On the final SmackDown before Crown Jewel, Rey Mysterio and Logan Paul will conduct a weigh-in for Saturday's United States Championship match.

The title match was made after Paul called Mysterio out after defeating Dillon Danis in a boxing match last month. Paul is looking to win his first championship in WWE.

Tonight's show was taped in Milwaukee last week. The episode will feature a singles match between Bianca Belair and Bayley. At Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia, Belair challenges Damage CTRL's IYO SKY for the WWE Women's Championship.

A Donnybrook Rules match is set for SmackDown. It will pit the Brawling Brutes (Ridge Holland & Butch) against Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince & Kit Wilson). Pretty Deadly defeated the Brutes on the October 13 edition of SmackDown. 

Kevin Owens and Austin Theory will also square off. Owens had a backstage interaction with Theory and Grayson Waller last week, during which Owens knocked them out. 

Our live coverage starts at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

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– The "Then, Now, Forever, Together" bumper aired, and it still included the Ric Flair "Wooo!" So, there's that. Afterwards, a video package chronicling all of last week's Roman Reigns/LA Knight developments aired. Kevin Patrick welcomed everyone in and Knight's music hit. Knight then walked to the ring. 

The LA Knight segment

God bless that Milwaukee crowd for sticking it out for a segment they saw that was almost identical … what … two hours before this happened live? You can't avoid having to tape two episodes in one night when "Saudi Arabia" is on the itinerary as the town you're making tomorrow, but this lacked the type of go-home fire you'd hope for a promo segment selling the next PLE main event. Part of that was the crowd, part of that was the redundancy. But they did what they could and it wasn't terrible. My only whining moment comes in the form of this: Nobody with two feet and a heartbeat thinks Knight is taking that title off Reigns tomorrow, so WWE really didn't have a way to somehow heat this thing up in a creative way on the final TV program before the Big Show? All told, it just feels like everyone involved could have done better and the segment only gets a passing grade because of how much raw talent Reigns and Knight have on the mic at this point.

Knight soaked up some crowd love before saying "Let me talk to ya!" Knight started by saying 1,200 days as champion is impressive. Knight talked about how quick it can be that those 1,200 days end. Knight talked about how he dropped Reigns with a BFT last week. Knight said it will be a hostile takeover because Knight is coming to take over everything Reigns stands for. Knight said, "It will be the end of Roman's reign, yeah!" On cue, Reigns's music hit and out walked Roman with Paul Heyman. 

The two jawed at each other as they stood in the ring, off-mic, and Reigns's music was still playing. Reigns started by saying he typically starts by telling the town to acknowledge him, but they already know who he is (or this was the second SmackDown they taped in one night and at least Reigns had the tact to not put them through the whole song and dance again, but I digress). Reigns talked about how surprised he was that Knight stepped up. Reigns said Knight "managed his time wisely," and now Knight has all the people on his side. Reigns gave Knight credit for that and said it's not easy to do that in this day and age. Reigns told the crowd to chant Knight's name, which the crowd did, and Reigns followed that up by saying this is the last time the crowd will do that. 

Reigns talked about how what he does is cinema and he is a mega-star. Reigns said he turned the business into a billion-dollar industry. Reigns called Knight a "cosplay redneck version of my cousin," and it was a lazy shot, but still kind of funny. Reigns said he's going to leave Knight in the desert. Knight responded by noting how Reigns must feel invincible. Knight said he isn't coming at Reigns from the same angle everyone else did. Knight said "he's not there to finish something, he's there to start something (yeah!)". Knight said he will cosplay the guy who is going to kick Reigns's ass at Crown Jewel. Knight said he's a megastar. Knight said he doesn't do warning shots, so if Reigns is going to take his shot, he better make sure Knight is done for good. Knight closed things with his catchphrase and WWE officials came out to separate the two as things got a little feisty to end the segment. 

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– Austin Theory was interviewed back stage and said he's used to taking hits and said he has a confident face and a face that everyone wants to see. Theory Kevin Owens has a face only a mother can love. Theory then made a comment about how Owens has a face where he would have to wear a mask on Halloween, but joke's on you (bro). Halloween already happened. 

Kevin Owens defeated Austin Theory [7:20]

This was surprising in the sense that this was clearly set up to forward a story between Waller and Owens. Theory taking a loss like that doesn't feel common in WWE these days, and if anything, I would have thought it would have been Waller taking a loss like this first, setting up a match between Owens and Theory. So, that's refreshing in its own weird way. Anyway, the match was fine. The package suplex Owens hit from the second rope to kickstart the go-home sequence was great and to be honest, Theory looked better here than he has in a bit when it comes to WWE TV in-ring work. A three-minute commercial break in a seven-minute match never allows a viewer to get into a groove with it, but it was what it was.

Grayson Waller sat in on commentary. The two locked up to begin things and Owens tried to attack Theory, but the ref broke it up as Theory went to the ropes. They locked up again and Theory went to the outside. Owens followed and Theory rammed Owens into the ring and the commentary table. Back inside the ring, Theory took control with a series of strikes. Theory went for another punch and Owens caught him, only to punch Theory and clothesline Theory over the top rope to the outside. Owens followed that up with a clothesline, taking Theory to the floor. The show then went to a commercial break. 

When the show returned, Owens slammed Theory into the commentary table and jawed at Waller. Theory took advantage of that and ran Owens into the ring pole. Back in the ring, Theory chop-blocked Owens. Theory lifted Owens, but Owens fought out of it and ultimately tried a Stunner, but Theory pushed Owens away and landed a rolling Blockbuster for a near-fall. Theory stomped on Owens and worked him over with punches. With Owens on the second rope, Owens hit a wild suplex, which was followed up with a pop-up powerbomb. Owens landed a Stunner and stared at Waller as he got the three-count. 

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– Cathy Kelley interview Bianca Belair backstage. Belair didn't get 10 seconds into her promo and Damage CTRL attacked Belair. WWE officials, included Nick Aldis ran onto the set and broke things up. 

– A video recapping the Street Profits/LWO stuff from last week aired. Logan Paul was shown walking backstage and he ran into the Street Profits and Bobby Lashley. Paul walked out of the scene and Lashley was talking up the Profits but B-Fab came into interrupt things and then walked off with Lashley to talk. 

Charlotte Flair & Shotzi defeated Chelsea Green & Piper Niven [2:58]

This means Charlotte and Shotzi will get a title shot, so cool it on any idea that they are new women's tag champs. Still, I kind of/sort of like the Shotzi/Charlotte pairing. Even if this is just a vehicle for Charlotte to put "tag team champion" on her resume, Shotzi seems to be into it, which is fun. Not so fun is Chelsea Green and Piper Niven, as champs, taking a loss that felt more like a squash than anything else. I understand that WWE wants to make Green into, essentially, the female version of The Miz, but damn, man. Give her a win every now and then (yes, I know she picked up a win on RAW this week, but that was her first singles win since coming back to WWE, right?). Champions should never look as weak as especially Green does – even if the sole intention is "fun," whatever that means.  

Look at that. Shotzi was teaming with a mystery opponent, and who could have guessed it'd be Charlotte Flair after what's happened in recent weeks?! Why not just announce this team ahead time? OK, I'll shut up. Anyway, the match started with Niven and Shotzi and Niven had her way with Shotzi. Green tagged in after Shotzi was vulnerable and Green worked over Shotzi with some boots. Niven tagged back in, but Shotzi worked her way out and got the hot tag to Charlotte, who hit a cross-body on both Niven and Green. Charlotte hit a series of chops on both Green and Niven. Charlotte landed a suplex on Green and then got her hands on Niven, but Green got a blind tag in … only to run into a big boot from Charlotte, which was enough for Charlotte to get the win for her team. 

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The Solo Sikoa/John Cena segment

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I don't know what that 90 second stipulation was that Cena referenced twice – and I also don't know why Cena all of a sudden didn't have a voice – but damn, man. On his way out, Cena throws his best out there as he's ready to head into the (presumed) final match of this latest WWE run. The Taz line was a lot of fun, and makes even a little more sense now that Excalibur actually spoke Cena's name on Dynamite this past Wednesday. Sikoa has a ways to go on the microphone (still, don't think he's not capable; the guy wasn't bad when he was on his own during his NXT run), but this was some of the best use of Cena the company has put out there since Cena decided to come home for a couple months. Short, sweet, poignant, effective. The raspy voice was a blessing.

Paul Heyman accompanied Sikoa to the ring. Heyman began by saying it's the end of days for Cena. Heyman said it wasn't the way he wanted it to be. Heyman said it's not his fault and nobody should blame Roman Reigns. Heyman said Cena picked a fight with the Bloodline. Heyman said there was no way they would let Cena get away with it. Heyman noted how Reigns turned to the soldier and the assassin, which is Sikoa. Heyman suggested that Sikoa could someday be the Tribal Chief and Cena will be a victim of Sikoa. The crowd booed heavily. Sikoa whispered something to Heyman and took the mic for himself. 

Sikoa asked Heyman why he would waste his breath talking to the crowd. Sikoa said they weren't there to talk to the crowd; they were there to talk to Cena face-to-face. Cena's music then hit and Cena made his entrance. Cena entered the ring and Sikoa said he's mad he has to "wait until tomorrow to fight you." Sikoa said he got orders from Reigns, and that order was to give Cena a microphone to be able to say goodbye to the fans while he still could. Sikoa said after the Crown Jewel match, Cena won't be able to talk to the fans. Sikoa then gave Cena the microphone as the crowd chanted "Let's go Cena!" 

Cena said, "That's it?" Cena asked Sikoa if he knew who he was in the ring with. Cena said everyone has "been waiting for Sikoa to talk for a year, and that's all you bring to the table?" Cena's voice was raspy. Cena said he's going to say goodbye – but not to them, but for them. Cena said the only reason Sikoa got a job in WWE is because of his cousin. Cena called Sikoa a "bargain basement Taz ripoff." Cena told Sikoa to tape his thumb extra tight because it's going up his ass tomorrow. Cena said "that's my 90 seconds," threw the microphone down and left to end the segment. 

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– Damage CTRL were shown talking backstage. Bayley said Bianca Belair has never learned her lesson. Bayley teasted SKY vs. Bayley at Crown Jewel, but then said it was a joke. Nick Aldis came into the frame and said that Damage CTRL will be barred from ringside for the Bayley vs. Belair match. SKY also reminded Bayley that Bayley couldn't handle SKY if she wanted to. 

Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson & Elton Prince) defeated Brawling Brutes (Butch & Ridge Holland) in a Donnybrook Rules match [12:21]

A good WWE-style brawl with a somewhat surprising outcome. With two wins in this program, I have to think both teams move onto something else, but what will that be, exactly? Pretty Deadly moves up the card (in theory), but the Brutes take yet another loss, which at this point, makes them look like they have even less credibility than they did going into the match – and that's a shame because the Brutes are supposed to be tough guys, but for one reason or another, they never seem to come up on the winning end. Even so, this was fine. It's WWE. There will be no blood. The spots will be overtly safe. Nothing wrong with that last part, of course – nobody should ever risk their health for this stuff. But if you watch no-DQ matches elsewhere, you'll get something different. These four did all they could with what they had. No complaints on the work. 

The Brutes jumpstarted the match by attacking Pretty Deadly in the aisle as the camera did its slow motion thing during Pretty Deadly's entrance. The action spilled into the ring and Butch and Holland hit stereo 10 Beats on both Pretty Deadly members. Butch obtained a pair of Shillelaghs and the Brutes worked over both Deadly guys with them. With Prince leaning on a bar set up at ringside, Butch went for his finger-breaking spot, but Prince turned that into a suplex. From there, Pretty Deadly took control and posed to the crowd. 

In the ring, Pretty Deadly worked over Holland with kicks and then got a hold of the Shillelaghs. They both went to hit Holland with them, but Holland caught them and threw them both over the top rope. Butch came back into the picture and landed a moonsault from the top rope onto everyone – including Holland – to send the show to a commercial break. Back from that break, Prince hit a Tornado DDT on Butch while Holland slammed Wilson onto a garbage can for a two-count. Holland, weirdly worked a Boston Crab, even though this was essentially a street fight. 

Prince went for the save, but Butch worked an ankle lock on Prince. Prince and Wilson locked hands and fired up. Prince kicked Butch away and hit Holland's back with a barstool. Pretty Deadly followed that up with a clunky double-team move, but Butch made the save on a pin attempt. Butch then chopped the hell out of Wilson. Prince got back at Butch and an elbow strike. Prince went to the second rope, but Holland cut him off and slammed Prince. Holland lifted Wilson, but Wilson countered into a modified face-buster. Butch fired up, but Wilson stopped his momentum with a clothesline and all four guys were down. 

Wilson went for something, but Butch cut him off and hit his fingers spot. Prince brought a Shillelagh back and hit Butch with it. Prince went to the top, but Holland cut Prince off and powerbombed Prince through a table on the outside. Inside the ring, Butch landed a boot to Wilson's head for a good near-fall. Holland grabbed a table from under the ring and the Brutes set it up inside the ring. Wilson rolled away from them and went to the outside. Wilson then ran Holland into a keg. Butch and Wilson were on the second rope, but Prince showed up with a glass bottle and slammed it on Butch's head. Pretty Deadly then hit their finisher on Butch through the table and got the pinfall win.

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– Nick Aldis was walking backstage and ran into Paul Heyman. Heyman told Aldis to have a lot of medical personnel on hand at Crown Jewel because this is the most savage version of Roman Reigns that anyone will ever see. 

The Rey Mysterio/Logan Paul Weigh-In

There is nothing intelligent to say about this. There is nothing constructive to say about this. There is silly. There is pro wrestling silly. And then there is what happened here. God bless. 

Nick Aldis introduced both competitors. It looked like they were doing this in a storage shed in the back. Paul weighed in at 213 while there were piped in camera sounds. Mysterio weighed in at 175. Paul and Mysterio jawed at each other like they would at a real weigh-in, but nothing really came of it. Mysterio took a microphone and then slapped Paul. Paul came back and punched Mysterio … who then took the microphone and hit Paul in the way Paul was hit at the weigh-in for the Dillion Danis fight recently. That ended the segment.

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– Next week, Carlito will face Bobby Lashley. And that's about all they had to say about next week's SmackDown episode. 

Bianca Belair defeated Bayley [13:18]

These two worked well together. It's not that often we see Bayley work singles matches anymore – and it's even more rare that we see her work meaningful singles matches – but she showed here that she can still very much hang. That super-plex spot was a little scary, but in all, this was a good and worthy main event. I kind of like that Bayley has become a sort of gatekeeper for babyfaces in WWE and in that sense, has taken a half-backseat role in Damage CTRL. If nothing else, it works to help put the babyfaces over with a sense of credibility. Good work from both women. 

Bayley threw a shirt at Belair and attacked Belair to start the match. Belair rebounded with a series of shoulder-blocks on Bayley. Belair landed a pair of vertical suplexes on Bayley before hitting a Will Ospreay-esque standing moonsault for a two-count. Bayley rolled to the outside, where Belair chased her. Back in the ring, Belair hit a trio of bodyslams. With Bayley on the apron, Bayley kicked Belair, which took Belair to the outside, which then took the show to its final commercial break. 

Back from break, Bayley still had the upper hand and hit an elbow from the apron onto Belair on the outside. Back inside the ring, Bayley went for a cover, but Belair immediately kicked out. Bayley worked a chin-lock. Belair fought out and hit a back-breaker to even things out. Belair fired up and hit Bayley with a series of punches. Belair planted Bayley for a two-count. With Bayley on the top rope, Belair hit a rough-looking super-plex that Bayley only barely got over for. All of that resulted in a two-count. 

Belair went for another moonsault, but Bayley moved and dragged Belair outside by her ponytail. Bayley rammed Belair into the ring post. Bayley hit an elbow from the top rope and got a near-fall out of it. Bayley went to the outside and cleared off the commentary table. Bayley lifted Belair for a powerbomb, but Belair fought out of it and Bayley ran herself into the ring post. Belair followed that up with a dive onto the outside and then rolled Bayley back into the ring. Belair went for the KOD, but Bayley rolled out and into a pinfall attempt. Belair kicked out and whipped Bayley witih the ponytail. Belair hit the KOD for the win. 

After the match, Belair KOD'd Bayley through the commentary table and that ended the show.