June 28, 2024
Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Results
- Tiffany Stratton def. Jade Cargill & Candice LeRae (Money In The Bank Women’s Qualifier Triple Threat)
- LA Knight def. Logan Paul & Santos Escobar (Money In The Bank Men’s Qualifier Triple Threat)
- Naomi def. Blair Davenport & Indi Hartwell (Money In The Bank Women’s Qualifier Triple Threat)
Violence follows The Bloodline
The show started with a recap of The Bloodline’s antics during last week’s episode, including the debut of Jacob Fatu. The trio of Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, and Tanga Loa were then seen entering Madison Square Garden. Paul Heyman, who was awaiting their arrival, asked where Fatu was.
Sikoa didn’t give Heyman a response and instead patted him on the chest. The Bloodline then made their way to the ring. However, as they got onto the stage, the broadcast showed that Cody Rhodes, Kevin Owens, and Randy Orton were just a little behind them.
The trios faced off on the WWE stage before a brawl erupted. Owens put Tonga on a table and then came flying off a guardrail for a high-risk Swanton Bomb. Shortly after this move, Smackdown General Manager Nick Aldis sent a mob of security guards to the ring to break up the brawl.
After a commercial break, the team of Rhodes, Orton, and Owens remained in the ring in protest. A frustrated Orton did an RKO, causing the team to start to attacking the crowd of security guards in the venue.
The trio then got on the mic to call out The Bloodline. “At Money In The Bank, we put The Bloodline down for good,” Orton said to the loud Madison Square Garden card. Rhodes stated that while he should be defending his title in the venue, he’s instead spending his time going after The Bloodline. A series of local police were led to the ring by Aldis to take out the trio as the segment came to an end.
Tiffany Stratton earns Money In The Bank spot, but not without some help
The first of three qualifier bouts for Money In The Bank on Friday evening saw Tiffany Stratton, Candice LeRae, and Jade Cargill in a triple-threat match.
It was noted on the broadcast that Cargill was looking for a spot in the ladder match just a week after her tag partner Bianca Belair lost in a qualifier.
The heels in the match, Stratton and LeRae, tried to team up against Cargill as they got started. However, Cargill eventually overpowered them and gained control of the match. Just before they went to a commercial break, Nia Jax was seen coming to the ring to watch Cargill compete. Trailing behind her was Belair, who was there to make sure her tag team partner wasn’t going to get her win interfered with.
Later in the match, Jax mocked Cargill while she was outside of the ring. Belair confronted Jax, trying to get her to stop. As the referee got in between the two, LeRae ally Indi Hartwell appeared from the crowd to push Cargill into a ring post. This took her out of the bout.
Back in the ring, Stratton kicked out of a roll-up pin. She blocked a moonsault from LeRae, then scored with her Prettiest Moonsault Ever finisher to win the match and secure a Money In The Bank spot.
Later in the night, Michin was seen asking Nick Aldis for a match against Nia Jax due to her getting attacked by her on a previous episode of Smackdown. Aldis said he would see what he could do. Then, he was approached by the Street Profits, who wanted their hands on The Bloodline that night. Aldis shut the idea down: “That’s not happening tonight.”
Pretty Deadly then walked into the office to pitch a musical. Street Profits have a counter-offer: “The Street Profits versus Pretty Deadly, the beatdown.” The segment came to an end with both teams screaming at each other.
Backstage, Paul Heyman pressed Solo Sikoa again as to where Jacob Fatu was. Sikoa stated that Fatu wasn’t there tonight because Heyman said he was too dangerous. “What’s the point of having a wise man if we don’t take your advice?” said Sikoa, referring to Heyman. He then said he would “officially” make Heyman the “wise man” later tonight.
LA Knight wins MITB qualifier with NBA flare
The sole men’s Money In The Bank qualifying match was up next, with Santos Escobar, LA Knight, and United States Champion Logan Paul in action. This match has some history to it, as Knight has been chasing Paul down for weeks and saw this match as a way to finally get his hands on him.
During Paul’s entrance, he introduced Indiana Pacers player Tyrese Haliburton, who received heel heat in New York. For context, the Pacers eliminated the New York Knicks during this year’s NBA Playoffs. As Haliburton was walking to the ring he had a brief face-to-face with Knicks player Jalen Brunson, who had a seat at ringside.
Escobar pulled off many of the big moves in this match, including a top rope huricanrana against Knight. As the match was nearing its end it kept a quick pace, with pin attempts and moves often being interrupted by the odd man out in a sequence.
The match went to the top rope once again for a quick sequence late in the bout. After Knight scored a belly-to-back superplex to Escobar, Paul connected with a Swanton Bomb off the top onto Knight. This caused a near fall.
Paul called over Haliburton to fetch his brass knuckles. However, Brunson hopped the barricade to confront his NBA rival and prevent the weapon from being used. This sequence distracted Paul and caused him to eat a double knee by Escobar.
Knight scored a BFT onto Escobar. After a sequence of roll-up pins, Knight won via roll-up to steal the match. Haliburton got into the ring afterward and was seemingly looking to help Paul with an assault on Knight. Brunson came in for the save once again, grabbing a steel chair and hitting the ring to prevent an attack from happening.
Smackdown paid tribute to Leati Sika Anoa’i with a video package after the second match of the night. POST Wrestling’s obituary for the legendary wrestler can be read here.
Karma comes back to bite Indi Hartwell
Blair Davenport, Indi Hartwell, and Naomi fought for a spot in this year’s Money In The Bank match next.
Davenport had control of the fight heading into commercials, landing a double stomp onto the back of Hartwell outside of the ring right before the broadcast took a break.
Naomi started to take control of the fight as the show returned. She scored a crossbody onto her two opponents, then landed the splits onto them for a near fall. Roughly a minute later, Naomi tried for a moonsault onto both Davenport and Hartwell. She scored the move on Hartwell, but Davenport escaped and was able to hit a Falcon Arrow for a two-count.
After a back-and-forth striking exchange, Naomi tried for a moonsault but nobody was home. Davenport then got dragged out of the ring by Hartwell, who threw her into the steel stairs. Naomi slid out of the ring but was thrown into the barricade by Naomi.
As Hartwell was in control of the match she was confronted by Jade Cargill, who took a loss because of her earlier in the night. After getting attacked by Cargill, Hartwell was tossed into the ring for Naomi to hit her finisher and score the win. Naomi is now set for Money In The Bank.
Backstage, #DIY was being interviewed about a tag match against Grayson Waller and Austin Theory next week. They were interrupted by Theory, who once again they tried to convince was being used by his tag partner. Waller came out of nowhere to assault #DIY as the segment came to a close.
Paul Heyman refuses to acknowledge Solo Sikoa
This week’s Smackdown came to an end with a ceremony by The Bloodline.
Heyman started the segment by speaking but was cut off in just his second sentence by Sikoa. The leader of the group wanted to speak.
Sikoa introduced Jacob Fatu, who got his own entrance. This countered what Sikoa said earlier about Fatu, telling Heyman that the new Bloodline member wasn’t at Smackdown this week.
After a commercial break, Sikoa asked the Madison Square Garden crowd to acknowledge him. Heyman seemed disturbed by this.
Sikoa then called up Bloodline members one by one to acknowledge him. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, and Jacob Fatu did so without issue. Then it became time for Heyman to do so.
Heyman was visibly struggling with his decision. The atmosphere was tense in Madison Square Garden. He finally made his choice: “Solo I love you, and I acknowledge that you are not my tribal chief!” The crowd exploded with cheers following this decision.
The Bloodline started to attack Heyman. Solo spiked him in the throat, then Fatu came off the top rope for a massive frog splash. The group then picked up Heyman and put him through a commentary table at ringside. The crowd started to chant “F*** you Solo” as the show went off air.
Heyman kept his solidarity with Roman Reigns, but it came at a price.
