WWE Smackdown Review – August 18, 2023
Kicking off this week’s Smackdown with Grayson Waller welcomes fans to The Grayson Waller Effect then says he can’t wait for Edge to thank him on the night of his 25 year celebration for making him relevant again then introduces LWO’s United States Champion Rey Mysterio & Santos Escobar.
Mysterio & Escobar make their way down to the ring and Waller asks Mysterio how it feels to be United States Champion. Mysterio says it feels great and Waller tells Escobar he can imagine how Mysterio must be feeling. Rey says himself & Escobar put a pin in Austin Theory’s plan last week and Waller makes a comment about the 2 of them being co champions. Mysterio says that isn’t the case because the title is held by LWO & Waller comments that he’s surprised there isn’t any tension between Mysterio & Escobar. He goes on a mini rant about veterans stealing the spotlight from younger talent and Escobar cuts him off. He says the only person he’s mad at is Theory and he gave Mysterio permission to take his place in their scheduled match last week. He tells Waller that he can’t sow seeds of dissension within LWO and puts Theory on notice.
Theory’s music hits and he congratulates Mysterio on becoming a 3x United States Champion. He asks him where his father of the year award is then says he was cheated out of his match last week. He says Escobar wasn’t man enough to work through his knee injury last week then demands Adam Pearce come down to the ring and hand him back the United States Title.
Pearce appears and says no one wants to hear him complain tonight. LA Knight then shows up and makes sure he heard Theory correctly. He says Theory only defended his United States Title once every 3 months and fumbled the ball every time he did, then congratulates Mysterio on his victory. He says he’s coming after the United States Title and says he has no problem going through Theory to get it. He says since both himself & Theory are dressed in ring gear then why not have a #1 Contenders match between them. Pearce likes the idea and makes the match official.
United States Title #1 Contenders Match
Austin Theory vs. LA Knight
Austin Theory wastes no time going after LA Knight as he fires off strikes then delivers a fallaway slam. Knight fires back with a clothesline and a suplex then ascends to the middle rope and delivers an elbow drop.
Theory then dumps Knight out of the ring and sends him into the ring apron face first before sending him bouncing off the barricade.
Knight sends Theory repeatedly crashing into the announce table then dumps him back in the ring and exchanges words with Miz.
Theory delivers a kick to him through the bottom rope but Knight sends him crashing into the announce table once again before tossing him on top of The Miz as we go to a break.
After the break Knight delivers a shoulder tackle to Theory and follows it up with a Sunset Flip. Theory sends him into the middle turnbuckle face first then delivers a dropkick to his face.
He fires off stomps on Knight’s chest but Knight plants him with a back suplex and fires off right hands then whips him into the opposite corner then lands a swinging neckbreaker and a side Russian leg sweep.
He then delivers a big boot and a series of stomps before hitting a running knee. Theory executes a chop block and gets him up on his shoulders looking for A Town Down but Knight escapes and plants him.
Miz hops up on the apron to distract Knight. Knight delivers BFT to Theory and an angered Miz slides into the ring. Knight clotheslines him to the outside allowing Theory to take advantage and roll up Knight for the win.
Winner & #1 Contender To The United States Title: Austin Theory
We then head to a compilation of messages from several WWE Superstars congratulating Edge on 25 years in WWE and a 2nd video showcasing some highlights from throughout his career.
Tag Team Match
Damage CTRL (Women’s Champion Iyo Sky & Bayley) vs. Charlotte Flair & Bianca BelAir
Bayley trips Bianca BelAir before BelAir executes a mat return then delivers a shoulder to her midsection in the corner and follows it up with a suplex. Charlotte Flair tags in and delivers several stomps to Bayley’s midsection then sends her into the top turnbuckle face first and follows it up with a right hand.
She then delivers a dropkick but Bayley delivers a hair whip and tags in Iyo Sky & Sky delivers a chop to Flair as Bayley holds her in place but Flair fights her way out and dumps Sky onto the apron.
She then delivers a big boot that sends her crashing to the outside before executing a Natural Selection off the apron on Damage CTRL that takes us to a break.
After the break Flair ascends to the top rope but Bayley pulls her down and pins her but Flair kicks out. Sky tags in and delivers a hurricanrana then locks in a crossface but Flair escapes and delivers a snapmare but Sky lands a boot on her midsection and looks to tag in BelAir but Sky knocks BelAir off the apron then delivers a dropkick to her chest.
BelAir tags in and delivers a dropkick to Sky before planting her with a brainbuster and firing off right hands in the corner. Bayley tries interfering but BelAir levels her with a backbreaker and a spinebuster then delivers a springboard moonsault off the ropes but Sky overpowers her and tags in Bayley.
BelAir then plants Bayley and an interfering Sky before tagging Flair back in. Flair ascends to the top and delivers a crossbody to Damage CTRL then lands several chops on the both of them and plants Bayley with a fallaway slam. She climbs back up to the top rope but Bayley pushes her to the outside. SKY fires off kicks on her as Bayley distracts the referee.
Bayley gets Flair back in the ring and tags in Sky & she looks for Over The Moonsault but Flair ducks out of the way. Sky looks to charge at her but Flair sends her into the ring post shoulder first. Bayley gets back inside the ring and BelAir tags in before landing KOD for the win.
Winners: Charlotte Flair & Bianca BelAir
We then head to another compilation of messages from several WWE Superstars congratulating Edge on 25 years in WWE
After the break we see Damage CTRL blindside Bianca BelAir backstage. They sandwich her knee between a chair before Sky grabs a 2nd chair and hits her knee with it.
Tag Team Match
Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) vs. Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows)
Montez Ford wastes no time as he goes right after Luke Gallows but Gallows overpowers him and fires off right hands before Karl Anderson tags in and delivers a kick then follows it up with an uppercut. Ford fires back with a clothesline and tags in Angelo Dawkins.
Dawkins then whips Anderson in the corner and charges at him but Anderson gets his boot up. Dawkins plants him and tags in Ford before delivering a twisting neckbreaker. Ford ascends to the top and hits From The Heavens then goes for a pin but Gallows breaks the fall.
Dawkins & Gallows tag in & Good Brothers hits Magic Killer to Dawkins and Gallows pins him but Dawkins kicks out. Anderson tags back in and delivers a kick but Ford makes the blind tag in & Street Profits then hits a sit out powerbomb/neckbreaker combination to Anderson for the win.
Winners: Street Profits
After the match Bobby Lashley joins Street Profits at ringside and celebrates their victory with them.
After the break we head over to a video recapping what went down between Roman Reigns, Solo Sikoa, Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso last week.
We head backstage to Kayla Braxton is with Paul Heyman & Braxton asks Heyman for an update on the current state of The Bloodline or the headspace of Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns but Heyman declines to answer. Braxton says she’s been hearing a lot of rumors and Heyman asks which rumors she’s referring to. He asks to talk about the rumors surrounding Braxton’s family and says she’d rather be talking about rumors about Reigns’ cousins. He asks her why she doesn’t ask him about Edge or the United States Title picture then answers his phone and says Jimmy Uso will be on Smackdown next week when Braxton asks where Heyman got the information from he declines to share who his source was.
Edge vs. Sheamus
Edge shakes hands with Sheamus then they lock up before Edge lands a shoulder tackle. Sheamus fires back with one of his own then follows it up with an Irish Curse Backbreaker as we go to a break.
After the break Edge delivers an elbow off the ropes and plants Sheamus with the Edge O Matic then the action spills to the outside and Edge delivers a powerbomb to Sheamus off the apron. He gets him back inside the ring and delivers a crossbody off the top rope then looks to lock in the Edgecator.
Sheamus fights his way out and plants Edge then sets up for 10 Beats Of The Bodhran but Edge catches his hand and fires off right hands then delivers several knees to his midsection. Edge then spears Sheamus off the apron and onto the floor as we go to a 2nd break.
After the 2nd break Edge has a crossface lock in on Sheamus but Sheamus crawls to the bottom rope to break the hold then delivers a kick to Edge’s chest and makes his way up to the top turnbuckle. Edge joins him up there and delivers a superplex then transitions right into the Edgecution.
He climbs back up to the top rope but Sheamus fires off right hands and joins him up there & he hits White Noise off the middle rope then follows it up with a Celtic Cross and goes for a pin. Edge kicks out and gets caught with 10 Beats of the Bodhran but Edge fires back with a clothesline and sets up for a Spear.
Sheamus fires back with a knee and a Brogue Kick then goes for a pin but Edge kicks out at the last second and Sheamus looks for a 2nd Brogue Kick but Edge rolls Sheamus up but Sheamus kicks out. Edge then hits a Spear and goes for a pin but Sheamus kicks out once more before he hits a 2nd one for the win.
Winner: Edge
After the match they hug each other to close out this week’s Smackdown.
Next Week’s Smackdown
Non Title Match
United States Champion Rey Mysterio vs. Grayson Waller
