Tag Team Title Match, and will Owens turn against Cody?

This week’s SmackDown featured The Bloodline defending their tag titles against the Street Profits, a six-woman tag match pitting Jade Cargill, Bianca Belair and Naomi against Alba Fyre, Isla Dawn and Blair Davenport, LA Knight battling Santos Escobar for the US title, and Cody Rhodes appeared in “The Grayson Waller Effect” then again as Kevin Owens’ partner in the main event. The underlying storyline of the evening was the constant hints that Owens might get one over on Rhodes.

Here are your winners and losers for SmackDown on August 23, 2024:

Winner/Loser: Grayson Waller Effect Opening

SmackDown began with a recap, followed by an appearance by Cody Rhodes on “The Grayson Waller Effect” with Grayson Waller and Austin Theory. Waller criticized Rhodes, calling him selfish and blaming him for his friends getting hurt. Rhodes countered by questioning Theory’s loyalty to Waller. “I’ve never used Kevin Owens. Can you say the same?” Waller then played a video highlighting Kevin Owens’ history of turning on people, after which Owens came out and assured Rhodes that he would not betray him.

Owens was annoyed by all the talk and asked GM Nick Aldis to officially announce a tag team main event with Rhodes and Owens against A-Town Down Under. He did so and then gave Owens a little time to start a match. Owens accidentally hit Rhodes when he was pushed, but there were no hard feelings as the segment ended. It was obvious that WWE was going to try to create potential problems between Cody and KO.

Winner: Knight defeats Santos Escobar

In the first fight of the night, LA Knight defended the United States Championship against Santos Escobar, who had Legado Del Fantasma in his corner. Angel and Berto attacked Knight before the fight, but the referee threw everyone out of the ring. Despite being weakened, Knight decided to compete and nearly won with a rollup. Escobar stayed on the offensive, but Knight fought back and eventually applied the BFD to secure the win and retain his title.

This was one of the better matches of the night. Angel and Berto’s attacks before the bell and during the intros were a little different than what we’re used to. That made it kind of fun.

Winner/Loser: Naomi, Belair and Cargill take a win

Naomi, Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill teamed up for a six-way tag match against Alba Fyre, Isla Dawn and Blair Davenport. This bout was a retaliation match after the heels had targeted Naomi, Belair and Cargill over the past few weeks. Fyre, Dawn and Davenport controlled the early part of the match, but Naomi changed the momentum when she was tagged in. She secured the win for her team with a split-legged moonsault on Davenport. Jade Cargill was minimally involved, possibly a deliberate decision by WWE.

Naomi, Cargill and Belair’s ring gear on Friday night paid homage to Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles.

Winners: The Bloodline retain the WWE Tag Team titles

Tama Tonga and Jacob Fatu defended their tag titles against Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins. Solo Sikoa cut a promo before the match, challenging Roman Reigns and saying that the OTC is over after last week. Sikoa then said that whoever wins the WWE Championship is next. He then promoted Fatu to be the official enforcer of The Bloodline. In doing so, Sikoa forced Fatu to drop his tag team titles to Tonga Loa as he didn’t want his enforcer to become a tag team champion. Their emotional moment was interrupted by the Street Profits.

The match started with Dawkins and Loa, but the champions quickly took control, isolating their opponents with effective one-two punches. Ford had similar problems when he was tagged in, and The Bloodline’s dominance continued into the commercial break. After the break, The Profits went on the offensive. Dawkins got a hot tag and took down both brothers. But the numbers were too much, as Sikoa intervened and helped Tama and Fatu retain their titles.

After the match, The Bloodline beat up The Street Profits. DIY tried to help Ford and Dawkins but was attacked as well. This was a demonstration for The Bloodline, who showed that they are capable of dismantling more than one team at once. The match featured some exciting moments but was just a step above a squash between two teams.

Fatu wrestling with a boot to the body is commendable, but it is odd to watch, especially when he throws a superkick.

Winner: Cody and Owens defeat A-Town Down Under

This week’s main event was a tag team match between Theory and Waller versus Rhodes and Owens that took place earlier in the show. Owens and Rhodes picked up the win. The American Nightmare took control of Waller from the start and quickly tagged in Kevin Owens, who nearly got an early win with a two-count. The babyfaces dominated the early action and kept Waller isolated.

After the commercial break, the match became more exciting and all four men had standout moments. Cody took a beating for a while and Owens tried to rally Rhodes and the WWE Universe. This was a sneaky way of suggesting that he was on Cody’s side, even though the commentators were trying to suggest that Owens could betray Rhodes at any time. However, he never did and Owens and Rhodes maintained their solid teamwork, with Owens hitting a Popup Powerbomb to get the win for his team.

WWE has gone out of its way to drop hints that Owens wasn’t being completely honest. Even the way he presented Cody with his title after the win made the audience think Owens was going to take Rhodes down with the belt and become the villain. Rhodes had a look on his face like he almost expected it. This gives WWE the opportunity next week to either keep Owens and Rhodes on the same side when they face off at Bash In Berlin, or make Owens the villain. Which will it be?