The road to WWE Payback 2023 winds down tonight.
WWE Friday Night SmackDown returns at 8/7c this evening on FOX with the final show ahead of Saturday’s WWE Payback 2023 premium live event.
On tap for tonight’s two-hour show at the GIANT Center in Hershey, PA. is the returns of John Cena and Jimmy Uso, LA Knight and The Miz going face-to-face, Rey Mysterio & Santos Escobar vs. Austin Theory & Grayson Waller and more.
Featured below are complete WWE Friday Night SmackDown results from Friday, September 1, 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 (9/1/2023)
The “WWE Then. Now. Forever. Together.” opening signature airs to get this week’s Payback “go-home” edition of the show underway.
From there, we shoot into an elaborate video package looking at where The Bloodline saga left off. After it wraps up, we shoot inside the GIANT Center where the commentators welcome us to the show.
John Cena Kicks Off This Week’s Show
We then hear the familiar sounds of John Cena’s theme music. The crowd goes bonkers as the WWE legend emerges and walks over to shake one person in particular’s hand and hug them. He talks to the camera off-mic as always. “Let’s go to work!”
Cena then whips out his “Never Give Up” towel and begins his sprint down to the ring as the roar from the crowd grows. He says he’s been doing this for 20 years and it never gets old. He says that’s why for as long as he can he will come home to his WWE family and say thank you.
He goes on to mention how it’s not just for one night, but for months. He says he’s also gotten the chance to have his first match in India. He then confirms he will be hosting WWE Payback tomorrow night.
Jimmy Uso Confronts John Cena
Jimmy Uso makes his way out and interrupts Cena just as he’s about to announce who the fans will get to see him wrestle. Jimmy has his own theme music and titan tron video now. He settles in the ring and asks Cena what he’s doing here.
The fans boo Jimmy and chant “We want Jey!” He says he would do what he did to save his brother 100 times over. He calls Cena and Roman Reigns the same thing. He tells Jimmy that the wrong Uso quit. The fans “ooh” and “ahh.” Cena says, “Take that!”
Uso drops the mic and goes to super kick Cena but Super Cena easily avoids it and blasts him with an Attitude Adjustment. His theme song plays again and he tears his shirt and hat off to end the opening segment.
Austin Theory & Grayson Waller Talk John Cena & Cody Rhodes
We shoot backstage where Kayla Braxton is standing by with Grayson Waller and Austin Theory. She asks for their thoughts on John Cena being the host of WWE Payback. They each laugh. Theory brags about beating Cena at WrestleMania. Waller plugs his “Grayson Waller Effect” with Cody Rhodes, who he says has some big news, at Payback.
Rey Mysterio & Santos Escobar vs. Austin Theory & Grayson Waller
The LWO theme hits and out comes the entire group without Rey Mysterio. They stop and the theme for Rey Rey hits. The WWE United States Champion emerges and joins them for a big pose on the top of the stage. The LWO members head backstage and then Rey and Santos Escobar head to the ring with Zelina Vega.
As the LWO duo settle in the ring, we head to a quick pre-match commercial break. When we return, we see Jimmy Uso angry and throwing a fit backstage at a random production crew person. We then head back inside the arena where we see Rey and Santos in the ring waiting on the arrival of their opposition.
On that note, the theme for Grayson Waller hits. The fans boo as the host of “The Grayson Waller Effect” makes his way out. He settles in the ring and his music dies down. Now Austin Theory’s entrance tune plays and he joins him in the ring.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with our first match of the evening. Theory and Escobar kick things off for their respective teams. Theory does well early on. Rey tags in and takes over. He knocks him out to the floor and hits a big diving splash. He and Santos hug in the ring as we head to a mid-match commercial break.
When we return from the break, we see some more back-and-forth action until Waller chop-blocks the already injured knee of Escobar. Waller hits a rolling stunner for the win.
Winner: Austin Theory & Grayson Waller
Jimmy Uso Storms Into Adam Pearce’s Office
Adam Pearce is shown talking to Michin backstage. Jimmy Uso walks in and interrupts them. Michin takes offense to this. Uso brushes her off. Pearce addresses Uso’s behavior and being rude to the staff. Uso asks if that’s it. Pearce says it is. Uso storms off.
Bobby Lashley Addresses The Street Profits
We head back inside the arena where Bobby Lashley’s theme hits. Out comes “The All Mighty” to the ring. We head to a commercial break. When we return, we see Michin complaining to Gallows and Anderson about Jimmy Uso. AJ Styles walks in and says he’ll handle things.
Now we return inside the arena where we see Lashley standing in the ring as the fans chant “Bobby! Bobby!” He says the fans know how to make somebody feel good, but he’s got some business to handle right now. He says everyone has been asking about he and The Street Profits.
He says the answer is simple. He says real recognizes real. With that said, the theme for The Street Profits hits and out comes Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins dressed to the nines. Lashley talks about how charismatic they are and how dominant they’ve been lately. They put the WWE roster on notice.
Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. Cruz Del Toro & Joaquin Wilde
As they leave, the theme for Kevin Owens hits to cut their music off. He comes out and stops. Sami Zayn’s theme hits. The two walk up to the trio and they stare each other down. The Street Profits sing along to Zayn’s music and they both go on their way.
Zayn and Owens settle in the ring as we head to a pre-match commercial break. When we return from the break, the LWO duo of Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde make their way out and head to the ring.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. Zayn and Owens literally run through the LWO duo and pick up an easy squash match victory. Afterwards, Zayn gets on the mic and delivers a message to The Judgment Day duo, promising them it won’t be fun when they have their Steel City Street Fight at Payback.
Winners: Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
Solo Saves Jimmy Uso
Now we shoot backstage and we see AJ Styles approach Jimmy Uso. He asks what the problem is. Uso and him have words and then Styles shoves Uso down. Solo Sikoa comes to the scene and beats Styles down.
Solo tells Jimmy he’s out of The Bloodline when they say he’s out of The Bloodline. Jimmy says not he, nor Roman Reigns, nor anyone else can tell him anything. He pushes past him and walks off as we head to another commercial break.
AJ Styles Wants Solo Tonight
When we return from the break, AJ Styles is interviewed backstage. Styles says The Bloodline think they run WWE. He says they don’t. He wants Solo Sikoa tonight.
Fellow members of The O.C. come in and tell Styles not to get distracted with Bloodline business. Styles ignores them and mentions SmackDown being the house that AJ Styles built and walks off.
LA Knight, The Miz Go Face-To-Face Ahead Of Payback
Back inside the arena, the theme for The Miz hits and out he comes. He settles in the ring as highlights are shown of his parody of LA Knight earlier this week on Raw. He then begins by mentioning how Payback will be LA Knight’s biggest match ever.
As Miz continues to talk, he is interrupted by LA Knight’s theme. The crowd explodes as “The Mega Star” heads to the ring. He and The Miz talk about why they are different, with Miz bringing up Knight being on a reality show as well but being kicked off after the first week.
When they wrap up their hype for tomorrow’s showdown at Payback, Miz sneaks in a cheap shot. He leaves Knight laying and talks trash one more time before walking off. As he walks off he is ambushed from behind by Knight in the aisle.
Shotzi vs. Bayley
The Damage CTRL theme hits and out comes Bayley surrounded by Dakota Kai and WWE Women’s Champion IYO SKY. The trio head to the ring, where Bayley will be in singles action next.
On that note, we shift gears and head into a quick pre-match commercial break. When we return, the newly bald Shotzi makes her way to the ring as Corey Graves makes a Martin Short reference.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. Bayley looks spooked by Shotzi early on. Shotzi slithers on the mat and continues to freak her out. Bayley starts to fight back and she taunts and mocks Shotzi as she does.
Shotzi shows signs of life and starts to fight back. She knocks Bayley out to the floor and continues to act psychotic as we head into a mid-match commercial break as the action continues.
When we return from the break, we hear the commentators babbling among themselves about how to describe Shotzi’s new hair cut. Shotzi knocks Bayley to the floor and hits a big dive and then howls like a wolf or a poodle or something.
Back in the ring, Bayley takes back over on offense. Bayley looks to IYO SKY for the title to use as a weapon, but is distracted when Charlotte Flair’s theme hits. “The Queen” comes down and dukes it out with IYO SKY. In the ring, Shotzi finishes Bayley off for the win. After this, we head to another commercial break.
Winner: Shotzi
Solo Sikoa vs. AJ Styles
It’s main event time!
When we return from the break, we see a lengthy video package hyping up Seth “Freakin'” Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Saturday’s WWE Payback 2023 premium live event.
From there, we hear Michael Cole run down the lineup for Saturday’s WWE premium live event in Pittsburgh, PA. We then hear the familiar sounds of Solo Sikoa’s theme. As he makes his way to the ring, we see his confrontation with Jimmy Uso earlier.
On that note, we head to another pre-match commercial break. When we return from the break, Cole plugs Charlotte Flair & Shotzi vs. Bayley & IYO SKY for next week’s SmackDown.
After that, we return inside the arena where AJ Styles’ theme hits. “The Phenomenal One” emerges to a big pop and heads to the ring for our final match of the evening. The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one.
Solo Sikoa bum-rushes Styles coming straight out of the gate, dominating the early offense in this match. As soon as Styles starts to take over, we see Paul Heyman make his way out from the back. Styles gets distracted by this and Solo takes over again.
Styles ends up knocking Solo out to the floor and runs on the apron to connect with a sliding knee to his face. He then leaps off the apron and connects with a Phenomenal Forearm. He stands up and glares at Heyman in the aisle as we head into a mid-match commercial break as the match continues.
When we return from the break, we see some more back-and-forth action until we finally work our way into the finish, which sees Styles gearing up for a Phenomenal Forearm, only for Jimmy Uso to appear and trip him. Solo follows up with the Samoan Spike for the win.
Jimmy Uso hits the ring and smiles and hugs Solo after the match. Solo grabs Jimmy for a Samoan Spike but looks at Heyman, who shakes his head no. Solo walks off as Jimmy looks confused. Jimmy super kicks AJ and hits an Uso Splash. He stares at Solo and Heyman in the aisle and raises the one finger. The commentators speculate that Jimmy wants back in The Bloodline. That’s how this week’s show goes off the air. Thanks for joining us!
Winner: Solo Sikoa
