WWE presented a special episode of SmackDown on Friday night with the Tribute to the Troops theme from Providence, RIat the Amica Mutual Pavilion.
The show
WWE brought in big names for the show, including promo segments featuring CM Punk and Cody Rhodes.
Matches on tap for the episode included Bobby Lashley vs. Karrion Kross and Dragon Lee vs. Santos Escobar in United States Championship number one contender’s tournament first-round matches, Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka, and the main event of Randy Orton & LA Knight vs. Jimmy Uso & Solo Sikoa. Unfortunately, Flair was injured in her match.
The stat
The WWE Stats Twitter account pointed out that heading into the show, Jimmy Uso was just 1 of six stars who competed in three or more Tribute to the Troops matches and won all of them. He had the chance to join Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns with a 4-0 record on SmackDown, but that winning streak ended in defeat.
In 2023, The Usos and Rey Mysterio beat The Shield. The following year, The Usos went over Stardust and Goldust before they teamed with Dean Ambrose, Kane, Reigns, The Dudley Boyz, and Ryback to beat League of Nations and the Wyatt Family in a sixteen-man tag team match in 2015. The 2017 show saw The Usos team with The New Day to beat Rusev Day, Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin.
Jimmy Uso is one of only 6 Superstars who has competed in 3+ Tribute to the Troops matches in his @WWE career, and won all of them. If he wins tonight, he'd be 4-0 at the annual event.
(@WWERomanReigns is currently already 4-0 in Tribute to the Troops matches.) #SmackDown https://t.co/tCy3kKH2Vg
— Wrestling Stats & Info (@WWEStats) December 8, 2023
