LA Knight Ruins Zack Ryder’s WWE Return Party with Statement-Making Win on SmackDown

The long-awaited WWE return of Zack Ryder came at the expense of him losing to LA Knight in The Last Time is Now tournament on SmackDown.

LA Knight Ruins Zack Ryder’s WWE Return Party with Statement-Making Win on SmackDown

LA Knight beat Zack Ryder on SmackDown [via- WWE]

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The Last Time is Now tournament to determine John Cena‘s final WWE opponent rolled through this week’s SmackDown. First, LA Knight was awaiting his mystery opponent, with the fans anticipating an actual surprise. They weren’t disappointed. In fact, the 9,000-strong house in Albany popped big for the arrival of The Woo Woo Woo Kid—Zack Ryder.

It was Ryder’s first WWE main roster appearance since 2020. Even though he offered valiant resistance to a seasoned vet like Knight, the latter was able to power out of his opponent’s finishing maneuver, the Rough Rider.

The former Intercontinental Champion tried putting away LA Knight from an airborne maneuver off the middle rope, but ‘The Megastar’ countered and turned it into a powerbomb. The erstwhile Eli Drake then hit Ryder with the Blunt Force Trauma to get the win.

With that victory, the Maryland native not only ruined the Long Island Loudmouth’s WWE return in over 5 years but also made it to the next round of the Last Time is Now tournament. In another round one clash of the said tourney, Jey Uso ousted The Miz and may very well end up facing Knight in the next stage of the tournament.

WWE has yet to update the brackets, so it’s not certain whether Knight and Uso will lock horns against each other or not. Nonetheless, it was a big win for ‘The Megastar’. He’s now in the final 8 competitors’ list and one step closer to unlocking the honor of wrestling John Cena on December 13 at Saturday Night’s Main Event.

While the fans would definitely rally behind the 43-year-old going down to the wire and eventually coming out with flying colors, WWE has reportedly earmarked Gunther as Cena’s last opponent. ‘The Ring General’ will take on NXT’s Je’Von Evans this week on Raw in Madison Square Garden in a first-round matchup.

LA Knight faces WarGames snub from WWE after Jimmy Uso’s inclusion on SmackDown

LA Knight was supposed to be included in this year’s WarGames lineup of the babyfaces as they go up against The Vision. However, after what transpired on this week’s SmackDown, ‘The Defiant One’ is unlikely to make the cut.

In a backstage segment, Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes were interrupted by Jimmy Uso, who revealed that he spoke to CM Punk over the phone and they could count him in for the WarGames match at Survivor Series.

LA Knight
LA Knight (via- WWE)

With one more spot remaining, it’s almost a certainty that it’s going to be Roman Reigns. And who knows if ‘The OTC’ will show up to work as early as this week’s Raw in MSG? That would eliminate any possibility of LA Knight’s inclusion. It would be counted as a glaring snub, as he was one of the faces who kept going after The Vision when the faction was being led by Seth Rollins.

However, for some reason, he’s not in the mix when it’s time for going all out against Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, their newfound ally Logan Paul, and Drew McIntyre, who joined Paul Heyman‘s disciples during the closing moments of SmackDown last night.

The Vision now has four formidable forces ready to duke it out with the team of Punk, Rhodes, The Usos, and, supposedly, Reigns as well. But who will be the fifth man for Heyman and company? It’s apparently going to be Brock Lesnar. This could come to life on the upcoming edition of Raw from the Mecca of Professional Wrestling.

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