WWE SmackDown was a special night for Bianca Belair as she was back in Knox County, Tennessee – but Becky Lynch ruined the homecoming.
Friday’s show added another level of drama to the pair’s rivalry as the blue brand’s champ laid out the EST of WWE following a surprise appearance by Hall of Famer Kane.
The Big Red Machine, whose real name is Glen Jacobs and who serves as the real life mayor of Knox County, was on hand to introduce the hometown hero and welcome her to the ring.
Belair came out and hyped up the crowd, getting the reaction she deserved from the fans in attendance with her parents sat on the front row soaking up every moment.
She turned her attention to The Man and vowed to regain the SmackDown Women’s Championship at Extreme Rules, with Kane promising a real celebration if she pulls it off – while he also gave her a rather large key to the city.
Bianca started to sing to the delight of the crowd, but Becky interrupted and hit the ring with a Kill Bill-esque outfit and over the top shades, offering some backhanded compliments as she teased her rival.
She even went to shake Belair’s hand, but the former champ wasn’t taking any chances as she went to hit the K.O.D. to avoid a repeat of the sucker punch at SummerSlam.
However, Lynch escape the move and instead hit the Manhandle Slam on Bianca, leaving her lying as she headed up the ramp to bring the show to an emphatic end.
Big E and Finn Balor team up to beat The Usos and Liv Morgan joins forces with Toni Storm
SmackDown opened up last night with The Bloodline as Roman Reigns, The Usos and Paul Heyman came out and put on a united front.
The Tribal Chief asked his special counsel to show the fans how to acknowledge him in the correct way, and he did so, claiming Reigns doesn’t fear beast nor Demon, insisting that Lesnar fears the Head of the Table.
He got interrupted by Big E though as the new WWE Champion made what you’d expect would be his final SmackDown appearance, depending what goes down before the draft.
He played to the crowd and starred down Reigns – who held up the Universal Championship – but then Finn Balor came down, leading into our opening match.
All four men delivered a hot bout to kick off the in-ring portion of the show, with E and Balor working well as a team and picking up the win with the Big Ending on Jimmy as Finn hit the Coup de Grace on Jey.
Rick Boogs picked up a win over Robert Roode in an entertaining match, celebrating with King Nakamura before Apollo Crews and Commander Azeez attacked them out of nowhere.
They stomped on Shinsuke’s crown, and Crews grabbed a mic to set his sights on the Intercontinental Championship he lost to the king.
Kevin Owens versus Happy Corbin never happened as the latter attacked him during his entrance and dropped him with a chokeslam onto the edge of the ring apron.
Backstage, Kayla Braxton asked Paul Heyman about the possibility of Brock Lesnar heading to Raw in the draft, while Big E appeared to teased Heyman before The Usos attacked him.
Next, Seth Rollins came out as the Drip King addressed Edge and the Rated R Superstar’s injury last week, as he pretended to feel bad but claimed the fans were being hypocrites after what the Hall of Famer has done to him.
He admitted he felt sorry for Edge after seeing genuine fear in his eyes, and he needs to get rid of that feeling ‘for [his] own sanity’ by putting an end to his rival, as he challenged him to one more match.
Toni Storm and Liv Morgan teamed up against Zelina Vega and Carmella in a very, very brief match that ended as Carmella was bumped off the apron early on, claiming she broke her nose as she got counted out.
After the bell, Liv challenged the Most Beautiful Woman in All of WWE to a match at Extreme Rules, which she later accepted while Vega said Morgan will go through her next week.
Backstage, Balor explained the origin of the Demon as he hyped up his rise to the top compared to Roman’s family being a dynasty in the business.
He said the Demon ‘unlocks a rage inside of me that cannot be controlled’, and insisted his alter ego takes over him rather than the other way round.
In the last match of the night, Dominik Mysterio again failed to beat Sami Zayn as his father watched on from the announce table.
He hit the 619 and looked to be set for a win, but he hesitated which allowed Zayn to steal the win.
*WWE SmackDown airs Friday nights at 1am on BT Sport 1.
WWE SmackDown results and grades
- Big E and Finn Balor beat The Usos (B+)
- Rick Boogs pinned Robert Roode (C+)
- Toni Storm and Liv Morgan defeated Carmella and Zelina Vega (D+)
- Sami Zayn beat Dominik Mysterio (B-)
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