WWE SmackDown results, highlights (Oct. 10): Aleister Black summons fireball to beat Damian Priest

WWE has arrived in Perth, Australia, for Crown Jewel weekend, starting with the "SmackDown" go-home show. Friday's lineup showcased all the talent who were left off the PLE action, as well as some who will be in action, but ultimately served as an appetizer for tomorrow's festivities. Luckily, the night ended with a fiery finish.

👑 Uncrowned Gem of the Night 👑

The "SmackDown" main event was a pleasant surprise. Not because I don't have faith in a good old-fashioned Last Man Standing match, but because the Aleister Black and Damian Priest feud has been dragged out beyond expiration. This, however, was easily their best match yet, and concluded with a surprise, earning the easy nod for Uncrowned Gem of the Night.

It's hard to say whether or not this will be the end of the feud because Black got the nod with the help of his real-life wife, Zelina Vega. How did she aid her husband? Well, I'm glad you asked. She appeared through the crowd when Priest was about to attempt murder, likely by chokeslamming him to the concrete or something crazy. In her interference, Vega handed Black the tools he needed to summon a freaking fireball into Priest's face, followed by a Black Mass that knocked Priest off the platform to score the win. As goofy as that sounds, it was actually a pretty sick finish. It worked, especially after the banger they put on until that conclusion.

Black absorbed back-to-back Razor's Edges onto the announce table before they made their way into the crowd. That was a bit of a loophole-ish spot, as Black literally slid off the table to stay in the match at the count of nine. That all came after Black nailed a wicked meteora from the top rope onto the steel steps in the ring. A Black win right there would have made for a solid finish, and was just one of the many good sequences in this match.

WWE is in the couples era, I guess. Where things may go between Vega and Black is anyone's guess, but hopefully, it's moderately significant at worst.

🙄 DQ of the Night

Listen, this week's edition of Sami Zayn's U.S. title open challenge wasn't on the same level as the previous matches. Shinsuke Nakamura returned and was clearly shaking off some rust, but it was a solid overall effort. And I'm not afraid to say this: He went back to his original entrance theme, and it may very well be the G.O.A.T. entrance song.

However, WWE couldn't help itself, returning to the DQ finish department. After weeks of Solo Sikoa and MFT delivering clear regroup promos through vignettes, all they did was return to do the same old thing — except they had face paint on, beating down Zayn and Nakamura.

Sikoa has been great since he left The Bloodline, but he needs to remove himself from a faction entirely. One partner would be fine, though it might still be too much. There hasn't even been a good, explainable reason for followers to buy into him as a leader, other than the fact that they're all related to some degree. So in that case, why isn't someone else leading? It's tired, man. I'm tired.

Selling Tama Tonga as a massive missing puzzle piece to Sikoa's problems was also laughable from the commentary. Poor JC Mateo and Talla Tonga. With all that said, we have...

An unexpected new direction

Unless Montez Ford is finally set to go on a singles run, there was genuinely no reason to have The Street Profits lose to The Wyatt Sicks in another WWE Tag Team title match. And it essentially happened due to their boneheaded decision to attack Erick Rowan for no reason. He wasn't even in the match.

Ultimately, Ford ate the pin, and the interesting part happened afterward, as MFT and Sikoa confronted the Wyatts. I can't say that was on my WWE bingo card, but it makes the type of sense you would expect to see coming from The Vision's Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed.

🤷 Consolation of the Night

Giulia has become the ultimate consolation gift receiver. No SummerSlam, no Crown Jewel, just a horrendously booked title with recycled rivals and spots on "SmackDown" with no progression. That's the sole reason she had a match alongside Kiana James (the black sheep of the four) against the world champions, Tiffany Stratton and Stephanie Vaquer.

As a match, it was perfectly fine and largely harmless, but James taking the loss was more predictable than a snowman melting in Arizona. The whole thing built to a Stratton hot tag, which served zero logic. Other than possessing a relatively stupid level of competitiveness, Stratton and Vaquer had no reason to help each other. In Stratton's specific case, she should have wanted their opponents to beat up Vaquer as much as possible — because again, the Crown Jewel titles mean nothing in story. Even in terms of what the match does for anything, it was entirely pointless since neither side is even a real tag team or trying to take any of the three titles involved.

Sheesh. That last part is kind of weird even to say out loud.

On the most positive notes, though, I must say that Stratton got a great entrance pop. That came after Vaquer's entrance, which further highlighted her incredible presentation, oozing aura. The Women's World title just looks right on her. Their match is going to be excellent, and it's a shame there aren't any real stakes to it.

👍 FRIDAY NIGHT FIRE 👍

Cody Rhodes opened "SmackDown" with an uninterrupted promo, focusing on the pressure Seth Rollins has put on himself in their match at Crown Jewel on Saturday. It was a relatively nothing opener, aside from Wade Barrett getting on the mic to tell Rhodes the crowd was calling Rollins a wanker.

However, the promo gets an upvote solely for what happened after, which was an unexpected encounter with Jacob Fatu that teased a future match. It very well could turn into nothing, but the thought is fresh — then Drew McIntyre hilariously attacked Fatu from behind. 

👎 DOWN & OUT 👎

1. WWE's best sales efforts were worthless to open "SmackDown" with a Crown Jewel video package. It was nice and had a high production value, but it did nothing to provide any substance or importance to the Crown Jewel champion vs. champion titles.

2. "Chalexa" (Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss) and "Zaruka" (Zaria and Sol Ruca) had a brief chat backstage, with the latter expressing their interest in a Women's Tag Team title shot. Despite what's brewing with "Rhiyo" (Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky) on "Raw," I'm here for this mini feud because all four are awesome. With that said, the champions acting like their "NXT" counterparts are unworthy isn't working because Zaruka has actually been together longer, and they already competed against each other in a tag title match. So it's been a bumpy start, but if this can align with the other women's tag teams, it will be OK.

👑 This was another "SmackDown" where essentially only one portion of the show carried any real weight, which was the main event. I give tonight a Crown score of: 4/10. 👑