 Solo Sikoa Confronted Undisputed WWE Champion Cody RhodesRhodes didn't say much of note before he was quickly interrupted by The Bloodline. Sikoa has said in recent weeks he wanted next, so the fact he'll be challenging Rhodes again for the Undisputed WWE Championship shouldn't be too surprising. It's a nice attraction for SmackDown's return to USA Network next Friday night, but the Steel Cage stipulation will be wasted if Roman Reigns returns to cost Sikoa. If that happens, I don't know how it will be any different than what went down at SummerSlam. Bayley def. Tiffany StrattonThese two briefly feuded over the WWE Women's Championship following WrestleMania 40, but this actually marked their first-ever one-one-one match. They had quality chemistry and delivered a good match. They're clearly capable of better, though. Nia Jax walked down to the ringside, but her attempt of a distraction backfired. A rematch between Bayley and Jax for the title seems inevitable. Apollo Crews def. Giovanni VinciVinci's return has been hyped for a few weeks through some sweet vignettes. That's why I hated that he was booked to look like a moron here by losing in a matter of seconds to Crews here. In a way, it made some sense because Vinci's last feud when he was a singles star in NXT two years ago was with Crews, so Crews was able to give him his comeuppance here. It's all about the aftermath, though. Vinci deserves a chance to shine after being repackaged and this wasn't a strong start. Kevin Owens def. Austin Theory and Grayson Waller in a Triple Threat MatchJust when you think we've seen every iteration of Owens against A-Town Down Under, they get thrown in a Triple Threat together. I'm so sick of seeing Owens work with these two. The matches are always well wrestled, but most of them have followed the same formula and I'm pretty sure Owens has won every encounter. Thankfully, Owens is over enough that the crowd was into the action, despite it basically being a Handicap match. Theory and Waller have been teasing tension for months. Can WWE pull the trigger and split them up already? United States Champion LA Knight Attacked Andrade and Carmelo HayesAndrade and Hayes are tied with two wins apiece and they'll have their fifth match next week, but I like that they simultaneously have their sights set on the United States Championship. I assume their feud won't end regardless of who wins that rubber match so we can get a Triple Threat with these three, hopefully at Bad Blood. This was a solid segment to plant the seeds for that. Chelsea Green def. MichinMichin has received a ton of television time lately and Green is an entertaining character, but the crowd was quiet for most of the match for as long as it lasted. It was on the shorter side, but what we got was decent. I thought Michin might pick up a rebound win here, so Green winning instead was quite the unexpected outcome. Now the question is if she can maintain the momentum. The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu and WWE Tag Team Champions Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa) def. The Street Profits and #DIYI'm glad this went on last as it ended up being the best thing on the entire episode, but the babyfaces had zero chance of winning with Sikoa challenging for the top title next week. Plus, they need to be protected until Reigns returns again. As a match, however, this was very fun and fast paced. The Bloodline closing out the FOX era of SmackDown standing tall feels fitting. Overall ShowThe FOX era of SmackDown has officially come to an end, and although it will mean a lot less exposure for the blue brand going forward, it will be refreshing to (hopefully) not have as many blackouts and bleeping (as well as the occasional preempting). I thought the video package they put together celebrating their time on FOX was cool, even if it mostly featured highlights from the first show five years ago and this past year. This was a fairly dull edition of SmackDown on the whole (especially coming off a pay-per-view), but at least it built toward next week's USA Network premiere and progressed a few storylines.
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