The road to WWE Night Of Champions continues tonight.
WWE SmackDown returns at 8/7c on FOX from the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina.
On tap for tonight’s installment of the weekly two-hour WWE on FOX blue brand program is Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn coming face-to-face with Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa, Rey Mysterio & Santos Escobar take on The Usos and The Brawling Brutes square off with Pretty Deadly.
Also scheduled for the show this evening is LA Knight & Rick Boogs vs. The Street Profits, as well as The Grayson Waller Effect with special guest AJ Styles.
Featured below are complete WWE SmackDown results from Friday, May 19, 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 SMACKDOWN RESULTS (5/19/2023)
The “WWE Then. Now. Forever. Together.” opening signature narrated by WWE Hall of Fame legend John Cena airs as usual to get this week’s installment of WWE Friday Night SmackDown off-and-running on FOX.
The Bloodline, Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens Face-Off
From there, we shoot inside Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S.C. where the familiar sounds of Roman Reigns’ theme hits and out comes the 929-day running Undisputed WWE Universal Heavyweight Champion and YOUR “Tribal Chief.”
The Bloodline leader is accompanied by Solo Sikoa and Paul Heyman. The three head down to the ring to kick things off on this week’s show. As he settles inside the squared circle, we see footage from last week’s show of Reigns saying The Usos are the problem within The Bloodline.
At the end of the video package, we see the announcement that Reigns and Sikoa will challenge the Undisputed WWE Tag-Team Champions Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn for the titles at WWE Night Of Champions 2023 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The crowd boos as his music wraps up. “That’s not how we start things here,” Reigns begins. “Columbia, South Carolina … ACKNOWLEDGE ME!” That’s all he gets out before Kevin Owens’ theme hits and one-half of the tag champs comes out to the top of the stage.
Sami Zayn’s theme then hits and out he comes. He stands besides Zayn and the two begin heading down to the ring. They settle in the ring and the fans chant Sami’s name. Reigns says this is good because he was gonna have them come out anyways.
He says he sees two pieces of business at hand. He says Columbia already did it, now they can acknowledge him. He says they can then leave the tag titles and excuse themselves from the ring.
Kevin Owens throws his belts down and steps forward ready to fight. Reigns mockingly says he expected that. “Fight Owens Fight, right?” He says he don’t care about him anyways.
He tells Sami it’s him. He then talks about having a special career. He says he’s only had one regret — which is wasting his life on Sami. Sami says he’s only got one too, which is not hitting Reigns with that chair sooner.
Sami says he hasn’t been in the ring with Reigns talking like this since Montreal. He says for months he’s thought about what he would say and now that he’s in front of him, he’s got nothing to say. He then makes it clear he’s not gonna get the tag titles his greed wants.
Zayn says there’s one reason for this — he’s simply not as good as them. He says he’s not as good as The Usos, either. As Reigns gets worked up and begins responding, we see The Usos emerge from behind Owens and Zayn and attack.
Jimmy and Jey beat down Zayn and Owens at ringside and then happily enter the ring. Reigns, however, isn’t happy. He yells at them as says he didn’t ask them to come out here. He had one plan and it was a simple plan. His plan.
He grabs Sikoa to leave and Sikoa just does the slow-head turn to look at his arm as Reigns was grabbing it. Reigns stops and cautiously looks at him. He then storms out in a huff by himself as we head to a commercial break.
Roman Reigns Scolds The Usos
When we return from the break, we shoot inside The Bloodline locker room where a very, very, very worked up and pissed off “Tribal Chief” rants at The Usos for again not letting him play out the plan he had in mind.
He wanted to say his piece and didn’t get to do so because The Usos did what they wanted to do. He scolds them badly and then yells at them to get out — now. They do.
Brawling Brutes vs. Pretty Deadly
Now we shoot back inside Colonial Life Arena where Sheamus’ theme music hits as Michael Cole, as always, proclaims it to be “FIGHT NIGHT!” Sheamus leads Ridge Holland and Butch out to the ring for our first match of the evening.
As The Brawling Brutes settle in the ring, we shoot backstage and we see former NXT Tag-Team Champions Pretty Deadly dressed up as chefs and giving the ingredients for Pretty Deadly.
The theme for the former two-time NXT tag champs hits and out comes the Pretty Deadly duo of Kit Wilson and Elton Prince to make their WWE main roster in-ring debut after being picked by SmackDown in the 2023 WWE Draft.
Sheamus heads over to join Michael Cole and Wade Barrett on special guest commentary for this one. The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with our tag-team opener here on Friday Night SmackDown.
Butch and Kit Wilson kick things off for their respective teams. Butch attacks the fingers of Kit as Barrett talks on commentary about Pretty Deadly being kicked out of Chip-N-Dales for being too sexy,
Ridge Holland and Elton Prince each tag in and it is Ridge who continues to control the offense on behalf of the Brawling Brutes. Kit tags back in and hits a big DDT that spikes Ridge on his head.
We hear Sheamus yelling words of encouragement to him as we head to a mid-match commercial break. When we return from the commercials, we see Pretty Deadly being dominated when the ref is distracted while one of them is tied up in the ropes.
He frees himself and the two Pretty Deadly members hit double-team offense behind the ref’s back, connecting with their Spilt Milk finisher and then he heads back and pretends to still be tied in the ropes as his partner picks up the pin fall victory. Pretty Deadly wins in their main roster debut.
Winners: Pretty Deadly
Celebrating The Life & Career Of “Superstar” Billy Graham
Now we shoot over to the commentary position where Michael Cole and Wade Barrett set up a touching tribute video package that airs to celebrate the life and career of the late, great pro wrestling legend, WWE Hall of Fame icon “Superstar” Billy Graham.
As noted, Graham died earlier this week after being taken off of life support. After the video package wraps up, we head to another commercial break.
Asuka vs. Zelina Vega
As we settle back in from the commercial break, we hear the familiar sounds of Asuka’s theme music. “The Empress of Tomorrow” is shown walking to the ring for our next match of the evening here on Friday Night SmackDown.
While the women’s wrestling star settles in the ring, we see footage of Asuka’s return last week where she sprayed mist in Bianca Belair’s eyes. When we return live, we see Asuka in the ring waiting on her opponent for tonight’s match.
On that note, her music dies down and the theme for Zelina Vega plays. The LWO member emerges and heads to the ring for our next bout on tonight’s show. As she settles in the ring, we see footage of her performance in a losing effort at WWE Backlash.
Back live, the bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. Asuka exits the ring to avoid the action early on, but when Zelina comes out after her, Asuka scoops her up and dumps her on the commentary desk.
Asuka taunts Zelina and the fans as we head to a mid-match commercial break. When we return, we see Asuka still in control of the offense back in the ring. Zelina starts to fight back and even connects with a big Meteora off the top-rope for a close near fall attempt.
Moments later, Asuka locks Zelina in her Asuka Lock arm-bar finisher. She gets the tap out for the submission victory.
Winner: Asuka
Bianca Belair Avoids Mist This Time From Asuka
After the match, she refuses to let go of the hold. Bianca Belair’s theme hits and the women’s champ runs down to the ring to chase Asuka off.
She checks on Zelina and then turns around and grabs onto Asuka on the floor at ringside. Asuka tries spraying mist in her eyes again but this time Belair mostly avoids it.
The Grayson Waller Effect With Special Guest AJ Styles
We see the ring crew getting the squared circle ready for our next segment of the evening. We hear Grayson Waller’s theme playing in the background as Michael Cole talks us into our next commercial break of the evening.
The Grayson Waller Effect with special guest AJ Styles is up next when we return. When we return, Grayson Waller gets the big drum-roll intro and then his theme hits and we see him already in the ring, which is fully decked out with The Grayson Waller Effect set.
Waller wastes no time in introducing his special guest for the first main roster edition of his old WWE NXT talk show segment. On that note, Waller brings out AJ Styles. He sits down with him and talks about how they have shared the ring together.
He recalls Styles telling him to be “phenomenal for 20 years.” He then brings up his one-on-one showdown with Seth “Freakin'” Rollins at WWE Night Of Champions to determine the first ever Raw World Heavyweight Champion.
Grayson Waller says the Styles-Rollins bout is the one he is most excited for at WWE Night Of Champions and then goes on to pretend to do the ring announcement for the outcome of the match. “And NEW World Heavyweight Champion — Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins!”
Styles stands up and gets in Waller’s face. The two have a stare down as Waller’s theme music hits to end the debut edition of The Grayson Waller Effect on Friday Night SmackDown.
LWO Talks About Getting Revenge On The Usos
We shoot backstage and head inside the Latino World Order locker room. We see Rey Mysterio, Santos Escobar, Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde sitting together talking about how they’re gonna handle The Usos tonight.
The Street Profits vs. LA Knight & Rick Boogs
Now we shoot back inside the Colonial Life Center in Columbia S.C. where we hear the familiar sounds of the entrance theme music for The Street Profits. Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins head to the ring for our next match of the evening.
As the fan-favorite tag-team tandem heads down to the squared circle to a big pop from the Columbia crowd, we head to a pre-match commercial break.
When we return from the break, we see Ford and Dawkins wrapping up their entrance as their music winds down. The theme for LA Knight hits and the crowd explodes as the fast-talker makes his way out with a microphone in-hand.
LA Knight talks about how he mentioned when he arrived that he’s out to win championships. He says he’s gonna prove he can do that with anyone as he teams with Rick Boogs and takes on The Street Profits tonight to start their title run together.
The crowd pops as he continues to the ring and Rick Boogs’ theme hits. Out comes the muscle man to join him in our next match of the evening. We hear the bell sound and this one is officially off-and-running.
After some impressive back-and-forth action early on, we see Boogs military press Ford and press him up over and over again for multiple reps. Ford tags in Dawkins and Boogs beats him down and then hoists him up and curls him for multiple reps.
Knight tags in and he and Boogs hit a double shoulder tackle before Knight continues to take it to Dawkins. He hits a leaping elbow to the chest for a close near fall. Their offensive run in the lead doesn’t last for long, as some miscommunication leads to Ford hitting a frog splash for the win.
Winners: The Street Profits
LA Knight Turns On Rick Boogs
After the match, LA Knight helps Boogs up and pretends to be okay with how things turned out. He then turns and hits him with a BFT in a cheap shot. He lays out Boogs and exits the ring as Michael Cole reacts on commentary.
Megan Morant Talks To Cameron Grimes
We see footage of Cameron Grimes making a huge splash with a quick squash match victory over Baron Corbin in his SmackDown debut after being called up from NXT in the 2023 WWE Draft.
Now we shoot backstage and Megan Morant is standing by with Cameron Grimes. He talks about his impressive debut victory last week and talks about how he’s intent on going to the moon and beyond. We head to another commercial break after this.
Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn vs. Yulisa Leon & Valentina Feroz
We return from the break and we see Karrion Kross and Scarlett standing together backstage. They do a quick ominous “tick tock” promo and then we return to the commentary section where Cole and Barrett set up a video package on Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar’s rivalry.
Now we return live where we see NXT Women’s Tag-Team Champions Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn make their way down to the ring for our next match of the evening. They settle in the ring and their music dies down.
Already in the ring are their opponents for tonight, Yulisa Leon and Valentina Feroz. The bell sounds and Fyre kicks things off, jumping off to a dominant start on offense for her team. We see Dawn tag in and pick up where she left off, continuing what is very much a one-sided mauling.
Within seconds of the first bell sounding, we hear the second bell sound to wrap this one up, as Fyre and Dawn finish off a very quick squash match victory with their double-team finisher for the pin fall.
Winners: Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn
WWE Women’s Tag-Team Championships Vacated
We receive some breaking news from the commentary duo, as Michael Cole and Wade Barrett inform us that due to Liv Morgan’s injury, she will be on the sidelines for a considerable amount of time and as a result, she and Raquel Rodriguez have been forced to relinquish the WWE Women’s Tag-Team Championships.
It is then revealed that in two weeks on Monday Night Raw, it will be Raquel Rodriguez and a partner of her choosing taking on Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler, Bayley & Iyo Sky and Sonya Deville & Chelsea Green in a Fatal-4-Way showdown to determine the new champs.
Now we shoot backstage where Bayley is interviewed. She talks about Dakota Kai also being injured last week and claims that is bigger news. She then vows she and Iyo Sky will capture the WWE Women’s Tag-Team Championships in two weeks on Raw.
Sheamus Leaves Austin Theory Laying A-Town DOWN
From there, we shoot back inside Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S.C. as the theme for Austin Theory hits and the WWE United States Champion emerges and heads to the ring as we head to another commercial break.
We then return live and Theory is in the ring with a microphone in-hand. He talks about the legends he has “bodied” in recent weeks/months before turning his attention to what happened last week when he was double-teamed by Bobby Lashley and Sheamus.
He goes on to gloat about having things in common with Sheamus, such as being strong like him. He then mentions they also both beat John Cena. He says he did it this year at WrestleMania, while Sheamus did it like 12 years ago when he was still a teenager.
Before he can say anything else, Sheamus’ theme hits and “The Celtic Warrior” makes his way out and heads down to join him in the ring. They go face-to-face and Sheamus walks past him. Theory asks if he’s got something to say. Sheamus turns around and blasts him with a Brogue Kick.
Sheamus leaves Theory laying A-Town DOWN and then calmly exits the ring and heads to the back without saying anything.
Paul Heyman’s Pre-Match Pep Talk With The Usos
Now we shoot backstage and we see The Usos warming up ahead of their match. Paul Heyman walks up and tells The Usos that everything is okay, and Roman Reigns has forgiven them.
Jimmy Uso asks if that means Roman is going to be at ringside tonight. Heyman says no and then explains how busy he is and brushes The Usos’ opponents off. “It’s just the LWO!” He tells them how important it is that they win tonight.
LWO vs. The Usos
We head back inside the arena where the familiar sounds of Rey Mysterio’s theme sounds and out he comes along with Santos Escobar for our tag-team main event of the evening. As the LWO duo settles in the ring, we head to a pre-match commercial break.
When we return from the break, we see Mysterio and Escobar settled in the ring as their music dies down. Now the theme for their opponents plays and out comes the former long-time Undisputed WWE Tag-Team Champions, The Usos.
The Bloodline duo settle into the ring and their music dies down. Now the bell sounds to get our main event of the evening officially off-and-running. We see Rey Mysterio and Jey Uso kick things off for their respective teams.
Early on, it is the LWO duo firing up the crowd and taking it to Jey with ease. Jimmy tags in and doesn’t fare much better. Mysterio and Santos fire up on offense and pick up the pace even more, knocking both Jimmy and Jey out to the floor and taunting them as we head to a mid-match commercial break.
When we return from the break, we see that during the commercials, Jimmy and Jey shifted the offensive momentum in their favor. They’ve got Santos isolated in the ring and continue to make frequent tags to keep a fresh man on him at all times.
As they continue to pummel Santos on their half of the ring, we see a live shot from The Bloodline locker room of Roman Reigns, Solo Sikoa and “The Wise Man” Paul Heyman watching on as the action unfolds in the ring.
The Usos continue to control things for another minute or two and then finally Rey gets the hot tag and hits the ring like a man possessed. He starts hitting all his trademark spots and going for covers each time, however Uso hangs on.
Santos tags back in and picks up where Rey Rey left off, taking it to Uso and nearly finishing him off on multiple occasions. A “This is Awesome” chant breaks out amongst the fans in Greensboro as they recover.
Mysterio tags back in and hits a big top-rope leg drop for a close near fall. Rey sends Jey out to the floor and then Jimmy into the second rope for a 6-1-9. He runs into a super kick instead and Uso follows it up with a top-rope Uso splash for a super close near fall attempt.
The Usos head up for stereo Uso Splashes but are distracted when Kevin Owens runs out and down the ramp. From behind Sami Zayn also gets involved, leading to Rey and Santos finishing off The Usos for the pin fall victory in an upset.
Winners: LWO
The Bloodline Aren’t Happy With The Usos
After the match, we see Owens and Zayn smiling ear-to-ear at ringside as the LWO celebrate in the ring. We shoot backstage to The Bloodline locker room where we see an upset Roman Reigns reacting to the outcome.
Solo Sikoa goes to stand up and deal with things, but Reigns calmly stops him. The show goes off the air on that note. Thanks for joining us!
