The road to WWE Night Of Champions 2023 winds down tonight.
WWE SmackDown returns on FOX at 8/7c this evening with a taped show from the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S.C.
On tap for tonight’s WWE Night Of Champions 2023 go-home show is Austin Theory vs. Sheamus for the U.S. title, Raquel Rodriguez & Shotzi vs. Damage CTRL, as well as Cameron Grimes vs. Ashante “Thee” Adonis.
Also scheduled for the show is LA Knight vs. Rick Boogs, AJ Styles vs. Karrion Kross, as well as The KO Show with Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and special guests Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa.
Featured below are complete WWE SmackDown results from Friday, May 26, 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 (5/26/2023)
The WWE “Then. Now. Forever. Together.” signature airs to get us started. We then shoot inside Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S.C. where Michael Cole and Wade Barrett welcome us to the final stop on the road to Saturday’s WWE Night of Champions premium live event in Saudi Arabia.
WWE United States Championship
Austin Theory (C) vs. Sheamus
From there, Cole and Barrett run down the lineup for tonight’s show. We then hear the familiar sounds of Sheamus’ theme song. Cole proclaims it “FIGHT NIGHT!” as “The Celtic Warrior” makes his way out with Ridge Holland and Butch — The Brawling Brutes.
They settle into the ring where Sheamus will compete for the United States Championship in tonight’s opening match. His music dies down as he awaits his opponent and opportunity to recapture the U.S. title for the fourth time in his WWE career.
“A-Town Down!” plays on the house speakers in Columbia, S.C. and out comes the reigning and defending champion Austin Theory for his latest title defense here on the Night of Champions go-home episode of Friday Night SmackDown on FOX.
After the formal pre-match ring introductions from the ring announcer for this championship contest, the bell sounds to get this one officially off-and-running. The two circle each other and then Theory dives for a single leg takedown. Sheamus stuffs it and they re-engage.
Sheamus jumps off to an early offensive lead, but it doesn’t last long as Theory takes over. The champ even gets Sheamus on the ring apron outside the ropes, where he leans him back for the Ten Beats over the Bowery spot.
“The Celtic Warrior” ends up avoiding it and countering, but Theory takes over seconds later and sends him crashing and burning out at ringside. On that note, we head to a mid-match commercial break as the action continues.
When we return, we see Theory still in control of the offense. Sheamus starts to show signs of life, but then Theory hits the ropes and connects with a rolling blockbuster into a close pin fall attempt.
Sheamus kicks out and Theory starts taunting him, shoving his head ala Razor Ramon in his heel days. Sheamus fires up and takes over from there, manhandling Theory and ragdolling him with ease.
He heads to the top but Theory cuts him off. He ends up getting Sheamus across his back where he hits a modified F-5 for a close pin fall attempt. Sheamus comes to life again with a near Brogue Kick but Theory starts to fight back.
We see Theory head down to ringside where he grabs a steel chair. As he heads back in the ring with it, Ridge Holland stops him. Sheamus goes on to hit his Ten Beats over the Bowery spot for 25 shots in a row.
Pretty Deadly appears at ringside and attacks Ridge Holland and Butch. Sheamus grabs one of them and goes for his Ten Beats over the Bowery spot on him. This allows Theory to take advantage of the distraction and score the pin to retain his title.
Winner and STILL U.S. Champion: Austin Theory
Jimmy Uso Stands Up To Roman Reigns
We see footage of the issues within The Bloodline last week with The Usos upsetting Roman Reigns. We then shoot live backstage in The Bloodline locker room. Paul Heyman talks for Reigns, who is sitting there.
He tells The Usos they aren’t needed at Night of Champions but invites them to his 1,000 day celebration as champion. Jimmy Uso gets upset after a minute and says he’s hungry anyways and stands up to leave.
Roman asks where he’s going. He tells him to sit down. Jimmy just stares. He tells him he said sit down. He doesn’t move. Roman stands up and gets in his face.
He calmly tells him, “Do something. You’re standing up on him. Do something. You’re making a tough face on me. Go ahead and do something. Go on. Make it happen. What’s different? Ain’t nothing changed. Think back to when was kids. I whooped you then. I’ll whoop you now. Ain’t nothing changed. You gonna respect me. You gonna obey me. You gonna acknowledge me. You gonna get up out my locker room.”
Jey tells Jimmy to c’mon. He says we’ll see him next week. They leave.
Raquel Rodriguez & Shotzi vs. Bayley & Iyo Sky
After the powerful backstage segment wraps up, we shoot back inside Colonial Life Arena where Raquel Rodriguez’s theme hits and out she comes. She stops and Shotzi’s theme hits. The two head to the ring together.
Rodriguez and Shotzi settle into the ring as we head to a quick pre-match commercial break. When we return from the break, we see footage of what has been going on with the WWE Women’s Tag-Team Championship scene, as well as footage of Liv Morgan’s injury.
Now we return inside the arena where the Damage CTRL theme music plays and out comes Bayley and Iyo Sky. They settle in the ring and their music dies down.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with our second match of the evening here on Friday Night SmackDown. Bayley and Raquel Rodriguez kick things off for their respective teams.
We see Rodriguez control the action coming out of the gate. Bayley gets some help from Sky, but Rodriguez ends up flattening her, too. She tags in Shotzi, who knocks her opponent out to the floor and hits a follow-up dive through the ropes.
Sky heads back in the ring where Rodriguez tags in and takes over. She gets ambushed from behind by Bayley and after the double-team attack helps the Damage CTRL duo return to the offensive driver’s seats, we head to a mid-match commercial break.
When we return, after some back-and-forth action, we see some miscommunication between Bayley and Iyo Sky lead to Rodriguez and Shotzi picking up the impressive tag-team victory. A good sign for them heading into the title match on Raw.
Winners: Raquel Rodriguez & Shotzi
Ashante “Thee” Adonis vs. Cameron Grimes
We see the latest footage from Corey Graves sit-down interview with Seth “Freakin'” Rollins ahead of this Saturday’s WWE Night of Champions show. We then see an extensive video package hyping his opponent, AJ Styles.
From there, we head back into the arena where the theme hits to bring out Hit Row. Top Dolla and B-Fab accompany Ashante “Thee” Adonis down to the ring for our next match of the evening. They’re all wearing masks over their heads.
The group removes their masks as they head into the ring. Ashante “Thee” Adonis will be in one-on-one action when we return. On that note, we head to a pre-match commercial break.
When we return from the break, we see a video package hyping the arrival to SmackDown of Grayson Waller. We then return inside Colonial Life Arena where we see Adonis settled into the ring as his music dies down.
Now the theme for his opponent, Cameron Grimes, plays. The music plays as he heads to the ring while Michael Cole narrates highlights of his record-fast debut victory in his SmackDown main roster debut. He settles into the ring as well as a split-screen “earlier today” interview with Grimes airs.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. Grimes jumps off to a good start and then we see Top Dolla get involved, tripping up Grimes from ringside. This allows Adonis to take over and dominant on offense for the first time in the bout.
Grimes eventually takes back over and connects with his running double foot stomp for the pin fall victory in another impressive performance here on SmackDown. Michael Cole sings his praises as highlights of the bout are shown.
After the match, Baron Corbin lays him out at the top of the entrance ramp. The crowd boos and he heads to the back.
Winner: Cameron Grimes
Bianca Belair, Asuka Brawl Ahead Of Night Of Champions
We are shown footage of Asuka spraying mist in the eyes of Bianca Belair weeks ago. From there, we return live and the theme for the women’s champion hits and out comes “The EST of WWE.”
As she heads to the ring, we head to another commercial break. When we return, we see Belair get on the mic and talk about going from respecting Asuka at WrestleMania to not respecting her at all for the way she’s been acting lately.
The Raw Women’s Champ says if it wasn’t bad enough that she misted her in the eyes once, she tried to do it twice. She says her eyes still burn and her vision is still compromised but she’s gonna give Asuka the fight she wants at Night of Champions.
Asuka’s music hits and we see “The Empress of Tomorrow” appear from behind and take the champ down. She slaps her Asuka Lock arm bar on her until a bunch of officials rush to the scene to break them up. They break free and re-engage a few times and then the segment wraps up.
LA Knight vs. Rick Boogs
Now we shoot backstage where we see Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. The WWE Tag-Team Champions look ready for their KO Show segment tonight with special guests — their opponents for Night Of Champions — Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa.
From there, we head back inside the arena where LA Knight’s theme hits. The fans pop as he heads down to the ring for our next match of the evening. As he settles inside the squared circle, we head to a pre-match commercial break.
When we return from the break, we see Rick Boogs making his way to the ring. As he does, we see his interaction last week when LA Knight attacked him after they came up short against The Street Profits.
Back live, both guys are settled into the ring. Before the bell sounds, we hear the familiar sounds of the theme song of The Street Profits. Out comes Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins to a big pop from the crowd in South Carolina.
Michael Cole talks about how they weren’t expected at this time. The two head down to the ring as the bell sounds to kick off the Knight-Boogs one-on-one contest. Boogs manhandles Knight straight out of the gate as Ford and Dawkins join Cole and Barrett on guest commentary.
Boogs manhandles Knight for most of the match, while The Street Profits sing his praises for being powerful on guest commentary. Knight ends up shifting things into his favor right at the end, raking the eyes of Boogs and connecting with his BFT for the win.
Once the match wraps up, LA Knight gets on the mic after the match and talks trash to the faces of Ford and Dawkins, saying they won’t get the smoke, they’ll get smoked by LA Knight — YEAH! He throws the mic and walks off.
Winner: LA Knight
AJ Styles vs. Karrion Kross
From there, we shoot backstage and we see Karrion Kross and Scarlett. Kross cuts a promo to AJ Styles about how he shouldn’t be asking how he’s gonna do against Seth “Freakin” Rollins at Night of Champions, he should ask what condition he’s gonna be in after he’s victimized tonight by Karron Kross.
After that, we return inside the arena and we hear the familiar sounds of the entrance theme music of “The Phenomenal One.” AJ Styles emerges and makes his way down to the ring for our next match of the evening.
Styles settles inside the squared circle as we head to a quick pre-match commercial break. When we return from the break, we see a video hyping Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn boasting about defending their NXT Women’s Tag-Team Championships anywhere they want.
We return back inside the arena where we see Styles pacing side-to-side in the ring as he awaits the arrival of his opponent. On that note, the theme for Karrion Kross hits and out he comes accompanied by Scarlett.
The two head to the ring and settle inside. The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with one-on-one action between Styles and Kross.
Straight out of the gate, Kross dominates the offense. This continues until finally Styles starts to take over. As he does, we see Scarlett trying to get involved, but out comes Mia Yim. As Michin helps run Scarlett to the back, we head to a mid-match commercial break.
When we return, we see Kross dominating the action, choking Styles with his boot in the corner. The two continue to duke it out until finally Styles hits a big Phenomenal Forearm for the pin fall victory. After the match, we head to another commercial break.
Winner: AJ Styles
The KO Show With Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa
It’s main event time!
The main event segment this week features The KO Show with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, as well as their opponents for WWE Night of Champions — Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa. Out comes the tag champs and they settle in the ring as we go to a commercial break.
When we return, we see “The Wise Man” Paul Heyman make his way out with a mic in-hand. He talks about how Roman Reigns comes out when he’s good and ready, not when someone else tells him to.
The Usos theme hits and out come Jimmy and Jey Uso talking trash. Sami Zayn gets fired up as they enter the ring and before he can say anything, Owens says he’ll handle this. He says despite his advice, Zayn for some reason still cares about The Usos.
Despite all that they have been through, even though Owens could care less, Zayn still wants better for The Usos. Owens talks about how they need to admit one thing — Zayn has been right about everything involving The Bloodline so far.
Jimmy and Jey talk about being the best team in the world and in a moment of being fired up, they mention how when it comes to tag-teams, they are the tribal chief. Now the theme for Roman Reigns hits and everyone looks shocked in the ring after what Jimmy just said.
Reigns gets in the ring and knocks a mic out of Jey’s hand. He then gets in Jimmy’s face and smacks him. Sami gets in between them with a smile on his face. He tells Roman that he knows it’s over for The Bloodline — and it’s his fault.
Before Roman can do anything, we see Owens blast Reigns with a Stunner. Zayn and The Usos brawl until Solo Sikoa beats everyone down. Reigns gets up and yells, “SOLO!” He then directs traffic as he hits a spear on Zayn. Reigns and Solo stand tall as The Usos recover across the ring.
Jimmy and Jey pick up the tag titles they held for so long. Jey hands his over to Solo. Jimmy looks at his. Reigns sticks his hand out. Jimmy looks at him and hesitates. Jey backs Jimmy up and grabs the titles. He takes them and then he hands them over to “The Tribal Chief.”
Roman and Solo head to the middle of the ring and raise the titles as Heyman and Jey stand by their side. Jimmy stands in the back with his face crunched up watching from the corner of the ring. That’s how this week’s show goes off the air. Thanks for joining us!
