WWE SmackDown results, highlights (Oct. 25): Motor City Machine Guns rise, Jey Uso gets revenge

It's almost time for WWE "Crown Jewel", which means another night of "WWE SmackDown" — and it was a good one.

Michael Cole was back this week as the show opened with teases of the Crown Jewel title, Cody Rhodes, Gunther, the Motor City Machine Guns (MCMG) vs. DIY, and Randy Orton. We got all of that and then some. Andrade and Carmelo Hayes also concluded their best-of-seven series (sort of) and The Bloodline story has made serious waves. We needed last week's OK-at-best episode to get to this one, and it was well worth it.

👑 Uncrowned Gem of the Night 👑

For two weeks in a row, I have to crown our kings: MCMG.

Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin have been handled so wonderfully in only their first two appearances on WWE television. And stunningly, they're already champions after already headlining a show. With two matches in one night, mind you!

The excitement for the future here is strong. As their DIY match finished, it was a little predictable where things were going, but it was just so enjoyable. Great stuff and good moments to end Friday night.

Randy Orton has had enough

Randy Orton kicked off the show as we watched him walk through Gorilla Position to briefly confront Triple H.

Orton got right to the point and called out Kevin Owens, wondering where he was. The callout was quickly redirected to "The Game," whose music hit. Compared to a typical Triple H entrance, it was a crazy visual to see him stand and walk out from behind the curtain like that.

Triple H was accused of protecting Owens and the boss denied it. Instead of protecting Owens, Triple H told Orton he was protecting Orton from Owens. This was a nice spin, considering their long relationship.

There were some great callbacks from Orton as he reflected on the pair's rivalry and how he wanted the Triple H who knocked down his door with a sledgehammer, not the COO Paul Levesque standing before him. It was also reminiscent of Batista's final rivalry with Triple H a few years back — "Give me what I want!" — only with more depth.

Triple H sold this with great concern for his friend's health and made the match official. I'll say, I'm stunned this didn't end with an RKO — just because.

Andrade vs. Carmelo Hayes — final match of their best-of-seven, with LA Knight as special guest referee

The promo video before the match started did a great job of making it feel like a big deal.

LA Knight arrived first to a big pop, as always. Cut off sleeves for the zebra stripes, as expected. A nice touch.

Andrade and Hayes ran into each other immediately as the latter ate a big knee and was covered only to kick out at two. Knight wore his U.S. title, vest, and sunglasses during this match, which was hilarious and stylish all at once. He was involved a lot, doing his ref duties like working the count out on Hayes before he prevented an Andrade dive that turned into a fun spot over the champ. Fans also hit the "YEAH" chants when Knight went for the double count-out.

Unsurprisingly, Andrade and Hayes delivered another good one. Their styles just mesh so well. I mean, we saw a wild reverse Spanish Fly off the ropes from Andrade along with a Destroyer. Nothing too new, but fun to see every time. Knight eventually got bumped and accidentally super-kicked out of the ring by Hayes. The champ responded by attacking both, hitting them with BFTs, so the ref was the real winner here as he rang the bell and said, "To hell with Game 7!"

"SmackDown" general manager Nick Aldis ran into Knight backstage later on and booked a triple-threat match between the three for Crown Jewel.

Winner: LA Knight...?!

🙌 Best Spot: Andrade's inverted Spanish Fly off the ropes on Hayes.

Tiffany Stratton returns backstage

Nia Jax essentially ran down what happened last week for Tiffany Stratton when she was gone. Jax was all-of-a-sudden in favor of Candice LeRae now. It was a complete contrast to how she acted last week, which is whatever, I guess. I don't love it but I'm sure some descension or problems loom and it will once again be "Tiffy Time."

Naomi vs. Candice LeRae

This was the pair's first match, according to Cole on commentary, so that's always fun.

It was mostly one-way traffic from LeRae in this. She got in a lot of offense as Indy Hartwell watched. Naomi rallied late, chaining together a handful of good moves. After Naomi started to gain momentum, Hartwell interfered like she did last week when the referee wasn't looking. Bayley then came out to take out Hartwell and distract LeRae, giving Naomi the win.

The match was fine. I'm sure Jax will be upset with the loss.

Winner: Naomi.

🙌 Best Spot: LeRae's apron face-drop.

"The American Nightmare" and "The Ring General" trade barbs

Rhodes' star power never loses its luster. What a wild ride it's been, and hearing the reactions to him every time is evidence of hard work paying off. The crowd loves the guy and his entrance. That made it particularly funny when Gunther's entrance cut him off prematurely.

Gunther took to the mic first and hit Rhodes with his "What do you want to talk about?" catchphrase along with a big evil laugh. The world heavyweight champion admitted he shouldn't have brought up Rhodes' daughter in their banter and that this should be about two champions colliding. Gunther expressed that his reason to be the best was for himself exclusively, unlike Rhodes' selfless motivations. I love that approach from a pure competitor standpoint. It fits perfectly for someone like Gunther.

Rhodes followed it up by highlighting the support of all the fans, "Cody crybabies" included. They then had somewhat of a responsibility debate and Gunther implored he doesn't serve everyone because he has the guts not to, and when Rhodes stops that, his story is over. Guts vs. no guts, folks!

This was some fantastic verbal sparring. Surprisingly, Rhodes snapped and attacked Gunther mid-promo to prove himself. Unfortunately for him, his improvised plan backfired when Ludwig Kaiser came out to help Gunther. Orton soon made the save. Good and intense build to what will be a guaranteed banger of a match.

It was later announced that Rhodes and Orton will take on Gunther and Kaiser on next week's "SmackDown."

The women's tag titles are addressed

Ava, Aldis, and Adam Pearce were seen backstage with all the women's tag teams who wanted a piece of the champions, Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill. The best way to settle things? Fatal 4-Way tag match at Crown Jewel. Plain and simple announcement.

DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley)

Match No. 2 in WWE for MCMG was a dream pairing and they received main event billing. Who would have ever seen this coming? Wrestling in 2024 is crazy, man.

Shelley and Gargano kicked off the action. A lot of great technical work from both as they showed each other respect and fans applauded before Ciampa tagged in.

DIY — or Ciampa, in particular — played into more of the heel role in this as they had their fun countering tag-team moves. These four flowed together nicely at a steady pace.

Ciampa was great in this match from all aspects. DIY was handling Sabin in the ring while Shelley was out and a great near-fall happened on the MCMG man. Shelley rolled back in, and Gargano misplaced a superkick on Ciampa that led to the Skull and Bones tag finisher from MCMG for the win in an awesome match. That was a lot of fun and a great showcase for Detroit's finest. I know I said it last week but they're such a welcome addition to the roster.

The Bloodline interrupted the celebration, as they now had their next challengers for the tag title.

Winner: MCMG.

🙌 Best Spot: MCMG's super dropkick.

An MCMG introduction to The Bloodline

Solo Sikoa did his best to get a word out after Brooklyn's relentless boos. The man has good heat, folks. "OTC" chants echoed throughout Barclays Center before Sikoa asked for acknowledgment.

Sabin got on the mic and introduced themselves with great words of confidence. Sikoa threw back a nice little "Impact" reference before he challenged them to a tag title match on the spot. Aldis wasn't having it, though. Shelley cut him off and demanded the title shot now if that's what The Bloodline really wanted. The fans went wild and Aldis made the match as a referee came out. Double main event it was!

(C) The Bloodline (Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa) vs. MCMG — WWE tag team championship match

The teams brawled as soon as the bell rang and we were off to the races. This clearly wasn't going to be a long match with the timing considered.

Bloodline got the upper hand early as MCMG pulled double duty by accepting the match. Sikoa got angry on the apron at a point and Jimmy Uso snuck out to go after him and Jacob Fatu. Roman Reigns' music started to play and he made his way to the ring as Fatu went on the attack before eating a Superman punch. They battled it out while the match continued in the ring.

MCMG regained momentum with Sikoa and Fatu out of the equation. That was until the referee was slammed between Sabin and Tama. And last but not least, Loa ate a superkick from a masked man who turned out to be Jey Uso. We saw chair shots and a spear to Tama. The Skull and Bones on Tama followed as the referee came back to his senses and MCMG got the — 1, 2, 3!

Man, it was super predictable that Jey Uso was going to cost The Bloodline their titles as they did to him and the Intercontinental strap on Monday. But it was still damn good. If it's good, predictable isn't a bad thing.

MCMG, in only their second appearance, has WWE gold. You have to love it.

Winner: MCMG.

🙌 Best Spot: MCMG hitting the Skull and Bones on Tama Tonga.

Back in business

As the credits rolled, the Usos reunited in the ring while Reigns watched on from the ramp. It's all coming together beautifully.

I give this "SmackDown" a Crown Score of: 👑 8/10 👑. This was a great overall show. My nitpicks prevent it from landing a solid nine but this was a blast.