2025 Men’s Royal Rumble

It’s main event time!

After the ladder match co-main event wraps up, it is announced that WWE EVOLVE premieres March 5 on Tubi, with new episodes airing every Wednesday at 8/7c from that point on. We then see the first official trailer for WWE Elimination Chamber on March 1.

Back inside Lucas Oil Stadium, we see more celebrities in the house, including Kai Cenat, Tyrese Haliburton and some others. We shoot to the pre-show panel area where Joe Tessitore and Big E. plug the WWE Royal Rumble 2025 Post-Show.

Cole announces a live attendance of 70,347 fans inside Lucas Oil Stadium, the third largest gate in WWE history — all-time, trailing only WrestleMania 40 Night 1 and WrestleMania 40 Night 2. The ring announcer handles the formal introduction for the Men’s Royal Rumble.

Rey Mysterio’s theme hits and out he comes in the never-fun, but always impressive number one entrance spot. And in our first dream showdown inside the Rumble match, out at number two comes Penta. The crowd roars, as you would expect. Rey Mysterio and the second-coming of Rey Mysterio, Penta, collide to kick things off.

They do a bunch of close-call, near-miss double-eliminations, with each keeping both of their feet from hitting on each occasion, until one time, where Penta clearly seemed to have both feet hit. The camera shot quickly cut away, and Barrett put his eyesight’s reputation on-the-line as evidence only one touched.

Crowd certainly saw something different and reacted as such. Chad Gable comes out as number three. Carmelo Hayes is out as fourth entrant. The fifth entrant is Santos Escobar. So the early idea seems to be loading the ring up with fast-paced, high-flying, good workers.

Santos hits Rey with a 6-1-9. The crowd boos. Penta gets in his face. Santos fights him off and hits him with a Mexican Destroyer. Rey jumps back in and hits Santos with a 6-1-9. Chad Gable fights in the mix and literally all of the others hit him with a super kick at the same time.

The clock winds down and out as the sixth entrant is Otis. Otis goes for the worm, but Gable stops him in mid slither and slaps an ankle lock on him. Otis escapes and slaps the ever-loving crap out of Gable. Otis rips his shirt off. Gable takes his straps down.

The two former Alpha Academy allies duke it out. Gable hits him with a huge German suplex. Otis pops back up and puts Gable in the torture rack. Bron Breakker comes out wearing his I-C title. Let’s see if Dragon Lee is wearing his WWE Speed title if and when he comes out.

Breakker eliminates Hayes and beats down everyone else in sight. Akira Tozawa comes out as the next entrant, but is attacked from behind by Hayes as he was heading to the back. Raw General Manager Adam Pearce comes out to check on him with officials. Tozawa is helped to the back as Cole points out he didn’t officially enter the match.

That’ll come into play, no doubt. We follow him through the curtain. Triple H looks at the situation and tells iShowSpeed he’s in now in his place. He is reluctant but Triple H insists. His music, which was cued right up, plays and out he goes. Otis is thrown out by Breakker and iShowSpeed.

iShowSpeed does a flip. Breakker sprints back and forth on the ropes and spears him to death. He throws him out, but Otis catches him and then launches him behind his back onto the commentary desk. He bounces down to the floor. He’s out. Sheamus comes out as the next entrant. Penta almost eliminates him, but he hangs on.

Jimmy Uso, Andrade, Jacob Fatu, Ludwig Kaiser, The Miz, Joe Hendry come out as the next entrants in that order. Penta and Breakker clean house with several eliminations each. After Hendry, the clock strikes again and when it expires, the theme for Roman Reigns hits and the crowd goes nuts as “The OTC” emerges.

Reigns quickly eliminates The Miz, Sheamus and Joe Hendry, but then Breakker blasts him with a huge spear. Jacob Fatu then eliminates Jimmy Uso and he and Reigns have a stare down. Cole calls it a future WrestleMania main event. They and Penta are the only three active competitors in the match at the moment.

Drew McIntyre, Finn Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura, Jey Uso and AJ Styles are the next entrants, in that order. Penta and Nakamura end up getting eliminated. Strowman eliminates Fatu. “The Samoan Werewolf” throws a fit at ringside, launching Cole and McAfee and Barrett’s computer-style chairs at the ring.

Number 23 comes out and it is none other than “The Greatest of All-Time” himself, John Cena. The crowd goes absolutely bonkers, as you would expect. Out he comes with a “The Last Time Is Now” towel. He seems to get emotional as he plays to the camera and crowd.

“One last Rumble” he says before making his trademark run to the ring. Cena quickly eliminates Strowman and then Balor. The countdown clock appears again as Cena and Reigns stare each other down. CM Punk’s theme and the crowd explodes again as “The Best in the World” emerges. It’s clobbering time, folks.

Punk, Reigns and Cena stare each other down without touching as the crowd goes nuts. The countdown clock appears again just as about they’re about to finally engage. Cena overacts, as usual, doing damn near a Vince McMahon glass break “gulp” waiting to see who it is.

“BURN IT DOWN!” Seth Rollins’ theme hits and out he comes. As soon as he hits the ring, they all start brawling. Styles and the other few additional entrants still in the ring begin coming to life as well. “This is Awesome!” chants spread. Out at number 26 is “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio to a ton of heat.

Sami Zayn’s theme hits and out he comes in the number 27 spot. Only three more entrants remain. Damian Priest takes one of those spots, as he comes out at number 28. Priest eliminates Dom-Dom and the countdown clock appears. Out at number 29 is LA Knight. Zayn is eliminated. Logan Paul comes out as the 30th and final entrant.

McIntyre is eliminated by Priest. Knight eliminates Priest. Logan Paul was nearly eliminated, but he landed on the commentary desk, so he’s still in it. Styles eliminates Knight. Paul gets back to the apron and eliminates Styles. We’re down to Cena, Reigns, Punk, Uso, Rollins and Paul.

Rollins and Reigns have a stare down and then Punk eliminates them both. Paul surprises Punk by eliminating him. Punk and Rollins brawl at ringside as security struggles to break them up. Paul Heyman yells at Rollins, who flips him off and charges over to hit Reigns with a stomp face-first into the steel steps.

Punk and Rollins brawl some more until security finally separates them and work on getting Rollins to the back. They do the same with Punk, who looks enraged as well. He looks down at Reigns and Heyman. He steps over Reigns and glares at Heyman before walking past him as well. Cena, Uso and Paul are shown recovering in the ring.

Uso and Paul trade shots. Cena hoists them both up at the same time for a double Attitude Adjustment. They escape, however. Cena clotheslines Paul over the top to eliminate him. It’s down to Cena and Uso. Cena milks the “Let’s go Cena” and “Cena sucks!” dueling chants and then he and Uso slowly trade shots.

Super Cena emerges and begins hitting his trademark five moves of doom. He puts Uso down and tells him that he cannot, in fact, see him, before bouncing off the ropes with a Five Knuckle Shuffle. He stalks Uso and hoists him up for an Attitude Adjustment. Uso escapes and super kicks him.

The two trade some more strikes and then Uso hits the ropes and blasts Cena with a spear. Both guys are down and the crowd once again comes to life in anticipation of the finale. Cena throws Uso over the top, but he hangs on. Cena charges at Uso, who pulls the top rope down. Cena, well, gingerly, goes over the top and lands on his feet, grandpa-style. The two trade shots on the ring apron outside of the ring ropes.

Cena in his prime couldn’t be trusted in a close-call Rumble situation. See Vince McMahon’s double quad tear for evidence. Risky business here. Cena hoists Uso up for an Attitude Adjustment from the ring apron, but Uso escapes and knocks him down to the floor. Cena lands down below with a look of disbelief and dread on his face.

Cole officially loses his voice as he calls the finish. Cena storms back in the room and lifts Uso’s head up. It looked like he was going to hit him, but instead he paused and hugged him. Uso is headed to WrestleMania. Cole says “God damn right he did,” when talking about Uso doing it. Bad choice of words to end the night on, Mikey! Cena leaves the ring to Uso, who “YEET’s” it up with the record-breaking crowd and gets emotional in the process.

Winner of 2025 Men’s Royal Rumble: “Main Event” Jey Uso

Solo Sikoa Calls Out Roman Reigns

It’s main event (segment) time!

Solo Sikoa’s theme hits and out he comes with his Tribal Chief beads around his neck. He settles inside the ring alongside Tama Tonga. He begins on the mic, demanding Orlando to acknowledge him. They boo. He says that’s fine, but there is one man who needs to acknowledge him.

He tells Roman Reigns if he wants his Tribal Chief beads back, he needs to come out here and try and take them from him. After a slight pause, the new upgraded theme song for “The Original Tribal Chief” hits and out comes Roman Reigns to another rock star reaction from the crowd in “The Sunshine State.”

Reigns gets in the ring and has an intense stare down with Sikoa. Sikoa takes the beads off and hands them to Tonga. He points for Tonga to move out of the way. He does. Reigns and Sikoa immediately start trading shots. Sikoa sends Reigns into the ropes, but he comes off with a Superman Punch.

Tonga attacks him from behind. Reigns takes Tonga out and spears Sikoa out to the floor. He begins clearing off the commentary desk as fans loudly chant “OTC! OTC!” Sikoa attacks Reigns from behind and rolls him back into the ring. He goes for the Samoan Spike, but Reigns avoids it and connects with another Superman Punch and a Spear.

Reigns kneels down in the corner and picks up the Tribal Chief beads. He gives them a long look and then looks out at the crowd as they roar. He slowly lifts them up and places them around his neck as the pop from the Orlando crowd grows insanely louder. His theme hits again but he is attacked from behind by Jacob Fatu.

The wild man of The Bloodline beats Reigns down from behind as Reigns’ theme cuts off. Fans boo and make a ton of noise as Fatu slams Reigns shoulder-first into the ring post. “The Samoan Werewolf” backs into one corner and charges across the ring with a smashing hip-attack. Tonga and Fatu feed Sikoa, who power bombs Reigns through the commentary desk.

Fatu rolls Reigns back in the ring. Sikoa puts the Tribal Chief beads around his neck again after they are retrieved by Tonga. All three pose over Reigns as he is laid out in the ring. They raise their ones to the sky as Sikoa’s theme hits again.

Roman Reigns Returns

It’s main event segment time!

Backstage, we see Solo Sikoa telling Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa, “don’t worry, he’ll be out there.” He leads the new Bloodline to the ring for our final segment of the evening. As the trio settles inside the squared circle, we shift gears and head into another commercial break.

When we return, Sikoa is in the ring and he begins on the mic, “Tulsa….acknowledge me!” A new upgraded version of Roman Reigns’ theme, much like LA Knight’s theme got a face-lift, plays and out comes “The Original Tribal Chief.” Sikoa sends his goons Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa after him, but he easily takes them out.

Fans chant “O.T.C.! O.T.C.!” as he locks eyes with Sikoa in the ring. He slowly makes his way to the ring apron and steps inside the ring ropes as the cheers from the Tulsa crowd grow louder. “Roman! Roman!” chants spread throughout the building and then the two meet in the middle and wildly trade shots.

Reigns decks Sikoa with a running Superman punch for an enormous crowd pop. He backs in the corner and sets Sikoa up for the spear, but his Bloodline brothers pull him under the bottom rope to save him. Reigns sees the feather boa for “The Tribal Chief” that Solo now wears still in the ring.

He goes to pick it up but the Bloodline guys attack from behind. Sikoa stays at ringside on the floor with the boa back in his hands giving instructions to Tonga and Loa as they beat Reigns down. Reigns recovers and takes them out with spears. He looks around for the boa and realizes it’s gone. Fans chant “O.T.C. O.T.C.!” again.

The O.T.C. exits the ring, lets out an Uce war cry and runs around the ring to spear Tama Tonga through the barricade. He tears apart the commentary desk and grabs a steel chair. Another stare down from the ring to the stage between Reigns and Sikoa wraps things up.

WWE Universal Championship (Bloodline Rules)
Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Solo Sikoa

It’s main event time!

“The Biggest Party of the Summer” hits the final stretch, as we set the stage and prepare for our main event of the evening, as “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes defends his WWE Universal Championship against “The Tribal Chief” of The Bloodline 2.0, Solo Sikoa, in a Bloodline Rules match.

WWE Raw on SyFy is promoted for tomorrow night in Baltimore, MD., with the focus being on the in-ring debut of The Wyatt Sicks against Chad Gable and The Creed Brothers, as well as the fallout from tonight’s WWE SummerSlam. A commercial for WWE Bash In Berlin airs next for the show on August 31 in Germany.

Up next, the in-depth pre-match video package airs to tell the story leading up to tonight’s main event of the evening, the Bloodline Rules bout between Rhodes and Sikoa for the Universal title. When it wraps up, we return inside the show venue in Cleveland.

Solo Sikoa makes his way out first, by himself oddly enough, with “The Tribal Chief” boa around his neck. He looks ready for action and all business as he heads to the ring to a ton of boos from the record-setting Cleveland crowd. The leader of The Bloodline 2.0 settles inside the squared circle for what could be an interesting match, depending on who may or may not show up at the end.

All the way from his “American Nightmare” tour bus, where he walks his dog on a leash into the building with him, is the reigning and defending WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes. He gets the Goodfellas single-camera kitchen scene shot of the evening. The long single camera shot follows him all throughout the backstage area, where he shakes hands with and hugs Arn Anderson, who gives him a classic Arn pep talk.

He settles inside and the final ring introductions are given before the bell sounds to get this one started. Things start off competitive, with Cody getting to shine coming out of the gate. It isn’t long, however, before Solo takes over and much like GUNTHER vs. Damian Priest, we see the champion on the defensive and fighting from underneath throughout the majority of the contest.

As soon as Cody finally starts to shift the offensive momentum into his favor several minutes into the bout, we see the Bloodline Rules play a factor, as Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa hit the ring and blatantly attack Cody in front of the referee with double-team action. Solo goes for the immediate follow-up cover, but Cody kicks out.

They go to continue the numbers game beat down until out of nowhere, Kevin Owens’ theme hits and “The Prize Fighter” runs down to the ring to a huge crowd reaction from the Cleveland fans. Owens ends up getting gobbled up as well, which leads us to our second in-match surprise, the theme for Randy Orton hits and “The Viper” heads to the ring.

This is almost identical to the last Bloodline Rules Universal title match on a big four PLE. That’s not necessarily a good thing, either. Cody goes for the follow-up cover after Solo is laid out, but he gets a shoulder up. Orton and Owens brawl with Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa through the crowd out of the picture. Cody grabs the top half of the ring steps and brings them into the ring.

When he goes to use them, however, Solo charges at him and spears him for a close two-count. Solo sets the steps in the corner with the steps part facing out. He sits Cody up against them and charges across the ring for a hip attack, but Cody moves and Solo violently crashes into the steps. Cody hits a Cross-Rhodes. And another. He goes for the third, but Jacob Fatu hits the ring out of nowhere and lays Cody out.

Fatu decks Cody and then hits a big top-rope moonsault. He takes him out to the floor and clears off the commentary desk. He super kicks Cody onto the top of the table and heads back to the top-rope again. He leaps off with a big splash that puts Cody through the table. Solo goes to pick the bones, bringing Cody into the ring and hitting a top-rope splash of his own for a close two-count. Cody is the modern day Super Cena, folks.

Solo stands over Cody and signals for the Samoan Spike. Cody springs to life out of nowhere and super kicks him, leaps to the top rope in a single bounce (see, Super Cody like Super Cena, or Superman, whatever). The theme for Roman Reigns hits out of nowhere and the crowd goes absolutely insane inside the jam-packed record sold out crowd inside Cleveland Browns Stadium. The real “Tribal Chief” emerges and the crowd roar grows.

Michael Cole pulls a Bobby Heenan and questions who Roman Reigns is coming down to attack. Corey Graves plays the Dusty Rhodes role, pretending it’s a dumb question and saying of course he’s coming for revenge on Cody, the guy who beat him and took his title the last time we saw him. Of course, Reigns, the Hulk Hogan in this scenario, hits the ring.

He attacks the other guy, Solo Sikoa, to the “shock” of ..well, Michael Cole. And to an equal extent, Cody himself. Cody, still shocked at what he just saw, finishes Solo off for the win to retain. Reigns keeps looking back at the ring as he walks off, and Cody keeps looking back out at Roman as well. Your winner and still WWE Universal Champion, “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes. That’s how WWE SummerSlam 2024 goes off the air.

At WWE Crown Jewel, Roman Reigns will go one-on-one with LA Knight for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. The news was first reported by the LA Times.

On the Season Premiere of Friday Night SmackDown, The Greatest of All Time himself, John Cena, brought Knight face-to-face with Reigns, and the would-be challenger didn’t flitch for a second before knocking a disruptive Jimmy Uso clean out of the ring. Later that evening, Knight defeated Solo Sikoa one-on-one, only to suffer an earth-shattering Spear by The Head of The Table.

One of the most dominant World Champions of all time, Reigns is enjoying a legendary title reign that stands at well over 1,000 days, winning epic battles against Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Cody Rhodes, Kevin Owens, Drew McIntyre and many more. As he presides over The Bloodline with an iron fist on The Island of Relevancy, The Head of the Table stands armed with a brutal arsenal and seems unstoppable.

But “let me talk to ya!” LA Knight’s charisma has helped make him the fastest-rising star in SmackDown history. While his ever-growing popularity may seem unimportant once the bell rings, Knight has fed off the power of the WWE Universe before, and he seems capable of turning that mighty force against The Head of the Table. He also carries an unwavering confidence, an extremely hard-hitting style and an unpredictable attack. Together, these factors arguably make him one of the most unique threats that the elite titleholder has faced in some time. “Yeah!”

Don’t miss all the incredible action at WWE Crown Jewel, streaming LIVE from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday, Nov. 4, at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT, exclusively on Peacock in the United States and on WWE Network everywhere else.

John Cena, Roman Reigns & LA Knight Kick Off This Week’s Show

John Cena’s theme hits and the crowd roars as “The Greatest Of All-Time” makes his way out to kick off this week’s show. He talks to the camera off-mic at the top of the stage and then sprints to the ring as Michael Cole and Corey Graves join Patrick on commentary to run down highlights of Cena and LA Knight winning at WWE Fastlane 2023.

Cena settles in the ring and the fans chant his name. He says tonight is big. He welcomes us to the season premiere of SmackDown. Before he can say another word, the theme for Roman Reigns hits and Cena does the Vince McMahon reaction when Steve Austin’s glass would shatter.

“The Tribal Chief” emerges alongside Solo Sikoa and “The Wise Man” Paul Heyman. No Jimmy Uso. Today marks 1,139 days that Reigns has been the WWE Universal Champion, according to Michael Cole. He settles in the ring and stands across from the G.O.A.T. Reigns calls Cena “Hollywood” and says if he’s gonna open his show, he better do it the right way.

“Tulsa … ACKNOWLEDGE ME!” says the leader of The Bloodline. The crowd reacts but then breaks into “Cena! Cena!” chants. Reigns responds by telling them that they are chanting for a coward. He says the man only showed up because he took his leave. He says he had the audacity to come back and have people call himself the G.O.A.T.

Reigns says let’s be honest. Cena already knows who the G.O.A.T is and it’s “The Tribal Chief” Roman Reigns. Reigns tells Cena to leave or promises to make him leave. Cena says WWE is always unpredictable but when Reigns and Cena are in the ring, you never know what’s gonna happen next. He says he’s gonna throw Reigns a curve ball.

Cena says he’s actually here to acknowledge him. He talks about Reigns’ 1,139 days at Universal Champion being the greatest accomplishment of all-time. He says he’s not here to challenge him tonight because he hasn’t earned it. He says he does, however, know someone who has. LA Knight’s theme hits and the crowd explodes. He settles in the ring and hands Knight the mic.

The fans chant “LA Knight! LA Knight!” Knight begins, “Let me talk to ya!” The fans roar again. Knight asks Reigns if he’s pissing in his pants yet. He says some of Reigns’ nicknames and says “YEAH!” each time. When he says “defending champion” and the fans do the “YEAH!” he says “Nah nah!” He says right now Reigns is a guy standing in his way.

Reigns commends Knight on getting fans to say his name in the time he’s been gone but then questions what he’s doing in his ring right now. Knight says talking like that is a good way to get yourself mentioned in the past tense. He calls himself the fastest rising star in SmackDown history. From behind we see Jimmy Uso attack him. Knight fights back and throws him out of the ring.

Heyman pleads with Reigns not to do anything. Reigns drops down and rolls out of the ring as the fans boo. Heyman and Sikoa leave with him. Reigns gives Solo marching orders off-mic in his ear at ringside. Solo hops back on the ring apron. Solo jumps back down and walks off as the fans boo again. Knight gets back on the mic and says for those who don’t speak moron, he just said it’s Solo and Knight tonight.

Backstage With The Bloodline: Roman Reigns Talks To Jimmy Uso

We shoot backstage and we see Roman Reigns sitting and talking with Jimmy Uso in The Bloodline locker room. Reigns asks Jimmy about his recent actions and says he’s acting like the quarterback of The Bloodline.

He asks if he was running things, what he’d do. Jimmy says he’d get Jey Uso. Reigns doesn’t like what Jey has been doing, pointing to him running around with Cody Rhodes as a slap in the face. Jimmy says he doesn’t want to slap Reigns in the face.

Reigns tells Jimmy he calls the shots. He asks Jimmy if they’re good. Jimmy says they are. They pound fists to end the segment.

Undisputed WWE World Tag-Team Championships
Cody Rhodes & Jey Uso vs. Austin Theory & Grayson Waller

We shoot to the locker room of The Bloodline where once again we see Roman Reigns and Jimmy Uso talking. “The Tribal Chief” wants Jimmy to call the shots like he thinks he can, and handle the Jey Uso situation tonight. Jimmy walks off to do that and calls Solo Sikoa to come with him.

Now we return inside the BOK Center in Tulsa, OK. where we hear the familiar sounds of “Main Event” Jey Uso’s theme song. Out comes just him, Uce, you know, day one ish. He settles in the ring and does his arm-waive with the sea of thousands of fans in the BOK Center doing it as well.

The familiar sounds of Cody Rhodes’ theme music hits the house speakers in the BOK Center and out comes “The American Nightmare” for this Open Challenge defense of the Undisputed WWE World Tag-Team Champions. As he joins Uso in the ring, we shift gears and head into a quick pre-match commercial break.

We see split-screen footage from social media of Austin Theory and Grayson Waller accepting the open challenge issued by Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso leading into tonight’s “Season Premiere” of WWE Friday Night SmackDown on FOX as the two make their way down to the ring as the challengers for this scheduled title tilt.

The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. We see Cody and Jey start off strong, however some double-team action from Theory and Waller sees them take over control of the offensive lead as we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break as the match continues.

As we settle back in from the mid-match commercial time out, we see the heel duo of Theory and Waller are still in control of the offense. They continue to dominate Uso, utilizing frequent tags to keep a fresh man on “Main Event” Jey at all times. Jey finally makes the much-needed tag to bring in a fired up “American Nightmare.”

Cody takes the hot tag and hits the ring like a man possessed, connecting with disaster kicks and Cody cutters before ultimately connecting with a Cross Rhodes to score the pin fall victory for his team. With the win, Cody Rhodes and “Main Event” Jey Uso retain the Undisputed WWE World Tag-Team Championships. The commentators confirm their next defense against The Judgment Day for Monday’s Raw.

Winners and STILL Undisputed WWE World Tag-Team Champions: Cody Rhodes & Jey Uso

LA Knight vs. Solo Sikoa

It’s main event time!

After the match, we see Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso celebrating their win with their Undisputed WWE World Tag-Team Championship belts in front of a fired up Tulsa crowd inside the BOK Center. The commentators push their next defense against Finn Balor and Damian Priest for next week’s episode of WWE Monday Night Raw.

The camera follows Rhodes and Uso heading out of the ring and walking to the back. As they reach the top of the entrance ramp, their music dies down and the familiar sounds of Roman Reigns’ entrance tune hits the house speakers.

Out comes The Bloodline duo of Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa. Jimmy stares down Jey, while Solo and Cody trade looks. Roman Reigns and “The Wise Man” Paul Heyman come out as well. Reigns and Cody stare each other down intensely as we shift gears and head into another commercial break.

When we return from the break, we see Solo Sikoa has settled into the ring for our main event of the evening. The commentators announce Charlotte Flair vs. IYO SKY for the WWE Women’s Championship, as well as Santos Escobar vs. Montez Ford in singles action for next week’s SmackDown in San Antonio, TX.

Back inside the BOK Center, the familiar sounds of LA Knight’s theme song hits the house speakers and the crowd goes ballistic as “The Mega Star” struts his way down to the ring. He settles inside the squared circle and his entrance tune wraps up.

The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. We see LA Knight jump off to a strong start, however the fight spills out to the floor and we see Solo send Knight into the steel ring post. On that note, we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break with Solo now in a comfortable offensive lead.

As we settle back in from our final commercial break of this week’s special “Season Premiere” of SmackDown, we see Solo still working over Knight in the ring. Knight starts to take back over, but as he does, we see Jimmy Uso make his way down to the ringside area to a ton of boos. He ends up getting involved physically, which brings out John Cena.

Cena beats down Jimmy Uso and then Knight finishes him off. Knight turns and takes out Solo Sikoa after Sikoa is distracted by Cena and Jimmy, hitting “The Greatest Of All-Time” with a Samoan Spike for his efforts, but then turning around into a Blunt Force Trauma from Knight for the pin fall. Knight gets a huge pop for the win but then the antics continue after the match.

We see Knight get attacked as soon as the match ends and out comes Roman Reigns to beat him down some more. He stands over Knight taunting him and talking trash. “The Tribal Chief” slowly raises his WWE Universal Championship high in the air as the fans boo while stands over an unconscious LA Knight. That’s how this week’s show goes off the air. Thanks for joining us!

Winner: LA Knight

“Hail To The Chief” With Roman Reigns

When we return from the break, the commentators plug MLB baseball coming up on FOX and then advertise Rey Mysterio on The Grayson Waller Effect and Sheamus vs. Edge for next week’s show.

From there, we return live and hear the familiar sounds of Roman Reigns’ theme. Out comes the reigning WWE Universal Champion and The Tribal Chief alongside Solo Sikoa and Paul Heyman. Fireworks explode and the crowd goes wild as “The Head of the Table” settles in the ring.

As he does, we shift gears and head to a quick commercial break. When we return from the break, we see Reigns and company in the ring. He milks the moment and lets the crowd react and then finally begins. “Calgary … ACKNOWLEDGE ME!” They all boo and cheer.

Now he continues by asking Paul Heyman where Jimmy Uso is. Heyman says he hasn’t seen him all day. He says he talked to him this morning and he was rather salty. On that note, Jimmy Uso appears in the crowd with the same hoodie he was wearing for his screwjob of his brother Jey Uso at Tribal Combat at SummerSlam.

Jimmy comes into the ring and the fans chant “You sold out!” Reigns tells Jimmy that the fans don’t matter. He says let’s be real. He says he owes him one. He says name your price, you got it. He says you want a car? Done. A yacht? Done. A jet? Done. Jimmy finally breaks his silence.

Uso says he doesn’t want nothing from Reigns. He says what he did at SummerSlam has nothing to do with him. Roman takes it to mean he doesn’t want material items. He asks if he wants power or position. He says he can be the new right-hand man. “Main Event” Jimmy Uso.

On that note, “We been done since, day one ish!” hits and out comes “Main Event” Jey Uso himself. Jey heads to the ring to a big pop. Jimmy turns around and Jey snatches the mic out of his hand aggressively. The two stare each other down. He says he’s about to throw 37 years down the drain if he don’t explain why he did it.

Jimmy says he did what he did at SummerSlam because he loves him. He says he didn’t do it because of jealousy. He says he was afraid to lose him. He says if Jey would’ve beat Roman at SummerSlam, he would’ve became Tribal Chief. He says what would have happened to The Usos then? He says Jey would’ve become The Tribal Chief and some kind of power that makes you like him — as he points to Roman. He calls him corrupt.

He tells Uso again he did what he did because he loved him. He says if he wants to kick 37 years of pain into his face, he can go ahead and he’ll let him do it. Jimmy waits for it but Jey doesn’t do it. Jimmy goes to leave. Roman laughs and says there’s never been a better time for an “I told you so.” He demands Jey acknowledge him. Jey super kicks him. Solo beats Jey down. Roman hits him with a Superman punch.

Meanwhile, a conflicted Jimmy Uso continues up the ramp. Roman stalks Jey but then Jey blasts him with a super kick and a spear of his own. Jey gets on the mic and tells Jimmy to hold on. He yells at him to come here. Jimmy turns and smiles with his hands out-stretched ready to hug Jey, who does the same. When they get close, Jey stops and blasts him with a super kick.

The fans chant “Jey! Jey! Jey!” Jey yells into the camera “Hey, I’m out! I’m out of The Bloodline. I’m out of SmackDown. I’m out of WWE. Dueces. Uces!” He walks off through the crowd as the commentators play the confusion and repeat what he just said. The post-SummerSlam episode of SmackDown goes off the air on that note. Thanks for joining us!

Tribal Combat For WWE Universal Championship
Roman Reigns (C) vs. Jey Uso

It’s main event time!

Once the second women’s title match in a row wraps up, we head to a commercial break and then a pointless, very lengthy Liv Morgan video package. Once all that is done, we see the video package for our next match of the evening.

Up next we’ve got our final match of this year’s WWE SummerSlam 2023 premium live event, as Roman Reigns defends the WWE Universal Championship and his title of “The Tribal Chief” in a Tribal Combat title tilt against Jey Uso.

The video package wraps up and then we hear some “day one ‘ish” as “Main Event” Jey Uso emerges and makes his way to the ring to a huge pop from the Detroit crowd of over 50,000 fans. He comes out with his own lay around his neck.

We see the crowd is totally with Jey as he has them do the arm-wave thing he does on the ropes. The entire crowd is doing it with him and singing along with his entrance tune. He paces the ring clearly amped up and ready for war.

Now his music dies down and the iconic beat for Roman Reigns’ theme hits. Out comes “The Tribal Chief” with a red lay around his neck to the white one around Jey’s. He has “The Wise Man” by his side and he heads to the ring ready for Tribal Combat in the main event of WWE SummerSlam 2023.

After he settles in the ring, his music dies down. The ring announcer does the formal ring introduction for this, our main event. Roman Reigns grabs the mic and says, “SummerSlam … ACKNOWLEDGE ME!”

The bell sounds again and it’s time to get this one started. The ref takes the WWE Universal Championship and holds it up high to show these two what they are fighting for. Reigns takes his lay off and goes to hand it to Paul Heyman like always, but the ref stops him. The ref says since it’s on-the-line hand it over.

Roman walks over to Jey and we hear him off mic tell Jey that if he wins, he, not the referee or anyone else, will give it to him. Now the bell sounds yet again and this time the match is officially off-and-running.

We see Reigns back Jey into the corner early on. He pushes Jey and tries big-brothering him, but Jey shoves him right back. The crowd jumps on Roman’s case with negative chants, but he waves them off and he and Jey start mixing it up again.

From there, we see Roman jump into the early offensive lead. This starts to turn into every Roman match you’ve ever seen, with slow movement and more talking off-mic than actual wrestling from “The Tribal Chief,” but then Jey starts to fight back. The crowd comes alive as he knocks Roman out to the floor and then launches himself over the ropes for a big splash.

Out on the floor, we see Jey ram Roman into the steel ring steps with a vengeance. Jey goes over and momentarily taunts Paul Heyman. He reaches under the ring and pulls out a table. The commentators remind us that in Tribal Combat, everything is legal. Heyman pleads with Roman screaming that he’s his blood and he loves him, don’t do this.

Reigns ends up springing to life and bashes Jey off the steel steps. Back in the ring, we see Reigns hit a drive-by on Jey. The fans start to get on Roman’s case with loud negative chants. Corey Graves says on commentary they’re just gonna feed “The Tribal Chief” and make things worse for “Main Event” Jey.

Jey fights back and knocks Reigns out to the floor. He builds up a full head of steam looking for a suicide dive, but dives right into a shot from an oversized kendo stick from Reigns. Back in the ring, Reigns wears Jey out with multiple kendo stick shots before letting out a war cry. Corey quotes some rap classics by talking about how Jey’s arms aren’t long enough to box with God.

Reigns gets locked and loaded as he stalks Jey, waiting for him to get up for a spear or superman punch. He ends up running with into a big shot from the kendo stick from Jey. Now Jey wears out Roman with the kendo stick, beating him with it until it turns into 1,000 tooth picks. Jey knocks Roman out to the floor and then hits the ropes for a big flipping splash onto the reigning Universal champ and “Tribal Chief” on the floor.

Back in the ring, Jey heads to the top-rope but leaps off and flies right into a Superman punch from Roman Reigns. Reigns goes for the follow-up cover, but Jey kicks out before the count of three. Roman goes for a Spear but Jey sees it coming. Jey hits a super kick and goes to the top-rope, where he connects with an Uso splash for a close near fall.

Jey Uso heads out to the floor and reaches under the ring. He pulls out a steel chair and heads back into the ring. Again we hear Heyman yelling for Uso not to do it. He screams that Roman loves him. He begs him no more. Jey continues to pummel Roman with the chair. Jey heads out and grabs a few dozen more chairs and throws them in the ring. He walks over and stares a hole through “The Wise Man,” who continues to beg for mercy.

We see Uso take Reigns up to the top-rope looking for a super-plex on the mess of chairs he just stacked in the ring. Roman head-butts Jey off the ropes. Jey hits a step-up enzugiri and then climbs back up. Roman escapes and hits a power-bomb on Jey off the top-rope onto the pile of chairs. He covers Jey but Jey kicks out after the count of two. Roman sets up a table on the floor and then leans one in the corner in the ring.

Now Jey charges at Roman looking to spear him through the table in the corner of the ring. Roman catches him coming in and hoists him up, but Jey escapes out the back door. The two fight back and forth and Roman decks Jey in mid-air looking for a springboard spot. Roman hits the ropes but runs into a big kick from Jey. Jey hoists Roman up on his shoulders and he hits a Samoan Drop through a table off the ring apron. The fans loudly chant “Holy sh*t!”

From there, Jey grabs a giant strap and begins whipping Roman with it. Roman climbs over the barricade and goes through the crowd. Jey follows after him. Solo Sikoa comes over and interferes, beating Jey down. He savagely chokeslams Jey through a table in the crowd area. Roman tells Solo to bring Jey to the ring. Back in the ring, Solo hits another chokeslam on Jey. Roman tells Solo to pick Jey up. He does but Jey springs to life and spears both of them. He covers Roman but only gets two.

Jey Uso grabs a chair and he begins beating the p*ss out of Solo and Roman with it in the ring. He wears Roman out with it and then plays to the crowd. On the floor, Jey heads out with a chair but walks into a super kick from Solo. Solo recovers and looks down angry at Roman. Solo gets his Samoan Spike hand ready. Roman notices this and points to it. As he’s distracted by this, Jey charges over and spears Reigns through the barricade.

Solo Sikoa clears off the commentary table, but Jey lays him out on it and then hits a splash off the barricade to put him through it. Back in the ring, Jey hits a spear on Roman. He heads to the top rope and connects with an Uso splash. He goes for the cover but a masked man pulls him out of the ring. He pulls the mask off and reveals it is Jimmy Uso. He’s got a scowl on his face as he looks down at Jey angrily.

Jimmy pauses for what seems like forever and then super kicks Jey. The fans chant “F*ck you Jimmy!” as he rolls Jey into the ring. Roman spears Jey through the table and then drags him out and covers him for the win. With the win, Roman Reigns retains the Universal title and the title of “The Tribal Chief.” Reigns leaves with “The Wise Man” after the match. Jey is in the ring looking upset as he recovers. That’s how the show goes off the air. Thanks for joining us!

Winner and STILL WWE Universal Champion & The Tribal Chief: Roman Reigns

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.

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!

The Bloodline Civil War
Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa vs. The Usos

When the Owens and Zayn interview wraps up, we head to a quick commercial break. When we return, Michael Cole and Wade Barrett announces Rhea Ripley vs. Natalya for the WWE Women’s Championship on Monday Night Raw this coming Monday night.

From there, the elaborate, lengthy pre-match video package airs for our main event, which is The Bloodline Civil War pitting Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa against The Usos.

Once the pre-match package wraps up, the familiar sounds of the entrance theme for The Usos plays and out comes the brother duo of Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso for our main event and final match of the show.

The Usos settle into the ring to a huge pop and “They the ones!” chants, among others. The fans also very loudly sing along with The Usos’ theme music. That’s becoming a trend that is just spreading like wildfire. How many songs can millions of wrestling fans memorize the lyrics to? Apparently dozens!

Now that Jimmy and Jey are settled into the ring, their music dies down. After a healthy delay, the lights go down and then the familiar sounds of Roman Reigns’ theme plays. Out comes “The Tribal Chief” himself, accompanied by “The Wise Man” Paul Heyman and his partner for The Bloodline Civil War, Solo Sikoa.

All four men involved in The Bloodline Civil War are settled into the ring. The ring announcer handles the formal pre-match ring introductions for this match, as all four guys are face-to-face in the middle of the ring yelling at each other passionately.

The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with our main event. The fans immediately break out in a loud “F*ck you Roman!” chant and then he takes his spot on the ring apron outside the ropes as the fans boo. Solo kicks things off against Jimmy Uso to get this one started.

We see some back-and-forth action and then we see Solo Sikoa to start to take over. Roman Reigns tags in once things are slow and calm and in the favor of Reigns and Solo. The fans get on “The Tribal Chief’s” case with some derogatory songs and chants.

Reigns then stops and gets a pep talk from Paul Heyman at ringside. He gets back in the ring and proceeds to go on a prolonged one-sided beatdown of Jey Uso. A “Tribal B*tch!” chant breaks out and spreads like wildfire throughout the O2 Arena.

Jey Uso starts to fight his way back into competitive form. He gets Reigns in the corner and climbs up him for the ten punch spot, with the fans counting along as each shot lands. A brief distraction by Solo allows Reigns to jump back into the offensive driver’s seat. He starts taunting and yelling at Jey as he beats him down.

The fans break out into a thunderously loud “Stand up, if you hate Roman!” song-style chant that Roman big-time acknowledges on-camera and the commentators bring up on the broadcast. As the action continues, the song-chants switch to “Sit down, if you hate Roman!”

Solo beats down Uso in the ring and then Roman tags in and from the floor, hits his running drive-by kick on the ring apron. Back in the ring, “The Tribal Chief” goes back to work on Uso as a loud “F*ck you Roman!” chant spreads throughout the O2 Arena.

Main event Jey fires up, taking out Solo and knocking him to the floor. He clotheslines Roman over the top on the other side and out to the floor. He hits a dive on Roman from the ring to the floor, heads back in and dives on the other side onto Solo on the floor.

Jey turns around into a Superman punch from Roman. Roman hits a second one and then backs in the corner and waits for Jey to get up for a spear. Jey makes the tag and Roman charges in for the spear but is blasted by both Usos with a double spear. Uso goes for the cover but Solo breaks it up.

We see a two-on-two stand off, with Roman and Solo on one side of the ring and Jimmy and Jey on the other. They soak up the atmosphere of the moment and then eight fists start flying all over the place as the crowd comes unglued.

Roman lays out Jimmy when the two are alone in the ring. He turns to the crowd and yells at them to shut up, saying he’s sick of them already. He does the Uce war-cry and waits for Jimmy to get up. He charges at him for a spear but runs into a super kick. Jimmy decks Roman with another one. He heads to the top rope for an Uso splash but lands into a choke from Roman. Uso fades but eventually springs back to life.

Jimmy muscles Roman up like you would your little brother and slams him in the corner. He tags in Jey. Jey comes in but Roman bumps the ref out of the ring. He turns around into a super kick from Jey and then a 1-and-done from The Usos. Jey goes for the cover but there is no ref to count the pin. Roman was dead to rights’ but there’s no one to make it official.

The Usos go to the top-rope in opposing corners but are caught on the way down by Reigns and Solo. Each guy hits a urinagi and then Solo hits a Samoan Spike and Roman hits a spear. They drag The Usos on top of each other like Joe Pesci and his brother at the end of Casino. Roman goes to cover the two lifeless Usos but somehow they kick out. The crowd goes insane.

Roman looks nervous. Paul Heyman, even as “The Wise Man,” yells out “What are we gonna do?!” unsure how to handle this or what to do to finish off The Usos. Solo Sikoa takes charge and begins beating up on Jimmy and Jey some more. Solo bashes Uso into the ring steps and then he starts taking apart the commentary table. Roman shouts instructions to “Destroy him!”

Solo super kicks Jimmy and lays him lifeless across the cleared off table. Solo climbs up the barricade and looks at Roman. He lets out a war cry and goes for a big splash but Jimmy moves and Solo goes through the table himself. In the ring. Jey hits a super kick but then Roman hits a Superman punch. Jey hits another super kick but then Roman bounces off the ropes and connects with a Spear. He goes for the cover but only gets two.

A loud “This is Awesome!” chant breaks out and then we are shown highlights of everything that just happened. Jey hits a low blow and then a super kick to Roman. He makes the tag and both Usos hit double super kicks. And again. And a third time. They head to the top-rope for the Uso Splash. They go for the cover and get the win. The crowd goes nuts. The Usos’ facial reaction, and that of Heyman’s, sells the significance of this moment, which Michael Cole underscores on commentary by pointing out it’s the first time Reigns’ shoulders have been pinned to the mat in over three years. The Usos kneel and pray as we begin seeing replays of the key moments in the match. Now we get a full show video recap and that’s how the show goes off the air. Thanks for joining us!

Winners: The Usos