WWE Friday Night Smackdown Live Coverage - October 6th, 2023

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Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso follow The Judgment Day to SmackDown

The American Nightmare and “Main Event” Jey Uso are traveling to the blue brand this Friday to see Damian Priest and Finn Bàlor and the rest of The Judgment Day ahead of their Undisputed WWE Tag Team Title Match at WWE Fastlane. The Judgment Day previously announced their intentions to appear on the blue brand, and Cody Rhodes responded by announcing that he and Uso don't want to miss a chance to get some pre-title match face-time.


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– The opening signature airs to get this week's show underway.

– We then shoot to a video package showing John Cena's appearance on last week's show, and how LA Knight ended up becoming his partner for his tag-team match against The Bloodline at WWE Fastlane on Saturday.

– From there, the regular "Who's better than me? I don't see nobody!" theme and opening video plays. We then shoot inside the Enterprise Center in St. Louis where Kevin Patrick welcomes us to the show as the camera pans the crowd.

LA Knight's theme hits and the crowd explodes as "The Mega Star" makes his way out to the ring to kick off this week's show. He settles in the ring and his music cuts off, but the "LA Knight!" chants only grow louder.

Knight begins, "Lemme talk to ya!" Before he can talk to us, we hear "Ladies and gentlemen ..." and out comes Paul Heyman. He informs the crowd booing him that his name is, in fact, NOT "Boo," but instead, Paul Heyman.

"The Wise Man" of The Bloodline makes his way down to the ring with Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso. Heyman touts his ability to spot the next Mega Star a mile away in the wrestling business. Heyman says the next big Mega Star in this business is going to be LA Knight.

Heyman mentions that while Knight has earned his respect, he hasn't done the same with Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa. Knight asks if Heyman is done running his mouth. He then says it's a wise move to put respect on his name. He then says he needs to check his receipt real quick.

He checks the imaginary receipt and says he did not, in fact, buy any of Heyman's B.S. From there, Jimmy Uso tells Knight to shut up. He says they're out here to tell him that he ain't making it to Fastlane. He and Solo head to the ring and then John Cena's theme hits.

Cena sprints down to the ring and stands beside Knight. The two welcome Solo and Uso into the ring, but they stop on the ring apron. Fans chant "Cena! Cena!" as The Bloodline duo mugs him from the apron before ultimately leaving with Heyman and heading to the back.

Knight stops them and gets back on the mic. He says he knows everyone is talking about their big tag match tomorrow night, but he's thinking about tonight. He challenges Uso to a one-on-one showdown later tonight. The opener wraps up on that note.

– Backstage, we see The Judgment Day arriving to the arena. Up beside them walks JD McDonagh. Damian Priest asks what he's doing here. Rhea Ripley says she asked him to be here because he's here for a reason. Priest says ok and they continue walking into the building.

Now it's time for our first match of the evening. We return inside the Enterprise Center where we hear the familiar sounds of Charlotte Flair's theme song. Out comes "The Queen" to the ring for scheduled women's tag-team action.

Charlotte Flair & Asuka vs. IYO SKY & Bayley

Flair settles inside the squared circle and the fans "WOOO!" Her music dies down and then we hear the entrance tune for her partner for tonight. On that note, "The Empress of Tomorrow" Asuka heads down to the ring. As she joins Charlotte in the ring, we head to a pre-match commercial break.

When we return from the break, for some reason, Charlotte's theme is playing again. Maybe it's a cooler song to play throughout an entire commercial break? Don't ask me! Anyways, it fades down and the Damage CTRL theme hits as IYO SKY and Bayley head to the ring.

We see highlights of their interaction with their opponents for tonight from last week and how Bayley volunteered for IYO SKY to defend her WWE Women's Championship in a triple-threat match against Charlotte and Asuka at WWE Fastlane on Saturday night. The bell sounds and we're off-and-running with this one.

Kicking things off for their respective teams are IYO SKY and Charlotte Flair. The fans "WOOO!" as the two circle each other. Charlotte goes for a running big boot but SKY avoids it. SKY hits a hurricanrana on Charlotte. Charlotte answers back with a takedown and then a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for a near fall attempt.

Charlotte tags in Asuka, who picks up where she left off. Bayley and IYO try some double-team action, but Flair re-enters the ring and she and "The Empress of Tomorrow" take the two out. As they re-group at ringside, we shift gears and head into a pre-match commercial break.

When we return from the break, we see Bayley controlling Asuka in the ring. Things build to a big stacked spot in the corner that sees SKY hit a power bomb while Charlotte and Asuka are hitting a double-super-plex on Bayley. In the end, Charlotte hits Natural Selection for the win. Good match.

Winners: Charlotte Flair & Asuka

– We shoot backstage and we see Paul Heyman talking to Jimmy Uso about making decisions without permission. Uso tells Heyman that Roman Reigns isn't here and you've got to be here to make some calls about things.

As they continue to talk, they walk into their locker room and see The Judgment Day lounging. Uso says they're in the wrong place. They say they are exactly where they are supposed to be. We head to a commercial break.

– When we return from the break, we see all the members of The Judgment Day and The Bloodline staring each other down. Rhea Ripley tells everyone to leave because she and Paul Heyman have some talking they need to do. Solo Sikoa and Damian Priest continue to stare at each other for a moment and then everyone leaves.

– We see footage from last week of Bobby Lashley telling The Street Profits to prove something to him and then their attack of the LWO later in the show. We return live inside the Enterprise Center where Rey Mysterio's theme hits.

Rey Mysterio vs. Bobby Lashley

The WWE United States Champion makes his way out to a nice pop accompanied by the LWO. He settles inside the squared circle for our next match of the evening. We head into a quick pre-match commercial break.

When we return from the break, we hear the familiar sounds of Bobby Lashley's theme music. Out comes "The All Mighty" accompanied by The Street Profits duo of Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins. The bell sounds and we're off-and-running with this one.

Lashley dominates Rey from the word "go" in this one, as the camera pans to show The Street Profits cheering him on and taunting Rey. After a few minutes of this, we see Rey hit a big counter to shift the offensive momentum in his favor. On that note, we head to a mid-match commercial break.

As we settle back in from the commercial time out, we see Lashley fight his way back into a comfortable, prolonged offensive lead. The fight spills out to the floor where Lashley violently introduces Rey to the barricade. Lashley blasts Santos Escobar with a cheap shot.

Rey leaps onto a distracted Lashley on the floor. He then rams him into the ring post. Back in the ring, Rey starts hitting his trademark spots, including a 6-1-9. Unfortnately more distractions leads to Rey walking into a spear from Lashley for the pin fall victory.

Winner: Bobby Lashley

– We shoot backstage and we see Paul Heyman and Rhea Ripley alone in the locker room. Ripley tells Heyman, "C'mon, you're a Wise Man, so make the wise decision." She tells Heyman that they are stronger together. The Judgment Day AND The Bloodline. Heyman says he likes it. He thinks it's rather brilliant.

He says if she doesn't mind, he's gonna make a phone call and get this authorized. He picks his phone up, Rhea pushes it back down and says, "Authorized." Heyman says she doesn't understand. He needs to get this authorized by his Tribal Chief. She says she completely understands, and again says it's authorized.

He says yeah, for The Judgment Day. Rhea cuts him off, leans forward and says, "Paul ... acknowledge me." Heyman tells Rhea "Word from the wise, really, you're in the wrong locker room to say something like that." She says he's gonna acknowledge him just like his former boy Jey Uso did on Raw, otherwise they're gonna find out who's stronger -- The Judgment Day or The Bloodline.

"Now, you're authorized to go make your little phone call," says Ripley before standing up and walking off. "Call Roman Reigns," says Heyman into his phone to end a powerful segment.

– When we return, we hear the "A-Town Down" theme song blaring from the house speakers inside the Enterprise Center. Former WWE U.S. Champion Austin Theory emerges to a ton of boos and heads to the ring for our next match of the evening.

Austin Theory vs. Dragon Lee

As Theory settles inside the squared circle, we shift gears and head into a pre-match commercial break. When we return, we see a vignette for Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre. Back in the arena, Theory wraps up his ring entrance.

The theme for his opponent hits and out comes masked fan-favorite Dragon Lee to a big pop from the St. Louis crowd in attendance. Theory starts off well but then Dragon starts to take over. As he does, we hear Grayson Waller's theme. The crowd boos as he comes down and hops on the ring apron.

After the distraction, Theory takes back over on Dragon Lee, connecting with a picture-perfect drop kick as we head into a mid-match commercial break as the action in this singles contest continues. When we return, we see Dragon hit a double stomp in the corner and nearly win, until Grayson Waller gets involved once again.

We then see Cameron Grimes run out to even up the numbers game, which leads to Dragon Lee rolling up an unsuspecting Theory for the upset victory.

Winner: Dragon Lee

– After the match, we see Rhea Ripley talking to Jimmy Uso by himself backstage off-mic. We head to another commercial break.

– When we return, we go backstage and Rey Mysterio comes out of the doctor's room and says there's no way Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro will be able to compete at Fastlane. Zelina Vega and Santos Escobar mention that they have a six-man tag-team match at Fastlane. Rey says let me make a call and walks off.

– Now we shoot to the commentary desk where Michael Cole and company introduce a video package promoting the Last Man Standing match between Seth "Freakin'" Rollins and Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WWE Fastlane 2023. After it wraps up, we see Damian Priest with his briefcase watching on a monitor.

– After the Rollins-Nakamura video package wraps up, we shoot to the commentary desk where Michael Cole and company run down the advertised lineup for Saturday's WWE Fastlane 2023 premium live event. Out he comes accompanied by "The Wise Man" Paul Heyman. He settles in the ring for our main event as the commentators remind us of his talk with Rhea Ripley moments ago. We head into a quick pre-match commercial break.

– When we return, WWE announces Triple H and Pretty Deadly vs. The Brawling Brutes in addition to Roman Reigns' return for next week's show.

Jimmy Uso vs. LA Knight

Back in the arena, we see Uso in the ring awaiting the arrival of his opposition. The familiar sounds of LA Knight's theme hits the house speakers in the Enterprise Center and the crowd roars as "The Mega Star" makes his way to the ring for tonight's headline bout.

The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. Knight and Uso talk trash face-to-face before finally getting after it. We see Knight faring well early on. The commentators speculate what is going to happen next week when Roman Reigns returns, particularly because of how Jimmy Uso has been acting and talking as of late.

Knight lays out Uso and heads out to the floor to back off "The Wise Man." He heads back in the ring, where Uso takes over. Uso dumps Knight to the floor and then heads out after him. He lays Knight out with a big super kick on the floor as we head into mid-match commercial break as the action continues.

As we settle in from our final commercial time out of the evening, we see Uso still in control of the offense, but not for long, as Knight immediately starts to fight back into competitive form. As Knight takes over on offense, we see Solo Sikoa sneak attack him from behind.

Winner via DQ: LA Knight

– Cena's theme hits and Super Cena sprints down to the ring. Cena chases off The Bloodline. We see Knight recover and stand side-by-side with Cena as they stare down Solo and Uso at ringside. The Judgment Day theme hits and out they come to the ring, where they walk over and join Heyman, Solo and Uso.

Rhea Ripley and Paul Heyman shake hands. The Judgment Day and The Bloodline guys hop on the ring apron as the fans loudly chant "Cody! Cody!" Instead, we hear "USO!" and out comes "Main Event" Jey Uso. He runs down and joins Cena and Knight in the ring. He steps forward and gets in Jimmy's face on the ring apron.

Now the theme for Cody Rhodes hits as fans continue to chant "Cody! Cody!" We then see "The American Nightmare" emerge and run down to the ring as the fans in St. Louis explode. The fans very, very loudly sing along with Cody's theme long after it cuts off. After a slight delay, the fight is on!

Everyone ends up on the floor. The babyfaces hit dives leaving Cena alone in the ring. Solo steps up and enters the ring. He and Solo stare each other down as fans chant for Cena. Solo lays him out. Knight hits the ring and knocks Solo out to the floor. JD McDonagh hits the ring and Knight hits his BFT finisher.

Cena then hits an Attitude Adjustment and the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Cody hits his Cross Rhodes and his theme hits again as the babyfaces stand tall in the ring. That's how this week's show wraps up.