WWE SmackDown live results: Roman Reigns & Jey Uso outline Rules of Engagement

After an explosive Tribal Court two weeks ago, Roman Reigns returns to WWE SmackDown tonight from Orlando, Florida’s Amway Arena. 

This week’s program will air on FS1 in its normal time slot instead of Fox due to the women’s World Cup.

Reigns is set to discuss his Rules of Engagement with former Bloodline member Jey Uso whose brother Jimmy was injured by Reigns and Solo Sikoa two weeks ago. Reigns vs. Jey for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship should be made official for SummerSlam tonight.

The second of two United States Championship Invitational matches will take place with this one featuring Rey Mysterio vs. Sheamus vs. Cameron Grimes vs. LA Knight. Tonight’s winner will face Santos Escobar, winner of the first-such match last week, next week for a future shot at the United States title.

We now know that Asuka will defend her WWE Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair and Bianca Belair in a triple threat match at SummerSlam. Tonight, Charlotte is taking on Ms. Money in the Bank IYO SKY.

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

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– The show opened with a video recapping the Jey Uso/Paul Heyman/Solo Sikoa developments from last week. After the video, footage of Roman Reigns entering the building backstage was shown. 

Rey Mysterio Jr. defeated LA Knight, Cameron Grimes & Sheamus [18:37]

This was a fun opening match. The guys worked hard and man, for the 492nd week in a row, it’s worth noting how over LA Knight is with these live crowds. But back to the match. The top rope spots felt predictable and formulaic after a while because the wrestlers seemed to go back to them every three minutes. That first one, whatever it was, looked like a mess going into that first commercial break, but everyone seemed to escape it unscathed. Either way, I’m looking forward to seeing how they play Escobar vs. Mysterio next week. It should be interesting.

LA Knight cut a promo on the way to the ring during his entrance. The four brawled to open the match. Knight stood tall quickly as the other three were sent to the outside. The show then cut to commercial. When the show returned, Sheamus had the upper hand and was working over Knight. Mysterio and Grimes worked on the outside. Cheamus chopped the hell out of Knight and lifted Knight and hit a rolling Senton. Sheamus sent Knight to the apron and Grimes rolled up Sheamus for a one count. 

Grimes and Knight wound up on the outside, but as they got onto the apron, Sheamus cut them off and Mysterio and Sheamus hit 10 Bells on Grimes and Knight respectively. Sheamus and Mysterio shook hands and Rey went for a 619, but Sheamus cut Mysterio off with an Irish Curse backbreaker. Sheamus lifted Mysterio, but Grimes came off the top to take both out. Grimes hit a series of kicks on both Sheamus and Mysterio. Grimes slammed Mysterio and went for a cover, but Sheamus broke it up. Sheamus clotheslined Grimes and hit an Irish Curse on Grimes. Knight was thrown outside and he fought with Sheamus, who was dropped on the apron. 

Mysterio went to the top, but Knight cut him off. There was an awkward spot between all four guys where they all came off the top and landed on Grimes. The show went to another break after that. Once the show returned, Mysterio and Grimes were in the ring and that changed when they two fought to the outside. Mysterio tried to throw Grimes into Austin Theory, who was at ringside, but Theory moved. Sheamus came off the top to take out Grimes and Mysterio. Back in the ring, Sheamus went to the top and landed a clothesline on Knight. Sheamus hit White Noise on Knight for a two-count. 

Sheamus played to the crowd and went to kick Knight, but Knight caught him, slammed him, and got a two-count out of it. Sheamus hit a running knee on Grimes and Knight followed that up with a slam, but Mysterio broke up a pin attempt. Mysterio went to the top, but Grimes cut him off. Sheamus joined the fun and lifted Grimes on his shoulders. Mysterio came off the top and set Sheamus and Grimes up for a 619. Mysterio covered Grimes, but Theory broke up the pin because of the no DQ clause. Santos Escobar ran to ringside and brawled with Theory into the crowd. Knight was left in the ring with Grimes. The Mysterio and Grimes returned to the ring and after everyone traded signature moves, Mysterio hit a hurricanrana on Grimes for the win. 

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– Austin Theory was shown walking backstage. Austin ran into Adam Pearce and demanded a match against Santos Escobar tonight. Pearce made the match, though it was set as a non-title match. 

– A video recapping the Cody/Brock stuff from Raw aired. 

Charlotte defeated IYO SKY [14:08]

Wow, this one was weird. A lot of clunky spots and frankly, I expected better from both women. They picked things up as the match worked its way into the next gear, but the crowd felt flat through all of it. The near-falls should have felt more intense and the false finishes toward the end never quite clicked. I’m happy to see WWE devote nearly 15 minutes to a women’s match on SmackDown – and these two were pretty much the right women to do it with – but this felt off from the jump, which ultimately left a disappointing taste in my mouth.

The two locked up to begin the match. The two did their own version of cartwheels and flips. SKY fired up, but Charlotte cut her off and came off the top for a cross-body. Charlotte lifted SKY, but SKY worked out of it and landed a dropkick to Charlotte’s leg. SKY hit a shotgun dropkick for a two-count. The action spilled outside as the show went to another commercial break. 

Back to break, Charlotte was jawing at Bayley, who was sitting in on commentary. Back in the ring, Charlotte went for a knee, but SKY moved and landed a running double-knees for a two-count. SKY worked a chin-lock. Charlotte worked out of it with a back-drop. Charlotte hit a fallaway slam and fired up. Charlotte landed a clothesline for a two-count. The two went to the top and Bayley got up from commentary to distract Charlotte. As a result, SKY landed a power-bomb for a two-count. A shotzi video showed up on the tron and Bayley looked concerned. Bayley walked away from ringside and in the meantime, SKY went to the top, but Charlotte pulled SKY off. SKY tried again, but missed a moonsault. 

Charlotte went to the top and tried a moonsault of her own, but SKY got her foot up. The two traded roll-up attempts to no avail. SKY went back to the top and missed a missile dropkick. Charlotte, as a result, worked a Boston Crab. SKY countered into a roll-up for a two-count. Sky pounded on Charlotte, but then Charlotte landed a spear for a good near-fall. Charlotte went for a German Suplex, but SKY rolled through and hit a double-stomp on Charlotte. The two made their way to the top rope. After trading roll-up attempts again, Charlotte hit Natural Selection for the win. Immediately after the bell rang, Asuka ran in and attacked Charlotte. 

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– Dominik Mysterio was interviewed backstage. While he was talking, Butch interrupted him and challenged Dom for the title tonight. Shawn Michaels showed up and made the match official. 

– Bayley and SKY were shown backstage and Bayley’s suitcase had a picture of Bayley stabbed through the front with scissors. Bayley told IYO they had to leave immediately.

Santos Escobar defeated Austin Theory [10:39]

From the second that Theory insisted this would be a non-title match, you had to know how this thing would end up. Good for Escobar, though, getting a high-profile win, which doesn’t happen often for him. Theory’s matches just aren’t ever that good. That isn’t meant with any mean intentions, but man. There’s just something about his work that feels like trying to start a fire with a piece of wet cardboard. So, as far as Theory matches go, this one was fine enough. Nothing memorable. But nothing offensively bad. 

Escobar had control early and landed a dropkick. Theory fought back and hit a suplex for a one-count. Theory landed a DDT for a two-count. Escobar fired up and hit a series of strikes on Theory. Escobar clotheslined Theory over the top rope. Theory called for a timeout on the outside as the show went to break. When the show returned, Theory hit a backbreaker for a two-count. Theory went to the apron and went for a suplex, but Escobar countered with an enziguri. Escobar hit a tope suicida onto Theory, who fell onto the commentary table. 

Back in the ring, Escobar hit a series of elbows. Escobar went to the top and landed a cross-body for a two-count. Escobar lifted Theory, but Theory got out of it by hitting Escobar’s knee. Theory landed a modified brainbuster on Escobar for a two-count. Theory went for A-Town Down, but Escobar fought back with a boot to the face. Theory went to the top and Escobar responded by hitting a hurricanrana from the top. Escobar then landed the Phantom Driver for the win.

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– Bobby Lashley was shown backstage, where Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams approached him … but the show cut away and back to the ring for Dominik Mysterio’s entrance. 

Dominik Mysterio defeated Butch [7:53]

This was just kind of there. It wouldn’t have made much sense to put the NXT North American title on Dom, just to have him lose it to a non-NXT wrestler three days later, so there’s that. Still, nobody can argue how much Dominik is over as a heel and the Dom/Ripley act sure does get people going. That says nothing of Dom’s in-ring ability which is far from notable, but this is sports entertainment, remember. The wrestling itself, in a lot of ways, is secondary. So, while it’s not like anyone should have expected a five-star match, the bout worked for what it was. 

The two locked up to start the match. Butch did the finger spot early in the match.  Butch stomped on Dominik’s shoulder and took Dominik to the ground again before sinking in an arm-bar. Dominik made it to the ropes for a break and Rhea Ripley gave Dominik a chain. Ridge Holland ran down to take the chain away from Dominik and the show went to a commercial. When the show returned, Dominik had the advantage and worked a chin-lock. Pretty Deadly made their way to the ring with Elton Prince in a wheelchair. 

Dominik toyed with Butch, which made Butch mad and Butch hit a series of kicks to Dominik’s head. Butch landed a right hand and a running kick. Dominik set up for a 619, but Butch countered. Kit Wilson hit Holland on the outside and Butch went to the outside of the ring to even the odds. Wilson ran to the back and left Holland and Butch alone with Prince, who also ran to the back. With Butch on the apron, Rhea hit a chop-block and Dominik ran Butch into the ring pole, which was enough to get him the win. 

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– For next week, Michael Cole announced that Karl Anderson will face off against Karrion Kross. Rey Mysterio will go up against Santos Escobar for a shot at the U.S. title. 

The Roman Reigns/Jey Uso segment

Roman asked Orlando to acknowledge him and the crowd obliged. Roman sat in a chair and smiled. Jey sat in another chair, looking away from him. Roman asked Jey if he still wanted to do it. Jey said he still wants to do it. Jey said Roman is making him do this. Jey said he has to get Roman because Jimmy is in the hospital. Roman said Jey doesn’t get it. Roman called Jey a soldier, a pawn in the game. Roman signed a contract. Jey ripped up the contract. 

Jey said they already have a contract that’s in blood. Jey said it’s tribal combat now. Roman asked Jey if the elders knew about it and Jey said it was their idea. Jey said he wants to use a bunch of weapons on Roman. Roman told Jey to shut his mouth. Roman said he has run the business for almost a decade and set his title on the table in the ring. Roman said “Let’s go.” Jey reiterated that it’s tribal combat. Roman stood up. Roman and Jey put their heads together and shook hands. Roman went to leave the ring and Solo went for the spike on Jey, but Roman stopped him. Jey super-kicked Solo. Roman stared at Jey and left the ring. Jey and Roman stared at each other from afar. Michael Cole announced that Jey and Roman will face off at SummerSlam for the Undisputed Universal Championship.