WWE SmackDown Results (06/21/2024): McIntyre puts CM Punk in hospital, Fatu debuts to batter Rhodes

Patrik Walker

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WWE SmackDown Results (06/21/2024): McIntyre puts CM Punk in hospital, Fatu debuts to batter Rhodes image

It feels a bit hyperbolic to say this week’s WWE RAW had everything earlier in the week, so I won’t say it, but it damn sure feels like that wouldn’t be far from accurate if I did. It was jam packed with high-level storylines and each attempted to steal the show from the other, making it the perfect RAW after a PLE — the fallout from Clash at the Castle impacting everyone, and especially CM Punk and Drew McIntyre. 

Hell, McIntyre was so fed up by being screwed over by Punk in his hometown of Glasgow that he took to the ring on Monday but not for a long, biting promo. 

It was to quit the company.

And only two days after Punk made a bombshell guarantee. 

With news of CM Punk potentially being medically cleared this week and preparing to appear on SmackDown in his own hometown of Chicago, it’s a safe bet there will be plenty of gloating on his part as he likely takes credit for turning McIntyre into a quitter — the very thing McIntyre accused Punk of being following his return to WWE.

Well, well, well … how the turn tables. 

Also on the menu was WWE Champion Cody Rhodes appearing to aim his sights once again at The Bloodline following the sneak attack from Solo Sikoa, Tonga Loa and Tama Tonga after forcing A.J. Styles to quit at Clash, being saved by Kevin Owens and Randy Orton; who have their own bone to continue picking with the new-look faction.

And what of Logan Paul, considering his home was trespassed by LA Knight with a challenge to finally return to SmackDown to face his comeuppance from the Megastar??

So many questions, and only one path to the answers. 

SmackDown left nothing no crummies on Friday, from the brutal return of McIntyre that led to a bloodied and battered Punk, to two upset victories in the Money In the Bank qualifying matches and, of course, Rhodes got his hands on the fugazi Head of the Table. 

With only a couple weeks between now and Money in the Bank in Toronto, expect the barrels of fireworks to continue ahead of Independence Day weekend.

Punk Meets Bloodline, Then Gets Bloodied

Make no mistake about it: Punk has McIntyre in a meat grinder. 

He’s now cost McIntyre the WWE Heavyweight Championship to Damian Priest not once, but twice, and the most recent punishment occurred in McIntyre’s home country … and in his hometown … with his family and friends in attendance to watch the robbery. 

That was all McIntyre could stand ‘til he couldn’t stands no more, but instead of pouring a can of spinach into his cob pipe and going full Popeye on his version of Bluto, he quit. 

Or at least that’s what he sold to RAW on Monday night. 

Four nights later, Punk (having escaped the carnage of the Wyatt Sicks (6)), was back in his own hometown of Chicago to provide both news of his medical status following months of recovering from the torn tricep at Royal Rumble that Mcintyre takes credit for, as well as his reaction to McIntyre waving the white flag only 48 hours after Punk promised all of WWE that his Scottish rival would “never win a championship for as long as I live.”

Jab back, Mac. 

JAB BACK.

SEE FULL RECAP FROM ELECTRIC WWE RAW HERE.

“I hate to kick a man while he’s down, but it’s a little bit of revenge, isn’t it?” said Punk in Chicago. “... You can get back up and you can turn the other cheek, but I’m from Chicago, and that’s not an option. … You send me to the hospital and I’m gonna send you to the morgue.”

That is nasty work by Punk. 

But things got extremely interesting when Hall of Famer Paul Heyman interrupted Punk who, by the way, is the former ECW World Heavyweight Champion. That is to say there’s a history between these two — hence the hug that commenced in the middle of the ring.

The niceties stopped there when Heyman “warned” Punk to “get outta here” before Solo Sikoa and Co. came out to do him bodily harm.

“Please, get the hell out of here right now,” said Heyman.

And right on cue, out came The Bloodline, after Punk and the entire city of Chicago scoffed at the notion that he’d be “jumped” in his own city. 

Sikoa presented him with two options: either pay his respect to The Bloodline or catch hands and “never ever get cleared to wrestle again”. For a man like Punk, it seems the third option is always on the table: to dismantle Sikoa on live television.

And, right then, Heyman begged Punk to “take me with you” if he ends Sikoa.

HEYMAN SAID WHAT???

But while digesting that bombshell, Punk vomited one hell of a line.

“I acknowledge the fact that I don’t see The Bloodline standing in front of me. I see a bunch a fake ass Usos and a phony, cosplay Tribal Chief,” he yelled. 

Finally, somebody else said it. 

*WHOAAAAAA*

Is that … Cody Rhodes?!!

It was, and the WWE Champion helped Punk chase The Bloodline away with bats before challenging Sikoa to a main event fight at SmackDown in Chicago and you can bet Punk will get his hands dirty as well after being challenged to bend the knee.

The only time anyone has ever seen Punk bend the knee is during his entrance.

He has however been laid down before, and this time it was McIntyre doing more than jabbing back.

He caught Punk off-guard backstage and beat him to a bloody pulp before carrying him to the ramp to drop the unconscious body of his most unforgiving foe at the feet of his own city before pushing Nick Aldis and leaving the area.

Punk received immediate medical attention before being carried away.

SO MUCH FOR QUITTING TIME.

A Knightmare Scenario

Let him talk to ya! 

It’s as if WWE United States Champion Logan Paul learned nothing from the feud between LA Knight and AJ Styles — one that saw “The Megastar” tire of calling “The Phenomenal One” out on a weekly basis and eventually took the fight right to Styles’ front door in an altercation that led to Knight being escorted off of the property by law enforcement.

While things didn’t get violent this time around, but rather terrifyingly petty, Paul came home to his estate to find Knight floating in the pool whilst enjoying a beverage, unbothered.

Paul lost it but not to the point where he actually put hands on Knight, which was probably wise, but the message was sent loud-and-clear from Knight: bring your ass to work on Friday.

He’d get presumably no-showed by Paul and confronted by Santos Escobar, who got reminded he’s been destroyed by Knight before and before he could finish his statement, Escobar attempted to land a finisher before being the recipient of a BFT (Blunt Force Trauma).

Oh, and there was no no-show by Paul. It was a ploy by Paul to get Knight to turn his back and when he did, the champion ran out of the locker room to take him out by way of a shoulder hurl into the corner beam and a knockout punch from the right hand.

Knight will now need to recover both mentally and physically before his MITB triple threat qualifier next Friday night against guess who? 

Logan Paul and Santos Escobar.

But here’s the kicker: you can’t trust Paul or Escobar to be out for anyone other than themselves, so I’m all in on seeing how they plan to work together to defeat Knight when they both know what’s on the line for themselves. 

When hyenas team up, are they really ever on the same side??

MITB Triple Threat Qualifier, Part 1

Bianca Belair vs. Chelsea Green vs. Michin

Result: Green wins clean (pinfall)

Reaction: Iyo Sky awaits the winner of this match, having won her triple threat match on RAW earlier in the week.

A last-minute addition to the match card by Aldis on Friday afternoon, this one presents “The EST” a chance to grab the briefcase and potentially regain gold as a soloist after the stunning turn of events that saw Isla Fyre and Alba Dawn take the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship belts from Belair and Jade Cargill in Scotland. 

While the future of the Belair-Cargill tandem is unknown at the moment, Belair is a future Hall of Famer and isn’t going to settle for just a shot at retaking the tag belts.

Michin is one of the best to ever step foot in NXT, but she’s struggled as of late, losing the women’s brawl at NXT: Battleground to Kelani Jordan for the right to be named the inaugural NXT Women's North American Champion and, just this past Tuesday on NXT, he lost to Jordan in a title match (singles) due to interference from Jaida Parker. 

Being named to a triple-threat match on SmackDown only three days later shows her value across all three brands — seeing as she’s been seen recently on RAW as well on more than one occasion — but trying to down The EST and a conniving Chelsea Green bears its challenges. 

Green got right to throwing hands when the bell rang but then got her bell immediately rang by Belair and Michin, who pummeled her in tandem until she crawled out of the ring to regain her wits before returning to slap Belair but, again, she found herself outside of the squared circle — where she did most of her early work (including an impressive suicide dive).

Meanwhile, the MITB briefcases dangled above their heads to remind them what’s at stake.

Michin was not to be forgotten here, evidenced by a falling boot to the jaw of Belair that rattled a few molars. And then came a Styles Clash, homage to her mentor, against Green that got her a two count before Belair slid in at the last second to break up the would-be pinfall.

German Suplex combined with a K.O.D. finished Michin off, but not for Belair. Green reappeared to pull Belair off of Michin and throw her out of the ring to hop on Michin herself and land the upset victory and, with that, Green is on to the MITB PLE — as Bayley looked on backstage with a sly grin. 

Piper Niven couldn’t take gold from Bayley in Scotland.

Can Green do the impossible after her tag team partner and "spicy little margarita" failed??

MITB Triple Threat Qualifier, Part 2 

Randy Orton vs. Tama Tonga vs. Carmelo Hayes

Result: Hayes wins "clean" (pinfall)

Reaction: It was time to see what one-half of the “fake ass Usos”, per CM Punk, could do against Hall of Fame competition and a rookie first-overall pick.  

When Randy Orton isn’t casually sidestepping attempted RKOs out of nowhere from fellow wrestlers during show staging, “The Viper” is clawing his way, once again, to a position where he can potentially get his hands on what would be his 15th world championship — a feat that would tie him with only John Cena and “Nature Boy” Ric Flair.

Things didn’t pan out for him at Elimination Chamber, nor did they fall his way in the 2024 King of the Ring tournament, but Money in the Bank presents yet another golden opportunity.
There’s the added fuel of Tama Tonga being in this match, a member of the new-look (read: Temu) Bloodline who has continued to antagonize both Orton and Kevin Owens, but also WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, whom they launched a sneak attack on after Rhodes’ victory over Styles at “Clash at the Castle” in Scotland. 

Orton wants a piece of Tama Tonga as badly as any viper wants a rat for dinner.

And then there’s Carmelo Hayes, who has yet to live up to his mouthy status as SmackDown’s No. 1-overall draft pick out of NXT, desperately needing a big win to gain more relevance on Friday’s than simply appearing to cut promos.

Tama and Carmelo had an early plan to team up against Orton, and it worked for a moment, but The Viper struck both and they ended up being on the business end of a slam onto the broadcaster’s table. 

The fight found its way back into the ring where Hayes and Tama Tonga turned their attention to each other and the latter nearly succumbed to a spinning DDT before kicking out, and Hayes continually looked above the ring for motivation from the hanging briefcases. 

That only served as a distraction in the moment, and led to shift in momentum for the Tonga before Orton returned to the battle and began teaching the two upstarts the lesson of their young lives.

Orton delivered a vintage DDT off of the ropes to BOTH of them and it was flat-out delightful.

But, of course, out came Tonga Loa to try and interfere with the match, before being punched in the face by Orton and cleaned up by Owens, but that distraction allowed Hayes to roll Orton up for the massive upset and, just like that, Hayes lands the big win I mentioned he needed badly.

What he does with it next, or doesn’t do, will be something to watch.

Orton continues to chase that elusive No. 15, though. 

MITB Triple Threat Qualifer, Part 3 

Kevin Owens vs. Andrade vs. Grayson Waller

Result: Andrade wins clean (pinfall)

Reaction: While one half of the semi-tag team “RKO” went to war in one MITB qualifier, the other was set to take on yet another mouthy opponent in Grayson Waller, and Owens would love nothing more than to shut the WWE Tag Team Champion up — though it seems Waller’s teammate, Austin Theory, might be the one to ultimately do it sooner than later.

Andrade is enjoying his current reign as WWE Speed Champion after defeated Ricochet in Scotland, and awaits his next No. 1 contender, but not idly. 

Looking for a more definitive storyline since his return to WWE, his current one having kept him in the spotlight but lacking a definitive angle, landing a spot in the MITB ladder match would help his cause.

Owens was crippled before the match even started when the Tongas bumrushed him and injured his knee but Owens, ever the fighter, refused to pass on the match even when Orton — who used a chair to handle the Tongas — tried to talk him out of it.

But a halfway healthy Owens is still more dangerous than some who are at 100 percent. 

After Owens got plenty of shots in, it was Andrade showing unreal athleticism by running the ropes and then flipping over Waller, who was standing and attempting to get back into the ring, and power bombing him off of the skirt and onto the floor below. 

Waller should check the back of his head for dents.

The legendary luchador then began wrecking shop inside of the ring, taking turns between Waller and Owens but, and stop me if you’ve heard this before, Owens a.k.a. The Prize Fighter is a hard out. 

On one good leg, he climbed the turnbuckle and connected on Andrade with a Swanton Bomb but Andrade would not go quietly into the dying light. He kicked out at two but a Stone Cold Stunner nearly got the job done, but nearly isn’t completely. But it was due to Waller pulling his leg before the three-count. 

And, suddenly, there was another upset on SmackDown after Andrade destroyed Waller after putting Owens down ringside.

The reigning WWE Speed Champion will now move one step closer to being Draddy Two Belts. 

Cody Rhodes vs. Solo Sikoa

Result: Rhodes by disqualification 

Reaction:  

“I’ve already beaten one Head of the Table,” Rhodes told Sikoa.

You didn’t think Rhodes and The Bloodline had forgotten about each other, did you?

To be fair to anyone who did believe that was the case, the two sides haven’t really engaged since Rhodes finished his story against the actual Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns, at Wrestlemania 40; as the WWE Champion has been fairly busy with a classic feud with AJ Styles and a schooling of WWE United States Champion Logan Paul. 

The accidental truce was broken when Solo Sikoa and his Tongas attacked Rhodes after the opening match at Clash, and so it’s on and popping once again, though not nearly with the same potency of the war between Rhodes and Reigns and, eventually, The Final Boss version of The Rock.

But until Reigns returns to wreck shop within his own family, presumably, Rhodes is primed to retrain his sights on Sikoa and Co.. 

There was no better chance than when they confronted Punk at the top of the episode, and Rhodes pushed against advice from Randy Orton and Kevin Owens to make the match official. 

And then Sikoa took it upon himself to drop some news on a shaken Heyman.

“I hate to be the one to break this to you, but Roman isn’t coming back,” Sikoa said.

Oh, we’ll just see about that one, now won’t we? 

Hashtag Civil War. Hashtag SummerSlam.

Sikoa then got to focusing his losing record, the worst in the company right now, on the likes of Rhodes in Chicago, and so the fight was on. 

Only it wasn’t, at all. 

One or two dynamic moves by Rhodes was all it took for Sikoa and the Tongas to know they were out of their league and so the latter two rushed the stage to jump Rhodes, and Owens and Orton knew what was coming so they ran out to aid him and then it happened. 

The rumors are true.

JACOB FATU HAS ARRIVED. 

Long signed to WWE but quietly waiting for the right moment to make his debut, it happened in Chicago on SmackDown and Fatu leveled Rhodes, Orton and Owens as Sikoa — who went from pleading for his life in the corner to smiling with malicious enjoyment — watched Fatu leap from the top turnbuckle onto Rhodes, who was laid out on the broadcaster’s table to put him through it and nearly through the planet.

The numbers game has again shifted in favor of The Bloodline, folks.

And it’s gonna take an  ... Empire  ... to end them.

::: FULL CALENDAR FOR WWE EVENTS HERE.

Patrik Walker

Patrik Walker Photo

Patrik [No C] Walker is an accredited, award-winning journalist and podcaster who has worked to become one of the most respected and recognizable forces covering the Dallas Cowboys. Having never lost his lifelong passion for the wrestling, the one-of-a-kind analyst is using his talents to complete a journey that began as a rambunctious kid wearing a championship belt fashioned from cardboard and aluminum foil, to the ranks of covering an industry that's had his heart pinned to the mat for decades now. Follow him on Twitter/X: VoiceOfTheStar.