WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Grades & Highlights 23RD August

This evening, August 31, at 8/7c on FOX, WWE SmackDown makes a comeback from the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. It is the second-to-last blue brand program before the aforementioned premium live event.

The Bloodline (Jacob Fatu & Tama Tonga) vs. The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) for the WWE Tag-Team Championship and LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar for the WWE United States Championship are scheduled for title matches on tonight’s two-hour WWE on FOX prime time Friday night program.

Naomi, Jade Cargill, and Bianca Belair vs. Blair Davenport, Alba Fyre, and Isla Dawn are scheduled for non-title action on the episode. Additionally, Cody Rhodes will be “chatting” with Grayson Waller on “The Grayson Waller Effect” to demonstrate to him the extent of his potential as a “bad guy.”
The ring is already set up for the chat show segment “The Grayson Waller Effect” inside the arena. Waller and Austin Theory, the team from Australia, have already arrived on set and are waiting for their visitor. Cody Rhodes, the WWE Universal Champion, is introduced.

The well-known theme from “The American Nightmare” opens, and as he exits, a full house in Washington, D.C., is heard cheering him on. As usual, Rhodes tries to get things started on the microphone by asking, “So, Washington, D.C., what do you want to talk about?” but Waller interrupts.

We’re not doing that tonight, Waller says. He claims that the reason the audience loves him is solely that they are unaware of Cody Rhodes’ true identity. He talks about how Cody’s activities have caused his buddies, Kevin Owens, and others to be beaten and injured. Is Waller finished yet, Cody queries.

After discussing how he is giving Owens a shot at the championship at Bash in Berlin, Cody defends Owens as the legitimate challenger, pointing out that he has been facing The Bloodline since before Cody even made a comeback to the WWE and that he can and has defeated every person in the locker room.

Waller worries whether Theory is really using him or whether they are buddies. Cody asks if Theory is paying attention when he nicknames him “Magic Mike.” Raising his hand, Cody informs Theory that Waller is the one abusing him and that he and the rest of the throng are only waiting on Theory to take action.

Cody, according to Grayson, won’t make things better for them. He instructs them to keep their attention on the subject at hand and shows them a unique video that demonstrates how much Kevin Owens just really cares about himself. A compilation movie featuring several of heel Owens’s days is shown.

It features, among others, Chris Jericho, the current star of AEW. After the video ends, Waller remarks that Owens doesn’t seem like a very good friend. As soon as Owens’ theme begins, he emerges to “K.O.” chanting. According to Owens, Waller is clearly attempting to persuade Cody that he is going to stab him in the back.

Owens lets Cody know that he may acknowledge that all the guys on the video had a little bit of it coming to them. That is, excluding Kofi Kingston. He offers Kofi his apology. He claims that nothing like what was seen in the video will occur between him and Cody because they have been close since they first met.

“The Prize Fighter” requests that we cut right to the chase and have SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis appear so that we can set up a tag bout between the four of them for later tonight. Aldis declares that an agreement has been reached.

LA Knight, decked out in his ring attire, is seen making his way backstage while wearing the WWE United States Championship, which he just won. Wade Barrett and Corey Graves let us know that Santos Escobar of Legado Del Fantasma will be facing him in the upcoming title defense. We’re about to go into commercial.

As soon as the Knight theme begins to play upon our return from the intermission, the D.C. audience erupts. He emerges and takes up residence in the ring. When the Legado Del Fantasma theme begins, Escobar appears with Angel, Humberto, and Elektra Lopez.

Escobar takes the offensive lead after the commercial break ends and the show resumes. Knight is lying on the ground, pressed up against the cleared-out commentary table. He scales the wall and launches a meteor strike toward Knight, landing him on the commentary desk. Hurt.

Knight begins to gradually regain his competitive form inside the ring by fighting from underneath. In the end, “The Mega Star” wins thanks to a Blunt Force Trauma finisher. He keeps his WWE United States Championship after winning.

After more back-and-forth action, Cargill gets the hot tag and cleans house until finally, Naomi hits a big high spot for the pin fall victory. We then go to another commercial break.

This time, when we return, we see Belair being isolated in the ring and controlled by the trio of Fyre, Dawn, and Davenport. They keep her on their side of the ring and use frequent tags to keep a fresh person on her at all times.

When Ford enters the ring with a lot of energy and hits several offensive spots before Tama and Tonga regain control of the situation, Dawkins finally makes the much-needed tag. We observe a very happy Solo Sikoa spectating from ringside as the mid-match break approaches.

When the episode returns, Ford is once more assisting The Profits in taking the offensive lead. But in the end, Jacob Fatu becomes involved, and The Bloodline prevails to keep the tag titles. DIY emerges when The Bloodline continues to attack The Profits following the match. In the end, they also manage to beat them down.

After the match, as the official match visuals flash across the screen, Graves and Barrett announce the updated lineup for the VIP live event of WWE Bash In Berlin the following week. Cody is then seen getting better in the ring.

He stands up, and Owens charges at him as if to stun him, but instead of hitting him, he passes him and yells at A-Town Down Under as he goes up the ramp. That is the way the episode ends this week. We appreciate you coming!