The John Report: WWE SmackDown 06/12/26 Review
This is WWE SmackDown, featuring more of Cody Rhodes-Gunther, plus King & Queen of the Ring 4-Way qualifying matches, and more.
The road to Night of Champions continues with the final 4-Way King and Queen of the Ring qualifying matches. Last week’s SmackDown also saw Cody Rhodes say that he’s going to defend the WWE Title against Gunther on the June 19th SmackDown, so that’s a big match to look forward to next week. SmackDown is back in the US after being in Europe for the last two weeks. There were some outstanding matches on Raw and NXT this week, so I hope the trend continues with SmackDown tonight. I think storytelling could be better across all WWE shows, but the match quality is usually very good, and sometimes great, throughout the week.
From the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, Rhode Island, this is SmackDown for episode #1399. Follow me on Twitter/X @johnreport. Let’s get to it.
A video aired about the Cody Rhodes-Gunther story, with Sami Zayn recently getting involved as well.
Cody Rhodes was shown walking backstage with the WWE Championship when he saw SmackDown GM, Nick Aldis. The GM Aldis said he hasn’t heard from Gunther yet, but we’ll find out more from him tonight. Cody shook his hands.
The Usos approached Cody Rhodes backstage and Cody touched fists with them. Jey told Cody he’s going to win King of the Ring and he’s coming for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam. Cody said Jey is right and if anybody deserves to chase this, then it’s him. Cody told Jey he hopes it’s his decision and not Roman’s decision. Cody left while The Usos thought about it.
They showed superstar walking from earlier in the day featuring LA Knight, Royce Keys and Finn Balor. They’re in the 4-way with Jey Uso.
The SmackDown commentary team of Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett welcomed us to the show. Barrett said that Rhea Ripley has a knee injury and WWE is evaluating the knee injury. Barrett said that Ripley’s response to treatment will determine how Ripley recovers from the injury.
Analysis: Best of luck to Ripley with that. Ripley had a brace on her right knee last week. I hope it’s not a serious knee injury, and hopefully she can rehab it and get back soon.
Jade Cargill was interviewed by Cathy Kelley backstage, and she was joined by Michin and B-Fab. Jade was confident going into her Queen of the Ring match since she won QOTR last year. Michin and B-Fab trash-talked the other women like Charlotte Flair and Tiffany Stratton since Jade pinned Stratton in a tag last week. Jade told Rhea to rest up because Jade will see her at SummerSlam.
The Queen of the Ring tournament match was up first, with Charlotte Flair making her entrance first. The Women’s Intercontinental Champion, Sol Ruca, was up next to a solid ovation. Lyra Valkyria was next, and she lost to Ruca on Raw earlier this week. Jade Cargill was the fourth woman to make her entrance, and she was booed as the lone heel in this match.
Queen of the Ring Quarterfinals: Jade Cargill vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Sol Ruca vs. Lyra Valkyria
There are no disqualifications and no countouts in a 4-way match.
The trio of Flair, Ruca and Lyra tried going after Jade, but Jade hit a double suplex on Ruca and Flair. Jade gave Lyra a fallaway slam into Ruca. Flair battled Jade and hit some chops, along with a German Suplex. B-Fab pulled Flair out of the ring, so Michin and B-Fab attacked Flair. Alexa Bliss ran out for the save to help her buddy Flair, and then the Women’s US Champion Tiffany Stratton also showed up to go after Michin and B-Fab. Bliss and Stratton fought with Michin and B-Fab to the back. Flair jumped off the top with a cross body block on Jade for a two count. They went on a break for some fans and I’ll stick with the action. Lyra and Ruca each got two counts. Lyra hit an armdrag on Ruca. Lyra tried to roll up Flair, but Ruca broke it up with a knee. Jade hit a clothesline on Flair and Ruca. After Jade stomped on Flair, Ruca got a rollup on Jade, and Jade hit a clothesline on Ruca for two. Jade elbowed Ruca, but then Flair got a rollup on Jade for two. Jade clotheslined Flair for a two count. Jade remained in control with a suplex on Ruca for a two count. Flair told Jade to duck a chop and Jade hit a clothesline after that. Wade covered for it saying it was “trash talk,” which is funny. Anyway, Jade was in control.
It was Ruca battling Jade in the ring with Ruca hitting a cross body block, and then Lyra dropkicked Ruca to knock Jade down. Lyra clotheslined Flair two times. Lyra hit an enziguri kick on Flair to knock her out of the ring. Lyra hit a suplex on Ruca. Lyra countered Jade with a DDT. Flair hit a Natural Selection on Lyra for two. It wasn’t a great looking version of the move. Ruca broke up the pin. Flair hit a jumping kick on Ruca. Flair kicked Ruca and went up top, but Ruca stopped an attack. Ruca jumped to the top, did a backflip and Lyra sent Ruca into Flair, who bumped on the turnbuckle. Jade was back up for a Tower of Doom spot with Lyra and Flair. Jade got a two count on Flair after hitting the Powerbomb. Flair was telling Jade what to do in the ring and Flair hit a cartwheel clothesline. As Flair went for a Figure Eight, Ruca jumped off the top and hit a missile dropkick. Ruca did a leapfrog over Jade and Lyra rolled up Ruca for two. Lyra hit Ruca with a forearm on the apron. Lyra dropkicked Jade through the ropes and to the floor. Ruca went up top and hit a moonsault onto her three opponents on the floor. Ruca jumped off the top with a springboard Frog Splash on Lyra for two. They went on another break for some fans as the action continued. Flair used her legs to flip around Ruca, who managed to turn it into a two count. Ruca had Flair in a Tarantula by the ropes, but Lyra broke that up with a dropkick on Ruca. Lyra held Ruca in a submission, and then Jade hit a superkick on Lyra. Jade worked over Flair with chops, and Jade kicked Ruca a few times, too. Jade put her boot to Lyra’s throat, along with a kick to the back. Jade splashed Flair against the turnbuckle. Ruca came back with a running elbow on Jade.