Submitted by reader David Anderson from Youngstown, OH
– Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day defeated Enzo Amore & Big Cass, Sheamus & Cesaro, and Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson in a fatal four-way tag match to retain their titles.
Kofi Kingston sat the match out. Xavier Woods pinned Anderson. Solid opener.
– Neville defeated Jinder Mahal with a 450 splash.
Mahal wouldn’t leave after the match and said it was a fluke. He called out anyone for another match. Big Show came out to a great pop. He took some selfies with fans, got in the ring, and chokeslammed Mahal.
– Rusev and Lana cut a promo in the back.
– Golden Truth & Sin Cara defeated The Shining Stars & Curtis Axel
R-Truth pinned one of the Shining Stars.
– Seth Rollins defeated Rusev w/ Lana
Lana came out first. She called Youngstown a small, pathetic village. She got good heat. A Falcon Arrow appeared to get the win for Rollins, but Lana distracted the ref. She got kicked out for grabbing the ref’s shirt, then Rollins hit the Pedigree soon after for the victory. Fun match.
– Raw Women’s Champion Sasha Banks, Bayley & Alicia Fox defeated Charlotte Flair, Dana Brooke & Nia Jax
Emma started as the special guest referee for the match. The heels worked on Bayley for a long time before the hot tag to Banks. Emma missed a pin from Banks because she was looking at her nails. She got pushed by Banks and left. A new ref came out and Charlotte tapped to the Banks Statement.
– Braun Strowman defeated Sami Zayn
Strowman won with a running powerslam. Zayn got a few moves in.
– United States Champion Roman Reigns defeated WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens to retain the US title.
Owens said that Stephanie McMahon made this only for the US title. He said he would win and rename it the Canadian title. Reigns cut off his promo. There was a four-minute headlock early. Reigns won with a spear. Pretty short and disappointing match. Reigns’ big moves got some good pops.
Submitted by reader Jamie Adams from Peterborough, ON
– American Alpha defeated Breezango when Gable pinned Fandango.
– Luke Harper defeated Mojo Rawley
– SmackDown Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss defeated Nikki Bella, Natalya, and Carmella in a fatal four-way match to retain her title when she pinned Carmella.
– Apollo Crews defeated Intercontinental Champion The Miz w/ Maryse in a non-title match.
Crews pinned Miz in a very good, long match
– Rhyno & Heath Slater defeated The Ascension and The Vaudevillains in a tag team triple threat match when Rhyno pinned Aiden English.
– Baron Corbin defeated Kalisto
– Dean Ambrose defeated Bray Wyatt in a Peterborough street fight.
A kendo stick, a chair, and tables were used. Harper ran in to help Wyatt, which brought out James Ellsworth to even things up.
A.J. Styles suffered what WWE officials called a minor ankle injury last night in his TLC main event with Dean Ambrose in Dallas, TX.
Styles did get medical attention in the ring after the show was over. He was also being attended to after the match.
Styles retained his WWE title over Ambrose due to interference from James Ellsworth, which was to set up a Styles vs. Ellsworth title match on tomorrow night’s SmackDown tapings in Houston. Ellsworth’s interference was framed as a strategic decision because he thinks he has Styles’ number after getting three fluke wins over him.
It is not clear at this point how Styles’ injury will play into the match, or if he will be able to wrestle, or be limited in the match since it would likely have been more of an angle than a serious main event style match, or his status as far as house shows since he’s the key star of the brand right now.
Tonight, SmackDown presents WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX.
The pay-per-view will be headlined by a TLC match for the WWE World Championship with AJ Styles defending his title against Dean Ambrose. This could be the blow off match for a feud that started back in the summer.
Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss will face off once again for the Women’s Championship, this time in a tables match. This could be Bliss’ final chance at the title after already losing to Lynch in Glasgow.
Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton have a chance at the Tag Team Championship as they take on Heath Slater & Rhyno. The Miz will defend his Intercontinental title against Dolph Ziggler for the final time — this time in a ladder match. Finally, Nikki Bella takes on Carmella in a no DQ match, and Baron Corbin faces Kalisto in a chairs match.
***
10-man tag match: Apollo Crews, American Alpha & The Hype Bros defeated Curt Hawkins, The Ascension & The Vaudevillains
This is the pre-show match. Mauro Ranallo, JBL and David Otunga are on commentary. Tom Phillips is backstage, for now.
The first few minutes was a showcase for the good guys until they did a comedy spot where each guy took turns tossing one of their opponents out of the ring. The heels worked over Chad Gable after a network commercial break until Jason Jordan made a hot tag and ran wild. He hit an Olympic Slam, leading to a Kurt Angle reference by Ranallo. The faces all hit moves to clear the ring allowing American Alpha to pick up the win with Grand Amplitude on Simon Gotch. Match was about 12 minutes.
Renee Young plugged John Cena as an upcoming host of SNL and called it a huge career milestone.
Time for the main show. Tom Phillips has joined commentary.
WWE Tag Team Championships: Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton (w/Luke Harper) defeated Heath Slater & Rhyno
Big cheers and “Randy” chants for the Wyatt Family. Rhyno started the match and Ranallo mentioned this was the first time this team has started that way. Slater tagged in and the Wyatts quickly took control. After Rhyno made the hot tag, Orton saved Bray from a shoulder tackle, and Harper saved Orton from a Gore. Bray distracted Rhyno with the crab walk and Orton suddenly hit an RKO for the win. Wyatt Family are the new tag champs. Big crowd pop. Match was only about 6 minutes. (Edit: Should mention that Orton and Wyatt let Harper hold the belts after the match, and they all seem to be on the same page.)
Backstage, Dean Ambrose told Dasha Fuentes that James Ellsworth is resting at home keeping his chin up. Or maybe his spirits. Ambrose would like to say it’s an honour getting into the ring with AJ Styles, but Styles likes to take the easy way out, and there’s nothing easy about getting hit with a ladder or crashing through a table. Ambrose likes the violent nature of TLC, and like a good friend of his once said, tonight will be hard times.
Elsewhere, AJ Styles told Renee Young he knows exactly what to expect tonight. He admitted Ambrose can be hard to keep down, but Ambrose will stay down long enough to watch Styles pull down his WWE Championship. (Both guys received mixed reactions from the crowd.)
No DQ Match: Nikki Bella defeated Carmella
Nikki won in 7-8 minutes with the Rack Attack 2.0. Not much of a match but they had good crowd heat. Nikki used a disaster kick off the barricade and sprayed a fire extinguisher at Carmella leading up to the Rack Attack.
Afterwards, Carmella informed Nikki that she wasn’t the one who attacked her at Survivor Series, but rather, it was Nikki’s friend from Total Divas, Natalya. The commentators didn’t believe it. JBL figured it was someone from Raw.
Funny enough, this was followed by a commercial featuring Natalya helping a fan pick out an engagement ring for his ladyfriend.
Backstage, Fuentes asked Daniel Bryan about the upcoming IC title match, and said Bryan must want Miz to lose. Bryan said that was true, and the crowd laughed. Bryan said it’s simply because Ziggler is a better representative of the championship. Miz interrupted. He wished it was Bryan in the ring tonight instead so he could push Bryan off the ladder. He told Bryan to enjoy the match.
Intercontinental Title Ladder Match: The Miz (w/Maryse) defeated Dolph Ziggler
Maryse remained at ringside but never got involved. Otunga repeated his line about Miz having the same athletic ability as Justin Bieber. There were dueling chants of “Let’s Go Ziggler” and “Let’s go Miz.”
Miz placed a ladder on Ziggler in the corner and did the Bryan running dropkicks, but Ziggler tossed the ladder at him. Miz smashed Ziggler’s knee into the ladder a few times, then wrapped his leg around the ladder and applied the Figure Four. Ziggler actually tapped but of course it doesn’t matter.
Ziggler fought back and tried a superkick, but his leg gave out and Miz hit a skull crushing finale into the ladder. Miz went up the ladder to grab the title, but Ziggler pulled the ladder out and Miz was left hanging. Ziggler then smashed the ladder into Miz, who fell down awkwardly on his leg.
A one-legged Ziggler tried hopping up the ladder, but Miz caught him and hit a slingshot powerbomb onto a ladder (which was placed between the ropes in the corner of the ring). They set up two ladders side-by-side and each guy climbed up. Ziggler headbutted Miz off the ladder and seemingly had the match won, but Miz jumped up and ran back up the ladder to kick Ziggler twice in the nuts. Ziggler collapsed and Miz grabbed the belt. Miz retains. Nothing spectacular, but a perfectly fine match that went about 24 minutes.
Immediately afterwards, Miz dedicated his victory to Daniel Bryan and wanted to give Ziggler a participation award. He called Ziggler and everyone in Texas a loser. “I win.”
Chairs Match: Baron Corbin defeated Kalisto
Corbin won in 12-13 minutes. Kalisto wears short trunks now instead of tights. Corbin had been wearing a t-shirt to wrestle the last few weeks, but not tonight. Corbin set up a bunch of chairs in the ring, which led to Kalisto hitting a seated senton on Corbin onto the chairs. Kalisto tried a dive to the outside, but Corbin countered into a Deep Six. Kalisto came back by hitting a hurricanrana off the barricade and a running dropkick into the barricade. Kalisto tried a move off the top, but Corbin smoked him with a chair and hit End of Days on a pile of chairs for the win. Corbin yelled at the announcers afterwards.
Backstage, Fuentes asked Natalya about Carmella’s accusation. Natalya wished Becky Lynch luck on her match tonight, calling her a great representative of the division. She blew off Carmella’s accusation and called her a liar.
Phillips quickly plugged Roadblock (a Raw show) and then plugged the Royal Rumble.
Bliss won the title in a 15 minute match. The crowd liked Lynch, but it wasn’t much of a match thanks to the table gimmick. They fought on the apron, when Bliss slipped out and powerbombed Lynch through a table on the outside. Fuentes tried to interview Lynch afterwards, but Lynch told her she didn’t appreciate having a microphone shoved in her face right now. She didn’t blame the interviewer, she was upset at herself.
WWE Championship TLC Match: AJ Styles defeated Dean Ambrose
Both guys got strong mixed reactions, but Styles comes off like a superstar. There was a point during the match where Styles worked over Ambrose and an “A.J.” chant broke out.
AJ Styles retained in about 31 minutes with help from James Ellsworth.
Among the highlights were Ambrose suplexing Styles on top a bunch of chairs, where Styles took a crazy flip bump, and Ambrose putting a ladder on top of the announce table to hit a diving elbow on Styles through another announce table.
Before any of that happened, a hole ripped in Styles’ tights in an unfortunate area. Ambrose went up the ladder but Styles nailed him with a Phenomenal forearm. They fought back and forth until Ambrose used an airplane spin to splat Styles into the ladder.
With Ambrose outside the ring, Styles followed by somehow hitting a moonsault reverse DDT to off the apron. Styles placed Ambrose on a table outside the ring and proceeded to hit a crazy springboard 450 splash through the table.
Styles began climbing the ladder, when zombie James Ellsworth (wearing a neckbrace) began walking to the ring. Styles immediately attacked him and set up for Styles Clash off the steel steps, but Ambrose intercepted and hit Styles with Dirty Deeds on the steps.
Ambrose had the match won. He knocked Styles off the ladder and had his hand on the belt, when Ellsworth suddenly pushed the ladder and Ambrose crashed through two tables on the outside. Styles slowly climbed the ladder and grabbed the belt for the win. Great match.
The last SmackDown PPV of the year takes place this evening, live at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX.
The theme of the show is Tables, Ladders and Chairs, so we will see all of those represented in four different matches. Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss will square off in a tables match for the SmackDown Women’s title. Dolph Ziggler and the Miz will battle it out in a ladder match for the Intercontinental title. Baron Corbin and Kalisto will face off in a chairs match, and in the main event all three weapons will be in use as AJ Styles defends the WWE World title against Dean Ambrose in a TLC match.
Unfortunately, those who were hoping that the beloved stairs match would return are in for deep disappointment as it’s not here.
We round off the card with another stipulation match, as well as a title match as Nikki Bella battles Carmella in a no DQ match and Heath Slater and Rhyno defend the SmackDown Tag Team titles against Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton.
Current tallies:
Kyle S. Johnson: (Columnist) (70 points)
Steve Khan: (WWE SmackDown Live recapper) (67 points)
Bryan Rose: (New Japan/205 Live reporter) (67 points)
James Cox: (WWE Main Event recapper & WWE DVD reviewer) (62 points)
Jeremy Peeples: (Lucha Underground recapper) (48 points)
Brian Hoops: (Daily Pro Wrestling History) (48 points)
PeachMachine: (University of Phoenix Online Mascot) (17 points)
JJ Williams: (NXT reporter) (6 points)
Chairs Match: Kalisto vs. Baron Corbin
Bryan Rose: I am very excited for the CHAIRS match. Corbin wins because he is tall.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Brian Hoops: Baron Corbin is a future title contender, Kalisto is not
Winner: Baron Corbin
James Cox: After all they’ve done, there’s no way it’s not Corbin here.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Steve Khan: They will probably need a new contender for Miz’s IC title, and Kalisto could be that guy. But I just don’t see him winning here after already making Corbin look like a punk, whether or not they still have big plans for Corbin.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Paul Fontaine: I’ve proven to be pretty terrible at predictions this year but I can say with absolute certainty that Corbin is winning here.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Kyle S. Johnson: Baron Corbin is big. Kalisto does lucha things. This is WWE. Big wins.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Ryan Frederick: I don’t see how they don’t put over Corbin unless they’ve given up on him.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Jeremy Peeples: Corbin is big and tall — so he’s winning this one.
Winner: Baron Corbin
No Disqualification Match: Carmella vs. Nikki Bella
Bryan Rose: Tough, but I guess Nikki wins to avenge John Cena or something.
Winner: Nikki Bella
Brian Hoops: No DQ is Nikki’s specialty match.
Winner: Nikki
James Cox: Strange storyline that needs telling properly. Nikki shouldn’t be losing, regardless.
Winner: Nikki Bella
Steve Khan: It’s hard to care about this at all, but it’s even harder knowing Carmella isn’t the one who attacked Nikki. Nikki could win to keep her strong, or whoever did attack her could get involved here and help Carmella win. However, Carmella has beaten Nikki so often already, I’ll go with Nikki and hopefully that’s the end of this.
Winner: Nikki Bella
Paul Fontaine: This match could be ugly. That’s the portion of the prediction that I’m confident in. As for the winner….well, I think it’s Nikki’s turn to get her win back.
Winner: Nikki Bella
Kyle S. Johnson: Nikki wins here to blow off this feud and perhaps gets beaten down post-match by Natalya to set up the next one.
Winner: Nikki Bella
Ryan Frederick: This one has been done to death and hopefully this is the end. Nikki should be the winner since she’s moving on to something else, but I wouldn’t be surprised at an interference ending with Carmella winning. I’ll flip the coin on this.
Winner: Nikki Bella
Jeremy Peeples: With it being a no DQ match, I can see Carmella getting a heel win here — but I don’t see Nikki losing the blow off match.
Winner: Nikki Bella
Ladder Match for the Intercontinental title: The Miz (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler
Bryan Rose: This feud has gone on for so long I kind of don’t care, even though this will probably be a great match. Miz has become a really solid worker in this role and Dolph will take a bunch of crazy bumps. Too soon to do another title change (at least, in my opinion) so I feel Miz takes this one.
Winner: The Miz
Brian Hoops: Could be one of the better matches of the night.
Winner: Miz retains in a great match.
James Cox: The Miz retains. He’s been excellent in 2016.
Winner: The Miz
Steve Khan: Miz is on a nice run and Ziggler is a total nothing. The only thing going against Miz is there aren’t a lot of babyface contenders, but that doesn’t mean he should lose.
Winner: The Miz
Paul Fontaine: Miz is consistently one of the favorite things for me on SmackDown. I think that whatever’s going to be happening for him leading into Mania probably gets set up here.
Winner: The Miz
Kyle S. Johnson: This should be a fun little car crash. Miz has been on a tremendous roll this year, and it only makes sense to have him continue to push on into 2017 with a win over the nearly-lifeless Ziggler.
Winner: The Miz
Ryan Frederick: Miz has been one of the best guys in the company this year and I enjoy him. I don’t see how you switch the title again so soon, or even at all, at least with Ziggler. I think this will be a great match.
Winner: The Miz
Jeremy Peeples: Miz has been a shining star for everything SD-related for months now and he should retain here. Poor Dolph has been killed by stop and start pushes, and another nothing IC title win wouldn’t help him — so Miz should win this.
Winner: The Miz
SmackDown Tag Team Championship: Heath Slater & Rhyno (c) vs. Randy Orton & Bray Wyatt
Bryan Rose: Slater and Rhyno’s shelf life felt like it peaked ages ago. Orton and Wyatt win to continue whatever they are building towards.
Winners: Randy Orton & Bray Wyatt
Brian Hoops: Orton and Wyatt winning the belts would elevate the titles.
Winners: Randy Orton & Bray Wyatt
James Cox: This is a no contest, on paper and in storyline. Quite the interesting tag team champions and I look forward to them.
Winners: Randy Orton & Bray Wyatt
Steve Khan: Wyatt & Orton suddenly have a good thing going and they should win the titles. The tag division needs all the help it can get, and Wyatt & Orton being on top allows the potential for other new teams to get involved. Also, losing the titles doesn’t have to spell the end for Slater & Rhyno, who the crowd seem to like.
Winners: Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton
Paul Fontaine: I’m going against the grain here and predicting the champs retain. Either dissension within the Wyatts (although I think it’s a little too soon for that) or someone interferes, setting up a program for them.
Winners: Heath Slater & Rhyno
Kyle S. Johnson: What makes sense here is having Bray and Randy win the titles, allowing Randy to further sow seeds of dissension between Wyatt and Harper. This would lead to an eventual split, Randy would then turn on Bray having accomplished his goal of isolating Wyatt, and we would get the blow off match between the two at WrestleMania since neither seem to have any larger long-term plans.
Given that it is WWE, I would not at all be surprised if they hot-shotted the rest of the program into one show and just had Randy turn on Bray at TLC, but it would make so much more sense for these two to carry the belts for the while and drop them onto American Alpha at a later point that I’ll presume that this is what happens.
Winners: Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton
Ryan Frederick: I’ve enjoyed Heath Slater and Rhyno as champs, but I see that reign ending here. Orton and Wyatt winning is a set up, but a necessary set up to further the story where Randy eventually turns on Bray. Winning the belts here advances that.
Winners: Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton
Jeremy Peeples: It’s amazing to think of how little they’ve done with Rhyno and Heath over the past month — so they just feel like guys with belts as opposed to the champions. Randy and Bray made for fairly dreadful opponents, but are outstanding allies and a tag title run should freshen them up.
Winners: Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton
Tables Match for the SmackDown Women’s title: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Alexa Bliss
Bryan Rose: I say Bliss wins this, but in such a manner that the win is cheap and they go for the rubber match where Lynch quickly regains the title.
Winner: Alexa Bliss
Brian Hoops: Bliss is not ready to hold the title.
Winner: Becky Lynch
James Cox: I don’t know whether the title will change hands but I think this feud will continue. These two are good together.
Winner: Alexa Bliss
Steve Khan: I wouldn’t say this has gotten old yet, but it will if it doesn’t end soon. Lynch should win and she likely will after going through a table already on SmackDown. Bliss is a good performer, but she’s not ready yet to be champion (not that it matters).
Winner: Becky Lynch
Paul Fontaine: Bliss is the best woman on the SmackDown roster, in my opinion. Logic would state that if Nikki is winning over Carmella that the heel win here. But this is WWE. I think Bliss wins but does not win the title. I’m calling the shot early and saying Bliss wins the title at the Rumble.
Winner: Alexa Bliss
Kyle S. Johnson: This is still Becky’s division, and it should remain her title. Given WWE logic, it’s entirely possible that she’ll segue into a feud with Carmella despite her likely losing to Nikki Bella on this same show.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Ryan Frederick: Alexa isn’t ready to hold the title just yet. She should win a program over either Naomi or Nikki next to springboard back into winning the title. She’ll eventually get it, but I like the shine they’re giving to Becky. Not sure where Becky goes from here, but she should retain.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Jeremy Peeples: Becky and Alexa have shined when given the chance on SmackDown, and Becky is a solid champion. Alexa could win this, but she got the better of Becky on the go-home show, so Becky should retain.
Winner: Becky Lynch
TLC Match for the WWE World title: AJ Styles (c) vs. Dean Ambrose
Bryan Rose: I don’t see Ambrose regaining the title. Styles is the best choice for champion right now, and this should be a really good bout if given time. I think as long as it doesn’t have a really weak finish this could be the match of the show.
Winner: AJ Styles
Brian Hoops: Should be an outstanding match, never get tired of seeing Styles beat Ambrose.
Winner: AJ Styles
James Cox: AJ Styles is the best thing on and about the main roster. Should be a very good match.
Winner: AJ Styles
Steve Khan: I’m a big Ambrose fan, but it’s probably unanimous that Styles should and will win. Either guy could face Undertaker (or Cena) next, assuming that’s the direction, but having Ambrose as champion for a month accomplishes nothing. Styles is the man right now and should win.
Winner: AJ Styles
Paul Fontaine: This is the last PPV that AJ is going to hold his title through as I’ve been convinced since he won it that he’d hold it until the Rumble, where Cena would beat him for it. I expect this to be the best match on the show but it should be a decisive win for AJ. James Ellsworth could cost Ambrose the match if they’re going for a screwjob.
Winner: AJ Styles
Kyle S. Johnson: AJ Styles will close out 2016 as the WWE Champion. Had you told me this one year ago, I wouldn’t have believed you. Somehow, the best wrestler on the planet continues to defy and exceed expectations.
Winner: AJ Styles
Ryan Frederick: AJ Styles is the best wrestler in the world, and he should be rewarded with holding onto that title for longer. He’s the most complete performer on the roster and I think this will be a hell of a match. As much as I like Ambrose, he shouldn’t be beating Styles for the title, unless there is a double turn involved. I really don’t hope they involve James Ellsworth in the finish, even though he is super over.
Winner: AJ Styles
Jeremy Peeples: AJ feels like “the man” on SD, while Dean’s stock has dropped quite a bit. AJ should win this and send Dean maybe into the IC title picture for a bit. AJ vs. Cena is a good plan for the future and to get there, Dean needs to lose this one.
– Dolph Ziggler defeated Intercontinental Champion The Miz w/ Maryse in a non-title match
Ziggler was pretty over with the crowd and Miz might have gotten the loudest boos all night. It started off as a title match but Miz declared his contract stated he didn’t have to defend it within 24 hours of a pay-per-view.
The match ended with Maryse getting ejected, Miz arguing with the ref, and then turning around into a superkick. Ziggler took multiple photos at ringside after the match and went around the floor.
– The Hype Bros, Jack Swagger & Apollo Crews defeated The Vaudevillains & The Ascension
Crews got a small reaction, as did the Hype Bros, but Swagger got a big pop from the crowd and came to ringside in an Oklahoma Sooners sweatshirt. The Vaudevillains got a lot of boos but the crowd was indifferent to The Ascension.
It was a pretty standard match and Swagger made one of the Ascension tap out to the ankle lock.
– Baron Corbin defeated Kalisto
Corbin got a mixed reaction and Kalisto was pretty over with crowd. They went back and forth a bit but Corbin hit the End of Days fairly quickly for the win. Curt Hawkins came to the ring after and announced a match against Kalisto while he was still selling on the mat.
– Kalisto defeated Curt Hawkins
Hawkins got in a little offense but Kalisto countered into a Salida del Sol for the win in under three minutes.
– American Alpha & Kane defeated Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton & Luke Harper
Everyone was really over in this match. Randy Orton got a lot of cheers and fans frequently chanted for the RKO whenever he was in the ring. At one point while Luke Harper had tossed Chad Gable to the floor, Bray Wyatt stole his headband and was wearing it for the rest of the match.
Orton teased the RKO early but tagged in Luke Harper. Most of the match seemed to be built around building to Kane, there were multiple chants of “We want Kane” and the match ended with him getting in briefly and hitting a chokeslam on Harper for the pin. Orton started entering the ring during the count but just watched the pin happen instead of breaking it up.
– SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defeated Alexa Bliss, Nikki Bella, Carmella, and Natalya in a fatal five-way match to retain her title
Bella came out first and got the biggest response of any of them, with Lynch the second most over. The match was mostly trading two people in the ring with the other three selling on the outside until someone ran in to break a pin or submission.
Everyone mostly got their signature moves in, and it ended when Bliss tapped out to the Dis-arm-her. Bella interacted with the fans at ringside after the match and Lynch cut a brief promo saying she would “T-L-C Alexa this Sunday.”
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions Heath Slater & Rhyno defeated Breezango to retain their titles
Fun match with a lot of comedy spots. The crowd mostly chanted for Rhyno, but he was able to get them to cheer for Slater when he was on the apron. It ended with a Gore to Fandango.
– WWE World Champion AJ Styles defeated Dean Ambrose in an Oklahoma street fight to retain his title
Both guys got huge reactions, probably the most divided the crowd was the whole night on who they wanted to win. It was a good match that had some floor brawling, including Ambrose getting dropped on the barricades a few times and Styles getting whipped into the time keepers’ table. Styles got a cut on his elbow from the table spot.
The match ended with Styles grabbing a cup of coffee, throwing it in Ambrose’s face, and then hitting the Phenomenal Forearm. Styles folded up the title after and said he’s decided Ambrose isn’t making it to TLC. He went to hit him with the belt, but Ambrose reversed it into Dirty Deeds and left Styles laid out.
Submitted by reader Conor Tripp from Fayetteville, NC
– Dolph Ziggler defeated Intercontinental Champion The Miz in a non-title match
Miz cut a promo, stating there is a clause in his contract that says he doesn’t have to defend the IC title in dumps like Fayetteville. Shortly after Maryse got ejected, Ziggler hit a superkick to get the win.
– American Alpha, The Hype Bros & Apollo Crews defeated The Vaudevillains, The Ascension & Curt Hawkins after a Grand Amplitude on Konnor.
– Baron Corbin defeated Jack Swagger in a quick match with the End of Days.
Corbin then cut a promo saying he’s capable of beating anyone in the back and asked who wanted some.
– Kalisto defeated Baron Corbin
Kalisto came out and got a quick pinfall off of a roll-up.
– Kane defeated Bray Wyatt w/Luke Harper with the chokeslam.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions Heath Slater & Rhyno defeated Breezango to retain their titles after Rhyno got the pin with a Gore.
– SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defeated Alexa Bliss, Nikki Bella, Carmella, and Natalya in a fatal five-way match to retain her title after submitting Bliss.
– WWE World Champion AJ Styles defeated Dean Ambrose in a street fight to retain his title
Styles got a solid 50/50 reaction, which is kind of surprising for a house show. Ambrose definitely got the biggest pop of the night. Ellsworth was announced as the guest timekeeper.
After a fun match involving kendo sticks and chairs, Styles won following the Phenomenal Forearm. He tried to continue to beat Ambrose with the kendo stick, but Ellsworth made the save with the No Chin Music. Ambrose then hit Dirty Deeds, and they celebrated to send the crowd home happy.
Submitted by reader Darren Sanders from Charleston, SC
– Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day defeated Enzo Amore & Big Cass, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, and Sheamus & Cesaro to retain their titles when Xavier Woods pinned Anderson.
– Sin Cara defeated Curtis Axel
– Sami Zayn defeated Rusev
– Darren Young & The Golden Truth defeated Titus O’Neil & The Shining Stars
– Seth Rollins defeated Chris Jericho with a Pedigree.
– Neville defeated Bo Dallas
– Bayley, Sasha Banks & Alicia Fox defeated Charlotte Flair, Dana Brooke & Nia Jax after Banks pinned Brooke.
– United States Roman Reigns defeated WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens to retain his title
This was billed as title vs title, but Owens hit the ring and announced Stephanie McMahon informed him that only the US title would be on the line. Reigns was very over as the cheers outweighed the boos unlike on TV.
Monday —
Submitted by reader RIley Bryant from Florence, SC
– Dolph Ziggler defeated Intercontinental Champion The Miz in a non-title match
The Miz announced that his lawyer said he doesn’t have to defend the title, so it became just a normal match. Ziggler won with a superkick. That was the biggest pop of the night.
– American Alpha, The Hype Bros & Apollo Crews defeated The Ascension, The Vaudevillains & Curt Hawkins
Just your basic face vs. heel tag match. American Alpha was the most over out of all of them, with a nice hot tag to Jordan.
– Baron Corbin defeated Jack Swagger
Corbin won in a nothing match. He got on the mic and said he wanted to beat someone else up, so he challenged anyone to come out and face him. Kalisto accepted.
– Kalisto defeated Baron Corbin
Kalisto won in about 15 seconds.
– Kane defeated Bray Wyatt
Luke Harper was ringside. Wyatts had a ton of heat. Kane won with a chokeslam to a huge pop.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions Heath Slater & Rhyno defeated Breezango to retain their titles
– SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defeated Nikki Bella, Carmella, Natalya, and Alexa Bliss in a fatal five-way match to retain her title
Lynch got the win by submitting Bliss.
– WWE World Champion AJ Styles defeated Dean Ambrose in a street fight to retain his title
James Ellsworth was the special guest timekeeper. He took a bump on the safety barrier early on and didn’t get back up for the rest of the match. Styles won by throwing a guy’s soda in Ambrose’s face and capitalizing with a Phenomenal Forearm.
Date: November 22, 2016 Location: Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario
The Big Takeaway —
James Ellsworth defeated AJ Styles yet again, this time in a ladder match to earn a SmackDown contract and a future WWE Championship match. Dean Ambrose was repeatedly kicked out of the building by Shane McMahon, but returned one final time to help Ellsworth.
Several matches were made official for TLC. Alexa Bliss will get her Women’s title rematch against Becky Lynch. Dolph Ziggler and The Miz will go at it one final time for the IC Title in a ladder match. Finally, Nikki Bella will get another shot at Carmella in a no disqualification match.
American Alpha appeared to have earned a tag team title shot, but will have one final obstacle–a match against Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton next week.
Show Recap —
The show started with a video package of the men’s Raw vs. SmackDown match at Survivor Series.
Shane McMahon came out and walked very slowly to the ring. He got a big reaction and “You still got it” chants. Shane said he felt like he got into a car accident, but wanted to give Raw some credit, especially Roman Reigns. He was happy SmackDown won of course, and gave props to Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt for getting the win. He mentioned that AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose couldn’t get along, which brought out Ambrose.
Ambrose, who was mostly cheered, said Shane should be happy. It’s a new day, there’s snow on the ground in Ottawa, and SmackDown got the win. Shane brought up Ambrose almost risking everything by reuniting with The Shield and powerbombing Styles through a table. Ambrose blew this off and brought out the team MVP, James Ellsworth. Ellsworth is in a neckbrace and can barely walk.
Ambrose said Shane had a surprise for Ellsworth. Shane wanted to do this in private, but Ambrose went ahead and spoiled it and announced Ellsworth has a SmackDown contract. This got a mild reaction, probably because the crowd thought he was signed already.
Shane then told Ambrose he has the night off. Ambrose was cool with that, and wanted to go for wings or poutine. Shane told Ambrose he didn’t understand–he doesn’t just have the night off, he has to leave the building. (Note: Ambrose just said he wanted to go for food.) Ambrose left and crossed paths with AJ Styles, who came out next.
Styles told Shane that Ambrose deserves to be kicked off SmackDown altogether. He also couldn’t believe Ellsworth got a contract and wanted to make it clear that he didn’t earn it. Styles said he’s the one who earned his contract with years of blood, sweat and tears, “and all that stuff.” Styles challenged him to a ladder match as a warmup for TLC, with Ellsworth’s contract on the line.
Shane told Ellsworth he didn’t have to, but Ellsworth accepted because he’s already beaten Styles twice. Ellsworth said he wanted a future title match if he wins. Shane made it official. (Note: Ellsworth is wearing a neckbrace.) Ambrose suddenly appeared behind Shane and Ellsworth to pat them on the back, which was funny.
Backstage, Miz and Maryse were in the middle of a photoshoot when they were interrupted by Daniel Bryan. Miz wanted to know when his big celebration was and couldn’t wait for Bryan to thank him. Bryan said they humiliated SmackDown by the way they won. Miz mocked Bryan, so Bryan put him in an IC Title match against Kalisto.
After a break, Shane escorted Ambrose from the building. Ambrose was mildly concerned about going outside in Ottawa without his jacket.
Intercontinental Championship: The Miz (w/Maryse) defeated Kalisto
Kalisto hit a suicide dive and they went to commercial a minute into this title match. There was a nice spot where Miz tried a slingshot powerbomb but Kalisto countered into a hurricanrana for a nearfall. Kalisto went to the top, but Baron Corbin ran out to distract him. Kalisto kicked him off the apron, but Miz caught him with a Skull Crushing Finale for the win. Unfortunately, they telegraphed this by cutting away too early.
Corbin nailed Kalisto with End of Days afterwards. Also, as Miz posed with his title on the stage, Dolph Ziggler showed up to superkick him.
Backstage, Bryan told Shane he would go deal with Corbin, but Alexa Bliss interrupted. Bryan said he didn’t have time for this, “but Shane does!” and he left. Becky Lynch jumped in and told Bliss she’d get her rematch at TLC. Natalya joined and accused Lynch of costing them at Survivor Series. Shane said they were all the blame, but maybe they would’ve been better off if Nikki Bella was able to compete. Shane put Natalya in a match with Lynch tonight. Natalya quoted Celine Dion and left. Ambrose showed up with pizza and Shane told him to leave. Lynch said she would take “a pizza (piece of) Nattie’s arm.”
Elsewhere, Bryan confronted Corbin, calling his actions reckless and stupid. Bryan said Corbin didn’t see the bigger picture, but Corbin said he was the bigger picture. Bryan was pissed he cost them the Cruiserweight division and put him a match with a close, personal friend of his–Kane.
Tag Team Turmoil Match #1: The Hype Bros defeated The Ascension
Hype Bros won in 2 minutes with the Hype Ryder.
Tag Team Turmoil Match #2: Breezango defeated The Hype Bros
Breezango won quickly to advance.
Tag Team Turmoil Match #3: American Alpha defeated Breezango
Chad Gable picked up the win quickly with a rollup.
Tag Team Turmoil Match #4: American Alpha defeated The Vaudevillains
Jason Jordan won immediately with a German suplex.
Tag Team Turmoil Match #5: American Alpha defeated The Usos
This was the final match in Tag Team Turmoil and the top of the hour segment. Usos took their time getting to the ring, so the match started during a break. There were dueling chants of “Let’s go Usos” and “Usos suck.” They got the heat on Jordan until he made the hot tag to Gable, who hit a dropkick, belly-to-belly, fists in the corner, and a German suplex for a two count.
The Usos cut him off but Jordan was able to tag in. Jordan and Gable hit an avalanche bulldog but the other Uso broke up the cover. The Usos tried to double team Jordan, but Gable jumped in with a suplex. American Alpha followed with Grand Amplitude for the win. Crowd was bored for most of this but picked up at the end.
American Alpha’s music didn’t play after they won, because the Wyatts appeared on the screen. Bray said the turmoil wasn’t over, because they haven’t defeated all the teams. Bray said they could rest up tonight, but they would be facing him and Orton next week. Orton said they were a family.
Backstage, Bryan (who isn’t allowed to wrestle) asked Ellsworth if he really wanted to do this match tonight. Ellsworth said any man with two feet could climb a ladder and achieve his dream. He left, when Ambrose entered dressed as The Mountie. Bryan was amused, but thought he should leave in case Shane showed up. Shane did show up, and was pissed. He wanted Ambrose to leave, or else. Ambrose asked Shane if he wanted to know why he was dressed as The Mountie. He said it was a funny story, but Shane didn’t care. Ambrose agreed to leave, but not before calling him a hoser. Shane left, and Ambrose told Bryan he had a message for AJ Styles–The Mountie always gets his man. Big pop for that.
Becky Lynch defeated Natalya
Bliss was on commentary. David Otunga questioned Bliss getting another title match. She basically called him an idiot and questioned his Harvard degree. Lynch won in about 9 minutes with the Disarmer. Pretty good match. Bliss attacked Lynch afterwards with a DDT.
The Miz confronted Bryan and wanted Ziggler suspended. Miz correctly predicted that Bryan would give Ziggler a title match instead. Bryan made a ladder match for the title at TLC, and there will be no more rematches regardless of who wins.
Elsewhere, Nikki Bella confronted Carmella, accusing her of taking her out of Survivor Series. Carmella didn’t know what she was talking about. They bickered back and forth, when Nikki informed Carmella they would be having a no disqualification match at TLC. Nikki was terribly unlikable here.
Baron Corbin defeated Kane via DQ
Kalisto attacked Corbin about a minute into the match for a DQ. Kane chokeslammed Corbin afterwards. Kalisto wasn’t satisfied so he grabbed a steel chair, but Corbin suddenly sprung to life and bailed from the ring. Corbin decided to run back in, but Kalisto tossed the chair at him and kicked it in his face. I don’t know if it’ll get him over, but I like that Kalisto is actually fighting back.
Non-Title Ladder Match: James Ellsworth defeated WWE World Champion AJ Styles
This match started much later than your usual SmackDown main event. Styles knocked down Ellsworth and could’ve won easily, but decided to give a beating. He ripped off Ellsworth’s shirt to reveal he was also wearing a back brace of some kind. Styles gave him a backbreaker and kicked him in the back too.
Styles decided to climb the ladder with Ellsworth pinned underneath, but Dean Ambrose ran out wearing an Ottawa Senators jersey, goalie mask and hockey gloves. He attacked Styles and sent him out of the ring, but Ellsworth couldn’t move. Styles then nailed Ambrose with a Phenomenal forearm.
Styles went up the ladder again, but Ellsworth pushed the ladder and Styles took a crazy bump to the outside. Before Ellsworth could start climbing, Styles tried entering the ring, but ate No Chin Music. Styles’ foot got caught in the ropes and Ellsworth managed to climb the ladder and grab the contract for the win. The crowd didn’t seem that into Ellsworth earlier, but they popped pretty big for this. Ellsworth cried as Ambrose held him up in celebration.
– Dolph Ziggler defeated Intercontinental Champion The Miz in a non-title match with a superkick.
Miz went on the mic before the match and said this wouldn’t be a title match because his new contract said he didn’t have to defend the title in crappy cities like Kingston. Maryse got kicked out after attempting to interfere which led to Miz getting distracted and pinned.
– Baron Corbin defeated Kalisto with the End of Days.
Alright match, kids were really into Kalisto.
– SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defeated Alexa Bliss with the Dis-arm-her.
Bliss continues to be a good heel. The fans were very into Lynch.
– The Hype Bros, American Alpha & Apollo Crews defeated The Ascension, The Vaudevillains & Curt Hawkins when Chad Gable pinned one of the Ascension with Grand Amplitude.
Fun match, the crowd was into it.
– Nikki Bella & Naomi defeated Natalya & Carmella when Bella pinned Carmella with the TKO.
– Kane defeated Bray Wyatt with a chokeslam.
Fans, especially the university students, were very into Kane. Wyatt was acting silly doing DX crotch chops during the match. Kane took a bow as he left after the match.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions Heath Slater & Rhyno defeated The Usos and Breezango after Rhyno hit the Gore on Tyler Breeze.
Good match, the crowd was really into Rhyno. Multiple ECW chants broke out during the match.
– WWE World Champion AJ Styles defeated Dean Ambrose in a street fight with a Styles Clash.
Good match. Styles got a mix of cheers and boos but everyone seemed to have an opinion. Ambrose got full babyface cheers as did James Ellsworth who was guest timekeeper. Ellsworth came out in a neck brace selling the Strowman beat down from Survivor Series.
– I-C Champion Dolph Ziggler def. The Miz (w/Maryse)
Fun 10 minute match where Maryse kept interfering and was finally ejected by the referee. With Miz distracted by this, it immediately led to a Ziggler superkick for the pin and win.
– WWE Smackdown Tag Team Champions Heath Slater & Rhyno defeating The Usos and Breezango in a three way
Rhyno speared Jimmy Uso for the win.
– Jack Swagger beat Curt Hawkins via ankle lock submission in less than 10 seconds
Hawkins came out and gave Swagger the option to leave beforehand which didnt end well. Swagger threw his t-shirt into the crowd before the match and a fan threw it back even though he was the babyface.
This was the surprise of the night in that it was a short 5 minute match that was all action in which they worked really well together. Corbin was a good base for the much smaller Kalisto to fly around and everything they did was very smooth and quick. Corbin won with the End of Days.
– American Alpha & Kane beat Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper
This was an enjoyable six man tag team with a great finish. Orton hit the RKO on Jordan just before Wyatt gave Gable the Sister Abigail. Kane chokeslammed Harper for the win. Crowd cheered Orton, even though during the match he worked as heel. Crowd chanted for him to be tagged in, and when he finally was, he stalled for a few seconds and then tagged out, resulting in boos.
– Hype Bros beat The Ascension
The finish came when Ryder hit the Rough Ryder off the top rope on to Viktor, who was then pinned by Mojo Rawley. Mojo’s wacky antics were met with deathly silence from the crowd.
– WWE Smackdown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch def. Alexa Bliss to retain
Good match, but not blow away. Lynch won with a cross-armbreaker.
– WWE Champion AJ Styles defeated Dean Ambrose to retain
Very good 20 minute match. They went back and forth and built the match well. Finish saw Styles score a nearfall with a Styles Clash, before undoing the top turnbuckle. The ref was unsighted when Styles shoved Ambrose chest first into the exposed turnbuckle for the roll up win. After the match, Styles left, then returned to try to lay Ambrose out with a belt shot. Ambrose blocked the attempt and hit Dirty Deeds on Styles to send the crowd home happy.
**********
The announced dates for the next U.K. tour in May 2017 were: May 7th in Liverpool, May 8th in Bournemouth, May 10thin Birmingham, May 11th in Sheffield and May 12 in Newcastle. Raw and Smackdown tv’s will be taped on consecutive nights, May 8th and 9th at the London O2 Arena.
The arena was packed. There were no sections curtained off (apart from the entrance area), and I couldn’t see any empty seats in any sections, so I’d estimate the crowd to be at least 10-12000. It was mostly families with lots of kids.
One thing I found interesting was that during the matches, the entire screen and lighting of the entrance area was completely switched off and dark, as was the lighting of the crowd, and the only thing lit up was the ring. I realise they’ve been doing this type of thing for a while, and previously they just had a stationary logo on the screen during matches, but this is the first time I can recall all entrance lighting being switched off during matches.
They aired several ads on the big screen for the WWE Network during the show, all aimed at older fans and featuring past wrestling legends. First ad was based around old 1980s WWF stars, and the ad even said if you are a fan of old school 1980s WWE (even using an old style WWE logo), this is the thing for you (clearly aimed at parents of kids and older fans in attendance). 2nd ad was based around Stone Cold Steve Austin, and 3rd ad was based around Ric Flair.
Show was about 2 hours 20 minutes in length with a 20 minute intermission.
Though much of the focus of this week’s SmackDown was on Survivor Series, that didn’t stop them from building to their next brand-exclusive pay-per-view.
It was announced by Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan on last night’s Talking Smack that Dean Ambrose would challenge AJ Styles in a tables, ladders, and chairs match for the WWE World Championship at December’s TLC PPV. Ambrose earned the right to challenge for the title when he defeated Styles on SmackDown with help from an inadvertent assist from James Ellsworth. That match was billed as Ambrose’s last opportunity to become the number one contender for the championship.
Styles and Ambrose will also be part of SmackDown’s men’s division team at Survivor Series. They will be joined by Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt, and Baron Corbin in the traditional elimination tag team match against Raw. The Raw team has one spot remaining after announcing Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Roman Reigns, and Braun Strowman for the team on Monday night.
TLC is scheduled for December 4th at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX. Styles vs. Ambrose is the first match set for the show.
Video of the match being announced on Talking Smack is available below:
Date: November 1, 2016 Location: Prudential Center in Newark, NJ
The Big Takeaway —
There was a show-long storyline involving James Ellsworth wanting to be at ringside for tonight’s main event, but Dean Ambrose and Daniel Bryan both refused. Ellsworth ended up at ringside anyway and inadvertently helped Ambrose defeat Styles, allowing Ambrose to become number one contender for the WWE Championship. On Talking Smack, it was announced this title match will happen on December 4 in Dallas at TLC in a TLC Match.
Before that, Ambrose and Styles will represent Team SmackDown at Survivor Series, along with Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt and Baron Corbin. The women’s team will be Nikki Bella, Becky Lynch, Alexa Bliss, Carmella and Naomi. Natalya will be their coach. The Usos and American Alpha joined the SmackDown tag-team.
Also for Survivor Series, Dolph Ziggler issued an open challenge to anyone on Raw for his IC Title. Finally, Randy Orton still appears on the same side as the Wyatts. Or Bray Wyatt, at least.
Show Recap —
James Ellsworth came out to a big reaction. He thanked Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan for letting him come out and say goodbye. The crowd screamed and chanted “no.” Ellsworth hasn’t been able to eat or sleep, and won’t be able to move on until he apologizes to Dean Ambrose. He called out Ambrose.
Ambrose came out and put his hand on Ellsworth, which made Ellsworth very uncomfortable. Ambrose said he had a lot of time to think about ripping off his head, but when he sees Ellsworth’s face, he can’t stay mad and forgave it. Ellsworth said he can’t forgive himself after Ambrose helped him beat AJ Styles twice.
Ellsworth said he made a mistake, but Ambrose said it was alright. Ambrose put his hand on Ellsworth and warned him not to get in his way ever again. Ellsworth pleaded with Ambrose, looked him in the eyes and said “I’m sorry.” Ambrose appeared bewildered and they were interrupted by AJ Styles.
Styles wondered why Ellsworth would ever apologized as loud “AJ Styles” chants started. He told the crowd to shut up. Styles told Ellsworth that Ambrose has been using him, and Styles respects him. He claimed he was going to make their title match quick and easy, but Ambrose is the one who pushed him.
Styles said Ellsworth should be thanking him, not Ambrose. It’s because of him people are buying his t-shirts and wanted a cut of his cheques. Ambrose got in Styles’ face. Ellsworth tried to separate them, but Styles pushed Ellsworth into Ambrose and kicked Ambrose in the head. Styles tossed Ellsworth out of the ring and nailed Ambrose with a Phenomenal forearm.
They announced Randy Orton vs. Kane in a no disqualification match up next.
Daniel Bryan confronted Ellsworth and Ambrose backstage, telling them they need to calm down. Ellsworth apologized again, but Ambrose didn’t care. Bryan told Ambrose he would get another shot at Styles tonight and would become number one contender if he won. However, this was his last chance. Bryan told Ellsworth he can stay backstage and watch, but he’s not allowed at ringside. Ellsworth understood.
No Disqualification Match: Randy Orton defeated Kane
They brawled for a bit with Kane getting the upperhand thanks to a chair, but the lights went out and the Wyatts appeared. Kane fought them off momentarily, but when attempted to chokeslam Luke Harper, Orton jumped in and hit an RKO for the win. Match was about 2 minutes.
Afterwards, Orton stared down Harper. Kane got up, so Harper nailed a discus clothesline. Harper was about to attack Kane again, but Orton pushed Kane into Bray who hit Sister Abigail. Orton did his usual pose on the ropes as Bray yelled, “follow the buzzards.”
A promo for Baron Corbin aired. Basically, he doesn’t care about anyone. This promo included a shot of him riding his motorcycle down a suburban street.
Only Lynch got a full entrance and they went to commercial a minute into the match. Immediately after a break, Lynch made a hot tag and hit forearms, kicks and an exploder to Carmella. Bliss broke up the cover and tossed Lynch into Nikki, knocking Nikki out of the ring. (Nikki never appeared again after this.)
Lynch hit a reverse DDT on Bliss (which they completely mistimed), but Carmella distracted the referee. Lynch knocked Carmella off the apron, but Bliss racked her in the eyes and hit a DDT for the win. The match was about 5-6 minutes and a lot of it was during commercial.
Afterwards, Dasha Fuentes tried to interview the winning team, but they kicked her out of the ring. Bliss interviewed Carmella and asked her who she was looking forward to humiliating at Survivor Series. Carmella ran down Bayley and Charlotte and told Nikki Bella to let her run the team. Carmella asked Bliss about her title match next week. Bliss called herself the wicked witch of SmackDown and would win the title next week in Glasgow.
Backstage, Bryan and Shane let Naomi know she would be the fifth member of Team Smackdown. The rest of the team would be Lynch, Nikki, Carmella and Bliss. Natalya jumped in and said they need someone on the team who they all get along with, to which Bryan responded, “You?!” Bryan begrudgingly made Natalya the coach of Team SmackDown.
Survivor Series Qualifying Match: American Alpha defeated The Spirit Squad
Jordan and Gable won in two minutes with Grand Amplitude. They join Heath Slater & Rhyno and the Hype Bros on Team SmackDown.
The SmackDown announcers plugged Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg for Survivor Series. They usually have a neutral voiceover person plug the other brand’s stuff, but they didn’t do that this time.
MizTV with Daniel Bryan
Miz introduced Bryan who came out to huge “Daniel Bryan” chants. Miz asked the crowd if he can start his show and they yelled “No.” Miz knocked Talking Smack, so Bryan said he could cancel MizTV, and the crowd chanted “Yes.” Miz threatened Bryan and told him to move on to Survivor Series.
Bryan said he had an announcement and plugged the tag team match, which he figured Miz would be interested in. Miz wasn’t, and asked about the men’s (singles) team. Bryan announced their team as Randy Orton, Baron Corbin, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose and WWE Champion AJ Styles.
Miz was displeased. He asked a series of questions, including “was I even considered?” and Bryan said “nope.” Miz called Bryan petty and jealous. Bryan said they actually did consider him, but they need superstars who aren’t afraid to fight. Last week, Miz proved he was afraid to fight when he turned down an IC Title rematch against Dolph Ziggler.
Miz said SmackDown would get obliterated by Raw and claimed Bryan was the one who was scared to fight. He placed Maryse between himself and Bryan and told him that he wasn’t good at his job or anything else anymore. Miz told Bryan to go back to moping around John Cena’s house on Total Bellas.
Bryan was pissed and tossed a chair aside. Miz jumped out of the ring. Bryan basically called him a bad wrestler and told him to keep hiding behind the announce desk. Bryan then called out Ziggler who was defending his title tonight in an open challenge.
They announced Ambrose and American Alpha would be on Talking Smack with Bryan and Renee Young.
Hawkins did a promo on his way to the ring saying he would turn heads. Hawkins had his back turned when the bell rang, so Ziggler immediately hit a superkick and won in seconds.
Afterwards, Renee interviewed Ziggler, who issued an open challenge to anyone on Raw for the Intercontinental championship at Survivor Series. Miz was pissed.
Backstage, Dasha Fuentes asked Ambrose about tonight. She also asked about James Ellsworth, but got flustered, and said “James Ellis” instead. She’ll never hear the end of that. What’s worse, Ellsworth was standing right there (off camera).
Ambrose emphasized James “Ellsworth” in his promo, when Ellsworth appeared behind him. He asked Ambrose if there was any way he could come to ringside tonight. You could hear the crowd in the background yell “no” before Ambrose could even say anything, which was funny. Ellsworth begged him, but Ambrose said no.
There was a Wyatt segment backstage with Randy Orton. Orton said he was born with the devil whispering in his ear and the darkness has shown him the light. He called Bray a God and Orton’s eyes literally lit up. Bray chuckled.
Survivor Series Qualifying Match: The Usos defeated The Headbangers
Usos won in two minutes after an Uso got the pin holding a Headbanger’s skirt. Usos join Team SmackDown. This was the fourth match tonight that was 3 minutes or less, and the women’s match wasn’t much longer.
Backstage, Fuentes caught up to Styles and asked him about tonight. Styles was annoyed and said, “Why can’t I just make it to the ring without someone asking me a dumb question?” He said he would win and Ellsworth would end up back in the bargain bin.
Elsewhere, Ambrose led Ellsworth–still in his gear–out of the building. Ambrose told a flummoxed Ellsworth to grab an Uber.
Non-Title: Dean Ambrose defeated WWE World Champion AJ Styles
The match started during commercial. When they came back, Ambrose hit a suicide drive, tossed him over the announce table and into the barricade. None of that was a DQ. Somebody got in JBL’s headset and he let us know that Ambrose better not get disqualified. Back in the ring, Ambrose used a couple of rollups but Styles kicked out. Ambrose applied a cloverleaf, but Styles got to the rope.
Ambrose followed with a double underhook superplex for two. Styles applied the calf crusher but Ambrose quickly got to the rope. Ambrose then crotched Styles on the barricade, also not a DQ, and nailed a running forearm.
Styles had control during a break after Ambrose appeared to hurt his knee, but after the break, Ambrose dropkicked Styles out of the ring and hit a flying elbow drop. He followed with running forearms and a clotheslines in the ring. Styles suplexed Ambrose leg-first into the ropes, but Ambrose came back with a facebuster for a near fall.
After both guys went down on a double-clothesline spot, the crowd chanted “Ellsworth,” who ran out through the crowd. This distracted Ambrose and Styles hit a Pele kick for a near fall. Security ran out and chased Ellsworth back through the crowd.
They traded counters leading to Styles applying the calf crusher, but Ambrose got a rope break. Ellsworth, still running from security, ended up back at ringside. Security caught him and were about to carry him out, but Styles decked him over the announce table. (Styles violently attacking Ellsworth is always great.)
Styles went for the Phenomenal forearm, but Ambrose countered into a Dirty Deeds for the win. Big crowd pop for this.
Security dragged away a lifeless Ellsworth, who had a sly smile on his face. Ambrose picked him up for a moment, then dropped him again before security carried him out once and for all.
Final Thoughts —
As with the last few weeks, this wasn’t much of a show before the main event. Ambrose and Styles managed to have yet another good match and the show-long story with James Ellsworth was entertaining. The rest of the show was very missable, with all but one of the other matches going three minutes or less.
Great way to start the show. There were a number of near falls. Maryse was ejected, and Ziggler pinned Miz soon after.
– Jack Swagger def. Tyler Breeze
Tyler started the match trying to get a selfie with Swagger. He attacked Swagger, who countered with the ankle lock. Breeze taps almost instantly. The whole thing took less than five minutes.
– Apollo Crews & The Hype Bros def. The Vaudevillains & Curt Hawkins
Mojo Rawley is a ball of fire from bell to bell. There was next to no reaction for the Vaudevillains’ entrance. Crowd got into the match, which involved Crews putting on a Halloween mask and scaring Aiden English. Everyone got their finishers in, and Crews ended up scoring the pinfall for the win.
– Baron Corbin def. Kalisto
Corbin caught Kalisto with a blow as he finished his entrance into the ring. Fans were very hyped for Kalisto overall. This was a slow match with Kalisto selling a lot, but he got a nice comeback before Corbin hit End of Days for the pinfall.
– Randy Orton def. Kane in a street fight
Big pop for Orton. Weapons (Kendo stick and chair) pulled out early. Wyatts come out mid-match and attacked Kane briefly before staring down Orton and mostly standing around. They interfered to fight Kane, which lead to Orton winning via RKO.
Loads of crowd noise for this post-intermission match. Naomi got a solid pop for moonwalking then hitting the dab. Everyone hit their finisher and Becky submitted Nattie with the Dis-Arm-Her.
– Smackdown Tag Team Champions Heath Slater and Rhyno def. The Usos & American Alpha in a three-way to retain
This felt like a decent TV match. AA weren’t in the match that much although when they were in, their moves looked great. Usos built decent heat through most of the match. Uso superkick got a large pop, but Rhyno hit the spear to retain the belts.
– WWE Champion AJ Styles def. Dean Ambrose to retain
Solid pop for Ambrose, moreso than Styles. Styles did get some heat with small dueling chants in the arena. The match started out at a slower pace with Styles jumping in and out of the ring (and Ambrose doing a comedy spot where he’d lay down asking AJ to pin him, only to get up in a fighting stance).
When it picked up in the middle, it was really solid. Finish was Dean running into an exposed turnbuckle, leading to AJ with the roll-up for the win. AJ then cut a quick heel promo after the match, and tried to hit Ambrose with the belt. Dean ducked, and hit Styles with the Dirty Deeds to send everyone home.
They used video to show the entrances and the post-match stuff.
– IC Champion Dolph Ziggler def. The Miz (w/Maryse)
Ziggler wins with a superkick after Maryse was ejected for interfering. Good reaction for Ziggler and good heat for Miz. There was both “Let’s go Ziggler” and “Miz is awful” chants. After the match, Ziggler spent a lot of time with the fans, and superkicked a scarecrow decoration before exiting.
– Jack Swagger def. Tyler Breeze
Swagger got some “We the people” chants. Breeze tried to do a pre-match promo and convinced Swagger to take a selfie with him. After, the ankle lock was applied for the tap in 10 seconds.
– Apollo Crews & Hype Bros def. The Vaudevillains & Curt Hawkins
Hawkins & Ryder got into it instead of pretending they were strangers. There was a “Let’s Go Ryder” chant. Rawley did a lot of ridiculous nonsense before executing some simple moves. Crews pinned Aiden English after a spot where everyone in match hits their finisher until those two were left.
– Baron Corbin def. Kalisto
Corbin wins with End of Days. Several “Lucha” chants. This was a very basic match.
– We get a locker room vignette with Rhyno & Health Slater being confronted by the Usos.
– Randy Orton def. Kane in a no dq match
Kendo sticks, chairs & steps were all used. “RKO”, “We want tables” and “Ran-dy” chants. Orton wins with the RKO after a Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper distraction. After the pin, Orton threw Bray his hat back (it fell off during the interference) and Orton, Wyatt, and Harper each posed victoriously in a separate corner. I wasn’t aware there was a RKO/Wyatt Family pseudo-alliance.
Lynch taps Carmella with the Dis-Arm-Her. Considering her size, Bliss’ offense looks good, and her selling was good.
– Smackdown Tag Team Champions Heath Slater & Rhyno def. The Usos and American Alpha in a three-way
Rhyno pinned an Uso after a gore. American Alpha got decent pop, and all teams got a decent reaction. Brief “ECW” chant as Rhyno was in the ring to start the match.
– WWE Champion AJ Styles def. Dean Ambrose
Crowd was mixed, but tilted more heavily to Ambrose. Chants before match “AJ Sty-les” and “Let’s Go Ambrose” during match. DA was in the Calf Crusher for a long time before getting to the ropes, and then sold it for less than a minute and was back to normal. AJ got the pin after DA hit his head on a turnbuckle that AJ exposed during the match.
AJ grabbed the mic, and starting saying something, and then tried to hit Ambrose with the belt, missed, and ended up eating the Dirty Deeds.
********
This is my third time at a house show at the new PPL Center in downtown Allentown. There were plenty of people there, but it was probably the smallest crowd of the three times by a little bit. The crowd, though a bit smaller, was still hot all night.
Miss Tuesday night’s episode of SmackDown or want to watch something again? Catch up on video highlights from a show that featured James Ellsworth inadvertently preventing Dean Ambrose from becoming the number one contender for the WWE World Championship, Alexa Bliss ruining Becky Lynch’s return to television, Randy Orton making a surprising decision, and matches with major implications for the upcoming Survivor Series pay-per-view.
Date: October 25, 2016 Location: Resch Center in Green Bay, WI
The Big Takeaway —
Surprisingly, Dean Ambrose did not become number one contender for the world title. Ambrose was disqualified after James Ellsworth superkicked AJ Styles in front of the referee.
Also, Randy Orton gave Kane an RKO allowing Bray Wyatt to pick up a win, and Alexa Bliss laid out Becky Lynch in Lynch’s return.
Show Recap —
Backstage, Dean Ambrose talked to a stagehand about a cop searching his car for reckless driving. James Ellsworth showed up and thanked Ambrose for what he’s done for him. Ellsworth asked to be in his corner tonight. Ambrose laughed and thanked him for the offer, but said maybe Ellsworth can find something else to do. He told Ellsworth to hang out in the locker room and the crowd booed.
No Disqualification Match: Bray Wyatt defeated Kane
Kane was about to chokeslam Bray through the announce table, but the lights went out and Luke Harper appeared. He clotheslined Kane and they went to commercial. After the break, Bray used a headlock in this no DQ match with his associate at ringside. Kane came back with a big boot, “jumping” DDT, and flying clothesline.
Harper got involved, allowing Bray to hit a uranage. Bray followed with a body block when Randy Orton ran out to chase off Harper. This woke up the crowd. Orton sized up Bray for an RKO, but as Kane got ready for a chokeslam, Orton gave Kane the RKO. A stunned Bray Wyatt covered Kane for the pinfall win. Bad match, but the finish was intriguing at least.
Backstage, Andrea asked AJ Styles about his two losses to James Ellsworth. Styles said Ellsworth looks like an action figure that someone melted in the microwave. Styles said Ambrose won’t think it’s so funny when his face gets rearranged, and Ambrose will wish he looked like Ellsworth after tonight. He added that Ellsworth will be missing more than just his chin if he gets involved.
Becky Lynch Interview w/Renee Young
Lynch came out in an orange top matching her hair. As soon as she said it was good to be back, Alexa Bliss interrupted. Bliss said Lynch looked good for someone who just had back surgery, which is an interesting line. Lynch informed her that she didn’t have back surgery. Bliss made Renee leave the ring and claimed Lynch turned into a coward the second she became number one contender.
Lynch said she was put in a hospital and wasn’t allowed to leave. Bliss thought Lynch would come up with more excuses, like food poisoning or her boyfriend dumping her because she’s an orange troll. She called Lynch worthless and said she should just hand the title over. Lynch fired up said she would be ready to go in Glasgow.
Bliss said she would win the title in two weeks and tried to attack Lynch, but Lynch fought her off. Bliss countered, tossed Lynch back first into the ringpost and barricade, and hit a DDT in the ring. With Lynch laid out, Bliss grabbed a can of spray paint and painted a yellow stripe down Lynch’s back.
The Hype Bros defeated The Ascension
They announced that the winners of this match would be one of the teams to represent SmackDown against Raw at Survivor Series. Each team did an inset promo claiming they would win. Mojo mentioned being a former Green Bay Packer, and got a “Go Pack Go” chant out of the crowd. The good guys won in less than 4 minutes with the Hype Ryder.
Backstage, Andrea asked Orton if he wanted to explain his actions earlier. She put the microphone in his face and he just stared straight ahead for a while. He eventually said, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”
Elsewhere, Daniel Bryan was on the phone with Shane McMahon explaining they need strong team captains. Natalya interrupted, concerned that Raw might be stealing their thunder, especially with the first ever women’s Hell in a Cell match. She volunteered to be team captain. Bryan said she would have a match with Nikki Bella tonight, and the winner would be team captain. Natalya liked this idea, but Bryan also informed her that the loser would not be on the team.
Nikki Bella defeated Natalya
The crowd was quiet to start, but Natalya did a pretty good job getting heat. She applied the sharpshooter but Nikki crawled to the rope. Natalya followed with a vertical suplex but missed a leg drop. Nikki came back with a snapmare knee attack, corner clothesline and disaster kick for a two count. Natalya followed that with a Michinoku Driver for two.
Natalya applied a surfboard but Nikki managed to reverse into an STF, which got a good reaction, for the submission win. This was pretty good. Afterwards, Carmella attacked Nikki from behind and laid her out with Brie’s Bella Buster.
Backstage, Dean Ambrose told Andrea that Styles was right, tonight was not about fun and games. But after losing his title thanks to a low blow, it was fitting the last two weeks have been low blows for Styles. He said karma was “another word for a female dog” and that maybe tonight would be fun and games–for him. The dialogue here really sucked.
The Miz, Maryse and the Spirit Squad came out. The Spirit Squad introduced Miz, who said it was Day 16 of Miz not being the Intercontinental champion. Miz felt sorry for all of the legends because Dolph Ziggler was burying the title. He said Pat Patterson must be home in Montreal sitting under a dark cloud with a tear in his eye.
Ziggler interrupted and was sick of Miz. He offered Miz his rematch right now. Miz said no. He and the Spirit Squad were about go after him, but Heath Slater and Rhyno ran out. Slater mocked them for backing off and hiding behind a woman.
Either Slater lost his place or he just had nothing to say, because he basically repeated what he just said. Miz called him a joke and reminded us that Kenny beat him last week. Miz said Spirit Squad wanted a title match. Slater hesitated and mentioned buying timeshares in Puerto Rico, but when Miz brought up “male cheerleaders,” Rhyno got mad and accepted the match. This also sucked.
WWE Tag Team Championships: Heath Slater & Rhyno defeated The Spirit Squad
Miz and Ziggler were on commentary. Ziggler reminded us that the World Series was on. They argued and got in each other’s faces. Kenny was pushed into Miz, and Rhyno nailed Mikey with a Gore for the quick win.
They cut to the fake studio set with Scott Stanford, Jerry Lawler, Lita and Booker T who plugged Hell in a Cell. They also pushed that if you start your Network free preview now, you get HIAC and Survivor Series, and officially announced Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg in Toronto.
Backstage, Ambrose ran into a sad James Ellsworth. Ambrose wasn’t feeling any sympathy, but Ellsworth pleaded with him and asked again to be in his corner. Ambrose caved and agreed. Ellsworth is happy now.
Non-Title: WWE World Champion AJ Styles defeated Dean Ambrose (w/James Ellsworth) via DQ
Ambrose clotheslined Styles out of the ring, leading to Styles decking Ellsworth. Ambrose checked on Ellsworth, allowing Styles to nail Ambrose with a springboard forearm. After a break, Ambrose hit a suicide dive, followed by forearms, a clothesline and Fisherman’s suplex for two. Ambrose then applied an armbar and switched into a Texas cloverleaf, but Styles got to the rope.
The crowd chanted “AJ Styles” and “AJ sucks” when Styles hit a dangerous-looking snap suplex on the apron. The crowd gasped. After another break, Ambrose pushed Styles off the top and hit a flying elbow drop. They traded strikes leading to an Ambrose neckbreaker for two. Styles followed that with a springboard inverted DDT for a near fall.
Ambrose then killed Styles with a rebound clothesline, followed by a superplex. Ambrose couldn’t get up in time to make a cover and Styles caught him in the calf crusher. Ambrose countered by smashing Styles’ head against the mat, but Styles reapplied the hold. Ambrose got to the rope but couldn’t stand up. Styles noticed this and dropkicked Ellsworth.
They traded moves again leading to a Pele kick by Styles, but Ambrose tossed him outside the ring next to Ellsworth. Ellsworth fired up and hit Styles with “no chin music,” but the referee saw it. Ambrose pleaded with him not to call a DQ, but he did. The crowd was despondent because of Ellsworth’s mistake, and Styles was announced the winner.
They cut to Styles on the floor who had the perfect reaction. Ellsworth was on the verge of tears and Ambrose was pissed.
Final Thoughts —
Like last week, this wasn’t much a show until the main event. The main event was really good, though, and I liked the ending. It seemed really predictable, but they did something different.
