New matches were made for Crown Jewel and new champions were crowned as Brooklyn, NY played host to an eventful episode ofWWESmackDown. After winning a grueling number one contender’s match with DIY, on only their second episode of SmackDown,Motor City Machine Guns shocked The Bloodline to win the WWE Tag Team Championship. Solo Sikoa and The Bloodline challenged the tired WWE newcomers but would be made to regret it. Jimmy Uso, Roman Reigns, and Jey Uso would all interfere, but Jey landed the fatal blows that costed The Bloodline their titles.
Randy Orton would call out Triple H to make sure he got his match with Kevin Owens at Crown Jewel, and LA Knight’s temper would ruin Carmelo Hayes and Andrade’s Game 7 but land him in a triple threat for his US title in Saudi Arabia next week. Naomi would continue her hot streak by beating Candice LeRae andGunther and Cody Rhodes came to blowsas their Crown Jewel match got personal.
Motor City Machine Guns
SmackDown Crowns New Tag Team Champions
What a night for the Motor City Machine Guns! If WWE audiences were not familiar with their game last week, they sure as hell are now after a series of events that saw them begin the night in a match to become number one contenders for the Tag Team Championship but end the night holding gold. Despite all of their years together in the indie circuits,DIY vs Motor City Machine Guns happened for the first time ever on SmackDown. Worthy of the immense talent in the ring, the match was a war that saw MCMG battle to victory.
The Motor City Machine Guns' victory music had barely started playing before being interrupted by Solo Sikoa and The Bloodline. Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa vs Motor City Machine Guns is a buzzworthy match for people enjoying WWE’s newest shiny new toys going against the tag team champions, as well as indie nerds wanting to relive the teams' classic NJPW matches.Solo demanded the champions have their title match instantly, and the sensible option would surely be for the contenders to decline.
Valiantly (and against the wishes of Nick Aldis), the MCMG insisted on stepping up and claiming their championship match.They would be rewarded for their bravery by winning the tag team championships, becoming one of the biggest beneficiaries ofThe Bloodline civil warthat’s happening right now. Jimmy Uso would appear from the crowd to take out Solo Sikoa, Roman Reigns' music would hit and the OTC walked the ramp to Superman punch Jacob Fatu, but the biggest pop would be reserved for the vengeance of the former Intercontinental Champion, Jey Uso, who hit Tonga and Tama with a steel chair, MCMG landed Skull And Bones, and SmackDown has new tag team champions.
The Usos
It has been more than a year since Jimmy and Jey tagged together as The Usos. There is something beautifully symbolic about WWE’s greatest tag team of the modern era getting back on the same page as new tag team champions are crowned. It is unlikely to lead to a fully-fledged reunion, butthe hug shared by the Uso brothers feels like a major momentfor WWE’s main event scene, and especially the upcoming Survivor Series.
But what of Roman Reigns? The former Head Of The Table was recently wisely described as a “chief with no tribe” by Jimmy Uso. As The Usos hugged it out in the ring,Roman watched his cousins with a conflicted look on his face. Jey and Roman remain unable to find common ground. There will be retribution for tonight’s actions from The Bloodline. WarGames at Survivor Series casts a larger shadow with every passing week.
Carmelo Hayes and Andrade
Both Men Win Without Actually Winning
It is a feud that has shown that opportunity can be seized in today’s WWE. Andrade and Carmelo Hayes had their first match on SmackDown on July 19th and created such magic together that it has spawneda series of 7 matches that has been one of the highlights of WWE’s summer.Crowds have gone from tepid at the start to “this is awesome!” chants by the end of matches and, now, both men will have a US Championship opportunity at Crown Jewel after LA Knight took business into his own hands.
For Andrade, this is the hottest he has been since his initial run in NXT. AEW didn’t work out for him, but this feud has given him a second shot at notoriety on WWE’s main roster and adds value to whatever he does next. For Melo, this is his first significant main roster victory. This is confirmation that Carmelo Hayes is a superstar, NXT rookies matter again, and this man is in the hunt for main roster gold, not in the future, but right now. LA Knight has been a formidable US Champion so far but taking on a fired-up Melo with momentum on his side and a revitalized Andrade at once represents his greatest challenge so far, whereboth challengers can realistically walk out as champion.
Naomi
One Hell Of An October For Feeling The Glow
So often one of the women’s division’s most overlooked competitors, it has been impossible to ignore Naomi in this kind of form. The latest win over Candice LeRae on this week’s SmackDown may not have been a headline stealer, but it is another W to add to an ever-increasing pile. Unbeaten in single competition all month and picking up some serious scalps along her way,Naomi has to be the number one contender for Nia Jax’s WWE Women’s Championship.
Randy Orton
The Viper Gets What He Craves At Crown Jewel
Opening the show, a disgruntled Randy Orton picked up things exactly where he left them on last week’s SmackDown. Having been denied a match with Kevin Owens at Crown Jewel, with Nick Aldis claiming it was a call from “upstairs”,a fired-up Orton called Triple H to the ring. The Chief Creative Officer of WWE would oblige and, after turning his request down because of concerns about Kevin Owens being a danger, Randy Orton decided to get personal with Triple H.
Listing a bunch ofthe atrocities committed by Triple H when he was in his wrestling days,Orton would eventually get his match with Kevin Owens at Crown Jewel. With Cody Rhodes again sidetracked by Crown Jewel Championship nonsense, the emotion involved in this match is certain to last beyond the event in Saudi Arabia. Kevin Owens is out for blood and Randy Orton is willing to oblige. Their match at Crown Jewel could steal the show.
LA Knight
A Rare Creative Misfire For The Megastar
WWE and LA Knight haven’t put many steps wrong over the course of the last year. This is a man who was headlining last year’s Crown Jewel, trying to take down The Bloodline, end Roman Reigns' title run, and establish himself as one of the most popular superstars on the roster.It is in keeping with LA Knight’s ego to not take disrespect lying down, but his decision to forgo his refereeing duties to deliver BFTs to Carmelo Hayes and Andrade in their hotly-anticipated Game 7 encounter is a questionable one.
A screwy finish is always unsatisfying, butto spoil a series of seven matches across three and a half months really sucked. Nick Aldis was on the scene almost immediately to affirm the audience’s dissatisfaction and Knight will now take on Andrade and Carmelo Hayes in a triple-threat match at Crown Jewel. He will only have himself to blame if he finds himself without a championship after this debacle. A rare misfire for one of WWE’s most likable characters.
DIY
Always The Bridesmaid, Never The Bride
Ciampa and Gargano’s talent is unquestionable, butit’s hard to see where exactly they are headed from a creative standpoint. After each one had a wildly successful singles run in NXT, they floundered on the main roster for years (injuries also playing a part), so having them together again was a sensible idea. However, it seems that they were unable to connect with the main roster audiences as well as they did in NXT, and their “everyman underdogs” act struggled to get over.
Winning the Tag Team Championships was the natural step to push this pair to the next level, but they lost it after a couple of weeks, and now they lost their chance against a debuting team. Every time Ciampa and Gargano step into the ring, they create magic, but with their experience, they have to be the locomotive of this tag team division, opening the way for other teams. To do that, however, they need more Ws and, more importantly,a significant championship reign to establish themselves.
