WWE SmackDown live results: United States Championship Invitational finals

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Two LWO members will face off tonight with a United States title shot up for grabs.

Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar will meet in the United States Championship Invitational Finals on tonight's SmackDown from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. The winner becomes the number one contender to United States Champion Austin Theory.

Mysterio earned his way into the finals by defeating LA Knight, Cameron Grimes, and Sheamus in a fatal four-way match on last week's SmackDown, while Escobar beat Grayson Waller, AJ Styles, and Butch on the July 14 edition to land his spot in the finals.

With SummerSlam now eight days away, the build to the pay-per-view will continue tonight. Roman Reigns and Jey Uso are set to appear in advance of their Tribal Combat match at the Saturday, August 5 pay-per-view. Reigns' Undisputed WWE Universal Championship and his title of Tribal Chief will both be on the line at the PPV.

A match between Karl Anderson and Karrion Kross has also been announced for tonight. Our live coverage starts at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

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– Michael Cole welcomed everyone in to the show. Jey Uso was standing in the ring with a microphone. 

The Jey Uso/Roman Reigns segment

Jey said he's in New Orleans and Roman Reigns's music hit. Reigns walked out with Paul Heyman and Solo Sikoa. It was seven minutes between when Roman's music hit and he told the crowd to acknowledge him. Reigns told Jey when the Tribal Chief appears, the Tribal Chief opens the show. Reigns told Jey he made Jey the right hand man. Reigns also took credit for Jey having the Main Event Jey Uso name. Reigns asked Uso if he thought he was the Tribal Chief now. Jey said he never wanted any of that (even though he was wearing a shirt that read "The Real Chief). Jey said all he did was watch Roman's back. Jey said he believed in Roman. Jey said he believed Roman could lead the family, but Roman broke the family and because of that Jey is going to do what he has to do. 

Jey said everything was all Roman's fault. Roman said Jey's jealously was what made everything turn south. Roman called Jey selfish. Roman said Jey doesn't get it and that Jey is going to be all alone. Roman said Jey screwed Jimmy and Solo loves and respects Roman more than he does Jey. Roman said, hypothetically speaking, what if Jey beats Roman. In that case, Jey would take the title, the lei and everything from Roman. At that point, Roman said he would not longer the Tribal Chief. Even so, Roman said he'll always be Roman Reigns. Roman kept saying Jey can't beat him. The two engaged in a stare down while the crowd chanted "Uso." 

Jey said he's the only one who has beaten Roman because he's already pinned him. Jey grabbed the back of Roman's neck and said at SummerSlam, he'll beat Roman again. Jey's music hit and Jey left the ring to end the segment. 

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– Backstage, Jey Uso ran into Grayson Waller, who asked Jey to come on the Grayson Waller Effect. Jey responded in kind my smacking Waller across the face. 

Santos Escobar defeated Rey Mysterio [14:15]

Well, the match was pretty OK for what it was. The two worked hard and Escobar came away looking much more like a contender to beat Theory, if only because Escobar was given the bulk of the offense. At the end of the day, though, it felt like the match was just kind of there and the program between Escobar and Theory has little to no heat. 

Escobar had control early, working Mysterio's leg. Austin Theory was shown in the upper bowl watching the match with popcorn. Escobar turned his attention to Mysterio's arm. Escobar kicked Mysterio's leg and Mysterio slapped the hell out of Escobar. Escobar returned the favor. Mysterio set Escobar up for a 619, but Escobar rolled to the outside. From there, Mysterio hit a Senton onto Escobar before the show went to break. 

When the show returned, Mysterio landed an arm-drag back inside the ring. Mysterio went to the top and landed a Senton. Mysterio went for a cover and got a two count out of it. Escobar responded with a series of leaping elbows before hitting an enzigouri. Escobar hit a leg-drop for a two-count. Mysterio rolled up Escobar for a two-count. Mysterio ran at Escobar, who caught him with a tilt-a-whirl back-breaker. Mysterio was on Escobar's shoulders and the two made their way outside in the same position. Ultimately, Mysterio went for a baseball slide and Escobar moved. Escobar followed that up with a tope suicida as the show went to another commercial break. 

Back from break, a doctor was working on Mysterio. The commentary team sold the idea that Mysterio hit his head on the ground after Escobar hit that suicida. As a result, the referee called the match off, saying Mysterio could no longer compete. Because of that, Escobar was named the winner of the match. 

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– Backstage, Bianca Belair was being interviewed, but she was interrupted by Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville. The two mocked Belair for not being a champion. Green mocked Charlotte. Belair told Green to not be disrespectful. Charlotte showed up and called Green and Deville bullies. From there, Charlotte suggested a match featuring Charlotte/Bianca vs. Green/Deville. 

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– Hit Row was in the ring and almost instantly, LA Knight interrupted them. Knight called Top Dolla Uncle Phil. Knight recalled Dolla saying NOLA is corny. Knight called B-Fab corny. Knight led the crowd in his catchphrase. 

LA Knight defeated Ashante Thee Adonis [1:30]

Pretty basic stuff here. The only disappointment was that I thought we'd get a hint for what Knight might do at SummerSlam, but it was not to be. 

Ashante took control early, but the crowd went nuts for Knight. Dolla landed a cheap shot on Knight. Before long, Knight hit a neck-breaker and a power-slam before playing to the crowd. Knight landed his elbow and Blunt Force Trauma for the win.

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– Jey Uso was backstage and Adam Pearce talked to him. Pearce made a match between Waller and Uso for later. 

– Backstage, the Street Profits were hanging out with Bobby Lashley, who told the Profits they had to lose the sweats. Lashley brought in a new wardrobe for the team to pick from. We went back to the ring, where Charlotte stood. 

Charlotte Flair & Bianca Belair defeated Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville in a non-title match [10:27]

That went about as expected as it could go. They could have figured out a way to turn up the heat a little more on Charlotte and Belair, but it was what it was. I'm not a fan of having the new tag champs take a loss this early in their reign – you're telling me that as long as a couple top-tier stars decide to team up for a night, they can beat the supposed best team in the company on a whim? – but the point here was to further the tension between the two babyfaces in the SummerSlam match. Mission accomplished. 

Belair and Green started the match. Belair worked a side head-lock and then landed a shoulder-block to take Green down. Charlotte got a blind tag, which annoyed Belair. Charlotte slammed Green's head into the mat repeatedly. Belair tagged in and slammed Green, who crawled over to tag Deville … who was then slammed by Belair. Soon thereafter, Belair landed a dropkick on Deville. Deville came back with a boot to the face of Belair and got a two-count out of it. From there, the show went to a commercial break. 

As the show returned, Green and Deville had control. That changed when Belair landed a double suplex on both Green and Deville. Charlotte received the hot tag and came off the top for a double cross-body. Charlotte hit a series of chops on Green. Charlotte landed a fallaway slam on Green, which was followed up with a clothesline and a two-count. Green tagged in Deville, who was rolled up by Charlotte for a two-count. Charlotte hit a fallaway slam on Deville and went for the Figure Eight, but Deville worked out of it. 

Belair tagged herself in and landed a bunch of dropkicks on Deville. Green got in a blind tag and cut Belair off and went for the Un-Pretty-Her, but Charlotte got in the way. Charlotte tagged herself in while Belair was going for the KOD. Charlotte hit a boot to Green's head and pinned Green for the win – only after Charlotte and Belair argued. 

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– The show cut backstage, where Bayley and IYO SKY were talking. Bayley had a message from Shotzi in her backpack and the two were going to leave until Asuka showed up and stopped them. Asuka said she's going to wrestle two of the best ever at SummerSlam in Charlotte and Belair. Asuka mocked SKY for potentially cashing in her MITB briefcase. SKY said she will leave SummerSlam as the WWE women's champ. 

– Adam Pearce was backstage talking on the phone when he was interrupted by LA Knight, who talked about a Battle Royal at SummerSlam. Sheamus cut Knight off and Sheamus was surrounded by the Brutes. Sheamus did the "Banger after banger …" catchphrase. Pearce put Sheamus and Knight in the battle royal and said on next week's SmackDown, Sheamus and Knight will have a one on one match. 

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Karrion Kross defeated Karl Anderson [2:08]

Quick and painless (unless if you're Anderson, perhaps). Kudos to Kross for giving Anderson so much offense for the first 90 seconds of the match until Scarlett interfered. In a lot of ways, it feels like a nothing-happening program, but I'm intrigued to see how they blow it off. A mixed tag feels like it'll be somewhere on the way to it. 

Anderson attacked Kross to start the match. Anderson landed a leaping neck-breaker for a two-count. Scarlett distracted Anderson and Kross took advantage of that by hitting a series of elbows. Kross hit a Saito Suplex. Kross hit his new finisher for the win. 

After the match, Kross choked Anderson out until AJ Styles and Michin ran down for the save. The show went to a back room, where Heyman, Reigns and Sikoa sat as they watched Jey Uso make his entrance. 

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Jey Uso defeated Grayson Waller [11:12]

Boy, the powers that be in WWE sure do love themselves some Grayson Waller. No shade or hate; just an observation. Waller looked good in defeat and this was a convenient way to further the Bloodline saga. Roman standing tall at the end of the show was a nice touch. The actual show-closing match was pretty good, considering how long Waller's been out with an injury. Jey brought the best out of him and Waller responded in kind. In all, it was television main event worthy. 

Waller had control early until Uso fought back with a leaping elbow. Waller regained the edge with a boot to the face, but Uso slammed Waller before landing a kick to Waller's throat. Waller fired up and raked Uso's face. Uso stood up and hit an enzigouri. As Uso was playing to the crowd, Roman Reigns's music hit and Reigns came to ringside flanked by Solo Sikoa and Paul Heyman. Waller took advantage of it with a knee to Uso's head as the show went to its final commercial break. 

The show returned and Waller was working a side head-lock on Uso. Jey fought his way out of it and the two battled on the second rope. Waller dropped Uso with a right hand and followed that up with an elbow for a two-count. Waller went for a kick, but Jey ducked and lifted Waller, but Waller worked out of it and hit a spine-buster. Waller mocked the Rock's People's Elbow and put his own spin on it … but Uso moved and fired up. 

Uso went for a hip attack, but Waller moved. From there, Waller ran into a super-kick from Uso. Jey stared Roman down and landed a spear on Waller. Uso went to the top rope hit an Uso Splash on Waller for the win.

After the match, Sikoa attacked Uso from behind. Sikoa lifted Uso and went for the Spike, but Jey ducked it and hit a super-kick. Roman ran into the ring and Jey landed a spear on Roman. Jey went to the top, but Sikoa pushed Jey off. Sikoa planted Uso and grabbed a hold of Jey. Roman speared Jey. Roman did it again. Roman went to the second rope and posed to end the show.