After making a surprising return to NXT after then-North American Champion Carmelo Hayes took down his expected opponent, Wes Lee, on the Anniversary Edition of NXT 2.0, Solo Sikoa entered the ring with one thing on his mind: adding a bit more gold to The Bloodline's table. Though the match was not without its intrigue, as Hayes is a very good in-ring performer, but in the end, the finesse game of the final holder of the NXT Cruiserweight Championship simply couldn't overcome Sioka's generationally-tuned power game.

Consistently weathering the best Hayes had to offer at every turn, Sikoa took a page from his cousin's book, hit a Rock Bottom, and then climbed to the top rope to hit his own finisher, Flying Solo.

As the show went off the air, Wade Barrett and Vic Joseph openly opined whether or not this meant Sikoa would take the belt to SmackDown, but the fans at home didn't have to wait long to find out, as Sikoa would appear on the very next episode of SmackDown alongside his fellow members of The Bloodline – plus Sami Zayn –  and the NXT Champion opted to take his belt for a spin with a solo match versus another former developmental star, Madcap Moss.

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Solo Sikoa with a text bubble reading "I had to lose a brother to gain an MFT" next to Tama Tonga and Paul Heyman with the SmackDown logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Solo Sikoa with a text bubble reading "By orders of the Tribal Chief" with Tama Tonga on his left and Paul Heyman on his right with the SmackDown logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Roman Reigns with a text bubble reading “By order of the Tribal Chief” next to 2024 Jey Uso in his wresting gear with the RAW logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

The results? Well, those are rather obvious, right? Of course Sikoa succeeded over the former sidekick of Happy Corbin; that isn't the interesting part of their interaction. No, the interesting part of the ordeal was that, for the first time in WWE history, the North American Championship was defended on SmackDown and will presumably be for the foreseeable future. That is pretty cool, WWE fans.