Smackdown results: The Bloodline lay out Kevin Owens, Cody Rhodes vs. AJ Styles Booked

Image Credit: WWE

Quick results

  1. Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill def. Indi Hartwell & Candice LeRae
  2. Grayson Waller def. Johnny Gargano
  3. LA Knight vs. Carmelo Hayes
  4. Kevin Owens, Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) vs. The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa)

Kevin Owens searches for revenge against The Bloodline

Friday’s episode of Smackdown started with a recap of last week when AJ Styles used a fake retirement to bait Cody Rhodes into an assault, which culminated with a Styles Clash onto the ground outside the ring.

We then went to a shot of the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky, where The Bloodline made their way to the ring. For anyone who needs a refresher, The Bloodline currently consists of: Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, and Paul Heyman.

Heyman started the segment by stating that Sikoa is the “Head of the Table” until Roman Reigns comes back. A “We want Roman” chant broke out after this statement. Heyman continued, stating that tonight is a “double proclamation,” then mentioned that Tonga – who was already anointed as part of the Bloodline – will now be known as “Tama Tonga The Right Hand Man.”

Heyman then recognized “The Infamous Tanga Loa.” Heyman wrapped up his speech there, but that bothered Sikoa. “Hold on wise man,” he said. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Sikoa said that Heyman should be thanking Loa and Tonga for saving him from Kevin Owens last week. Heyman, now shook, thanked them.

“We could’ve let Kevin Owens kill you, but we saved you by orders of the Tribal Chief,” Tonga said. As Heyman said Owens was looking for a piece of The Bloodline, Owens’ music hit. Owens charged into the ring, where he tried fighting all three at once.

Owens was outnumbered until The Street Profits came in to help out. Owens used a steel chair to send The Bloodline retreating and end the segment.

After the break, Sikoa demanded that Heyman create a six-man tag in the main event between everyone involved in the brawl. If he didn’t, “The main event will happen in our locker room: You versus Tama Tonga,” he warned.

Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair pick up win, face off against contenders

In the first match of the evening, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair faced off against Indi Hartwell and Candice LeRae.

Right as the match started, a pair of tag teams appeared at ringside: By the commentary, Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn emerged. By the ramp, Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark appeared. Hartwell had control of the match as they went to commercials.

Cargill received a hot tag as the match came back from a break to attack both Hartwell and LeRae. Cargill took out LeRae after she broke up a pin attempt. The champs then did a double team: Belair hit a DDT before Cargill turned it into a german suplex, earning them a pinfall win.

After the match, both tag teams that were watching at ringside jumped the duo of Cargill and Belair. The teams then faced off with each other inside the ring before erupting into a second brawl.

Cargill and Belair had a second win, getting into the ring and taking out the contenders. Cargill and Belair hit their finishing moves on Fyre and Dawn to put an end to the fight.

Tag champ Grayson Waller gets help from teammate for win

Backstage, a fired-up Cody Rhodes was confronted by Smackdown General Manager Nick Aldis. He tried to convince him that he shouldn’t fight Styles in the venue’s loading docks. Aldis’ words didn’t get to Rhodes, who urged that this was an issue that didn’t involve him.

Apollo Crews was interviewed about his match tonight against Angel. However, before he could get more than a sentence out, he was jumped. Nick Aldis suddenly appeared and sent Crews to the medical team. Just seconds later, LA Knight showed up asking where Logan Paul is. Aldis told him that Paul is not at the show this week. Then stepping into the frame was Carmelo Hayes, who started provoking Knight. Knight told Aldis that a match between the two should be booked in the absence of Crews’ match, and Aldis honored the request. A lot of tonight’s show was, in storyline, booked on the fly.

Back in the ring, Johnny Gargano met one-half of the tag champs, Grayson Waller. Gargano scored a Sliced Bread off the ring apron just before the match went to a commercial break. When the broadcast returned, it was shown that Waller connected with an elbow drop off the ropes during earlier in the bout.

Waller scored a near fall with a powerbomb. A back-and-forth trading of strikes culminated with a knee strike from Waller. Gargano reversed a move from Waller into a destroyer of sorts, although he wasn’t able to follow up due to Waller rolling to outside of the ring.

Gargano tried to perform a suicide dive onto Waller to the outside, but Austin Theory was instead pulled into his way. Waller ran Gargano into the ring apron and post before throwing him back into the ring for a finisher to win the match. Waller walked away with a win, but not before his teammate had to take a fall for him.

Cody Rhodes sets up title match against AJ Styles

The broadcast checked in with Cody Rhodes once again. Nick Aldis showed up with a half-dozen of security guards, warning him to relax as AJ Styles will be arriving shortly. After a commercial break, Styles pulled into the parking lot taunting Rhodes. A frustrated Rhodes stormed off and made his way to the ring.

In the ring, Rhodes called for Styles to join him there. “We don’t need security, AJ. Let’s do this, right here and now.”

Styles appeared onstage alongside Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. As they stood near the entrance, a group of security got in between them and Rhodes.

Styles denied a fight tonight, but instead asked for a title fight against Rhodes on Clash At The Castle. Rhodes was quick to accept: “100 percent, you got it. But AJ … This isn’t just any regular match, I’m not just going to beat you. I’m going to make you say what you should have said last week, and that’s ‘I quit.'”

Aldis gave a thumbs up, signalling that the fight was official.

Rhodes still didn’t want to wait until Clash At The Castle. He took out numerous security guards in hopes of making his way to Styles. As he was being held back by security, Rhodes was struck on the head once by Styles. Any further fighting between the two will have to take place at the next PLE.

LA Knight overcomes Carmelo Hayes, calls out Logan Paul

Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill were interviewed backstage after leaving Nick Aldis’ office. They announced that their titles will be on the line in a triple-threat match at Clash At The Castle, facing not just Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn, but also Zoey Stark and Shayna Baszler.

The singles match between LA Knight and Carmelo Hayes – which was booked by Nick Adlis earlier in the night – was up next.

Early in the match, the fight went over to the commentary desk. Knight hit Hayes’ head into the front of the commentary booth numerous times. After avoiding getting thrown into the desk himself, Knight tossed Hayes back-first onto the table, sending the broadcast into commercials.

Back from the break, Knight gained control of the fight after a series of counters in the corner. After connecting with a running knee, Hayes escaped another move from Knight. Hayes picked up a near fall with a facebuster.

Knight tried for the BFT, but wasn’t able to land it as Hayes countered with a roll-up pin attempt. Knight reversed into his own roll-up, putting an end to the match.

Knight grabbed a commentary headset immediately after, promising to “bring the Smackdown” to Logan Paul.

Tiffany Stratton approached Nia Jax backstage, proposing a potential alliance between the two. Jax then ran into Michin. As Jax told Michin to retire, a drink was thrown in their face. Michin was tossed over a table before officials ran into the picture to break up the fight. Later in the program, it was revealed that they will meet in next week’s episode of Smackdown.

Bayley, Piper Niven face off

WWE Women’s Champion Bayley came to the ring to discuss her upcoming Clash At The Castle match against Piper Niven. About two sentences into her promo, Niven and Chelsea Green appeared on the ramp.

Green called Bayley, and the live crowd, losers. Bayley kept her focus on Niven, saying that she doesn’t need Green as her mouthpiece. Bayley mentioned that while she respects Niven, the fact that she was attacked by her gives her no guilt about beating Niven in front of her home country.

Niven snatched a microphone out of Green’s hands and cut a promo of her own. She bragged about her credentials and expressed confidence that she will beat Bayley in their upcoming match.

The Bloodline loses match via DQ, wins brawl afterward

Before the main event, a video of Logan Paul was shown. He flaunted that he has won more WWE titles than LA Knight and that he will win another title at the World Tetris Championships tomorrow.

The show came to a close with a six-man tag team match, as Kevin Owens and The Street Profits teamed up to face The Bloodline.

Bloodline had control of the match throughout the first commercial break. Ford started to tease a hot tag as the match returned, although Sikoa isolated him in a corner and prevented it from happening.

After moments of build-up, a tag was given to Owens. He gave Sikoa a cannonball in the corner, then a Swanton Bomb for a two-count. Owens avoided a Samoan Spike to score a stunner but was pulled out of the ring during a pin attempt. A brawl outside of the ring was ended by Ford, who dove over a ring post onto many wrestlers. The bout then had a sudden disqualification end, as Sikoa struck Ford with a chair.

The fight continued after the bell. After taking out Ford, The Bloodline powerbombed Owens through a commentary table to end the show.

About Jack Wannan 467 Articles
Jack Wannan is a journalist from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He writes and reports on professional wrestling, along with other topics like MMA, boxing, music, local news, and more. He graduated from Toronto Metropolitan University in 2023 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He can be reached at [email protected]