WWE returns to New York City tonight as SmackDown takes place live from Madison Square Garden.
The World’s Most Famous Arena will host a Bloodline Acknowledgement Ceremony. Last Friday, Solo Sikoa’s new version of The Bloodline continued to take shape with Jacob Fatu making his WWE debut and destroying Cody Rhodes. Sikoa has now introduced Fatu, Tama Tonga, and Tonga Loa into The Bloodline — and he believes his role as Tribal Chief is a permanent one. There was an interaction last week where Sikoa told Paul Heyman that Roman Reigns won’t be returning.
Three members of The Bloodline will face Rhodes, Randy Orton & Kevin Owens in a six-man tag match at Money in the Bank on Saturday, July 6.
Qualifying for Money in the Bank continues tonight with three triple threat matches: Logan Paul vs. LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar; Jade Cargill vs. Tiffany Stratton vs. Candice LeRae; and Naomi vs. Blair Davenport vs. Indi Hartwell.
So far, Jey Uso, Carmelo Hayes, Andrade, and Chad Gable have qualified for the men’s MITB ladder match. IYO SKY, Chelsea Green, and Lyra Valkyria have qualified for the women’s ladder match.
Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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– After the WWE signature, a shot of the Manhattan skyline was shown, followed by different shots of LA Knight, Logan Paul, and Jade Cargill arriving at Madison Square Garden. We then went to a live shot of inside MSG, and the sold out crowd filling the World’s Most Famous Arena.
– A recap of last week’s SmackDown, as it related to the arrival of Jacob Fatu, was then shown.
– Paul Heyman was waiting backstage for the arrival of the “new” Bloodline (sans Jacob Fatu), as the fans chanted “We Want Roman” in the background.
Bloodline brawl with Rhodes, Owens, Orton
As Solo Sikoa and company were walking down, the Titantron showed Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, and Kevin Owens arriving. The trio wasted no time and faced down Sikoa, Tama Tonga, and Tonga Loa. The two groups began brawling all around the ringside area and the arena.
Owens got onto a railing and leapt onto a prone Tonga Loa through a table. In the ring, Rhodes and Orton clotheslined Sikoa out of the ring. SmackDown GM Nick Aldis and a whole corps of security and officials came down to ringside to separate everyone as SmackDown headed to break.
SmackDown return with Aldis talking to Orton, Owens, and Rhodes as he tried to get them to leave the ring. One of the security officials approached Orton and got an RKO. The remaining security swarmed into the ring and got promptly beaten down by Orton, Owens, and Rhodes. Two different security officials got hit with a Stunner from Owens and a Cross Rhodes from Rhodes, respectively.
Owens got the mic and shouted that the Bloodline were dumber than they look if they were going to wait until Money in the Bank for a fight. Orton then added that he, Owens, and Rhodes were going to put the Bloodline down for good.
Rhodes hyped up Orton and Owens, as well as the sold out MSG crowd when he got his turn to speak. He said that he should’ve been defending his Undisputed WWE Championship against a worthy opponent inside MSG, but he’s instead stuck fighting the Bloodline.
As Rhodes was talking, Aldis marched out with some NYPD officers,. Rhodes finished off by calling Sikoa a “seat filler”. The NYPD officers and security officials escorted Rhodes, Orton, and Owens out of the ringside area.
Fantastic and hot brawl to kick things off in front of a sold-out MSG crowd.
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– After a recap of moments ago, Kayla Braxton tried to ask Nick Aldis about everything that’s gone down, but was snubbed as Orton, Rhodes, and Owens were led back to their vehicle to leave the arena.
Money in the Bank Qualifier: Tiffany Stratton defeated Candice LeRae and Jade Cargill
Cargill started off by trying to fight LeRae and Stratton off, but soon fell victim to a double team from the two. Double suplex by Stratton and LeRae on Cargill, as they continued on the attack.
Cargill recovered and took both LeRae and Stratton with suplexes and superkicks. Cargill then lifted LeRae above her head and threw her onto Stratton at ringside. Nia Jax came down to confront Cargill, but was intercepted by Bianca Belair as SmackDown went to break.
SmackDown returned with Stratton and LeRae teaming up against Cargill, until LeRae took down Stratton with a clothesline. LeRae spiked Stratton with a DDT, but Cargill broke that up.
Stratton trapped LeRae and Cargill in separate corners as she tried to go for separate splashes. LeRae avoided calamity, but got sent into a Spinebuster by Cargill.
The action spilled outside as Cargill was targeted by Nia Jax. With the referee distracted by Bianca Belair and Jax’s standoff, Indi Hartwell snuck up on Cargill and sent her into the ringpost. Belair chased Hartwell out of the ringside area.
Inside the ring, Stratton kicked out of a LeRae pinfall attempt and ended up getting the victory with the Prettiest Moonsault Ever.
A fun little triple threat match, and Stratton getting the win was the right call. Look for her to be a favorite next week in Toronto.
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– Backstage, Naomi and Bayley talked about the former’s MITB qualifier when Blair Davenport showed up to taunt Naomi about her chances of winning the qualifying match.
– Michin was in the office of Nick Aldis, as she asked for a match against Nia Jax. Aldis said he’d think about it, as the Street Profits showed up, wanting to fight the Bloodline. Aldis told the two that their match wouldn’t be happening as he promised the Bloodline time for their Ceremony later tonight. Pretty Deadly then appeared to hype themselves up for a possible “Pretty Deadly: The Musical”. The Street Profits then decided that they wanted to fight Pretty Deadly instead, leading to the match being made.
– The Progressive Match Flo recapped the goings on with Logan Paul and LA Knight, particularly what went down on last week’s SmackDown between the two.
– Backstage, Solo Sikoa was informed by Paul Heyman of Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, and Kevin Owens’ removal from MSG. Heyman then asked where Jacob Fatu was, with Sikoa telling him that Fatu was too dangerous to be in the building. Sikoa said that he was going to officially make Heyman his wiseman tonight.
Money in the Bank Qualifier: LA Knight defeated Logan Paul and Santos Escobar
During LA Knight’s entrance, Jalen Brunson from the New York Knicks was shwon in the crowd to a massive ovation that rivaled Knight’s.
Logan Paul showed up with mic in hand, talking about how he was ready to perform in Madison Square Garden. He said he had in his corner someone who understood how to win in MSG, bringing out Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers with him.
Haliburton stared down Jalen Brunson as he and Paul amde their way down to the ringside area.
Knight went after Paul as the bell rang, as he attacked him in the corner. Escobar tackled Knight, with Paul joining in on the attack. The two continued to team up against Knight, battering him with blows. Escobar took Knight down with a hurricanrana, but got sent to the outside by Paul.
Paul hit a suplex on Knight as Tyrese Haliburton cheered on at ringside. Knight got Irish whipped, as he took Escobar down with a sliding dropkick outside the ring before he continued to attack Paul inside the ring.
Modified facebuster by Paul on Knight was then followed by a vaulting press to the outside. Paul had no time to celebrate because Escobar took him down with a suicide dive, which led us to the commercial break.
We returned to SmackDown with Knight sending Paul’s face into the announce table before Escobar cut him off. Back in the ring, Knight attempted an avalanche Samoan drop, but got countered into an avalanche hurricanrana instead. Paul entered the ring and sent Escobar onto Knight with the modified facebuster, which became a pinfall attempt. Paul frantically broke up the count.
Paul and Knight then began to brawl it out in the ring. Meltdown by Knight on Paul. His attempted elbow was stopped by a running knee from Escobar. Knight countered a Phantom Driver with a slam as he hit his signature elbow on him instead.
Knight stomped away on Paul and got hit with a Phantom Driver by Escobar in the fracas. Paul broke up the count at two while the MSG crowd chanted insults at the Indiana Pacers. Escobar and Paul fought in the corner and Knight intercepted with a super belly to belly suplex on Escobar. Paul took advantage and got a swanton bomb for a very close two count.
Tyrese Haliburton was handed the brass knuckles by one of Logan Paul’s associates. Jalen Brunson hopped over the barricade and teased a fight with Haliburton before referees broke it up.
Inside the ring, Knight hit Escobar with the BFT, as Paul tried for a roll-up. Knight turned that around and got the pin on the United States Champion.
Post-match, Haliburton and Paul surrounded Knight in the ring, but Jalen Brunson entered the ring with a chair and stood alongside Knight. Haliburton and Paul backed off after a tense standoff, which left Knight and Brunson to celebrate in the ring.
I had fun with this triple threat match and the added story with Jalen Brunson and Tyrese Haliburton made for some entertaining hometown action that should go over really well with the MSG faithful.
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– Baron Corbin and Apollo Crews were shown watching at ringside as they laughed at Escobar’s loss. Carmelo Hayes appeared to brag about potentially winning Money in the Bank. He said that people should put their money on Melo.
– Corey Graves and Wade Barrett cued up an emotional video package in tribute to Leati Sika Anoa’i, one half of the legendary Wild Samoans and the father of Roman Reigns, who passed away earlier this week.
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– A slideshow of great WWE moments that happened at Madison Square Garden was followed by a promo from Andrade, where he said that winning Money in the Bank was his destiny. He said that he wouldn’t just be taking the briefcase, but he’d be taking everything.
Money in the Bank Qualifier: Naomi defeated Indi Hartwell and Blair Davenport
Naomi started off with a dropkick to both Hartwell and Davenport. Hartwell tried for a sneaky rollup pin while they teamed up on Naomi. The action resumed with Hartwell using Naomi as a bludgeon against Davenport before she hit a powerbomb.
Things broke down at ringside as Davenport and Hartwell began to fight amongst themselves. Double stomp by Davenport on Hartwell sent us to a break in the action.
SmackDown returned from commercial with all three women in the ring. Naomi got a unique neckbreaker on Hartwell while Davenport was prone in between Hartwell’s legs. Naomi was on fire, as she floored Davenport and Hartwell with a series of splashes.
Hartwell hit simultaneous spinebusters on Naomi and Hartwell, as she tried to stack them for the pin and win, but to no avail. The three competitors began to trade blows with one another, which ended with Hartwell getting the better of her foes. Rope-assisted piledriver by Naomi took Hartwell out momentarily, but she managed to revover to throw Davenport into the steel steps.
Jade Cargill made her way to the ring to get some revenge on Hartwell for earlier. She struck Hartwell with some hard punches before she tossed her into the ring and Naomi got the victory with her finisher.
Probably not as strong as the two other Money in the Bank qualifying matches tonight, but still not bad, all things considered.
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– The big Money in the Bank weekend in Toronto next week was hyped, as well as a set of matches for SmackDown next week: Street Profits versus Pretty Deadly, Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair vs. Indi Hartwell & Candice LeRae, and A-Town Down Under defending their WWE Tag Titles against DIY.
– Backstage, Johnny Gargano & Tommasso Ciampa were interviewed about the match next week, but Austin Theory interrupted them. Grayson Waller snuck up on DIY and attacked the two, with Theory being whisked away.
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Bloodline Acknowledgement Ceremony
The Bloodline — Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa — made their way out next for the Bloodline Acknowledgement Ceremony after a recap of the chaos that opened SmackDown.
Paul Heyman started off with his usual spiel, but Sikoa cut him off before he could continue. The fans yet again chanted “we want Roman”. Sikoa took the mic and introduced the newest member of the Bloodline, Jacob Fatu, which meant that he lied to Heyman about Fatu supposedly not being in the building earlier.
Fatu got a grand entrance as he made his way down the ring, and SmackDown went to the final commercial break of the evening.
Back on SmackDown, as Sikoa did Roman Reigns’ “Acknowledge Me” spiel to a chorus of boos. He asked Tama Tonga to acknowledge him, which he did. Likewise with Tonga Loa. Jacob Fatu was next to acknowledge Sikoa, as he told him that he loved him like a brother.
Sikoa then turned his attention to Heyman, as he demanded acknowledgement. He had the ceremonial ula fala in his hand and gave it to Heyman, asking him to put it on.
Heyman outright said “I acknowledge that… you are not my Tribal Chief,” to a loud reaction from the MSG crowd. Sikoa hit a Samoan Spike on Heyman as Fatu hit a diving splash on Heyman. The Bloodline took Heyman and put him through the commentary table with a Shield-style powerbomb.
Fatu put the ula fala around Sikoa’s neck as the Bloodline stood over the broken body of Paul Heyman and raised up their hands in their signature taunt to end SmackDown.
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Very impactful closing segment that should likely be the last straw in heralding Roman Reigns’ return to set things right against Solo’s rogue Bloodline. The electric New York crowd made this all the more exciting. Despite being a heel, there’s some good sympathy in the Bloodline targeting Paul Heyman and beating him down, espeecially with pulling off this angle in the heart of ECW country.
I found myself enjoying this episode of SmackDown a fair bit, and the WWE certainly put on an entertaining show for the MSG crowd.
