WWE SmackDown live results: King & Queen of the Ring semifinals set
Tonight’s live WWE SmackDown returns to the U.S. with all eyes on the road to Night of Champions.
After failing to take the WWE title away from Cody Rhodes at Clash in Italy, former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Gunther will choose the stipulation for their impending rematch.
In an interesting fatal four-way in the Queen of the Ring tournament, former WWE Women’s Champions Jade Cargill and Charlotte Flair will be in the ring with current Women’s Intercontinental Champion Sol Ruca and former champion Lyra Valkyria. The winner advances to the semifinals.
In the King of the Ring tournament, former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso joins former Universal Champion Finn Balor, LA Knight and Royce Keys in another intriguing four-way match. The winner also advances to the semis.
A non-title match pits WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Paige & Brie Bella against Fallon Henley & Lainey Reid of Fatal Influence.
Our live coverage kicks off at 8 pm Eastern.
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– We kicked off tonight with a recap of last week’s extracurricular activity between Cody Rhodes, Gunther, and Sami Zayn. After that, we cut to Rhodes arriving to the arena as Nick Aldis informed him that we’d hear from Gunther tonight regarding the stipulation. As Aldis left, Rhodes was confronted by the Usos. Despite the friendly fistbumps, Jey Uso reminded Rhodes that if he won King of the Ring, he’d be gunning for his Undisputed WWE Title. Rhodes said that he hoped it was Jey’s decision, and not Roman Reigns calling the shots on Jey’s behalf.
– Jade Cargill was interviewed ahead of her Queen of the Ring fatal four-way which was opening our night. Cargill said that she was coming for Rhea Ripley at SummerSlam if she won.
Queen of the Ring Fatal Four-Way Qualifier: Charlotte Flair vs. Jade Cargill vs. Sol Ruca vs. Lyra Valkyria
This match got underway as Cargill struck Flair with a hard elbow to the face. Valkyria, Ruca, and Flair then decided to team up on Cargill. The double suplex by Ruca and Flair got turned into a two-for-one by Cargill, as she followed that with a Fallaway Slam on Valkyria right into Ruca. That only left Cargill and Flair in the ring and the two didn’t waste any time in fighting one another. Chops by flair as she hit a Fallaway of her own on Cargill. Suplex attempt by Flair stopped by Michin and B-Fab, who pulled her out of the ring and stomped on her. That was until Alexa Bliss ran in and went after the Baddies. When the numbers were too much, Tiffany Stratton decided to help even the odds for Bliss. Stratton fought Michin into the crowd as Bliss took B-Fab into the crow, which took us into the commercial break.
Back from the break as Cargill nearly got rolled-up into a pin by Ruca, but she kicked out in time. Ruca chopped at Cargill’s chest, as she went for a crossbodf. Cargill caught her and rolled through it, but Valkyria dropkicked her before she could hit the slam. Suplex by Valkyria to Ruca before Cargill got her for a suplex attempt. Valkyria countered it into a DDT, but it opened her up to Flair’s Natural Selection. The cover, but Ruca broke up the count. In the corner, Flair flipped over and got Ruca with the big boot. On the top rope, but Ruca intercepted her and leapt on the rope. Her move was stopped as Valkyria kicked her aside. On the top now, but Cargill intercepted and hit an unsual powerbomb. Flair managed to kick out of that.
Flair got Cargill with a massive forearm, as she followed that with the walkover clothesline. Figure-Eight, but Ruca got her with the missile dropkick as she kipped up to her feet. She had Cargill in sight, but Valkyria rolled her up for a pin, forcing a kickout. Valkyria knocked Ruca down and wiped out Cargill with a suicide dive. Ruca on the top rope as she took everyone out with a moonsault at ringside. She put Valkyria back in the ring and hit the springboard frog splash. One, two… no! We took another break in the action at this point.
This opening bout returned from the break as Ruca kicked out of a Cargill pinfall attempt. Cargill went to the top rope looking for some high-risk damage at Ruca’s expense, but Flair intercepted her at the pass. Flair looked to have the superplex as Ruca joined her and helped Flair hit the superplex on Cargill. A fresh Valkyria tried to pin Ruca in the wreckage, but she kicked out. Ruca took off on the apron for a springboard lariat on both Flair and Valkyria, but that opened her up to a Cargill pump kick. Cargill then connected with Jaded on Flair. One, two… Valkyria broke it up at two! Night Wing attempt, but Cargill fended her off. That got her wide open for the Sol Snatcher! One, two…. Valkyria broke it up again! Natural Selection by Flair, but that was a kickout! Things quickened significantly as Flair finished this off with a Figure-Eight Leg Lock on Valkyria to advance to the Queen of the Ring Semifinals.
Charlotte Flair def. Lyra Valkyria, Jade Cargill, & Sol Ruca via submission to advance to the Queen of the Ring Semifinals
Terrifically fun fatal four-way match to kick us off tonight. Sol Ruca, in particular, looked especially great in this one, especially in the latter stages of the bout.
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– Backstage, Tiffany Stratton was interviewed just as B-Fab and Michin was about to ambush her. That was until a very angry Chelsea Green, brandishing a kendo stick, yelled a whole bunch and fended off the Baddies in the process.
– Jacob Fatu was told by Jimmy Uso that Jey Uso was gonna handle business on his own later tonight. Fatu said that they can do that, while he had some other business to attend to.
– Carmelo Hayes was shown paying a visit to the New England Patriots’ training camp, as the majority of the team were shown in the crowd afterwards.
– A vignette for Blake Monroe where she focused on Charlotte Flair was shown. Monroe said that true stars shined alone as friends was something she didn’t bother with. She was still supposedly coming soon despite having shown up backstage three weeks ago.
– Nick Aldis was confronted by Gunther, who said that for Cody Rhodes’ title defense next week, he couldn’t trust Aldis’ officials, so he was going to make the pick himself later on.
– Finn Balor was interviewed until R-Truth interrupted and said that Judgment Day was back together again, until Damian Priest showed up. Balor still felt uneasy about Priest and left. We learned that Priest and Truth were going to defend the WWE Tag Team Titles against the M.F.T.s next week. Priest said that he only needed him and Truth.
WWE SmackDown recapper. Former NXT PLE/WWE Saturday Night's Main Event/fill-in recapper.