By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Friday Night Smackdown (Episode 1,301)
Cleveland, Ohio at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse
Aired live August 2, 2024 on Fox
[Hour One] A shot aired of Cleveland Browns Stadium as well as the Smackdown host venue… Logan Paul was shown arriving at the building where he was greeted by Smackdown general manager Nick Aldis and others… Corey Graves and Wade Barrett were on commentary and they hyped the two tag team title matches…
WWE Champion Cody Rhodes made his entrance dressed in a suit and was introduced by ring announcer Alicia Taylor. Cody asked the Cleveland crowd what they wanted to talk about, then asked who they wanted to talk to. Cody said Solo Sikoa’s name and then looked at the stage.
Solo Sikoa made his entrance dressed in non-wrestling attire. A loud “We Want Roman” chant broke out. “Cleveland, Ohio, acknowledge me,” Sikoa started. There were boos and someone was censored for a moment. A “Solo sucks” chant started.
Cody said he could see the chip on Solo’s shoulder. Cody said Sikoa is a little brother, just like he is. Cody said once the ballyhoo and the cinema that The Bloodline is famous for, the bell will ring at SummerSlam. Cody said Sikoa will find out that he has nothing to lose whereas Cody has everything on the line.
Sikoa interrupted Cody by asking if he was done. Sikoa said Cody was wasting his time. Cody said he was not done. Rhodes said Sikoa is a self-proclaimed Tribal Chief, whereas he is the actual WWE Champion. Cody said he’s in debt to those who helped him reach his goals such as Randy Orton and Kevin Owens.
Cody said that if he loses at SummerSlam, he can’t repay his debt. He said he intends to pay Orton and Owens back with Solo’s blood. He said he intends to do what he did to Roman Reigns when he defeated him in a Bloodline Rules match at WrestleMania.
Solo said Cody keeps bringing up that match. Sikoa said Cody beat a Tribal Chief who was weak. Sikoa said he is not weak, he’s dangerous and would show just how dangerous he is at SummerSlam. Sikoa told Cody to put his money where his mouth is.
Sikoa challenged Cody to meet in a Bloodline Rules match. Jacob Fatu walked through the crowd and then Tama Tonga did the same in another area. Fatu and Tonga met at ringside and then Tonga Loa walked through the crowd with his eye covered by a patch and also joined them at ringside. Fatu, Tonga, and Loa climbed onto the apron.
Cody said he’s not afraid of Tonga, Loa, or Fatu. Cody called Fatu a “dumb son of a bitch.” The crowd popped. Cody said giving Sikoa a Bloodline Rules match was probably not the smartest decision he could make, but it was the only decision he could make. “I accept,” Cody said. The camera got a great shot of Fatu staring at Cody.
Solo said that he could snap his fingers and his allies would tear Cody apart. Sikoa said he wouldn’t do that. He said the tag team titles would come back to The Bloodline and then the WWE Championship will come back to the Bloodline at SummerSlam.
Cody said he gets that they hate him. Cody said he doesn’t have to fight the family, he has to defeat the Tribal Chief. Cody said since the Tribal Chief was not there, he would settle for the wannabe. Cody dropped his mic and then Solo did the same. Cody and Solo stared one another down while Cody’s music played. Solo signaled for his crew to leave and then he joined them in heading to the back…
Powell’s POV: I like the late addition of the Bloodline Rules, which essentially means there won’t be any rules and there is likely to be a lot of interference. I assume we’ll get the return of Orton, Owens, and the grand finale of Reigns. By the way, I’m filling in for Jake Barnett tonight. Jake will be back tomorrow for our same night audio review of SummerSlam for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons).
A Carmelo Hayes video aired from a barber shop. He spoke about facing Andrade in a rematch and said it would be a whole new ballgame. He said he could win in three or five or as many times as Andrade wanted to face him…
Andrade made his black mask entrance (that continues to mean way more to him than it does to the fans) heading into a commercial break… [C] Carmelo Hayes made his entrance…
1. Carmelo Hayes vs. Andrade. They cut to a break a couple minutes into the match. [C] Andrade avoided Nothing But Net, but Hayes caught him on the middle of the top rope and then suplexed him while using the ropes. Hayes went up top and was cut off by Andrade, who executed a superplex. [C]
Hayes performed a spinning facebuster for a near fall. Hayes had welts on his chest from Andrade’s chops. Hayes lowered one of his kneepads and played to the crowd. Andrade caught Hayes with an elbow strike for a near fall. Andrade went for a top rope moonsault and landed on his feet when Hayes moved, and then Andrade performed a standing moonsault for a good near fall. A “this is awesome” chant broke out.
Andrade took Hayes down and put him in a Figure Four. Hayes reached the ropes to break the hold. Hayes drilled Andrade with superkicks. Andrade caught Hayes with a kick and set up for a Hammerlock DDT, but Hayes avoided it. Hayes rolled up Andrade for a two count, but then Andrade rolled Hayes into a pin and got the three count…
Andrade defeated Carmelo Hayes in 16:10.
Powell’s POV: A good match. There were a couple times when it seemed like the wrestlers weren’t on the same page, but they recovered quickly and got the crowd with them more as the match went on.
Backstage, Santos Escobar spoke to Angel, Berto, and Elektra Lopez about how their fortunes would change. He said it started tonight by taking care of Apollo Crews. The group made their entrance… [C]
2. Santos Escobar (w/Angel, Berto, Elektra Lopez) vs. Apollo Crews (w/Baron Corbin). Crews was in the ring coming out of the break, but his introduction was televised. Escobar performed a backbreaker and covered Crews for a two count.
A short time later, Crews punched Berto to knock him off the apron and then performed a standing moonsault on Escobar for a two count. Crews went up top. Corbin was grabbed by Angel, who was underneath the ring. Berto attacked Corbin. Escobar pulled a distracted Crews off the ropes and hit him with the Phantom Driver for the win…
Santos Escobar defeated Apollo Crews in 3:30.
Powell’s POV: Fine while it lasted. I still don’t get the Corbin and Crews pairing.
Backstage, Byron Saxton interviewed Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill about their tag title shot. Jade spoke about their confidence. Belair noted that they weren’t pinned to lose the titles and now it would be two-on-two. Belair said they would leave with the tag titles…
The ringside crew was shown setting up the ring for Logan Paul’s homecoming segment… An ad for Monday’s Raw on Syfy listed Chad Gable and The Creeds vs. Erick Rowan, Dexter Lumis, and Joe Gacy in a six-man tag match… [C]
Smackdown general manager Nick Aldis stood in the ring with three “Cleveland dignitaries” and introduced U.S. Champion Logan Paul for his homecoming. Paul was mostly booed and Fox did some censoring as he walked to the ring. Once in the ring, Paul shook hands with the dignitaries and Aldis.
There was an LA Knight chant. Paul claimed to inspire Cleveland. He said he represents the city. “I am Cleveland,” Paul stated. Paul asked the fans what kind of welcome they were giving him. Paul said the fans can relate to Knight because they are a bunch of try hards who never made it.
[Hour Two] Paul noted that he’d had only two title defenses in 273 days. “Hey, that’s two more title defenses than LA Knight will ever have,” he said. Paul said he couldn’t relate to the fans after all because he made it. Paul pointed out the dignitaries.
Aldis interrupted and said he entered the names of the dignitaries into Google and couldn’t find anything about them. Paul said they weren’t from Cleveland. Paul said it was time to unveil his championship banner to remind the world that he is Cleveland’s finest.
Paul’s banner unrolled and had “Yeah” written on it. The dignitaries applauded anyway. LA Knight made his entrance and spoke from the stage. Knight said his shades were making it tough for him to see what the banner said and had the crowd say it for him. Paul congratulated the people for being able to read.
Knight said Paul better get serious because it was 24 hours from SummerSlam and he was 24 hours away from losing his title. Knight called out Paul for being from West Lake rather than Cleveland. Paul said it’s a suburb of Cleveland. Knight said he had another banner for Paul and went backstage to get it.
A camera showed Knight walking through the back in search of “something real ugly” for Paul. Knight encountered “Pretty Deadly” Elton Prince and Kit Wilson and asked if they had a banner. They offered to sing instead, but Knight quickly made his exit.
Paul found the Prime truck. Paul left the ring and ran to the back. Knight said he knew Paul would arrive in 3-2-1. Knight hopped in the truck and drove away just before Paul could reach him. Paul said Knight stealing the truck was a crime…
Powell’s POV: Logan Paul f—ed a couch. OOPSIES!! I might be guilty of spreading misinformation along with the entirety of this app.
A sponsored video package spotlighted Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre, and then the duo made their entrance for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Title match… [C]
Backstage, Logan Paul complained to Nick Aldis about LA Knight stealing his truck and asked what he was going to do about it. Aldis told him he would take it up with Paul’s dignitaries and then walked away…
Powell’s POV: Logan Paul was born with a vagina. OOPSIES!! I might be guilty of spreading misinformation along with the entirety of this app.
Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill made their entrances…
3. Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre vs. Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles. Alicia Taylor delivered in-ring introductions for the title match. The champions tried to attack before the bell, but the challengers avoided them and put them down with fallaway slams. The referee insisted that they start one-on-one and then called for the bell to start the match.
Cargill pressed Fyre over her head while Belair did the same with Dawn. They dropped the champions behind their heads and then posed while Dawn and Fyre rolled to ringside. [C] Dawn performed a Backstabber on Cargill and then Fyre performed a Swanton on Cargill. Dawn covered Cargill for a near fall.
Cargill came back with a double suplex and tagged out. Belair went up top and performed a crossbody block onto both champions. Belair worked over both champions and performed a vertical suplex on Fyre. Belair speared both champions in the corner and then stood on the ropes and threw punches at them while the fans counted along.
Fyre slipped away and pulled Belair off the ropes via her ponytail. Belair came right back and executed a standing moonsault on Fyre. Belair had the pin, but Dawn broke it up. Cargill and Dawn fought to the floor where Cargill threw a superkick.
Belair set up Fyre for her KOD finisher, but Blair Davenport showed up at ringside and ran Cargill into the ring post for the disqualification finish.
Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill defeated Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre by DQ in 7:30 in a WWE Women’s Championship match.
After the match, Davenport, Fyre, and Dawn used the numbers advantage to leave Belair and Cargill lying… [C]
Powell’s POV: I like the DQ finish a lot. Belair and Cargill regaining the titles with ease wouldn’t have accomplished much. This finish makes fans truly want to see Bianca and Jade get revenge and regain their titles. Plus, it gives Davenport a purpose on the main roster. I suspect this will lead to some six-woman tag matches with Naomi teaming with Bianca and Jade.
Barrett plugged The Ringer’s feature story on Michael Cole… Graves hyped the absurdly long three-hour SummerSlam countdown show… Graves and Barrett ran through the SummerSlam card. They included highlights of Bron Breakker’s appearance on The Pat McAfee Show…
A video package aired on the Bayley vs. Nia Jax match for the WWE Women’s Championship…
Tiffany Stratton looked sad while checking out her mangled Money in the Bank briefcase. Nia Jax showed up and presented her with a new pink briefcase. Jax told Stratton that if she tried to cash in at SummerSlam, they will no longer be Princess and Queen, and Stratton would have to answer to her. A giddy Stratton promised that she would not cash in.
Chelsea Green and Piper Niven showed up after Jax walked away. Green spoke about what she would have done to make the new briefcase better. She said Stratton pushed her off the ladder rudely and said she would have been so much better than “tacky time.” Stratton told Green that green is not her color and then gave her the “toodles” line before making her exit…
The Bloodline’s Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga, and Tonga Loa made their entrance for the main event… [C]
The Bloodline was in the ring coming out of the break. Tommaso Ciampa was shown walking backstage. Ciampa introduced himself and then stopped when he saw Johnny Gargano hanging out with Candice LeRae, their son, and Indi Hartwell. Gargano spoke about being from Cleveland and pumped up the crowd before the duo made their entrance…
4. “DIY” Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa vs. Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga (w/Solo Sikoa, Tonga Loa) for the WWE Team Titles. Alicia Taylor delivered in-ring introductions for the title match. Tonga slammed Ciampa and then ran him through the ropes and into the ring post casing heading into an early break. [C]
Ciampa hit an Air Raid Crash from the middle rope on Tonga for a near fall coming out of the break. A short time later, Tonga splashed CIampa and had the pin, but Gargano broke it up. Fatu took Gargano to ringside and placed him against the ring steps. Fatu went for a hip attack, but Gargano moved, causing Fatu to hit the steps.
In the ring, Ciampa rolle dup Tonga for a two count. Tonga charged Gargano, who made a blind tag. DIY hit the Shatter Machine. Loa climbed on the apron and distracted the referee while Solo hit the Samoan Spike on Ciampa. Tonga performed a neckbreaker on Gargano and covered him for a near fall.
Gargano recovered and superkicked Fatu, Tonga, and Loa. Gargano hit Tonga with a suicide dive. Back in the ring, Gargano performed a Poison Rana on Fatu, who sold it for a moment and then shot up and removed his shirt. Fatu superkicked Gargano and then hit a popup Samoan Drop. Fatu hit a moonsault and a DDT and then pinned Gargano…
Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga defeated “DIY” Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa in 9:20 to win the WWE Tag Team Titles.
After the match, The Bloodline members stood in the ring with Sikoa front and center. Tonga and Fatu both placed their newly won tag team title belts over the shoulders of Sikoa to close the show…
Powell’s POV: It felt like the titles had to change hands to make the new Bloodline look strong heading into Solo’s title match at SummerSlam. Fatu continues to be a blast. I wasn’t a fan of rushing the tag titles onto DIY because I like the idea of a title chase feud. Hopefully they can slide into that role now and won’t just be pushed down the card while makeshift teams consisting of two singles wrestlers challenge the new champions.
Overall, this was an enjoyable go-home show. I will be back later tonight with our same night audio review of Smackdown Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons), who will also hear an exclusive same night audio review of Smackdown. Let me know what you thought of the SummerSlam go-home show by grading it below.
Black wrestlers have been largely ignored on the SUMMERSLAM card, and if they show up on main roster shows, they lose.
Yay. Politics from Jason Logan Paul and whoever SLW is
I watch (and read about) wrestling to escape from reality, not be reminded of it
But if we have to go here. WWE gives women wrestlers more “time” and attention than any mainstream promotion in history (and certainly much more equal time than your average daily sports center)
WWE also employs and promotes wrestlers from many different countries and thus showing expansive racial diversity
Oh yeah and their biggest star of all time (and even today when he makes appearances) happens to be 1/2 black
Are they perfect? Hardly. Do they have a curios history around race? Potentially. Have then done a lot in the past decade to show diversity in race and gender? They have
Even when VKM the most important color was green. Put assess in the seats and they will push you to the moon
Nothing political about what I wrote about Logan Paul. He wrote something that was inaccurate. His “apology” was awful and he deserves to be called out for it.
He wrote something completely accurate about a person with XY chromosomes who has failed multiple DNA tests and has been banned from fighting women by the IBA.
The IBA is crooked as fuck and never actually provided any proof of this. They got mad that she defeated a Russian boxer and the kremlin stooge that runs the organization concocted their little scheme, never providing any documentation of these “multiple failed DNA tests.”But no one is shocked that you believe the horseshit because you desperately want it to be true to justify your bigotry.
Damn, I wish I would have saw your post before I replied. You could have saved me a lot of time!
Edit: I want to add that while I agree with the general point of Jim’s post, I was not endorsing the idea that Greatest One’s is a bigot. Perhaps I’m forgetting something, but I don’t recall getting that vibe from his posts over the years. Well, unless you count hating AEW as bigotry. If so, then he’s definitely a bigot!
Bullshit. Here’s what Logan Paul originally wrote. “This is the purest form of evil unfolding right before our eyes. A man was allowed to beat up a woman on a global stage, crushing her life’s dream while fighting for her deceased father. This delusion must end.”
Logan Paul thought it was a trans woman. He was wrong. Rather than admit it, he reached for the story regarding the corrupt IBA to save face.
As Jake Barnett spoke about today during Pro Wrestling Boom podcast, the fighter in question was born a woman, grew up a woman, and is still a woman. She would not have been allowed in the Olympics if that were not the case. In fact, her life would be at risk in her home country due to their transgender views. Jake also said the boxing outfit you cited is corrupt, which this AP story supports (paragraphs below): https://apnews.com/article/olympics-2024-imane-khelif-boxing-paris-2eb07d442ffb29a61e09911884dcdaa9
For whatever it’s worth, this is not political to me in any way. While I support everyone’s choice to be who they are, I find issue of trans women competing in sports to be extremely complicated. I mocked Logan Paul because was wrong and he could have simply acknowledged his error, apologized, and moved on. He was a dick about it.
Here are a few key paragraphs from that AP story…
“She had previously competed without issues and was disqualified by the sport’s governing body only after she defeated Russian boxer Azalia Amineva in the 2023 tournament. The IBA is controlled by Umar Kremlev, who is Russian and brought in the state-owned energy supplier Gazprom as its primary sponsor and moved much of the governing body’s operations to Russia.
“This week, the IOC described it as aa sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA’ in which Khelif and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan ‘were suddenly disqualified without any due process.’ Lin was suspended for failing to meet unspecified eligibility requirements in a biochemical test.
“The reasons for the two disqualifications are extremely murky, as is almost always the case with the IBA. The governing body has revealed little about the nature of the tests, including what was tested and who tested it. This lack of transparency would be unacceptable in major Olympic sports, and the IBA has been banned from the Olympics since 2019.
“The IOC noted Thursday that the boxing association’s own documents say the decision was made unilaterally by the IBA’s secretary general. Those documents also say the IBA went on to resolve at a meeting that it should ‘establish a clear procedure on gender testing’ after it had already disqualified the two fighters.”
Here’s what an actual leading biologist says about the situation, which once again has been fully proven by multiple DNA tests.
https://x.com/hoovlet/status/1819041282594873759
Great, you found the doctor the right uses when they go doctor shopping. Even if you agree with her, do you think Logan Paul consulted her or any DNA expert when he made his original tweet? Stop defending his mistake. It’s pathetic.
No, you fucking imbecile, I used a former Harvard professor and one of the world’s leading biologists. God damn you hate the truth when it doesn’t fit your whackadoo far left bullshit.
Imane Khelif is MALE. The only people saying otherwise put ideology over evidence.
Very well stated and written
YEP
And EVERY Black person on tonight either lost or got worked over; something that has happened more often than not on RAW & SD since Mania. But hey, maybe they’ll do better at SUMMER SLAM. Wait. . . WHAT?! There are no Black wrestlers scheduled to compete at SUMMERSLAM???!!! HMMMMMM….
Ok you are the booker, what current black stars aren’t being promoted correctly and how would you revamp the summer slam lineup accordingly?
(In my opinion the one black wrestler currently who should be getting a monster push who isn’t getting one is Montez Ford. However he has made it clear that he doesn’t want to break up the street profits and tag teams just aren’t a big draw)
Also I may be a little inaccurate on this but Jade and Bianca each got full intros tonight and I think the champs info was interrupted by a promo or a commercial. They were CLEARLY the stars of the match even thought they didn’t “win” their match. They are both pushed as massive stars and eventually when they split and feud their match will be considered for a top of the placement. Jade and Bianca are PUSHED.
Green cargill needs to learn how to wrestle. She’s awful. A year there and still dreadful. But shes a star eh. Couldn’t work her way out of a wet paper bag.
Wrestling ability has never drawn a single dime in pro wrestling. Nobody needs to learn anything beyond working the crowd and not hurting your opponents.
Everyone, especially the good guys, get beat down. It’s storytelling.
As for the matches alone:
African American, Latino
Latino, Nigerian
Caucasians, African Americans in a championship match
Caucasians, Samoans in a championship match
OOPSIES 🙂
The huge AEW haters coming out to attack the writers on this site for what was written AND pushing more crazy conspiracy theory BS about a woman at the Olympics is all you ever need to see to not take once ounce of what they write on this site with any grain of salt. Some of the worst people outside of Twitter post in this comment section.
Paul should have been stripped of the title instead of being put on a pedestal tonight. Send a message that that kinda crap isn’t OK.
I agree with Powell wrote, but if you haven’t noticed that TheLoserOne isn’t a bigot by now with how he describes the athletes he and Cornette Cult don’t like on here, I don’t know what to tell you.
Nobody said a thing about AEW captain cockmunch.
I try to give him the benefit of the doubt even though he does not return the favor. The name calling is childish, yet mostly eye-rolling and harmless. That said, I have a notoriously bad memory, so it’s very possible that I’m forgetting something.
I usually enjoy the results commentary, but this was tacky. It just feels like stooping to a certain level, and that’s not needed here.
For having some fun mocking a guy who was wrong and won’t admit it? Shame on me, I guess.
He wasn’t wrong. The SCIENCE is clear on this. Carole Hooven is a former Harvard professor and one of the leading biologists in the world. The IOC hasn’t produced a shred of evidence, beyond the guy’s passport, that supports their decision to allow a man to beat up women.
Dude, seriously, fuck off. Logan Paul had no idea what this professor said when he tweeted what he did. He thought the boxer was a trans woman. He was wrong. The boxer was born a woman and is a woman. I’m sure I could go out and find other doctors who disagree with the professor, but you’d just ignore them in your endless pursuit of being right about everything. Never mind what the Olympics ruled, you know better because one professor and a fraudulent boxing group say. I’ve tried many times to give you the benefit of the doubt, but you are truly an insufferable asshole.
This scientist has never seen this woman’s supposed dna tests, you fucking dipshit. No one has. The IBA is run by the head of a Russian state owned gas company and full blown Putin stooge. Before that it was run by an Uzbek gangster. Right wing cunts like you will eat up every little morsel of Russian propaganda that fits your narrative because it’s one more log on the fire you can use to stoke your hatred. You obsess over a few million people that just want to live their lives without having to worry about assholes like you making things harder for them. Go fuck yourself, you miserable waste