Roman Reigns interrupts Jey Uso, Rey Mysterio VS Santos Escobar: United States Championship Invitational Final
“Main Event” Jey Uso started this week’s Friday Night SmackDown, but he was quickly interrupted by the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. Jey told Roman that he broke the family before Reigns fired back and said that the only reason why Jey was the Right Hand Man is because Jimmy got hurt. The Tribal Chief then told Jey that no matter what happens at Summerslam, he’s still Roman Reigns and there’s no way he’s losing his moniker. Uso then reminded his cousin that he beat him at Money in the Bank and he’s going to do it again in Detroit next weekend. This was really well done, Roman Reigns’ promo was particularly good. If everything goes right, Reigns-Uso at Summerslam should be the match of the entire year.
Grade: B
Jey Uso was then walking backstage before Grayson Waller came over and mocked “Little Jey”. Jey responded by punching the Arrogant Aussie. It was then time for the Final of the United States Championship Invitational as LWO partners Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar faced off. This match never really got going, it felt quite slow and it looked like Rey was struggling a little. That then became apparent after we came back from the ad break, Mysterio was being checked on by the doctors before the match was called off and Santos was declared the winner. What a disappointing way for this all to end, particularly as this could’ve been one of Escobar’s biggest-ever wins. However, on the flip side, Escobar VS Theory for the United States Championship should be fun, but why the match isn’t taking place over Summerslam weekend I’ll never know.
Grade: C
LA Knight VS Ashante “Thee” Adonis, Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville VS Charlotte Flair and Bianca Belair, Karrion Kross VS Karl Anderson
Bianca Belair was being interviewed by Kayla Braxton before the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville walked in to talk trash about the EST. Charlotte Flair then arrived and challenge Green and Deville to a tag team match for some reason. Hit Row were then in the ring, but that was mainly so LA Knight could come out and get a huge ovation. Knight ripped apart the music group before he went one-on-one with Ashante “Thee” Adonis. I actually think Ashante’s pretty decent, but he doesn’t really ever get to show that and he suffered a loss in about 2 minutes after the Megastar delivered the BFT. Was this needed? Probably not, but it was a good way to get the fans to see LA Knight do his thing.
Grade: C
Adam Pearce came up to Jey Uso about having a match with Grayson Waller which Jey was happy to agree to. Bobby Lashley was then talking to The Street Profits before he gave them some fancy clothes. Bobby’s a weird guy (in a good way). It was then time for Bianca Belair to begrudgingly team up with Charlotte Flair to take on the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville. I thought the action in this was probably the best action of the night (besides the main event) as Charlotte Flair is great, Bianca Belair is talented, Chelsea Green has this amazing presence about her whilst I really like and rate Sonya Deville. However, I really don’t like it when make-shift tag teams that don’t even like each other pin credible teams. I especially don’t like it when make-shift tag teams that don’t even like each other pin the Tag Team Champions! That’s what happened here as Charlotte tagged herself in when Belair was going for the K.O.D. to deliver a Big Boot instead, but it’s just ridiculous. I don’t get how I’m supposed to view Green and Deville as a dominant team if they can’t even beat people who aren’t a team. It doesn’t make any sense and it’s even worse considering how little credibility the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles already have.
Grade: C-
Bayley and Iyo Sky were talking in a locker room before Bayley found another threatening message in her bag. As Damage Control were about to leave, Asuka walked in and warned Iyo of what would happen if she tried to cash in on her at Summerslam. Sky then fired back and said she will leave Summerslam as the WWE Women’s Champion. I don’t even know why Bayley turns up for work anymore because the Role Model just leaves mid-show. It was then revealed that there’s going to be a “Summerslam Battle Royal” next weekend which should be fun, if not a little pointless before LA Knight walked into Adam Pearce’s office and told him that the Megastar has to be in the match. The Brawling Brutes then arrived and Sheamus said the same thing before Pearce announced that Knight and Sheamus will be in the match and they will also have a singles match on SmackDown next week. Poor Ridge Holland and Butch! Grayson Waller then talked backstage about how he’s going to show Jey Uso the “Grayson Waller Effect” before Karrion Kross made his ever-awesome entrance as he was about to face The O.C.’s Karl Anderson. Anderson told AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Michin to all stay in the back and that was a mistake as Scarlett tripped up the Machine Gun before Karrion nailed him with the Kross Hammer. Kross then delivered the Final Pray to pick up the win before the rest of The O.C. ran down to stop the Harvenger of Doom causing any further damage to Anderson. This was another short match involving Karrion Kross, but I’m glad that the former 2-time NXT Champion won.
Grade: C
Jey Uso VS Grayson Waller
It was then main event time as Jey Uso took on Grayson Waller. Grayson got in a decent amount of offense, but Jey was mostly in control until Roman Reigns’ music hit and the Head of the Table then made his way down to the ring. This allowed Waller to get a bit of control over the proceedings, but his Arrogant Aussie mentality cost him as he started mocking The Rock by doing the People’s Elbow (which is particularly funny considering Roman Reigns was watching on). In the end, “Main Event” Jey Uso delivered a Super Kick to Waller, Speared him to send a message to the Tribal Chief before he hit the Uso Splash to pick up the victory. Solo Sikoa then attacked and failed Jey which angered Roman before Uso Speared the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion in a great moment. However, it didn’t last long for Jey as he got dropped by Sikoa before Reigns and Solo hit their Spear-Spike combo twice to finish off the former Right Hand Man. I liked this, the main event did a good job at making Grayson Waller look like a star as well as protecting him in defeat whilst the closing angle with Reigns was superb.
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