To thank our veterans for their sacrifice and dedication for freedom and safety, welcome to the 21st Tribute to the Troops commemoration as we have The War and Treaty perform God Bless, America.
Hall of Famer JBL will be joining us on commentary tonight as he is the one who started this heartfelt movement.
Dragon Lee vs. Santos Escobar – United States Championship Tournament Round One
Why is it that I saw this coming between Lee and Escobar? Ha! This clash was bound to happen since the feud has started. I just didn’t expect it to the first match. But, before anything could happen, Dominik Mysterio has arrived on SmackDown.
Commentary reckons he’s here scouting Dragon Lee since he’ll be facing him tomorrow Saturday at NXT Deadline for the North American Championship with Rey Mysterio at Lee’s side.
Escobar misses with a kick as Dragon counters with some heavy right hands to the head then sends Santos over the ropes right in front of Dom. Lee is on a roll as he flies over the ropes and perfectly lands on his opponent.
Santos performs an incredible neck breaker to Dragon as he dangled off the second rope. Dragon thought he had Santos for a moment there, but he got caught and slammed against the apron.
Lee almost gets the win with the kick to Santos’ face in the corner of the ring, but Escobar remains in the match.
Although Dragon Lee fought so well during this first round, I was shocked to find that he lost after that Phantom Driver by Santos. Well… damn. As Escobar advances, he will face the winner of the Lashley versus Kross match.
Winner: Santos Escobar
Backstage, Randy is confused upon arrival that he’ll be teaming up with LA Knight, someone he didn’t know until last week. Orton says he didn’t need to be saved when what’s little of The Bloodline attacked him, yet they both have something in common. Knight and Orton want The Bloodline, hence Nick Aldis’ decision.
However, Aldis got a fine for 100,ooo dollars rather than 50,000. Randy warns him that the addition is for next time. Ha! Ha!
Up next, we have a very thrilled American Nightmare Cody Rhodes joining us on the blue brand for Tribute to the Troops and more. There’s no one better than John Cena to explain why it is so important to thank and recognize veterans for their continuous service throughout the years he’s taken part in Tribute to the Troops. The salute he does every time he makes an entrance is for the soldiers who fought for our freedom.
Prior to Rhodes leaving, he invites the US Army Drill Team to the stage. Thank you! Brad Nessler from CBS Sports is here as well.
Bobby Lashley vs. Karrion Kross – United States Championship Tournament Round One
I’m so glad to see Scarlett and Karrion Kross again. It’s been several months since I last saw them, and with honesty, I missed them.
A mistake on Lashley’s part was to stretch out without paying attention to his challenger as Kross rushes over to Bobby and begins to pounce early. Bobby counters with an attempt at the Hurt Lock, but Kross breaks it by ramming Lashley against the turnbuckle.
Bobby manages to avoid colliding with the steel stairs then drops Karrion on the main floor. Lashley continues with his momentum by sending Kross across the ring with a belly-to-belly throw.
Bobby delivers a well-placed clothesline followed by a neck breaker. Lashley is momentarily rocked until he sends Kross plummeting on the mat. Karrion has been on the receiving end quite frequently since this match started.
And it becomes even more apparent when Lashley spears Kross into oblivion and advances to face Santos Escobar.
Winner: Bobby Lashley
Elsewhere, as Asuka prepares for her WrestleMania rematch against Charlotte Flair, things turn sour the second Bayley shows up. Although, she volunteered herself to stay back, she also suggests that the rest of the group stay as well. The weird things is that Dakota, Kairi and Iyo have decided to be at ringside regardless and leave Bayley out of it. Hmm. I wonder why?
I can tell that Sky, Sane and Asuka are tired of Bayley. And I knew that a conspiracy was forming behind Bayley’s back. It’s only a matter of time until someone else takes wind of this and uses it against her.
But now, CM Punk is here as promised. Punk decides to talk about who’s practically never here, Roman Reigns. Surprisingly, he acknowledges Reigns, yet he almost reminds Roman that he’s the original Paul Heyman.
Punk gives a shoutout to Jey Uso for being on RAW. He begins to contemplate whether he should hang with Jey on Mondays, or scrap with Jimmy on Fridays. It’s a toughie.
Almost everyone has welcomed Punk back, but there are still a few who haven’t. And I’m waiting to hear whether or not Punk will mention him by name. Ha! Ha! I know who I’m talking about, and so do the fans.
Anyway, CM Punk has quite the decision to make since NXT also wants him. After he hears what Adam Pearce has to say next Monday like he mentioned earlier this week, then he’ll make his final choice. He wants to main event WrestleMania next year, and in order to do that, he has to win the Royal Rumble.
To read Part Two of SmackDown: A special salute to the troops, click on the link below:
Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka
In case anyone forgot why Zelina Vega and Michin would be fighting Iyo and Kairi just as Asuka is making her entrance. Let’s go back to War Games, when Bianca was searching for a fourth member, she wanted Michin and Zelina, but they were found beaten by Damage Control. So, this is revenge. A sweet, sweet thing. Have fun, ladies.
It became even more entertaining when Shotzi and Bianca Belair helped corner Iyo and Kairi. That upset Asuka. Ha! Ha!
The bell rings, and the Empress goes after Charlotte as fast as she could with striking kicks to the legs until Flair retaliates with a back suplex. Later on, Asuka moves out of harm’s way as Flair chops the post instead.
Flair drops the Empress spine first against the barricades then follows that up with a Moonsault. She didn’t get all of it, but she got some. A slight miscalculation.
Charlotte struggled to lock the Figure 4 on Asuka, and somewhat got it, but Bayley interfered once again. Asuka almost collides with Bayley, yet she ducks out of the way as Flair delivers a right hand to Bayley then Asuka rolls the queen up and secures the victory.
Winner: Asuka
Retired Captain Florent Groberg received the nation’s highest honor back in 2015, the Medal of Honor for saving countless of his fellow men. Although, he lost four of his friends to a suicide vest recipient, survivor’s guilt came soon after, the 34 surgeries he undergone, he continued to push on and live for himself and those he cherished.
Next Friday, the person who’s rarely here, Roman Reigns returns. As we continue with the US Championship Tournament, Grayson Waller will be facing a Superstar from NXT, handpicked by Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels. And despite having a broken hand, KO versus Austin Theory in the Round One is still happening.
Randy Orton & LA Knight vs. Jimmy Uso & Solo Sikoa – Tag Team match
Jimmy sure took his time to wrestle against Randy, I can tell he was frightened. Ha! Well, don’t be surprised when you know what you did is what I always say. Orton has Jimmy cornered as he delivers a couple of striking blows to his challenger’s head.
Has anyone noticed that Jimmy has become the human punching bag since Jey left The Bloodline and SmackDown? His skills are deteriorating everyday. Damn, damn, damn.
Orton and Knight are doing great work out of Jimmy, but they can’t seem to agree on the tagging situation since whenever one gets too close to their respectable corner, the secondary partner tags themself in, potentially ruining the momentum.
As Solo and Randy have a stare down, Jimmy takes that opportunity to strike Orton from behind before being told to return to his corner… like a toddler being deprived of their cookies. Ha!
Randy tags LA Knight while Jimmy tags Solo. The legal competitors are now brawling it out inside the ring. A swinging neck breaker to Sikoa from Knight was beautifully done.
A distraction from Jimmy gave the retaliation Sikoa needed to plant Knight down on the mat extremely hard. The power of this man was staggering to watch. Jimmy is so good at cheap shots, it’s sad that he enjoys himself doing that.
A double team against LA Knight crushed him in the corner of the ring. A tag is made later on as Randy delivers clothesline after clothesline to Jimmy then he takes out Solo with the help of Knight.
A vintage Randy Orton DDT has been initiated against Jimmy, and rightfully so. Alas, it was a shame that Orton couldn’t finish Jimmy Jim off with the RKO because Sikoa intervened.
Solo was looking to Samoan Spike Orton, yet LA Knight blocks with a DDT. He ventures to take out Jimmy with the BFT, but he gets outshined by Randy’s winning RKO.
Winners: Randy Orton & LA Knight
TOP PHOTO: Troops cover. Courtesy of WWE