SmackDown: Shelley and Sabin become new Tag Team Champions as the Usos reunite

All right, all right… I have to get this off my compressed chest before we get started with the evening’s schedule. By now, I think some already know what this intervention is about, so let’s not be shocked by my obvious frustration over what happened on RAW this past Monday. I found out beforehand that Jey Uso lost his Intercontinental Championship because of Bloodline involvement at ringside.

I believe Solo Sikoa was delusional in thinking that he was helping his older brother when this is the kind of “help” that convinced Jey to leave the Bloodline in the first place. It’s completely warped for fans to stoke the fire over the statement that Jey wasn’t meant to be a singles competitor and should return to the ingulfing group, hence the reason why the gold over his shoulder is on that self-involved prick, Bron Breakker.

There were a few comments on YouTube that, although they’re entitled to their opinion, were simply belittling someone else’s achievements in order to make sense out of the nonsense that went on during that Championship match. Jey has proven that he’s a singles competitor the moment he stepped up after Jimmy got injured the first time, in the early days of the creation of the Bloodline. He could have stayed home, too, but he didn’t. The fact that he took the initiative says something to me, and I foolishly thought it meant something to his other fans.

The way that people stagger around has become more and more unsurprising. Alas, I won’t fill this entire page with my reservations on Jey, so we can talk about Randy Orton now.

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Due to Kevin Owens’ ambush, Orton has made it clear that he wants to fight Owens at Crown Jewel. He appeared to be confronting Triple H backstage on his way to the ring about how he declined Randy’s request last week. The Viper reckoned that Triple H was protecting Kevin because he has a soft spot for the guy.

I was baffled when Randy said that Kevin used to be likeable, but I was under the impression that his former self was the unlikeable version. You know, the constant betrayal towards his friends and whatnot. No matter how firm Triple H has been in refusing the approval of a sanctioned match between Owens and Orton, Randy wanted him to admit that the rejection was due to favoritism. H later admitted that he’s been trying to protect Orton, not Owens. That caused the Viper to discombobulate.

H explained that with Rhodes and Orton, Owens let his guard down from his initial thought of wanting everything he does to be strictly business. Kevin never had a friend around here, but he came to put his trust in Cody and Randy. “I don’t know if he sees the good person that he wants to be in Cody, and he sees the miserable prick in you that he doesn’t want to be.” Ha! Wow.

Anyway, it’s like I’ve been saying, Rhodes and Orton turned on Owens rather than how people are used to the Prize Fighter being the one to do it. They made decisions that Kevin couldn’t forgive because of the gravity of the situation, and he simply wanted it to be heard. H didn’t want to see Randy back on the shelf after his surgery where they put metal rods up his spine. Despite that, Orton didn’t ask for the COO of a multi-billion company to stand in front of him, he asked for the cerebral assassin Triple H.

Randy gave a commendable speech to convince Triple H to the match at Crown Jewel, but with that success in mind, Orton was warned to “protect himself at all times,” from here on end. Oof.

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Andrade vs. Carmelo Hayes – Game 7 Series match

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This final confrontation in a show of incredible matches might award its winner the opportunity to challenge LA Knight for the US Championship. Again. Ha! LA Knight agreed to be the special guest referee, so let’s get this started.

Oof. Oof. Not even five seconds into the match, Andrade had Carmelo nearly beat with that spinning elbow move he does to confuse his opponents. Wow. The reminder that Andrade is the reining WWE Speed Champion played a part. He was doing a good job and almost got disqualified, but that didn’t stop Hayes from using LA Knight as a shield to strike Andrade.

Whatever Melo was planning to do, Andrade caught him first by shoving Hayes off the second rope and splash on the floor. Given how many matched they’ve entered together, they’ve come to know each other very well. No room for surprises. Except for when LA Knight stopped Andrade from suicide diving after Hayes only to jump over the referee anyway.

Later on, Andrade met Hayes on the second rope and delivered an inverted Spanish Fly. They both seem to be in pain nonetheless. The audience were counting along with the US Champion as he reached number nine when Hayes and Andrade finally showed some life. Carmelo almost pinned his challenger with a tilt-a-whirl face plant. However, Andrade shocked the stadium with a Destroyer out of nowhere, even Knight was starstruck.

Hayes didn’t just get a double knees from Andrade, he also got a face full of dick. Ha! El Idolo was pissed that the US Champion didn’t count faster. That allowed Hayes to kick out of that one and go back on the attack with a sudden roll up. Unfortunately, LA Knight wasn’t looking. Even more bad news, Hayes made some incidental contact with LA Knight while trying to strike Andrade… Or so Corey Graves wanted you to believe.

That was enough for Knight to remove Hayes from the cover on Andrade and shove him into the announcement desk. El Idolo was confused and angry, so he vented his frustration on the Champion, who easily took him out with the BFT. And one to Carmelo, too. No one rung the bell, so he did it himself. “To hell with Game 7!” He said.

Winner: No one

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Earlier tonight, Nia Jax wanted to make sure that Tiffany Stratton was back on her feet from her sniffles. Ha! Anyway, since Naomi won’t get off Jax’s back, she wanted her dealt with. Stratton volunteered only to be upstaged by Candice LeRae. Hmm.

I guess LA Knight’s little outburst didn’t sit right with Nick Aldis because he sanctioned a Triple Threat match for the US Championship at Crown Jewel with the current champ, Andrade and Carmelo Hayes. Ha! Ha! Oh, damn.

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Naomi vs. Candice LeRae

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Candice had Naomi for a few moments in the early goings, but Naomi quickly turned it around in her favor despite the slight setback. LeRae pinned Naomi for a one count while Naomi nearly got her with a two count. That’s to point out that Naomi’s strategy are a lot more effective.

Out of nowhere, Candice shocked Naomi by driving her face against the apron. She seemed knocked out to the point that she wasn’t move. LeRae has taken this match in her hands. She took Naomi down even further by yanking her by the hair. Naomi managed to fight her way out by slinging Candice into the bottom rope. She continued by forcing Candice’s head towards the mat.

LeRae was able to kick out after that attack to the side of her face, which began to irritate Naomi. LeRae reversed and cracked Naomi backwards, so Miss Glow retaliated with a brilliant kick to an unsuspecting Candice. But here we go again with Indi Hartwell providing assistance by ramming Naomi towards the post. Candice was looking to capitalize, yet the arrival of Bayley thwarted their plans. While Bayley had LeRae distracted, Naomi was able to sneak up on her and win.

Winner: Naomi 

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While Michael Cole thought that Gunther interrupting Cody Rhodes’ entrance to be rude, I thought that perhaps we can move this along as we should. Last week, Rhodes issued an invitation to Gunther to come down to SmackDown. He wanted to know why the Ring General reckoned he’ll be leaving Saudi Arabia as its Champion. Before Gunther answers that question, he wanted to talk about his opponent first.

I think he apologized for bringing Cody’s daughter into the conversation, that he acknowledged that she has nothing to do with the gold and it has everything to do with finding out who among the two is the better Champion. With that in the frontal lobe of their minds, Gunther is left confused. He believed that Cody was always living up to the standards of someone else by adding unnecessary dramatics to the mix.

Nonetheless, Rhodes fired back proud of being a “messy King”, to be dramatic given his family surrounding. Gunther’s reasons for all of this is to live up to himself, his standards. The possibility that Cody couldn’t do any of what he does without the presence of the fans that Gunther alluded to sounds plausible. If Rhodes stopped being everyone’s servant, that he demonstrated the guts to say “no”, his story ends is the notion we’re working with here.

When this man chops you down, he chops you down. Rhodes nailed him, though with a surprise attack. That didn’t go well for Cody because it became a 2-on-1 mugging with the inclusion of Ludwig Kaiser. Then Randy Orton to extinguish the flames.

Backstage, Damage Control, Piper Niven and Chelsea Green plus the Meta-Four girls Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson have been at each other’s throat for several weeks, so NXT General Manager Ava, RAW General Manager Adam Pearce and SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis have decided that Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair will defend their titles at Crown Jewel in a Fatal 4-Way Tag Team match.

Next Friday, a long awaited face-to-face between Liv Morgan and Nia Jax is happening. Also, Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton take on Imperium. Plus, there will be a Fatal 4-Way preview match with Bianca Belair, Iyo Sky, Piper Niven and Lash Legend.

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DIY vs. Motor City Machine Guns – Tag Team Championship Number One Contender’s match 

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Alex Shelley and Johnny Gargano start this match off in what I hope to be another classic. There was a sequence of attempted submission moves that never got a good enough grip given the familiarity between these two men from their 2006 days. A buddy buddy connection here could prove to a hindrance for Ciampa according to Graves as he tagged himself in.

Once Chris Sabin got tagged in, he and Shelley performed a combination of double team maneuvers that Ciampa didn’t counter in time. DIY come in and destabilize Sabin. After that, Gargano has gained control over Chris. Later on, Ciampa ran into an elbow and it didn’t take long for Johnny to fall as well. Sabin was able to tag Shelley. Motor City Machine Guns’ move against Tommaso looked similar to DIY’s Meet Me in the Middle. Hmm?

Sabin was caught off guard by Gargano’s slingshot spear, and Shelley was at the mercy of the formerly known Black Heart Ciampa on the main floor. This is the side of Tommaso we need to see in order for them to leave victoriously. That might have to be put on hold when Shelley and Sabin have gained further momentum.

From behind, Ciampa tripped out Shelley off the apron while Gargano focused on Sabin in-ring. DIY issued the Fairytale Ending on Chris, then Johnny leaped to catch Alex on the outside. That knee to Sabin’s jaw should have, or could have concluded this match, but he remained in the game. Ciampa was baffled.

I bet he was even more baffled when he unwittingly got kicked in the face by Gargano. Ha! Ha! I screamed way too loudly in my house. Oof. Motor City Machine Guns used that miscommunication to perform a successful Skull and Bone on Johnny granting them the opportunity to face the Bloodline. What an honor… Ha!

I can already tell that this little tiff with DIY will expand itself to next Friday.

Winners: Motor City Machine Guns

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Following the match, Shelley and Sabin came face-to-face with the team I suspect they’ll soon regret meeting. Sikoa reinsured Aldis that nothing is going to happen. Ha! Lies. They wanted to come out and introduce themselves. Motor City provided their own introductions as well. You know, capitalize on the egotism.

Solo saw an opportunity to issue a title match right now given how Shelley and Sabin have presented themselves so masterfully. Aldis tried to dissipate the situation since he didn’t want to stand by and allow their sacrifices, sweat and blood go to waste in hasty confrontation. Nevertheless, Alex saw fit to contradict that assessment.

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Motor City Machine Guns vs. The Bloodline (c) – Tag Team Championship match

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Tama Tonga looked a bit too impatient for my liking… In the beginning, the Tongas were doing fine, but at some point the flow moved against them. That was simply a warm up as the Tongas regain control of this match.

What came as unexpecting comedy was the Tongas’ attempt to deliver a double body splash on Shelley, like the Usos do, but they failed so badly. Ha! Ha! Tama and Loa spent too much time on their asses that Solo felt the need to start shouting at them. Needless to say, he didn’t pay attention to his own demise incoming from behind at the hands of Jimmy Uso.

That playing field advantage he had was quickly and immediately squashed, becoming an overwhelming game for Jimmy to endure with Fatu and Sikoa on his back. And I absolutely love how I’m supposed to be impressed by Roman Reigns’ delayed strutting to assist Jimmy. Why does he always take too much time? Why bother? The only good thing here is that they’re neutralizing Solo and Jacob.

Back inside the ring, Sabin and Tama are still brawling it out. Just as Chris was looking to ram his opponent in the corner, Tama used the referee as a shield. With that, Loa powerslam Sabin. Because the official was down, the Tongas were looking to inflict some unsanctioned damage… however, Main Event Jey Uso wouldn’t let them.

Motor City performed a successful Skull and Bone on Tama! Thank you, Jey Jey. In just their third match in WWE, Shelley and Sabin win gold. But let me remind you, Roman, Jey didn’t come back for you. He naturally would for Jimmy.

Winners: Motor City Machine Guns

TOP PHOTO: The Usos hug it out, while the Motor City Machine Guns celebrate their win. Courtesy of WWE

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