Layin 'da SmackDown - SmackDown recap for October 13, 2023

John Cena heads to the ring to start tonight's show. John Cena heads to the ring to start tonight's show. As Cena introduces everyone to tonight's show, Roman Reigns shows up with Solo Sikoa and Paul Heyman. Roman tells Cena that if he is going to open his show, he had better do it the right way, then demands that the fans acknowledge him. He then says the fans are chanting for a coward and that Cena only arrived and called himself the greatest of all time only because he took his leave, then says he is the greatest. Roman then says they have done this before and handled it, and that they will do this again. He then gives Cena a choice of leaving or being forced to leave. Cena says there is a lot of anticipation for what is about to happen, and says that WWE is unpredictable and SmackDown even less so, and with both of them in the ring, it is impossible to tell what will happen next. He then tells him that he is going to acknowledge him, not fight him, over being champion for 1,138 days. He says that respect and that accomplishment is earned, and he is not here to fight him because he has not earned it. Cena then tells Roman that he knows someone who has: LA Knight, who heads to the ring. Cena tells Knight it is his time and hands him the microphone, then Knight asks Roman "Ya pissin' your pants yet?" before stating that he is standing in his way and introducing himself to Roman, telling him things have changed since he left. Roman says he is proud of Knight getting the fans to chant his name after a few months, then wants to know what makes Knight think he can be in the same ring as him. As Knight tells him that speaking like that gets one spoken about in the past tense, Knight explains himself only to be attacked from behind by Jimmy Uso. Knight takes care of Jimmy Uso, then stands up to Roman, who leaves with the rest of The Bloodline. Roman then sics Solo on LA Knight, who then stands on the apron before leaving, saying it is him and Knight tonight. Knight dares Solo to get in the ring so he can turn him upside down and use him as a mop.

Before the next match, Elton Strong gets out of his wheelchair on the stage.

Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson and Elton Prince) beat The Brawling Brutes (Butch and Ridge Holland) after Elton Prince fakes a knee injury, allowing Kit Wilson to get the cheap shot on Ridge Holland from the ring apron and Elton Prince to win with a schoolkid pin.

Backstage, Kayla Braxton interviews Carlito, who has now returned to WWE and SmackDown. Carlito says there is only word to describe him: cool. Bobby Lashley shows up and welcomes Carlito back, saying his return was nothing short of amazing, then says the last time he saw him was when he was beating him up, which was a long time ago. Carlito then proposes his first match back in WWE being against Lashley, then he is attacked from behind by The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford). Officials, including Adam Pearce, stop things before they get worse.

Backstage, The Latino World Order (Rey Mysterio, Santos Escobar, Zelina Vega) and Dragon Lee check on Carlito when Bayley shows up calling what is going on "a pity party." Zelina confronts Bayley, and this leads to an argument and WWE official Adam Pearce putting Bayley and Zelina in a match that will happen next.

Backstage, Roman Reigns talks with Jimmy Uso, who says he is playing Roman's playbook and is calling an audible if something does not look right. Roman tells Jimmy that the longer "Main Event" Jey Uso has the tag team titles with "The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes is a bigger slap in the face to their legacy, and that Jimmy needs to take care of it.

Bayley beats Zelina Vega following the distraction from Iyo Sky. After the match, Iyo Sky and Bayley gang up on Zelina Vega, then Charlotte Flair runs into the ring, forcing Iyo and Bayley to retreat.

LA Knight vs. Solo Sikoa is official for later tonight.

Triple H heads to the ring. Triple H says he has Adam Pearce - who has had a successful in-ring career and has done an incredible job as an official on both shows in the last three years - in the ring, and thanks him for the thankless job he has succeeded at so far. He then says that he does not have to do this job alone and that he will no longer be alone, and that WWE official Adam Pearce is the new General Manager of Raw. Before Triple H can announce who the General Manager of SmackDown is, "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio shows up and says The Judgment Day were screwed out of the tag team titles and is frustrated that "Main Event" Jey Uso and "The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes are defending "their" titles. Somehow, Triple H is able to hear Dominik Mysterio, then says Dominik is yelling at the wrong people and that he should be talking to SmackDown's new General Manager: "The National Treasure" Nick Aldis, who suddenly shows up on the outside and enters the ring. Nick Aldis shows up and shakes hands with Triple H and Adam Pearce, then says he is happy to have this position and see some friendly competition between Raw and SmackDown, then mentions the deal that Cody Rhodes made to move Jey Uso to Raw. Dominik then says that Cody and Jey are the problem, but Aldis says he will deal with them later. Dominik threatens to slap whoever has been moved to SmackDown and make them respect him, then Kevin Owens shows up and hits Dominik with a Stunner. Backstage, Roman Reigns is furious that Kevin Owens is on his show, Jey Uso is on Raw and Jimmy Uso is on his couch drinking his water when he should be making the play. Jimmy Uso and Solo leave Roman's dressing room.

We see a video package for Dragon Lee.

Backstage, Chelsea Green and Piper Niven proposes to new General Manager Nick Aldis new women's tag team titles with Italian leather to replace the current ones that are supposedly cursed. Aldis dismisses them, then meets with Charlotte Flair and tells her that she will go one-on-one with Iyo Sky following what happened last week with Damage CTRL (Bayley, Iyo Sky, Dakota Kai) distracting the referee, saying that things are going to change around here. Aldis leaves, then Charlotte runs into Triple H and Jade Cargill. Charlotte says she knows who Jade is. Jade Cargill says "It's my pleasure," to which Charlotte replies "Oh, it will be."

"Main Event" Jey Uso and "The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes retain the WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championships against Grayson Waller and Austin Theory. After the match, Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa show up as Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes head to the back, and both teams have a staredown. Paul Heyman and Roman Reigns show up, and Roman stares down Cody. General Manager Nick Aldis shows up with officials before things get worse.

LA Knight beats Solo Sikoa. During the match, Jimmy Uso goes for a Spear on Knight, but John Cena shows up ans tops him with the Attitude Adjustment. Solo hits Cena with the Samoan Spike, but Knight hits Solo with the BFT for the win. After the match, Knight gets hit with a Spear by Roman Reigns.

Here are the top ten moments from tonight's show!

This week on The SmackDown LowDown: Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson and Elton Prince)! Damage CTRL (Bayley, Iyo Sky, Dakota Kai)! Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford)!