Solo Sikoa: ‘I Had To Lose A Brother In Order To Find A New One’

He eventually brought up Tama Tonga ’s name, and right on cue, the camera cut to the stage entrance where a bloody Kevin Owens was thrown to the ground, clearly beaten. Tama Tonga came out right behind KO, making it clear who was responsible for this carnage.

KO tried to fight back, but he was outnumbered and bleeding badly. The duo of Tonga and Solo Sikoa left KO bloody in the ring before walking out. When they came back from a commercial break, it was revealed that Tama Tonga crashed his car into KO’s rental car, likely how he got the upper hand in the first place.

Main Event Title Match: Bayley (c) vs Naomi (WWE Women’s World Title)

Bayley has been busy fighting her former friends turned enemies, so it must’ve been a nice change of pace to face an actual friend in Naomi. The match started off very technically, and the two longtime friends were going back and forth. She went for her elbow drop, but Naomi got her knees up. She went for a high-risk maneuver, but this time, Bayley was able to get her knees up.

Bayley hit her elbow drop, but it wasn’t enough to keep her opponent down for the count. Both women were on the outside when Tiffany Stratton came out to interfere in the match. She took advantage of both Bayley and Namoi’s weakened state, hitting both with the “Prettiest Moonsault Ever.” The match ended in a DQ.

AJ Styles Gets It Done

AJ Styles was victorious in his match against LA Knight, getting his win back from their stipulation-less match at Mania. Both men won their respective triple-threat matches last week, and Cody was able to address the match on RAW. Many felt like LA Knight would win the match, but plenty of other fans believed Knight would not be used to put over Cody quite yet.

The match was basically round 2, only with TV time as a restraint. AJ landed the Phenomenal Forearm for the win and will now face Cody Rhodes in France at the PLE Backlash.

Triple H’s New Era, A-Town Down Under’s New Belts…Same Ol’ Smoke and Mirrors?

Triple H came out to bestow A-Town Down Under with their new titles, but the bigger story was a split-second, blink-and-you-miss-it moment during Trips’ walkout. Similar to The Fiend/Bray Wyatt 2022 return angle, WWE is once again using ‘easter eggs’ and QR codes to hype a debut—likely the return of Bo Dallas, Wyatt’s real-life brother, with a spooky angle or something in the same vein as The Fiend.

It was believed that the Uncle Howdy character, the storyline Bray was part of at the time of his death, would be played by Bo Dallas in an elaborate narrative that was definitely a slow burn. The heels were being heelish, and that’s when SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis announced the 4-way taking place to determine their number one contenders.

Street Profits vs Legado Del Fantasma vs New Catch Republic vs Authors Of Pain (NO. 1 Contenders Match For The Smackdown Tag Team Championships)

New Catch Republic had momentum going into the match, but each team was able to showcase their skill in the match. From double powerbombs off the top turnbuckle to members of Street Profits and LDF leaping over the top rope/backflipping off the apron and onto their opponents waiting on the outside.

Street Profits were able to win the match by pinning Angle Garza, and they will now challenge A-Town Down Under for the tag team titles with an awesome 90’s throwback-inspired design [Cody’s wing-eagled belt incoming].

Tidbit

• The Draft begins next week, expect significant shakeups.