The road to WWE Money In The Bank 2023 continues tonight.
WWE Friday Night SmackDown returns from the Cajundome in Lafayette, Louisiana with this week’s episode of the two-hour WWE on FOX television program.
On tap for tonight’s show is WWE & NXT Women’s Tag-Team Championship unification with Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler vs Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre, Bayley vs. Shotzi with a spot in MITB on-the-line, Cameron Grimes vs. Baron Corbin, as well as LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar vs. Butch.
Featured below are complete WWE Friday Night SmackDown results from Friday, June 23, 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 (6/23/2023)
The John Cena-narrated “WWE Then. Now. Forever. Together.” opening signature airs to get this week’s show underway. We then shoot inside the Cajundome in Lafayette, LA.
The Usos Kick Off SmackDown
We then shoot to an elaborate video package recapping the segment from last week’s show that saw the collapse of The Bloodline. Michael Cole and Wade Barrett welcome us to the show and then The Usos theme hits.
They settle in the ring and a loud “U-SO! U-SO!” chant breaks out. Jey Uso says The Bloodline but then corrects himself and says The Usos are back in Lafayette. Jey says they about to fight their family. He says they ain’t supposed to do that. They’re supposed to lift each other up.
The Usos tell each other they still love each other. Jey says just like Roman Reigns, they still love him, too. They say for years they did what he said. He says where he messed up is he disrespected he and his brother.
Jimmy takes over from there and says when Roman showed the disrespect he did, he left himself on the island of relevancy. He says they can forgive family like Roman, but who they can’t forgive is Paul Heyman.
Jey takes back over and mentions the Civil War with The Bloodline at Money In The Bank on July 1 in London, England. They finish by welcoming Roman and Solo to “The Uso Penitentiary.”
Rey Mysterio vs. LA Knight
The familiar sounds of Rey Mysterio’s theme hits and out comes the WWE Hall of Fame legend for our opening contest. As he settles in the ring, we head to a pre-match commercial break.
When we return from the break, LA Knight’s theme hits and as always, he gets a pretty big pop from the crowd. He settles in the ring and his music dies down. The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one.
Early on we see Knight working Rey over and letting out his trademark “YEAH’s!,” which the crowd pops for. Rey fights back and does the ten punches in the corner spot on Knight as the fans count along with each shot that lands.
Rey connects with a 6-1-9 and he heads to the top to finish him off, but notices Knight rolling out to the floor. Rey hits a big diving splash onto Knight on the floor and then we head to a mid-match commercial break as the action continues.
When we return from the break, we see some good back-and-forth action that elicits a “This is Awesome” chant from the crowd. The two botch a couple of spots and then Knight ends up connecting with his Blunt Force Trauma finisher for the win.
After the match, Knight starts tearing away at the mask of Rey, but Santos Escobar runs down and chases him off.
Winner: LA Knight
Solo Sikoa Isn’t In The Mood Tonight
We shoot backstage and we see Solo Sikoa walking with “The Wise Man” Paul Heyman. Ridge Holland walks by and gets in Solo’s way. Solo blasts him with a Samoan Spike and tells him, “I’m not in the mood today.” Heyman does his “Call Roman” thing into the phone as we head into a break.
Sheamus Calls Out Solo Sikoa
When we return from the break we see Adam Pearce checking on Ridge Holland, who can’t breathe. Up walks Sheamus who asks what happened. He tells him and Sheamus walks off angry. “The Celtic Warrior” comes out and gets on the mic and calls out Solo Sikoa and walks off.
WWE & NXT Women’s Tag-Team Title Unification
Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler (C) vs. Isla Dawn & Alba Fyre (C)
Now we shift gears and head back into the Cajundome where Ronda Rousey’s theme hits and out she comes with Shayna Baszler. The two head to the ring for their scheduled title unification match.
As the WWE Women’s Tag-Team Champions settle in the ring, their music dies down. Now the theme for the NXT Women’s Tag-Team Champions hits and out comes Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre.
Alba Fyre and Shayna Baszler kick things off for their respective teams as the bell sounds to officially get this title unification match off-and-running as our second match of the evening. Fyre sets the pace and tags in Isla Dawn.
Dawn and Fyre hit a double team spot and go for the cover. We see Raquel Rodriguez seated at ringside watching as the action unfolds in the ring. Rousey tags in and “Rowdy” Ronda tangles with Dawn.
Rousey takes over but then Fyre tags in and hits a running meteora for a close near fall. Rousey starts to fight back but misses a high running knee and Fyre blasts Rousey with a kick to the leg, focusing her attack on the lower limb of the champ.
Baszler sneaks in with some interference from behind, which allows Rousey to take over as we head into a mid-match commercial break. When we return from the break, we see Rousey still dominating in the ring.
Moments later, we see Rousey pull off the tap out for the submission win. With the win, Rousey and Baszler become the first-ever unified tag-team champions.
Winners and NEW Unified Women’s Tag-Team Champions: Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler
Liv Morgan Is Back!
After the match, Rousey gets on the mic and asks what Rodriguez is doing at ringside. She gets on the mic and says we want the rematch for our titles that we never got. Baszler asks who we is, pointing out Rodriguez is out there by herself.
Liv Morgan’s theme hits and out she comes. She stands alongside Rodriguez in the ring as Rousey and Baszler flee the scene and head to the back. Michael Cole then informs us Sheamus vs. Solo Sikoa is confirmed for tonight. Wade Barrett informs us Grayson Waller has Pretty Deadly on The Grayson Waller Effect. We head to a commercial.
The Grayson Waller Effect With Pretty Deadly
Grayson Waller’s theme hits and then stops. The drumroll hits and his theme plays again and he is introduced. Out he comes for the latest installment of The Grayson Waller Effect.
He builds himself up ad then hypes his guests, Pretty Deadly.
The glitter ball for Pretty Deadly is shown and then Kit Wilson and Elton Prince make their way out. We see highlights of them winning the gauntlet last week and becoming number one contenders to the Undisputed WWE Tag-Team Champions Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.
We hear the three banter back-and-forth and then they mention how in their home country, Pretty Deadly will challenge Zayn and Owens for the titles next week.
This god awful banter continues until The Street Profits come out talking about how cute Kit and Elton look with their exposed chests. They challenge them to a match — which is up next. We head to a commercial break on that note.
The Street Profits vs. Pretty Deadly
When we return from the break, we see footage promoting the Undertaker 1 deadMAN Show coming to England for Money In The Bank weekend. Cole and Barrett plug Sheamus and Solo for our main event.
Now we settle back inside the ring where Kit Wilson and Montez Ford kick things off for their respective teams as the bell sounds to officially get this tag-team contest off-and-running here in our next match on SmackDown.
Dawkins and Prince tag in and we see The Street Profits remain in the offensive lead as Cole puts over Kit and Elton as voted the hottest blond and brunette in all of the U.K. Ford and Dawkins get one of the tops off of Pretty Deadly.
Ford slips on the top and then he and Dawkins hit stereo dives, splashing onto the tag team title number one contenders on the floor. After that we head to a mid-match commercial break as the action continues.
As we settle back in from the break, we see some more back-and-forth action and then Kit and Elton steal the win.
Winners: Pretty Deadly
Charlotte Flair vs. Lacey Evans
Now we see video highlights of Charlotte Flair’s reemergence on the scene on Friday Night SmackDown in recent weeks. “The Queen’s” theme hits and out comes the women’s wrestling legend for our next match.
As she settles in the ring, the commentators mention her title shot against Asuka next week. We then head to a pre-match commercial break. When we return we see Mrs. Sgt. Slaughter, I mean Lacey Evans’, ring entrance in progress.
The bell sounds and about two minutes later, the bell sounds again, as Charlotte Flair easily beats down Lacey and locks her in the Figure 8 for the submission victory. After the match, “The Queen” is attacked by the reigning champion and her opponent for next week, Asuka.
Winner: Charlotte Flair
Solo Sikoa vs. Sheamus
It’s main event time!
Solo Sikoa’s theme hits and out comes The Enforcer of what’s left of The Bloodline to the ring for our main event and final match of the evening here on this week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown.
As Solo settles inside the squared circle alongside “The Wise Man” Paul Heyman, we head to a pre-match commercial break. When we return, we see Adam Pearce trying to make sure Bianca Belair doesn’t screw things up next week in the women’s title match between Asuka and Charlotte Flair. He bans her from ringside.
Now we shoot back inside the arena where Sheamus’ theme hits and Michael Cole loudly proclaims it to be FIGHT NIGHT! “The Celtic Warrior” settles inside the squared circle and the bell sounds to get this one officially off-and-running.
We see some back-and-forth action and then Solo starts to take over. Sheamus fights his way back after a couple of minutes and hits a big Samoan drop, ironically enough, as we head to a mid-match commercial break as the action continues.
When we return from the break, we see Solo is back in the offensive lead, however not for long, as Sheamus connects with a drop kick that shifts the offensive momentum in his favor. Sheamus then hits his Ten Beats over the Bowery spot as the fans count along.
Sheamus looks for the Brogue Kick, but runs into a super kick from Solo. We see Sheamus hit his White Noise for a close near fall, but Sikoa hangs on to keep this one alive. He looks for another high spot but Sikoa hits a Samoan Spike that knocks Sheamus to the floor. He hits a urinagi on him on the table.
The action remains on the floor and Sikoa ends up spearing Sheamus through the barricade. Sheamus is down and out. The referee ends up calling for the bell. It’s not stated what the match outcome is, but presumably it’s a DQ win for Sheamus or a double count out.
Winner: No Contest
The Usos Leave Solo Sikoa Laying
As Solo looks to continue his savage assault on Sheamus now that the match has been declared over, we hear The Usos’ theme song hit. Jimmy and Jey Uso head to the ring and they both start blasting Solo Sikoa with super kicks left and right.
They leave him laying and their music plays again. They go to leave but they stop and come back. They point at Paul Heyman, who looks petrified. They each hit top rope Uso splashes from opposing corners on Solo. That’s how this week’s show goes off the air. Thanks for joining us!
TONIGHT on #SmackDown: #TheBloodline Civil War BEGINS, The WWE Women's Tag Team Championships and #WWENXT Women's Tag Team Championships will be UNIFIED, @MsCharlotteWWE returns to action, @RealLAKnight goes one-on-one with @reymysterio and so much more… ??@MeganMorantWWE… pic.twitter.com/DcVt6jtgQg
— WWE (@WWE) June 23, 2023
