WWE SmackDown results and highlights (Dec. 13): Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens brawl; Women's U.S. Championship final set

With just one more sleep before Saturday Night's Main Event, "WWE SmackDown" headed home (sort of) to Hartford, Connecticut for Friday's go-home episode.

As much as WWE used the show to build toward this weekend's event, the most significant development came when a Tribal Combat match between Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa was announced for the January 6 edition of "Monday Night Raw" — the show's debut episode on Netflix.

In addition to that, Friday featured both semifinal matches in the Women's United States Championship tournament and the return of a former WWE Universal Champion. Here's everything that went down.

Snap into a Big Jim

A hobbled Jimmy Uso opened the show, nearly two weeks after breaking his big toe in the Bloodline Civil War WarGames match. If we're ranking OG Bloodline characters, Uso isn't on the level of Sami Zayn, Jey Uso or Roman Reigns — no disrespect, it's just everyone is operating at such a high level.

And while Big Jim (his words, not mine) cut a solid promo, it was really just a means to an end — his end.

After laying out his grand plans for the upcoming year, Uso fell victim to Drew McIntyre, who is facing Zayn at Saturday Night's Main Event.

Later on I'll get into why I don't necessarily think we should see more people involved with the Bloodline, but at least McIntyre has a lot of history with the faction and we may be headed toward a collision course for McIntyre and Jey Uso, which feels like a big moment for early 2025.

Netflix and Tribal Combat, anyone?

WWE and the streaming giant are pulling out all of the stops for the Jan. 6 debut of "Monday Night Raw" on Netflix, including hosting the next chapter in the Bloodline battle between Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa.

The OTC set the stage for the "Tribal Combat" match with a pre-taped, cinematic promo that was nothing short of stellar. Check it out below.

The Ula Fala will be on the line, and,considering the importance of generating buzz for the Netflix premiere, you can almost guarantee we'll see The Rock involved in some way, shape or form.

It's time to have a talk about...

Carmelo Hayes.

In the NFL, head coaches and players talk about "stacking wins" as they build a culture and push for the Super Bowl. While it's not exactly apples to apples, man, Hayes needs to start stacking wins. Hell, I'd even settle for just one at this point.

The last time Hayes won a televised match was Sept. 27, when he beat Andrade on an episode of "SmackDown." Do you know how long ago that was? Uncrowned wasn't even officially launched then!

Hayes is supremely talented and I understand from a storytelling perspective why "SmackDown" General Manager Nick Aldis would want to feed him to the Monster of All Monsters Braun Strowman, but it does feel like we're watching one of NXT's great talents waste away on the main roster. Just look at how Bron Breakker is being built up on "Raw," and imagine if Hayes got the ball and was able to run with it instead of getting squashed by Strowman.

Obviously, there's still plenty of time for Hayes to turn into the franchise player he bills himself as. Here's hoping it's sooner rather than later.

Speaking of which ...

Strowman will always be in demand because of his physical gifts, but I really hope we get to see some of his personality shine through in this run on "SmackDown." We got a quick glimpse of this Friday when he was offered a role in "Pretty Deadly: The Musical."

(For the record, I am absolutely in for this. Make them a trio called Pretty Monstrous. That one's pro bono, WWE creative team.)

Strowman then accepted an appearance on the "Grayson Waller Effect" next week.

I'm officially reserving judgment on Strowman's return until after next week's appearance.

L.A. Knight's tangled web

I'm not going to sugarcoat this — I don't love Knight mixing it up with the New Bloodline, and especially not with Sikoa. Unlike McIntyre with the OG Bloodline, Knight doesn't have the history with the group and his focus should be on Shinsuke Nakamura and the United States Championship.

Now there were definitely good things about their segment/match on Friday night — namely Knight's excellent pre-match promo and the actual contest itself — but it does feel like the Bloodline saga is bleeding into (pun intended) too many other storylines, and both of these guys are too big for a relative throwaway match in the middle of a "SmackDown" in December.

The finish was handled the right way, with Knight looking really strong before being overwhelmed by Sikoa, Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga, but I can't help but think this did nothing to advance the Megastar's chase to get his recently lost title back (or at least give us a really good match with Nakamura). Nakamura even referenced Knight directly in his taped vignette later in the night, so that angle is still very much alive despite this little detour.

Considering Andrade and Apollo Crews — who came out to make the save — aren't currently involved in a major championship feud, they feel like a better fit for a future tag match against Tonga and Fatu.

And then there were two

Friday featured the semifinals of the Women's United States Championship tournament as Tiffany Stratton took on Michin and Bayley battled Chelsea Green.

Stratton and Michin's match started out a little slow, but really picked up toward the end and the crowd got behind it as the action ramped up. The finish was a little messy from a timing perspective, but it was a solid showing from both women as Michin advanced.

While the same can be said about Bayley and Green's match later on in the night, I was surprised to hear how big of a pop Green got when the climax of the match happened. I actually believed we would see a count-out win (would have been fitting for Green), and then the crowd erupted when she hit the Unpretty-Her on Bayley and scored the pinfall.

I picked Michin in Uncrowned's Saturday Night's Main Event preview piece, but I'll be damned if after Friday night it doesn't feel like ::obnoxious voice:: Chelsea Green's time.

The KO Show

It's rare that anyone gets the better of Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes on the mic or in the ring nowadays.

Kevin Owens did both on Friday night with yet another rental car promo and beatdown.

I won't dive into just how good Owens has been in this feud — Cameron Hawkins did that well enough in this piece.

What I will do however, is give Owens the...

Uncrowned Gem of the Night 👑

For wearing a freakin' STARDUST shirt!

Owens has used his wardrobe recently to take shots at Rhodes and Randy Orton, but this was something truly special.

Anyway, back to the regularly scheduled programming.

Rhodes and Owens brawled for the second week in a row, but Owens stood tall after using Rhodes' championship against him. If I wanted to nitpick this segment (I wouldn't say this if I wasn't going to do it anyway), I would have had Owens walk out with the Undisputed WWE Championship since all signs point to Rhodes using the Winged Eagle belt Saturday anyway.

A really strong end to the show and capped off a great build for the match on Saturday night.

The best of the rest

• Naomi is stepping in for Jade Cargill as Bianca Belair's tag-team partner. The champions will defend next week against Candice LeRae and WWE Women's Champion Nia Jax. The investigation into the Cargill attack is ongoing, per Aldis, but Naomi has had the most to gain from Cargill's absence, my money is on her as the mystery assailant.

• Speaking of LeRae, she's doing some really great work in building the ongoing tension between Jax and Stratton. The SmackDown women's division could use a real diabolical heel and she's well on her way toward filling that role.

• We got a pair of vignettes from DIY and MCMG. We've talked about how MCMG has reinvigorated the tag division. DIY's heel turn has added to it and we're getting Johnny Gargano vs. Alex Shelley next week on "SmackDown."

• McIntyre is working heel on TV, but him and Sheamus visited "The Wrestling Club" on Friday. The moment was captured for social media and TWC has a great story behind it. We're all for cool moments here at Uncrowned, and this was undoubtedly one.

There were a couple of standout segments/promos, but the in-ring action was a little lackluster. I gave Friday's show 👑 6.5 crowns. 👑