WWE returns to The Mecca tonight.
WWE Friday Night SmackDown goes down this evening at 8/7c on USA Network from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.
Tonight’s show will feature Roman Reigns, fresh off his first loss in over three years, going to Tribal Court.
Also on tap for the show this evening is Edge appearing on The Grayson Waller Effect, Sheamus vs. Austin Theory for the United States Championship and AJ Styles vs. Karrion Kross.
Featured below are complete WWE Friday Night SmackDown results from Friday, July 7, 2023. The following report was written by PWMania.com reporter Matt Boone (@MattBoone0709) as the show aired live from 8-10pm EST. on FOX.
WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN RESULTS (7/7/2023)
The “WWE Then. Now. Forever. Together.” opening signature narrated by John Cena plays to get this week’s show officially off-and-running.
We then open the show with highlights from the WWE Money In The Bank 2023 premium live event from over the weekend, in particular, The Bloodline Civil War main event, which saw The Usos defeat Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa.
Now we shoot live inside Madison Square Garden for the 60th year in WWE history, as Michael Cole welcomes us to the show. He and Wade Barrett preview tonight’s show, hyping The Tribal Court segment and Edge on The Grayson Waller Effect.
The Usos Kick Off SmackDown At MSG
The theme for The Usos hits and out comes Jimmy and Jey Uso with the rabid MSG crowd singing along with their theme song. The Usos do their one-finger salute handshake the same way they ended Money In The Bank, as they head into the ring with the fans still loudly singing along with their theme.
“Hey hey, The Usos are now in your city,” begins Jey Uso. Jimmy Uso then takes over and talks about how they said Roman Reigns was unbeatable. “But guess what happened at Money In The Bank baby? He got beat! 1-2-3!”
We then hear “Ladies and gentlemen …” interrupt and out comes Paul Heyman with Solo Sikoa by his side. Heyman says tonight he serves as defense counsel in Tribal Court. He then introduces defense item number one. The Usos cut him off and ask him to please shut his mouth. He laughs it off and continues.
Heyman says there’s only one man who can ever tell him to stop talking, and it ain’t The Usos. Solo Sikoa palms Heyman’s mic as soon as he says that. Heyman looks shocked.
Tribal Court: The Trial Of The Tribal Chief Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns’ theme hits and out comes YOUR Tribal Chief to join this family madness playing out in the ring on live television here at SmackDown at MSG. As Reigns comes to the ring, Michael Cole at 1,040+ days as champion, he’s the longest reigning in WWE history behind only Bob Backlund, Hulk Hogan and Bruno Sammartino.
Michael Cole hypes Tribal Court: The Trial of the Tribal Chief Roman Reigns — up next. On that note, we head to a commercial break. When we return from the break, we see Reigns finishing his entrance. The music cuts off and the chants begin. They’re chanting “You got pinned! You got pinned!”
Reigns begins, “Madison Square Garden — ACKNOWLEDGE ME!” They mostly boo in response to that. He says they’re right. He got pinned. They cheer. He says the last time he checked, he was still “The Tribal Chief.” Reigns tells The Usos they aren’t talking to them. The fans respond with a loud “Uso! Uso!” chant.
He continues and says he’s still The Tribal Chief and he didn’t call for Tribal Court, so he’s not sure what he’s doing here. He’s asking who had the authority to put him on court. The Usos introduce exhibit A, a video package. It shows Roman Reigns being a dictator and taking things too far with The Usos far too often. It also shows him being ruthless with Paul Heyman, too. And Solo.
When the package wraps up, we see Reigns smirking and wiping his face as fans loudly chant “You f*cked up!” so clearly that it’s completely dead audio in lengthy patches. Reigns responds simply, “No, I didn’t …” The fans chant “Yes you did!” Reigns says that video package is not who he is. He says it’s who he was forced to be. He says he did it for you, and you, and you – referencing all of The Usos, Solo and Heyman.
The fans chant something with a cuss in it again and even Reigns’ response is edited out. He talks about being in the WrestleMania main event long before The Bloodline. He says he bent his moral compass for this family. He says he put himself in situations he shouldn’t of been in for all of them. He says this is what he gets? Compiled footage of his worst moments.
His daughter is in the back looking at him improperly because of them. He says he takes on the weight of the world, all of their families on his back. He says he’s got five children in his household and asks if they think he needed to take on theirs, too. He says he doesn’t need this in his life. He says he doesn’t need money, power or any of this. He says right about now umbrella service sounds real nice to him. He asks if this is what they want, because he doesn’t. He says he’s done. He’s done. He’s done with all of it.
He doesn’t want it anymore. If they want it, it’s theirs. Jey Uso seems to be the focus as the new potential Tribal Chief. He stares him down directly after dropping the mic. The fans sing “Na-na-na-na, hey hey hey, goodbye!” Reigns takes his tribal lay off and holds it in his hands. He gets emotional and in Black Panther style, crowns Jey the new leader of the family. He drops his title and kneels down to acknowledge the new Tribal Chief. Crying. The fans chant “Holy sh*t!” Jey touches Roman’s neck and leans down to talk to him.
As he does, Reigns low blows him and the fans explode. Jimmy runs over and starts stomping Reigns out in the corner. Solo throws him off. He stares down at Roman and then the tribal lay as the fans “ooh” and “ahh.” They loudly chant “Solo! Solo!” He picks Jimmy up and hits a Samoan Spike. He picks up the lay and the fans chant “Put it on! Put it on!” Roman looks up at him and stands up. Solo hesitates before handing it to him. As they stare at it, Jey attacks from behind. Solo plants him in the mat again. Roman hits a Superman punch to floor Jimmy.
On the floor, Roman and Solo continue to beat down The Usos and clear off the announce table. They tie Jey up in the ring ropes. Roman yells at him that he’ll never be the Tribal Chief while he’s alive. He grabs his title and blasts Jimmy with it and then pummels Jimmy in front of Jey, who is still tied up. He’s yelling for them to stop but they force him to watch as they beat Jimmy down with steel steps violently.
Jey frees himself and takes out Solo and attacks Roman. Solo grabs Jey from behind and hits a Samoan Spike. They hurl them over the announce table and Roman yells to finish them. They bury Jey under a pile of desk chairs and then Solo splashes Jimmy through the announce table. The segment ends with Heyman loudly acknowledging his Tribal Chief off-mic as Reigns holds his title high. We head to another commercial break.
Jimmy Uso Taken Out In A Stretcher
When we return from the break, we see footage from during the break of Jey Uso following Jimmy Uso into an ambulance. Jimmy was loaded on a stretcher and Jey went with him to the hospital. We see Cole and Barrett standing in front of their broken table promising to give a health update on Jimmy when one becomes available.
WWE United States Championship
Austin Theory (C) vs. Sheamus
Now we shoot to the ring, where standing inside already is Sheamus, so Michael Cole must’ve done his “IT’S FIGHT NIGHT!” cat-call during the break.
The familiar sounds of Austin Theory’s “A-Town Down” theme hits (“ALL DAY!”) and out comes the WWE United States Champion for his latest title defense.
We hear the bell sound and we’re officially off-and-running with our first match of the evening at almost 45 minutes past hour one of this two hour show. Sheamus takes it to Theory early on.
“The Celtic Warrior” knocks Theory out of the ring and out to the floor. He leaps off the top rope and blasts Theory on the floor. On that note, we head to a mid-match commercial break as this title tilt continues.
When we return from the break we see Theory has taken over the offense in the match during the commercials. He tries for his Ten Beats over the Bowery spot but this only angers Sheamus, who fights back into the lead.
Sheamus hits a big knee off the ropes for a close near fall and then continues taking it to the champ as the fans rally behind him at MSG. Sheamus looks for White Noise off the top rope but Theory fights his way free and takes back over as we head to yet another commercial break.
As we settle back in from the break, we see Theory dominating but Sheamus takes over. He locks Theory in a Cloverleaf but Pretty Deadly runs down. He sees them coming and hits them with Ten Beats over the Bowery. He turns around into a big shot from Theory but fights back.
We see Ridge Holland and Butch run down and duke it out with Pretty Deadly on the floor. Theory rolls Sheamus up in the ring in the chaos and scores the pin fall victory to retain his U.S. title. We head to another commercial break.
Winner and STILL WWE United States Champion: Austin Theory
The Grayson Waller Effect With Edge
We return from the break to a cool compilation package showing key moments in WWE history that took place at Madison Square Garden, where tonight’s show is located.
From there, we return back inside The Mecca at The Garden and the theme for Grayson Waller plays. We see him in the ring on the set of The Grayson Waller Effect. He hypes up his first episode from MSG.
Waller brings up the many big moments to take place at MSG but says none are bigger than the announcement his guest is making tonight. Edge’s theme hits and out comes “The Rated-R Superstar” as the fans sing along with his theme.
Edge says it’s a steamy hot night in NYC. He is interrupted by Waller, who talks about how it’s nice to hear but let’s get to the big announcement. Edge doesn’t know what Waller is talking about. He wants to talk to the fans. He brings up his debut as Sable’s mystery partner at SummerSlam 1998.
Grayson Waller cuts in again and says now for the big announcement. He announces Edge’s retirement for him. Edge again seems befuddled. Edge brings up Waller standing eye to eye with John Cena last week and with Edge this week. He says so someone somewhere sees something in him.
He says he’s only been here for half a hiccup. He says he hasn’t even had a match on the main roster yet. He says he’s doggy paddled his way into deep waters. He says he’s not retiring. He says in fact, he’s talked to the powers that be and he’s gonna have a match here tonight. It’ll be Edge one on one against Grayson Waller. Waller looks shocked as Edge walks off.
AJ Styles vs. Karrion Kross
After a quick recap of the opening Tribal Court segment and Michael Cole informing everyone that there isn’t an update on Jey Uso’s condition yet, past the fact that he has been shipped to a local medical facility.
Now the theme for AJ Styles hits and out comes The O.C. leader accompanied by Michin. They head to the ring as Cole reminds everyone of his ongoing rivalry with Karrion Kross and Scarlett.
As Styles settles into the squared circle for our next match of the evening here at SmackDown at Madison Square Garden, we head to a pre-match commercial break.
When we return, the theme for Karrion Kross hits and out he comes with Scarlett by his side. The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one.
It doesn’t go long, and Kross nearly finishes it off early on with a Straight Jacket. Scarlett gets involved but Michin takes her out. In the ring, Styles hits a Phenomenal Forearm for the win.
Winner: AJ Styles
Asuka, Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair & Iyo Sky Brawl
We hear the sounds of Asuka’s theme and out comes the women’s champion. As she settles in the ring we head to a commercial break. When we return, Asuka goes to speak but Bianca Belair’s theme hits.
“The EST of WWE” comes down to the ring and a brawl breaks out between the two. Charlotte Flair ends up coming out and it’s a three-way brawl now.
Iyo Sky comes out with Bayley and her Money In The Bank briefcase. She gets involved in the melee and nearly cashes in her Money In The Bank briefcase, but ultimately decides against it.
Edge vs. Grayson Waller
We see a video package on Mr. Money In The Bank Damian Priest and his near cash-in from Monday’s Raw and then return inside MSG where Edge’s theme hits. The WWE Hall of Fame legend emerges to fans singing his song again.
As he settles in the ring, we head to a pre-match commercial break. We return to another compilation package of key WWE moments to take place at MSG over the years.
Now we return inside The Garden live where the familiar sounds of Grayson Waller hits and out comes the cocky former NXT Superstar for his SmackDown in-ring debut.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. The fans chant “Edge! Edge! Edge!” early on. The two lock up and Waller gets the better of it and does a little shimmy-shimmy dance to brag.
Edge jumps into the early lead and the fans break out in a “You still got it!” chant. Waller blasts Edge with a big shot and yells out, “I got it, too!” Waller blasts Edge with a big knee just as he was timing a spear.
He knocks him to the floor and slides out for a clothesline. We head to a mid-match commercial on that note. When we return from the break, we see Waller connecting with a middle rope flying tornado DDT for a close near fall.
The two continue to fight back and forth. As Edge hits a power bomb on Waller on the floor, Michael Cole informs us that Jey Uso has left the hospital where Jimmy is being checked on and has returned to The Garden.
Back in the ring, Edge continues to work over Waller. He hits a big cross body splash off the ropes for a close near fall. Waller hits a twisting unprettier for a close near fall moments later. He goes for the rolling stunner from the floor to the ring but hops right into a spear from Edge for the 1-2-3.
Great match. After the match, Edge gets on the mic. “Hey Waller … you swam.” He gives Grayson his respect before leaving the ring.
Winner: Edge
Jey Uso Is Looking For Roman Reigns
We shoot backstage and we see a nervous Paul Heyman enter Roman Reigns’ locker room. We see Reigns sitting down and Solo standing behind him. Heyman informs him Jey Uso is back and looking for him. Reigns says he won’t have to look long. He’s going to the ring now. We head to a commercial break.
As we return from the break, Michael Cole and Wade Barrett announce Bianca Belair challenging Asuka for the Women’s Championship on next week’s show.
Roman Reigns is then shown in the ring with Solo Sikoa and Paul Heyman. He does the “acknowledge me” routine and then The Usos theme hits. Jey Uso doesn’t show up at first but is eventually spotted in the crowd.
Jey Uso makes his way down and leaps over the barricade and the fight with Roman is immediately on. Solo gets involved but Jey super kicks him and blasts Roman. Jey picks up Roman’s title, which he left in the ring, as he back-tracks with Solo and Heyman.
Jey gets on the mic and says guess what? He tells Roman he’s looking at the judge, the jury and the executioner right now. He says now he’s got to get him for hurting Jimmy Uso. He says it’s trial by combat. He don’t care about brothers or wise men. He wants Roman one on one. Roman snarls back at him as The Usos’ theme hits again. That’s how this week’s show goes off the air. Thanks for joining us!
