Entertainment
WWE SmackDown spoilers from Saudi Arabia
Before airing on Fox tonight, SmackDown’s King & Queen of the Ring go-home show was taped in Saudi Arabia on Friday. The episode aired live in some international markets.
– Wrestlers were shown arriving to the arena. WWE also showed the announcement Paul “Triple H” Levesque made revealing that the King & Queen of the Ring tournament winners will receive title shots at SummerSlam.
– Queen of the Ring semifinal match: Nia Jax defeated Bianca Belair
The story for the match involved Belair having a hurt knee, which gave out when she went to hit the KOD on Jax. That allowed Jax to get the victory.
Jax advances to face Lyra Valkyria in the tournament finals at WWE King & Queen of the Ring this Saturday. Valkyria was in the crowd for Jax vs. Belair. In a post-match interview, Jax said she’s going to buzz through Valkyria to become Queen of the Ring and then go on to win the WWE Women’s Championship at SummerSlam.
– Grayson Waller & Austin Theory were shown backstage.
– Belair was backstage icing her knee after the match. Tiffany Stratton walked up to Belair and mocked her. Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell did as well. Jade Cargill then got involved and said she was going to go talk to Nick Aldis, setting up a WWE Women’s Tag Team title match with Belair & Cargill defending against LeRae & Hartwell. That was later made official for the King & Queen of the Ring pre-show.
– LA Knight was supposed to appear on The Grayson Waller Effect, but Carmelo Hayes came down to the ring instead. Waller & Theory agreed that Hayes is a better guest than Knight. Hayes suggested that they work together against the veterans of SmackDown.
Hayes said Bobby Lashley, Baron Corbin, and Knight are selfish egomaniacs. Knight then made his entrance. The segment led to Hayes launching an attack on Knight. He fought back but Waller and Theory joined in. The Street Profits then ran out to help Knight even the odds.
– A Blair Davenport hype video aired.
– LA Knight & The Street Profits defeated Carmelo Hayes, Grayson Waller & Austin Theory
Montez Ford got the pin on Waller.
– Cody Rhodes shook hands with Randy Orton backstage and wished him good luck in King of the Ring.
– Tama Tonga and Paul Heyman were shown backstage.
– Rhodes appeared in front of the crowd, but Logan Paul interrupted him before he could say anything. Paul claimed that he’s smarter than Rhodes, a better athlete than him, and a better performer. After giving his brass knuckles to Michael Cole at yesterday’s press conference, Paul reiterated that he won’t need to cheat to beat Rhodes at King & Queen of the Ring.
Though Paul claimed not to have brass knuckles, Rhodes called his bluff and had the referee search him. The referee found brass knuckles in the search. Paul initially claimed they were his brother Jake Paul’s pants but then admitted that they were his.
Rhodes said that, until Paul dedicates himself full-time and respects the ring they’re standing in, he will never be on Rhodes’ level and will never be Undisputed WWE Champion. Rhodes promised to beat Paul so bad that Paul will regret ever stepping into the ring with him.
– Byron Saxton interviewed Randy Orton.
– Nia Jax and Bayley had an interaction with Jax telling Bayley to keep the WWE Women’s Championship safe until SummerSlam.
– DIY interrupted an interview with The Street Profits. Though they respect The Street Profits, DIY want the next shot at Waller & Theory’s WWE Tag Team titles. If DIY have to go through The Street Profits, so be it. The segment ended with Tommaso Ciampa dumping out Ford’s party cup.
– Bayley defeated Chelsea Green
Immediately after the match, Piper Niven attacked Bayley and laid her out.
– AJ Styles approached Nick Aldis in his office. Pointing out how close he came at Backlash, Styles asked for another shot at the Undisputed WWE Championship. Aldis said he would personally love to give Styles another chance, but Styles has to earn it.
Styles responded by saying he doesn’t have that much time left in his career. Aldis said he can’t help Styles with that.
– A video aired hyping that Andrade is coming to SmackDown soon. Berto wasn’t happy about it and said Andrade should have stayed on Raw, but Angel thinks Andrade is skilled and could be valuable to Legado Del Fantasma. Santos Escobar said they should let bygones be bygones and think about business.
– Tama Tonga was shown getting ready for his King of the Ring semifinal match against Randy Orton.
Paul Heyman said Tanga Loa isn’t at the show because they couldn’t get him across the border. Heyman told Solo Sikoa that Sikoa is recruiting very dangerous people into The Bloodline, and there’s a reason they weren’t brought in before.
Sikoa said that, until Roman Reigns is back, he’s in charge. If there are any problems, Heyman needs to fix them.
– King of the Ring semifinal match: Randy Orton defeated Tama Tonga
Orton advances to face Gunther in the finals. Like Valkyria earlier, Gunther was in the front row watching this match.
An RKO got the win for Orton after Sikoa tried to interfere. After the match, Sikoa attacked Orton and gave him a Samoan spike. Kevin Owens ran out to save Orton from the attack.
SmackDown ended with Orton and Gunther having a staredown.