cargill vs. Chelsea Green

The match began before the break with Cargill hitting her pump kick on Green. As we resumed SmackDown, Cargill continued her dominance with splashes in the corner, followed by a one-handed chokeslam. On the apron, Alba Fyre provided a momentary distraction, which allowed Green to hit a jumping neckbreaker for a near-fall.

Green tried to deliver the Un-Pretty-Her, but Cargill reversed and finished this short match off with Jaded.

After the match, the Secret Her-vice pounced with the attack on Cargill until WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton ran in to make the save. The two SummerSlam opponents cleared the ring of Alba Fyre and Piper Niven in short order. We then got a tense staredown between Cargill and Stratton, as the latter held the WWE Women’s Title in her hands momentarily.

A short one, and likely meant to set up a tag match for Cargill and Stratton versus the Secret Her-vice next week on the go-home-to-SummerSlam edition of SmackDown.

Jade Cargill def. Chelsea Green via pinfall

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– Backstage, Charlotte Flair attempted to give words of encouragement to Alexa Bliss after her match. She stated that they could become true friends if they won the WWE Women’s Tag Titles at SummerSlam.

Cody Rhodes addresses SummerSlam and John Cena

With a new track jacket and the crowd’s cheers, Cody Rhodes walked down to the ring. He started by talking about how Hulk Hogan’s death elicited complicated emotions, but that his contributions to WWE and sports entertainment could not be ignored.

Rhodes shifted gears by discussing the violence that was to come at the Street Fight at SummerSlam. He said that doing the right thing sometimes don’t look like the right think and that what he did to John Cena last week was just a taste of what’s to come. Rhodes said that he didn’t want to the John Cena who is counting the days before he left, but he wanted to fight the “real” John Cena. That’s because Rhodes wanted to fight the very best to prove that he can be the very best. He dared Cena to come to his last SummerSlam like it is his first. Rhodes wanted all the “hustle, loyalty, and respect” so he and Cena could beat it out of each other.

The reason Rhodes wanted to fight against the “real” John Cena was because he wanted to know if that story that he was on was real, and that the only person who had the answer to that question was Cena himself. “I’ll see you next week,” said Rhodes to conclude his promo.

Just your standard Cody Rhodes promo to sell the SummerSlam match against John Cena, but he at least delivers these promos well and it helps build excitement ahead of next week.

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– Jacob Fatu addressed last week’s events that involved Solo Sikoa’s attempted frame-up of him. Fatu warned Sikoa that he was going to dogwalk his ass at SummerSlam inside the steel cage. The Miz walked up behind Fatu and claimed that he was the “main character” and he got himself a match against Fatu cleared tonight. Miz brazenly slapped Fatu across the face before he walked off.

– Aleister Black and Damian Priest traded barbs about one another in a video promo ahead of their showdown on next week’s SmackDown.

The Miz vs. Jacob Fatu

Fatu rocked Miz with his running spinning elbow as he lived up to his boast prior to this match and began to indeed “dogwalk” Miz early on. Miz avoided a running hip charge from Fatu, but couldn’t avoid a strike that left him stunned in the corner. Before Fatu could continue his charge, Solo Sikoa and his M.F.T.s walked down in unison, which allowed Miz to take charge with a blow to Fatu’s knees. Miz then jettisoned Fatu into the ring post, which sent him outside the ring. The M.F.T.s looked on at their fallen rival as we headed to a break in the action.

SmackDown returned from the break with Fatu fighting back against Miz, flooring him with a clothesline followed by the running senton. In the corner, Fatu teed off on Miz with repeated headbutts. Fatu knocked Miz out with the hip attack as the M.F.T.s pulled Miz out of the ring. This prompted Fatu to respond with a dive to the outside, which took out nearly the entire group.

In the ring, Fatu finished Miz off with the pop-up Samoan Drop. However, the Samoan Werewolf did not have any time for a celebration, as he got immediately ambushed by the M.F.T.s. Jimmy Uso evened the odds as he emerged with a steel chair. He cleared past Tama Tonga and J.C. Mateo with the chair. However, Tala Tonga withstood Uso’s attack and took him down. Fatu recovered and managed to fend off the M.F.T.s one by one, which left Sikoa alone in the ring and prone in the corner.

Fatu trapped Sikoa with a chair wrapped around his neck and looked to deliver a vicious hip attack, but Tala Tonga entered the fray and floored Fatu with a clothesline. Chokeslam by Tonga, was soon followed by Sikoa delivering the Samoan Spike to Fatu. The M.F.T.s stood tall in the ring as the United States Champion trashtalked his SummerSlam foe.

It was nice to see the Miz back in action for this match, and I think it was imperative for Sikoa and the M.F.T.s. to get their heat back since last week, they were the ones on the receiving end of the humiliation from Fatu and Jimmy Uso.

Jacob Fatu def. The Miz

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– The Street Profits and #DIY had a disagreement backstage, as Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa said they had a plan for the Wyatt Sicks later on in our main event.

– Backstage, Zelina Vega confronted Giulia until Kiana James appeared as the Women’s United States Champion’s “official representation”. We learned that Giulia would be defending her U.S. Championship next week against Vega.

SummerSlam Saturday Card

• Gunther vs. CM Punk (World Heavyweight Championship)
• Raquel Rodriguez & Roxanne Perez vs. Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss (Women’s Tag Team Championship)
• Roman Reigns & Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed
• Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill (WWE Women’s Championship)
• Sami Zayn vs. Karrion Kross

SummerSlam Sunday Card

• Street Fight: John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes (Undisputed WWE Champipnship)
• Dominik Mysterio vs. AJ Styles (Intercontinental Championship)
• Steel Cage Match: Solo Sikoa vs. Jacob Fatu (United States Championship)
• No DQ, No Countout: Becky Lynch vs. Lyra Valkyria (Women’s Intercontinental Championship)
• Triple Threat: Naomi vs. IYO SKY vs. Rhea Ripley (Women’s World Heavyweight Championship)

WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The Wyatt Sicks (Joe Gacy & Dexter Lumis) vs. Andrade & Rey Fenix

Fenix started off on the offense against Gacy as he and Andrade looked to be in chemistry early on. The two had Gacy and Lumis draped across the middle rope as they hit the double team kick barrage on the champs.

Andrade went right away for the Three Amigos, as things picked up immensely with Lumis pulling Fenix off the top rope. This allowed Gacy to hit his signature handspring-into-lariat against Fenix, which took us to the final commercial break of the evening.

We returned to our main event with Fenix connecting on a superkick against Lumis, who was the legal man for the Wyatt Sicks. Andrade got the hot tag as he was a house of fire against both Lumis and Gacy. He nailed Gacy in the corner with the running Meteora, but that only got the two. Andrade looked for The Message, but Gacy reversed, as Lumis tagged in and got his helping of a double team attack on Andrade. Fenix tried to interject, but he got thrown aside.

Andrade countered the assisted powerbomb of the Wyatt Sicks with double knees. Fenix leapt to the outside to eliminate Lumis at ringside. This allowed Andrade to deliver The Message on Gacy. One, two…. Nikki Cross pulled the referee out of the ring to cause the disqualification.

Erick Rowan entered the ring and began to lay waste to Andrade. Fraxiom and The Motor City Machine Guns tried to interject, but also got waylaid by the massive Rowan. The two teams recovered as the fight continued to break down,. The Street Profits joined the fray and took out Rowan. #DIY walked down the ramp with SmackDown GM Nick Aldis in tow.

In the ring, the Street Profits took turns in taking flight to eliminate everyone outside the ring.

Nick Aldis addressed the situation as he declared that at SummerSlam, the entire SmackDown tag team division will compete in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. We ended the night in total bedlam with everyone brawling in and out of the ring as referees and security officials failed to contain the chaos caused by SmackDown’s tag division.

Rey Fenix & Andrade def. The Wyatt Sicks via Disqualification

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A wild, wild ending to our main event for the night, with an equally-chaotic match being set up for SummerSlam in the process. The SmackDown tag division shined with their TLC match on an episode of SmackDown a few months back, so them getting PLE time to run it back (with the added element of the Wyatt Sicks thrown in) should make for an entertaining bout.

Overall, a strange SmackDown that seemed to be more about setting the stage for the go-home show next week than anything else, on top of the Hulk Hogan tribute at the beginning that made for an unusual night of wrestling action.