LA Knight will defend his United States Championship against Carmelo HayesandAndrade at Crown Jewel after his plan to defend against neither backfired on "WWE SmackDown." Knight was serving as the special guest referee in "Game 7" between Hayes and Andrade the winner getting a shot at the US title when he threw the match out, delivered BFTs to both competitors and declaring that neither of them deserves to face him. Unfortunately for "The Megastar," a follow-up segment saw "SmackDown" General Manager Nick Aldis reprimand the champion, saying that since he wanted to be the center of attention, he will defend his title against both challengers at the upcoming PLE.
Prior to the no-contest finish, the bout between Hayes and Andrade started quickly, but Knight would continue to get involved as the momentum looked to pick up. Andrade connected with a flush Spanish Fly and a meteora to score a near-fall, being sent into Knight by Hayes as he kicked out, and thus making the referee unavailable to count a roll-up on Andrade. That prompted Hayes to get in Knight's face, turning his attention to Andrade for an attempted superkick, only to hit Knight with it by mistake. Hayes went for a pin as the match continued, but Knight pulled him out of the ring and slammed him into the announcer's table, following up BFTs on both competitors and ringing the bell himself.
