WWE SmackDown live results: Roman Reigns & Kevin Owens contract signing
The build to the Royal Rumble continues on tonight’s SmackDown from Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens make their Royal Rumble title match official with tonight’s contract signing.
Last week, Reigns ordered Sami Zayn to take out Owens without The Bloodline’s help. But when Zayn was ready to put Owens away, The Usos and Solo Sikoa ran out to attack Owens. Zayn seemed confused since he almost won.
The SmackDown Tag Team title contender’s tournament begins tonight with two first-round matches: Drew McIntyre & Sheamus vs. The Viking Raiders and Ridge Holland & Butch vs. Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci.
The Viking Raiders attacked McIntyre and Sheamus after they failed to beat The Usos for the SmackDown Tag Team titles two weeks ago. Sheamus demanded another title shot, but McIntyre wanted to fight The Viking Raiders. Adam Pearce announced tonight’s bout to make them both happy.
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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– They recapped the Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens match from last week.
In the parking lot, The Bloodline arrived at the arena. Sami Zayn was pumped up and did his special handshake with the Usos. He put his fist out for Roman Reigns, but Reigns ignored him and walked off. Paul Heyman gave Zayn a look. The fans popped big for Zayn.
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– They revealed the SmackDown Tag Team tournament bracketing: Drew Mcintyre & Sheamus vs. The Viking Raiders, Los Lotharios vs. Hit Row, The Brawling Brutes vs. Imperium, and Maximum Male Models vs. Legado del Fantasma
SmackDown Tag Team Tournament First Round: Drew McIntyre & Sheamus defeated The Viking Raiders (w/Valhalla) (17:49)
McIntyre & Sheamus vs. The Viking Raiders was the best match of the night. The rest of the tournament matches felt rushed, but this got a lot of time. The fans were into it and popped for the finish.
Before the match, Michael Cole mentioned the passing of Jay Brisco and sent condolences to his family. The Viking Raiders wore Dem Boys armbands.
They didn’t wait for the bell and broke out into a brawl. Sheamus took over, hitting the ten beats of bodhran on both Raiders. Sheamus went for White Noise on Erik, but Ivar cut him off. Ivar and Erik worked together to take over as they cut to a break.
The Viking Raiders were firmly in control and isolated Sheamus on their side of the ring. Sheamus fought back and broke free with an uppercut. Erik fired back with stiff forearms.
Sheamus recovered and hit the Irish curse backbreaker to a huge pop. McIntyre got the hot tag to another big pop. McIntyre ran wild on the Raiders with duel neck breakers. He went for the Futureshock DDT, but Ivar backed him into the corner.
McIntyre hit the Michinoku Driver for a very close near fall. He went for a superplex on Ivar. Erik made the save and hung McIntyre upside down. However, Sheamus cut off Erik and hit white noise. McIntyre pulled himself up and caught Ivar with a spide belly-to-belly suplex.
Back from the break, McIntyre recovered and hit the Futureshock DDT on Ivar. McIntyre went for the claymore, but Ivar countered. Sheamus and Erik tagged in and traded shots. Sheamus went for the Brogue kick, but Valhalla jumped on the apron. The Raiders took advantage. Ivar hit a big splash for a close near fall. The Raiders set up for the springboard kick/German suplex, but Sheamus broke free. McIntyre took out Erik with the claymore. Sheamus then hit the brogue kick on Ivar for the win.
McIntyre and Sheamus advance to face the winner of Hit Row vs. Los Lotharios.
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– Sami Zayn approached Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman in The Bloodline locker room. Zayn felt Reigns was frosty to him earlier. Reigns said he watched last week and saw the expression on Zayn’s face.
Zayn apologized but said he was just upset that he didn’t know the plan. He felt honored to take care of the KO problem. Reigns cut Zayn off and told him to leave. He didn’t want to hear it and mocked Zayn. He added that he doesn’t have to tell Zayn the plan. Zayn was surprised by Reigns’ reaction. Heyman frantically told Zayn to go.
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– LA Knight was on his way to the ring.
– Throughout the night, they had various people declare for the Royal Rumble. Raquel Rodriguez’s entering and promises to win the women’s Royal Rumble match.
LA Knight defeated Greg Jones (:35)
The big news was the return of the Firefly Funhouse. The fans loved the segment and gave Wyatt and the puppets a big reaction.
Before the match, LA Knight talked about his upcoming Pitch Black match against Wyatt. He noted that Wyatt admitted that he was Uncle Howdy last week. He promised to beat Wyatt in the Pitch Black match.
Knight defeated Jones in a squash match. During the match, Bray Wyatt’s symbol flashed on the screen.
Firefly Funhouse
The fans popped big for the return of the Firefly Funhouse. The puppets are excited to be back as they shake the dust off. Ramblin’ Rabbit said that he likes LA Knight. He said Knight’s like The Miz but with muscles. Wyatt laughed at the idea that someone named their child Los Angeles Knight.
An Uncle Howdy video interrupted. Howdy said he was right, and Wyatt just needed a little push.
They cut back to Wyatt. He blamed LA Knight for opening the door. Now, whatever comes through the door is Knight’s problem.
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SmackDown Tag Team Tournament First Round: Hit Row (w/B-Fab) defeated Los Lotharios (2:43)
They crammed a lot into two minutes. Pretty short for a tournament match. Los Lotharios looked good for the short time they had.
Michael Cole made fun of Top Dolla messing up the dive weeks ago. He won’t let this one go.
Los Lotharios had the early advantage with a double superkick on Ashante “Thee” Adonis. However, Adonis fought back and tagged Top Dolla. Cole made fun of Top Dolla again. Top Dolla heard Cole, so he dragged Angel to the desk and yelled at Cole.
Humberto got the tag and ran wild. He caught Adonis with a second rope sunset flip for a near fall. Angel and Humberto hit double suicide dives. The finish came when B-Fab grabbed Angel’s leg, and Adonis rolled him up for the win.
Hit Row takes on Drew McIntyre & Sheamus next week in the semi-finals.
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– They showed the Cody Rhodes video package. He returns at the Royal Rumble.
– Braun Strowman cut a promo. He promised to win the Rumble match.
Charlotte Flair segment
Flair vs. Deville feels a bit underwhelming. Regardless, the fans were hot for the segment. Deville usually gets a lot of heat in these situations.
The Match Flo of the Week recapped the Charlotte Flair-Sonya Deville feud.
SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair entered the ring with a big reaction. She wasted no time and addressed her problems with Sonya Deville. Flair told her not to cry to Adam Pearce and face her in the ring.
Sonya Deville walked out and mocked the Detroit fans. Deville only cares about getting a title shot. She doesn’t care what they want and only cares about herself. The fans broke into a loud “You Suck” chant. Deville claimed she was a star, and the fans broke into another loud “You Suck” chant.
Flair noted she had beaten Deville already and made her tap out. The fans broke into a slight “You Tapped Out” chant. Flair told Deville to enter the Rumble like the other women. Flair does want to fight and challenged Deville to a fight right now. Deville refused to fight unless she got a title shot.
Adam Pearce walked out to address Deville demanding a title match. With Flair distracted, Deville jumped her from behind. As Deville walked to the back, Pearce noted they needed to talk.
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-In the Bloodline locker room, Reigns wanted Heyman’s opinion on his conversation with Sami Zayn earlier. He admitted that he doesn’t like Zayn. With the contract signing coming up, he thinks it’s better to have Zayn on their side. Heyman eloquently stated it would be better to have Zayn in the castle pissing out instead of being on the outside, pissing in the castle.
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– They showed another Lacey Evans training video. She’s perfecting the cobra clutch.
SmackDown Tag Team Tournament First Round: Imperium defeated The Brawling Brutes (9:12)
The Brawling Bruts vs. Imperium had a fantastic ten-minute TV match. It was a hard-hitting, fast-paced match with tons of action.
Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser isolated Butch on their side of the ring. Butch tried fighting back by attacking Kaiser’s hand. Imperium regained control and knocked Ridge Holland off the apron.
Back from the break, Holland got the hot tag. He ran wild on Kaiser with a running power slam. Butch hit a moonsault off the apron onto Vinci. Butch climbed to the top rope. Vinci caused a distraction by throwing Holland into the steps. In the ring, Kaiser took over on Butch. Butch got the ankle lock on Kaiser and switched to an arm bar. Kaiser dragged Butch to his side of the ring. Vinci got the tag and hit moonsault for a near fall.
Butch fought with Vinci on the apron and Kaiser in the ring. Butch knocked Vinci off the apron. Kaiser took advantage and kicked Butch in the back of the head. Butch fell, but Vinci caught him in a suplex and hit a brain buster. Back in the ring, Imperium hit the Imperium bomb on Holland for the win.
Imperium advances to the semi-finals.
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– Paul Heyman approached a sad Sami Zayn and told him that his Tribal chief needed to talk to him.
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– They showed a great Raw XXX video package featuring highlights from the last 30 years. Cole and Wade Barrett previewed this Monday’s Raw XXX anniversary show.
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– Shayna Baszler promised to win the women’s Royal Rumble match next Saturday.
– Karrion Kross and Scarlet discussed his upcoming match with Rey Mysterio. Kross claimed that Mysterio could either be a family man or the greatest, but he can’t be both. After Kross beats Mysterio, he’s going to win the Royal Rumble.
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SmackDown Tag Team Tournament First Round: Legado Del Fantasma (w/Zelina Vega & Santos Escobar) defeated Maximum Male Models (2:59)
There were two really good tag team tournament matches tonight, and this wasn’t one of them. Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde look good at times, but they didn’t click with the Models.
Zelina Vega joined Cole and Barrett on commentary. Vega announced she’s entering the Rumble match.
The Models were briefly in control early. They teased a dive but posed instead. Escobar gave Del Toro and Wilde a pep talk. Wilde and Del Toro took over and sent the Models to ringside.
Wilde and Del Toro went for a double suicide dive but ma.çé was out of place. Wilde stopped dead in his tracks. He looked for ma.çé and found him on the other side of the ring. Wilde took out ma.çé with a dive. Legado del Fantasma then hit a Russian leg sweep/enziguri on mån.sôör to advance to the semi-finals.
Legado del Fantasma takes on Imperium in the semi-finals next week.
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– Sami Zayn came back to talk to Roman Reigns in the locker room. He slowly entered and seemed afraid. Instead, Reigns admitted that he has a bad temper. He understands that Zayn wanted to know the plan last week. Reigns praised Zayn this time and said they’re the same.
Zayn was relieved to hear Reigns say that. Reigns just wants the same love and loyalty that he shows people. Zayn praised Reigns and promised to do whatever it took for the Bloodline.
Reigns told Zayn to find The Usos to get the SUVs and private jet ready. Reigns, Heyman, and Solo Sikoa will go to the ring for the contract signing, but he wants to leave quickly. Heyman was great as he wiped away his tears. He thanked Reigns when Zayn left.
Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens Contract Signing
This was a simple yet very effective angle. Owens outsmarted the heels and beat them down on his own. They furthered the Bloodline tension while making Owens look strong. Throughout the night, the Reigns and Zayn story played out. Then, Zayn was the only one that Owens didn’t beat up. Owens wore a Jay Brisco arm band.
As Roman Reigns, Solo Sikoa, and Paul Heyman entered. Cole said he felt for Sami Zayn and called him gullible. Cole pushed that Reigns is jealous of Zayn’s popularity.
Reigns sat at the head of the table with his feet up for the contract signing. Suddenly, Kevin Owens jumped Sikoa from behind and hit the stunner on Reigns to a big pop. The Usos ran out, but Owens fought them off.
Owens then gave Reigns a pop-up powerbomb through the table to a huge pop. Owens signed the contract and posed in the ring. Sami Zayn ran out, and they had a brief stare-down. Owens turned around and ran off through the crowd.
Owens watched from the crowd as Sikoa, and The Usos checked on Reigns. Zayn was shocked but didn’t help Reigns.
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Next Week: Karrion Kross goes one-on-one with Rey Mysterio. In the SmackDown Tag Team Tournament semi-finals: Drew McIntyre & Sheamus vs. Hit Row and Legado Del Fantasma vs. Imperium.
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