Roman Reigns returns on WWE SmackDown.
Credit: WWE WWE SmackDown advertised the return of Roman Reigns as a showdown with LA Knight looms. SmackDown’s season premiere also advertised John Cena, the in-ring return of Pretty Deadly and the return of Triple H. With no competition from the MLB playoffs and such big names on the show, SmackDown figures to be one of the highest-rated shows of the month.
Last week’s broadcast of WWE SmackDown garnered 2.319 million viewers.
WWE SmackDown Results | October 13, 2023 Pretty Deadly def. The Brawling Brutes Bayley def. Zelina Vega Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso def. A-Town Down Under | WWE Undisputed Tag Team Titles LA Knight def. Solo Sikoa WWE SmackDown Ratings October 6, 2023 | 2.319 million September 29, 2023 | 2.303 million September 22, 2023 | 2.227 million September 15, 2023 | 2.569 million September 8, 2023 | 2.094 million WWE SmackDown Ticket Sales WWE SmackDown Venue: BOK Center (Tulsa, OK) WWE SmackDown Tickets Distributed: 10,602 Available Tickets: 447 Tony Khan Is Embarrassing Himself | Pro Wrestling Bits WWE SmackDown Winners and Grades Roman Reigns, Cena And LA Knight Open SmackDown Roman Reigns came back with a grand entrance to confront John Cena, and fans still chanted for Cena.
Paul Heyman, who sported grey hair during the Tuesday Night War, has aged in reverse as he remembered to apply his Hair Club for Men for Roman Reigns’ big return.
The most over people in the ring goes like this:
LA Knight John Cena Roman Reigns Jimmy Uso attacked LA Knight while he was frying up Roman Reigns, and Knight dumped Knight out of the ring. Cena, playing the role of Switzerland, stayed out of it. Reigns walked out and Solo Sikoa challenged LA Knight.
Opening Segment Grade: B Pretty Deadly Def. The Brawling Brutes Pretty Deadly’s theme music remains fire.
Corey Graves compared Pretty Deadly’s comeback to Aaron Rodgers when he returns to the New York Jets. Michael Cole noted Rodgers is already walking after tearing his achilles while Elton Prince was in a wheelchair following a shoulder injury.
Corey Graves is All In as a cheerleader for Pretty Deadly, and it’s hilarious.
After their comeback win, Elton returned to his bedazzled wheelchair for a victory lap.
Backstage, Bobby Lashley and the Street Profits attacked Carlito.
Pretty Deadly vs. The Brawling Brutes Grade: B Bayley Def. Zelina Vega Roman Reigns demanded Jimmy Uso regain the WWE Undisputed Tag Team Titles from Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso because it’s a slap in the face to the Bloodline to have them carrying those titles.
While the LWO was attending to Carlito, Bayley claimed she was planning a championship celebration for Iyo Sky. This led to an argument between her and Zelina Vega, and a fired-up Adam Pearce made the match. Pearce has done a good job as a GM of late, I don’t know if WWE needs Nick Aldis.
Bayley defeated Zelina Vega with help from Iyo Sky, and the announcers were really pushing that Bayley no longer owes Iyo. WWE still wants you to know that tensions between the two remain.
Bayley vs. Zelina Vega Grade: B- Triple H Names Nick Aldis New GM Adam Pearce was in the ring with Triple H. With all these Nick Aldis rumors, “Nick Aldis” became a trending topic on Twitter.
Triple H presented this as Adam Pearce getting a promotion. Adam Pearce is now the new General Manager of Monday Night Raw. Before Triple H could announce the new General Manager of SmackDown, he was interrupted by Dominik Mysterio. Per usual, Dominik was booed out of Tulsa.
Triple H said he always thought the boos were being piped in until he heard them in real time.
Nick Aldis’ introduction was underwhelming. No theme music, just Aldis randomly walking into the ring and introducing himself.
Kevin Owens was introduced as the newest member of the SmackDown roster. So no more Kevin and Sami?
Triple H/Nick Aldis Segment Grade: B- Cody Rhodes And Jey Uso Def. A-Town Down Under Backstage, Charlotte Flair met Jade Cargill, who Charlotte called “Jade.”
Jimmy Uso continued to try to warm up to Roman Reigns, calling himself a second-string quarterback to the Tribal Chief. As a result, and at the behest of Reigns, Jimmy was almost guaranteed to interfere in this match.
Early in the match, Grayson Waller learned the rule that you’re never allowed to head butt a Samoan.
Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes once again hit the Cody 1D, and once again, Cody Rhodes folded up like an accordion. It’s a cool move but feels like a disaster waiting to happen.
Jimmy Uso did not interfere in this match. He did, however, walk out after—alongside Solo Sikoa—to confront Jey and Cody. Then Reigns came face-to-face with Cody Rhodes. The countdown to Cody dethroning Reigns begins.
Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes vs. A-Town Down Under Grade: B+ LA Knight Def. Solo Sikoa LA Knight’s second pop wasn’t as big as his first, which is typical, but it was still a massive reaction.
Solo Sikoa dominated the early goings of this match. With Knight heavily favored to win, Solo had to also look strong.
On the same show where Corey Graves talked up the toughness of the Samoan Skull, Solo Sikoa hit his head against a turnbuckle and sold it like crazy.
Corey on Solo Sikoa: “He’s still the Street Champ but he’s on Dream Street at this point.”
This basic match built up to an LA Knight body slam on Solo Sikoa that received a huge reaction.
John Cena sacrificed himself, taking a Samoan Spike while LA Knight picked up the win. Cena did Yeoman’s work putting LA Knight over tonight.
For his troubles, LA Knight was met with a spear after his win.
LA Knight vs. Solo Sikoa Grade: B+