WWE Friday Night Smackdown Live Coverage - May 17th, 2024

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Cody Rhodes and Logan Paul to make Champion vs. Champion Match official

Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and United States Champion Logan Paul are set to make their highly anticipated Champion vs. Champion Match official in a WWE King and Queen of the Ring contract signing.


:smackdown:

– The show opens with an elaborate video package looking at this year's King of the Ring and Queen of the Ring tournaments.

– After the package wraps up, we see live shots of LA Knight and Tama Tonga, along with the rest of The Bloodline, arriving to the building. Solo Sikoa has a blond-dyed mohawk area, with brown sides and back, as a new hair style. Additional entrance shots of other KOTR and QOTR competitors for tonight are shown and then we settle inside the building.

Queen Of The Ring Quarterfinals Match: Bianca Belair vs. Tiffany Stratton

The theme for Bianca Belair hits and out comes "The EST of WWE" to a nice pop from the Jacksonville crowd for our opening contest. One-half of the WWE Women's Tag-Team Champions settles inside the squared circle for our first of two Queen of the Ring tournament bouts scheduled for tonight's show.

Tiffany Stratton's theme hits next and she spends some Tiffy-Time staring at the QOTR crown at the start of the entrance area. Stratton settles in the ring as Corey Graves and Wade Barrett walk us through the brackets for the SmackDown side of the QOTR tourney. The bell then sounds and our first match of the evening gets underway.

Belair and Stratton lock up and Belair muscles Stratton into the corner against the turnbuckles. The two have a clean break and Belair poses to the crowd before they re-engage. After another lock-up, Belair backed Stratton into the corner again. After another break, they traded shoves before Stratton slapped Belair. Belair charged Stratton but Stratton moved and pulled Belair down by the hair.

Belair lands a big shot and then gets a waistlock and tosses Stratton down to the mat. Belair hangs on and then takes Stratton down again. Belair made a cover for a two count. Belair landed a clothesline. Stratton came off the ropes and ducked under Belair. Belair laid on the mat and Stratton landed a kick. Stratton dragged Belair to the corner by her hair again.

Stratton stomped Belair in the corner. Belair countered a whip and charged but Stratton got a boot up. Belair countered Stratton with a gutbuster. Belair bounced off the ropes with a moonsault and made the cover for a two count. Belair sold her knee. Belair took Stratton to the corner and blasted away with punches.

Belair pulled Stratton down and Stratton rolled to the floor. Stratton grabbed Belair’s hair and pulled her down. Belair injured her leg on the middle rope. Stratton took Belair to the outside and whipped her into the steps knee first. Belair sold her knee in pain on the floor.

Graves and Barrett talk us into our first commercial break of the evening. When we return, we see Stratton in a bridge while cranking on the softened up leg of Belair in a unique submission hold. Belair yells in pain and slowly crawls to the ropes to break the hold.

Belair kicks Stratton out to the floor. Back inside the ring, Belair hits a big move on a bum wheel, which she sells afterwards. She hits a big spine buster on Stratton and goes for the cover, but only gets a count of two. Belair gets double-under hooks and hoists Stratton up in Jaded-fashion, but Stratton rolls through for a pin attempt.

Bianca kicks out and gets Tiffy up for the K.O.D., but Stratton avoids it. Stratton takes over from there, and hits a hip-attack to Belair in the corner followed by a running double stomp for a close two count of her own. The Jacksonville crowd breaks out in an "EST! EST!" chant as Stratton continues to take it to "The EST of WWE."

Belair hits a German suplex that sends Stratton floating over and crashing onto her face. She goes for the cover, but Stratton kicks out before the count of two. A loud "This is Awesome!" chant spreads throughout VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena as both recover. Belair grabs Stratton but her feet, but Stratton holds onto the skirting around the ring apron.

The ref fixes it after she lets go and Stratton gets in a cheap shot and capitalizes with a big move for a super close two count. Tiffany goes up for the Prettiest Moonsault Ever, but Belair cuts her off and on one good leg, hoists her up off the top and connects with her K.O.D. finish for the win. With the victory, Belair advances in the QOTR and will face the winner of tonight's Nia Jax vs. Jade Cargill bout.

Winner and ADVANCING: Bianca Belair

– After the match, Graves and Barrett talk about the announcement last week that WWE U.S. Champion Logan Paul will be the next challenger for WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes at the upcoming WWE King And Queen Of The Ring 2024 premium live event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

– A video package airs to show footage from last week's face-to-face between Cody and Logan, and then we shoot live backstage. We see Logan walking the halls. He approaches SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis' office and out pops Aldis with LA Knight.

Knight smirks in Logan's face. Aldis tells Logan, "This way," and the two head into his office. Knight smiles real big again as we head to another commercial break. When we return, we see footage of WWE stars at the Naval Station Mayport from Jacksonville and then footage of servicemen from the area are shown in uniform in the crowd as part of WWE Military Appreciation Month.

– Live backstage we see Byron Saxton standing by with the other half of the WWE Women's Tag-Team Champions, Jade Cargill. Saxton asks her about her QOTR showdown tonight against Nia Jax. She says she's heard all about Jax, but to her, she's just in her way.

Belair approaches Cargill excited. Jade asks how her knee is. Belair says it's fine if she's got to stand across the ring from her next week. Jade tells her they'll take things one step at a time. Belair tells her to go do her thing. Jade heads off and we shoot back inside the arena.

– Graves and Barrett are shown at the commentary desk talking about the new-and-improved Bloodline. We see footage from Solo Sikoa's talk with Paul Heyman last week where he claimed Roman Reigns put him in charge of The Bloodline until he returns.

– We see Tama Tonga pacing back-and-forth during a live shot inside The Bloodline locker room. Solo tells him it's time. He walks off. Heyman asks Solo if he's talked to Roman today. Solo says all in time, Wise Man and walks off. We shoot over to Cathy Kelley, who is standing by with LA Knight, who is now in his ring gear. "The Mega Star" talks confidently about his KOTR showdown against Tama Tonga tonight.

Up walks Carmelo Hayes to cut him off. He introduces himself to Knight as the newest addition to SmackDown from the 2024 WWE Draft. Knight says there's certain things about Hayes that reminds him of Tom Brady. He asks who the first draft pick was the year Brady was drafted. He says he doesn't remember either. Knight tells Hayes to go play somewhere because he's busy. He walks off.

King Of The Ring Quarterfinal Match: Tama Tonga vs. LA Knight

Back inside the arena, Tama Tonga's theme hits and out he comes accompanied by the rest of The Bloodline. He settles inside the ring for our first of two KOTR quarterfinal bouts scheduled for tonight's show. We shift gears and head into a quick pre-match commercial break.

When we return from the break, Knight's theme hits and out comes "The Mega Star" to a rock star reception from the Duval crowd. The bell sounds and this one gets started. Knight gets off to an early offensive lead, but after The Bloodline members hop on opposite sides of the ring apron, Knight is distracted and Tonga takes over.

We head into a mid-match break and when we return, Knight fights back into the lead until again interference from The Bloodline in the form of Solo Sikoa, results in Knight being taken out by Tonga, who picks up the win and advances in the KOTR tourney. After the match, we head to another break.

Winner and ADVANCING: Tama Tonga

As we settle back in from the break, we see LA Knight backstage with blood on his shoulder, when once again he is approached by Carmelo Hayes. Hayes sarcastically taunts him over not getting the job done against Tama Tonga. This leads to Knight shoving Hayes and the two being pulled apart.

Back inside the arena, we see SmackDown G.M. Nick Aldis in the ring, which is decked out with a table and chairs for the WWE King And Queen Of The Ring 2024 contract signing between WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes and WWE United States Champion Logan Paul.

The theme for Logan Paul hits and the reigning U.S. Champion heads to the ring with a full entourage of goons in PRIME t-shirts that appear to be his personal PRIME security. Aldis then introduces Cody Rhodes. The catchy entrance tune for "The American Nightmare" hits and out comes someone Jacksonville fans are quite familiar with.

Cody heads to the ring as the Duval crowd sings along with the words to his theme song as he makes his way to the ring to sign on the dotted line for his second PLE title defense since "finishing his story" and capturing the WWE Universal Championship. His music dies down and the two take their respective seats.

Rhodes talks about how it's about enough of Logan because he's not a true fan of pro wrestling like he is. He teases becoming a Grand Slam Champion and says Logan should put his title on-the-line as well. Logan says he's heard all this before. The last guy said this. He asks if Cody is trying to stall right now. The fans chant "You suck!" at him.

Logan gets ready to sign the contract but stops and rips it in half. He says he didn't agree to the terms in the deal. He says he agreed to fight Cody for the Universal Championship only. He did not agree to put his U.S. title on-the-line. He says he expected this so he had his lawyer draw up a contract. He says this one looks good to me.

He tells Nick to get this done and hands the SmackDown G.M. the revised contract. Aldis says he's had about enough of Logan and his broccoli haired entourage. He says this isn't what they agreed to in his office. He says he's not going to stand for it. Logan's lawyer cuts in and asks if Aldis is threatening his client. Cody tells everyone to hold on.

Cody tells Aldis it's okay, he knows how he gets when he gets mad. He tells Aldis he's doing a good job running SmackDown. He tells him to let he and Logan finish up their paper work and he'll deliver it to his office later. He tells Nick he's relieved for now. Logan tells Jacksonville that he's signed the contract. He says Cody has not done anything to deserve a shot at his U.S. title.

Logan says like his brother Jake Paul's next opponent would say, "Sign the contract, big boy!" in reference to the infamous time Mike Tyson told Bob Sapp to "sign the contract, big boy, sign the contract!" at a K-1 event for a potential fight between the two, which of course, never happened. Cody tells Logan Tyson is going to knock his brother out and in Saudi Arabia, a future WWE Hall of Famer is going to beat you.

He says if you want me to sign the contract, then fine. He signs it. He then goes after Logan, who runs off, so he turns and puts one of his security guards through the table. Logan watches on from ringside and yells off-mic to Cody in the ring as Cody's theme plays again to end an eventful contract signing segment.

– Backstage, Cathy Kelley gets a word with Nia Jax, who says Jade Cargill is everything people say she is, however she's not going to win the Queen of the Ring. Nia says she is. She walks off as her theme hits inside the arena. The camera follows her out and she makes her way to the ring for our second and final Queen of the Ring quarterfinal bout of the evening.

Queen Of The Ring Quarterfinal Match: Nia Jax vs. Jade Cargill

As Jax settles inside the squared circle, we shift gears and head into a pre-match commercial break. When we return, the theme for Jade Cargill hits and out comes one-half of the WWE Women's Tag-Team Champions. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one, where the winner will meet Bianca Belair in the SmackDown semifinals of the QOTR tourney.

Jade takes the early offensive lead over Nia, out-gunning her in the power department and blasting her so hard she crashes through the ropes and out to the floor. Back in the ring, the same thing happens a second time. Nia eventually takes over on the floor and beats Jade down. She grabs a steel chair and goes to use it, but Jade stops her and takes the chair and blasts Nia with it.

The referee sees this and calls for the bell. Nia gets the win via DQ. Upon hearing this, Jade goes back to work on Nia, grabbing her by the throat and blasting her with knees. They both crash onto the floor over the barricade at ringside. They get back up and exchange shots as the crowd chants "Bullsh*t!"

This forces the audio on the broadcast to be muted for long chunks of time. Officials run out to break them up. They are broken up, but Jade goes back out after her, passing through the security and attacking her again. They are split apart once more and we head into another commercial break on that note.

Winner via DQ and ADVANCING: Nia Jax

– When we return from the break, we hear the familiar sounds of DIY's theme. Out comes the duo of Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa. They settle inside the squared circle where their opponents for tonight, Legado Del Fantasma, are waiting for them. The A-Town Down Under duo of Austin Theory and Grayson Waller are introduced on special guest commentary for this match.

DIY vs. Legado Del Fantasma

The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. Gargano and Humberto kick things off for their respective teams as a loud "Johnny Wrestling!" chant spreads throughout VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville. After some early back-and-forth action, we shift gears and head into a mid-match break. When we return, we see DIY turn things up a notch.

Gargano hits dives through the ropes on both sides of the ring and heads back inside the squared circle to finish this one off, giving DIY the big win. After the match, DIY stands on the ropes and stares down WWE Tag-Team Champions A-Town Down Under, who stand on the commentary desk and pose with their titles as they stare back at Gargano and Ciampa.

Winners: DIY

– Graves and Barrett talk about the QR code production glitches in recent weeks and show footage of the WWE Twitch account being hacked this week. Backstage, Byron Saxton is standing by with a dejected AJ Styles, who talks about his run of bad luck lately. He mentions a meeting with Nick Aldis next week where he'll learn more and walks off.

King Of The Ring Quarterfinal Match: Randy Orton vs. Carmelo Hayes

Back inside the arena, Randy Orton's theme hits and out comes "The Viper" as introduced by new SmackDown ring announcer Alicia Taylor. The future WWE Hall of Fame legend makes his way to the ring for our second and final King of the Ring quarterfinal match of the evening. Split-screen footage of Randy Orton's appearance at the UFC on ESPN event from St. Louis last weekend is shown.

Orton settles inside the ring to a big pop from the Jacksonville crowd. He meets Carmelo Hayes to find out who advances to the SmackDown Semifinal match in the KOTR tourney next week against Tama Tonga. As Orton wraps up his ring entrance, we shift gears and head into a pre-match commercial break.

When we return, we see Bayley for a backstage interview.

Bayley is cut off by Chelsea Green and Piper Niven, who pretend to be asleep because of how boring Bayley is. Bayley tells them she'll see them next week. She pops back in the camera shot and says, "I'll see you next week ... in the ring!" The WWE Women's Champion walks off laughing as Green and Niven look nervous. Back inside the arena, Carmelo Haytes' theme hits.

The former WWE NXT World Champion stops and poses by the glass-enclosed King of the Ring crown for this year's tournament winner. He settles inside the squared circle and the bell sounds to get this one officially off-and-running. Orton and Hayes stare each other down. Hayes kicks the back of Orton's leg, which drops him to one knee. Hayes licks his palm and smacks Orton in the back of his head.

Hayes stands and taunts Orton as he looks shocked at what Hayes just did. Hayes shrugs his shoulders and pushes Orton, who blasts him with a kick to the bread basket before violently sending him shoulder first into the ring post through the turnbuckles in the corner. He does this a second time and then goes to work on Hayes on the floor, bouncing him off the commentary desk twice.

We head into a mid-match commercial break as the action continues. When we return, Hayes is in the offensive driver's seat and delivering punishment to "The Viper." Orton starts to fight back and hits his trademark draping DDT spot off the middle rope. He goes into Viper mode, pounding the mat and hitting an RKO out of nowhere for the win. With the win, Orton advances to face Tama Tonga in the SmackDown semifinal for the KOTR.

Winner and ADVANCING: Randy Orton

– After the match, Orton is interviewed in the ring, but immediately cut off by Tama Tonga's theme. Out he comes with The Bloodline. Orton cuts them off and says since they're doing introductions, allow him to introduce them to the man who is gonna introduce his foot up Tama Tonga's ass next week and remind him that R-K-O are the three most dangerous letters in sports entertainment. That's how this week's show goes off the air.