WWE Friday Night Smackdown Live Coverage - October 13th, 2023

[Kemo]

Roman Reigns arrives back on SmackDown

Tonight, Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns makes his way back to SmackDown. Since Reigns’ absence, The Bloodline have been in turmoil, as Jimmy Uso is seemingly back in the trenches after briefly being out of the group. The Bloodline have also had issues with Superstars such as AJ Styles, John Cena and LA Knight with more factions and alliances attempting to take over SmackDown. With Reigns, will The Bloodline right the ship?

– John Cena's theme hits and the crowd roars as "The Greatest Of All-Time" makes his way out to kick off this week's show. He talks to the camera off-mic at the top of the stage and then sprints to the ring as Michael Cole and Corey Graves join Patrick on commentary to run down highlights of Cena and LA Knight winning at WWE Fastlane 2023.

Cena settles in the ring and the fans chant his name. He says tonight is big. He welcomes us to the season premiere of SmackDown. Before he can say another word, the theme for Roman Reigns hits and Cena does the Vince McMahon reaction when Steve Austin's glass would shatter.

"The Tribal Chief" emerges alongside Solo Sikoa and "The Wise Man" Paul Heyman. No Jimmy Uso. Today marks 1,139 days that Reigns has been the WWE Universal Champion, according to Michael Cole. He settles in the ring and stands across from the G.O.A.T. Reigns calls Cena "Hollywood" and says if he's gonna open his show, he better do it the right way.

"Tulsa ... ACKNOWLEDGE ME!" says the leader of The Bloodline. The crowd reacts but then breaks into "Cena! Cena!" chants. Reigns responds by telling them that they are chanting for a coward. He says the man only showed up because he took his leave. He says he had the audacity to come back and have people call himself the G.O.A.T.

Reigns says let's be honest. Cena already knows who the G.O.A.T is and it's "The Tribal Chief" Roman Reigns. Reigns tells Cena to leave or promises to make him leave. Cena says WWE is always unpredictable but when Reigns and Cena are in the ring, you never know what's gonna happen next. He says he's gonna throw Reigns a curve ball.

Cena says he's actually here to acknowledge him. He talks about Reigns' 1,139 days at Universal Champion being the greatest accomplishment of all-time. He says he's not here to challenge him tonight because he hasn't earned it. He says he does, however, know someone who has. LA Knight's theme hits and the crowd explodes. He settles in the ring and hands Knight the mic.

The fans chant "LA Knight! LA Knight!" Knight begins, "Let me talk to ya!" The fans roar again. Knight asks Reigns if he's pissing in his pants yet. He says some of Reigns' nicknames and says "YEAH!" each time. When he says "defending champion" and the fans do the "YEAH!" he says "Nah nah!" He says right now Reigns is a guy standing in his way.

Reigns commends Knight on getting fans to say his name in the time he's been gone but then questions what he's doing in his ring right now. Knight says talking like that is a good way to get yourself mentioned in the past tense. He calls himself the fastest rising star in SmackDown history. From behind we see Jimmy Uso attack him. Knight fights back and throws him out of the ring.

Heyman pleads with Reigns not to do anything. Reigns drops down and rolls out of the ring as the fans boo. Heyman and Sikoa leave with him. Reigns gives Solo marching orders off-mic in his ear at ringside. Solo hops back on the ring apron. Solo jumps back down and walks off as the fans boo again. Knight gets back on the mic and says for those who don't speak moron, he just said it's Solo and Knight tonight.

– The commentators run down the lineup for tonight's show, confirming the addition of Solo Sikoa vs. LA Knight for later this evening. We then learn that Pretty Deadly's in-ring return will be the first match of the evening as we head to our first commercial break of the show.

Pretty Deadly vs. The Brawling Brutes

When we return from the break, we see Kit Wilson and Elton Prince make their triumphant return, with the injured team member getting out of his wheelchair in grand fashion with a big spotlight at the top of the stage. They make their way down to the ring as a disco ball drops down.

After they settle in the ring, the theme for The Brawling Brutes hits and Michael Cole proclaims it "FIGHT NIGHT!" as Ridge Holland and Butch make their way out. The duo make their way down to the ring and settle inside for our opening tag-team contest. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one.

We see Butch and Kit kick things off for their respective teams. Butch jumps into the early offensive lead. He hits a big diving splash to him on the floor and then Holland does the Ten Beats over the Bowery spot as we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break with The Brawling Brutes in the offensive lead.

When we return from the break, we see Kit battering Butch on the mat as the offensive momentum has swung into the favor of the returning Pretty Deadly during the commercials. Ridge tags in and helps take over for The Brawling Brutes. Elton ends up going down and holding his leg. We get an injury time out, which he then takes advantage of for a roll-up for the cheap heat win.

Winners: Pretty Deadly

– We shoot to highlights of Carlito's surprise return as the mystery partner for the LWO at WWE Fastlane 2023 over the weekend. After that, we shoot backstage live with Kayla Braxton, who is standing by with Carlito.

Braxton asks for Carlito's reaction to his WWE return at Fastlane. He says there's only one word to describe being back, and that word is "Cool." He takes a bite of an apple. Bobby Lashley walks up and gets in Carlito's face.

"The All Mighty" one brags about beating up Carlito on SmackDown the last time he was in WWE. Carlito then challenges him to a match. Lashley says he's not dressed for one just as The Street Profits savagely attack Carlito from behind. Adam Pearce runs up to calm things down as Lashley and the Profits leave. We head to another commercial break.

– We shoot backstage upon returning from the break and we see Adam Pearce and the medics checking on Carlito following the attack by Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits.

The LWO are also standing over there friend checking on Carlito. Damage CTRL comes in and start making demands and barking orders about their business, saying it's more important than what's going on with Carlito and the LWO.

Zelina Vega takes this personal and she and Bayley end up yelling back-and-forth. Pearce ends up kicking them all out of the area and telling them to go to the ring if they want to fight.

– We see Roman Reigns sitting and talking with Jimmy Uso in The Bloodline locker room. Reigns asks Jimmy about his recent actions and says he's acting like the quarterback of The Bloodline.

He asks if he was running things, what he'd do. Jimmy says he'd get Jey Uso. Reigns doesn't like what Jey has been doing, pointing to him running around with Cody Rhodes as a slap in the face. Jimmy says he doesn't want to slap Reigns in the face.

Reigns tells Jimmy he calls the shots. He asks Jimmy if they're good. Jimmy says they are. They pound fists to end the segment.

Bayley vs. Zelina Vega

Now we shoot back inside the BOK Center in Tulsa, OK. where the Damage CTRL theme music hits. The duo make their way down to the ring for the impromptu match that was just made backstage. As they settle in the squared circle for our next bout of the evening, we head to a pre-match commercial break.

When we return from the advertising time out, we see Bayley in the ring as IYO SKY and Dakota Kai talk to her from the ring apron. Damage CTRL's theme music dies down and the LWO entrance tune hits. Zelina Vega makes her way down to the ring to a big pop from the Tulsa crowd.

The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. Vega takes it to Bayley early on, dominating the initial offensive exchanges between the two in this singles bout here on the "Season Premiere" of WWE Friday Night SmackDown on FOX.

Bayley ends up turning her inside-out with a clothesline that shifts the offensive momentum in her favor. Bayley mocks and taunts the crowd as she continues to work over the lone female member of the LWO. Vega fights back and connects with a Meteora off the middle ropes for a close near fall.

Zelina looks for a Code Red but IYO SKY hops on the ring apron to cause a distraction. Zelina runs over and hits a modified 6-1-9 to knock her back out to the floor. The distraction does allow Bayley to connect with a Rose Plant on Zelina. She follows up with the cover and gets the pin fall victory.

Winner: Bayley

– After the match, they continue to beat down Zelina until Charlotte Flair runs out and chases them off to make the save for a big pop. The commentators hype Paul "Triple H" Levesque making a rare appearance -- next. On that note, we head to another commercial break.

– After a quick WWE Royal Rumble 2024 promotional package airs upon returning from the commercials, we shoot back inside the BOK Center in Tulsa where we hear the familiar "King of Kings" theme music, as WWE executive and future Hall of Fame legend Paul "Triple H" Levesque makes his way down to the ring.

Triple H has Adam Pearce come to the ring. He talks about how good it feels to be back in front of the WWE Universe. He then turns his attention to Pearce, who he says has been doing a tremendous job running both Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown behind-the-scenes. He says he's here tonight to reveal that Pearce is getting a promotion.

Somehow the promotion is not running more than Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown, which he just pointed out he has been doing, but to now become the official General Manager of WWE Monday Night Raw. Triple H then goes to introduce the new General Manager for Friday Night SmackDown, but instead, Dominik Mysterio's theme hits.

Out comes "Dirty" Dom as the fans boo like crazy. Dom-Dom tries walking-and-talking as he heads to the ring, but the fans are drowning him out so you literally can't hear a word he's saying. He is complaining about The Judgment Day being "screwed" out of their Undisputed WWE World Tag-Team Championships.

He questions how Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso can be defending those titles here tonight when they are scheduled to defend them in a rematch against The Judgment Day have on Monday's Raw. Triple H laughs and says he's never appreciated just how loud the boos are when Dom-Dom speaks until he finally came out here and heard it first-hand.

Dom complains about Pearce making a tag title match tonight when The Judgment Day has one set for Monday night. Triple H clarifies that is what he was saying because the boos were so loud. He then says if it is his complaint, he needs to take it up with the new General Manager of WWE Friday Night SmackDown. On that note, he introduces Nick Aldis as the new GM of SmackDown.

Aldis then reveals his first order of business. He brings up how "Main Event" Jey Uso being moved from SmackDown to Raw resulted in a future trade of a WWE Superstar from Raw to SmackDown. He says it's time to announce who that person is. He introduces the newest addition to the SmackDown roster from Raw -- "The Prize Fighter" Kevin Owens. Owens runs down and hits Dom-Dom with a Stunner.

We head to a commercial break.

– Back from the break, we're backstage where we see Chelsea Green and Piper Niven talking to the new SmackDown GM Nick Aldis. Green babbles about wanting new special, fancy designer-brand Undisputed WWE Women's Tag-Team Championship title belts to be made for she and Niven.

Aldis then turns his attention to his other side and the camera pans over to show Charlotte Flair standing by his side. He informs her that she would be the champion right now if she hadn't been screwed at Fastlane. He tells her now that he's running things, stuff like that isn't going to fly. He makes a match for the WWE Women's Championship between Charlotte Flair and defending champion IYO SKY for next week.

As Charlotte turns to leave, she stops and smiles. The camera pans over and we see Paul "Triple H" Levesque standing with newcomer to WWE, Jade Cargill. He introduces the two. Charlotte Flair tells her it's nice to meet her. Cargill says it's her pleasure. Charlotte smirks and says it will be and then walks past her to leave. We head to another commercial break.

– Back from the break, We go to the locker room of The Bloodline where once again we see Roman Reigns and Jimmy Uso talking. "The Tribal Chief" wants Jimmy to call the shots like he thinks he can, and handle the Jey Uso situation tonight. Jimmy walks off to do that and calls Solo Sikoa to come with him.

– Now we return inside the BOK Center in Tulsa, OK. where we hear the familiar sounds of "Main Event" Jey Uso's theme song. Out comes just him, Uce, you know, day one ish. He settles in the ring and does his arm-waive with the sea of thousands of fans in the BOK Center doing it as well.

The familiar sounds of Cody Rhodes' theme music hits the house speakers in the BOK Center and out comes "The American Nightmare" for this Open Challenge defense of the Undisputed WWE World Tag-Team Champions. As he joins Uso in the ring, we shift gears and head into a quick pre-match commercial break.

– When we return from break, we see split-screen footage from social media of Austin Theory and Grayson Waller accepting the open challenge issued by Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso leading into tonight's "Season Premiere" of WWE Friday Night SmackDown on FOX as the two make their way down to the ring as the challengers for this scheduled title tilt.

Undisputed WWE World Tag-Team Championships: Cody Rhodes & Jey Uso vs. Austin Theory & Grayson Waller

The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. We see Cody and Jey start off strong, however some double-team action from Theory and Waller sees them take over control of the offensive lead as we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break as the match continues.

As we settle back in from the mid-match commercial time out, we see the heel duo of Theory and Waller are still in control of the offense. They continue to dominate Uso, utilizing frequent tags to keep a fresh man on "Main Event" Jey at all times. Jey finally makes the much-needed tag to bring in a fired up "American Nightmare."

Cody takes the hot tag and hits the ring like a man possessed, connecting with disaster kicks and Cody cutters before ultimately connecting with a Cross Rhodes to score the pin fall victory for his team. With the win, Cody Rhodes and "Main Event" Jey Uso retain the Undisputed WWE World Tag-Team Championships. The commentators confirm their next defense against The Judgment Day for Monday's Raw.

Winners and STILL Undisputed WWE World Tag-Team Champions: Cody Rhodes & Jey Uso

– After the match, we see Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso celebrating their win with their Undisputed WWE World Tag-Team Championship belts in front of a fired up Tulsa crowd inside the BOK Center. The commentators push their next defense against Finn Balor and Damian Priest for next week's episode of WWE Monday Night Raw.

The camera follows Rhodes and Uso heading out of the ring and walking to the back. As they reach the top of the entrance ramp, their music dies down and the familiar sounds of Roman Reigns' entrance tune hits the house speakers.

Out comes The Bloodline duo of Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa. Jimmy stares down Jey, while Solo and Cody trade looks. Roman Reigns and "The Wise Man" Paul Heyman come out as well. Reigns and Cody stare each other down intensely as we shift gears and head into another commercial break.

– When we return from the break, we see Solo Sikoa has settled into the ring for our main event of the evening. The commentators announce Charlotte Flair vs. IYO SKY for the WWE Women's Championship, as well as Santos Escobar vs. Montez Ford in singles action for next week's SmackDown in San Antonio, TX.

LA Knight vs. Solo Sikoa

Back inside the BOK Center, the familiar sounds of LA Knight's theme song hits the house speakers and the crowd goes ballistic as "The Mega Star" struts his way down to the ring. He settles inside the squared circle and his entrance tune wraps up.

The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. We see LA Knight jump off to a strong start, however the fight spills out to the floor and we see Solo send Knight into the steel ring post. On that note, we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break with Solo now in a comfortable offensive lead.

As we settle back in from our final commercial break of this week's special "Season Premiere" of SmackDown, we see Solo still working over Knight in the ring. Knight starts to take back over, but as he does, we see Jimmy Uso make his way down to the ringside area to a ton of boos. He ends up getting involved physically, which brings out John Cena.

Cena beats down Jimmy Uso and then Knight finishes him off. Knight turns and takes out Solo Sikoa after Sikoa is distracted by Cena and Jimmy, hitting "The Greatest Of All-Time" with a Samoan Spike for his efforts, but then turning around into a Blunt Force Trauma from Knight for the pin fall. Knight gets a huge pop for the win but then the antics continue after the match.

Winner: LA Knight

– After the match, we see Knight get attacked as soon as the match ends and out comes Roman Reigns to beat him down some more. He stands over Knight taunting him and talking trash. "The Tribal Chief" slowly raises his WWE Universal Championship high in the air as the fans boo while stands over an unconscious LA Knight. That's how this week's show goes off the air.

[TKO]

There’s actually a lot of stuff they could do Roman versus Cody versus Eli, or they could have Roman drop the title before and have Rock versus Roman on their own Nick versus Adam Malaga versus manager, Jimy versus Jay and also work Charlotte versus Jade there’s a lot