Winners And Grades Amid Edge Retirement Rumors

WWE SmackDown featured Edge vs. Sheamus in the 25th anniversary of Edge’s WWE career. Edge’s main event match against Sheamus comes amid rumors that this may be his last match. Edge’s trainer Ron Hutchinson reportedly believes Edge will retire following his match against Sheamus.

Edge himself addressed these rumors:

“Here’s what I can honestly say, and this isn’t the answer that everybody’s going to want: I truly don’t know,” said Edge in an interview with ET Canada (h/t Wrestling Inc).

“I really, really, can — with 100% truth — say I don’t know. That’s strange for me… but I don’t; I really don’t. I’ve put some thought into it, but not a lot. This is the last match on my current contract. So… I don’t know; I honestly don’t know. I probably won’t know until I get to the locker room that night and decompress, let all the anxiety and tension that I never used to have before I performed, I have now.”

Last week’s broadcast of WWE SmackDown garnered 2.097 million viewers.

WWE SmackDown Results | August 18, 2023

• Austin Theory def. LA Knight
• Bianca Belair and Charlotte Flair def. Damage CTRL
• The Street Profits def. The O.C.
• Edge def. Sheamus | Edge’s 25th Anniversary

WWE SmackDown Ratings

• August 11, 2023 | 2.097 million
• August 4, 2023 | 2.248 million
• July 28, 2023 | 2.323 million
• July 21, 2023 | 1.23 million (FS1)
• July 14, 2023 | 2.309 million

• WWE SmackDown Venue: Scotiabank Arena (Toronto, ON)
• WWE SmackDown Tickets Distributed: 14,374
• Available Tickets: 54

WWE SmackDown Winners and Grades

The Grayson Waller Effect

Grayson Waller wasted no time stirring the pot by asking why there wasn’t any tension between Santos Escobar and Rey Mysterio. This bodes well for Santos Escobar remaining a babyface, and hopefully he does because turning him heel would be a mistake.

Austin Theory crashed this party, then LA Knight appeared and challenged Theory to a match to be No. 1 Contender for the United States Championship.

SmackDown Opening Segment Grade: B+

Santos Escobar Def. LA Knight

LA Knight received one of his biggest reactions yet from the Toronto crowd, and that’s a high bar.

Given LA Knight is in the middle of a feud with The Miz, and Miz appeared on commentary for this match, there’s no way LA Knight was going to win this match and challenge Rey Mysterio for the U.S. Title.

The Miz was great on commentary as a jealous heel. Miz and Cole went back and forth in ways that made you forget how tight they were when Miz was WWE Champion.

Cole asked Miz if he was jealous that it’s LA Knight’s time and not the Miz’s time. To be fair, it hasn’t been the Miz’s time since 2011.

Ahead of a week where AEW is talking up All In as the biggest pro wrestling show of all time, WWE mentioned WrestleMania’s 91,000 tickets sold almost as much as they did Edge’s retirement.

LA Knight vs. Austin Theory Grade: B

Bianca Belair and Charlotte Flair Def. Damage CTRL

There was a montage of WWE top stars and legend wishing Edge a happy 25th anniversary. WWE then aired a mini-documentary on Edge’s career.

Michael Cole continued to push the narrative that Bayley was jealous of Iyo Sky’s success.

Toronto tried to do the “hey Bayley” chant, but it was nothing compared to the United Kingdom.

There was a moment where Iyo took too long to knock Bianca off the apron while Flair dramatically went for a tag. It go to the point where Charlotte—who was bleeding from the nose—had to look back to see what took Iyo so long.

Both teams worked great together, and this was easily the best women’s tag team match of the year, though it’s a low bar.

Flair and Belair vs. Damage CTRL Grade: A-

The Street Profits Def. The O.C.

Despite turning heel, with new gear, the Street Profits did their babyface entrance with the same music, red cups and all.

Backstage, Damage CTRL attacked Bianca Belair and pillmanized her injured leg, and WWE just cut back to Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford—Belair’s husband—who just had to go about their business like nothing happened.

Michael Cole made this heel turn official by talking about the Street Profit’s “aggressive” attitude.

The Street Profit’s new finisher is a modified 3D, but Dawkins does a Low Down on the landing.

Street Profits vs. The O.C. Grade: B-

Edge Def. Sheamus

The entrances started at 6:30 PST, so Edge’s anniversary match was going to get a lot of time.

Edge’s wife Beth Phoenix and their kids were seated in the front row. Phoenix received several reaction shots. To open the show, Grayson Waller even called her a hot mom.

Edge was showered in “you still got it” chants, which wrestlers hate.

The final five minutes of this match were great, with both Edge and Sheamus kicking out of each others’ finishers. Edge won with a second spear and celebrated as SmackDown went off the air.

Edge vs. Sheamus Grade: B+