WWE's LA Knight Gets United States Title Challenger After Andrade vs Carmelo SmackDown Finale

WWE's Andrade wins series with Carmelo Hayes, will challenge LA Knight for United States Title on SmackDown

By Matthew Aguilar

The series between Carmelo Hayes and Andrade has just about stolen the show on multiple episodes of WWE SmackDown, and after four matches the two Superstars were tied at 2 a piece. Last week both stars mixed it up a bit with LA Knight, leading to a final battle tonight that would not just decide the winner of the series but also Knight's opponent for the United States Championship. The match was as thrilling as fans hoped for, with both superstars countering each other's best moves thanks to the back to back nature of their battles in the ring. It was ultimately Andrade who would walk away with the big win, and he was soon confronted by LA Knight, who revealed the match for the United States Championship was official.

Know Each Other Too Well

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(Photo: WWE)

Hayes connected with a nasty chop and then threw Andrade to the outside, but Andrade knocked Hayes to the floor after throwing him into the barricade. Andrade stomped on Hayes and then got up on top of the barricade and, though Hayes met him there and a Spanish fly sent both careening to the floor. It took a while for Hayes to get to his feet but he bounced back and went for a cover, though Andrade kicked out before 2.

Hayes locked up the arm and shoulder of Andrade and then brought his knee down as he hit Andrade with elbow strikes. Andrade returned fire with strikes to the head and chops to the chest, but missed Hayes with an elbow strike and hit the turnbuckle instead. Hayes went for a cover but Andrade kicked out quickly, causing Hayes to lock in a submission on the arm and shoulder in the center of the ring.

Andrade fought his way out and stunned Hayes, but then the two superstars collided and fell to the mat. They collided again and fell to the mat. Hayes hit the First 48 but got clocked with a spinning back elbow. Andrade went for the cover but Hayes managed to kick out in time. Andrade went up top but ended up eating double knees, and Hayes got Andrade down for a cover but he kicked out.

A Thrilling Finale

Hayes went up top and tried to hit Nothing but Net but missed and hit the Destroyer, knocking both men to the mat. Andrade hit the double knees in the corner and went for the cover, but Hayes grabbed the bottom rope before the 3 count. Hayes started punching Andrade in the back of the head and Andrade went up top once again. He hit the split leg moonsault but Hayes dodged it and hit a kick to the side of his head. Hayes went up top but was caught and pushed back to the mat. Hayes hit another kick but got knocked out right after, and that was enough for the win. Andrade wins the match and the series at 3 – 2.

That's when LA Knight came out and addressed the crowd. He congratulated Andrade and also noted that he just won the sweepstakes to get his butt handed to him, and Nick Aldis has made the match official. Andrade will challenge LA Knight for the United States Championship on next week's SmackDown.

What did you think of the series between Carmelo and Andrade, and who will walk away United States Champion next week? You can talk all things wrestling with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb!

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