The road to WWE SummerSlam 2023 continues tonight.
WWE Friday Night SmackDown goes down this evening at 8/7c on FOX from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.
On tap for tonight’s edition of the weekly two-hour WWE on FOX blue brand program is Rey Mysterio vs. Santos Escobar in the U.S. Championship Invitational Finals.
Also scheduled is Karrion Kross vs. Karl Anderson, as well as the latest build-up to the Tribal Combat showdown between Jey Uso and “The Tribal Chief” Roman Reigns at WWE SummerSlam 2023.
Featured below are complete WWE Friday Night SmackDown results from Friday, July 28, 2023. The following report was written by PWMania.com reporter Matt Boone (@MattBoone0709) as the show aired live from 8-10pm EST. on FOX.
WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN RESULTS (7/28/2023)
The “WWE Then. Now. Forever. Together.” opening signature airs and then we shoot inside the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA.
Tribal Combat Preview Kicks Off SmackDown
Michael Cole and Wade Barrett welcome us to the show and then we hear the ring announcer introduce us to “Main Event” Jey Uso. He begins, “Main Event Jey Uso is now in your city …”
The fans pop but before anything else happens, the theme for Roman Reigns immediately hits. Out comes “The Tribal Chief” accompanied by Solo Sikoa and “The Wise Man” Paul Heyman.
When he settles into the ring, Jey backs into the corner with his head down. Reigns begins by telling New Orleans to ACKNOWLEDGE HIM! The fans chant Uso! Uso! and Reigns points out that the fans love The Usos because of him.
Reigns reminds Jey that when “The Tribal Chief” is appearing, he opens up HIS show. He asks why they called Jey his “right hand man.” He asks if Jey thinks he’s “The Tribal Chief” now. Jey says he didn’t want any of that. He says all he did for Roman was watch his back. Do what family does and support him.
Jey says he believed in Roman. He says now he’s gotta do what he’s gotta do. Roman tells Jey the only reason he became “Main Event” Jey Uso was because his brother was injured. He claims his brother loves and respects Roman more than Jey. He says when he beats him, he’s done. They’re gonna wipe him off the Earth.
He continues, saying he can’t lose because if he does, he loses the Universal title and the title of Tribal Chief. He wants to know what’s going through Jey’s head and why he still wants to do this and why he thinks he can actually beat him. The fans chant “Uce-O! Uce-O!” He smiles and says “it’s because I already beat you. I pinned you.”
Uso puts his arm on Reigns’ neck and gets in his face and tells him face-to-face that at SummerSlam, he’s gonna do it again. He walks past Roman and exits the ring as his theme plays.
Jey Uso Decks Grayson Waller
We shoot backstage and Jey Uso is shown looking excited after giving it to Roman Reigns on the mic moments ago. He is approached by Grayson Waller.
Waller tells Uso that he should come on “The Grayson Waller Effect” after SummerSlam. Waller mocks him and then Jey drills him.
WWE United States Title Invitational Finals
Rey Mysterio vs. Santos Escobar
Now we see our Progressive Match Flo of the week showing how LWO members Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar made it to the finals of the ongoing WWE United States Championship Invitational.
After the video package wraps up, the iconic sounds of Rey Mysterio’s theme hits and the WWE Hall of Fame legend makes his way out for our first match of the evening. As he does, we head to a pre-match commercial break.
When we return from the break, Santos Escobar makes his way out and heads to the ring for a battle of LWO member vs. LWO member in the finals of the U.S. title invitational.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. Santos and Rey have a special moment before they get started, in a mutual sign of respect. The two get after it now and Santos takes Rey down and works on his leg.
As the action continues, we see U.S. Champion Austin Theory alone in a sky box inside Smoothie King Center. The camera zooms in on him holding his title and watching the action unfold in the ring, as the winner of this match will be his next challenger.
We see the intensity pick up after a few minutes, as the two start trading punches with enthusiasm for the first time in the bout. Rey gets Santos in position for a 6-1-9 but Santos avoids it. Rey leaps out and splashes on Santos on the floor as we head to a mid-match commercial break.
When we return from the break, we see more back-and-forth action, with Santos ultimately taking over and hitting some high spots from the ring to the floor himself, as we head into another mid-match commercial break.
As we settle in from this commercial, we see Rey Mysterio being checked on by doctors. Michael Cole talks us through highlights of the replay of Escobar diving from the ring to the floor where the back of Rey’s head smashed into the ramp. The ref calls it off per the doctors. Santos Escobar wins. Santos shows concern for Rey afterwards. Rey hugs him.
Winner of the U.S. Title Invitational: Santos Escobar
Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair To Team Up Ahead Of SummerSlam?
We shoot backstage where Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green interrupt Bianca Belair’s interview, leading to Belair challenging the two to a triple threat match for later tonight.
Charlotte Flair appears and says she needs Belair 100% going into SummerSlam and asks if she wants to team up tonight instead. Belair doesn’t want to. Charlotte says she’s gonna go talk to Adam Pearce. We head to a commercial break after that.
LA Knight vs. Ashante “Thee” Adonis
When we return from the break, we see Hit Row in the ring talking trash about New Orleans, getting cheap heel heat by trashing the town and saying stuff like, “Roll Tide!” The theme for LA Knight hits and the crowd goes bonkers.
“Lemme talk to ya!” he begins. Knight says he knew Will Smith was in the game, but he didn’t know Uncle Phil was a rapper, referring to Top Dolla. He also makes a crack at B-Fab before calling out Ashante “Thee” Adonis for a match.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with our next match of the evening. Knight is distracted by Hit Row at ringside and Adonis gets the offensive jump in the early goings.
Top Dolla gets in a cheap shot from ringside behind the ref’s back but shortly after that, Knight comes to life and starts taking over. He knocks Top Dolla off the apron and hits a big power slam on Adonis before hitting his wannabe People’s Elbow. He hits his finisher after that and scores the win.
Winner: LA Knight
Jey Uso Gets A Match For Tonight
We shoot backstage and we see Jey Uso texting someone on the phone when up walks Adam Pearce. He brings up Jey’s interaction with Grayson Waller earlier in the show and makes a match between the two for later tonight.
Bobby Lashley With The Street Profits
Now we head to a special location where we see Bobby Lashley with The Street Profits. They are all drinking wine and sitting in nice furnature. Lashley mentions how he was with Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams last week and says they had nothing but nice things to say about the two.
Lashley mentions how they should be dressing up. Ford and Lashley look at Dawkins and laugh, as he is wearing sweat pants. Lashley has a bunch of suits rolled in and tells Dawkins to pick one.
Charlotte Flair & Bianca Belair vs. Sonya Deville & Chelsea Green
Back inside the arena, the familiar sounds of Charlotte Flair’s theme hits the house speakers. With that said, “The Queen” emerges and makes her way down to the ring for our next match of the evening.
As she settles inside the squared circle, we head to a quick pre-match commercial break. When we return, Bianca Belair’s theme hits and out comes “The EST of WWE” swinging her giant pony tail as always.
The two are in the ring together now and Belair’s music dies down. The theme for Chelsea Green hits and transitions to Sonya Deville’s music. Out comes “The Complaint Department” duo with their WWE Women’s Tag-Team Championships over their shoulders.
All four women are in the ring and ready to rock and roll. The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this women’s tag-team bout. “Champ” Chelsea and Bianca Belair kick things off for their respective teams.
Belair establishes the early offensive control and then tags in Charlotte. Charlotte slams Chelsea face-first into the mat and then controls her with grappling with her legs. Belair and Deville end up as the legal women in the ring and Deville hits a big kick for a close near fall.
After that, we head to a mid-match commercial break as the action continues. When we return, we see some back-and-forth action and then after some confusion, Charlotte and Sonya end up as the legal two. Charlotte goes for the Figure-8 but is sent into the corner face-first.
Bianca tags herself in and goes to work on Deville. Chelsea goes for the Unpretty-Her but Belair avoids it. She hoists her up for the K.O.D. but Charlotte blind tags herself in and steals the pin after arguing with her partner.
Winners: Charlotte Flair & Bianca Belair
Backstage With Damage CTRL & Asuka
We shoot backstage and we see Bayley laughing at Charlotte and Bianca Belair arguing. She calls it embarrassing. In comes Iyo Sky asking why Bayley left her hanging last week.
Bayley tries slick talking her way out of it but then gets distracted when she pulls a message from Shotzi out of her bag that says “See you soon” in cut-out letters like a serial killer.
The two get freaked out and go to leave but are approached by Asuka. “The Empress of Tomorrow” mumbles something and then tells Iyo Sky she better not think about cashing in her Money In The Bank briefcase.
Sky taunts Asuka back and says if she cashes in on whoever wins at SummerSlam, she’ll leave as champion. We head to another commercial break after this.
SummerSlam Battle Royal Presented By Slim Jim Announced
When we return from the break, the “SummerSlam Battle Royal Presented By Slim Jim” featuring Raw and SmackDown Superstars is announced for WWE SummerSlam 2023.
After the announcement, we shoot backstage where LA Knight confronts Adam Pearce and gets a spot in the bout. Sheamus and The Brawling Brutes confront him and a bout between Sheamus and LA Knight is made for next week’s SmackDown.
Karrion Kross vs. Karl Anderson
After a quick Grayson Waller interview hyping tonight’s main event against Jey Uso, we head back inside the Smoothie King Center for our next match of the evening here on Friday Night SmackDown.
With that said, out comes Karrion Kross accompanied by Scarlett. The two head to the ring where Kross will go one-on-one against Karl Anderson of The O.C. when we return. On that note, we head to a pre-match commercial break.
When we return, we see Karl Anderson in the back asking AJ Styles and The O.C. to let him fight this one out himself after what happened last week. Styles hesitantly agrees.
Anderson makes his way to the ring and the bell sounds and we this one officially off-and-running. Anderson starts off well but after interference from Scarlett, Kross takes over, hitting a Kross-hammer and his Final Prayer finisher for the win while yelling AJ Styles’ name.
Winner: Karrion Kross
Jey Uso vs. Grayson Waller
It’s main event time!
Now the theme for Jey Uso hits for our scheduled main event of the evening. As “Main Event” Jey Uso makes his way out and heads to the ring, we see a shot of Roman Reigns, Solo Sikoa and Paul Heyman watching on a monitor backstage.
On that note, we shift gears and head to a pre-match commercial break. When we return from the break, Grayson Waller’s theme hits and the host of “The Grayson Waller Effect” settles in the ring for our final match of the evening.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. Uso starts off strong, taking it to Grayson with ease and dominating the early offense. Waller takes over and gets in some offense of his own, but his offensive run is short-lived as Uso blasts him with a super kick and takes back over.
Uso continues to dominate and looks to have this one wrapped up, when out of nowhere, the theme for Roman Reigns hits. Out comes “The Tribal Chief” accompanied by Solo Sikoa and Paul Heyman. Uso is distracted by this, which allows Waller to recover and land a big shot.
With Uso down and The Bloodline making their way closer to the ring, we head to a mid-match commercial break with our main event of the evening continuing.
When we return from the break, we see Waller dominating the action while The Bloodline sits at ringside watching on. Waller hits a middle rope elbow drop for a close near fall. He starts taunting Jey as he continues to work him over.
Even though LA Knight already did it earlier, presumably unintentionally, we see Grayson Waller rip off The Rock by doing his People’s Elbow, which Michael Cole mentions on commentary as Roman Reigns is shown with a big smile on his face watching at ringside.
Jey ends up avoiding it and he starts to take over. He lays out Waller and stops long enough to glare at Reigns and Sikoa and Heyman at ringside. Uso hits a spear and an Uso splash for the pin fall victory.
Winner: Jey Uso
The Bloodline Strikes After The Match …
Once the match wraps up, we see Solo Sikoa attack Jey Uso. He looks to Roman Reigns and asks if he should hit the Samoan Spike. Roman smiles and nods his head. Solo goes to do it, but Jey avoids it and takes out Solo.
Roman Reigns leaps up from his chair and hits the ring, but Jey sees him coming and catches him with a big spear. He heads to the top-rope for an Uso splash, but Sikoa recovers and knocks him off. Now he picks him up and hits a urinagi.
Now Reigns has Solo pick him up. They both let out a war cry and then hit a combo spear and Samoan Spike at the same tine. Reigns grabs his title and lay and looks down at Jey, taunting him and screaming at him as he stands over him with Solo Sikoa.
Reigns orders Solo to pick him up and they hit it again. He then poses on the top rope with his title and lay as his theme plays once again. That’s how this week’s show goes off the air. Thanks for joining us!
