WWE SmackDown live results: John Cena returns

John Cena makes his return to WWE television on tonight’s SmackDown from the GIANT Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. It’s Cena’s first time back in WWE since making a surprise appearance at Money in the Bank.

WWE recently announced that Cena will be on hand for eight episodes of SmackDown in September and October. Cena will also be teaming with Seth Rollins against Imperium’s Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci at WWE’s Superstar Spectacle live event in India on September 8.

Tonight is the final SmackDown before Payback. Also set for the episode is an appearance by Jimmy Uso. This will be the first time we’ve heard from Jimmy since his brother Jey walked out on WWE last month. 

Elsewhere, Rey Mysterio & Santos Escobar will team up to face Austin Theory & Grayson Waller. Mysterio is set to defend his United States title against Theory at Payback this Saturday.

LA Knight and The Miz will also come face to face before their match at Payback. 

Our live coverage starts at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

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– A Bloodline video aired to open the show. Kevin Patrick welcomed everyone in and John Cena’s music hit. 

The John Cena segment

Cena made his entrance to a huge pop and yelled “Welcome to SmackDown.” The crowd chanted “Cena!” Cena said the fans have given him 20 years worth of moments. Cena said it never gets old; it only gets better. Cena said from now on when he gets in the ring, he’s always going to say “Thank you.” Cena said he was coming home to WWE. Cena talked about how he’s going to wrestle in India for the first time next week. Cena said he’s going to host Payback on Saturday. Cena said he’s going to do his best to give back to the fans. Cena said they’re going to give the crowd an epic SmackDown. Cena said tonight, WWE is going to … do something, but Cena was cut off as Jimmy Uso’s music hit. 

The crowd booed Jimmy. The crowd chanted Cena’s name along with “We want Jey!” Cena acknowledged the loud crowd. Jimmy asked Cena what he was going there and said the crowd was there to see Jimmy, a top star. Jimmy followed that up by saying he did what he did to Jey because he will save his brother 10 times out of 10. Jimmy said he did it because he loves his brother. Jimmy reiterated that he didn’t want Jey to be corrupted like both Roman Reigns and John Cena has been.

Cena cut Jimmy off and made fun of his own fashion sense. Jimmy responded by saying Cena and Roman are exactly alike. Jimmy said Cena takes, takes and takes just like Roman. The crowd chanted “Cena!” Cena said Jimmy has a lot on his mind and Jimmy has made some rash decisions. Cena said he’s been wanting to say something to Jimmy for three years and it’s that the wrong Uso quit. Cena said “Take that.” Jimmy went for a super-kick, but Cena caught Jimmy with an Attitude Adjustment. Cena’s music to end the segment. 

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– Kayla Braxton was backstage and she welcomed in Austin Theory and Grayson Waller. They laughed at Cena being the host of Payback. Theory talked about how he beat Cena at WrestleMania. We went back to the ring for the LWO entrance. 

Grayson Waller & Austin Theory defeated Rey Mysterio & Santos Escobar [8:09]

This was a fine enough thrown-together tag match with a fairly predictable outcome considering the match at Payback between Mysterio and Theory. Seeing Waller get the win was a tiny bit of a surprise, though, which was welcome. The four guys worked hard and they worked well together. I don’t know about you, but I’m kind of getting LWO fatigue as I wait for Escobar to finally turn and make things interesting again. When you combine that fatigue with inherent Austin Theory fatigue, this match didn’t do much for me. But what do I know?

Escobar and Waller started the match. Mysterio quickly tagged in and Theory ran in to attack, but both Theory and Waller ended up on the outside. Escobar then threw Mysterio over the top to the outside onto the heels. The show then went to a commercial break. When it returned, Waller was working over Mysterio inside the ring. Theory tagged in and continued working over Mysterio with punches and kicks until Waller tagged in. Theory held Mysterio and Waller went to hit Mysterio, but Mysterio moved and Waller hit Theory. Waller then tagged in, but Mysterio got rid of Waller and landed the hot tag to Escobar. 

Escobar came in and landed a cross body on Waller for a two-count. Escobar landed a Frankensteiner from the top for a two-count. Theory and Mysterio both entered the ring and things broke down. Theory went for a chop block on Mysterio, but Escobar pushed Mysterio out of the way to take it himself. Waller then ran in and hit the rolling stunner on Escobar to get the win. 

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– Adam Pearce was shown talking to Michin backstage, but Jimmy Uso interrupted them. Pearce essentially told Jimmy to go away and Jimmy reluctantly did just that. We then went back to the ring, where Bobby Lashley made his entrance. The show went to commercial break. Michin was talking to the rest of the O.C. when the show returned and AJ Styles looked angry. We then went back to the ring. 

The Bobby Lashley/Street Profits segment

The crowd was really pumped for Lashley and Lashley thanked them accordingly. Lashley talked about what might be going on between him and the Street Profits. Lashley said real recognizes real and great recognizes great. Lashley then said he wants to recognize the Street Profits and the Profits made their entrance. Lashley said the Profits are charismatic and athletic and aggressive. Montez Ford interrupted Lashley and said they were out there to thank Lashley. Ford said the Profits are sexy. Dawkins chimed in and said Lashley helped the Profits see the bigger picture. Ford said, “It’s nothing personal, it’s just profits.” Ford and Dawkins both said “Thank you” at the same time and it was aimed at Lashley. 

Lashley said they were there to send a message to the WWE Universe. Lashley said they are putting everyone on notice and they are coming for power, control and championship gold. Lashley said they are coming for it all. Lashley’s music hit and that was the end of the segment … until Kevin Owens’s music hit and Owens walked out with the tag team belts. Sami Zayn’s music hit and Zayn soon followed. Zayn and Owens walked by the Profits on their way to the ring. 

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Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn defeated Cruz Del Toro & Juaquin Wilde [2:30]

A basic squash to give the tag champs momentum heading into the weekend. It’s weird. Owens and Zayn still seem like stars and they are the only ones left carrying around two sets of belts. But they feel stagnant. Hopefully, Saturday’s match kicks off something for the duo rather than simply end their reign. We’ll see. 

Zayn and Wilde began the match with Zayn taking control early. Eventually, Wilde landed an elbow, but Zayn came back with a clothesline. Owens tagged in and hit a Swanton Bomb for a two-count. Del Toro tagged in and took out Zayn while kicking Owens in the head. Ultimately, the momentum ended with a pop-up powerbomb from Owens. Zayn tagged in and hit the Helluva Kick on Del Toro. Owens tagged back in and hit a Stunner for the win.

After the match, Zayn took a microphone and said at Payback, Judgment Day will need to bring everything they have because it will be the fight of their lives. Backstage, Jimmy Uso was looking to leave, but he was cut off by AJ Styles, who said Uso disrespected Michin. Solo Sikoa showed up and pushed Styles away. Jimmy told Sikoa that nobody can tell him anything and left the building. 

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– AJ Styles was interviewed backstage. Styles said the Bloodline thinks they run everything. Styles then said he wants to knock Sikoa’s teeth down his throat. The rest of the OC showed up and said Styles doesn’t need to get involved in that drama. Styles said no and that the Bloodline needs to be reminded that this was the house that AJ Styles built. 

The Miz/LA Knight segment

Miz said that LA Knight will be competing in the biggest match of his career at Payback. The crowd drowned Miz out with “LA Knight!” chants. Miz said Knight isn’t on his level. Knight’s music hit and the crowd went nuts. Knight walked quickly to the ring and grabbed a microphone. The crowd chanted “LA Knight!” loudly while Knight looked around. When he hit the “Let me talk to ya” line, the crowd blew up. Knight referenced Miz impersonating The Rock, John Cena and now LA Knight. Knight said what they have in common is that those are people Miz wants to be, but he can’t be. 

Knight said he brought himself out of the sewer to get here. Knight said he worked every job, he slept in his car and then he flubbed a line. Knight then mocked Miz for coming from a reality show. Knight said he’s above Miz’s level. Miz responded by saying Knight has failed where Miz succeeded. Miz talked about how Knight was on a reality show, too, but Knight failed. Miz said he succeeded because he’s a star. Knight came back and said the star of “Miz & Mrs.” is the Miz’s wife. Knight said after Payback, he’s going to send Miz home broken and battered. 

Miz mocked Knight for cutting promos into a hairbrush. Miz said the people love Knight because the people are failures. Miz said Knight has had his hopes and dreams crushed, but Knight has never given up. Miz said Knight has a chance to do something the people will never do, which is succeed. Miz said he is the wrong superstar for Knight. Miz brought up his past and said on Saturday, Miz is a human time-traveler and when Knight loses his confidence and popularity, Knight will go back to cutting promos in a mirror with a hairbrush like it was 2003. 

Knight responded by saying he’s never quit because he doesn’t know how. Knight said while Miz lives in the past, Knight is the present. Knight said at Payback, Miz will get stomped out. Knight went for his catchphrase, but Miz cut him off and ultimately hit the Skull-Crushing Finale. As Miz walked up the ramp, Knight attacked Miz from behind and the two brawled until they were broken up by referees and officials. The crowd offered up loud “LA Knight!” chants. 

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Shotzi defeated Bayley [9:18]

This was disappointing to me, if only because I had high hopes for a long Bayley/Shotzi program with Bayley playing the chicken-s!@# heel, being scared of Shotzi forever until Shotzi got her revenge. I was also hopeful that Shotzi could parlay the program into a push of her own. While this kind of/sort of forwarded that by Shotzi getting the win and doing it with help from Charlotte, it had the feel of a one-and-done situation. Here’s hoping the story continues and Shotzi gets a little more spotlight. As for the match itself, it was fine. I’m not a fan of these long commercial breaks getting in the way of seeing a full women’s match, but both women worked clean and hard and you can’t ask for much more than that. 

Shotzi lunged at Bayley a few times to begin the match. Shotzi eventually unloaded on Bayley with some right hands. Bayley slapped Shotzi and Shotzi laughed. Shotzi choked Bayley with her legs over the top rope. Bayley came back and put the boots to Shotzi. Bayley mouthed off until Shotzi landed a step-up enziguri. The action spilled outside, where Shotzi rag-dolled Bayley before landing a front flip splash on Bayley to take the show to a commercial break. 

Back from the break, Bayley was working a chin-lock on Shotzi, but Shotzi fought her way out, until Bayley hit an elbow drop from the second rope for a two-count. Bayley went for another elbow drop, but Shotzi countered. With Bayley on the outside, Shotzi hit a dive to the floor and rolled Bayley into the ring. Shotzi hit a face-buster and laned a right-elbow. Bayley draped Shotzi on a top turnbuckle and hit an elbow for a two-count. Shotzi came back with a suplex into the turnbuckle and a cannonball. 

Shotzi went to the top, but Bayley cut her off. Bayley tried to grab IYO SKY’s title, but Charlotte’s music hit and Charlotte came out to give SKY a boot to the face. Charlotte hit Bayley as the referee was distracted. Shotzi followed that up with a strike of her own and then got the win. 

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Sikoa made his entrance with a graphic that said “with Paul Heyman,” even though Heyman wasn’t with him because Paul E. ain’t making Hershey, my friends. Next week, we’re going to get Charlotte & Shotzi vs IYO SKY and Bayley. AJ Styles then made his entrance and to the main event, we went. 

Solo Sikoa defeated AJ Styles [12:08]

This was probably the best match of the night, though I can’t say that says too much about either the match or the night (we had only two matches in the first hour of TV). Jimmy coming back into play at the end the night surprised me a little bit, but I can’t quite explain why. I was hoping we’d be working toward AJ vs. Roman, but if AJ is taking a loss to Solo Sikoa this early in whatever that story could be … well, it looks like I won’t be getting that anytime soon. Still, Sikoa has come so far since he began – and it’s easy to forget how soon he began. Plus, Sikoa held his own against the veteran Styles, who continues to show no sign of slowing down. All around, there was good stuff here, but I’m curious to see where the story goes now.

The two went at it aggressively at first and Sikoa got the best of Styles. Styles came back and tried to bodyslam Sikoa, but Styles couldn’t get him up. As a result, Sikoa slammed Styles. Styles hit a high dropkick, but wouldn’t you know it: Paul Heyman made his entrance to distract Styles and I stand corrected. Before long, Styles hit a Phenomenal Forearm on Sikoa, who was on the outside, and the show went to a commercial break. 

Back from break, Sikoa had control and ran Styles into the ring post. Sikoa hit a belly to belly suplex for a two-count. Sikoa landed a high back-body drop. Sikoa set up the Samoan Spike, but Styles countered with a Pele Kick. Styles dropkicked Sikoa’s knee and lifted Sikoa, but Sikoa countered with a wild Samoan Drop for a good near-fall. Sikoa ran at Styles, but Styles moved and elbowed Sikoa before landing a moonsault for another good near-fall. Styles went for a Styles Clash, but Sikoa placed Styles on the apron. Styles set up for a Phenomenal Forearm, but Jimmy Uso appeared and hit Styles off the ropes. Sikoa landed the Samoan Spike and got the win. Sikoa threatened to Samoan Spike Jimmy, but Heyman called Sikoa off. Sikoa left the ring and Jimmy super-kicked Styles. Jimmy hit a splash on Styles from the top and did the Bloodline gesture to Sikoa as the show ended.