Featuring two title matches, this May 28th episode of SmackDown hosts the in-ring return of a 6-time title winning tag team.
The Street Profits make their entrance, and they grab mics to offer their thoughts on their match with the Usos tonight. They say that the Usos they face tonight are not the Usos of the past. They poke some more fun at the Usos and Roman Reigns, and Jimmy and Jey make their entrance. Jimmy throws some jabs back at them, and Jey gets on the Profits’ cases for making fun of Roman. They welcome the Profits to the Uso Penitentiary, and I’ll admit, it took me until now to realize how much I truly missed the Usos.
The Street Profits VS The Usos
Jimmy starts off against Dawkins, with Dawkins using his strength advantage to overpower the returning Uso. He tags in Ford, and they execute an assisted splash for 1. Jimmy gets to his corner and tags in Jey, who viciously assaults Ford with right hands. Ford catches Jey with an arm drag into a submission, and when Jey makes his way to his feet, Ford tags in Dawkins, and the two deliver a double back suplex for 2.
Dawkins locks in an arm submission of his own, focusing on the left arm of Jey that Ford had previously attacked. Jey shoves his way to his corner and tags in Jimmy, who delivers a flying clothesline and a chop for 2. Dawkins retaliates by attacking the left arm of Jimmy, but Jimmy is able to make it to tag in Jey. Jey attacks with headbutts before tagging in Jimmy, but Dawkins catches him with an arm drag before tagging in Ford, who dropkicks both Usos. The Profits clothesline the Usos to the outside, and they toss both of them into the barricade as we go to commercial.
When we come back, Dawkins has a submission locked in on the left arm of Jimmy. Ford is tagged in, and he dives off the top rope to attack the arm of Jimmy. Jimmy sneakily tags in Jey, who garbs Ford’s feet and drags him to the outside. He whips him into the barricade and taunts him, before repeating it all again. Jey brings Ford back into the ring and drops him with a back suplex, before tagging in Jimmy to deliver a flying elbow/backbreaker combo for 2.
Jimmy locks in a chinlock, but Ford fights his way out. Jimmy stems his momentum with a snap suplex before tagging in Jey to deliver a double leg snap. Ford throws some desperate right hands, but Jey stops him with a punch of his own before locking in a chinlock. Jey tags in Jimmy, but Ford fights out of the opposite corner with punches and an enziguri. Ford dives to make the tag to Dawkins, but Jey pulls Dawkins off the apron before he can. Ford turns around right into a pop-up Samoan Drop as we go to commercial.
When we come back, Jey is looking for a superplex on Ford. Ford fights Jey away, but Jey shoves him off the top turnbuckle onto the apron. Ford strikes with an enziguri and looks for an attack from the top rope, but Jey dodges, and the two collide with clotheslines in the center of the ring. Ford tags in Dawkins, who goes right after both Usos. Jey hits him with a superkick to the gut and tags in Jimmy, but Dawkins takes them both out with flapjacks. He pins Jimmy for 2 before looking for a powerslam, but Jimmy escapes to the apron. He climbs to the top rope, but Dawkins hits him with a right that leaves him stunned.
Ford stunningly dives right over Jimmy and the ringpost to crash onto Jey on the outside, before Jimmy hits Dawkins with a superkick for a close 2. Jimmy looks for a hip attack, but Dawkins grabs him and delivers the Silencer for a close 2 of his own. Dawkins tags in Ford and delivers the Annointment, but when Ford goes for the Frog Splash, Jey pulls Jimmy out of harm’s way. Dawkins takes out Jey on the outside, but Jimmy hits Ford with a brutal superkick to get the win for the returning Usos.
Winners via pinfall: The Usos
Match Rating: 4/5
Megan Morant interviews Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode about their title shot tonight, and why they think they could win tonight when they already lost to the Mysterios once. They say that they’ve gone back to the drawing board, and their new plan will get them the win.
Women’s Tag Team Champions Natalya and Tamina VS The Riott Squad
The match starts during the commercial break, so the first thing we see is Liv hitting Natalya with a brutal dropkick to the back. She tags in Riott to deliver an assisted splash, and Liv tags herself right back in to deliver a creative move that ends with Natalya’s face in the turnbuckle. That move gets Liv a 2 count, and she tags Riott back in. Riott locks in a bulldog choke, and when Natalya escapes, Riott stops her cold with a back elbow. She tags in Liv, who tries to stomp Natalya, but the champ moves out of the way. Liv tags in Riott, but Natalya puts them both in the Sharpshooter. The Riott Squad escapes the move, and Riott hits an STO, but Tamina breaks up the pin.
Both competitors tag in their partners, and Riott attempts to beat down Tamina. This tactic doesn’t work at all, as Tamina hits her in the back of the head so hard that Riott flies halfway across the ring. Tamina goes up to the top rope, and headbutts Riott to the ground after she tries to meet her at the top rope. Liv takes out Natalya on the outside, but it doesn’t matter, as Tamina hits the Superfly Splash to get her team the win.
Winner via pinfall: Natalya and Tamina
Match Rating: 3/5
The Usos approach Adam Pearce, and Jimmy asks Adam to give them a shot next week against whoever wins the SmackDown Tag Team Title match tonight. Pearce grants him his request, but Jey doesn’t seem so happy about it.
Bianca Belair VS Carmella
With Bayley on commentary, Belair strikes with powerful spears in the corner. Carmella escapes to the apron and hangs Belair up on it. Carmella headscissors Belair to the outside, but when she goes out after her, Belair strikes with a shoulder tackle. The EST tosses Carmella back into the ring, but Carmella runs once more to the apron. When Belair goes out to meet her there, she hits the champ with an X-Factor that gets her a 2 count.
Carmella pushes Belair into the corner and hits some back elbows on Belair, before pinning her for 2. Carmella locks in a chinlock, but Belair reverses it into a brutal backbreaker. The champ strikes with shoulder tackles and corner spears. Carmella hits some more back elbows, but when she goes for a crossbody, Belair rolls through and picks her up for a fallaway slam. She follows it up with a springboard moonsault for 2, but when she goes for another corner spear, Carmella moves and the EST goes right into the ringpost.
Carmella hits a superkick on the champ, but it only gets her a 2 count. Belair rolls Carmella up, but Carmella reverses it into the Code of Silence. Belair escapes the submission, and when Carmella goes for the X-Factor, Belair reverses it into the K.O.D. for the win.
Winner via pinfall: Bianca Belair
Match Rating: 3/5
Megan Morant interviews the Mysterios, who say that they’ve got a game plan as well. They say that when one of them hurts, the other hurts as well, so their motivation for victory is unparalleled.
Seth Rollins comes out and demands Cesaro come out so they can finish their feud right now. When Cesaro doesn’t come out, he goads the Swiss Cyborg, saying even Cesaro wouldn’t ruin Rollins’ birthday. Happy Birthday, Rollins! The Messiah shows us the footage of his attack on Cesaro last week, sourcing it as the reason why Cesaro isn’t here tonight. He also has some “exclusive audio” from Cesaro’s hospital room, but it’s just a heart monitor and some pained groans. The Messiah says that Cesaro drew out Rollins’ anger last week, but that we as the fans are also to blame for what happened to Cesaro, because we “brainwashed” the Swiss Cyborg into believing that he deserves more opportunity than he actually does.
Intercontinental Champion Apollo Crews (w/ Commander Azeez) VS Kevin Owens for the Intercontinental Championship
Owens strikes immediately with clotheslines and a cannonball. He climbs to the top rope and delivers a Swanton Bomb for 2. Crews hangs Owens up on the ropes, but when the champ goes for a diving attack off the top rope, K.O. dodges him and delivers a superkick. He goes for a Pop-Up Powerbomb, and when Apollo avoids it, he transitions right into a stunner. Owens goes for a pin, but Azeez hits him with a Nigerian Nail and pulls Apollo to safety.
Winner via disqualification: Kevin Owens
STILL Intercontinental Champion: Apollo Crews
Match Rating: 2.5/5
Roman Reigns chats with Jey in his fancy dressing room. He asks Jey what happened to the two of them working together. He brings up the point that when following Roman’s direction, Jey main evented SmackDown. But tonight with Jimmy, Jey was the opener. Roman finishes by saying that he doesn’t want Jey to get back to a point where people look at him and say “which one are you again?”
Chad Gable (w/ Otis) VS Shinsuke Nakamura (w/ Rick Boogs)
Rick Boogs comes out and once again gives us a rockin’ rendition of Shinsuke Nakamura’s theme, as the King of Strong Style makes his entrance. Looks like Boogs is here to stay, and I’m all for it.
Before the match starts, Otis delivers a brutal slam to Nakamura. The King of Strong Style tells the ref that he’s all good to continue, so the bell rings. Gable comes right in with a series of belly-to-belly suplexes for 2, and Nakamura retaliates with a single leg dropkick. He continues the assault with a series of kicks, even giving one to Otis when the big man tries to interfere. Nakamura looks for a sleeper hold, but Gable slams him into the turnbuckle.
The leader of the Alpha Academy looks for a moonsault, but Nakamura ducks him and hits him with a kick. Corbin sneaks over to the timekeeper’s area and takes the crown that, while it’s technically his, looks much better on Nakamura. In the ring, Nakamura goes for the Kinshasa, but Gable looks to reverse it into Chaos Theory. Nakamura reverses that into a rollup for 2, and hits Gable with a Kinshasa to pick up the victory.
Winner via pinfall: Shinsuke Nakamura
Match Rating: 3/5
After the match, Corbin tries to leave with the crown, but Boogs attacks him from behind. Nakamura steps on the crownless “King” Corbin as he goes and grabs the crown before jamming out with Boogs on his way out.
We visit Owens in the WWE medical office, coughing and retching from the brutal Nigerian Nail he received from Azeez. He asks Adam Pearce to give him another title shot next week, but this time, no Azeez. Pearce grants his wish. I imagine Apollo won’t be too happy about that.
We go backstage and we see that Rey Mysterio has been attacked. It seems that Ziggler and Roode’s “game plan” isn’t quite as different as we thought it would be.
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Mysterios VS Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships
Dominik comes out alone to face the challengers, because according to Dominik, Rey stepped up for him at Backlash, so Dominik is going to step up for Rey now. Ziggler starts off against Dominik, and the younger Mysterio goes right after the challengers. His offense doesn’t last long, as Ziggler strikes with a dropkick for 2. The Show-Off tags in Roode, who delivers a powerful suplex to Dominik. The Glorious One tags in Ziggler, who rains right hands down on Dominik.
Ziggler rolls up Dominik for 2, and then begins some petty offense, stomping the hands of Dominik. Ziggler tags in Roode, who stings the chest of Dominik with chops. Dominik looks to fight back with a kick, but Roode stops his momentum physically and figuratively with a clothesline. The Glorious One looks for a knee drop, but Dominik moves out of the way.
Dominik goes to his corner, but there’s nobody to tag in. Roode tags in Ziggler, who hits Dominik with a neckbreaker for 2. Ziggler taunts and bullies Dominik, who starts fighting back. He hits Roode with a baseball slide dropkick, and he tosses Ziggler to the outside, before diving over the ropes onto both of them. He brings Ziggler back into the ring and sets him up for the 619, but Roode stops him from hitting the move.
Dominik delivers another wrecking ball dropkick to Roode and sets Ziggler up for the 619 a second time, but Ziggler dodges it and delivers the Famouser for a close 2. A frustrated Ziggler drags Dominik to his corner and tags in Roode, and the two deliver a powerbomb/neckbreaker combo that gets them yet another close 2. Rey finally makes his entrance, infuriating the challengers. The distraction allows Dominik to roll Roode up to get the win for him and his dad.
Winner via pinfall and STILL SmackDown Tag Team Champions: The Mysterios
Match Rating: 3.5/5
After the match, the Usos come out, with Jimmy being obviously more hyped up than Jey. The show ends with the Mysterios looking upon their formidable challengers for next week.
