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Hello people, it’s Friday so it’s time for WWE Smackdown. We’re back stateside tonight and in a few weeks we’ll be set for Night of Champions. To that end we’ve got two more Fatal 4-Way matches tonight. On the men’s side Jey Uso vs. LA Knight vs. Royce Keys vs. Finn Balor. Balor was traded to Smackdown a little bit ago, what exactly did RAW get out of that officially by the way? Almost any of those four would be a believable winner, maybe minus Keys who seems stuck near the temu Bloodline vortex. As for the ladies we’ve got Jade Cargill vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Sol Ruca vs. Lyra Valkyria. The Smackdown representation in the Royal Tournaments this year seems a little light with RAW wrestlers taking up 3 of the 4 men’s spots thus far and 3 of the 4 women’s spots. WWE is pretty clearly telling you how little they care about the blue brand these days. Speaking of, Gunther will get to name his stipulation for a WWE title rematch with champion Cody Rhodes tonight. Just like Kevin Owens did. . . just like Drew McIntyre did. . . and probably just like Sami Zayn will in the not too distant future. Speaking of the human pile of garbage, expect Sami Zayn to stick his nose into the WWE title scene again. WWE women’s champion Rhea Ripley is still a question mark, women’s US champion Tiffany Stratton is a little directionless, though on the men’s midcard scene Ricky Saints and Carmelo Hayes seem poised to do what Hayes has done with Andrade and Ilja Dragunov, just work a bunch of really good matches then go nowhere after. US champion Trick Williams has an over chant so he doesn’t have to do anything else, and hasn’t been doing anything else lately. The tag division is still a mess, now the War Raiders are showing up asking for a title shot as they’re the AAA tag champions but Damian Priest and R-Truth don’t seem to have a direction. Fatal Influence seem like they’re going to take the women’s tag belts at some point at least. Still no direction for Ilja, no sighting of Shinsuke Nakamura, no work for Rey Fenix, Blake Monroe is still stuck in traffic I guess, Randy Orton is still taking time off as is Drew McIntyre. But you better believe we’ll make time for Talla Tonga to stink up the joint each week. But with two Fatal 4-Ways and three hours to fill let’s hope Smackdown gets things back on track.

We open with a recap of the WWE title stuff from last week.

We see WWE champion Cody Rhodes arrive and find Nick Aldis. Aldis still has no update on Gunther, but we’ll find out stuff from him later tonight. Cody isn’t surprised and walks off then finds the Usos. Fist bumps are exchanged then Jey says he’s going to win King of the Ring and come after the WWE title at SummerSlam. Cody hopes Jey is right, because Jey deserves it, but hopes it’s Jey’s decision to do so and not Roman’s.

Elsewhere we see more wrestlers arrive while Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett welcome us to the show. We do get an update on Rhea Ripley, apparently the update is she’s still being evaluated. Then a recap of Jade Cargill pinning Tiffany Stratton last week in tag team action. In the back Cathy talks with Jade and her flunkies, Jade feels no pressure to recreate her winning last year. Michin and B-Fab chime in to contribute nothing before Jade says she’ll see Ripley at SummerSlam. The music of Charlotte Flair hits though and she’s heading to the ring for our first match.

Charlotte is followed by Sol Ruca and Lyra Valkyria with Jade getting the final walk.

Match #1 – Fatal 4-Way Match: Charlotte Flair vs. Sol Ruca vs. Lyra Valkyria vs. Jade Cargill w/ B-Fab and Michin

Everyone circles then Jade clocks Charlotte and Sol. Lyra attacks Jade and eventually all three women team up to attack Jade. Jade fights off a double suplex, then catches a jumping Lyra and hits a fall away slam throwing her into Sol. Charlotte and Jade stare down now then Charlotte with chops and her Cena levels of audible spot calling, then she hits a German suplex. B-Fab and Michin screw up pulling Charlotte out but eventually do and attack her on the floor. Alexa Bliss shows up to even the odds that doesn’t work but Tiffany Stratton shows up as well to team up with Bliss and dispose of B-Fab and Michin. Charlotte with a crossbody to Jade but Sol and Lyra break things up as we head to break.

Because we’re no pretaped I’ve got Netflix feeds back. The three faces trade pin attempts for a bit but no one can find a 3 count before Jade shows up to clothesline Charlotte and Sol down. Jade with corner work to Charlotte then clotheslines Sol down. Sol runs into a back elbow from Jade, Charlotte rolls up Jade for 2 then takes a terrible clothesline in response from Jade. Jade with corner work to Sol now and a suplex. Charlotte shows back up, did Lyra get hurt or something? Chops from Charlotte but Jade clotheslines her back down. Oh, there’s Lyra but she gets double legged by Jade then tossed out of the ring. Jade slams Sol as we come back to the broadcast. Sol and Jade square up, with Sol finally getting the better of Jade, Jade tries to catch a jumping Sol but slips and has to roll through to complete the spot then Lyra dropkicks her down. Lyra finally gets to do stuff and hits Charlotte with an enziguri then a Fisherman’s Buster for Sol. Jade tries to suplex Lyra but Lyra counters into a spike DDT, then Charlotte allegedly with a Natural Selection to Lyra but that was ugly as sin. Charlotte with a corner kick to Sol, then heads to the apron for her usual apron work. Sol kicks Charlotte up top then jumps up, back flips to her feet and Lyra rams Sol into Charlotte. Lyra climbs up with Charlotte, she wants a superplex but Jade shows up and they slowly work out a Tower of Doom spot. Jade and Charlotte are left alone, the crowd think this is awesome which doesn’t speak well to their taste. Chops from Charlotte then the walk over clothesline. Sol shows up to dropkick Charlotte then fires up, jumps over Jade then Lyra rolls up Sol for 2. Lyra sends Sol to the apron the punches her down before hitting a lovely diving dropkick to Jade on the floor. Sol up top and moonsaults onto the pile of bodies and everyone’s down. Sol throws Lyra back in the ring and hits a springboard Splash for a near fall as we head picture in picture.

Sol with a Dragon Sleeper on Lyra but Charlotte shows up to hit her with the headscissors take overs. Sol grabs a Tarantula on Charlotte but Lyra breaks that up then grabs the reverse Boston Crab into a pendulum swing on Sol. Jade breaks that up with a kick that might have legitimately busted up Lyra’s nose. Jade with corner work to Charlotte and Sol, then she lines up Lyra for corner work as well. OK, Lyra’s nose isn’t bleeding at least. Jade retains control over all three women then does more corner work to Charlotte. Sol dodges a corner attack then flips out of a back suplex from Jade and trips her then hits running attacks before running into a spinebuster as we come back to the broadcast. Jade up top, Charlotte attacks her up there though and climbs up with her. Sol recovers and climbs up as well, she and Charlotte want a double superplex and hit it with Jade losing her wig a bit on the landing. Lyra shows up to try and find a pin but can’t get a 3 count. Sol avoids a corner attack from Lyra then kicks her, kicks Charlotte as well then gets both of them with a springboard Buckshot Lariat but she turns into a pump kick from Jade. Jade, still holding her hair on, tries Jaded on Charlotte and hits it but Lyra breaks up the pin. Lyra tries Nightwing, Jade fights out of that but Sol hits Jade with a Sol Snatcher, Lyra yanks Sol out of the pin though and hits a leg drop on Jade. Charlotte with Natural Selection, no Lyra avoided it and everyone trade kicks. Charlotte with a Figure 8 on Lyra and Lyra has to tap.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Charlotte Flair won in 18:00

Rating: 2.5 stars
Thoughts: They really had a killer 14 minute match here but it got stretched out a hair too long. The opening few minutes were a little rough overall but the finishing stretch was quite good. Jade clearly has a limited scope of her control segments because there was a lot of repeat stuff from her, and the overall layout did feel a little lifeless at times. Again though the finishing minutes were quite good, this just needed to be a few minutes shorter to really click all the way through.

In the back Tiffany walks and finds Cathy. Tiffany isn’t friends with Tiffany but no one wants Jade. Michin and B-Fab menace Tiffany but Chelsea Green shows up with a kendo stick to back them off and volunteers her and Tiffany to face them later tonight.

Jimmy and Jey warm up, and Jacob Fatu shows up to relay a message from Roman. Fatu is here to talk to Solo Sikoa while Jimmy is here to make sure no one gets involved in Jey’s match. That sends us to break.

We come back to another Blake Monroe video. This week she talks about Charlotte Flair.

In the back Gunther talks with Aldis, Gunther can’t trust Aldis and for next week he can’t trust Aldis choosing the ref so Gunther will pick the official. Aldis asks who, Gunther will tell him by the end of the night. You’ve got unlimited stipulations and you’re going with special ref?

Elsewhere Cathy talks with Finn Balor. Balor is excited to be on Smackdown, he’s got old friends and foes here. R-Truth shows up and is happy the Judgement Day is back together. Priest shows up after Truth’s comedy, then Truth is happy while Priest and Balor have tension. Truth tries to play peacemaker, then Balor heads out to get ready. Priest tells Truth not to trust Balor after what Balor did to him. All that matters is them defending the titles next week against. . . the Island Boys. FML, again?! We’ve seen that done to freaking death at this point.

Back to the ring here comes Brie Bella and Paige for their tag match, they’ll take on Fatal Influence after this break.

Post break we get confirmation of Tiffany and Green vs. goobers B-Fab and Michin. Well they’ve got 3 hours to fill.

Back to the ring and here comes Fatal Influence.

Match #2 – Tag Team Match: Paige and Brie Bella vs. Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid w/ Jacy Jayne

Brie and Fallon start us off, Reid distracts Brie and Fallon attacks Brie. Brie fights back with a clothesline. Russian leg sweep from Brie then she tags in Paige. Corner attacks to Fallon and a double Bulldog then a running knee from Paige gets a 2 count. Fallon kicks Paige off and tags Reid. Paige with a quick drop toe hold then headbutt and tags in Brie. Brie with kicks, but Fallon breaks those up but Paige knees her though the ropes while Brie kicks away at Reid. Jayne trips up Brie so the heels can get some offense in. Reid with a leg drop then she corners Brie in the heel corner. Fallon tags in and Brie gets double teamed for a bit. Brie fights out of a cravat then lands a kick but Fallon floors her with a body blow. Brie tags but the ref didn’t see it. Reid tags back in, Brie then gets double teamed again including a Flapjack and running Blockbuster from Reid for a 2 count as we head to break.

Brie takes more heat, including a cheap shot from Jayne. Brie fights back but Reid clobbers her with a right hand and tags in Fallon. Fallon keeps control and asks for heat, which she doesn’t really get. Brie fights back, there’s some wild mistiming on punches there before Fallon punches her down and tags in Reid. Reid cheap shots Paige then resumes attacking Brie. Fallon tags back in retains control with a modified face lock. Fallon switches to a modified Rings of Saturn, Brie’s selling here is not good but she rolls Fallon to her shoulders to get her to break the hold as we come back. Brie and Fallon trade punches for a bit, then Fallon hits a cross chop and tags in Reid. Brie avoids them both then tags in Paige. Paige gets to run wild for a bit and yells again about how this is her house before hitting a thrust kick. Paige Tap Out from Paige to Reid and Fallon has to break that up. Rampaige to Reid but Fallon has to break up the pin. Brie attacks Fallon, Brie gets kicked away. Paige rolls up Reid for a visual win but the ref sucks and Reid hits a superkick. Fallon tags in, more confusion with this terrible ref as Paige gets a PTO on Fallon, the ref sees Jayne interfere and ejects her from ringside. Fallon then grabs a Small Package on Paige but the ref’s back is turned again and Brie shifts the pile so Paige pins Fallon when the ref finally turns around and finds a 3 count.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Paige and Brie Bella won in 10:33

Rating: 2 stars
Thoughts: Something about the ref looking like this much of a goof doesn’t sit well with me. The overall chemistry between the teams is OK for their presumptive program going forward. Again the constant ref stuff just felt off to me, it got way too over played by the end.

We get a recap of the Sami Zayn stuff last week then in the back Sami whines about life to depressed Johnny Gargano and disinterested Candice LeRae. Candice tries to motivate Johnny but Sami takes the advice instead. That sends us to break.

We come back to find that Danhausen is doing evil science in the back, Angel and Berto bring up money to him so he can curse the NBA finals. Matt Cardona shows up and everyone is asking him to curse someone else so they can gamble. Eventually Kit Wilson shows up and he’s got a Mix who’s still shocked from last week and he’s saying his old catch phrases. OK, this is funny as he goes through them. Wilson wants Danhausen to fix Mix but Danhausen likes him this way. Wilson swings at Danhausen and misses, getting electrocuted. Bless this pairing, Miz absolutely understands the assignment and Danhausen is incredibly great at this kind of thing.

Back to the ring here’s Sami Zayn for promo time. Sami walks around looking for a reaction but isn’t really getting something. Eventually he says he was cheered for the last weeks in Europe. But we’re here, Sami’s here, and we’ve got two choices. Sit there and boo him, or ride or die with the last real good guy. If I weren’t covering this I’d take option 3 and change the channel. Sami asks Cody to come out so they can clear the air. That does bring out Cody, suited and booted. Cody gets a mic and plays with the crowd then asks Sami what he wants to talk about. Sami asks Cody not to be the character and just be Cody for a second, be his friend so they can have an honest conversation. Sami brings up getting hurt helping Cody for the last few months and Cody made Sami feel like the worst person in the world when Sami didn’t save Cody for a Sleeper a few weeks ago. Last week though Sami helped him and Cody then hit him with a suicide dive. At this point Sami just has to ask if all this is really an accident. He wants the truth from Cody. Cody asks if Sami is really asking him to explain pro wrestling to him. In the ring is competition, and Sami is out here in public wearing WWE merch asking Cody to turn it off? Cody brings up their history at Mania 40 and Sami says he wasn’t just a guy in the ring with Cody, he was the first. Before anyone Sami was out there, and if anyone deserved to have sour grapes about that it was Sami but he was happy for Cody and still is because he’s a good guy. But everyone else in the ring that night, none of them are still Cody’s friend now. All of those guys can’t be the problem, it must be Cody. Cody says everything is about change, when the WWE title gets involved he can’t be quite as honest with them. Sami wants honesty. Cody has listened to the BS from Sami, the people are booing Sami because lately Sami has sucked. He’s whining and crying, not the Sami they fell in love with, not even the man Cody calls a friend. If anyone here is different it’s Sami. It’s only about the WWE title. Cody does owe Sami an apology, he’s sorry he has the title because it means Sami never will. Sami slaps Cody, then tries to apologize while Cody fumes. Sami wants a hand shake and hug, after a second Cody just returns the slap and mockingly asks if they’re good. That gets Sami to be sad again and leave, he gets a chair and jumps onto the apron with it. Cody just stares Sami down and Sami tosses the chair down then leaves as a sad pile of garbage. That was generally pretty solid stuff from both men, and all but confirms Sami as the ref for next week in the Cody and Gunther match.

In the back Fatu finds Solo Sikoa. Fatu has a message from Roman, saying it’s been too long and long enough. Roman wants Solo to come home. Solo laughs and says that isn’t home, it’s a dog house. Solo asked what happened to Fatu, who used to be a killer, seconds away from beating Roman and now just his lap dog. Roman has done nothing but embarrass, humiliate, and make Fatu kneel in front of their family. But he wants Solo to come back? Tell Roman he can go to hell. Fatu gets it, he knows where Solo is coming from, but Fatu made his decision and will stand behind it. So when Roman sends Fatu after Solo, beware. Solo says to tell Roman that if Roman wants him to come home he should come himself.

We get a recap of Rey Fenix winning the AAA cruiserweight title from Laredo Kid. How Smackdown had nothing for Fenix to do for all this time is beyond me.

That does bring Fenix to the ring, finally doing something other than just putting over Talla Tonga. He’ll take on Axiom after this break.

We come back to Axiom most of the way to the ring, Frazer backs off after wishing him well.

Match #3 – AAA Cruiserweight Title Match: (c) Rey Fenix vs. Axiom

33 minutes between matches, that’s not good. Quick dropkick from Fenix then a flipping suicide dive as Axiom tried to powder. Back in the ring Fenix leaps into a sleeper from Axiom but fights free and both men then counter each other. Rope running and more counters, eventually Axiom hits a half nelson suplex and follows with a running kick for a 2 count. Fenix lands a few chops, then Axiom catches one then grabs a Fujiwara armbar and Fenix has to roll to the ropes. Axiom to the apron and Fenix kicks him to the floor. Fenix heads up top and does a springboard nothing back into the ring as Axiom slid back in then Axiom with a sick dropkick. Axiom with a springboard moonsault to Fenxi on the floor to send us to break.

Fenix with a back kick in the ring, he tries to rally the crowd and sort of does then hits the ropes but Axiom rolls through a Sunset Flip and hits an enzui clothesline for a 2 count. Some elbows from Axiom, Fenix is willing to trade with him though and is the bigger man. Chops go back and forth but Fenix then runs into another gorgeous dropkick from Axiom. Axiom grabs a chin lock, Fenix rams him into the corner to break free then Fenix with a springboard behind Axiom and looks for a suplex but Axiom counters into another chin lock. Axiom keeps that hold going as we rejoin the broadcast. Fenix fights free of that hold then lands a Tiger Feint wheel kick. Both men head up top and Fenix with headbutts to drop Axiom into position for the Adios Amigo kick, then Fenix follows with a Frog Splash style crossbody for a 2 count. Kicks from Fenix then Axiom with a diving snap German suplex, nice spot. Axiom up top for a lovely dropkick which gets a 2 count. Now Axiom lines up a Golden Ratio but Fenix flips away from it and lands a head kick then a Death Valley Driver into a Brainbuster for a near fall. Man the crowd is just kind of dead and it’s a crying shame. Both men collide on clotheslines, Axiom then with a flying armbar and Fenix stacks him up for 2. Axiom avoids a rolling DDT but Fenix dodges a corner gamen giri then hits a Spinning Animal Kick in the corner. Fenix wants to end things but Axiom fights back, both men fight on the top rope now. They bounce up top and Axiom hits a lovely Spanish Fly for a near fall. Again Axiom wants the Golden Ratio but runs into a superkick. A couple of Spinning Animal Kicks from Fenix, then the Mexican Muscle Buster hits to retain.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Rey Fenix retained the title in 12:21

Rating: 2.5 stars
Thoughts: The crowd absolutely sucked for this one, they were just kind of dead for huge sections. Shame as those two deserved a better atmosphere for a solid match.

In the back Gunther has made his decision, he talks with Aldis. He needs someone who knows the rules, but also a good guy with his heart in the right place. So he’s chosen Sami Zayn.

We see US champion Trick Williams and his water craft hype man arrive. They’ll talk, probably saying the same thing as the last four weeks, after this break.

Post break we get confirmation of Sami as the ref for Cody vs. Gunther for the title next week on Smackdown.

To the ring and here comes Trick with his chant and Lil Yachty. The “whoop that Trick” chant seems a little more muted than usual this week, might be a mixing issue but the reaction really doesn’t seem as large as it has been. Both men get mics and try to wake up the crowd. Trick says today isn’t a party day, after King of the Ring and losing last week he feels like that result rekindled his fire. He wants to step his game up and bring Smackdown up a level. He says he’s the one carrying Smackdown, despite his inactivity overall. Trick repeats himself a few times then says he’s still the US champion. In fact he’s Trick James bitch. That brings out Ricky Saints, so we’re just pairing muted responses all night I guess? Before Ricky can get to the ring Carmelo Hayes interrupts with his own mic, Hayes might have got the best response just to the music. Hayes talks to the ring but Ricky gets to the ring and gets his own mic, Hayes calls Trick a children’s book with just catchphrases after catchphrase. Hayes tells Trick to pick an opponent. Ricky says he beat Hayes last week and should be next. Hayes says he and Trick were handling business before Ricky showed up. More bickering until Trick says it doesn’t matter which of them it is. So they can fight again and finally come see the champion. Ricky shoves Hayes into Trick, then Hayes with a Dirty Diana to Ricky and mounted punches. Trick shows back up and posts Hayes then drills Ricky with a Book End to stand tall. I can’t help but feel that didn’t get the overall response and have the feeling they wanted out of it.

In the back Royce Keys talks with Cathy but Solo interrupts. Solo says the Bloodline is here tonight, he knows what play they’ll be running in the main event to make sure Jey wins. He brings up that Fatu is here and will interfere. Keys doesn’t have to fight for or with Solo, he just doesn’t want to see Keys a forgotten casualty of Roman’s issues.

To the ring and here’s Chelsea Green, she’s followed by Tiffany Stratton. They’ll take on B-Fab and Michin after this break.

We come back to Michin and B-Fab coming out to crickets. Man the crowd has been dead since the Cody and Sami segment.

Match #4 – Tag Team Match: Tiffany Stratton and Chelsea Green vs. Michin and B-Fab

Tiffany and Michin start, they tie up then Tiffany grabs a side headlock then we get some rope running and she lands a clothesline. Tiffany screws up coming out of the corner so they repeat the spot then Tiffany hits the cartwheel Alabama Slam. Green follows up with the sliding Flatliner, apparently there was a tag. Michin lands an elbow to Green then tags in B-Fab. Green takes some kicks, good grief B-Fab gets no reaction for anything. Green slaps B-Fab, but B-Fab flips out of a back suplex. Michin tags in and Green takes a double team Electric Chair drop. Cheap shot to Tiffany and Michin retains control as we head to break.

Green gets isolated in the heel corner and they take turns keeping her down and isolated. Michin with a hard kneeling chop. A little heat finally for Michin. Green looks to fight back but Michin kicks her down. B-Fab tags back in for mounted strikes then more corner work. Michin back in and grabs a bow and arrow hold. Green is able to spin out of that hold but gets leveled by a clothesline just before we come back to broadcast. Michin puts Green up top, but Green wakes the crowd up a bit with slaps before Michin hits an avalanche hurricanrana for a 2 count. Northern Lights Suplex from Green, then she tries to tag out, B-Fab tries to stop her but eats an enziguri. Green throws Michin out of the ring then dodges a charging B-Fab who posts herself. Jade shows up to pull Tiffany off the apron behind the refs back. Green knees B-Fab then hits an Unpretty Her, but Michin then drills Green with a Styles Clash to win.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Michin and B-Fab won in 8:05

Rating: 1 star
Thoughts: This didn’t need 8 minutes, had a dead crowd with no investment in almost anything happening, and devolved into every match involving the heel trio that they’ve had for months on end.

Post match Tiffany lays out Michin and B-Fab then trades with Jade for a bit before the numbers get the better of her. Predictably this ends with Jade hitting Jaded, just like she does every week because imagination, invention, innovation, or difference is the enemy of everything Smackdown stands for.

We get a recap of Giulia and Kiana James breaking up last week. In the back Cathy talks with James, who is upset her friend betrayed her. She did everything for Giulia, Giulia needed her, and the one time she needed Giulia she was useless. Giulia comes over and says she only needed James to read English. They bicker and Giulia says her English is better and she can finally tell James what she thinks of her, then slaps the taste out of her mouth. Nice to see Giulia actually doing something.

In the back Finn Balor walks, he finds Tama Tonga. Tama says it’s been a long time and wishes him luck. Oh, more references to Tama’s history in Japan that will lead to nothing. That sends us to break.

We come back to Cody and Aldis talking in the back. Cody says Sami is emotionally all over the place right now. Sami shows up and Cody says they’ve traded slaps. Sami wishes Cody good luck with the emotional ref next week.

Commentary then run down next weeks card in Kansas City. Cody vs. Gunther for the WWE title, commercial free match so that’s good. We’ll also get another Hayes vs. Ricky match with the winner challenging Trick at Night of Champions. Also Charlotte Flair vs. Liv Morgan in a Queen of the Ring semifinal match. Liv’s title run has been unbearably pointless.

In the back Cathy talks with LA Knight. Knight wants to talk to us, he called this last week with all the Bloodline crap in the building. He brings up Jacob Fatu and Solo being out there tonight but Knight will be stomping people out and will win.

Jey is with the people and does his entrance through the crowd per usual. At least the crowd is done napping and is awake for the main event and we head to break.

Post break Jey is in the ring, presumably done yeet-ing, and here comes Finn Balor. Royce Keys is next, sadly no real reaction for him. That’s what happens when you lose to Talla Tonga your hype dies and might never come back. LA Knight comes out last to a nice pop.

Match #5 – Fatal 4-Way Match: Finn Balor vs. Jey Uso vs. LA Knight vs. Royce Keys

Knight calls to run his entrance back, the music hits but Jey attacks him for gimmick infringement and we’re off and running. Keys winds up running everyone over, he clotheslines Knight and Jey out of the ring then squares up with Balor. Balor tries leg kicks then low bridges Keys before setting up a dive onto Jey and Knight to send us to break.

Balor and Jey head into the ring and Balor with corner chops. Knight gets punched off the apron then Balor with a running dropkick to Jey. Jey corners Balor and goes for a 10 punch, he gets all of them but Knight shows up and gets a 10 punch on Jey before Keys shows up and tosses Knight out of the ring. Jey and Balor both throw Keys out as well then Jey with a right hand to Balor. Jey lands a back elbow to floor Balor. On the floor Keys tosses Knight into the barricade a few times. Jey with an enziguri to Balor then grabs a chin lock. Knight and Keys keep brawling on the floor. We come back to broadcast as Balor hits a dropkick to a seated Jey. Knight gets kicked in the ribs by Balor. Keys rams Balor into a corner then starts clubbing him. Balor runs into a shoulder block from the bigger Keys. Jey kicks Keys in the gut but then runs into a sit out Spinebuster but Knight breaks up the pin. Knight with punches to Keys and they start trading blows. They screw up a neckbreaker counter to a suplex but keep going and Knight with an elbow drop. Corner stomps from Knight but then he runs into a clothesline from Keys. Keys yanks Knight up into a powerslam for a 2 count as Balor breaks up the pin. Balor with a kick from the apron to Keys then he heads up but jumps and is caught byt Keys, Keys then with a back breaker and he corners Balor. Some clubbing blows to Balor, then Keys with a double clothesline to drop Jey and Knight. Keys climbs up with Balor, and hits an avalanche Top Choice Royce slam and Knight has to break up the pin. Knight and Keys fight to the floor but Keys rams Knight into the ring post. Jey superkicks Keys off the apron then tries a suicide dive, Keys catches him though and drops him on the apron. Next Keys rams Jey into the ring post. Jimmy has wandered down though and stares at Keys. Solo waddles down as well to make everything worse as we head to break again.

Jimmy and Solo share long meaningful looks as Keys moves on to abusing Balor against the barricade. Balor comes off the barricade with a Sling Blade to Keys then he tries a shotgun dropkick but Keys intercepts with a clothesline. Keys gets back in the ring to attack Jey and Knight. Jey with punches to Keys but Keys absolutely launches him into the corner. Knight attacks Keys and goes to corner work but runs into a high back body drop. Corner avalanche from Keys to Knight then he heads out of the ring and sends Balor back into it. More words traded by Keys and Solo as we come back to broadcast. Balor attacks Keys on the apron and finally knocks him down to the floor, then follows with a plancha but Keys catches him again and hits a World’s Strongest Slam on the apron. Jey with a superkick to Keys and Knight follows with a diving dropkick through the ropes. Balor gets Knight and Jey to team up long enough to take apart the announce table then Shield Bomb Keys through the table to take him out of the equation. Back in the ring Jey and Knight start trading punches. Jey gets the better of that but Balor shows up to roll up Jey for 2. Balor with punches now to both men then stomps then a Nightmare on Helms Street to Knight for 2. Sling Blade for Jey, Balor follows up with the shotgun dropkick but Jey lands a superkick. Balor kicks to block a Spear then hits another Sling Blade. Balor finally hits the shotgun dropkick then heads up top for the Coup de Grace, but Knight leaps up with him, he tries the superplex but Balor counters with an avalanche Gordbuster then a Coup de Grace but Keys yanks Balor out of the ring and throws him into Jimmy. Solo distracts Keys, Knight with a diving kick to Keys who runs into Solo. Back in the ring Knight with his offensive flurry, and a safe Burning Hammer to Jey. Knight with an inverted DDT to Keys, then he does the hop up megastar elbow drop. Keys blocks Blunt Force Trauma but Solo with a Samoan Spike to Knight, Keys with the Ultimate Spinebuster to Knight but Jey comes off the top with a Splash onto that pin and then he pins Knight to win.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Jey Uso won in 18:40

Rating: 3 stars
Thoughts: Pretty solid overall match, the crowd was a little down in the middle but Keys got to look like a physical beast for long stretches which he badly needed after getting pinned by Talla. Jey winning is maybe the least interesting option but we’re pretending Bloodline stuff is as over now as it was 3 years ago so that’s just kind of where we are.

Commentary runs down the KOTR brackets, only one Smackdown wrestler got to the semis across both the men’s and women’s tournaments. If WWE doesn’t care about this show why should the audience? Anyway that ends the episode.