WWE SmackDown Results, Winners, Live Grades, Highlights and Reaction From August 15

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of WWE SmackDown on August 15.

Here is a look at what WWE advertised for Friday's show:

• Drew McIntyre addresses his attack on Cody Rhodes
• Street Profits vs. DIY
• Alexa Bliss vs. Piper Niven
• Fraxiom vs. Carmelo Hayes and The Miz

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

Welcome to SmackDown, Sami Zayn

After a few shots of the arena and Superstars arriving, we went to the ring for Solo Sikoa and The MFT's entrance. He talked some trash about running the blue brand before Sami Zayn came out to respond.

Once Solo got his friends to leave the ring so Zayn felt comfortable, Zayn thanked him for ruining his chances of challenging for the world title because it has freed him up to focus on other goals, like the United States Championship.

Zayn announced he is officially a SmackDown Superstar now. Sikoa and his crew attacked him and Jimmy Uso when he came out to help. It took Jacob Fatu to even the odds.

The portion of Sikoa's promo before Zayn showed up sounded like it was written by ChatGPT. It was about as generic as you could get. Even his usually funny delivery couldn't make it interesting.

Once Zayn got there, things picked up and they had a good exchange. Sikoa was his usual cocky self, and Zayn was the resilient underdog he has always been.

Nick Aldis came out and booked a six-man tag match for the main event. This was very predictable and there was nothing unique about this segment, but it accomplished what it needed to do.

Grade: C

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Notable Moments and Observations

• Seeing the King of the Hill logo in a WWE ring is hilarious.
• Sikoa is the only man in WWE who cares about the brand split.

Alexa Bliss vs. Piper Niven

<<Photographer>>/WWE via Getty Images

Charlotte Flair accompanied Alexa Bliss to the ring for her match against Piper Nive, who had Alba Fyre and Chelsea Green in her corner.

The size difference between these two immediately came into play. Niven took control with ease and looked like she might go after Alexa's Lilly doll, but Bliss jumped on her with a sleeper hold.

This was a slow and methodical match until Bliss began making a comeback once we returned from a break. We know Niven can work quicker than this, but it never felt like they left second gear.

Flair and Bliss fought off Fyre and Green before Bliss rolled up Niven for the win. Fyre came in and superkicked Alexa as she was celebrating. The Queen tried to help, but the numbers game was too much for her.

If WWE wanted to make Fyre and Niven look like a real threat to the tag titles, Niven would have been booked to win here. Alexa would not have suffered from taking one loss, but Niven would have benefited quite a bit.

Result: Bliss defeated Niven

Grade: C

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Notable Moments and Observations

• Green and Fyre making the announcer salute them was hilarious.
• Lilly got a big pop.
• Flair sold the post-match attack well.

The Miz and Melo vs. Fraxiom

The Miz and Carmelo Hayes reunited backstage last week, and this week they took on Axiom and Nathan Frazer to get back into the tag team division.

The A-Lister insisted on starting for his team against Axiom, but he noticed Joe Gacy standing in the crowd and hesitated. After their initial lockup, Dexter Lumis showed up.

The crowd was chanting for Melo when The Miz tagged him in to avoid having to face the speed of Frazer. The former NXT tag champs were building up a lot of momentum as the show cut to a break.

We returned to see Melo in control, but it didn't last long. The Miz and Frazer both tagged in and the high-flyer started using his incredible speed to dish out some offense.

Melo and The Miz are both good at what they do, but Fraxiom has been one of the most reliable acts since arriving on the main roster. Every single match they are in ends up being one of the best things we see all week.

Melo had the match won, but The A-Lister tagged himself in and hit his finisher to get the win for his team. Hayes looked disappointed but The Miz was elated.

Result: Melo Don't Miz defeated Fraxiom

Grade: B+

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Notable Moments and Observations

• Melo Don't Miz is somehow equally terrible and perfect as a tag team name.
• Wade Barrett trying to imply that The Miz can do lucha stuff as well as Axiom was hilarious. Even he didn't sound convinced by his own words.
• Melo hit Axiom with a nice powerbomb.
• The way The Miz used a jumping DDT to break up a pin was pretty great.

DIY vs. Street Profits

McIntyre came to the ring after the break to talk about why he attacked Cody Rhodes last week. The announcers said they didn't have an update on Rhodes' condition. There wasn't much to this promo and it ended without interruption.

The next match saw Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins take on their recent rivals, Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano. B-Fab and Candice LeRae accompanied their respective teams to the ring.

DIY took control of Ford with some double-team attacks. After a break, the Profits began building up some momentum. Ford was singlehandedly taking on both men while Dawkins recovered from an earlier attack.

LeRae sent B-Fab into the steel steps to create a distraction that allowed DIY to make a comeback. She also hit a hurricanrana on Ford to send him off the apron while the ref was occupied elsewhere.

Despite LeRae's interference, Ford and Dawkins managed to get the win. This was another great match in this feud, and another example of why SmackDown has the best tag team division in WWE.

Result: The Street Profits defeated DIY

Grade: B+

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Notable Moments and Observations

• Kiana James was shown trying to get Tiffany Stratton to hire her and Giulia for backup.
• It's weird how WWE just stopped having B-Fab and Michin work as a tag team.
• Ford makes everything look effortless. He could be elevated to the main event so fast if WWE committed to a push.
• The uppercut Ford used to counter a suicide dive looked awesome.

The MFT vs. Sami Zayn, Jimmy Uso and Jacob Fatu

This week's main event was the six-man tag match that was booked in the opening segment. Before they went to the ring, Fatu made it clear he is only helping out Jimmy and didn't really care about Zayn.

Talla Tonga was the odd man out, so it was Sikoa, Tanga Loa and JC Mateo. Jimmy and JC started the match with a quick exchange that led to Zayn tagging in for a double-team spot. Mateo had no problem picking him up and planting him in the corner so his team could work him over.

Zayn spent a long time in the ring being isolated from his team. Once he finally made the hot tag to The Samoan Werewolf, he went nuts going after everyone on the opposing team.

Sikoa was able to take him down and hit a splash, but it wasn't enough to get the win. Zayn came in and was able to secure the win with an exploder suplex and a Helluva Kick to Sikoa.

Result: Zayn, Fatu and Uso defeated The MFT

Grade: B

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Notable Moments and Observations

• WWE has really dropped the ball with R-Truth. He was such a hot act and now it feels like he is barely any different than he was before. It looks like he and Aleister Black will have a match next week.
• Zayn gave us a new gif of him dancing during his entrance.
• Sikoa's splash looked way more dangerous that when the Usos do it because of his size.

The Final Word

This week’s show had the standard four matches we have gotten used to on SmackDown, but two of them were worth the price of admission.

Melo and The Miz vs. Fraxiom was a fun sprint that showcased the high-flyers well even in a losing effort. Adding The A-Lister and Him to an already stacked tag team division can only help add some variety. 

However, the Profits and DIY may have been a hair better. These two teams have had many encounters over the past year, and they manage to make it fun every single time. 

This felt like the first episode in quite some time that didn’t rely on Cody Rhodes or John Cena, and it may have benefitted from it. Their presence was felt in videos and promos, but it was minimal. 

As a whole, this was a slightly above-average episode of SmackDown, but the two tag matches did most of the heavy lifting. 

Grade: B