One week later, the entire WWE Universe was still trying feverishly to wrap its collective mind around the events witnessed in TD Garden in Boston on Friday, June 28, when Solo Sikoa’s attempt at being unanimously crowned the new Tribal Chief of The Bloodline backfired when Paul Heyman refused to acknowledge him as Roman Reigns’ replacement.
Heyman would then immediately pay for his perceived insolence with an all-out assault at the hands of the entire faction, including Jacob Fatu, who lifted Heyman and, as a unit, power bombed the Hall of Famer through the announcer’s table.
WATCH: HEYMAN HOSPITALIZED BY THE BLOODLINE.
Sikoa looked to address his actions on Friday in Toronto — ahead of Money in the Bank — but the world instead got an emotional and powerful revelation from Kevin Owens, flanked by Randy Orton and WWE Champion Cody Rhodes.
LOOK: FULL MITB MATCH CARD, INSIGHT AND MORE.
The episode also included the return of Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill to tag team action, in convincing fashion, and a powder keg of events that detonated between both the men’s and women’s combatants who qualified for their respective MITB ladder match.
It was a show main evented by a tag team title match that helped the crack in the armor or A-Town Down Under spread like an unattended chip in a windshield, as we all watch it spread throughout the entirety of the glass itself.
You didn't think Sikoa wouldn't find a way to try and steal the show though, did you?
He not only had a message, but he had the message, the one that will undoubtedly make Roman Reigns catch the first flight from home and straight to WhoopHisAss, USA.
Check out the full review of the latest episode of Smackdown before hell is unleashed for the right to own the briefcases!
The Former … or the Ladder?
The episode began with Jey Uso, one of six men competing for the briefcase and a favorite to take the victory, stepping up to cut a promo that would help turn Toronto up what will be a wild weekend. And of course that makes things very interesting since Uso’s bloodline, The Bloodline, was also in the building with a scheduled appearance, but they didn’t cross paths.
Who he did cross paths with, however, was LA Knight, for starters.
YEAH.
Knight barely let Uso get 11 words out of his mouth before the music hit and his equally insane level of overness (new word, just go with it) took over. He, ironically enough, isn’t taking kindly to Uso being the “odds-on favorite”, reminding Uso that he was a part of The Bloodline and “Day 1-ish” and promising he’s “never been on a ride like this”.
Things nearly popped off until the bombastic rookie, Carmelo Hayes, couldn’t help but insert himself into the situation because, well, attention is a hell of a drug.
Sucks for him though, because Chad Gable interrupted his moment, and quickly. Gable demanded empathy for being left by the Alpha Academy and being terrorized by the Wyatt Sicks (6), but he received none because Andrade had something to say.
“Chicos, chicos, chicos. You’re all talking about, ‘Oh, my dream is to win the Money in the Bank’. But dreams don’t win matches,” said Andrade.
He’s not wrong, and Drew McIntyre agrees … passionately … so he grabbed a mic and headed to the ramp to shut the entire promo down and to remind Canada that CM Punk isn’t going to show up anytime soon (feels like foreshadowing, yes?).
Andrade had enough of McIntyre’s insults that ensued and sucker punched the Scottish warrior, setting off the powder keg that ended with Knight and Uso standing tall after a vicious round of Yeet-Yeah combo punches to McIntyre after the others were tossed out.
And then they stared each other down to keep one another from thinking there’s an alliance of any sort.
There isn’t, and it’s time to fight.
Fight.
There’s not much Solo Sikoa can say to justify the physical assault against The Wise Man.
Nonetheless, he planned on either trying to do so and/or to revel in the destruction laid forth by The Bloodline, with Jacob Fatu, Tonga Loa and Tama Tonga inflicting the bulk of the damage against Heyman after a refused acknowledgement of Sikoa as anything more than an imposter looking to complete a coup against Roman Reigns.
It’s also key to keep in mind that Kevin Owens, Randy Orton and WWE Champion Cody Rhodes opened the show last Friday by pulverizing the Sikoa and the Tongas, before being thrown out of the arena; and that opened the gates for Fatu to enter later on to avoid any interference with the handling of Heyman.
Rhodes, Owens and Orton took exception to how it all went down, and wanted to offer some words of their own in the direction of Sikoa and his cohorts.
“I don’t know about you, but we have heard enough from Solo Sikoa and this modern Bloodline. They have asked for a fight, and we are ready for a fight,” said Rhodes.
Owens shared his own personal fight, by way of his mother, who is fighting for her life in a Quebec hospital — where Owens spent the last five days by her bedside with his father; and he told the world he chose to make the trip to Toronto because his mother would be upset if he didn’t get there to “leave it all in the ring” at Money in the Bank.
“If she heard I missed a show because of her, she’d be pissed. And, Bloodline, I am more serious than I’ve ever been in my life,” said Owens.
Best wishes to Mama Owens, and The Bloodline better look out, because K.O. is looking to land exactly that on Saturday, for his sick mother:
… a K.O.
Pretty Deadly vs. Street Profits
Result : Street Profits win clean (pinfall)
Reaction : They’re back, and Pretty Deadly is ready to get back to building what was a promising trajectory before their absence, but having the Street Profits as their first match upon return is not exactly a walk in the park.
That is unless you’re talking about a dog park with two rabid dobermans roaming around looking for something to sink their teeth into.
Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford are arguably the best tag team duo (and chemistry) in the entire WWE, and the match marks a great test for what Pretty Deadly might become soon, having interrupted Dawkins and Ford in a promo that eventually led to a challenge that then became this match; though it was delayed until July 5 because of time constraints.
They went early on this one.
Pretty Deadly looked wildly out of their league for much of the match, as Dawkins and Ford ran through them time again before things finally, and I do mean finally, got in the control of PD midway through. Until that point, it looked like this would be over fairly quickly and result in a very poor showing for PD, especially following a return to the ring, but that was thankfully not the case.
Prince was even able to kick out of a pinfall after an onslaught from a refreshed Ford, who spent six minutes waiting for a tag, and Prince also saved the day by hitting Dawkins during would-be pinfall on his teammate.
Their chemistry was on display as well.
But, in the end, it was Ford burying PD with a top turnbuckle splash followed by a backward roll into a pin for the three-count, as only he can do.
On Friday in Toronto … it was “no, boy”.
Jade Cargill + Bianca Belair vs. Candice LeRae + Indi Hartwell
Result : Cargill, Belair clean (pinfall)
Reaction : Having followed wrestling for decades now, I can honestly say I have never heard the word “nincompoop” used to trash talk an opponent before this week, and maybe Indi Hartwell didn’t get the memo that the PG-13 Era is over in WWE and she can speak like an adult now when trying to describe her hate for Jade Cargill.
The interesting thing about this is that it was Hartwell who escalated the issue when she interfered with Cargill’s MITB qualifier, putting her hands on Cargill (a bad idea) and helping to cost her the match.
Belair would appear to chase her back into the locker room.
Cargill would of course get her lick back later in the episode when it was Hartwell’s turn to try and qualify for MITB, proving Hartwell didn’t think things through. There’s also history between these two duos from the buildup to Clash at the Castle, so it serves as a solid match for the first tag combat for Cargill and Belair since Glasgow.
LeRae and Hartwell are former tag team champs themselves, and they showed they can compete with the likes of Cargill and Belair, though it took a superkick to the mouth of LeRae to wake them up from their slumber.
After beating up on Cargill by combining their efforts, Belair was tagged in for her first action and the violence ratched up very quickly. Hartwell tried to sneak attack Belair from behind while Hartwell was being manhandled in the corner but the veteran savvy and spider sense led Belair to sidestep it and Hartwell got the worst of it.
Given a chance to get some revenge, Cargill was tagged back in and it was over from there, because a simultaneous Jaded and KOD finisher dropped both LeRae and Hartwell into twin caskets.
Funeral service in Toronto.
Bayley vs. Piper Niven
Result : Bayley wins clean (pinfall)
Reaction : How’s about a rematch? That’s exactly what this bout is, considering Bayley defeated Niven in her home country of Scotland at Clash at the Castle to remain the WWE Women’s Champion — pissing off both Niven and Chelsea Green.
“Why don’t you come back when you actually win a match,” said Bayley to Green.
And since Niven couldn’t beat Bayley in the title match, the new plan for Green is to take the MITB briefcase and use Niven to soften up Bayley for a cash-in at some point.
Bayley has other ideas, especially after being attacked by Niven backstage in Toronto on Smackdown while Green distracted her, and her bestie, Naomi, was on standby for any shenanigans as she waits for her MITB match against five others (including Green).
Niven started throwing her power around to start the fight and it took Bayley a little while to get her bearings after some punishing blows, throws and back body drops.
But once she did, her athleticism was her weapon against a slower Niven.
Suddenly, it was Tiffy Time.
Looking to get into the head of Bayley, and Naomi, and Green, Tiffany Stratton stood at the bottom of the ramp as simply an observer, supposedly, as was Zoey Stark and every other combatant to participate in the MITB match in 24 hours. With so much tension in the air, it was inevitable that hands would be thrown, as Iyo Sky jumped the barricade along with Stark and Lyra Valkryia after Green slapped Naomi at ringside.
And then came the World’s Prettiest Moonsault off of the top turnbuckle onto the group of ladies at ringside.
Good grief, Charlie Brown.
Meanwhile, Bayley was putting Niven to bed amidst all of the distractions for a clean win, but Nia Jax, the 2024 Queen of the Ring and bodyguard to Stratton, pulverized Bayley as a message that she isn’t safe from the Summerslam opportunity that belongs to Jax.
It took NXT superstar and frequenter of RAW and Smackdown, Michin, showing up to put a whooping on Jax to save Bayley, but the damage was done.
Turn this up. All of the volume knobs.
Men’s Tag Team Championship
A-Town Down Under (c) vs. DIY
Result : DIY wins clean (double submission)
Reaction : Waller has had enough of everyone assuming ATDU is on the verge of shattering, even if it’s expressly his fault for that narrative, considering he’s taken all of the credit, continuously, for not only the success of the tag team but also of Theory’s success, period, and the latter has drawn some major side eye emoji looks from the Atlanta native.
Waller has also cost Theory a singles match and been the reason for some physical punishment being doled out to Theory that was initially planned for Waller.
Despite that, when DIY attempted (again) to make Theory wise to what’s really occurring within the confines of the tag team champions’ castle — namely crumbling walls — Waller came out of nowhere to attack them both, pushing Theory out of the way to do so, and that wasn’t exactly wise, given how hungry DIY has been to get their hands on the titles.
And there’s definitely trouble in A-Townadise, seeing as Waller literally had to give Theory a pep talk before the match to convince him there’s no issue within the duo.
That means there is, by the way, and it’s really hitting home for Theory to hear it all coming from a longtime friend in Gargano.
In this match, however, Theory put that to the side for moments at a time to throw hands.
The chemistry edge went to DIY in a big way, but they did find themselves in trouble on more than one occasion. But Theory gloating in the face of Ciampa was not a wise decision when Gargano was recovering on the mat, and while he didn’t pay for it in a big way, it showed the contrast in the mindset and styles of the two teams.
Momentum finally swung back into DIY’s favor when Johnny Wrestling got Theory off-balance but, right before he could tag in a rested Ciampa, there was Waller to yank Ciampa down to the floor; and Theory delivered a near-crippling body drop to Gargano to end that momentum shift with the abruptness of a dragster introducing itself to a wall.
But then Waller inadvertently punched Theory (do ya see?) and nearly lost the match.
Theory would recover and save the day again and again, but collided again with his teammate and, still, saved the day a third time by putting Waller’s leg on the rope during a would-be pinfall. Gargano put Waller in the Gargano Escape and there came Theory … AGAIN … keeping Waller from tapping out.
Oh but that was his final mistake, because it led to him being put in the Sicilian Stretch by Ciampa and both Waller and Theory tapped simultaneously.
AND NEW!!!!!
WHAT. A. MATCH.
SOMEONE TURN ON THE FAN IN HERE, PLEASE.
Sikoa Threatens Roman Reigns
HE. SAID. WHAT?!
Solo Sikoa didn’t make his way to the arena on Friday night, instead opting to release an official promo video that many believed would simply give words to Rhodes, Owens and Orton while also enjoying the carnage delivered to Paul Heyman, but he went where nowhere thought he would ever, ever go.
He effectively called out Roman Reigns.
“Roman Reigns wasn’t man enough …” was the theme of the sitdown, going so far as to tell Reigns that Rhodes would drop the title to him, Sikoa, and “if [Roman] wants it back, he can come and try to take it from me.”
Clout is a hell of a drug, and Sikoa is free basing it, at this point.
This guarantees that not only will Reigns return to teach his young cousin a lesson about who is truly the Head of the Table, but in violent and feral fashion to launch the upcoming Civil War within The Bloodline.
Buckle up, everybody.
This ride is about to be historic.
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