By Jake Barnett, ProWrestling.net Co-Senior Staffer (@barnettjake)
WWE Friday Night Smackdown (Episode 1,297)
Toronto, Ontario at Scotiabank Arena
Aired live July 5, 2024 on Fox
Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, and Kevin Owens were shown walking backstage. In the arena, Jey Uso made his entrance to kick off the show. Corey Graves and Wade Barrett were on commentary. Jey introduced himself to the audience and thanked Canada for letting him in (lol). He asked the crowd to say yeet if they want him to be the next Money in the Bank winner. LA Knight then interrupted and headed to the ring.
Knight said he kind of liked Jey’s call and response, and said Jey might be the odds on favorite. He said he was the favorite last year, and then gave Jey some respect for breaking free from the bloodline. Knight said he would show Jey respect by not showing him any at all, and tomorrow night he would hear the crowd say “Yeah”. They did a “yeet” vs “yeah” thing and stared each other down. This brought Carmelo Hayes out to the ring. He said he hated to be that guy, but let’s be real, he is that guy.
Hayes sayed Toronto didn’t want to hear all that, and asked LA how he was doing, because the last he had seen him he was inside Logan Paul’s Prime location. He started to address Jey Uso, but was interrupted by Chad Gable. He walked out and started to talk about living in his own personal hell for the last three weeks, but he was quickly interrupted by Andrade. He mocked them all for saying Money in the Bank was their dream, because dreams don’t win matches.
Before he could continue, Drew McIntyre walked out and soaked up some crowd chants. He told the crowd that CM Punk wasn’t there, but his family was always with him, pointing to his bracelet. Drew continued and said he would visit the same violence on the men in the ring that he did on Punk if he got in his way. He then addressed everyone in the ring.
He called Andrade “El Idiot”, and told Chad Gable he felt bad for him. Gable seemed happy with that. He to LA Knight he would be hearing a lot of no tomorrow, and to Carmelo Hayes that he wasn’t him, he was looking up at him. Finally, Drew asked Jey Uso how he got across the border to some boos. Andrade attacked Drew and dumped him out of the ring.
Everybody traded punches and brawled around. Drew ended up trapped between “Yeah” and “Yeet” punches from Jey and Knight before getting tossed from the ring. Knight and Jey stood tall to end the segment.
Backstage, Bayley was interviewed. She spoke about the need to stay sharp and focused to cash in Money in the Bank. Chelsea Green walked up and said her advice was worthless because she wouldn’t even be WWE Women’s Champion if she hadn’t been illegally ejected from her match with Piper Niven. Piper then blindsided Bayley from behind, and Chelsea told her the next time Piper takes her out she will be right behind her with the briefcase to become the new Women’s Champion.
In the arena, the Street Profits made their entrance for the first match…[c]
My Take: There were some fun moments in there, but otherwise it was a very typical promo for these types of matches. Drew feels like the odds on favorite to me, but I don’t rule out CM Punk costing him the match.
Bayley spoke to Naomi backstage and told her she had PIper later on tonight. Naomi told her she had her back. Pretty Deadly completed their ring entrance in the arena.
1. Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson and Elton Prince) vs. The Street Profits (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins): Ford started the match with Elton Prince. Ford dominated the early going. Both teams made tags, and Pretty Deadly took over after using a double team to overwhelm Angelo Dawkins. Elton Prince whiffed on a charge into the corner, and Dawkins returned fire with some big strikes and a flying reverse elbow. He then landed an enziguri and covered Prince for a two count. Kit Wilson gave an assist by choking Dawkins on the top rope, and Prince took over the match with a big boot…[c]
Pretty Deadly controlled the action until Montez Ford was able to make a hot tag. He cleaned house on both Prince and Wilson. He landed a suplex and a standing moonsault onto Prince for a near fall. He then climbed to the top rope. Prince gouged Ford’s eyes and made a tag to Kit Wilson. They landed a double superplex on Ford, but missed the fact that Dawkins had made a blind tag. Dawkins landed a swanton on Wilson and Prince was forced to break it up.
The match broke down at this point and Dawkins landed a pounce that sent both Wilson and Prince to ringside. Ford splashed them both on the floor and threw Wilson back into the ring. Dawkins landed a spinebuster, and tagged Ford to land a big splash and get the win.
The Street Profits defeated Pretty Deadly at 12:47
After the match, Austin Theory and Grayson Waller had a conversation. Theory said he thought about what Johnny said, and Waller told him to forget what he said. He asked how many titles he won with Johnny, and told him that it wasn’t until he did his own thing that he became US Champion and defeated John Cena. He told Theory they were on the same page and that they needed to focus on retaining their Championships…[c]
My Take: A decent match from Pretty Deadly and the Street Profits. I assume the Profits are up next for A-Town Down Under and unfortunately Pretty Deadly seems locked out of the title picture for the time being with a pair of pest heels as Champions.
Bayley vs. Piper Niven was made official for later. Indi Hartwell and Candice LeRae made their entrance for the next match. We then got a video package that recapped the final segment on Smackdown last week featuring The Bloodline acknowledging Solo Sikoa and attacking Paul Heyman for his refusal. After the video, Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair made their ring entrance…[c]
2. Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill vs. Indi Hartwell and Candice LeRae: The match was joined in progress. Cargill landed a superkick to Hartwell. Cargill missed a charge into the corner and LeRae tagged herself into the match. She landed a running senton and some strikes. Hartwell tagged back in and they landed an assisted splash. Hartwell continued the attack and both went down with a double big boot. Both women made a tag and Bianca Belair took over the match.
She landed a couple of lariats and a suplex on Candice LeRae. She then performed a running spear in the corner and some mounted punches. Hartwell tried to intercept, but ran into a spinebuster. Belair slammed LeRae onto Hartwell, and then landed a moonsault for a cover, but Hartwell broke it up. Cargill tagged in and landed a pump kick on LeRae. They set up for their double team finisher, but Hartwell broke it up by pulling Belair’s ponytail. A moment later, they landed stereo Jade and KOD and Cargill pinned LeRae.
Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair defeated Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell at 5:10 of TV Time
After the match, Cargill and Belair both got on the microphone and said they were coming back after their Tag Team Titles, and thanked Alba and Isla for keeping them warm. We then got a video package that highlighted the feud between DIY and A-Town Down Under. Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, and Kevin Owens are up next…[c]
My Take: Another decent match that suffered from nobody buying Indi and Candice posing a threat. The post match promo continues to show that both Bianca and Jade are dominant personalities that will eventually struggle to coexist.
Kevin Owens made his entrance as the show returned. He was followed by Randy Orton and then Cody Rhodes. Cody had his logo on the back of his vest, which I think was new. He did his catchphrase and spoke about all the WWE events in Toronto this week and said it was a good fit. Cody then said he was tired of hearing from Solo and said they had asked for a fight and they were ready to give it to them. Orton said he hoped to end the fight with three most dangerous letters in the WWE R-K-O.
Owens told a story of spending the last week in the hospital with his Mom as she fought like hell. He said normally Toronto shows are a family reunion but this time his Mom and Dad couldn’t be there because she was still in that hospital fighting like hell. He couldn’t have and probably should have stayed home, but the only person that would have had a problem with that is his Mom. She had always been the one to tell him to go fight like hell for his dream, and she would have been upset with him if she found out he missed a show on her behalf.
He addressed The Bloodline and said he would do tomorrow what she had wanted him to do for four years, and that’s not just beat the Bloodline, but to kick their asses worse than ever before. Owens then emphatically slammed the microphone down in the ring. After the promo, we got a video package that highlighted the importance of the WWE Tag Team Championships….[c]
My Take: Sending positive vibes to the Steen Family. I hope Mom pulls through and returns to good health. That was a hell of a promo from Kevin in any circumstance, but especially given that his Mom is fighting for her life.
Bayley made her ring entrance with Naomi. Piper Niven was out next with Chelsea Green. Iyo Sky was shown in the crowd. Footage of the Piper sneak attack on Bayley was shown during her entrance.
3. Bayley (w/Naomi) vs. Piver Niven (w/Chelsea Green): After some back and forth early on, Piper put Bayley down with a Bossman Slam. She then slapped her across the face and landed a running senton for a close near fall. The action spilled outside where Bayley attempted a dropkick through the ropes, but Niven caught her and spun her head into the ring post…[c]
Bayley landed a leg drop onto Niven from the top rope as she was draped over the middle rope. Tiffany Stratton, Zoey Stark, and Lyra Valkyria were shown around the ring. Bayley applied a sleeper in the ring, but Niven fell to her back to break it up. Naomi started cheering on Bayley, and that kicked off a brawl with Chelsea Green. Soon after all the women were involved. Tiffany Stratton landed a moonsault that took everybody out. Bayley avoided a splash from Niven and landed the Rose Plant to get the win.
Bayley defeated Piper Niven at 7:32
After the match, Nia Jax showed up and attacked Bayley and landed a leg drop. Michin showed up with a Kendo Stick to run off Nia and save Bayley’s hide. The announce team then ran down the Money in the Bank card for tomorrow night. A-Town Down Under vs. DIY is up next…[c]
My Take: A fairly basic match with the expected Money in the Bank related chaos. I’m expecting Tiffany Stratton but pulling for Chelsea Green in that one.
Michin vs. Nia Jax was announced for Smackdown next week, along with Corbin and Crews vs. Angel and Berto. DIY cut a promo on their way to the ring about capturing the NXT Tag Team Championships 8 years ago in Toronto and how they were ready to capture the WWE Tag Team Championships tonight. A-Town Down Under then made their entrance. Mike Rome made ring introductions.
4. A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory and Grayson Waller) vs. DIY (Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano) for the WWE Tag Team Championships: DIY quickly cleared Waller and Theory from the ring and splashed them on the floor…[c]
Theory turned this around on Gargano and rained down punches. Waller tagged in and threw Gargano to ringside. Theory attempted to attack him on the floor, but Gargano moved and he ran into the barricade. Gargano then landed an awkward looking Destroyer on Waller out on the floor. Gargano tried to scramble for a tag to Ciampa, but Waller was able to scramble around the outside of the ring and trip him off the apron. Theory then landed a Air Raid Crash into a Neckbreaker and covered for a near fall…[c]
Ciampa landed a Willow’s Bell on Waller. Gargano then landed a Superkick and covered for a near fall. He then went for a slingshot spear, but Waller intercepted with a knee to the face. Theory then held Gargano in the corner, but Waller smashed him with a forearm shiver by mistake. DIY then landed a shatter machine and covered Waller for a close near fall. Theory dragged Gargano to the outside and smashed him into the announce table. Ciampa rolled up Waller in the ring for a near fall.
The action broke down a bit with several near fall. Ciampa landed Project Ciampa, and then DIY landed Meet in the Middle, but Theory broke up the fall. Gargano then placed Waller in the GargaNo Escape, but Theory prevented the tap out. Ciampa then applied the Sicilian Stretch on Theory, and then Waller was forced to tap out to the crossface and DIY got the win.
DIY defeated A-Town Down Under to become WWE Tag Team Champions at 14:10
After the match, a video recap showed some highlights of the match. We then got a pre-taped promo from The Bloodline. He said the Ula Fala makes him the tribal chief. He said Roman Reigns wasn’t man enough to defend his Championship against Cody Rhodes, and so he was no longer man enough to be the Tribal Chief. He then said he would take back The Bloodline’s WWE Championship from Cody Rhodes, and if Roman wanted it back, he could take it from him. Solo then threatened Cody Rhodes that he was coming for him and that he would acknowledge him.
My Take: Both tag team titles change hands in the same week? They must have some new feuds in mind for Summerslam. DIY’s reunion hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire, but hopefully they have a heel team in mind for them to feud with that can bring the best out of them. The Solo promo that closed the show was good. I remain skeptical that it’s a good idea to send him after Cody Rhodes already, but we’ll see what they have in mind.
The street profits need to break up yesterday. Their act is beyond stale and they are wasting some good years for Tez
The World’s Most Boring Midget Tag Team won the belts? HHH can’t help but push his failed indy darlings from the Boring & Godawful era of NXT even though they’ve all proven they can’t get over in front of a real wrestling crowd.
What are you talking about? Did you hear the crowd behind DIY? Everyone lumps me in with this guy because I don’t like AEW but I don’t like his takes either. Why are you such a judge of talent? How much booking experience do you have?
I’ve taken shits that drew bigger crowds than DIY.
“Both tag team titles change hands in the same week?” Judgment Day defeated Awesome Truth for the Raw titles on June 24th. Monday June 24th to July 5th is in the same week? Are we using Steiner Math on this one?
Wonder how Solo got the necklace? Was it given by the Rock to him? Also I’m convinced BL2.0 wins, solo pins Cody and gets the match at SS. Setting up a Roman return that same night.