WWE SmackDown live results: Saturday Night’s Main Event go-home show
Tonight’s SmackDown from Montreal, QC, will see the WWE Tag Titles on the line, as well as a new set of challengers for the Women’s Tag Titles to be determined.
The Wyatt Sicks will defend the WWE Tag Team Championships against The MFTS. Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair, Giulia and Kiana James, and Lash Legend and Nia Jax will meet in a three-way to determine the next challengers for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships.
Four singles matches are also booked: Carmelo Hayes defending the US title in an open challenge, Damian Priest vs. Trick Williams, Jade Cargill vs. Chelsea Green, and Nathan Frazer vs. Johnny Gargano.
Additionally, Cody Rhodes will be interviewed, and AJ Styles will appear in a segment with GM Nick Aldis.
Tonight’s show is the final WWE event before tomorrow’s Saturday Night’s Main Event, which will also take place at Montreal’s Bell Centre.
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern.
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– Over a shot of Montreal’s Bell Centre, Michael Cole set the stage for tonight’s show, as the prerequisite shots of wrestlers arriving to the venue greeted us.
Sami Zayn’s Heroes’ Welcome
The hometown boy Sami Zayn received massive cheers as he arrived to a massive reaction from the Montreal crowd. Once he got into the ring, Zayn addressed the crowd in French before he said that he felt like he had all the momentum heading into tomorrow night, because he had a chance to become the Number One Contender. However, before Zayn could continue, the music of Trick Williams (and the chants of “Whoop That Trick”) interrupted.
With mic in hand, Williams said that he and Zayn were not on the same level. He called Zayn “Mr. Too Many Chances” and “Mr. Street Corner” as he said that he knew how to get the job done. Once Williams got into the ring, he said Zayn didn’t know how to get the job done, as he then reminded Zayn of his loss for the Undisputed WWE Title at Elimination Chamber 2023. Williams said that he was here to be the WWE Champion.
Zayn acknowledged that Williams was right about his loss and that the young upstart would be a future star. Zayn then went on to say that he and Williams were not alike, and that Williams would be lucky to be half as good as he was five years down the line. And if Williams didn’t like that, he could do something about it right now, according to Zayn.
Williams refused Zayn’s challenge as he had a lot of things on his mind, like facing Damian Priest in the main event later tonight. He told Zayn that they could take care of business tomorrow. At that point, Damian Priest’s theme interrupted, which brought out Williams’ aforementioned main event foe.
Priest said that he told Williams that he was the guy who did a lot of talking, just like what he was doing to Zayn right now. He then claimed Williams was afraid of Priest because of the way he didn’t talk to his face last week because of what he’d do to him. Priest said that if Williams didn’t want to say something, he could always “do something”.
Williams rebutted by asking if Priest thought he was afraid to pop off. He then told Priest to “watch this”, as he hit Zayn with the microphone. Priest punched away at Williams in the corner as Zayn approached and went after the mouthy Williams in the corner, much to Priest’s dismay. In the chaos, Williams shoved Priest into Zayn and skulked away.
Trick Williams continues to fit like a glove as part of SmackDown’s roster, and he helped make this segment entertaining, despite how long it was starting to feel. He just has that “it” factor and giving him the SNME spot tomorrow night is a huge test to see if he can excel in this high midcard/main event spot.
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– Randy Orton was seen watching what just transpired last night as he was interviewed by Cathy Kelley. Orton said that this year was the Year of the Viper and that tomorrow, he’d beat Zayn, Williams, and Priest, then fly halfway across the world to fight Drew McIntyre and beat him the only way he knew how… with the three most dangerous words in sports entertainment.
– On commentary, Michael Cole and Wade Barrett talked about what we’d see tonight, as we saw Earlier Today footage of Carmelo Hayes and Ilja Dragunov agreeing to an open challenge match for tonight. The Miz complained to Hayes that nobody truly hated each other. Hayes told Miz that Dragunov gave him more of an opportunity than he ever did.
U.S. Open Challenge Match: Carmelo Hayes (c) vs. Ilja Dragunov
We got underway as Dragunov countered an early First 48 attempt from Hayes, but the U.S. Champ eventually got the upper hand with chops to the chest of his challenger. Dragunov avoided the last chop and connected with the German suplex and kept the pressure on Hayes. Dragunov chopped down his foe and kept the hold on Hayes’ waist on strong. Hayes muscled his way out of Dragunov’s grip and avoided the Constantine Special before he tried for the springboard clothesline, but that was dodged. A double down between Hayes and Dragunov brought us a picture-in-picture interruption.
Back to the match and Dragunov floored Hayes in the corner with a running lariat. With both men on the apron, Dragunov battered Hayes against the steel ringpost before he went into the ring and suplexed his opponent into the ring. Dragunov applied a chinlock on Hayes, but the champ battled out of it and dropped a back suplex on him. Dragunov slammed Hayes and hit the senton on him for a near-fall.
Dragunov tried for a piledriver, but Hayes escaped and delivered the trademark springboard clothesline. One, two… not quite. Both men got back to their feet and gave each other their best shots, despite both being on spaghetti legs. Hayes caught Dragunov with a back elbow to the knose, which staggered his foe. Dragunov blasted back with a set of rattling chops to the chest of Hayes, followed by a boot to the face. Hayes bounced back with a boot, followed by his version of La Mistica for yet another near-fall.
Dragunov blocked a suplex attempt by Hayes and then hit him in the back of the head with hard elbows. Hayes tried for an answer, but he got blasted by the Constantine Special. The U.S. Champion somehow kicked out at two after that shot. With Hayes trapped in the corner, Dragunov looked to go Coast-to-Coast, but Hayes tried to block it with a First 48. Dragunov was on top of that and caught Hayes to slam him down for another near fall, as this match appeared to be going the distance. And so, we went to another break.
We returned from commercial with Hayes stuck on the top rope and Dragunov looking for a high-risk maneuver. The two battered one another with hard shots, but it was Hayes who appeared to have the upper hand. His attempt at an avalanche move was blocked by Dragunov, who struck his chest and then lifted him from the apron for a impressive deadlift superplex. The two foes rolled to the apron and again traded hard-hitting strikes to the chest. Dragunov lifted Hayes on his shoulders, but that got countered by the U.S. Champion. Hayes then hit a swinging suplex cutter right on the apron, which wiped both him and Dragunov out.
Hayes rolled Dragunov in the ring and headed to the top rope, but the challenger recovered and caught his opponent with a Death Valley Driver right into the corner. One, two, Hayes somehow kicked out! With Hayes still down and out, Dragunov headed to the top rope, but Miz tripped him up from behind,. This allowed Hayes to hit Dragunov with First 48 for the win.
Carmelo Hayes def. Ilja Dragunov via pinfall
I was enjoying this match a great deal, but of course, we had to have the interference finish. I get that they wanted to mirror how Dragunov initially beat Hayes for the U.S. Title thanks to unwanted interference, doesn’t necessarily mean I enjoyed things going that way. I was content with Hayes and Dragunov just going at it because those two bring the best out of one another.
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Cody Rhodes interview
As Michael Cole was getting set to interview Rhodes, he was interrupted by Jacob Fatu, who walked into the interview area. Fatu said that he only gave a damn about giving Drew McInytre his receipt for knocking his damn teeth down his throat. Rhodes angrily said that Fatu acting instead of thinking is what got him locked up in the first place. Fatu talked about how he almost got fired before he got to WWE and that the choices he made today got him standing to face Rhodes right now.
Rhodes said this could’ve been a WWE Title match if Fatu didn’t step into the situation last week. Fatu declared that they didn’t make ’em like him anymore, as he told Rhodes that he was very much in control.
I liked this, especially the slight hint of “Homelander” Cody Rhodes when he threw Fatu’s checkered past right in his face. This match should be interesting tomorrow, especially with how either man have a good reason to win.
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– Chelsea Green tried to recruit Jordynne Grace to her Secret Her-vice, to which Green “agreed” with, if Green stepped up to face Jade Cargill, and that would be up next.
– Roman Reigns was advertised to appear at the Royal Rumble next week, having officially declared for the titular match by way of video package.
Chelsea Green (w/ Alba Fyre & Jordynne Grace) vs. Jade Cargill
Green jumped into Cargill outside the ring as the latter was distracted by Grace’s presence, which gave her the early advantage as the bell sounded.
Cargiill powered out of Green’s attack as she slammed her down and stomped away on the former Women’s U.S. Champion on the corner. Cargill dropped Green on the back, followed by a fallaway slam. Cargill then hit another fallaway slam, which sent Green out of the ring. Cargill threw Green into the ring and talked some trash to Grace at ringside. Again, this gave Green an opening with a dropkick from the top, followed by the double knees to the back of Cargill’s neck.
Green tried for the Un-Pretty-Her, but that got reversed. She went for a rope-assisted pin, but Cargill kicked out. Cargill recovered and dropped Green with the powerbomb. After she warded off Fyre from the apron, Cargill told Grace to “watch this”, as she finished off Green with Jaded.
After the match, Grace said that Cargill’s match had no point other than showing her strength in non-title matches. Grace then declared for the women’s Royal Rumble and that she’d see Cargill on the other side. Grace then challenged Cargill to fight her right here, right now. The WWE Women’s Champion backed down from Grace’s challenge.
Jade Cargill def. Chelsea Green via pinfall
An okay match, just meant to build the Grace/Cargill feud. Not really much more I can say about it.
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WWE Tag Team Championships: The Wyatt Sicks vs. The M.F.T.s
WWE SmackDown recapper. Former NXT PLE/WWE Saturday Night's Main Event/fill-in recapper.