WWE SMACKDOWN 9/27/24:
NO ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, BIG PROBLEMS

The October 18, 2024 episode of Smackdown emanated from Columbia, S.C. and the big question of the evening was: Will Roman Reigns acknowledge Solo Sikoa as his Tribal Chief?

 

The evening began with Solo in the middle of the ring, letting us know that Roman Reigns has until the end of the night to “acknowledge” Solo as the tribal chief, otherwise the beatings would continue. While the crowd might have been expecting Roman or Jimmy to come out at this point, they were pleasantly surprised to see Intercontinental Champion Jey Uso come out instead. Jey refused to acknowledge Solo, but still insists he has love for his younger brother. The rest of The Bloodline looked like they were ready to attack, but Solo held them at bay. 

 

#DIY vs STREET PROFITS vs PRETTY DEADLY, #1 CONTENDER QUALIFYING MATCH

 

As Wade Barret perfectly surmised, this match was a 1,000 mile per hour start from all three teams, and it never really let up throughout the entire contest. All three of these teams are vastly underrated, especially Pretty Deadly. For a “comedy act” these guys can really go in the ring. 

 

Throughout all the chaos, we were treated to many staples of this kind of match: hot tags, lots of broken pinfall attempts, and a dive to the outside into the sea of humanity. It was a well constructed match, but the highlight was definitely the finish. A chaotic ending saw Tommaso Ciampa and Montez Ford separately pinning both members of Pretty Deadly, but it was Ciampa who was pinning the legal man, and therefore #DIY got the victory. It was a fun, creative finish and the right team got the victory. 

 

After the match, we cut to the parking garage, where Jey Uso passes Roman and Jimmy. Roman stops Jey to say that he’s proud of him. Jey says “no yeet” and leaves. He’s clearly not pledging allegiance to either side of this family feud. The IC Champ stands on his own. Good for you, Jey! 

 

AN UNLIKELY REPLACEMENT PARTNER

 

Following Naomi’s upset of Nia Jax last week, a tag match between Bayley and Naomi against Nia Jax and Tiffany Stratton was scheduled for the evening, but Tiffany has the sniffles and therefore can not compete. Nia thought the match would be canceled, but instead, super handsome GM Nick Aldis told Jax she needed to find a replacement partner, as the match would still be on. Enter WWE Speed Women’s champion Candice LeRae, who volunteers her services. Nia doesn’t seem thrilled when Aldis books it, and who could blame her, she didn’t even have a say in finding her own replacement partner. Not cool, Mr. Aldis, but what’s done is done. 

 

PIPER NIVEN vs LASH LEGEND

 

The only singles match of the night was a quick match between NXT standout Lash Legend and Piper Niven. It’s clear that Lash Legend still has a lot to learn in the ring, but her charisma, strength, and “it factor” are undeniable. Piper hits a beautiful senton splash, but ultimately Lash’s power proves the difference as she catches niven in air and slams her, before picking her up in some kind of inverted tarantula-esque hold before slamming her to the mat for the 1-2-3 finish. I’m not sure if she’s been using this move in NXT or not, but it was truly a spectacle. 

 

TALKING SEGMENTS GALORE

 

Backstage, Roman Reigns and Jimmy Uso are discussing what needs to be done tonight. Roman says that if the wise man (Paul Heyman) were here, things would be settled by now. Jimmy wants to know what Roman plans on doing, and Roman says he plans on acknowledging Solo tonight. Jimmy looks surprised but we know that’s not going to happen. Roman wouldn’t do something like that when he was a heel, he sure as hell isn’t going to do it now as a face. 

 

Meanwhile, Cody Rhodes comes down to the ring, looking as sharp as ever in his vest and tie. He’s addressing the upcoming Champion vs Champion match happening at Crown Jewel, where he will face Gunther to see who will be named the Crown Jewel champion, and get the largest wrestling belt I’ve ever seen. Rhodes talks about the old days where promotions would often run “champ vs champ” matches against other promotions, but those matches almost always had “an unsatisfactory finish, a clever out, if you will.” Rhodes promises his match against Gunther will have a definitive winner, and I believe him. Cody is a damn good white meat babyface and damn good white meat baby faces don’t lie! To paraphrase Bruce Wayne, I believe in Cody Rhodes. 

 

Next, we get Kevin Owens talking uncomfortably close to the camera. He’s had a lot of ups and downs in his 10+ years with the company, but he doesn’t remember ever being as down as he is right now. Owens was told to stay home for the time being, due to his attack backstage of Cody Rhodes. Owens points out how incredibly unfair this is, given that people ambush and attack others all the time, and none of them are told to stay home. Owens believes WWE is just trying to protect their golden boy, and he’s kind of right. However, as mad as he is with Cody, he's more upset with Randy Orton, who took Cody’s side over Kevin. That broke KO’s trust and he doesn’t know if or when he will ever come back (spoiler alert, he’s gonna come back). 

 

A-TOWN DOWN UNDER vs LEGADO DEL FANTASMA vs MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNS, #1 CONTENDER QUALIFYING MATCH

 

The second triple threat qualifying match for the tag team titles saw the WWE debut of the Motor City Machine Guns. Alex Shelly and Chris Sabin have long been darlings on the independent scene, and now they have finally made their way to WWE. However, without much of an introduction or fanfare, they were met with a pretty mild reception. Corey Graves does a good job getting them over when he described them to the audience as “your favorite tag team’s favorite tag team.” 

 

The match was not nearly as entertaining as the first triple threat match of the night, but MCMG was able to show off their tag team moves and ultimately got the victory. Next week they will face #DIY and the winner will get a shot at The Bloodline for the titles. Here’s to hoping MCMG gets that victory, and on their way to the title match, WWE does a better job of getting the WWE audience to invest in them, because this is an amazing team who deserves a lot better. 

 

BAYLEY AND NAOMI vs NIA JAX AND CANDICE LERAE

 

This was another match that the crowd was not very excited for, that is, until the finish. Much of the match was centered around Nia Jax beating up Naomi, understandable since Naomi just defeated her last week, and the easy booking decision would be to have Nia get a measure of revenge and pin Naomi, or have Naomi pin Candice LeRae as a way of building her up for a title match against Jax. However, instead we got an insane finish where LeRae actually pinned Bayley clean! Sure, Indie Hartwell pushed Bayley into the ring post right before that, but regardless, LeRae got the victory for her team and Nia actually seemed a bit irritated by it. Not really sure why since her team won, but this was a great moment for LeRae and hopefully it leads to a bigger push for her, because she’s been toward the bottom of the women’s roster for way too long. 

 

THE BEATDOWNS CONTINUE

 

For the final segment of the show, we get the confrontation between Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa. Roman says that he acknowledges Solo Sikoa, but not as the tribal chief. Not really sure what that means. Are you acknowledging him as your cousin, a fancy dresser, the best frosted tips since Lance Bass? What does that mean?!? 

 

Anyway, Solo is not surprised because about four seconds after Roman says that, The Bloodline come out from the back, dragging Jimmy Uso’s beaten body out with them. This then devolves into a scrum between Reigns (and eventually, a revitalized Jimmy) and The Bloodline, in which the numbers game is too much. The Bloodline stands victorious at the end of the night, further proving Jimmy’s point that he and Roman need more help to come out on top. 

 

While it wasn’t explicitly said, it is important to note that there’s no way the beatdown of Jimmy didn’t happen before Roman refused to acknowledge Solo, which means it didn’t matter what he said that night, the beatings were going to continue. An important distinction to make between when Roman was the head of the table and Solo, is Solo is an outright liar, along with being a manipulator. Even when Roman was heel and the head of the table, this doesn’t seem like a move he’d do. 

 

Expect Jey to join up with Roman and Jimmy pretty soon, and finally Sami Zayn to make his return and those four will take on the new Bloodline at Survivor Series.