WWE SmackDown Live Updates, Results and Highlights From June 19

Rhodes approached Aldis backstage and suggested a triple threat with Gunther and Zayn for Night of Champions. Aldis agreed to book the match.

Cathy Kelley interviewed Charlotte Flair about what is next in her career. The Queen said she wants to win Queen of the Ring and get back to being the world champion.

We returned to see Saints bringing Hayes down into a headlock. He was unable to get the pin, so he stomped on Melo angrily.

The former United States champion regained his footing and countered a running bulldog into a nice side suplex. He hit a springboard DDT, but he couldn't get the pin.

Both men had some nice counters during a long sequence, but it ended with Saints hitting a flapjack for a near-fall. The crowd was a little quiet, but they finally started waking up as the match progressed.

Saints almost got the win with a handful of tights and yelled at the ref when Hayes kicked out. They ended up fighting on the top rope, but Ricky was dropped on his face. He tripped Hayes into the exposed turnbuckle, but Melo recovered and hit the First 48.

Saints kicked him into the exposed turnbuckle and was able to capitalize on it to get the win.

WINNER: RICKY SAINTS

A shot at the U.S. title at Night of Champions was on the line when Saints and Melo met for a third time. Each man held a win over the other heading into this.

They immediately got into the action when the bell rang. Melo took control, but he missed his springboard leg drop. Saints tried to hit Old School, but Hayes was ready for it and yanked him off the top rope.

Ricky hit a bulldog and kept holding on so he could beat on Melo some more. He started controlling the pace, but a DDT on the apron put Hayes back in control.

Commercial Break

A shot at the United States Championship was on the line when Saints and Hayes met for a rematch. Before the match, Jey and Je'Von had a run-in backstage that went from friendly to hostile very fast.

We returned to see Priest get the hot tag. He came in and took out Talla on the apron before going after Tama with a flurry of offense.

The Archer of Infamy got a two-count, and then he had to fight off Talla. The momentary distraction allowed Tama to hit a spinning neckbreaker. Both men were down and looking to make a tag, but Talla saw Solo at ringside and got distracted.

Priest tried to go after Talla, but Solo took the hit for him. During the confusion, Truth rolled up Tama to get the pin and retain the titles.

WINNERS: DAMIAN PRIEST AND R-TRUTH

The Tongas walked away from Sikoa after the match, leaving him all alone looking confused. Backstage, Zayn was shown venting to a comatose Johnny Gargano.

Aldis walked up and yelled at him, so Zayn yelled that he was the victim again and never wanted any of this.

We got a video for Blake Monroe before Priest and Talla started for their teams. The powerhouses locked up, and Priest was pushed to the corner. He almost looked surprised, but then he did the crotch chop to mock him.

The Archer of Infamy had the upper hand for a few moments, but one shoulder tackle put him down. The War Raiders were shown watching from backstage with the AAA tag titles.

Tama tagged in, but Damian kept control. He tagged in Truth for a quick double-team. John Cenas best friend hit the Five Knuckle Shuffle, but Talla distracted him before he could hit the AA.

Commercial break

Gunther blamed Aldis for his problems and yelled at him backstage. He demanded another rematch at Night of Champions before storming off.

We then got a shot of Solo Sikoa in his locker room with Jacob Fatu. Sikoa said he has no interest in returning to the Bloodline, but Fatu said he wasn't there for that. He told him to stay out of Jey's match tonight and to make the right choice.

Jacob left when Talla and Tama walked in. They told Sikoa to stay backstage during their title match because his family business is getting in the way.

Back in the arena, Priest and Truth made their entrance for the tag title bout.

Jade Cargill gave an interview backstage with B-Fab and Miching by her side. She talked about being taken out of the Queen of the Ring tournament and what is next for her.

She issued a challenge to Tiffany Stratton to defend her U.S. title at Night of Champions.

Rhodes, Gunther and Aldis were all arguing backstage, but Cody got sick of it and went back to the ring. He grabbed a mic and said the match should be restarted.

Zayn disagreed, so Gunther beat him up and then went back to the ring. Aldis agreed to begin the match again, so it got started with a new ref when they got back to the ring.

Gunther almost immediately had the champion locked in a sleeper hold. Cody tried to escape, but The Ring General had him right back in it.

Zayn ran to the ring and nailed Gunther with a Helluva Kick to cause a disqualification. He knocked out the referee and yelled at Gunther. Cody grabbed him from behind, so Zayn hit him with the WWE title before seeing who it was.

WINNER: NO CONTEST

So even though the match was restarted, we still didn't get a definitive ending.

Nick Aldis came out and was yelling at Zayn. Gunther followed them to the back to complain as the show cut to a break.

Gunther started working on the leg to wear Rhodes down. He even used a Figure Four, which is a move Cody has used many times in the past.

Gunther ended up in a short argument with Zayn and Rhodes was almost able to roll him up for the pin, but he kicked out and nailed him with a big kick. He got in Sami's face again and told him to do his job.

Rhodes hit his finisher, but Gunther got his foot under the rope, so Zayn stopped counting. Cody looked shocked and started arguing with him, which allowed Gunther to recover.

Zayn ended up shoving Rhodes right into a sleeper hold. He looked like he regretted it. When Cody got to the ropes, Gunther pulled him off physically, which caused him and Gunther to get into another argument.

Sami slapped him across the face, so Gunther hit him with a powerbomb. Rhodes got back up and kept fighting. He hit a Cody Cutter from the top rope, followed by the Cross Rhodes, but there was no ref to make the count.

A new official ran to the ring, but the challenger kicked out at two. Gunther hit a huge dropkick followed by a powerbomb, but when the ref was counting the pin, Zayn yanked him out of the ring.

He yelled at Gunther for powerbombing him, and then, when Rhodes had him down, he made a fast count to help Rhodes retain the title.

WINNER: CODY RHODES

When The Ring General got the ring, he shook Zayn's hand, and while it looked like a hesitant handshake, it was still an interesting little detail to throw into the match. The American Nightmare got his usual pop when he showed up.

Zayn shared an awkward look with Rhodes when he took the title to hold above his head. He called for the bell and things got underway. They locked up and Gunther backed the champion to the corner.

The challenger leveled the champ with a chop to the chest that put him on his back. Rhodes tried to fight back, but Gunther was firmly in control for a couple of minutes.

Cody got the upper hand for a moment, but when Zayn backed him away from the corner, Gunther took the chance to hit a boot to the face.

The Austrian star slowed the pace down a bit and began taking Rhodes apart, but a Cody Cutter out of nowhere helped him regain his footing.

Zayn made his entrance wearing the ref shirt and giving as many high-fives as possible. This is the happiest he has looked in months. It looks like WWE is kicking off the show with what many thought would be the main event.

SmackDown opened with shots of various Superstars walking around backstage, as is usually the case these days. Zayn looked excited backstage as he prepared to officiate the WWE title bout.

Wade Barrett and Joe Tessitore welcomed us to the show and threw to a video recapping the feud between Rhodes and Gunther.