WWE SmackDown live results: Crown Jewel go-home show
Editor’s Note: The following are live results from the international broadcast of WWE SmackDown on Netflix with the U.S. version airing at 8 PM Eastern on USA. If you want to avoid spoilers for tonight, you have been warned.
WWE heads to Perth, Australia, for today’s SmackDown — the first of three WWE live shows over the weekend centered around Saturday’s Crown Jewel.
WWE men’s United States Champion Sami Zayn will continue his open challenge series after defeating Aleister Black last Friday with an assist from Damian Priest.
Speaking of Priest and Black, they will attempt to settle their simmering feud in a Last Man Standing match.
The WWE Tag Team titles will be on the line as The Wyatt Sicks’ Joe Gacy & Dexter Lumis defend against The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins).
WWE Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer & WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton will attempt to put their differences aside before their Saturday match as they take on Giulia & Kiana James.
Our live coverage starts at 8 AM Eastern.
**********
– Our show opened with a video package showing the mens and women’s Crown Jewel Championships being moved from the WWE Experience museum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to Perth, Australia ahead of tomorrow’s Crown Jewel PLE.
– Following that, we then went live to the RAC Arena, as the men’s Crown Jewel Championship was shown in the ring.
Cody Rhodes addresses Crown Jewel
The Undisputed WWE Champion and reigning men’s Crown Jewel Champion was first to enter for our opening segment as Michael Cole and Wade Barrett recapped the happenings of last Friday’s SmackDown as it related to Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins.
Once Rhodes entered the ring, he basked in the cheers of the Australian crowd before he started off by asking “what do you want to talk about?” Rhodes said that we could talk about Seth Rollins and the supposed “doom and gloom outcome” of the match at Crown Jewel, but after he heard Paul Heyman’s warnings on Raw, it’s clear that Rollins is becoming the man he sacrificed himself to defeat at WrestleMania 41.
Rhodes continued by saying that when you love WWE as much as Rollins does, you’d do everything for it, even perhaps skewing reality as a result. But, there comes a downfall as it becomes a quest for control. Rhodes said that Rollins might not love the “QB” nickname that was given to him, but it’s a collective one that he’s proud to have as making WWE great is a team effort. Rhodes shouted out individuals like Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, CM Punk, Rhea Ripley, Jey Uso, and even Seth Rollins as being important aspects of WWE.
The crowd began chanting “Seth’s a wanker” as Rhodes asked for Barrett and Cole on commentary to confirm that chant. As he got back on track, Rhodes said that if the world did revolved around Seth Rollins, what did that mean for him? He said that in this hypothetical world, this still meant that Rhodes would remain the one man that Rollins just simply cannot defeat.
This did its job of selling the men’s Crown Jewel match and the idea of Cody Rhodes being the one white whale that has eluded Seth Rollins. It’s clear that Rollins will certainly win tomorrow’s match, but just how he does it is something to watch.
**********
– Backstage, Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer was being approached by Chelsea Green to join the Secret Hervice until WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton appeared. Green left as Vaquer and Stratton agreed to be on the same page for tonight’s tag match.
– Elsewhere, Cody Rhodes was walking and approached by Jacob Fatu, who said that once Rhodes was done with the Crown Jewel business, he wanted next for the Undisputed WWE Title. SmackDown GM Nick Aldis approached Fatu and wanted to discuss something with him. As Aldis left, Drew McIntyre attacked Fatu before he was backed off by officials.
U.S. Title Open Challenge: Sami Zayn (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Nakamura was revealed as Zayn’s opponent, as he entered to his old theme music and entrance.
The match got going with Zayn and Nakamura engaging in a duel of chain wrestling that neither man got the upper hand on. Nakamura got a bit of an advantage with a boot to the face followed by a leg drop on Zayn. The momentum continued for the challenger as he delivered his sliding German suplex to Zayn, which took us into the break.
Our opening contest returned from commercial with Zayn and Nakamura trading strikes in the middle of the ring until the latter dropped his foe with a nice vertical suplex. Nakamura fired himself up and teed off on Zayn with strikes and an enzuigiri that sent Zayn stunned into the corner. The challenger followed that with a heel kick to the face of Zayn that got a near-fall. Nakamura maintained his strong-style-tinged assault on Zayn until a clothesline turned him upside down.
Zayn headed to the top rope and missed with a dive. He attempted a Blue Thunder Bomb, but fell victim to Nakamura’s patented spinning kick. In the corner, Nakamura had Zayn dead to rights for a Kinshasa, but he got countered into a Michinoku Driver for a near-fall. After pinfalls were traded, Zayn connected with the Exploder Suplex into the corner and looked like he’d have the Helluva Kick in the chamber. Nakamura avoided that and went to the top with a diving kick to the back of Zayn’s head. One, two… not yet! With the match still to be decided, we went to another break.
SmackDown returned from the break with Zayn and Nakamura once more mixing it up with strikes until Zayn’s attempt at a Blue Thunder Bomb was countered into a modified Kinshasa to the back of the U.S. Champion’s head. Zayn instinctively rolled out of the ring as he caught Nakamura by surprise with an Exploder Suplex into the barricade. Zayn then hit a Helluva Kick before he threw Nakamura back into the ring before the count of ten. As Zayn tried to get back into the ring, Nakamura caught him by surprise with a Sudden Impact kick that got a near-fall. He then got Zayn with the Scorpio Rising and looked to have the Kinshasa lock and loaded. That was until a hooded man attacked
The hooded man pulled Nakamura out and threw him over the barricade. The man revealed himsefl to be the returning Tama Tonga, as the other members of the M.F.T.s appeared around the ring to surround Zayn. The group laid a beatdown on both champion and challenger, as Solo Sikoa took in the destruction.
Sami Zayn def. Shinsuke Nakamura via DQ to retain the United States Championship
A great match ruined by another DQ finish. I’m not sure if dressing up this Bloodline retread in facepaint in a “Malibu Stacy with a new hat” situation is going to make them any interesting, but I guess I can’t fault WWE for trying again with this, as daunting a task as it may seem to be. That said, it’s at least great to see Tama Tonga back from injury.
**********
– Backstage, we learned that on next week’s SmackDown, Drew McIntyre and Jacob Fatu would go one on one. As McIntyre discussed this with GM Nick Aldis, he was attacked by an irate Fatu, who wanted to get a little payback on the assault from earlier in the night. A gaggle of referees and officials tried their best to keep the two separated.
Stephanie Vaquer & Tiffany Stratton vs. Giulia & Kiana James
Vaquer and James started things off for their respective teams as the latter delivered a cheapshot to her opponent. Vaquer answered with a back suplex and caught James in prime position for an early-match Devil’s Kiss, much to the crowd’s delight. James retreated and tagged Giulia as we headed into an oddly-placed commercial break.
The action resumed from the break with Giulia throwing Vaquer into her team’s corner as James tagged herself in and kept the Women’s World Champion isolated for a moment. Giulia was the legal woman again as she took off from the top with a dropkick for a near-fall. Vaquer managed to kick Giulia aside which gave her enough time to tag in Stratton.
The WWE Women’s Champion was a house of fire as she unleashed a flurry of offense on James with a somersault clothesline into the corner followed by a slam for the near-fall. Stratton stunned James into the middle rope and looked to have a running attack, but Giulia created a distraction as she then entered the match with an Arrivederci Knee to Stratton. Giulia then connected with a Northern Lights Bomb, but Vaquer broke up the pin.
As things began to break down, Stratton got the Alabama Slam on James as Vaquer entered the with a tag. Vaquer connected with a modified version of the Angel’s Wings, but Giulia broke up the count. Stratton with a blind tag as Vaquer launched herself onto Giulia outside to take her out of the equation. Back in the ring, Stratton finished James off in short order with the Prettiest Moonsault Ever.
Vaquer and Stratton stood in front of the Women’s Crown Jewel Championship and faced off after the match.
Tiffany Stratton & Stephanie Vaquer def. Giulia & Kiana James
Standard women’s tag team fare, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I do think that giving Giulia and James the win here wouldn’t have hurt as it’d at least create a new set of challengers for Stratton to contend with post-Crown Jewel.
**********
– As Zaria and Sol Ruca were chatting amongst themselves, the Women’s Tag Team Champions, Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss appeared and told the NXT stars that facing them would be not be an easy battle to expect. Utlimately, Flair and Bliss granted Zaria and Ruca a chance at their Women’s Tag Titles.
WWE Tag Team Championships: The Wyatt Sicks (Joe Gacy & Dexter Lumis) (w/ Nikki Cross & Erick Rowan) (c) vs. The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) (w/ B-Fab)
The match got going right away as Gacy and Lumis ran into the ring and immediately began to fight with Dawkins and Ford. As things finally setled down, the Profits had the upper hand early as they threw their weight around at Gacy’s expense. Outside the ring, Dawkins barrelled through both Gacy and Lumis, which sent the two Wyatts into the timekeeper’s corner. We headed to the commercial break with the Street Profits having control in the early stages of this match.
We returned from the break as the Wyatts had Ford staggered in the corner and ready for a double superplex. Dawkins emerged and held Gacy and Lumis in place instead, as Ford recovered and delivered a double blockbuster on the WWE Tag Champs. The cover, but Nikki Cross put Gacy’s foot on the bottom rope. Things broke down as B-Fab attacked Cross on the outside. Erick Rowan stood behind B-Fab, which allowed Cross to go on the attack with a leap. Dawkins then launched over the top rope to take down Rowan as Ford was the legal man.
From the top rope, Ford wanted to hit the Frog Splash, but Lumis pulled Gacy out of harm’s way, which caused Ford to hit the mat hard instead. The two Wyatts then finished things off with the Plague on Ford to retain the WWE Tag Titles.
After the match, Solo Sikoa and the M.F.T.s. appeared and had a brief, but tense staredown with the Wyatt Sicks.
The Wyatt Sicks def. The Street Profits via pinfall to retain the WWE Tag Team Championships
Just a standard tag match, with nothing really to write home about. The tease with the M.F.T.s targeting the Wyatts certainly happened, I do at least want to see where this goes initially.
**********
– The Miz was interviewed backstage about his betrayal of Carmelo Hayes on last week’s SmackDown, as he called himself “the spotlight” and that Hayes “blew it” in his eyes and that his former Melo Don’t Miz partner ultimately “missed”.
– We got a recap of the Crown Jewel Kickoff and Seth Rollins’ abrupt exit from the kickoff while The Vision was on stage, with the implication being that Rollins’ confidence is in question ahead of his match with Cody Rhodes tomorrow.
Crown Jewel Final Card
- Men’s Crown Jewel Championship: Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins
- Women’s Crown Jewel Championship: Stephanie Vaquer vs. Tiffany Stratton
- Australian Street Fight: Roman Reigns vs. Bronson Reed
- Rhea Ripley & IYO SKY vs. Asuka & Kairi Sane
- John Cena vs. AJ Styles
Last Man Standing: Damian Priest vs. Aleister Black
We got going right away with Priest pummeling Black in the corner before he threw him over the top rope. Priest pulled out a kendo stick from under the ring, but got caught by surprise with a kick from Black. Priest recovered and battered his foe with the top half of the steel steps as the fight made its way through the entry way. We took a commercial break after one more steel steps strike from Priest to Black.
SmackDown’s main event resumed as Priest sent Black crashing into the barricade with a fierce throw. The referee began his count, but Black managed to get himself back on his feet as he ran back into the ring. Priest connected with an elevated Flatliner on Black before he set up the bottom half of the steel steps in the middle of the ring. Priest looked for a superplex onto the steps, but Black escaped and instead sent his rival face first into the steps.
Priest wanted to hit the South of Heaven on Black right on the steps, but he couldn’t connect with it. Black headed up top and crashed onto Priest with a Meteora. That, however,was not enough to keep Priest down for the count. With the steps turned on its side, Priest threw Black face-first onto it. As the action spilled to the outside, Priest was thrown against the steel steps as his neck bounced off of it. Somehow, Priest recovered and shoved Black onto the top of the commentary table, as we took another break in the action.
We returned as Priest unleashed the pain on Black with a kendo stick to the back. He tried for some sort of an Old School-style maneuver, but Black kicked Priest upon landing, which sent him out of the ring upon impact. Black took a chair from the crowd and battered Priest in the ribs with it repeatedly. Priest recovered in time and chokeslammed Black against the apron before delivering a Razor’s Edge onto the commentary table. Black was seemingly out cold, but he woke up and got himself back to his feet before the count of nine.
As Black stood up, Priest once again threw Black with a Razor’s Edge onto the table. Once more, Black rolled off the top of the table, which allowed him to beat the count of ten. After this, the battle broke out into the crowd as Priest took Black to a set of production boxes. With Black and Priest on top of a platform, the latter looked to have this won. That was, until Zelina Vega appeared and checked up on Black, as he pleaded for Priest not to do any damage. Priest did not comply, and ended up eating a fireball to the face, followed by a Black Mass kick that sent him crashing through a table. The referee made the count, and Priest was unable to make it to the count of ten, which gave Black the victory.
Aleister Black def. Damian Priest via pinfall
**********
A fun main event with a very interesting finish as Zelina Vega made her return to WWE TV with a new gimmick as she’s now aligned with her real-life spouse Aleister Black. That should be interesting to see going forward.
All in all, this wasn’t really much of a go-home show for Crown Jewel as it was basically an extended PLE where matches that otherwise wouldn’t fit the Levesque-ian way of 5 matches per PLE card are booked. It’s certainly not bad thing to position pre-PLE editions of SmackDown. The matches that we did get were at least decent, and it was nice to see some surprise returns to spice things up.
WWE SmackDown recapper. Former NXT PLE/WWE Saturday Night's Main Event/fill-in recapper.