WWE SmackDown 11th of October 2024

Things get underway immediately with the hottest story in wrestling, as Jimmy Uso comes down to the SmackDown ring for the first time in six months. He introduces himself and the show, and amidst a loud chant of “welcome back,” reflects on his time away. He blames his little brother, Solo Sikoa, for doing it, and not even being man enough to do it in front of him, either.
As he’s talking, though, out comes none other than the “Original Tribal Chief,” Roman Reigns. The man wasted little time in demanding the microphone from Uso, and let the crowd rain down chants of “OTC” before talking. Reigns said he usually likes to run things systematically, but is going to change things up tonight. He then asked the crowd in acknowledging…Jimmy Uso. Reigns said he doesn’t understand the revenge Uso is looking for, and isn’t a wise man, so he doesn’t know how to come up creative/manipulative plans.
Instead, Reigns said, he’s a tribal chief, and that means he takes what’s his. For four years, that’s been what they’ve done. They had everything, including money, titles, respect, and more. However, Reigns doesn’t like where he’s at right now, and doesn’t like his position of being out of control. When they step in the arena, Reigns wants everyone to know the GOATs are here, and that they are still the “ones.”
Jimmy Uso doesn’t think they’re the ones, though. Instead, he sees a chief with no tribe, with no ula fala. Uso says he returned to Reigns at Bad Blood because he needed help, and now they do as well, and Uso knows one person who can do so. Despite the crowd chanting “Yeet,” though, Reigns was quick to squash it with a “no yeet.” Jimmy says Reigns will forever be his tribal chief, but he’s the “only one” in the family that still acknowledges him, before leaving Reigns standing in the ring confused.
Grade: B+
It’s no surprise that the years-long storyline of The Bloodline is one of the most captivating in recent wrestling history, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that this segment was also good. Jimmy’s return completes one part of the puzzle for what fans hope will be an epic clash down the line, but Reigns’ hesitancy to call upon Jey might cause some issues down the line. For now, though, I’m just ready to see more.

WWE U.S. Title on the Line – LA Knight vs. Carmelo Hayes
It’s United States Championship time here, as Knight looks to continue his winning ways and keep his title against Hayes, who won a controversial match last week to earn a shot at the belt. With Andrade watching from ringside, things start hot off, with both superstars taking things outside of the ring almost immediately. Hayes drops Knight with a heavy clothesline before posing on the steel steps, then takes thing into the ring for a leg drop and a quick near fall.
Hayes is in surprisingly great control of the match midway through, and is not shy about letting Knight know it. After dropping him with another big punch, Hayes began taunting the crowd with Knight’s signature pointing gesture, but Knight woke up, and got in a few punches to reset momentum. Another near fall from Hayes sends the crowd going, and they began chanting for Knight to get up, which he did to deliver a series of punches before hitting an inverted atomic drop into a clothesline.
Hayes looked prime to come out on top and set up his finisher, but Knight flipped it and hit an inverted neckbreaker. He then climbed up to the top rope for a high-flying elbow drop, but Hayes kicked out. Knight looked for the BFT, but Hayes countered it into a scissor kick into a big DDT, but Knight kicked out at the very last second. As Hayes went to the top rope, he and Andrade shared a stare for a moment before Knight countered Hayes’ attack, and Hayes traded it with a BFT counter.
The two then began countering moves off the ropes, but eventually Knight landed a hit on Hayes and hit his BFT on him, which was enough to win the match and retain his title. After the match, a distraught Hayes was mocked by Andrade.
Winner and still WWE United States Champion – LA Knight
Grade: B
This was a solid match here, and it’s pretty clear Hayes is ready for bigger moments in his young WWE career. The brief “interference” from Andrade was a nice touch and sets them up for a good run. As for LA Knight, his title reign continues to be a great one, and it’s clear the fans are still very much in on him.

Right before the start of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships Match, chaos broke out. Kevin Owens came running through the crowd into the ring, saying he was banned from the show. As he tried to explain his shocking attack against Cody Rhodes after WWE Bad Blood, though, his mic cut off. He then got on the commentary mic, and said Rhodes was actually the one who betrayed him.
Before he could explain further, though, out came Rhodes, causing officials and security to rush in and separate everyone. Randy Orton, a friend to both Rhodes and Owens, came out to try and settle things, but only seemed to make things worse. He got into a shoving match with Owens, and after a wrong elbow by Owens to Orton, punched Owens square in the face. A shocked Owens left the ring and arena via the crowd, while a clearly disappointed in himself Orton watched on.
Grade: B
Uh…what? A surprise moment in the show here, as we hadn’t really heard from Owens at all since the attack. It seemed almost a matter of time before Owens would turn on Rhodes, but it was still a shock. It’ll be interesting to see where this goes, especially with Orton getting into it now and seemingly upsetting Owens even further.

WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships Up for Grabs – Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair vs. Jakara Jackson and Lash Legend
After a chaotic interruption by Owens, the planned match is officially underway. Jackson and Legend nearly stole the belts immediately as they teamed up for a combo move on Belair for a near fall, but Cargill saved the pin. The pair sent Cargill flying over the ropes and Belair outside of the ring, but Lash Legend got a bit distracted by Chelsea Green and Piper Niven, who had been at ringside.
Legend kicked Green over the announce table, and in the ensuing chaos, Belair and Cargill got the momentum. Belair threw Jackson back into the ring, right where Cargill was waiting. The two then combined for a finisher that was enough for Cargill to score the pin on Jackson for the title-defending win.
Winner and still WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions – Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair
Grade: C+
This ended up being a surprisingly shorter match than anticipated. The bit with Chelsea and Piper’s interference was fun, but it would’ve been a bit more enjoyable to see Jackson and Legend get the chance to really put on a show with high-profile stars like Belair and Cargill.

Nia Jax Addresses the WWE Universe
Jax and Tiffany Stratton are in the ring, with Jax addressing her win over Bayley at Bad Blood to retain her hold on the WWE Women’s Championship. Jax said that she just continues to prove that no one can beat her, including Liv Morgan. Jax then said that after she beats Morgan at WWE Crown Jewel, it’ll be “Tiffy Time,” and promptly locked her friend in a vicious headlock. She then, very sternly, said that Stratton would be cashing in her title against Liv.
Naomi came out to interrupt things, and said that Jax is only still the champion because Stratton keeps helping. She called Stratton a “broke down Barbie,” and said she isn’t even a good sidekick since Naomi beat her last week. Jax then got in Naomi’s face, and said she didn’t need anyone’s help to beat her, to which Naomi said she would beat her right here and now. Jax then told Nick Aldis to sanction a match immediately, but before things could start, Liv Morgan — with Raquel Rodriguez and Dominik Mysterio — came out.
The reigning WWE Women’s World Champion then said she was going to watch Jax lose to Naomi at ringside, just like she’ll lose to Morgan at Crown Jewel.

Nia Jax vs. Naomi
In a non-title match against Jax, Naomi actually showed a ton of athleticism, dodging several attacks. Jax would take control soon enough, though, and get to working over Naomi with various submission moves before throwing her into the turnbuckles. After slamming Naomi’s head into the turnpost, Jax locks in a sleeper that Naomi manages to get out of, which she follows with a kick and a spinning drop to get Jax to roll under the bottom rope.
Naomi sends Jax outside of the ring with a kick, and then drives her into the ringpost with a running kick along the edge of the apron. Jax woke up, though, and dropped Naomi onto the mat outside before calling Dominik “greasy” and “nasty.”
Back from commercial break, and Naomi is still doing her best trying to get Jax down to the ground. She hits a cross body on her for a near fall, then gets Jax to run out of the ring again before taking her out with a flip over the top ropes. As Naomi throws Jax back into the ring, Stratton tries to interfere with her Money in the Bank briefcase, but Raquel Rodriguez stops her and Naomi hits a big kick to the head. Naomi then gets Jax ready for a big splash, but Jax reverses to set up a splash. Rodrigeuz and Liv intervene, though, and Morgan knocks Jax off the top ropes with the briefcase to allow Naomi to score the shocking pinfall win.
Winner – Naomi
After the match, even more chaos breaks out. Rhea Ripley’s music hits, and she comes storming down the ramp and takes down Rodriguez. Morgan escapes into the ring, but runs right into Jax. Ripley doesn’t care, though, and lays out Jax with a superkick before chasing Morgan and Mysterio away.
Grade: B
This was one of the more chaotic segments of the entire show, but still an incredibly fun one. At the start, it looked like Jax was ready to dig into Stratton a bit more for her near-betrayal at Bad Blood. However, Naomi’s interruption changed things, and her shock win over Jax has now thrown the state of the WWE Women’s Championship contenders into question.
Of course, the Liv Morgan angle was also entertaining. Her turning up was a surprise, but running into Rhea wasn’t. Their feud continues to be an incredible one to watch.

Kevin Owens Attacks Randy Orton
In a stunning development on the Kevin Owens/Cody Rhodes/Randy Orton saga, Owens has severed yet another friendship. Backstage amidst a big argument between The Street Profits and #DIY, Nick Aldis was called away by WWE security, who watched as Owens was delivering a series of kicks to a downed Orton. The team pulled Owens off of Orton, and he walked off, leaving Orton down and everyone confused as to what was going on.

Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa Go At It
It’s time for the main event of the night, and Solo and Jimmy spent some time just staring down each other and jawing back and forth. When things got started, both superstars went at it. Solo throws Jimmy into the corner, but Uso sends him flying out of the ring before hitting a big splash over the ropes onto him.
Sikoa gets things back in control with a big hit, and is yelling at Uso that he’s no longer the little baby that he was. Solo drops Jimmy on the edge of the apron and taunts for a bit, which allows Jimmy to get back a few hits before Sikoa drops him to the outside of the ring, and even more taunting. As we go to commercial, Sikoa is still in control, and looks ready to end it, but began taking his time to taunt Jimmy instead.
Sikoa is yelling that Uso better acknowledge him, which gets Uso amped up and back into the match, as he drops Solo with a big kick. The two then begin trading punches back and forth, and Sikoa hits him with a Rock Bottom-esque move for a near fall. Sikoa throws Jimmy into the corner and begins running into him, before throwing the ones up and running right into a massive superkick from Jimmy.
Uso then regains momentum with even more kicks, before going for a near fall. Jimmy drops both Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa out of the ring and counters a Samoan Spike, but Jacob Fatu comes down to distract the ref again, and Solo wins with a Samoan Spike.
Winner – Solo Sikoa
After the match, the group prepared to attack Uso even further, but Roman Reigns comes running out and knocks out Tonga and Loa with a pair of Superman Punches. He and Solo stare each other down, then go at it, but Reigns is quickly taken down by Jacob Fatu, who came down to join his Bloodline family. The group is absolutely unleashing on Reigns and Jimmy, and Solo hits a massive Samoan Spike on Reigns to send a big message to the group.
Grade: B+
Another great showing from The Bloodline, these matches continue to entertain no matter how they end. Seeing Reign and Uso both lose so handily is a bit surprising, but it does add to credence to what Jimmy said about the pair of them needing help in the future.

WWE SmackDown Review
Grade: B+
Overall, this was a pretty solid show that did a lot more for setting up future storylines than anything. The Bloodline’s saga continues to grow toward a big clash between the family, while Nia Jax and Tiffany Stratton’s brewing rivalry is close to coming to a head. Add to it the fact that Kevin Owens and Randy Orton will now be feuding, and there’s a lot of interesting ways things can go.

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— JJA Sport Studio (@jjasportstudio) October 12, 2024