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Well everyone it’s time for another episode of WWE Smackdown. Tonight we’re still heading towards Backlash and to that end we’ve got a match between AJ Styles and LA Knight with the winner getting a shot at Cody Rhodes and the WWE title he carries, Bayley goes for her first title defense against Naomi, we’re probably getting new tag team belts now that RAW has new ones and a tag team fatal 4-way between Street Profits, Authors of Pain, New Catch Republic, and Legado del Fantasma will crown title challengers for A-Town Down Under. The big thing last week was Solo Sikoa introducing Tama Tonga and then wiping out Jimmy Uso, with Roman Reigns off filming Good Fortune it looks like Solo is making his play to become the new Tribal Chief so we’ll be keeping an eye on that development. Jade Cargill and Bron Breakker are still killing jobbers, Logan Paul is probably still not here, and don’t forget that the Draft starts next week here on Smackdown. Well that’s the preamble so let’s get to the action.

LA Knight heads to the ring first after commentary welcomes us to the show, guess we’re starting off with that match.

Match #1: LA Knight vs. AJ Styles

Some early jaw jacking then a tie up, Knight pushes AJ into the corner then he does give a clean break but AJ lands a kick and grabs a side headlock. Knight fights free then lands an elbow and grabs his own side headlock. Some rope running now, Knight avoids a dropkick then lands a clothesline. Knight tosses AJ out of the ring then follows him and bounces his head off the announce table repeatedly. Back in the ring AJ lands a kick and tries a Styles Clash but Knight back drops him out of the ring then hits a flying dropkick through the ropes and poses to send us to break.

We come back to AJ in control. Knight fires up with some rights then they hit the ropes for a double crossbody spot and both men are down. Both men fight up and they start trading punches, AJ hits a flurry but Knight ducks a clothesline then lands a series of jabs to take over. Knight with corner stomps then a running knee as well. AJ climbs up top but Knight jumps up there and hits a superplex for a near fall. AJ avoids a suplex then lands a back elbow and hits the Phenomenal DDT for a 2 count. Knight avoids a Styles Clash, AJ with a roll up for 2 then a Pele kick to rock Knight. AJ heads to the apron and wants the Phenomenal Forearm, Knight avoids him and hits the tilt a whirl powerslam then jumping elbow drop. Knight wants Blunt Force Trauma but AJ bails to the apron. AJ snaps Knight over the top rope, pokes the eyes then hits the Phenomenal Forearm to get the pin.

OFFICIAL RESULT: AJ Styles won in 11:04

Rating: 3 stars
Thoughts: Solid match, AJ and Knight have decent chemistry thus far and AJ getting his win back and challenging Cody makes sense. Knight losing another title match might damage him while AJ can easily absorb that loss to Cody.

Next, a recap of Solo and Tama Tonga wiping out the Tribal Clown Jannetty Uso and Solo starting his play for power.

We see Solo in a suit arrive, Paul Heyman greets him and approves of his outfit. Tama Tonga is behind Heyman, and Solo says Tonga is the newest member of the Bloodline. Heyman stammers a bit but Solo cuts him off to ask if Kevin Owens is here, then demands to be taken to him. They start walking as we head to break.

Post break Smackdown GM Nick Aldis is in the ring, there’s a covered podium and he’s here to give out new title belts, but first he brings out Triple H. While Trips is coming out we get our brief moment of static that’ll be pulled out and gone over to reveal the Uncle Howdy tease. Trips once again puts over Mania 40, even using “epic” twice while hyping up the crowd. After that he puts over Adam Pearce and Nick Aldis as good GMs, and then says he wants to make sure coming history respects the past. Aldis then brings out Grayson Waller and a disproven Theory. Waller and Theory head out with the blue belts and Waller is glad they’re getting new belts. Theory and Waller make fun of Miz and Truth’s promo last week, before Trips congratulates them on winning then presents the WWE tag team titles. Looks very similar in design to the old WWE tag team belts from the Smackdown Six era. Theory and Waller decline to shake hands with Trips, then Aldis steps in to tell them if they ever disrespect the boss again he’ll make them disappear permanently. Aldis takes their belts and tells them if they focus on comedy instead of wrestling they’ll lose those belts to one of the new teams. That brings out the Street Profits accompanied by Bobby Lashley and B-Fab. New Catch Republic follow and we head to break.

Post break Kayla interviews Naomi about her title shot, Naomi loves Bayley but that wont get in the way of her title shot. Last week she beat Tiffany Stratton and plans on going into the Draft as WWE Women’s champion.

Back to the ring where Legado del Fantasma has made their way to the ring. Authors of Pain follow, and Heaven help us Waller and Theory have joined commentary.

Match #2 – Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Match: Street Profits (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins) vs. New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate) vs. Legado del Fantasma (Angel and Humberto) vs. Authors of Pain (Rezar and Akam) w/ Paul Ellering, Scarlett, and Karrion Kross

Bate and Ford start things off, Ford tries a side headlock then a moment of rope running with Bate then out wrestling Ford and they trade roll ups then a double dropkick and stand off. Humberto blind tags off of Bate then he and Angel work to isolate Ford with some double team moves. Ford tags in Dawkins who runs over Angel a few times. Dunne and Rezar tag in and the AOP run wild on everyone. Akam with a big uranage to Ford and we head to break.

Post break Rezar has Ford in a front headlock then drops him with a back elbow. Argentinian backbreaker from Rezar but Ford slips free and tags in Dunne. Dunne and Bate come in as things break down, Angel and Humberto get taken out by some of their double team moves, but Rezar gets kicked by everyone for a bit. Bate lifts Rezar on his shoulders with some help and gets an Airplane spin going but Angel and Humberto break that up. Dawkins heads up top with Bate, Dunne joins in and we get a bit Tower of Doom spot but Humberto tags in blind and Bate winds up getting tossed onto the pile of bodies. Angel and Humberto with a Doomsday powerbomb and dropkick combo but Dunne breaks up the pin. Bate and Dunne with stereo Ankle Locks on Angel and Humberto, I think Bate and Humberto are the legal ones. Angel and Humberto fight free as we get another break.

Rezar is laying in punches to Dawkins as we come back. Waller and Theory continue to suck on commentary while Dawkins eats a powerbomb. Dunne comes in illegally and gets slammed onto Dawkins. Hammer fists now from Rezar then he tags in Akam. Bate and Dunne fight off a Super Collider, Ford and Dawkins show up as well and they attack Akam and Rezar. AOP get kicked out of the ring and we get Angel joining in on staring down the others. Things break down and Humberto floors Dawkins with a springboard kick for a 2 count. Dawkins Pounces Humberto then tags in Ford for a Doomsday Blockbuster and Dunne has to break up the pin again. Dunne and Dawkins fight and Dunne goes for the fingers. Ford kicks Dunne, Bate tags in and takes out Humberto then low bridges Angel. Bate and Dunne both climb the same corner and hit moonsaults then Ford dives over the top of the corner into the pile of bodies. Ford is still a madman. Back in the ring Bate and Humberto are legal, Bate eats a clothesline then Angel tags in. NTY to Bate, then Humberto dives onto Dunne and Angel hits a Lionsault but Ford with From the Heavens to break that up. Bate writhes over and Dawkins tags in, Dawkins and Ford then hit the Revelation on Angel to win.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Street Profits won in 17:16

Rating: 3 stars
Thoughts: Some really nice moments here, and while I thought the New Catch Republic were likely to win the Profits moving on definitively from the Final Testament into the title scene makes sense.

We get a recap of Rhea Ripley surrendering the women’s title on RAW and the fallout.

Bayley gets interviewed in the back, she appreciates being the champion especially since right now she’s the only women’s champion in the WWE. The Draft might change things next week, but her being champion isn’t going to change any time soon.

Solo walks around in the back and Heyman tells him they haven’t found Kevin Owens yet, he’s got to be here somewhere. Solo walks off and into gorilla, Heyman says respectfully he’s making decisions he shouldn’t. One day these will be his decisions, but right now only one man can make these calls. Solo interrupts him by asking if he’s done, then Solo heads to the ring with Heyman in tow. They make it to the ring as we head to break.

Post break Heyman and Solo are still in the ring, and Heyman introduces himself then says if there’s a list of the best backstage politicians in the business he’d be somewhere near the top. So permit him to explain what’s happening right now within the Bloodline, the premier act in WWE history. A loud “we want Roman” chant breaks out, and Heyman says as the wise man- but Solo grabs his mic and cuts him off. Solo ruminates then says last week, and they’re trying to do the “drowned out with boos” thing for him and it’s not quite working like it more or less does for Dom. Anyway last week Solo had to lose a brother to find his MFT, Tama Tonga. We cut to the entrance stage where a bloody Kevin Owens is getting abused by Tonga. Owens staggers towards the ring and Tonga steps over his body and heads to the ring. Officials help the bloody Owens to the back while Tonga and Solo pose in the ring with Heyman hesitantly joining in. Owens fights back to the ring and brawls with Tonga, but Solo cuts him off and slams him into the ring steps. Solo sends Owens into he ring, where Tonga and Owens brawl more as security try to break things up, eventually Solo floors Owens with a Samoan Spike. Tonga is attacking Owens and security as they pull him away from Owens. On the floor Tonga gets a chair but Aldis is here to try and settle things down, Solo gets the chair from Tonga and tosses it aside then gets Tonga to leave with him. The Bloodline head out as officials again attend to Owens, and we head to break.

Post break Nick Aldis finds Paul Heyman and wants to know if Heyman was aware of a car crash. Tonga actually crashed a car into the car of Owens. Aldis understands conflict between the boys but this is nuts. The Draft is next week, and he wont tolerate this kind of savage behavior next week. Heyman understands, but Aldis warns him that if the Bloodline doesn’t understand then the consequences will be equally savage. He closes by warning that losing isn’t the only thing with consequences.

To the ring now and here comes Carlito with the LWO, but only Zelina Vega goes to the ring with him. Santos Escobar follows with Elektra Lopez in tow. We get a brief cut away to an interview with Kayla for Legado, Escobar again denies that they attacked Dragon Lee because they’d have no problem taking responsibility for that. Tonight Escobar is going to prove that he was right all along.

Match #3: Carlito w/ Zelina Vega vs. Santos Escobar w/ Elektra Lopez

Brawling right away from both men, until Carlito lands a body avalanche to take over. Escobar fights back with a boot but runs into a spinebuster. Carlito with sort of a dropkick as Escobar is on the floor, then Carlito hits a pescado then puts Vega on his shoulders to pose as we head to break.

Post break it looks like Esocbar is in control and lays in chops in the corner. Double knees in the corner from Escobar then he puts Carlito on the top rope and hits an avalanche hurricanrana for a 2 count. Carlito fires up with clotheslines now then a knee lift and a clothesline all for a 2 count. Carlito slowly heads up top, Lopez and Vega get into a brawl now with Lopez slamming Vega into the barricade. Escobar kicks the ropes into Carlito’s groin, posts him, and hits a Phantom Driver to get the win.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Santos Escobar won in 7:34

Rating: 2 stars
Thoughts: Carlito felt like he was moving in slow motion at times here, there was just something missing from these two in the ring.

We head to Kayla in a luxury box talking with Damage Control. Dakota Kai denies the reality that Iyo is a former champion, then tries to play with the crowd to at best mixed results. The Kabuki Warriors are still the women’s tag team champions, but this tirade is mercifully cut off by Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair arriving next to Damage Control. Everyone starts bickering as Naomi starts her entrance. Naomi heads to the ring and we head to break.

Post break we get a recap of the episode thus far, especially AJ winning then get a video from Cody Rhodes from the UK tour because he’s still a RAW guy. Cody is keeping his promise to take the WWE title all around the world while AJ has emerged as the number one contender. Two Georgia boys are going to duke it on in France, and he puts over AJ as the new excellence of execution and looks forward to fighting him.

Next week we’ll get a contract signing for AJ and Cody plus the Draft will begin. They’re including NXT in this it looks like.

Bayley and her deeply uninspiring new theme song then heads to the ring. I’m going to be honest guys, this latest switch of themes for a lot of guys has been mostly a miss across the board, not just Bayley’s. Jade and Belair are sitting in the box adjacent to Damage Control but no brawling thus far while Bayley and Naomi get in ring introductions.

Match #4 – WWE Women’s Title Match: (c) Bayley vs. Naomi

They tie up, Bayley grabs a side headlock then switches to an arm wringer which Naomi counters into a roll up for 1. Headlock takeover from Bayley then another arm wringer but Naomi counters with an O’Connor Roll for 1. Arm drags from Bayley now then she goes for the arm to slow things down. Shoulder block from Bayley then some rope running but Naomi with kicks then a Small Package for 1. Bayley with a Magistral Cradle, they’re just trading pins for a while now but neither gets a 3 count then a double cross body for a double down. Naomi fires up with kicks then a bulldog for 2. Rear View from Naomi gets another 2 count and Bayley rolls to the ropes for a break as we head to some important commercial messages.

Naomi hits a jawbreaker as we come back, then a corner elbow and she bounces Bayley into a corner. Naomi up top now, and hits a crossbody for a 2 count. Bayley fights back with a belly to belly suplex for her own near fall. Bayley’s turn to go up top, but Naomi gets knees up to block the elbow drop. Naomi with a kick form the apron then a slingshot X-Factor and a near fall. Bayley blocks a split legged moonsault with knees but starts limping on her right leg then hits a knee lift. Bayley goes up top and hits the elbow drop for a 2 count. Naomi blocks a Rose Plant with a kick then grabs a Sunset Flip for a 2 count and transitions into a modified Rings of Satur. Bayley counters into a pin to break the hold and they trade elbows. They start trading strikes now and Naomi lands a scorpion kick then knees Bayley out of the ring. Naomi hits a dive and both women are down on the floor. The ref starts counting but Bayley hits Naomi with a belly to belly suplex on the announce table. Tiffany Stratton runs in though and clocks Bayley to cause the DQ.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Bayley won via disqualification in 11:20

Rating: 3 stars
Thoughts:

Stratton lays out Bayley with a shot to the steps then posts Naomi as well. Stratton puts both women in the ring and hits a Prettiest Moonsault Evet onto both of them and then poses.

Up in the crowd we see the women up there react to that while Stratton keeps posing to end the episode.