WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Live Grades, Highlights After Clash at the Castle (2024)

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of WWE SmackDown on June 21.

This week's show took place in Chicago, so WWE made sure to bring in CM Punk for an appearance in front of his hometown crowd.

Here is a look at what WWE advertised before the show:

Let's take a look at what happened on Friday's SmackDown.

CM Punk makes his highly-anticipated SmackDown return in front of a vivacious Chicago crowd:

After a recap video showing footage from Clash at the Castle, CM Punk made his way out to a huge pop from the Chicago crowd. He spent a few minutes shaking hands and running around the ring before speaking.

He said he was happy to get some revenge on Drew McIntyre after months of trash-talk from the Scottish Warrior. Eventually, Paul Heyman arrived and Punk looked shocked.

They embraced in the middle of the ring as Heyman looked taken aback. He said he was doing Punk a favor by warning him that The Bloodline is going to attack him if he didn't leave.

Solo Sikoa, Tama and Tanga Loa came out and told Punk to show respect to The Bloodline or get taken out. Heyman said if Punk leaves, he wants to go with him. Punk stood his ground until Rhodes showed up with a pair of baseball bats. He issued a challenge to Solo that was accepted.

This was a fantastic segment that somehow lasted 20 minutes without overstaying its welcome. Heyman is on another level with his character work right now, and Punk looks fired up to be back in the mix.

Grade: A

Notable Moments and Observations

The first MITB qualifier of the night featured Belair, Green and Yim fighting for a spot in the Ladder match. The bout started abruptly after we returned from a quick break.

Green was sent out of the ring so Michin and The EST could have an exchange. The bout only went a couple of minutes before another commercial break, so we missed a good chunk of the action.

There were no allies in the ring and nobody at ringside to help anyone cheat, so this was a competitive fight between all three competitors for its entire runtime.

Yim hit Green with a Styles Clash but Belair was there to break up the pin. Green stole the win by throwing Belair out of the ring so she could pin Yim after a KOD. This was a solid match that had a genuinely surprising outcome, which is always good in the predictable world of pro wrestling.

Result: Green defeated Belair and Yim

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

During a backstage segment, we saw McIntyre carrying an unconscious and bloody Punk into the arena. He dumped his body on the stage and took one of Punk's bracelets as a souvenir.

After a break, Hayes and Tonga were already in the ring waiting for Orton to make his entrance for this MITB qualifying match.

Tonga and Melo worked together for a moment but that quickly fell apart when HIM tried to get a quick pin. The Viper ended up suplexing both men onto the announce table after two unsuccessful attempts.

This wasn't quite as energetic as the bout Green won, but they did a good job making it feel competitive with a few near-falls. Owens and Loa fought at ringside and the distraction allowed Hayes to roll up Orton for a surprising victory.

Result: Hayes defeated Orton and Tonga

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

Knight came to the ring and called out Paul, but the United States champion didn't show up. Instead, Santos Escobar arrived to hype their match next week. Knight took him out before Paul attacked him from behind and knocked him out with a big right hand.

During the entrances for the next MITB qualifier, Loa and Tama attacked Owens until Orton came out with a chair to chase them off. KO limped to the ring so he could compete.

Waller sent KO out of the ring and Andrade almost won right away with a running kick. KO seemed to recover a bit as he took control at ringside.

All three men played their roles well and put on a fun performance. KO is always amazing at selling, Andrade is an incredible athlete, and Waller is one of those heels you love to hate.

Waller ended up jumping right into Andrade's finisher to give El Idolo the win.

Result: Andrade defeated Waller and Owens

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

The main event this week was the singles match set up during the opening segment between Rhodes and Sikoa.

Before they came out, Sikoa told Heyman that Roman Reigns was never coming back, which got a very bewildered look from The Wise Man.

The American Nightmare went right at Sikoa and managed to take control as he sent The Street Champ into both sets of steel steps. As expected, Tama and Loa showed up and caused a DQ after a few minutes.

Orton and Owens ran to the ring to help Rhodes. Sikoa laughed in their faces as Jacob Fatu attacked them from behind and took everybody out with superkicks.

Solo watched as the newest member of The Bloodline absolutely destroyed everyone. He took out Rhodes with a splash from the top rope through the announce table.

The match itself was a throwaway, but what followed was a great way to bring Fatu into the fold and immediately establish him as a threat. SmackDown ended with The Bloodline posing as Heyman looked on from outside the ring.

Result: Rhodes won by DQ

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

This week's SmackDown was a strong show both in terms of in-ring action and storyline progression.

All three of the triple threat MITB qualifying matches were a lot of fun and gave us winners that were surprising in the best way. Green, Hayes and Andrade were not the favorites in their respective bouts, but all three were well-received by the live crowd.

The addition of Fatu to The Bloodline has been anticipated for weeks. He had a strong debut and likely caused at least a few unfamiliar fans to look up some of his work in other promotions.

MITB is coming up quickly, so WWE has already set up quite a bit for the show. With a few more episodes of TV between now and the PPV, we should have enough time to make sure each match feels important.

The feud between Punk and McIntyre is already one of the best things going in WWE and this week kicked things into high gear. Punk still isn't back full-time yet, but this was a great way to keep the story going.

Grade: B+