This week on SmackDown, John Cena made his return to WWE and he was confronted by Jimmy Uso.
SmackDown took place at The Giant Center in Hershey, PA with Michael Cole, Corey Graves & Kevin Patrick on commentary.
John Cena started the show saying that he’s grateful for the huge ovations and he’s going to say “thank you” more often to the fans. Cena also announced that he will be the host of Payback.
Jimmy Uso interrupted the Cena promo. Jimmy has new music and he was in a black t-shirt instead of an Uso shirt. Jimmy said he didn’t want his brother Jey to be corrupted like Roman Reigns or John Cena. Jimmy told Cena he’s like Reigns except he does it with a smile on his face. Cena told Jimmy that “the wrong Uso quit.” Jimmy tried a superkick, Cena caught the foot and Cena hit Jimmy with an Attitude Adjustment to end the segment.
Match #1: Austin Theory & Grayson Waller defeated Rey Mysterio & Santos Escobar. The finish saw Theory do a chop block to Escobar’s bad left knee after Escobar pushed Rey out of the way. Rey and Theory went tumbling to the floor, so Waller hit a rolling Stunner on Escobar for the pinfall win.
Jimmy Uso went into WWE Official Adam Pearce’s office while Pearce was talking to Michin. Pearce said he didn’t like Jimmy Uso being rude to people.
After a break, Michin told The OC guys about Jimmy being rude to her. AJ Styles said he’ll handle it.
Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) did an in-ring promo wearing suits. They still don’t have a name for the group. The Profits thanked Lashley for helping them. Lashley said they had a message for the WWE Universe – they are putting everybody on notice. Lashley said they are coming for power, control and championship gold.
Following the promo, Lashley and The Street Profits had a staredown with WWE Tag Team Champions Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn. It was teasing a future tag team match.
Match #2:Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn defeated LWO’s Cruz Del Toro & Joaquine Wilde. It was a short match that went about three minutes. Zayn hit a Helluva Kick and Owens hit a Stunner to win.
Jimmy Uso was shown leaving when AJ Styles confronted him. They shoved eachother and Solo Sikoa arrived to knock Styles down with a punch. Solo tried to tell Jimmy he was still in The Bloodline as long as they told him he was in. Jimmy said nobody can tell him what to do. Jimmy left.
After a break, AJ Styles said he wanted to face Solo Sikoa. Karl Anderson of The OC told AJ to not get involved in The Bloodline’s business, but AJ was insistent.
The Miz and LA Knight did an in-ring promo exchange where they insulted eachother to build to their Payback match. The Miz talked about all of his success while Knight made it clear that he’s never going to quit. Miz tried an attack, Knight ducked and pulled off Miz’s jacket. Miz did a forearm to the throat and hit Skull Crushing Finale. After Miz walked away, Knight went after him with punches. They were separated by WWE Officials.
Match #3: Shotzi defeated Bayley. Charlotte Flair arrived, knocked down IYO SKY at ringside and punched Bayley while the referee was looking at Dakota Kai on the apron. Shotzi hit a neckbreaker slam on Bayley for the pinfall win.
Match #4: Solo Sikoa defeated AJ Styles. When it looked like Styles was going to hit the Phenomenal Forearm, Jimmy Uso arrived and knocked Styles down from the ropes. The referee was looking at Solo, so he never saw it. Solo hit the Samoan Spike to Styles for the pinfall win.
Post match, Jimmy Uso went into the ring and hugged his brother Solo. Solo reacted by choking Jimmy, but then Paul Heyman told Solo to stop. Solo let go of Jimmy.
Jimmy hit a superkick on Styles. Jimmy went up top and hit an Uso Splash on Styles. Jimmy held up one finger in the air like when he was in The Bloodline. Cole pushed the story that it looks like Jimmy wants back in The Bloodline. Heyman was calling Roman Reigns on his phone. Jimmy held his finger in the air to end the show.
Next Week On WWE SmackDown And Coming Up At Payback
There was only one match announced for next week’s September 8th episode of SmackDown in Boston: Charlotte Flair & Shotzi vs. IYO SKY & Bayley.
Here’s the lineup for the WWE Payback PLE lineup for this Saturday, September 2nd in Pittsburgh:
* World Heavyweight Championship: Seth “Freakin” Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
* Women’s World Heavyweight Championship: Rhea Ripley vs. Raquel Rodriguez
* Steel City Street Fight for the WWE Tag Team Championships: Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens vs. Damian Priest & Finn Balor
* Steel Cage Match: Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus
* United States Championship: Rey Mysterio vs. Austin Theory
* LA Knight vs. The Miz
* Grayson Waller Effect talk show with Cody Rhodes as the guest
You can watch WWE Payback on Saturday, September 2, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, streaming LIVE on Peacock in the United States and on WWE Network everywhere else.
In recent news, Dave Meltzer reported that WWE SmackDown looks set to move away from current network FOX.