WWE SmackDown live results: Last Time is Now tournament finals
The Last Time is Now tournament reaches its conclusion on tonight’s WWE SmackDown when LA Knight and Gunther square off with the winner to be John Cena’s final opponent next Saturday in Washington, DC.
Knight defeated Jey Uso on Raw this past Monday while Gunther got the win over Solo Sikoa that same night to earn a spot in the finals.
WWE Champion Cody Rhodes will make an appearance and outline what’s next for him after the WarGames match at Survivor Series.
WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill will be in action against Alba Fyre of The Secret Hervice while Alexa Bliss faces Kairi Sane.
Ilja Dragunov will continue his WWE United States Championship open challenge series.
A Solo Sikoa appearance to address last Friday’s SmackDown will round out the broadcast which kicks off at 8 PM Eastern.
**********
– The show opened up with a recap of Survivor Series: WarGames from last Saturday and everything that unfolded on that night. Following that, we got the requisite shots of Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair, the Kabuki Warriors, LA Knight, Gunther arriving at the arena.
– Drew McIntyre was shown arriving at the arena as Nick Aldis confronted him for still being suspended despite Survivor Series. After a tense argument, McIntyre was about to leave before he got jumped in his car by an irate Cody Rhodes. Security pulled him away as McIntyre got away in his car. Rhodes then stormed towards the Gorilla position.
Cody Rhodes kicks off SmackDown
The Undisputed WWE Champion didn’t waste any time getting himself in the ring as he asked Mr. Aldis to reinstate Drew McIntyre as the Scotsman broke an unwritten rule by invading his tour bus a couple of weeks back. Rhodes called McIntyre WWE’s “resident cockroach” as he talked about how he was going to go after McIntyre as he might’ve not been able to beat him, but he might’ve broken him. Rhodes said that at the end of it all, he was going to do what everyone wants to do to a cockroach: stomp him out.
A very fiery start to SmackDown. Cody Rhodes’ anger-filled promos are always a highlight, but hopefully, if we do get another title match between he and McIntyre, things take a twist and we have Drew actually winning the title.
**********
– #DIY were discussing amongst themselves about their plans as Carmelo Hayes walked past them and told Tommaso Ciampa that he had next.
– A video promo from Damian Priest aired as he addressed what was Aleister Black’s fate to come, stating that if Black got to bring in his family in the form of his wife Zelina, it’s only fair that Priest brought in his family. Priest revealed Rhea Ripley was backing him up, and that the Terror Twins would face off against Black and Zelina next week.
U.S. Title Open Challenge: Ilja Dragunov (c) vs. Carmelo Hayes
The match got off to a quick start as Hayes and Dragunov got into a tense collar and elbow tieup battle. Dragunov eventually went on the attack with a chop, but was countered with a set of chops from Hayes in response. Dragunov got back momentum with a hard boot to the face to Hayes. The challenger tried to knock Dragunov off the apron, but he was again flattened with a boot square on the face.
On the top rope, Hayes was stunned, which opened him up for yet another big boot from Dragunov, which sent him crashing down to the outside, apparently tweaking his knee upon landing. This took us into the mid-match break.
The match returned from commercial with Hayes escaping a submission by Dragunov, but he eventually found himself trapped in the U.S. Champion’s German suplex barrage. On the third German suplex attempt, Dragunov battered Hayes with hard elbows, but couldn’t connect with the subsequent move afterwards. The two competitors engaged in a duel of strikes, as Hayes avoided the Constantine Special and hit Dragunov with a springboard clothesline. Hayes followed that up with a tilt-a-whirl facebuster that got a near-fall.
As the crowd got loud, Hayes attempted the First 48, but was caught and dropped on his back by Dragunov. Hayes blocked the H-Bomb by getting his knees up, as a quick roll-up on Dragunov wasn’t enough. Dragunov kicked Hayes in the side of his head and then hit a standing uranage on his challenger.
Dragunov headed up to the top rope, but was sent to the outside by a running kick from Hayes. As the U.S. Champion got on the apron, Hayes dropped him with a DDT on the hardest part of the ring. Hayes headed up to the top rope, but Tommaso Ciampa attacked him while the referee was tending to Dragunov. This led to the U.S. Champion hitting the Torpedo Moscow, followed by the H-Bomb for the victory.
After the replay, Dragunov was shown reacting in anger at Ciampa’s unwanted assist in the win.
Ilja Dragunov def. Carmelo Hayes via pinfall
Another fantastic match and it did its job in getting people to root for Melo Hayes in finally winning the big one. Ciampa ruining things like the heel that he is should make things interesting, and I believe the time will come soon for Hayes if the story being told tonight is any indicator.
**********
– Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss were interviewed about WarGames this past Saturday. They talked about how it made their bond stronger, but that it was time to get back to the business of regaining their Women’s Tag Titles, and it would begin tonight when Bliss is up against Kairi Sane.
– A hype package for the Last Time is Now tournament was shown.
– Cathy Kelley interviewed LA Knight about his match against Gunther for later tonight. Knight said that he doesn’t care about the opponents he faced in the past, and that the one thing that matters is beating John Cena to cement his legacy. Knight talked about how Gunther was standing in his way, and he was going to give him a fight tonight, because Gunther was going to get dropped on his head later tonight like all the rest.
Kairi Sane (w/ Asuka) vs. Alexa Bliss (w/ Charlotte Flair)
The two locked horns to start off before Sane went on the attack in the corner with stomps to Bliss. As Sane tried to run at her foe, she was deposited onto the apron by Bliss. The two eventually exchanged pinfall attempts as Sane mocked Bliss. She paid for that with a hard punch from Bliss, followed by a flipping senton onto a downed Sane.
Outside the ring, Sane tried to walk off, Charlotte Flair stopped her, which allowed for Asuka to trip up Bliss on the apron. Sane then slammed Bliss against the barricade as we took a break in the action.
We returned from the break with Bliss and Sane fighting it out on the top rope. A headbutt from Sane put Bliss in a tough position, and one-half of the Women’s Tag Champions took advantage with a double stomp onto a prone Bliss for the near-fall. Sane attempted a Sliding D, but ended up whiffing after Bliss dodged at the very last second.
Bliss mounted her comeback with a flurry of strikes, followed by a modified Natural Selection. As Asuka got on the apron, Charlotte Flair tripped her up and took her down with a big boot. Back in the ring, Sane had Bliss in position for the Insane Elbow, but she was caught into the Sister Abigail DDT for the one, two, three.
After the match, Lash Legend and Nia Jax attacked Bliss and Flair, making short work of them. As they turned their attention on a fallen Sane, Asuka tried to fight back, but got dropped by Jax. Sane got involved, but ended up being taken down by this duo.
Alexa Bliss def. Kairi Sane
I did enjoy this match a bit, and the intensifying women’s tag title picture is kind of making things a bit interesting. Not much to complain about here.
**********
– Cody Rhodes met with Nick Aldis as the two walked into the latter’s office, the two were met by NXT Champion Ricky Saints and Oba Femi. It was revealed that the winner of tomorrow’s NXT Title match between Femi and Saints at NXT Deadline would face Rhodes next week at Saturday Night’s Main Event
Jade Cargill vs. Alba Fyre (w/ Chelsea Green)
Green got on the apron at the start of the match, which gave Fyre the opening to hit Cargill with a dropkick. Fyre managed to hit Cargill with a boot to the face, as Green gave her a slap to the face while Fyre had the referee distracted.
Outside the ring, Kiana James got Green’s attention, with Giulia standing behind her. The former Women’s U.S. Champion attacked Green, while back in the ring, Cargill hit her signature pump kick on an unaware Fyre. This match came to an end courtesy to a Jaded from Cargill and the three.
Jade Cargill def. Alba Fyre
That was a bit rough, and the fact remains that outside of maybe Tiffany Stratton, there really isn’t any compelling challengers for Cargill to face in the WWE Women’s Championship sphere. Hoping that changes at some point.
**********
– Both members of Fraxiom were talking to Nick Aldis about wanting another shot at #DIY. At that moment, an angry Ilja Dragunov was upset at the integrity of his Open Challenge being ruined by Tommaso Ciampa’s actions earlier. This led to Dragunov wanting to face Ciampa for the U.S. Title next week, which Aldis obliged. Dragunov was confronted by Tama Tonga and the rest of the M.F.T.s at the end of this exchange.
– As Jade Cargill walked backstage, she tried to trash talk a passing-by B-Fab before Michin had some words for her. Cargill said that she’d speak with Nick Aldis if Michin really wanted a shot at her, stating that if she stepped up, she’d get stepped on.
The M.F.T.s call out The Wyatt Sicks
Solo Sikoa and company marched down to the ring, ready to talk about their win against Sami Zayn’s team last week on SmackDown, as well as the Wyatt Sicks’ attack afterwards.
Sikoa said that he told everyone in that he and the M.F.T.s were going to handle the Sami Zayn problem as they “took his ass out”. He talked about how they can finally move forward now that Zayn was done and dusted, which brought Sikoa to the Wyatt Sicks.
Sikoa talked about how Uncle Howdy was watching him and his family, but he was doing the same to Howdy and the Wyatts. He introduced himself and his group, since he didn’t get a chance to do so to Howdy. Sikoa said that the Wyatts held something that belonged to them: the WWE Tag Team Championships, and that his family was going to hurt the Wyatts in the process.
Sikoa said that everything that was “his’ (Bray Wyatt’s), that was given to Howdy, it was going to soon be his and he was going to show the world that Howdy didn’t deserve the Wyatt name. That was all because all he needed to do was… “Bo-lieve”.
Immediately after Sikoa’s promo, we got a Wyatt Sicks video interruption, which brought the group into the ring. As the Wyatts stood on the apron, Uncle Howdy faced off with Sikoa. The M.F.T.s joined in and things eventually broke down into a full-blown brawl between the Wyatts and the M.F.T.s.
In the ring, after everyone was cleared out, Talla Tonga and Erick Rowan were the ones left standing as the two giants faced off. Rowan got the best of Talla as the Wyatts and the M.F.T.s stared one another down.
I haven’t been too hot on this M.F.T.s/Wyatt Sicks feud, but this skirmish was decent, at the very least. Sikoa invoking Bray Wyatt’s memory for heat and calling back to Bo Dallas to get at Howdy was a fine way to add some needed fuel to the fire, but in all honesty, this is no Wyatt Family vs. The Shield, that’s for sure.
**********
– Bayley walked into Nick Aldis’ office and found out that she was going to face Sol Ruca next week at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
– Cathy Kelley interviewed Gunther about his match with LA Knight in our main event. He said that he was going to beat LA Knight and then John Cena at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Gunther talked about how this tournament was a foregone conclusion as he told Cena to watch and pay attention to not only him beating LA Knight, but how he’d do so.
– Aleister Black shared remarks via video about Damian Priest. He declared he might be everyone’s enemy, but he’d give everyone straight. Zelina talked about how the Terror Twins was just a ploy by Rhea Ripley to leave Priest in a lonely and stat state that he found it.
Next Week on SmackDown
- Mixed Tag Match: The Terror Twins (Damian Priest & Rhea Ripley) vs. Aleister Black & Zelina
- U.S. Title Match: Ilja Dragunov (c) vs. Tommaso Ciampa
- Alexa Bliss vs. Lash Legend
Last Time is Now Tournament Final: LA Knight vs. Gunther
Gunther facewashed Knight disrespectfully at the start of the match, which fired Knight up as he went on the attack early. Gunther went for his powerbomb, but Knight escaped that attempt. Knight tried for the BFT early, but Gunther countered it. The Austrian was sent out of the ring by Knight, who then struck with a baseball slide as we took a picture-in-picture break early.
Our main event resumed as Gunther flattened Knight with a hard clothesline. In the corner, Gunther pummelled his foe with repeated kicks, but Knight fought out of it and managed to ground his foe. Knight went for his jumping elbow and just missed after Gunther rolled out of harm’s way. Gunther threw Knight hard into the corner, which left his back reeling. Gunther held Knight by the wrist and chopped him hard on the chest repeatedly. Knight avoided the last chop and caught Gunther by surprise with a jumping clothesline, followed by the jumping neckbreaker.
Knight went for another BFT, but Gunther avoided it. After an O’Connor Roll pin by Knight, Gunther turned that into a sleeper hold that was quickly escaped out of. Knight hoisted Gunther on his shoulder and delivered an Attitude Adjustment, followed by a Burning Hammer for a close near-fall. We took one last picture-in-picture commercial break at this point.
This match returned to full-screen action as Knight and Gunther got into a duel of chops. Knight got the better of Gunther as he backed him into the corner with stomps, followed by a running knee to his prone foe. Gunther caught Knight in a sleeper hold, but got thrown for the back suplex instead. On the top rope, Knight couldn’t connect iwth his elbow and got dropped by a shotgun dropkick from Gunther instead.
Knight countered Gunther’s powerbomb into a DDT as he then headed up top and connected with his signature Megastar Elbow. One, two… NO! As Gunther stumbled to his feet, Knight tried again to hit the BFT, but that was countered. Gunther turned that attempt into a German suplex and continued his relentless attack on Knight’s neck with a vicious lariat. Gunther ascended to the top rope, but was intercepted by Knight who was going for a superplex. Gunther pushed him down and connected with the big splash. He then went to the other corner and hit another diving splash for the near-fall.
Gunther lifted Knight up for the powerbomb, but could not put his foe away. Knight struggled to his feet and Gunther attempted to apply his sleeper hold. Knight turned that into a BFT, but Gunther used his leg to get on the bottom rope in the nick of time. Gunther battered the back of Knight’s neck with elbows as he then applied his trademark sleeper hold tight. Knight fought out of it briefly, but the elbows to the back of his head put him out of it. Gunther then applied a cravate submission that Knight eventually tapped out to.
Gunther def. LA Knight via submission to win the Last Time is Now Tournament
**********
That was a good main event match, but the predictability of Gunther winning and tapping out does put a damper on things. If we’re being honest, this tournament hasn’t really felt all that special, despite how much WWE tried to do so, which sums up a lot about John Cena’s final year as a whole.
Aside from that, this was another above-average SmackDown, though it does speak volumes that having various Raw talents all over the show to give us this kind of show is an indictment how the SmackDown talent by itself isn’t really done any favors by dull booking.
WWE SmackDown recapper. Former NXT PLE/WWE Saturday Night's Main Event/fill-in recapper.