Santos Escobar battled Butch in the semifinals of the SmackDown World Cup tournament tonight on the blue brand.
Butch had the match in control as Legado Del Fantasma and The Brawling Brutes were ringside. The camera cut backstage on the jumbotron to reveal that The Usos were brawling with Kevin Owens and Drew McIntyre.
Butch told Sheamus and Ridge to go help out backstage. As the referee was distracted, Cruz Del Toro booted Butch in the face and Santos capitalized with the Phantom Driver for the pinfall victory.
Ricochet earned a spot in the finals tonight by defeating Braun Strowman in the semifinals. Intercontinental Champion Gunther and Imperium distracted Strowman and Ricochet capitalized with a roll-up to advance in the tournament. Imperium attacked Strowman after the match but Ricochet made the save.
Santos will go on to battle Ricochet in the finals of the SmackDown World Cup next week. The winner of the World Cup will earn a shot at Gunther’s Intercontinental Championship.
Santos Escobar was interviewed by Cathy Kelley in a WWE Digitial Exclusive following this week’s episode of SmackDown. Escobar said that he had a game plan for Ricochet and vowed to win the tournament next week. The Legado Del Fantasma leader added that he will go on to win the Intercontinental Championship as well.
“Shinsuke and Butch were no easy task and rest assured, my family [Legado Del Fantasma] will always be with me. So as for Ricochet, there is a universal truth. What goes up must come down. The game plan is easy, win the World Cup and become the new Intercontinental Champion,” Escobar said.
