LA Knight vs. Finn Balor
We see the first-ever Firefly Fun House in the latest tribute video for Bray Wyatt. We shoot live backstage and see LA Knight walking the hall ways as he prepares to head to the ring for the main event against Finn Balor.
As he does, we head to a commercial break. When we return, we see footage of LA Knight interfering in Miz’s match with Akira Tozawa on Raw. We then see TMZ Sports’ interview with The Miz where he vows Knight won’t make it to WrestleMania if he keeps disrespecting him.
Back live, the radio screeches and the theme for LA Knight hits. The entire crowd erupts and stands on their feet as “The Mega Star” makes his way out and settles into the squared circle for our main event of the evening.
Knight gets on the mic and says he’ll get to The Miz in a second, but from what he can tell, tonight is about Bray Wyatt. He brings up the fans showing the “Fireflies” at the start of the show. He talks about great foes being great helpers. He says he and Bray Wyatt went through hell and through that, what Wyatt was really doing was getting him ready for anything.
He says he was doing good keeping it together until he saw photos of him and his family and that got to him. He says everyone can feel the spirit of Bray Wyatt in this building. The fans chant “Thank you Bray!” Knight says it as well.
From there, he switches gears and says, “Let me talk to ya!” He then brings up Miz’s interview with TMZ Sports. He says if he’s a fad, he’s okay with that, because Miz never was — no one ever cared about him. He says when he had a stunt double, he played second fiddle to him. Even when he was champion, he was a background story to the real main event of The Rock and John Cena.
LA Knight finishes by saying a wise man once told him, “The next time you see me … run!” On that note, we shift gears and see Bray’s Extreme Return as another tribute clip before heading into another commercial break.
When we return from the break, Michael Cole, Kevin Patrick and Corey Graves confirm John Cena and Jimmy Uso’s return for next week’s SmackDown, as well as Rey Mysterio & Santos Escobar vs. Grayson Waller & Austin Theory. They also announce LA Knight vs. The Miz for WWE Payback 2023.
In the arena, Finn Balor’s theme hits and he makes his way out for tonight’s main event. The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. We see Knight jump into the early offensive lead. He takes Balor out to the floor and repeatedly bounces his head off the commentary desk.
The action resumes in the ring where Knight heads to the top, but Balor sweeps his legs out from under him and he crashes and burns — bad. On that note, we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break as the action continues.
When we return from the break, we see Balor working over Knight, who he eventually hits with his trademark Sling Blade spot. Knight fights back and starts going at Balor again, but this doesn’t last long, as Balor sweeps him down and stomps on his chest. He hits a running drop kick into the corner.
Balor heads to the top-rope looking for his Coup de Grace, but Knight moves just in time. Knight fires up on offense after hitting Balor with a big power slam and playing to the crowd. Seconds later, Knight finishes off Balor for what the commentators call the biggest win of his career.
Winner: LA Knight
