WWE SmackDown Results Coverage, Reactions and Highlights for May 17, 2024

It’s Friday night, and you know what that means! WWE SmackDown will go down tonight, and Ringside News has got you covered with live play-by-play results coverage for the May 17, 2024 episode.

The start time for WWE SmackDown is 8:00 PM EST. Match-by-match highlights and results from the show will take place on this very page. Feel free to leave any reactions in the comment section below.

WWE SmackDown Lineup (5/17/2024):

• WWE King of the Ring Tournament Quarterfinals Round Match: “The Viper” Randy Orton vs. Carmelo Hayes
• WWE King of the Ring Tournament Quarterfinals Round Match: “The Mega Star” LA Knight vs. The Bloodline’s “MFT” Tama Tonga
• WWE Queen of the Ring Tournament Quarterfinals Round Match: WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion “The EST Of WWE” Bianca Belair vs. Tiffany Stratton
• WWE Queen of the Ring Tournament Quarterfinals Round Match: WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Jade Cargill vs. “The Irresistible Force” Nia Jax
• Undisputed WWE Champion “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes and WWE United States Champion “The Maverick” Logan Paul King and Queen of the Ring contract signing

WWE SmackDown Results (5/17/2024):

The show opens up with a video hyping up the King and Queen of the Ring tournaments and everything that has happened so far in both tournaments. We then see the arrivals of Undisputed WWE Champion “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes, “The Mega Star” LA Knight and The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa, Tonga Loa, “MFT” Tama Tonga and WWE Hall of Famer “The Wise Man” Paul Heyman) from earlier in the day as well as the arrivals of WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Jade Cargill, “The Irresistible Force” Nia Jax, “The Viper” Randy Orton and Carmelo Hayes.

Corey Graves and Wade Barrett then welcomes us to the show and we get the entrances of the first match of the night, which is a WWE Queen of the Ring Tournament Quarterfinals Round Match.

WWE Queen of the Ring Tournament Quarterfinals Round Match: WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion “The EST Of WWE” Bianca Belair vs. Tiffany Stratton

The match starts off with Belair backing Stratton into the corner. Belair then gives Stratton a clean break and flexes in Stratton’s face. Stratton then slaps Belair and yanks her down by her hair. Stratton then mocks Belair. Belair then kips up and slaps Stratton. Belair then runs over Stratton. Stratton then kicks Belair as she tries to take over with a headstand. Stratton then hits the ropes and gets blasted with a gut buster by Belair. Belair then starts favoring her previously injured knee. Belair then hits Stratton with 10 punches in the corner. Stratton then tries to pull Belair by her hair again, but Belair responds by sending Stratton into the turnbuckle. Stratton then rolls out of the ring and Belair tries to follow, but Stratton pulls Belair’s braid, causing Belair’s knee to get caught in the ropes.

As Belair writhes in pain, Stratton sends her into the steel ring steps knee first. Stratton then continues her assault on Belair’s knee. Belair then fires up and hits Stratton with a suplex for a near fall. Stratton then goes for a basement stomp, but Belair counters the move into a roll up and Stratton kicks out. Belair then sets up Stratton for the KOD, but Stratton escapes and lands on her feet. Stratton then takes Belair down and hits Belair with a double stomp, but only gets a two count. Stratton then goes for a handspring strike in the corner, but Belair reverses it into a German suplex that turns Belair inside out and Stratton still manages to kick out. Stratton then pokes Belair in the eyes while the referee is distracted. Stratton then hits Belair with a Basement Lariat. Stratton then sets up for her Prettiest Moonsault Ever, but Belair stops Stratton. Belair then hits Stratton with the KOD for the win.

The winner of the WWE Queen of the Ring Tournament Quarterfinals Round Match, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion “The EST Of WWE” Bianca Belair!

After the win, Cathy Kelley interviews Bianca Belair in the middle of the ring. Belair says her knee wasn’t 100 percent, but she was going to keep showing up and showing out. The crowd then chants “EST!” and Belair says nothing will stop her from becoming Queen of the Ring.

WWE United States Champion “The Maverick” Logan Paul was then shown backstage and he suddenly ran into “The Mega Star” LA Knight. The two stared at each other for a second before Paul was grabbed by SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis to go talk.

We then get a video profiling a number of WWE stars hanging out with members of the US Navy and Corey Graves says it was Military Appreciation Month.

We then head to the back once more, where Byron Saxton is interviewing WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Jade Cargill. Cargill says Nia Jax is a beast and an irresistible force, but to her Jax was just in her way. Belair then enters and the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions talks about the possibility of standing across the ring from each other in the next round of the Queen of the Ring Tournament. Cargill then walks away.

We then get a video recapping everything that happened with The Bloodline last week. The Bloodline were then shown backstage and Solo Sikoa and Paul Heyman were speaking. Heyman asks Sikoa if he had talked to Roman Reigns today. Sikoa says all the time and walks away.

“The Mega Star” LA Knight was then interviewed. Knight says the Bloodline doesn’t look the same these days and he is going to move on to win the KOTR. Carmelo Hayes then enters and says he wanted to give Knight the ability to welcome him to SmackDown. Knight then talks about how people didn’t know who the first draft pick was the year Tom Brady was drafted, taking a shot at Hayes bragging that he was the first draft pick. Knight then did his catchphrase and tells Hayes to go play somewhere because he is busy.

We then get the entrances of the next match, which is a WWE King of the Ring Tournament Quarterfinal Round Match.

WWE King of the Ring Tournament Quarterfinals Round Match: “The Mega Star” LA Knight vs. The Bloodline’s “MFT” Tama Tonga

The match starts off with Tonga charging at Knight as soon as the bell rings. Knight then delivers some jabs on Tonga. Tonga then puts Knight in a sleeper, but Knight escapes. Knight then stops a back body drop attempt from Tonga, which allows Tonga to hit Knight with a boot in his face. Tonga then hits Knight with a lariat. Tonga then misses a splash in the corner. Knight then hits Tonga with a back body drop. Knight then stomps Tonga in the corner. Knight then hits Tonga with a running knee. Solo Sikoa and Tonga Loa then hop up on the apron. Tonga then blasts Knight in the corner as he is distracted by the rest of The Bloodline. Tonga then nails Knight with a diving lariat off the apron. The crowd chants that they want Roman as Tonga works over Knight. Knight then fires up and calls for the BFT, but Tonga Loa pulls Tonga out of the ring. Tonga then goes up top and tries to hit a splash on Knight, but Knight moves and hits Tonga with a series of strikes and a crossbody before clotheslining Tonga over the top rope. Knight then slams Tonga’s head on the apron repeatedly. Knight then hits Tonga with his powerslam and elbow drop combination. Knight then dropkicks Tonga Loa and has a stare down with Solo Sikoa. As soon as Knight returns to the ring, Tonga hits Knight with the Complete Shot for the win.

The winner of the WWE King of the Ring Tournament Quarterfinals Round Match, “MFT” Tama Tonga!

Knight was then shown walking backstage and he rungs into Hayes again. Knight and Hayes then jaw jacks at each other before things were broken up by Charles Robinson.

SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis is already in the ring for the champion vs. champion contract signing between Undisputed WWE Champion “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes and WWE United States Champion “The Maverick” Logan Paul. Aldis introduces United States Champion Logan Paul and Paul makes his way down to the ring with an entourage and a lawyer. Undisputed WWE Champion “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes makes his way down to the ring next.

Cody starts off by playing to the crowd and asking them what they wanted to talk about. Cody then asks Logan Paul what happened on the grounds they stood on 32 years ago. Cody then says Logan wasn’t born yet, so he wouldn’t know, but it was WarGames 1992. Cody then says the reason he knows all of this is because much like the people in the crowd, he is a fan of professional wrestling. Cody then calls Logan Paul a tourist and says now is the time Logan gets off the bus and he becomes a Grand Slam Champion. Logan then says he heard that from the last guy and the guy before that and he didn’t come there today to listen to Cody talk as he came to sign a contract. Logan then insists on signing the contract and calls his lawyer over to inspect. Logan then tears up the contract and says he never agreed to put his title on the line, so he draws up a contract that he made that did not put the U.S. Title on the line. Nick Aldis then says this is bad business and not what they agreed to.

Cody then tells Aldis to allow him and Logan to sign the contract and get it done. Logan then says that Cody has done nothing to deserve a U.S. Title shot and throws the contract at him. Cody then calls Logan Paul a human hat rack and says the honeymoon is over. Cody then says he has seen Logan do a flip, so big deal. Cody then mentions Mike Tyson and says Tyson will knock Jake Paul out in 8 days and in Saudi Arabia he will defeat Logan. Cody then signs the contract. Paul then tries to attack Rhodes, but was sent to the floor. Cody then powerbombs a member of Paul’s entourage through one of the tables in the ring. Cody then throws the U.S. Title at Paul, who was standing on the outside of the ring. Cody’s music then hits to end the segment.

We then head to the back, where Cathy Kelley is interviewing Nia Jax. Jax interrupts Kelley and says everyone is saying Jade Cargill is so strong and impressive. Jax then says Cargill will not be the Queen of the Ring because she will be the Queen of the Ring. Jax’s music then hits and Jax makes her way down to the ring for the next match with a camera following her from behind.

WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Jade Cargill then made her way down to the ring for the next match.

WWE Queen of the Ring Tournament Quarterfinals Round Match: WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Jade Cargill vs. “The Irresistible Force” Nia Jax

The match starts off with Jax and Cargill going nose-to-nose. Jax then nails Cargill. Cargill then hits Jax with a spinebuster. Jax then rolls out of the ring and Cargill follows. Jax then tosses Cargill. Cargill’s daughter is in the crowd and she yells at Jax to leave her mother alone. Cargill then crawls toward her daughter. Jax then yanks Cargill away and screams in Cargill’s daughter’s face that her mother sucks. Cargill then attacks Jax. Both women then fight outside the ring. Jax then sends Cargill over the barricade. Jax then grabs a chair. Cargill then blocks a chair shot, yanks the chair away and hits Jax with it, causing a disqualification.

The winner of the WWE Queen of the Ring Tournament Quarterfinals Round Match via DQ, “The Irresistible Force” Nia Jax!

After the match, Jax and Cargill continued to brawl. Referees then eventually separated both women as the segment ended.

We then get the entrances of the next match, which is a Tag Team Match.

Tag Team Match: Legado Del Fantasma (Humberto and Angel) vs. #DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa)

The match starts off with Gargano and Humberto. Gargano quickly had control of the match until he took Humberto down and tagged in Ciampa. Ciampa then cleaned house and Ciampa and Gargano hit stereo suicide dives on Legado Del Fantasma. Ciampa was then running the ropes, but Angel held down the top rope and sent Ciampa to the outside. Ciampa was then beating Angel down until Humberto tagged in and hit Ciampa with the Garza Special. Humberto then gets a two count. Humberto and Ciampa then tries to suplex each other multiple times until Ciampa hits a suplex on Humberto. Gargano then gets tagged in and he takes both Humberto and Angel out. Gargano then hits a slingshot spear on Humberto and goes to the top. Santos Escobar then distracts the referee as Elektra Lopez grabs the leg of Gargano. The referee then ejects the rest of Legado Del Fantasma from ringside and #DIY hit Humberto with Meet Me In The Middle for the win.

The winner of the Tag Team Match, #DIY!

Graves and Wade Barrett then talks about the mysterious QR codes that have been popping up. The events that took place on the WWE Twitch channel this week was profiled as well.

We then head to the back, where AJ Styles was being interviewed by Byron Saxton. Saxton asks Styles where he goes from here and Styles says next week he is going to go to Nick Aldis’ office and he will find out where he goes from there. Styles then walks away and we head to the ring for the main event.

Bayley was then interviewed by Byron Saxton, but Chelsea Green and Piper Niven cuts her off. Green says Bayley was the reason Niven lost last week. Bayley then says they should talk in the ring next week.

We then get the entrances of the main event, which is a WWE King of the Ring Tournament Quarterfinals Round Match.

WWE King of the Ring Tournament Quarterfinals Round Match: “The Viper” Randy Orton vs. Carmelo Hayes

The match starts off with Hayes and Orton circling each other. Hayes then kicks Orton in the knee and Orton goes down. Hayes then slaps Orton on the back of his head. Hayes then jaws with the crowd as Orton looks like he is about to choke Hayes out. Orton then sends Hayes into the ring post repeatedly. Orton then delivers some rights and lefts on Hayes in the corner and Hayes falls out of the ring. Orton then tries to suplex Hayes on the table, but Hayes pokes Orton in the eye. Hayes then stands on the table and mocks Orton. Orton then trips Hayes on the desk and follows it up with a suplex. Orton hits Hayes with a second suplex on the desk. Hayes then manages to get to his feet, but Orton suplexes Hayes on the desk for a third time. Hayes is now working over Orton’s previously injured knee.

Orton then fires up and hits Hayes with a flurry of clotheslines. Orton then sends Hayes into the ropes for a snap powerslam, but Hayes holds on to the rope. Hayes then stalks Orton and goes for the Punt Kick. Orton then avoids it and hits the snap powerslam on Hayes. Hayes then kicks out and Orton sets up the draping DDT. Hayes then reverses it into the First 48 and Orton kicks out. Hayes then nails Orton with a series of punches to Orton’s knee. Hayes then misses Nothing But Net, but lands on his feet. Orton then hits Hayes with the draping DDT and calls for the RKO. After a series of reversals, Hayes goes for a springboard, but gets hit with an RKO and Orton wins.

The winner of the WWE King of the Ring Tournament Quarterfinals Round Match, “The Viper” Randy Orton!

After the match, Cathy Kelley tries to interview Randy Orton in the ring, but Tama Tonga’s music hit and The Bloodline make their way out. Orton has a microphone in hand and wonders if The Bloodline was trying to intimidate him. Orton then fires up and lists off his credentials. Orton then says next week he is going to introduce his foot directly up the ass of Tama Tonga before allowing Tonga to experience the three most dangerous letters in WWE, which is the RKO and the show comes to a close.