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This week on SmackDown, Karrion Kross was set to clash with Karl Anderson as part of his ongoing feud with AJ Styles and The O.C. Also in action, Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar faced off in the United States Championship Invitational Finals, setting the stage for a showdown against Austin Theory. Charlotte and Bianca teamed up to take on the Women's Tag Team Champions and the show also highlighted the intensifying rivalry between Jey Uso and Roman Reigns, leading up to their highly anticipated "Tribal Combat" for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at SummerSlam. Here are your winners and losers for SmackDown, July 28, 2023:
Winner: Opening Segment Between Reigns and Jey Uso
In the build-up to their "Tribal Combat" match at SummerSlam on August 5, Reigns continued his psychological warfare against Jey Uso. Reigns asserted that Uso's role was only elevated thanks to Jimmy's injury. Trying to shake his confidence, Jey wasn't rattled. Instead, he reminded The Tribal Chief that he pinned him at Money in the Bank. Reigns showed visible signs of being affected by his cousin's determination.
The look of concern remained on Roman's face throughout the show, until the end when the show went off the air. As usual, this was compelling television and high-level drama with so my little nuances that put it over the top. Everyone is firing at the best and the story continues to grow and remain riveting.
Winner/Loser: Is Rey Mysterio Really Hurt?
The United States Championship Invitational, featuring two exciting four-way matches, took an unexpected turn when Rey Mysterio suffered an apparent injury, leading to a referee stoppage and awarding the victory to his LWO teammate, Santos Escobar. Clearly upset by the unfortunate turn of events, Escobar focused his attention on his upcoming opponent. While this seems like a storyline, it's not entirely clear yet if Rey was legitimately injured.
During the match, Austin Theory was watching from the comfort of an empty press box. When Escobar was crowned the winner, the two stared each other down. One has to wonder if WWE elected to save face for Rey by making sure he didn't eat a pin, while always wanting to position Escobar as a clear babyface.
Winner: The Support For LA Knight
LA Knight disrupted a Hit Row promo and swiftly defeated Ashante Thee Adonis. Even though nothing has been announced for Knight when it comes to SummerSlam, it feels obvious at this point he'll be involved in the card somehow. WWE has realized just how over he is and they're starting to give him the treatment of someone they expect to be huge. They made room for him on the show out of nowhere, had him gesturing to the crowd, even doing a modified version of The People's Elbow.
It's time to pull the trigger on his rise to stardom and see how far he can run with it. All parties will just have to be careful that he doesn't become a carbon copy of characters and icons that worked in the past. He needs his own unique feel and using moves that were made famous by someone else is probably not the way to go.
Loser: WWE Women's Tag Champs Lose A Non-Title Match
Bianca Belair and Charlotte Flair, despite their lack of trust as upcoming future opponents, were thrown together as a team and secured a victory against Women's Tag Team champions Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville. Understandably, WWE wanted to show friction between Flair and Belair, but also that they could work together toward a common cause. The problem is, they did so at the expense of the new tag team champions and it would have worked just as effectively to have the champs win and sell an issue between Flair and Belair that teases Asuka potentially stealing a victory because the two women can't overcome their issues.
Deville and Green's credibility took a hit as a result of this unnecessary match. In the final moments, Belair lifted Green in the Kiss of Death, but Flair tagged herself in and secured the victory with a powerful big boot.
Loser: Karl Anderson
Karrion Kross dominated his singles match against Karl Anderson, swiftly defeating him in a one-on-one match. This came right after Anderson told all of his O.C. buddies to let him handle his personal business alone and asked them not to get involved in the contest. This bout wasn't long enough for that to even be a concern. He lost so quickly, AJ Styles could only get involved after the match when Kross tried to attack Anderson again after the bell. As nice as it is to see WWE actually giving Kross a few victories, they're still lacking when it comes to finding the right formula to get Kross over.
Winner: Roman and Solo Send Jey A Message
In the main event, Jey Uso secured a hard-fought victory against Grayson Waller, but he couldn't claim overall success for the night. After the match, Jey faced a vicious post-match beatdown from Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa, intended as a warning to the No. 1 contender as everyone involved heads into next week's SmackDown, the final episode before SummerSlam.
The match was solid and but the ending fight was the real winner. During the closing moments of the show, Uso stunned the audience with a spear on Reigns, evoking a massive reaction. However, Sikoa quickly intervened, playing a crucial role in turning the tide so Reigns could unleash a furry on his cousin. The Spike Spear (as Michael Cole called it) is a big move that could put a lot of teams away if these two ever became a legitimate tag team.
Again, Waller was up for the challenge of being placed in a high-profile spot and delivering. He's losing, but these losses are coming to big names, so it doesn't hurt his upward trajectory.
