WWE SmackDown live results: The fallout from Crown Jewel

After pinning Roman Reigns to win a six-man tag team match at Crown Jewel, Solo Sikoa will host an “undisputed Tribal Chief acknowledgment ceremony” on tonight’s WWE SmackDown from Buffalo, New York.

Sikoa’s team defeated Reigns and The Usos after Sikoa hit multiple Samoan spikes on Reigns.

SmackDown GM Nick Aldis said on social media that he will make a “history-making announcement” tonight.

Sami Zayn, who helped make the post-match save for the Reigns team at Crown Jewel, has been invited to appear on tonight’s show to hash things out with his old friends. Zayn accidentally kicked Reigns at Crown Jewel and on Monday, Zayn spoke to The Usos about the potential of reuniting for good.

After becoming the first-ever men’s Crown Jewel Champion last weekend, Cody Rhodes will make an appearance.

WWE Tag Team Champions the Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) will appear on The Grayson Waller Effect in their first appearance since winning the titles last month.

Bayley will go one-on-one with Candice LeRae to round out the announced happenings.

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– Footage of Solo Sikoa’s Bloodline entering the building aired to open the show. From there, a video package recapping Crown Jewel’s Bloodline developments was shown. After the video, Roman Reigns’s music hit inside the building and Roman made his entrance for the first segment.

The Roman Reigns Bloodline segment

I like the unexpected response from Roman, which essentially checked Sami, disappointed the crowd and allowed him to show all the frustration he has with Solo stepping up the way he has. Angry Roman is the best Roman. Meanwhile, Sami showed good disappointment and Jey was even believable with his conflicted face. I’m near the end of my rope with dragging the reunion out for the sake of dragging the reunion out, but this was a fun-enough twist to keep things going.

Reigns walked out flanked by only Jimmy Uso. The crowd chanted “OTC!” Reigns stood in the ring and soaked the chants in before proclaiming … nothing, because as Roman raised the microphone to his mouth, Jey Uso’s music hit and Jey walked out through the regular entrance – not the crowd. Jey did not get in the turnbuckles to turn up the crowd and instead had a serious demeanor. Jey said he thinks there’s a lot of misunderstanding and he asked Roman to hear Sami Zayn out. On cue, Sami’s music hit and out, Sami walked. “Sami Uso” chants broke out.

Zayn said first of all, he wanted Roman to know that his kick to Roman’s face wasn’t on purpose. Zayn said the only reason he was at Crown Jewel was for Jey. Zayn said he was at SmackDown for more than just Jey and it had been a long time since Zayn and Roman had been in the ring together. Zayn said at Crown Jewel, when it was the four of them together again, it was special and it took Zayn back to a very special time in his life and career and family. Zayn said he still has a soft spot for his time in the Bloodline. Zayn said he knew Jey, Jimmy and Roman felt it, too, when they were together last weekend.

Zayn said the only reason any of it was happening was because on some level, Roman wanted the original four-member Bloodline back. Zayn said the opposite of love is not hate; it is indifference, and he doesn’t believe Roman is indifferent to Zayn. Instead, Zayn said he thinks Roman loves Zayn. Zayn said Roman remembers the old days just like everybody else and it could be like that again. Zayn said he was going to put the ball in Roman’s court and if Roman wanted Zayn to leave, Zayn said he’d leave. Zayn said he didn’t believe that was what Roman wanted and what he thought Roman wanted was that they reunite to fight side by side.

If that’s what Roman wants, Zayn said he’d join him and do it – on one condition: Roman apologize to Zayn. The crowd chanted “hug it out!” Roman asked Zayn to clarify that Zayn wanted Roman to apologize to Zayn, to which Zayn said no – Zayn wanted Roman to apologize to Jey. Roman walked over to Jey and Roman said, “I’m sorry.” Roman paused and then said, “I’m sorry that I ever let you waste my time with this.” Roman said Zayn is not family and Roman berated Zayn. As such, Zayn left the ring and walked to the back. Roman called for Solo Sikoa to come out.

Jacob Fatu appeared on the screen from backstage. Fatu said Roman is just like everyone else because Solo is his Tribal Chief. Fatu said Solo moves on his own time and he’ll come out whenever he pleases. Fatu said at the end of the day, Roman will acknowledge that. Jey looked conflicted in the ring and Zayn paused on his way to the back. Roman, Jey and Jimmy looked angry and walked out of the ring to end the segment.

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– Roman was shown walking backstage and Jey approached him. Roman tried to walk away, but Jey grabbed Roman. Jey asked Roman again if he would hear Zayn out. Roman said Zayn “ain’t nothing to us.” Jey said he told Roman that if he talked to Jey like that again, Jey would be out again, and Jey walked away. Jimmy questioned Roman and Roman snapped at Jimmy, too. Jimmy walked away and Roman was alone staring around into the distance.

Bayley defeated Candice LeRae [8:02]

This was really pretty good. It’s still odd that LeRae has been side-by-side with Indi Hartwell almost entirely during her main roster run and now Indi all of a sudden isn’t there, but she held her own here and Bayley was very giving, which helped both wrestlers. The cheap win makes me wonder if we run this back – despite a fluke-ish pin from LeRae setting this up to begin with – and if they do run it back, I won’t complain. LeRae has been criminally under-utilized and Bayley has become a great upper-card wrestler who gives attention to wrestlers who might need it because they’ve been neglected by the booking for so long. Kudos to both women here.

LeRae had control early until Bayley shoulder-blocked LeRae to the mat. Bayley followed that up with a clothesline and a two-count. Bayley threw LeRae to the apron, but LeRae fought back and hit a neck-breaker on Bayley. The show then went to a commercial break as LeRae gained back the upper hand. The show returned and LeRae was working a type of chin-lock I am positive Excalibur could name. LeRae found herself on the apron and pulled Bayley down by her hair. LeRae went to the top and Bayley cut off LeRae, but LeRae bounced Bayley off the ring post.

LeRae went to the top and hit a missile dropkick from the top, but Bayley no-sold it and struck back with a clothesline. Bayley rammed LeRae into a corner and eventually landed a neck-breaker. Bayley lifted LeRae and hit a sort of tilt-a-whirl Sidewalk Slam. Bayley went to the top and LeRae rolled to the outside. Bayley chased LeRae and when they got back into the ring, LeRae sold random knee pain. The referee pulled Bayley aside. LeRae tried to take advantage with a rollup, but Bayley was ready for it and pinned LeRae for the win.

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– Motor City Machine Guns were hanging out backstage and Johnny Gargano walked into the frame. Gargano told them they should have fun punching Grayson Waller in the face. Ciampa approached Gargano and was very angry that Gargano was friendly with MCMG. Ciampa yelled that they would take their tag titles back. Out of nowhere, Randy Orton walked past Gargano and made his way to the ring as a sort of surprise. Orton walked to the ring with purpose and the show went to a commercial break.

– A lot of Buffalo Bills were shown in the front row.

The Randy Orton/Kevin Owens segment

What a great old school pro wrestling segment. Orton was perfect – literally, perfect – in selling the piledriver, a move that famously has not been allowed in WWE for a long time now. That said, it was one of the safest piledrivers I’ve ever seen, so good on Kevin Owens for that. But the aftermath? Wow, this was some of the best WWE SmackDown TV I’ve seen in months. Everyone was pitch perfect. Great stuff all around. Plus, with Cody riding alongside Orton, this sets up Cody vs. Owens now … right?

Randy Orton was pacing inside the ring and he yelled, demanding Kevin Owens show up because Orton was going to “end this sh$! right now” (yes, he actually did use his cuss words). Owens appeared and marched to the ring. Owens rolled into the ring and the two brawled. Orton was getting the best of Owens until officials broke them up. Owens then kicked Orton and hit a piledriver on Orton, which is not something I thought I’d see on WWE TV ever again. Michael Cole played it up by saying the move has been banned. Orton sold neck pain as Corey Graves called for medics, who promptly appeared.

The medics cut Orton’s shirt in half. Owens backed his way up away from the ring. Cody came out to check on Orton and Orton did a stretcher job. Orton sold the hell out of it. Even Corey Graves got up out of commentary and tried to lend a helping hand. Cody walked with Orton, who was being rolled on the stretcher, to the back. The camera followed Orton all the way back to a waiting ambulance. Cody said he was going to go with Orton in the ambulance. The ambulance pulled out of the building and that ended the segment.

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#DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) defeated Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson & Elton Prince) [1:36]

Sign Ciampa up to be the next Death Rider over on the other channel alongside Moxley. Guy had some fire here. This was a good showcase for how angry and frustrated Ciampa is and I liked the idea that Gargano didn’t appear flustered and instead, this came off more like Ciampa was saying, “Come with me; I’ll lead this,” rather than Gargano playing the sanctimonious do-nothing. I liked it.

Neither team got a televised entrance, despite Pretty Deadly’s disco ball being in full effect. Ciampa started the match by attacking both Pretty Deadly guys. Ciampa repeatedly slammed Elton Prince’s head onto the top of the commentary table. Ciampa then threw Kit Wilson into the timekeeper’s area before throwing Prince into the ring steps multiple times. Gargano looked concerned and eventually asked for a tag, but instead Ciampa hit a Fairytale Ending on Prince for the win.

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– Candice LeRae was shown walking backstage and Tiffany Stratton mocked LeRae for losing. Nia Jax came through and was annoyed with Stratton for making the tag-team match between Stratton & Jax and Cargill & Belair. Stratton said she went to Nick Aldis about it because they could potentially earn a shot at the women’s tag titles. Jax said Tiffy’s plan better work. LeRae looked on and the show went back to the ring.

– Next week, Naomi will face Nia Jax for the WWE Women’s Championship.

Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair defeated Nia Jax & Tiffany Stratton [9:27]

This was fine for what it was, but the thing that stuck out most to me is that it didn’t follow the typical Cargill/Belair match where Belair works the bulk of it and Cargill gets the shine and goes home. Instead, Cargill took the bulk of the punishment and worked well, I thought, with Jax (for what we saw; the match was still lost to about two minutes of commercials). Then, Belair tagged in and eventually got the victory. It’s good to switch things up. Outside of that, I like the pairing of LeRae and Jax, with Tiffy somehow turning babyface sooner than later. This was better than a normal WWE throwaway women’s tag match, and that counts for something.

Stratton and Cargill started the match and Cargill quickly got the advantage, until Stratton slapped Cargill and Cargill got very mad, hitting a Fallaway Slam on Stratton. Jax tagged in and Stratton pulled Belair off the apron. Jax then landed a Samoan Drop on Cargill inside the ring. Jax posed and the show went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Jax was working over Cargill. A PIP then aired with a Golden Corral ad. After that, Cargill tried for a hot tag, but Jax cut Cargill off and hit a headbutt. Jax went for a suplex, but Cargill countered into a suplex of her own. Cargill then got the hot tag to Belair and Belair took out Stratton, who also tagged in. Belair pounded on Stratton until Stratton tugged on Belair’s braid. Belair worked out of it and hit a spinebuster. Belair went for a moonsault, but Tiffy got her knees up and tagged in Jax.

Jax lifted Belair and tagged in Stratton. Stratton hit a Blockbuster on Belair as Jax hit a Samoan Drop on Belair. Stratton went for the pin, but Cargill broke it up. Jax and Cargill engaged in a stare down before trading blows. Ultimately, Jax took Cargill down and rolled to the outside. Stratton went for a double-knees, but Belair countered and eventually hit a spear.

Belair went to the top, but Jax distracted the referee and LeRae showed up to shove Belair off the top. Stratton then kicked Belair and yelled at Stratton to “get out of here.” Naomi appeared and fought LeRae until Jax plowed through Naomi. Meanwhile, inside the ring, Belair lifted Stratton and hit a KOD for the win.

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Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) defeated A-Town Down Under (Grayson Waller & Austin Theory) to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship [10:36]

This has been a pretty unremarkable live crowd to begin with, but boy, did they sit on their hands for this. I understand MCMG’s gimmick in WWE is “hey, smart fans love them, so you should, too,” but this is real time evidence that perhaps not the entire pro wrestling audience lives online and maybe – just maybe – there are people – families, even! – that go watch the wrestling matches and tune in sometimes on TV and that’s about it. I feel bad for Shelley and Sabin, too, because I’d love to start seeing these live crowds give them some nice pops, but this match felt like the 11th hole of a golf tournament on Friday afternoon. Still, the guys worked hard and both teams did their part as best they could. I’m just hoping MCMG can get some more character development sooner than later.

Theory & Waller didn’t get a televised entrance. It wasn’t until this point that the commentary team recognized the Grayson Waller Effect being canceled for the night and instead, the teams were booked to have a match. Theory started the match with Shelley and had control, until Sabin tagged in and MCMG hit a mini suite of their double-team moves on Theory. Waller tagged in after Theory cut Sabin off, but Sabin worked Waller’s arm instantly. Waller ran the ropes and took Sabin down. Shelley got in a blind tag and hit Waller with a forearm and some chops.

Shelley hit a splash on Theory on the outside and sold knee pain. As a result, Theory held onto Shelley’s leg and Waller landed an elbow from the top. Waller maintained control and the show went to a commercial break. The show returned and Waller and Theory were working over Shelley, complete with a Theory knee and stereo spinning forearms for a two-count. Waller threw Shelley to the outside and went for a sliding clothesline, but Shelley moved. Before long, Shelley kicked Theory away and moved from a Waller splash attempt to get the hot tag to Sabin.

Sabin took out Theory and Waller, complete with a missile dropkick on Theory. With Waller and Theory on the outside of the ring, Sabin landed a suicide dive through Shelley’s legs. Back inside the ring, Shelley tagged in and MCMG hit a double-team move for a two-count on Theory. Shelley went back to working an arm bar on Theory. Sabin tagged in and Theory went for A-Town Down, but Waller hit a rolling Flatliner on Sabin while Sabin tried to roll Theory up. It resulted in a near-fall.

Waller officially tagged in and went for an elbow from the second rope, but missed. Shelley tagged in and MCMG hit super-kicks before landing Skull & Bones on Waller for the win.

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– Michael Cole revealed that Randy Orton is dealing with “undisclosed cervical injuries” at a local hospital.

– MCMG ran into Ciampa & Gargano backstage, but the Street Profits walked in to say that next week, the Profits will face MCMG next week for the tag titles. Shelley and Sabin said they wanted the match with the Profits and Dawkins, in his dark voice, said, “Let’s see how you handle real pressure,” before everyone walked away.

– Nick Aldis was shown in a vignette and talked about the women’s division. Quickly, Aldis revealed the Women’s United States Championship. Aldis said it will be for any woman who wants to seize the moment. Michael Cole touted it as a brilliant announcement. Graves said it would be a championship that could take a woman’s career and legacy to a whole new level.

– Fatu, Tonga and Loa were shown backstage. Solo Sikoa stepped into the frame, received the Ula Fala, and the four Tongans started their walk to the ring.

The Bloodline segment

And there it is. Me being old, I would prefer a five-on-five War Games match, but it’s probably not wise to shoehorn in one person on each side just for the sake of shoehorning in one person on each side. There’s just too much history here to try and force that. Still, this was good. I said at the beginning of the night that I was running out of patience for how they were drawing this reunion out, so the celebratory spot at the end of the show made this viewer very happy. It’s predictable, but it’s fun, and I mean that in the most endearing and honest way possible. Now, after all this, there’s only one real question left: How does Paul Heyman eventually fit in?

Sikoa said there was only one way to start things off: “Buffalo, acknowledge me.” A whole bunch of boos erupted from the crowd. Instantly, Roman’s music hit and Roman walked out alone. Roman walked up the steps and into the ring by himself. The crowd chanted “OTC!” Sikoa said it was good to see Roman and he needed Roman to acknowledge Sikoa as his undisputed tribal chief. “F— you, Solo!” chants began. Roman responded by saying, “Buffalo, do you acknowledge him?” referring to Solo. The crowd booed loudly. Roman said, simply, “neither do I.”

Roman said he will never acknowledge Solo and instead, he was there to challenge solo, one-on-one. The winner of the match, Roman said, will be the only tribal chief. Solo laughed and said he’s the only tribal chief. Solo said Roman can’t become a tribal chief because he has no tribe anymore. Solo then challenged Roman to find four people in the locker room that would team up with him and they “could go to war.”

Roman asked Solo if he was talking about War Games. Roman said he only saw four of them. Solo, funnily, counted all of his guys, including him, and then said the fifth guy will be “his dog, Sami Zayn.” Sami then appeared in the entranceway and the Bloodline attacked Roman. Solo jawed at Roman while the attack when down and the Usos ran out for the save until Fatu kept things in control. Solo set up for another Samoan Spike on Roman and invited Zayn into the ring.

Zayn walked into the ring and Solo demanded Zayn kick Roman in the face. Zayn instead kicked Solo in the face and stared at Roman. Fatu went at Sami and missed; Roman then Superman Punched Fatu and Sami hit a Helluva Kick on Fatu. Roman hit a spear on Solo and only Roman and Sami were left in the ring. Jey and Jimmy joined them. Jey and Jimmy put up their fingers. Zayn looked at Roman and put his finger up, too, acknowledging Roman. Roman nodded and threw his finger up, too. The four of them stood, index fingers in the air, standing side by side. The show ended with Roman’s Bloodline standing tall while Solo looked frustrated.