The Usos begin Bloodline Civil War on SmackDown.
SmackDown advertised a Bloodline Civil War as The Usos were scheduled to appear after Jey Uso left the Bloodline. SmackDown also advertised a Women’s Tag Team Title unification match pitting Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler against Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre.
Last week’s broadcast of SmackDown garnered 2.430 million viewers.
WWE SmackDown Results | June 23, 2023
- LA Knight def. Rey Mysterio
- Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler def. Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn | Unified Women’s Tag Team Titles
- Pretty Deadly def. The Street Profits
- Charlotte Flair def. Lacey Evans
- Solo Sikoa def. Sheamus
WWE SmackDown Ratings
- June 23, 2023 | 2.430 million
- June 9, 2023 | 2.278 million
- June 2, 2023 | 2.563 million
- May 26, 2023 | 2.158 million
- May 19, 2023 | 2.133 million
- WWE SmackDown Venue: Lafayette Cajundome (Lafayette, La.)
- WWE SmackDown Tickets Distributed: 8,197
- Available Tickets: 165
WWE SmackDown Winners and Grades
The Usos Open SmackDown
The Usos cut an old-school Usos-style promo (lock down!) and it was brilliant.
Jey did most of the talking, but Jimmy Uso jumped in and said Jey made the absolute perfect choice. He received a huge pop for that line.
The Usos continue taking shots at Paul Heyman, whom Jey Uso referred to as the biggest snake of them all.
The Usos said “welcome to the Uso Penitentiary, which I don’t think Roman Reigns allowed them to say in quite some time.
Usos Promo Grade: B+
LA Knight Def. Rey Mysterio
Despite Rey Mysterio being a Hall of Famer and an all-time babyface, fans still sided with LA Knight. Perhaps because they were in Louisiana?
LA Knight picked up a quality, clean win. Logan Paul throws a monkey wrench into the Money in the Bank plans, because if it weren’t for Paul, Knight would be a runaway favorite.
Backstage, Solo Sikoa attacked Ridge Holland, prompting Sheamus to challenge Sikoa to a match.
LA Knight vs. Rey Mysterio Grade: B-
Rousey And Baszler Win Unified Tag Team Titles
Rousey and Baszler are now wearing matching gear, which I’m always a fan of with tag teams.
With Baszler and Rousey picking up the win, via dual submission, there will be more fuel to the fire of Ronda Rousey showing up on WWE NXT
XT
What’s WWE going to do with Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn now that they’ve taken the titles off them? Will they remain on the main roster or go back to NXT?
Liv Morgan returned after Raquel Rodriguez confronted the new champions, and this the most excited I’ve been about a women’s tag team title feud in a long time. Poor Shotzi, though.
Tag Team Unification Match Grade: B-
Pretty Deadly Def. Street Profits
Pretty Deadly appeared on the Grayson Waller effect and continued to hypnotize fans with yet another sing-songy catchphrase. This time, it was “we beat em!”
In the latest batch of entertaining Pretty Deadly trivial, Elton Prince was named the most attractive blonde while Kit Wilson was named the most attractive brunette in the United Kingdom.
The vast majority of this match was commercial breaks.
I don’t know what’s taking so long for WWE to make their move with Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins as singles stars, but they seem above being the veteran tag team putting up-and-comers over.
Pretty Deadly vs. Street Profits Grade: B
Charlotte Flair Def. Lacey Evans
Charlotte Flair didn’t show much ring rust until it was time to start chopping.
Charlotte snuck in a tribute to Andrade Idolo while making her comeback and easily won with the Figure Eight.
After Charlotte’s win, Asuka attacked Charlotte in pink socks and fans cheered her for it.
Charlotte Flair vs. Lacey Evans Grade: C
Solo Sikoa Vs. Sheamus Ends In A Countout
I get Ridge Holland had to sell the Samoan Spike, but hopefully Ridge gets a shot (read: fed) against Solo Sikoa so it doesn’t come off like he needs big brother Sheamus fighting his battles for him.
The story of this match was Sheamus selling his back. Sheamus was even in agony delivering the 10 Beats of the Bodhran.
Sheamus was definitely over as a babyface, but there were Goldberg-like chants of “Solo” throughout.
After a Samoan Spike to the outside and a running but bump through the barricade, this match ended in a countout. The Usos delivered another barrage of superkicks to Solo to end the show. As a cherry on top, they delivered a double Uso splash.
