WWE SmackDown live results: Tag team gauntlet match

New number one contenders for the WWE Tag Team titles will be determined on tonight’s SmackDown as six teams compete in a gauntlet match.

The teams slated to vie for the title opportunity are The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins), Baron Corbin & Apollo Crews, Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson & Elton Prince), The Bloodline’s Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa, The OC’s Anderson & Gallows, and Legado Del Fantasma’s Angel & Berto.

The winners of the match will take on champions DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) for the belts at some point in the near future.

Also set for tonight, LA Knight goes one-on-one with Santos Escobar. The match was set up last week when Escobar reminded Knight that Escobar was not pinned in a triple threat match earlier this month between Knight, Escobar and Logan Paul.

WWE Women’s Champion Bayley will team up with Michin to take on Tiffany Stratton & Nia Jax as well. Bayley is slated to defend her title against Jax at SummerSlam next weekend.

Tonight’s show was taped last week in Omaha, Nebraska. Our coverage starts at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

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– The show opened with a video recapping last week’s developments between Cody, Kevin Owens and The Bloodline.

– Nick Aldis was shown backstage with The Bloodline. Aldis told them they’d have to forfeit their spot in the tag team gauntlet match due to an eye injury to Tonga Loa. Solo Sikoa said Jacob Fatu could step in for Loa and Aldis agreed. Sikoa told Fatu to bring the tag titles “home.”

– LA Knight was shown walking backstage and Knight spoke to a camera walking with him. Knight said he was going to teach Santos Escobar some history and did his “LA Knight” gimmick before walking through the curtain for the first match.

LA Knight defeated Santos Escobar [9:40]

A standard match. On one hand, it’s refreshing to see SmackDown open with a match instead of a promo. On the other, the match was just sort of there. The Paul attack felt inevitable, so at least it was short lived. What’s happening with Escobar? He’s kind of faded into midcard purgatory since his feud with the LWO finished up. I know he’s carrying the Legado Del Fantasma flag, but for that matter, what’s happening with Legado Del Fantasma? Maybe they get a reset after SummerSlam.

Escobar ran at Knight to start the match, but Knight moved and eventually took control by working Escobar’s arm. With Escobar in a corner, Knight worked a series of punches until Escobar pulled Knight down, onto the top turnbuckle. Now with control, Escobar hit some chops and a snap suplex. Escobar worked a weird offshoot Sharpshooter briefly and before long, Knight was draped over the second rope, where Elektra Lopez slapped Knight. Escobar followed that up with a 619 on Knight. The show then went to its first commercial break of the night.

When the show returned, Escobar landed a double knees for a two-count. Knight tried for a comeback with a swinging neck-breaker, but Escobar got right back on the offensive and toyed with Knight, hitting a series of strikes on Knight. Escobar walked into an elbow from Knight and Knight proceeded to stomp away on Escobar. Knight followed that up with a running knee and a DDT. Knight hit a powerslam and both wrestlers were down. Lopez stood on the apron and Logan Paul ran down, only to receive a clothesline from Knight. Knight then telegraphed a Phantom Driver attempt and hit the BFT for the win.

After the match, Paul attacked Knight until Knight fought back and stomped on Paul repeatedly. Escobar then hit Knight with a knee and shook hands with Paul. The heels worked over Knight and Paul hit a frog splash on Knight to close the segment.

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– A video recapping Blair Davenport attacking Naomi aired. From there, Byron Saxton interviewed Naomi backstage. Naomi said she didn’t know what Davenport’s issue was with Naomi. Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair walked into the frame and told Naomi that Davenport would get what’s coming to her. Cargill and Belair walked toward the ring.

– Paul was shown walking backstage and ran into Saxton. Paul said he gave Knight a taste of what he’s going to do at SummerSlam. Paul then said he got a phone call earlier and on that phone call, Paul learned he’s going to receive a surprise at SummerSlam. Paul ended by saying Knight will face “the pride of Cleveland” at SummerSlam and mocked the “Yeah!”

The Cargill/Belair segment

Belair spoke first and said she was going to cut to the chase: She wanted to know where Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn were. Cargill started to talk and Fyre & Dawn’s music hit. The tag champs attacked Cargill and Belair from behind instead of coming down the entrance way. Before long, the babyfaces took control and Cargill slammed Fyre onto Dawn. Cargill and Belair posed and celebrated to end the segment.

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– The Street Profits were shown backstage and Terence Crawford showed up. Crawford said he’d be watching later when the Profits compete in the gauntlet match.

– Tiffany Stratton and Nia Jax were shown talking in the locker room. Jax said she’d get Stratton a new briefcase. Stratton hugged the briefcase Bayley beat up on last week’s episode.

The Bloodline (Jacob Fatu & Tama Tonga) defeated Baron Corbin & Apollo Crews, The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins), Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson & Elton Prince), The O.C. (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) and Legado Del Fantasma (Berto & Angel) to become the No. 1 contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championship (38:40)

Once Fatu was inserted into the match, replacing Loa, you had to know it was going to be The Bloodline getting the win. That’s OK. You have to think they’ll dethrone #DIY at some point next weekend, be it on SmackDown or at SummerSlam, and that feels like the right call, if only because it might help elevate those tag titles – tag titles that have lost a whole lot of prestige in recent months. As for this match, it played out how one might think it would. The Profits get the most shine/time, but ultimately come up short. The other teams were just kind of there. And The Bloodline goes over. There was some good action shoehorned in there, but nothing really notable. As an aside, that back suplex Crews took early on was nuts. He seemed to be OK coming out of it, but man. That was scary.

LDF and Borbin & Crews started the gauntlet. Angel and Corbin started the match after LDF jumpstarted the match. Corbin had control until Angel tagged in Berto and the action spilled outside. Berto landed a Tope on Corbin and the show went to a commercial break. Back from that commercial, Berto lifted Corbin, but Corbin fought his way out of it, eventually hip-tossing Berto into the turnbuckles. Crews and Angel tagged in and fired up, complete with a series of German Suplexes on Angel.

Crews hit a splash on Angel and went to the top, but leapt into a knee from Angel. Angel landed a backbreaker for a two-count. Corbin and Berto fought outside while Angel hit a running knee on Crews. Corbin ultimately tagged in and landed End Of Days on Angel to eliminate LDF.

Legado Del Fantasma (Angel & Berto) were eliminated at 6:01.

The Street Profits made their entrance as the next team in the match. Ford and Crews began and Crews took Ford down with a dropkick. Ford came back with a nasty back suplex that could have killed Crews. Dawkins tagged in, but Ford and Corbin tagged in soon after. Corbin punched Ford to the outside of the ring and Crews threw Corbin over the top onto the outside, where Ford and Dawkins took the brunt of Corbin’s splash. The show then went to another commercial break.

The show returned and Ford jumped from the top only to run into a boot from Corbin. Both guys ended up down and Dawkins received the hot tag. Crews tagged in as well. The two traded enziguris and Dawkins went for a cover after a suplex. Things broke down and Crews and Ford hit stereo suicide dives on their opponents on the outside. Back in the ring, Crews went to the top, but Dawkins moved when Crews tried a frog-splash. Ford tagged in and the Profits hit their finisher on Crews to eliminate Crews and Corbin.

Baron Corbin and Apollo Crews were eliminated at 14:11.

Pretty Deadly was the next team out and they went for quick cover attempts on Dawkins. Ford tagged in and Prince got a blind tag. Prince then chop-blocked Ford to give Pretty Deadly control. Wilson tagged in and the two worked over Ford’s knee. Ford tried to fight his way out of the Pretty Deadly corner, but Prince cut Ford off and the heels went back to work on Ford’s knee. Dawkins received the hot tag eventually and hit an enziguri on Prince, which led to a two-count.

Wilson tagged in and Dawkins ran into a DDT from Wilson for a near-fall. Prince then tagged in and Pretty Deadly took turns hitting back elbows on Dawkins. The two landed a gut buster on Dawkins, but Ford broke up a pin attempt. Dawkins then lifted Prince and tagged in Ford, who hit a Blockbuster from the top to eliminate Pretty Deadly.

Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince & Kit Wilson were eliminated at 20:42.

The O.C. walked out as the next team and the show went to another commercial break. When the show got back, Anderson had control over Ford. Gallows tagged in and slammed Ford. Anderson tagged in and slammed Ford and got a two-count for his efforts. Gallows tagged in and worked a chin lock. Before long, Anderson and Gallows were on the outside after Anderson slipped off the apron. Dawkins tagged in and hit a dive onto both heels, nearly running into the commentary table. Quickly, Anderson hit a spine-buster on Dawkins and tagged in Gallows. Anderson went to run at Dawkins, but Ford grabbed his leg and Dawkins rolled up Anderson to eliminate The O.C.

The O.C. (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) were eliminated at 28:32.

The Bloodline’s music hit and they walked to the ring as the final team to enter the match. The show went to a commercial break and when it got back, The Bloodline were dominating Dawkins. At one point, Dawkins was draped over the second rope and Solo Sikoa choked Dawkins. Fatu tagged in and went to work on Dawkins, complete with a finger-chewing moment. Fatu went for a dive at Dawkins and Dawkins moved so Fatu ran into the ring post.

Ford received the hot tag and Tonga tagged in. Ford hit a spinebuster on Tonga and a super-kick to Fatu. Ford went to the top and landed a splash on Tonga for a good near-fall. Tonga came back with a super-plex from the second rope. The action broke down and Ford jumped over the corner ring post to take out everyone on the outside. Back in the ring, Ford went to the top, but missed a frog-splash. Fatu tagged in and it looked like some miscommunication happened between he and Ford. After a few seconds, Fatu hit his pop-up Samoan Drop. Fatu then landed a moonsault from the top and got the win.

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– The Commentary team was talking and Grayson Waller & Austin Theory showed up through the crowd. Waller called out Terence Crawford for costing them the match against Cody and KO last week. Theory demanded Crawford come to the ring. Crawford came out through the walkway. Waller said last week, Crawford disrespect he and Theory and as such, Crawford owed Waller and Theory an apology. Waller said Theory would knock Crawford out. Theory walked toward Crawford and Crawford knocked Theory out. Waller exited the ring and Crawford posed for the live crowd.

The Cody Rhodes segment

Cody reflected on winning his title at WrestleMania. Cody called the Bloodline a bunch of wild animals and because of them, Cody is sitting alone because The Bloodline took out his friends, Kevin Owens and Randy Orton. Cody said he will head into SummerSlam a champion and he will have to bring his fire and passion to make sure the title doesn’t slip back into the hands of The Bloodline. Cody said Solo Sikoa will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. Cody said he used to think Solo wasn’t ready, but he’s not sure about that anymore. Cody challenged Sikoa to meet him in the ring next week and go face-to-face.

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– Next week, Fyre & Dawn will take on Belair and Cargill for the Women’s Tag Team Championship. The Bloodline get their shot at #DIY for the WWE Tag Team Championship. There will also be a Logan Paul homecoming segment.

– Andrade was interviewed backstage and Carmelo Hayes walked into the frame. Hayes said just because Andrade won last week, it isn’t over. Hayes said it won’t be over until Hayes wins. Andrade offered one more match and Hayes walked away.

Nia Jax & Tiffany Stratton defeated Bayley & Michin [12:44]

They tried. They really did, with the Michin injury angle and the comeback and the glorified handicap match. But there really wasn’t much to this. What makes the Jax/Bayley match interesting, of course, is Jax’s relationship with Stratton, but there was no tease for anything between Jax and Stratton here and instead, we got a lot of rest holds and 12-plus minutes of heel dominance. I’ll tell you this: We all expect Roman Reigns to make some type of return at SummerSlam next weekend, and at this point, it can’t go unnoticed that without him regularly popping up on SmackDown, this show has quickly – and I mean quickly – declined in quality. It needs him. Raw is not only the better television show; it’s the better wrestling show, and it doesn’t feel like it was all that long ago when Fridays felt like the biggest day of the week for WWE. Here’s hoping that can change because this was just the latest in a series of below lackluster SmackDowns.

Michin was making her entrance and Jax and Stratton ran out and attacked Michin. Bayley’s must then hit and Bayley ran to the ring with a kendo stick. Michin sold arm pain outside the ring and it looked like the tag match was about to turn into a handicap match. Bayley attacked Stratton to officially start the match, but Stratton came back with a head-lock. Eventually, Bayley got Stratton on the mat and hit a series of strikes. Before long, Stratton ran Bayley into a corner and regained control. Meanwhile, Michin stayed on the outside, selling her arm.

Stratton threw Bayley into a corner, but Bayley went threw the ropes and came back at Stratton with a neck-breaker. Michin hopped back on the apron, but Jax got Michin off the apron and hit a Samoan Drop on Michin on the outside. Inside the ring, Stratton hit a double stomp on Bayley for a two-count. The show then went to its final commercial break of the evening. Back to the show and Stratton worked a stink face on Bayley.

Stratton whipped Bayley into a corner and the camera showed Michin selling more pain on the outside of the ring. Meanwhile, Bayley was the recipient of a back elbow and splash from both Jax and Stratton. Jax was the legal woman in the ring and toyed with Bayley. Stratton tagged in and worked a chin-lock on Bayley. Stratton planted Bayley and Jax tagged in to hit an elbow and come up with a two-count. Jax then worked a modified chin-lock. Stratton tagged back in and went for her back handspring splash in a corner, but Bayley caught Stratton and hit a belly-to-back suplex.

Michin hopped back up on the apron and Jax tagged in to cut Bayley off. Stratton tagged in, but Bayley kicked Stratton away and got the hot tag to Michin, who fired up against Stratton, complete with a Tornado DDT and a suicide dive onto Jax, who was on the outside. Michin went for a shotgun dropkick, but Stratton moved and tagged in Jax, who missed a splash on Michin. Bayley tagged in and hit a running knee on Jax. Bayley went to the top and connected with an elbow from the top for a good near-fall. With the referee distracted, Stratton hit Bayley with the MITB briefcase. From there, Jax his her finish and pinned Bayley for the win.

After the match, the show cut to another Bloodline video. Sikoa said the Tongans will bring the tag titles back to the Bloodline and Sikoa will bring back the world title back to the Bloodline. Sikoa said if Roman Reigns has a problem with that, he knows where to find him (SummerSlam, probably). Sikoa said “Acknowledge me” and the group held up their fingers to end the show.