WWE SmackDown Notes: Austin Theory Defeats LA Knight in #1 Contender Match for US Title

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show in Toronto, Ontario, Canada featured Austin Theory defeating LA Knight to become the new #1 contender for the United States Championship.

This match was setup following the show opening Waller Effect segment involving Grayson Waller, Rey Mysterio, Santos Escobar, Theory, and Knight. After some back-and-forth banter between Waller and Escobar & Mysterio, Theory interrupted and demanded WWE official Adam Pearce to give him a title shot to get back his United States title. Pearce came out and berated Theory but was interrupted by Knight who also berated Theory and challenged him to a #1 Contender’s match to see who gets to officially challenge Mysterio next for his United States title. This match was quickly made official by Pearce who agreed to Knight’s request.

“I went through 24 other men at #SummerSlam and it ain’t gonna be a problem to go through YOU!” 🔥

YEAH! It’s @_Theory1 vs. @RealLAKnight RIGHT NOW! Winner gets a shot at the #USTitle! 🇺🇸#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/g3ZhGWbeVf

— WWE (@WWE) August 19, 2023

Prior to the start of the match, The Miz made a surprise appearance following through with his threat from this past Monday’s RAW show that he would be at SmackDown to pay Knight a visit after their interaction last week.

The finish to this match involved Theory attempting an A-Town Down only for Knight to escape and hit a body slam in return. Knight then attempted a YEAHple’s Elbow to Theory only to be interrupted by The Miz who got on the apron. Theory then attempted to attack Knight from behind only for Knight to foil the attempt and hit Theory with a DDT to lay him out. Knight then got out of the ring and chased Miz around until both guys got back into the ring and Knight eventually clotheslined Miz over the ropes after botching the attempt the first time. This led to Theory rolling up Knight for the pinfall victory to earn a future title shot at Mysterio’s United States title.

The Miz just cost @RealLAKnight an #USTitle opportunity!

@mikethemiz #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/50PH6ypezR

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) August 19, 2023