Smackdown Results: Bloodline Retain Tag Titles, AJ Styles Injury

October 4, 2024 John Kleinchester NEWS, Show Reports
Photo Courtesy: WWE

October 4, 2024
Bridgestone Arena – Nashville, TN

By: John Kleinchester

Results

  • Carmelo Hayes over AJ Styles via Referee Stoppage in 8:33 
  • Dumpster Match: Michin over Chelsea Green via Power Bomb in 10:22
  • Naomi over Tiffany Stratton via Roll-Up in 10:04
  • WWE Tag Team Championship Ladder Match: The Bloodline over DIY and The Street Profits in 19:59

 

Welcome Back, Phenomenal Forearm

Smackdown started with Nashville’s Country Music star Hardy, who immediately introduced “The Phenomenal Forearm” AJ Styles who got a huge reaction from the crowd.

Styles said that over the last few months, he’s done many things he regrets but was back to rebuild the legacy of AJ Styles. This brought out Carmelo Hayes who said he’d been holding it down on Smackdown while he was gone. Hayes then called Styles an old-timer and said he deserved to be United States Champion, not LA Knight or Andrade. Styles then noted that he had been in the ring with Knight before and called him relentless, bringing up the fact that he came to his house and they had a match at Wrestlemania. Hayes responded by saying that he didn’t accept advice from quitters.

Styles then challenged Hayes to a match but Hayes declined, saying “I’m good” and that’s when LA Knight’s music hit. Knight then proposed that if Carmelo Hayes could beat AJ Styles right now, he would go to Nick Aldis and give Hayes a shot at the United States Championship. Knight brought out a referee and the match was about to begin as the show went to its first commercial.

Mystery Promo

Before the first match began, a mysterious promo aired of a car racing through a city that looked like Detroit and ended with simply “Coming Soon”. Could it be the Motor City Machine Guns? 

AJ Styles vs. Carmelo Hayes

The first match of the evening was AJ Styles taking on Carmelo Hayes with the idea that if Hayes were to win, Hayes would get a US Championship match vs. LA Knight. Michael Cole during this match name-checked several of Styles’ former promotions including NWA, TNA, and Pro Wrestling NOAH. The two opponents went back and forth in the first segment and after coming back from the second ad break of the evening, footage was shown of Styles being checked on by a ringside doctor as Michael Cole explained that the doctor informed them that it was a possible foot sprain.

Styles tried a few moves but collapsed in the process, forcing Referee Charles Robinson to ring the bell, awarding the match to Carmelo Hayes as AJ Styles limped off angrily. Just as Carmelo Hayes was being announced the winner, LA Knight caught him from behind and hit the BFT. 

 

The Dumpster Match (sans Duke Droese)

The next match on Smackdown was the Dumpster Match between Michin and Chelsea Green. A dumpster was wheeled down to ringside and placed right up against the ring which Corey Graves explained was “not a WWE dumpster” but a regulation dumpster and could cause either competitor injury. After the break, Chelsea Green hit a Candian Destroyer on Michin and was seemingly shocked that she successfully executed it. She then threw Michin into the dumpster but Michin stopped her and started using the garbage bags from the dumpster on Chelsea as the crowd chanted for tables.

Michin then hit Eat Defeat and hit a back senton onto Chelsea who had been placed into a garbage can. Michin set up a table on top of the open dumpster when Piper Niven attacked Michin from behind but missed a splash, slamming into the dumpster. Michin then power bombed Green off the ring apron, through the table, and into the dumpster. She then slammed the lid for the victory. Chelsea then appeared screaming, covered in garbage. 

AJ Styles Update

AJ Styles was shown backstage being evaluated by the WWE doctor and Corey Graves noted this footage was from a little bit ago and Styles had been taken to the local hospital for evaluation of a left ankle injury.

 

Naomi, Excited to C0-Host Bad Blood

Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill informed Naomi that she was also hosting Bad Blood tomorrow night and she responded by jumping up and down and screaming. Bayley interrupted and told Naomi that she was heading to the ring to call out Nia Jax and that when she beat her for the title, Naomi was first in line.

 

Bayley / Nia Jax

As promised, Bayley was out next and called out Nia Jax who obliged, accompanied by Ms. Money in the Bank Tiffany Straton. Bayley said that Nia Jax didn’t understand the significance of the title. Bayley admitted that Nia Jax is on a run that might prove her the most dominant woman in all of WWE. Bayley went on to say that she is the most likely to end Jax’s run but the other person is Tiffany Stratton because of the briefcase she carries. Stratton then interrupted saying she didn’t need the briefcase to beat Nia. Stratton then called Bayley “Pam” because she was so flustered and commanded Bayley bow down to the Queen. Bayley said she’d rather bow down to a queen than patronize a “stupid bitch”. A brawl then ensued with Bayley hitting Jax with the briefcase and leaving Jax lying in the ring. 

Tiffan Stratton then picked up the briefcase as Referee Jessica Carr appeared in the ring but Nia Jax recovered before Stratton could do anything. Naomi’s music then hit as the next match was Naomi vs. Stratton. 

Chelsea Stinks / Carmelo 

Backstage, still covered in garbage Chelsea Green walked the halls disgusting her fellow roster members, including Nick Aldis. Carmelo Hayes then approached and demanded a US title shot for beating AJ Styles earlier in the night. Aldis said it wasn’t a real win and said he had to go to the hospital to check on Styles, telling Hayes to come find him next week. 

Naomi vs. Tiffany Stratton

Next up was Naomi taking on Tiffany Stratton. Stratton and Naomi went back and forth as the crowd got behind Stratton’s impressive maneuvers including a reversal via front-hand spring. 

Naomi rolled out of the way of the Prettiest Moonsault Ever and a series of reversals before Naomi countered a roll-up with one of her own for the pinfall victory.

After the match, Straton was seen backstage when Nia Jax approached her and told her to focus on Liv Morgan’s Championship match tomorrow night because that’s a cash-in she’d actually survive. Jax then gave her another option of promising her that she would never turn on her. Stratton responded, “Of course not my Queen, I would never.”

 

WWE Tag Team Championship Triple Threat Ladder Match

The main event of the evening was the WWE Tag Team Championship Triple Threat Ladder Match between Champions Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa, DIY, and The Street Profits. Before the match, footage was shown last week of Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, and Kevin Owens losing to The Bloodline and arguing about it afterward. 

As the bell rang, Corey Graves noted that The Tongans were seven-time IWGP Tag Team Champions, adding another promotion to the list of name checks tonight. The two face teams teamed up on The Tongans to start the match as Dawkins took out The Bloodline members on the floor. After the show returned from break, the temporary alliance had broken down and the Profits and DIY were brawling in the ring after two ladders had been set up directly underneath the belts. Montez Ford had an impressive spot where he climbed a ladder that was not open but held by the Tongans. Dawkins followed that up shortly after by diving out of the ring onto a ladder held by the Tongans, taking them out.

B-Fab then helped Montez Ford find a table under the ring, much to the crowd’s delight. After another commercial break, DIY hit a Shatter Machine off the ladder on Tama Tonga. Tanga Loa then interrupted Meet in the Middle but Loa ultimately was hit with the maneuver with a ladder wrapped around his neck. Johnny Gargano then ascended the ladder but was stopped by Dawkins. Ciampa hit a running knee on Dawkins and tried to climb himself only to be ripped down by Dawkins. Street Profits then hit a blockbuster over the top of the ladder that Ford didn’t quite connect with but yet was still an impressive spot. 

Tama Tonga then stopped a Dawkins ladder ascent and followed that up by sliding a ladder right into Dawkins’s face outside the ring. DIY then hit both Bloodline members with chairs repeatedly, then held Tanga Loa on a table as Montez Ford jumped off the top rope hitting From the Heavens through the table on the outside.

Tama Tonga was then put through the announce table by DIY and Dawkins. DIY then attacked Dawkins and went for the belts but Montez Ford sprung to the ladder and nearly snatched victory away. All four men then flew off the ladder through other ladders in the ring as Tanga Loa ascended and grabbed the titles for the victory. 

 

Final Thoughts

The best match of this week’s show was the triple threat ladder match for the tag titles, and it was a good match but didn’t quite hit that next level that one might expect it to. Other than that, there wasn’t a whole lot remarkable on this go-home show for Bad Blood. Perhaps most notable of the night was that Cody Rhodes, Kevin Owens, and Randy Orton did not appear. 

 

About John Kleinchester 204 Articles
New Jersey born and raised. Wrestling fan since Lex slammed Yokozuna on the deck of the USS Intrepid. Favorite Wrestler of all time is Owen "The Rocket" Hart.
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