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WWE SmackDown on June 19, 2026, took place at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., and featured a Queen of the Ring semifinal match between Charlotte Flair and Liv Morgan.
This week’s show was the 1,400th episode of SmackDown and was filled with matches with important stakes from top to bottom.
Here’s the top takeaways from this week’s show:
The company’s top title was on the line in the first match of the show as Cody Rhodes faced Gunther with Sami Zayn as a special guest referee.
Zayn inadvertently caused Rhodes a few problems early on as a referee, allowing Gunther to take advantage of his mishaps. However, Rhodes stayed focused for the most part, and hit Gunther with a Cross Rhodes, but that wouldn’t be enough. Gunther got his foot under the rope, so Zayn appropriately stopped the count, which prompted Rhodes to argue with him. Zayn eventually shoved Rhodes, right into a Gunther sleeper hold.
Rhodes made it to the ropes, but Gunther wouldn’t let go, prompting Zayn to grab Gunther by the face to pull him off. This, of course, led to Gunther and Zayn exchanging blows, followed by a powerbomb. Rhodes recovered to gain momentum and hit another Cross Rhodes. With Zayn down, Rhodes called for another ref, who gave the two count.
Gunther rallied, nailed a powerbomb, but Zayn pulled the other referee out of the ring during the count. Rhodes attempted a roll-up pin, but Gunther grabbed the ropes. Zayn rushed in, kicked Gunther’s hands off the ropes, and gave a quick count for the Rhodes win.
After a break, there was a commotion backstage between all involved, and Rhodes stormed back to the ring, demanding the match be restarted, and it was. However, it was short-lived when Zayn ran out and hit Gunther with a Helluva Kick to cause a DQ. Zayn then "accidentally" hit Rhodes with the title.
This was a big start to the show. It was obvious that Zayn would play a role in the outcome, as special guest referees do – but this one backfired on Gunther, as he was the one who selected Zayn for the role, expecting him to work towards Rhodes’ downfall. All of this led to the formation of a triple threat at Night of Champions on June 27, which is the best way to keep things moving forward.
The second match of the show had more gold on the line, seeing the men’s tag team titles up for grabs. Champs Damian Priest and R-Truth took on challengers in MFT, Talla and Tama Tonga.
The match itself was pretty standard back-and-forth tag action. Solo Sikoa appeared during the match ringside, causing a distraction for his team. Priest attempted to dive onto Talla and Sikoa, but only caught Sikoa. Tama attempted to grab Priest from inside the ring, thinking he was the legal man, but R-Truth rushed in for the surprise roll-up pin.
This match, despite being a title match, felt like it only took place to progress the story of the MFT splintering away from Sikoa. Meanwhile, Priest and R-Truth rack up another tag title win, and yet, it felt like just another week of wondering when they’ll lose and get back to their singles runs.
The stakes remained high in the third match of the night between Carmelo Hayes and Ricky Saints, with the winner becoming the No. 1 contender to face Trick Williams for the men’s United States title.
Unsurprisingly, these two brought a fun pace to a match with back-and-forth action. An exposed turnbuckle would be the deciding element of this one, though. First, Saints knocked Hayes off the exposed turnbuckle, causing obvious pain to his lower region. A moment later, Saints kicked Hayes off of him, sending Hayes flying backward into the exposed steel, hitting the back of his head, making for an easy three count.
The crowd didn’t really pop for the finish, but it was a nice changeup for an ending. The crows in general still feel uncertain about Saints, but maybe that changes after his title match against Williams at Night of Champions.
Match No. 4 took things to the men’s King of the Ring semifinals with Je’Von Evans vs. Jey Uso.
Evans, who sold rib damage from the beginning, was still able to lead the match early on with his speed and athleticism. Eventually, Uso focused on the injured midsection to slow him down and get things in his favor. The match went on through several commercial breaks as Evans attempted to mount a comeback. Evans flew into the first row behind the timekeeper’s area, and hit Uso with a Spanish fly.
Uso would get the win after stopping Evans’ rally by nailing an Uso Splash. Uso moves on to face Oba Femi in the finals at Night of Champions.
This KOTR has seen its share of head-scratching decisions, and this is certainly one of them. We could have had an instant-classic final between Evans and Femi. The pair already had amazing matches in NXT, but nope – The Bloodline story takes priority at every turn these days. As someone who genuinely likes many chapters of The Bloodline saga, this outcome was disappointing. KOTR is supposed to elevate newer talent, and Uso certainly doesn’t need the crown.
It’s all shaping up for Femi to fend off Jimmy Uso, Jacob Fatu, and potentially Roman Reigns to help Jey win the final. If that’s the case, and this all helps set up Reigns vs. Femi at SummerSlam, then I take back my previous statement.
The main event of this week’s show was a Queen of the Ring semifinal between Charlotte Flair and women’s champ Liv Morgan. Prior to the match, Flair was attacked by Jade Cargill’s crew, but Flair insisted on competing with an injured left knee.
Naturally, Morgan focused her damage on the compromised limb. Each burst of momentum from Flair fizzled due to selling the knee damage, allowing Morgan to keep control. After pushing Flair to her limits, Nick Aldis and trainers checked on her ringside. Flair refused to quit, and kicked out of Oblivion. Morgan went to a half crab, though, and forced the tap.
Morgan advances to the final to take on IYO SKY. The strangest Queen and King of the Ring tournament continues as we have two established stars, one with a title, facing off in the final. Morgan certainly doesn’t need to win this thing, but hopefully this is how we get to Roxanne Perez breaking away from Judgment Day by betraying Morgan in the final.
This article originally appeared on Wrestling Junkie: WWE SmackDown takeaways: King and Queen of the Ring finals set
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This week’s show was the 1,400th episode of SmackDown and was filled with matches with important stakes from top to bottom.
Here’s the top takeaways from this week’s show:
Sami Zayn helps Cody Rhodes retain Undisputed Championship
The company’s top title was on the line in the first match of the show as Cody Rhodes faced Gunther with Sami Zayn as a special guest referee.
Zayn inadvertently caused Rhodes a few problems early on as a referee, allowing Gunther to take advantage of his mishaps. However, Rhodes stayed focused for the most part, and hit Gunther with a Cross Rhodes, but that wouldn’t be enough. Gunther got his foot under the rope, so Zayn appropriately stopped the count, which prompted Rhodes to argue with him. Zayn eventually shoved Rhodes, right into a Gunther sleeper hold.
Rhodes made it to the ropes, but Gunther wouldn’t let go, prompting Zayn to grab Gunther by the face to pull him off. This, of course, led to Gunther and Zayn exchanging blows, followed by a powerbomb. Rhodes recovered to gain momentum and hit another Cross Rhodes. With Zayn down, Rhodes called for another ref, who gave the two count.
Gunther rallied, nailed a powerbomb, but Zayn pulled the other referee out of the ring during the count. Rhodes attempted a roll-up pin, but Gunther grabbed the ropes. Zayn rushed in, kicked Gunther’s hands off the ropes, and gave a quick count for the Rhodes win.
After a break, there was a commotion backstage between all involved, and Rhodes stormed back to the ring, demanding the match be restarted, and it was. However, it was short-lived when Zayn ran out and hit Gunther with a Helluva Kick to cause a DQ. Zayn then "accidentally" hit Rhodes with the title.
This was a big start to the show. It was obvious that Zayn would play a role in the outcome, as special guest referees do – but this one backfired on Gunther, as he was the one who selected Zayn for the role, expecting him to work towards Rhodes’ downfall. All of this led to the formation of a triple threat at Night of Champions on June 27, which is the best way to keep things moving forward.
Damian Priest, R-Truth defend tag titles vs. MFT
The second match of the show had more gold on the line, seeing the men’s tag team titles up for grabs. Champs Damian Priest and R-Truth took on challengers in MFT, Talla and Tama Tonga.
The match itself was pretty standard back-and-forth tag action. Solo Sikoa appeared during the match ringside, causing a distraction for his team. Priest attempted to dive onto Talla and Sikoa, but only caught Sikoa. Tama attempted to grab Priest from inside the ring, thinking he was the legal man, but R-Truth rushed in for the surprise roll-up pin.
This match, despite being a title match, felt like it only took place to progress the story of the MFT splintering away from Sikoa. Meanwhile, Priest and R-Truth rack up another tag title win, and yet, it felt like just another week of wondering when they’ll lose and get back to their singles runs.
Ricky Saints becomes No. 1 contender
The stakes remained high in the third match of the night between Carmelo Hayes and Ricky Saints, with the winner becoming the No. 1 contender to face Trick Williams for the men’s United States title.
Unsurprisingly, these two brought a fun pace to a match with back-and-forth action. An exposed turnbuckle would be the deciding element of this one, though. First, Saints knocked Hayes off the exposed turnbuckle, causing obvious pain to his lower region. A moment later, Saints kicked Hayes off of him, sending Hayes flying backward into the exposed steel, hitting the back of his head, making for an easy three count.
The crowd didn’t really pop for the finish, but it was a nice changeup for an ending. The crows in general still feel uncertain about Saints, but maybe that changes after his title match against Williams at Night of Champions.
Jey Uso advances to King of the Ring finals
Match No. 4 took things to the men’s King of the Ring semifinals with Je’Von Evans vs. Jey Uso.
Evans, who sold rib damage from the beginning, was still able to lead the match early on with his speed and athleticism. Eventually, Uso focused on the injured midsection to slow him down and get things in his favor. The match went on through several commercial breaks as Evans attempted to mount a comeback. Evans flew into the first row behind the timekeeper’s area, and hit Uso with a Spanish fly.
Uso would get the win after stopping Evans’ rally by nailing an Uso Splash. Uso moves on to face Oba Femi in the finals at Night of Champions.
This KOTR has seen its share of head-scratching decisions, and this is certainly one of them. We could have had an instant-classic final between Evans and Femi. The pair already had amazing matches in NXT, but nope – The Bloodline story takes priority at every turn these days. As someone who genuinely likes many chapters of The Bloodline saga, this outcome was disappointing. KOTR is supposed to elevate newer talent, and Uso certainly doesn’t need the crown.
It’s all shaping up for Femi to fend off Jimmy Uso, Jacob Fatu, and potentially Roman Reigns to help Jey win the final. If that’s the case, and this all helps set up Reigns vs. Femi at SummerSlam, then I take back my previous statement.
Liv Morgan advances to Queen of the Ring finals
The main event of this week’s show was a Queen of the Ring semifinal between Charlotte Flair and women’s champ Liv Morgan. Prior to the match, Flair was attacked by Jade Cargill’s crew, but Flair insisted on competing with an injured left knee.
Naturally, Morgan focused her damage on the compromised limb. Each burst of momentum from Flair fizzled due to selling the knee damage, allowing Morgan to keep control. After pushing Flair to her limits, Nick Aldis and trainers checked on her ringside. Flair refused to quit, and kicked out of Oblivion. Morgan went to a half crab, though, and forced the tap.
Morgan advances to the final to take on IYO SKY. The strangest Queen and King of the Ring tournament continues as we have two established stars, one with a title, facing off in the final. Morgan certainly doesn’t need to win this thing, but hopefully this is how we get to Roxanne Perez breaking away from Judgment Day by betraying Morgan in the final.
This article originally appeared on Wrestling Junkie: WWE SmackDown takeaways: King and Queen of the Ring finals set
Continue reading...
