WWE SmackDown Report – 5/20/2022

May 20, 2022 - by Staff

– Tonight’s WWE SmackDown on FOX opens up with a video package for tonight’s Winners Take All main event. We’re now live from the Vandel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan as Michael Cole welcomes us to SmackDown. He’s joined at ringside by Pat McAfee and they’re fired up for the show.

– We go right to the ring and out comes The Bloodline as Samantha Irvin does the introduction – Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos, and Paul Heyman. They stop on the stage and raise their titles as the pyro goes off.

The Bloodline hits the ring to more pyro. Reigns takes the mic and calls on Grand Rapids to acknowledge him. Reigns says tonight fans will also acknowledge his cousins, and The Bloodline. Reigns tells Heyman to explain why. Heyman welcomes us to the single biggest night in the history of tag team wrestling. Heyman goes on hyping up The Usos and says tonight they will come home as the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions or they won’t come home to The Island of Relevancy at all. Heyman declares The Usos will defeat RAW Tag Team Champions RK-Bro and become the greatest tag team of all-time, and become the Undisputed Tag Team Champions of the world, and that’s not just a prediction, that, ladies and gentlemen, is a spoiler.

Heyman hands Reigns the mic back. Reigns tells them they know what he wants, he wants them to deliver. The only reason Reigns has these expectations is because he loves them. Reigns and The Usos do a group hug in the middle of the ring as fans boo. The music starts back up and The Bloodline raises their titles in the air.

– We see Sami Zayn backstage watching The Bloodline and he’s excited for them, acting like he’s a member of the group. He’s also wearing a Bloodline t-shirt.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Sami Zayn

We go back to the ring and out comes Shinsuke Nakamura for tonight’s opening match as McAfee goes wild at ringside. Nakamura dances to the ring as we go to commercial.

Back from the break and out comes Sami Zayn. The bell rings and they go at it. Sami goes for an early pin attempt, then works on Nakamura’s arm. Nakamura counters and takes Sami down by his arm. Nakamura drops Zayn with a shoulder. Nakamura dodges a shot and levels Zayn with a kick now. Nakamura unloads with more strikes, knocking Zayn back into the corner.

Nakamura with Good Vibrations in the corner now. Nakamura takes Zayn back down and drops a knee for a 2 count. Nakamura with knee strikes now. Sami counters and yanks Nakamura down by his hair. Sami mounts Nakamura with right hands now. Sami with a big clothesline for a 2 count. Sami chokes Nakamura on the ropes now as fans boo.

Sami goes to the top but Nakamura leas up and rocks him, then climbs up for the superplex as fans cheer him on. Sami resists but Nakamura drops him over the top rope. Sami dodges the Kinshasa but runs into an elbow. Sami ends up sending Nakamura out to the floor as we go back to commercial.

Back from the break and Sami unloads on Nakamura with right hands, grounding him on the mat. Fans rally for Nakamura as he fights up and out, then nails a flying kick. Both are down in the middle of the ring now. Nakamura fights back and unloads with kicks. Sami blocks a charge into the corner but Nakamura kicks him and hits the big sliding German suplex. Nakamura goes to the second rope and hits a flying kick to the back of the neck. Sami kicks out just in time and Nakamura can’t believe it.

More back and forth and they both go down again. Nakamura readies for the Kinshasa but Sami retreats to the floor again as fans boo. Nakamura charges at ringside but Sami catches him with a big Michinoku Driver in front of the announce table. Sami rushes back in and hopes for another count out win but Nakamura rushes back in at the 9 count. Sami can’t believe it.

Fans chant “Rusty!” as Sami now. Sami brings it back out but Nakamura counters and sends him face-first into the ring post. Nakamura then tosses Sami over the barrier into the timekeeper’s area. Nakamura returns to the ring but Sami makes it right back in before the 10 count. Nakamura immediately meets him with a Kinshasa for the pin to win.

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura

– After the match, Nakamura stands tall and celebrates as the music hits.

– The announcers send us to a video package on how The Usos have dominated the tag team division.

– We go back to the ring and out comes Happy Baron Corbin for another edition of Happy Talk. Corbin doesn’t look so happy tonight. We go back to commercial.

Back from the break and Corbin is in the ring with a mic. He has Madcap Moss’ Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal trophy with him at ringside. Corbin speaks and says he tells us this every week, but he’s the happiest he’s ever been. Corbin doesn’t sound happy any longer.

Corbin brags about his expensive attire and accessories as the boos get louder. Corbin takes shots at Moss and says he got rid of him, and got a souvenir – the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal trophy. Corbin says he will put it in his trophy case next to his other Andre Battle Royal trophy. Corbin shows us footage of last week’s beatdown to Moss, which saw Moss leave on a stretcher. Corbin says he got fined a lot of money for that, well, a lot of money to most people, but you can’t put a price on art and that was a work of art and like every piece of amazing art, you appreciate it more the second time around. We get another look at how he smashed Moss with the Andre trophy while the chair was wrapped around his neck.

Fans continue to boo. Corbin says everyone should learn from that, appreciate the things they have, show their bosses total respect, and you should never try to improve your station in life. Moss had it good as Corbin’s protege, he flew on private jets, ate Wagyu beef and Corbin paid for it all. Corbin says now if Moss wants to eat steak, his nurse has to chew it first. Corbin says Moss wanted out of his shadow and wanted to be a big star at the top of WWE, but he was a big shot who didn’t appreciate every great thing Corbin did for him.

Moss thought Corbin could be the butt of all his jokes, calling him the Big Bald Wolf. Fans chant “Big Bald Wolf!” for a second. Corbin says maybe he is the big bad wolf because he huffed, puffed and put Moss in the back of an ambulance. Corbin drops the mic as his music starts back up. He goes to ringside and grabs the Andre Battle Royal trophy, but smashes it into the ring steps and continues to destroy it at ringside as fans boo.

– We see how Gunther beat down Drew Gulak last week, which came after Gulak told WWE Intercontinental Champion Ricochet that he was going to put Gunther in his place the next time he saw him.

Gunther vs. Drew Gulak

We go back to the stage and Ludwig Kaiser is under a spotlight. He calls on the crowd to show respect and honor to The Ring General, Gunther. The music transitions and the lights come up as Gunther makes his way out. Gunther and Kaiser take their time marching to the ring as we go back to commercial.

Back from the break and Drew Gulak is out as the match is already underway. Gunther decks Gulak to start and works him over. Gulak ducks a shot and fights back, delivering a chop of his own but it does nothing and Gunther drops him with ease. Gunther with another big chop to drop Gulak, and another.

Gunther grabs Gulak for a powerbomb in the middle of the ring to get the easy win.

Winner: Gunther

– After the match, Gunther stands tall as the music hits. Kaiser comes in and looks on as Gunther applies a Boston Crab, making Gulak scream out in pain. Kaiser watches and smiles. The music interrupts and out comes WWE Intercontinental Champion Ricochet. Gunther breaks the hold and stands up as Ricochet enters the ring. Ricochet has a few words for Gunther, then he goes and checks on Gulak. Gunther exits the ring and looks on from the ramp with Kaiser.

– Adam Pearce is backstage when LA Knight walks in, now known as Max Dupree. He says he’s ready to get to work as the CEO of the hottest new male modeling agency – Maximum Male Models. Dupree says tonight the discovery begins for the new generation of WWE Superstars who can headline Paris Fashion Week, but also WrestleMania. Pearce is just hearing of Dupree but Dupree says he was told Pearce is excited to have him, and he was told this by the person who hired him – Sonya Deville. Pearce says this awkward as Deville was relieved of her management duties a few weeks back, so this might not work out well. Dupree agrees that this is awkward as he and his agency have a signed contract. Pearce says he better reach out to his own legal department then. Dupree agrees. Pearce asks Dupree his name again and it’s Max Du-pree as Dupree corrects him on the pronunciation. Pearce says Dupree again and Dupree walks off, saying Pearce was so close.

– We see Kayla Braxton backstage with RK-Bro. Back to commercial.

– Back from the break and RK-Bro are backstage with Kayla Braxton. Riddle talks about being better than The Usos and says he and Randy Orton are going into this main event so calm because RK-Bro 4:20 says they just smoked your ass, bro. Orton says The Usos are sweating bullets tonight because they know Roman Reigns will be disappointed in them. Orton goes on and says The Usos have the three most dangerous letters in sports entertainment coming to them tonight. RK-Bro walks off, ready to go.

– Cole sends us to this week’s Progressive Match Flo video, which looks back at last week’s match between SmackDown Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey and Raquel Rodriguez. Shotzi is backstage watching and pacing. Fans in the arena boo. Aliyah walks in an says that was her opportunity until Shotzi locked her in a closet last week. They have words over who can beat Rousey and who can’t. Raquel Rodriguez walks up and Shotzi says she would be champion if it weren’t for Rodriguez. Shotzi says Rodriguez also can’t beat Rousey because she doesn’t have what it takes, she has all the tools but no idea what to do with them. Shotzi says Rodriguez is weak, a choker, soft, too nice, and six feet of disappointment. Shotzi says she will make Rodriguez pay for stealing her moment in their match that is starting right now. Shotzi calls Raquel an absurd Amazon. Rodriguez stares back at Shotzi, speaks a quick line in Spanish, then smiles at her and walks off to the ring.

Raquel Rodriguez vs. Shotzi

We go back to the ring and out first comes Raquel Rodriguez to a pop. Shotzi is out next. Shotzi hits the corner to pose as Raquel smiles at her. We go back to commercial.

Back from the break and the announcers plug WWE Clash at The Castle on September 3 at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. They note that Drew McIntyre is still on a UK promotional tour, but he will be back next week. They tout how Drew said over 40,000 tickets have been sold. We go back to the ring and the bell hits as Rodriguez goes at it with Shotzi. Rodriguez over-powers and unloads in the corner with power moves and thrusts.

Raquel goes on to man-handle Shotzi with one arm. Shotzi fights back after more back & forth. Shotzi uses the ropes to apply a submission as the referee counts. We see Natalya, Shayna Baszler, Xia Li, Aliyah, and Los Lotharios watching backstage as Cole says everyone wants to get a look at Rodriguez. Raquel smiles with Shotzi on her shoulders, bringing it back to the middle of the ring.

Shotzi applies a choke from Raquel’s back but Raquel rams her back into the turnbuckles. Shotzi with strikes and a kick to the face. We see the other Superstars watching backstage again. Raquel yells out and headbutts her. Raquel catches Shotzi in mid-move, powers her up in the air and down into a big fall-away slam for a pop.

Raquel scoops Shotzi for another fall-away slam. Raquel goes to the second rope and hits the corkscrew Vader Bomb. Raquel keeps control and drives Shotzi into the mat in the middle of the ring with a Chingona Bomb for the pin to win.

Winner: Raquel Rodriguez

– After the match, Rodriguez stands tall as the music hits and we go to replays. Raquel flexes her muscles and poses over Shotzi, yelling out that she’s here to stay.

– Kayla is backstage with Xavier Woods now. We see what happened last week as Butch defeated Kofi Kingston. Woods wonders if Butch can get a big win by himself or does he need Sheamus and Ridge Holland holding his leash all the time. Woods says he’s flying solo tonight because Kingston is on official WWE business, so he’s challenging Butch to come to the ring alone and face him one-on-one to prove what kind of man he really is. Woods walks off and heads to the ring.

Xavier Woods vs. Butch

We go back to the ring and out comes Xavier Woods to a pop. Woods poses in the corner as we go back to a break.

Back from the break and Woods is warming up in the ring. We see Sheamus and Ridge Holland backstage getting Butch riled up for the match. The music hits and out comes Butch.

The bell rings and they go at it. Woods lands a stiff forearm to send Butch to the floor. Woods stays on him but they bring it back in the ring and Butch stomps on Woods’ arm. Butch mounts Woods with right hands as fans chant “New Day rocks!” now. Butch kicks out of a quick pin attempt, then grounds Woods with an abdominal stretch on the mat.

Butch with another big stomp on Woods’ arm, then a headlock to ground him again. More back and forth now. Woods with the Honor Roll clothesline for a close 2 count. Woods chops Butch and works him around the ring. Butch fights free from Woods’ shoulders with a rake to the eye. Woods resists but Butch kicks him and sends him to the apron. Butch with several punt kicks to the head while Woods is draped over the top rope. Butch goes to the second rope and leaps with a stomp but Woods moves.

Butch charges but Woods kicks him from the apron. Woods comes in but Butch drops him with a right hand. Butch mounts Woods with punches to the back of the head while the referee counts. Woods grabs Butch out of nowhere with the Back Woods cradle for the pin to win out of nowhere.

Winner: Xavier Woods

– After the match, Woods stands tall and celebrates as his music hits. Butch begins to seethe, storming around the ringside area and retreating through the crowd. Woods backs up the ramp as we go to replays. Woods is playing to the crowd from the stage when Sheamus and Ridge Holland come out with their batons. Woods turns around to see them. Butch then runs over and attacks Woods. Sheamus and Holland end up holding Butch back from attacking Woods anymore while he’s down.

– We go to a video package on how RK-Bro has dominated the RAW tag team division. We see Riddle and Randy Orton backstage warming up now. Back to commercial.

– Back from the break and Xavier Woods is backstage. He says he’s sick and tired of the numbers game. He says Kofi Kingston will be back next week but because of Ridge Holland, Big E is still out. Woods says next week he’s got someone in mind for a six-man match and it’s someone Holland and Sheamus won’t like.

– Michael Cole says Sasha Banks and Naomi let us all down on Monday when they walked off the show and out of the arena during RAW. He says they were supposed to take part in the Six-Pack Challenge to determine a new #1 contender to RAW Women’s Champion Bianca Belair, along with Asuka, Becky Lynch, Doudrop, and Nikki A.S.H., but instead they took the titles to the Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis, left them there and walked out. Cole says they disappointed millions of fans and their fellow Superstars, and because of what they did this past Monday, they have been suspended indefinitely. Cole says we will have a future tournament to crown new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions.

Winners Take All Title Unification Match for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles: SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos vs. RAW Tag Team Champions RK-Bro

We go back to the ring for tonight’s Winners Take All main event. Out first are RAW Tag Team Champions RK-Bro – Randy Orton and Riddle. They hit the ring to a big pop from the crowd. Out next are SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos – Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso, with Paul Heyman. We get formal ring introductions from Samantha Irvin. Heyman is joining the announcers for commentary.

The two teams get ready and stare each other down as we go to commercial.

Back from the break and Jimmy goes at it with Riddle to start. We see both sets of title belts on display at ringside. They go back and forth until Riddle tag sin and starts stomping on Jimmy. Fans chant for Orton as he keeps control. Riddle tags back in and Orton launches him onto Jimmy for a quick 1 count. Jimmy turns it around and launches Riddle hard into the turnbuckles.

Jimmy works Riddle over and grounds him now as fans rally. Riddle gets knocked cold it appears. The referee checks on him and then a doctor enters the ring to check on him. We go to commercial as Riddle is checked out in the middle of the ring.

Back from the break and The Usos hit a big double team on Riddle. Jey talks some trash. We see how Riddle suffered a bruised hip when he was whipped into the turnbuckles before the break. Jey grounds Uso with the bottom rope now. Jimmy with a cheap shot as the referee turns back around. Jimmy tags back in for the double team as they focus on Riddle’s hurt back now. Riddle yells out in pain as Jimmy taunts him.

Riddle reaches for a tag and fans get loud for him with the rally but Jimmy nails a back suplex to quiet them. Jey tags back in and takes his time working Riddle over. Riddle with a big knee to Jey to get an opening. Orton and Jimmy tag in now as fans go wild for Orton. Orton with the big powerslam and more offense. Orton goes for the second rope draping DDT and he nails it. Orton drops down for the RKO and he nails it on Jimmy for a big pop. Orton covers for the pin but Jey rushes in to break it up just in time.

Jey drags Jimmy to the corner and makes the tag. Jey superkicks Orton as Riddle tags in. Riddle with a big roundhouse kick to Jey, and more big offense. Riddle with a Fisherman’s suplex from the corner. Riddle goes on but lands on Jey’s knees. Jey with a big pop-up neckbreaker to Riddle for a close 2 count. Riddle ends up going to the top but it back-fires as Jey drops him. Heyman is worried on commentary now, removing his headset.

Jey goes to the top but Riddle climbs up with him. Riddle tries for a super RKO but Jey fights back. Heyman is apparently getting up to provide a distraction as we hear Cole asking what he’s up to. Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns rushes to the apron out of nowhere, making the save for Jey and helping him send Riddle to the mat. Jey re-positions on the top turnbuckle and delivers the Uso Splash to Riddle for the pin to win all the gold.

Winners and Inaugural Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions: The Usos

– After the match, The Bloodline hits the ring together to destroy RK-Bro. The Usos have Orton on one side of the ring, hitting him with the steel ring steps a few times. Reigns has Riddle in a Guillotine choke in front of the announce table. The Usos drop Orton with steps to the face. Reigns chokes Riddle out and places him on top of the announce table. Jey goes to the top turnbuckle and flies, putting Riddle through the announce table. We see shocked fans in the crowd. Officials check on Riddle, who is laid out flat in the debris of the broken announce table. Reigns goes over to Orton and rag-dolls him with a Guillotine choke now as the fans boo loudly. Officials are checking on Riddle and Orton now at ringside. The Bloodline returns to the ring and stands tall with their gold. Heyman stands behind them with his finger in the air. The music starts up as McAfee declares The Bloodline the greatest faction in the history of the business. The Bloodline stands tall as SmackDown goes off the air.

One Response

  1. Scab Rat says:

    Well at least Vince recognized that Ricker is a sleaze and should be typecast as such.

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