Friday’s episode of SmackDown featured two major matches to determine the next challengers for both the WWE Tag Team Championships and the Women’s Tag Team Championships.

In the women’s division, a confrontation between several teams quickly escalated into an official number one contender’s match. Giulia and Kiana James, along with Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair, confronted the newly crowned champions known as The Irresistible Forces, Nia Jax and Lash Legend. With tensions rising, SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis stepped in and immediately made a match between the two teams to determine the next challengers.

Bliss and Flair ultimately secured the victory after Flair delivered Natural Selection to Giulia, allowing the duo to pick up the decisive win. The result positions Bliss and Flair as the next team in line to challenge Jax and Legend for the titles.

The Irresistible Forces captured the Women’s Tag Team Championships just one week earlier on SmackDown, defeating the team of Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY to win the gold together for the first time. After their victory, the new champions celebrated backstage and revealed they planned to hold another celebration during this week’s broadcast.

On the men’s side, a chaotic Tag Team Turmoil match determined the next challengers for the WWE Tag Team Championships. The Motor City Machine Guns were the first team eliminated after falling to Fraxiom. Fraxiom’s momentum did not last long, as they were quickly taken out by Los Garza.

Next to enter were The Wyatt Sicks, but the match took a surprising turn when Tama Tonga interfered. The distraction allowed Berto to roll up Dexter Lumis for the elimination, sending Los Garza forward in the match.

The final entrants were Damian Priest and R Truth, who capitalized on the situation and defeated Los Garza to win the Tag Team Turmoil bout. With the victory, Priest and Truth have officially earned a future opportunity to challenge the reigning champions, the MFTs.