Show Recap —
Aiden English defeated Tye Dillinger (pre-show match)
English got the pinfall win at 9:40 with a modified full nelson slam. A perfectly fine opener. English got a chance to sing for the crowd uninterrupted before the match.
This was Dillinger’s 7th televised match on the main roster (6th singles match) since being called up, 4th against Aiden English. (First win for English.) Their last match together was on the Backlash kick-off show.
Tom Phillips said they expect a capacity crowd here in Philly.
Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods (w/Big E) defeated The Usos to become WWE Tag Team Champions
New Day wore American flag themed gear. JBL said the Usos were expecting Big E to be in the match, but New Day tried a different unit to catch them off guard.
New Day are the new champs.
Kingston tried his trust fall dive to both Usos outside the ring, but they caught him and killed him with a double powerbomb. Woods was actually the legal man and they caught him with an assisted Samoan drop with a nearfall. Wood tried a springboard elbow on the wrong Uso and was caught in mid-air with a superkick from Jimmy Uso for another nearfall.
Jimmy had Woods in a single leg crab forever but Woods got a rope break. Kingston made a tag (he was laid out the entire time previously) and hit a double footstomp for a nearfall. Jimmy caught him with a superkick and Jey hit a splash off the top for another close nearfall. “This is awesome” chants.
Kingston avoided another splash and tagged in Woods. Kingston hit a Trouble in Paradise and Woods hit a springboard elbow drop for the win. Big pop for the finish. Real good match that went 13:46.
AJ Styles was shown warming up backstage.
Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Baron Corbin via DQ
Nakamura did his full entrance and received a huge reaction.
Corbin was trash talking at the start of the match, but Nakamura just rolled his eyes and chuckled. Corbin got the heat pretty early on. Nakamura caught him in an armbar but Corbin slipped out and hit a big boot. Corbin followed by driving Nakamura into the barricade a couple of times. Crowd chanted “Corbin sucks” and he responded, “I’m doing pretty good, dummies!”
Nakamura fought out of a second bearhug and connected with kicks, dropkick and two running knee strikes for a two count. Corbin came back with a big clothesline that turned Nakamura inside out for a two count. Nakamura followed with knee strikes but Corbin reversed a Kinshasa into a Deep Six for a nearfall.
Nakamura hit a backcracker and two more leg strikes. He set up for Kinshasa but Corbin wasn’t budging. Nakamura went after him but Corbin gave him a low-blow in front of the referee for a DQ at 12:27. Afterwards, Corbin attacked Nakamura with the briefcase and hit End of Days.
Five-Way Elimination Match: Natalya defeated Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Tamina and Lana to become number one contender
Naomi is on commentary. Tamina and Lana came out separately. Phillips said this was Natalya’s 38th PPV match, putting her one behind Trish Stratus for most all-time among women wrestlers. (I checked quickly and that may not be accurate, but I could be wrong.)
Lynch eliminated Tamina first with the Disarmer, about 8 minutes into the match.
Lynch eliminated Lana about 25 seconds later with a Disarmer.
Natalya eliminated Lynch seconds later with a rollup.
Natalya won the match, last eliminating Charlotte. Natalya got her knees up on a moonsault attempt, the drove the back of Charlotte’s head into the bottom turnbuckle. This was enough to get the pinfall. Naomi offered a handshake after the match, but Natalya left.
The match was good when Natalya, Charlotte and Lynch were in there. Tamina and Lana are unspeakably bad, especially together. The crowd was displeased with the result.
Kevin Owens defeated AJ Styles to become U.S. Champion
Near the end of the match, Owens dropped Styles shoulder-first onto the ring apron and worked his shoulder over from there. Styles couldn’t get Owens up for the Styles Clash as a result, then Owens tossed him into the referee. After a back-and-forth exchange, Styles applied the Calf Crusher, but Owens countered into a crossface.
Styles countered into a crossface of his own as the referee recovered. Owens rolled Styles into a cover (with the crossface still applied) and the referee counted three. It appeared Styles’ shoulder might have been up but the referee didn’t see it and they never showed a replay. Pretty good match but another weak finish. Also, earlier in the match, Owens took control after driving Styles groin-first into the ringpost, which was somehow not a DQ even though we saw a low-blow led to a DQ earlier.
I watched the finish again. Styles’ shoulder was up before the referee was about to count, but he lowered his shoulder against the mat and they were down for the three count. If the story is that Styles’ shoulders were down, then he basically lost clean.
Backstage, the Singh brothers let Jinder Mahal know they can’t be at ringside for his match tonight. Mahal said he would win anyway.
Flag Match: John Cena defeated Rusev
Byron Saxton said Cena’s career could be lost if he loses this match.
To win the match, you have to grab your flag, carry it down the aisle and place it on the pedestal (positioned by the stage).
Cena won at 21:03.
Rusev got his flag first, just under 9 minutes into the match (part of the crowd reacted like that was the finish), but Cena caught him with a dropkick and AA. Cena also applied an STF and Rusev tapped, but there was no crowd reaction since it didn’t matter.
Cena got the American flag, then Rusev caught him with a superkick. Rusev grabbed his flag and began walking but Cena cut him off with a shoulder tackle off the apron. Cena grabbed his flag and began walking, but Rusev attacked him from behind. Rusev is bleeding from the shoulder after going into the steel steps earlier. He used the steps to knock down Cena.
They fought on the stage and Rusev hit a fallaway slam. Rusev setup two tables next to the America pedestal. They fought for another 5 hours until Rusev applied an Accolade. Cena fought out of another Accolade, put Rusev on his shoulders and gave him an AA through the tables off the pedestal. Cena put his flag in the stand for the win. Cena saluted the flag.
The Fashion X Files
The Ascension showed up and claimed responsibility for destroying their stuff. Breeze thought this was a bit of a letdown. Fandango figured out that it couldn’t have been the Ascension because they weren’t at the show last week. He was also angry they would pretend to have done something so horrible to his horse. He shoved it in their faces and they freaked out and left. The lights went out and Breezango were laid out. There was a flashlight positioned perfectly on their bodies, which allowed us to see Fandango’s body get dragged out. The crowd laughed.
Sami Zayn defeated Mike Kanellis (w/Maria Kanellis)
Mike Kanellis’ tights are now white and pink. A distraction from Maria allowed Mike to gain control. Zayn came back with a flip dive followed by a crossbody for two. Zayn hit a nice tornado DDT, but before he could hit an Exploder, Maria jumped in the ring to block it. The ref kicked her out of the ring instead of disqualifying them. Zayn hit the Exploder anyway and a Helluva kick for the win at 7:17.
Talking Smack will be hosted tonight by Renee Young and Jerry Lawler. The guests will be Natalya, Kevin Owens and the winner of the Punjabi Prison match.
Punjabi Prison match: Jinder Mahal defeated Randy Orton to retain the WWE Championship
Mahal came out first. As they referenced earlier, the Singh brothers are not with him.
Crowd chanted “Trust the process,” “Delete,” and “CM Punk” through the early portion of the match. Orton and Mahal tried and failed to get through one of the four doors on the first three attempts. Orton nailed an RKO with the fourth door open, but the Singh brothers popped out from under the ring and pulled Mahal out of the door, trapping Orton inside the ring.
Mahal began climbing the outer structure as Orton climbed out of the inner one. Orton managed to step from the inner to outer structure, placing him right next to Mahal. Orton knocked him down, but before he could climb out, the Singh brothers pulled him down.
Orton suplexed the Singh brothers, then Mahal attacked Orton with a Kendo stick. Orton fought back and attacked with a Kendo stick. Orton began climbing, but Samir Singh actually slipped through the cage and climbed up from the outside to block him. Orton punched Samir off the cage and he crashed through the announce table, which was nuts.
Orton, who is bleeding from the back and arm, gave Mahal a draping DDT. He then hit Sunil and Mahal with chair shots. Orton began climbing and fended off Sunil one more time.
Mahal’s music suddenly started and Great Khali marched out (wearing his gear). Khali climbed up a few steps and grabbed Orton by the throat. Orton passed out as Mahal climbed over and out. Mahal retains the WWE title at 27:38.
Mahal and Khali hugged and posed. Mahal let him hold up the title, too.
The main show went just about 3 hours and 10 minutes.
