411’s WWE The SmackDown LowDown Report: 05.18.24 – DIY Want Tag Gold, Plus Remembering Larry Csonka!

-Four years ago today, we lost the late, great Larry Csonka. Please go check out Steve Cooke’s column if you haven’t. There was nobody who worked harder and covered more wrestling than Larry. You can just check the site today to see how many people it is taking to cover what he did. As I have mentioned countless times, Larry was the main person I reported to with every article/review I did, and he was always there for every question I had. He often recommended me for certain jobs like Hall of Fame coverage, and WWE Backstage, and was the first to praise me for jumping all over the WWE Network shows that nobody else wanted to do. He was from Western PA like me, and I think that always helped me. To this day I still wonder after each PPV what Larry would think. My favorite memory was the birth of my first son and Larry sending me an excited DM wanting all the details as far as name, weight, length, etc. The fact he was that excited for me, someone he only ever communicated with by e-mail or Twitter DM, meant a lot. Larry was the best and he is still sorely missed by us all.

-Megan Morant welcomes us to The SmackDown LowDown and she is joined by Scott Stanford.

-The Brackets: Queen of The Ring: Iyo Sky vs. Lyra Valkyria; Nia Jax vs. Bianca Belair

-The Brackets: King of The Ring: GUNTHER vs. Jey Uso; Randy Orton vs. Tama Tonga

-To the video as Cody Rhodes and Logan Paul have a contract signing. The crowd chanting “You can’t read,” at Logan was funny and he rolled with it and played off it well. I was wondering how they were going to get out of Title vs. Title, but I guess it was never going to happen as Paul signs a new contract making the match for Cody’s Title only. Cody signs and then we brawl! That will take any drama out of the match, but this contract signing was fire as the crowd loves Cody and hates Logan. That usually works out well.

-To the video as DIY get a win over LDF inside a WWE ring on FOX to continue their climb.

-Cathy Kelly is backstage with Ciampa and Gargano. Ciampa has no chill as he points out to Cathy, that they aren’t on a roll yet as it has only been one match. On RAW they were playing the long game, but now they are taking what they want. Gargano tries to set Ciampa for a tagline, but Ciampa wants no part of that, so Cathy jumps in. I do hope they get to win the Tag Titles before the inevitable break when Ciampa has had enough, and he turns on Johnny Wrestling. It’s coming and just a matter of when.

-Peacock Commercials!

-Next Saturday! King and Queen of The Ring! It’s going to be a busy weekend for pro wrestling.

-Byron Saxton is backstage with Chelsea Green and Piper Nevin. Byron notes that Bayley challenged Chelsea to a match next week. Piper has to break the news to Chelsea that the Title is not on the line. “Oh right, it’s a “Championship” Match.” Too funny! Piper again explains there is no Championship on the line, but a win puts her in position for a Championship Match. Chelsea is cool with that.

-To the video as Bianca Belair gets a hard-fought win over Tiffany Stratton to advance to the semi-finals of Queen of the Ring. The crowd was really into this one and there is no shame in Stratton losing to Bianca. Once Bianca won though, you knew Jade had no chance as they aren’t giving that match away right now.

-Speaking of Jade, to the video as Nia tells Jade’s daughter, “Your mom sucks.” That’s a heel! Nia goes to use a chair, but Jade gets her hands on it and blasts Nia to lose by DQ. I understand what they were doing with Nia yelling at Jade’s daughter which led to her losing her cool and using the chair. That’s one way to have Jade lose without eating a pin.

-Cathy Kelly is backstage with Nia, who tells Jade that she will have plenty of losses, but she will never forget her first. She then demands that Cathy call her “Queen Nia.”

-Next week on SmackDown: Nia vs. Bianca with the winner heading to Queen of The Ring.

-Peacock commercials!

-This Monday on RAW: The Semi-Finals of King and Queen of The Ring!

-To the video as Tama Tonga gets the win over LA Knight to advance in The King of The Ring Tournament. As I mentioned on RAW Talk, there are two ways this Tournament is going: GUNTHER vs. Orton or Jey vs. Tama. So, whoever wins on RAW will most likely give away who is winning on Friday.

-To the video as SmackDown closed with Randy Orton getting a win over Carmelo Hayes to punch his ticket to the semi-finals. Good match and Hayes looked right at home with a legend like Orton. You knew once Melo hit the springboard in the middle of the match, the way it was going to end and sure enough, he springs into a sweet RKO. The Bloodline are out to intimidate Orton, but he has no time for that and introduces himself and the three most dangerous letters in WWE history, NDA. No sorry, RKO!

-Next week on SmackDown: Orton vs. Tonga; The Street Profits vs. The Bloodline (Solo and Loa)!

-Megan wraps things up and we are out this week. Thanks for reading and once again, we miss you, Larry!