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WWE SmackDown Results (6/19/26): Cody Rhodes Defends Against Gunther Twice & More

Tonight's episode of WWE SmackDown saw Cody Rhodes defend the WWE Championship against Gunther with Sami Zayn as the special guest referee.
Matt Black|
Cody Rhodes
Cody Rhodes | WWE

This evening's episode of WWE SmackDown took place at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

Last week's episode saw Charlotte Flair and Jey Uso advance to the semi-finals of the Queen and King of the Ring Tournament. Gunther also named Sami Zayn the special guest referee for his WWE Championship rematch against Cody Rhodes.

You can check out the quick match results for this evening's episode of SmackDown by scrolling to the bottom of the article.

WWE SmackDown results:

This week's episode of WWE SmackDown kicked off with Cody Rhodes defending the WWE Championship against Gunther with Sami Zayn as the special guest referee. Gunther spent most of the match arguing with Zayn, which led to him powerbombing him.

Zayn would eliminate the second referee that came out to finish the match so he could screw Gunther with a fast count to let Rhodes retain the title.

Backstage, Nick Aldis, Cody Rhodes, Gunther, and Sami Zayn are all arguing about how the match finished. Rhodes would return to the ring and demand they restart the match. Gunther and Rhodes have a second match, but it doesn't last long as Zayn hits the ring and attacks Gunther, leading to a DQ finish.

After the match, Zayn "accidentally" hits Rhodes with the WWE Championship. It's certainly up for debate whether that shot was intentional or not. The crowd really let Zayn have it after ruining two back-to-back title matches.

A lot of backstage shenanigans on Friday nights

Cathy Kelley is backstage with Jade Cargill, B-Fab, and Michin. Cargill takes credit for putting Rhea Ripley on the shelf and challenges Tiffany Stratton for the Women's United States Championship later this month at Night of Champions.

Elsewhere backstage, Gunther screamed at Nick Aldis, blaming him for not being the WWE Champion right now. Gunther demanded another shot at Cody Rhodes at Night of Champions later this month and told Aldis to get it done.

In the MFTs locker room, Jacob Fatu confronted Solo Sikoa again and told him he's there to make sure no one interferes in Jey Uso's match tonight. Fatu told Sikoa he's running out of time to make the right choice. Tama Tonga and Talla Tonga don't like what they hear and tell Sikoa to stay in the back while they win the titles from R-Truth and Damian Priest.

We get yet another Blake Monroe vignette, this time she's targeting former Women's United States Champion, Giulia.

Perhaps Solo Sikoa should have stayed in the back after all...

Back in the ring, the MFTs challenged R-Truth and Damian Priest for the WWE Tag Team Titles. Tama and Talla had things well in hand when Solo Sikoa came ringside and tried to help. This blew up in the MFT's face and led to Priest and Truth retaining the titles when Truth rolled up Tama for the win.

After the match, Solo Sikoa tried to apologize but Tama Tonga and Talla Tonga walked out on him.

We get our weekly Sami Zayn venting session to a planked-out Johnny Gargano. Nick Aldis interrupted, and the two of them argued. Zayn declared he's the reason Cody Rhodes is still WWE Champion, but he didn't ask for any of this, and now he's not going away.

Backstage, Jey Uso runs into Je'Von Evans, and the two men had words before their King of the Ring semi-finals match later in the show.

We have a new number one contender for Trick Williams' Title

Back in the ring, Ricky Saints defeated Carmelo Hayes in an excellent matchup to earn a shot at WWE United States Champion Trick Williams. Saints utilized an exposed turnbuckle to pick up the victory.

Backstage, Cody Rhodes asked Nick Aldis for a triple threat with Gunther and Sami Zayn to settle things at Night of Champions. Aldis said he'll get the match made.

Cathy Kelley speaks with Charlotte Flair, who hyped up her Queen of the Ring match with Liv Morgan later on in the show.

Recaps of Danhausen appearing on Stephen A Smith's show are shown as the hype behind the New York Knicks uncursing continues.

Woo woo woo... You know it?

Back in Danhausen's laboratory, he continued his experiments on The Miz and Kit Wilson after electrocuting them over the last couple of weeks. Los Garza comes in angry about Danhausen not cursing the Knicks before game five, but Matt Cardona saves him.

Danhausen once again calls him Zack Ryder. Cardona touches The Miz and slightly gets electrocuted, which made him say "Woo woo woo! You know it!" Danhausen predicted this would happen earlier this week.

R-Truth speaks with Finn Balor in the locker room and makes a bunch of references to The Judgment Day and the nWo. Damian Priest interrupts and once again makes it a point to let everyone know there is hardly anyone in WWE that this guy trusts.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Jey Uso defeated Je'Von Evans to advance to the finals of the King of the Ring. Uso will face Oba Femi for the crown later this month at Night of Champions. After the match, Uso showed respect to Evans and raised his hand.

Solo Sikoa threatens Jacob Fatu and Roman Reigns

Solo Sikoa confronted Jacob Fatu after the match backstage. Sikoa said that if Roman Reigns continues to mess with his family, he's going to come to Raw and mess with his.

Tiffany Stratton is backstage with Cathy Kelley. Stratton accepts Jade Cargill's challenge at Night of Champions. Chelsea Green interrupted, and Stratton reminded her of everything she's done to her over the past year and doesn't understand why she's trying to be nice to her now. Stratton said she can do this on her own and left Green to ponder her thoughts.

A video package for Brie Bella and Paige airs, putting over their upcoming title match against Bayley and Lyra Valkyria on Raw this Monday night.

Fatal Influence are in the locker room and they once again call out Paige and Brie Bella. This feud is clearly far from over.

Is Sami Zayn the next to reenter the Bloodline vortex?

Backstage, Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes speak and go back and forth about a potential match for the WWE Championship.

When Rhodes walked away, Sami Zayn showed up, and he admitted to Jey that he's not doing great, but he believes Jey is going to win the King of the Ring and go on to SummerSlam to face the WWE Champion, but it won't be Rhodes; it's gonna be him. Uso said he'll do what he has to do when that time comes. Zayn tells Jey to say hello to the family for him.

Before Charlotte Flair could make her way to the ring for the main event, she was confronted by Jade Cargill, B-Fab, and Michin, who attacked her and injured her knee.

Despite being begged by Nick Aldis not to go out and compete tonight, Flair insisted on doing the match anyway, which ultimately led to her downfall as Liv Morgan defeated Flair in the main event of the evening to advance to the finals of the Queen of the Ring Tournament.

Liv Morgan celebrated her victory as WWE SmackDown went off the air.

WWE SmackDown quick results:

  • Cody Rhodes defeated Gunther to retain the WWE Championship
  • Damian Priest and R-Truth defeated Tama Tonga and Talla Tonga of the MFTs to retain the WWE Tag Team Titles
  • Ricky Saints defeated Carmelo Hayes to become the number one contender for Trick Williams' United States Championship
  • Jey Uso defeated Je'Von Evans to advance to the King of the Ring Finals
  • Liv Morgan defeated Charlotte Flair to advance to the Queen of the Ring Finals
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Published
Matt Black
MATT BLACK

Matt Black got involved in the wrestling media industry over two decades ago, covering WWE video games released by Acclaim, THQ, and 2K. He has been covering professional wrestling for multiple digital outlets since 2019. He is the former Senior Editor of WrestleZone and has extensive knowledge of the entire wrestling industry. In his spare time, Matt enjoys cheering for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Los Angeles Lakers. He's also a diehard comic book movie fan and doesn't pick sides when it comes to the endless debates of Marvel versus DC.

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