SmackDown opened with a recap of last week’s show before going live to the arena for the entrance of Solo Sikoa and the New Bloodline. He only spoke for a few minutes and said he wanted Reigns to surrender tonight when he got to the arena.

The first match of the night was a three-threat quarterfinal in the U.S. Women’s Title Tournament featuring Belair, Green and Davenport. All three women scored nearfalls during the opening scene.

All three of these women had a clear role to play and they fell into it naturally. Belair was the heroic powerhouse, Davenport was the mean heel, and Green was the sneaky heel who wanted to win by any means necessary.

Belair found herself antagonizing both women, but Green and Davenport weren’t working like a well-oiled machine, so it wasn’t exactly a handicap situation.

The EST saw footage of Jade Cargill after she was attacked and ran to the back to help her as Green and Davenport continued to fight. Green used the Unprettier to score the pin and the win. The audience erupted in applause, which was surprising but deserved.

This was a fun match to kick off the action this week. Green could be on her way to her first singles title in WWE, and it seems like the WWE Universe is happy about it.

Result: Green defeated Belair and Davenport

Notable moments and observations

• Sikoa has grown tremendously as an artist as he has been given a leading role, but he has also lost some of the mystique he used to have. Now Jacob Fatu has it.
• Davenport’s music is good, but you could barely hear it during her entrance.
• Did anyone else miss hearing Samantha Irvin say Green’s name?
• Chelsea’s dropkick and senton combination was great.
• Belair’s double German suplex looked good.