Standard but fun opener; lots of heat on Miz. Eventually Maryse was ejected to a huge pop, which led to Apollo hitting his Blue Thunder Bomb variation for the win.
– American Alpha and the Hype Bros def. The Ascension and The Vaudevillains
Pretty similar to other matches these 8 have put on. Fun spot near the end where Jordan hit an overhead belly-to-belly on English to send him over the top rope onto the rest of the guys. AA picked up the win with Grand Amplitude.
Backstage promo featured Tyler Breeze talking to himself in a mirror about his match tonight before being interrupted by Alexa Bliss declaring herself the fairest of them all.
– Baron Corbin def. Jack Swagger
Plenty of heat on Corbin and some support for Swagger beyond just “We The People” chants. This ended like one of their Smackdown matches a few weeks back where Corbin grabbed the apron while in the Patriot lock, then thumbed the eyes and scored a rollup while the ref was distracted.
– Smackdown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch, Emma, and Naomi def. Natalya, Carmella, and Alexa Bliss
Great reaction for Becky on her second night back in action. After everyone hit big moves and cleared the ring, Natalya hit a schoolboy on Becky which she reversed into the Disarm-her for the tapout.
– Kane def. Bray Wyatt w/Luke Harper
Wyatt spent a good portion of the match rolling out of the ring and calling for timeouts. Harper interfered a bit throughout. Bray hooked Kane for Sister Abigail, but Kane escaped and nailed a chokeslam for the victory.
– Kalisto def. Tyler Breeze
Solid reaction for Kalisto, who picked up the win with the Salida del Sol after a fun acrobatic match.
– Intermission featured a neat little segment during this where Mike Rome was standing somewhere in the crowd with the new edition of the WWE Encyclopedia open to a page with the Dudleys pretending to quiz a fan on who was pictured…only for the camera to pan and show D-von himself for a nice pop.
– Smackdown Tag Champions Heath Slater and Rhyno def. The Usos
This felt quite short. Usos attacked before the bell and then worked Heath over until he made the tag and Rhyno hit the Gore after a couple more minutes of action.
– WWE World Champion AJ Styles def. Dean Ambrose to retain
Great pop for Dean, and a huge reaction for AJ as well, who seemed to be surprisingly over with a lot of younger kids around me considering his role as a heel. Good main event. They teased the Styles Clash and Dirty Deeds a few times, but AJ won after Dean went headfirst into the exposed turnbuckle during an O’Connor roll.
Post-match, AJ cut a promo saying he wouldn’t wait for Tuesday to take Dean out, and tried to hit him with the belt. But, Dean hit DIrty Deeds instead and celebrated with fans for the happy ending.
Breeze was pretty over as a heel. Big back and forth roll-up sequence before a double crossbody that took them both out. Breeze did the Ospreay corner superkick, then went for a big superkick after a ZigZag near fall. Ziggler reversed that into his own superkick for the win. Second best match of the night.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champion Heath Slater & The Hype Bros defeated Aiden English & The Ascension
Slater won the match with his DDT.
– Apollo Crews defeated Curt Hawkins
Crews won a short match with little resistance. Hawkins spent most of the time yelling at the ref. Afterwards, Hawkins asked for another match.
– Kane defeated Curt Hawkins
Kane came out and won in 10 seconds with a chokeslam.
– Baron Corbin defeated Jack Swagger
Corbin undid the bottom turnbuckle to distract the ref, then low blowed Swagger into a roll-up to win
– Randy Orton defeated Bray Wyatt
Orton was the most over of the night so far. Pretty slow match. Orton won after reversing a Sister Abigail into an RKO. He high fived everyone at ringside and played to the crowd after the match.
Bella was so much more over than everyone it was crazy. She pinned Carmella to get the win. Interesting to note Emma was still in her normal evil Emma gimmick, and that she appeared at a SmackDown house show.
– American Alpha defeated The Usos
Alpha wasn’t super over but a vocal minority was chanting hard for them. They won after a decently short match. The whole thing was basically a build to a Jordan hot tag and then the match was over. Not a lot to it.
– WWE World Champion AJ Styles defeated John Cena and Dean Ambrose in a triple threat match to retain his title
This was the best match of the night. They had a lot of good reversal spots. Match ended when Styles brought in a chair that he used, then he low blowed Cena for a pin. Styles cut a promo after the match about how he’s not done with Cena and was about to attack, but Ambrose stepped in to stop it and hit him with Dirty Deeds. Styles and Cena played tug of war with the title, Cena hit an AA, then he celebrated with the fans to end the show.
Submitted by Nam Nguyen from the Lawlor Event Center
– Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler defeated The Miz to retain his title
Decent match, obviously nowhere near their match at No Mercy. Both were very over.
– American Alpha & The Hype Bros defeated The Ascension & Vaudevillains
Pretty much the same match as No Mercy. Gable pinned Simon Gotch.
– Apollo Crews defeated Curt Hawkins
This was a short match. Hawkins cut a promo after the match demanding another opponent. Kane came out and chokeslammed him.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions Heath Slater & Rhyno defeated The Usos to retain their titles
Once again, very similar to No Mercy.
– Naomi & Nikki Bella defeated Alexa Bliss, Natalya, & Carmella in a handicap match
Average match. Bella was clearly more popular than everyone else.
– Baron Corbin defeated Jack Swagger
Pretty boring match. Corbin won after an eye poke and End of Days.
– Randy Orton defeated Bray Wyatt
Orton was very over as expected. He won with an RKO in an okay match.
– WWE World Champion AJ Styles defeated John Cena and Dean Ambrose in a triple threat match to retain his title
Repeated a few of the spots from No Mercy, but a fairly different match in the sense that there was a lot more one-on-one fighting. Good house show main event that finished with Styles attempting to hit Cena with a chair, getting it blocked, and then hitting a low blow.
Styles cut a promo afterwards, but was laid out with Dirty Deeds and then an AA to send the fans home happy.
Viewers won’t have to wait long for tonight’s WWE World Championship match.
ESPN’s Jonathan Coachman tweeted on Sunday afternoon: “sources tell me tonight don’t tune in late. First time ever a @Wwe ppv will start with main event. Ambrose/Cena/styles for title. 8 east.”
The scheduled main event for the show was AJ Styles defending his title against John Cena and Dean Ambrose in a triple threat match. No indication was given as to what match would now close the show.
The decision to open the show with the title match is likely the result of tough competition No Mercy is facing on television. The second presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will start at 9 p.m. ET. The first debate between the two broke ratings records, and Sunday night’s debate figures to do a strong number as well given recent controversies surrounding Trump.
No Mercy will also go against a strong Sunday Night Football game, with the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers kicking off at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Yes, we are back again with another WWE pay-per-view. Aren’t you all excited?
This week it’s No Mercy, a SmackDown PPV being held live in Sacramento, CA. The main event is a triple threat match pitting WWE World Champion AJ Styles against the former champion Dean Ambrose and a former 15-time champion in John Cena. All three have disdain for one another, cutting some great promos to build up to the main event. Everything on this show has been nicely built up, but with so many PPVs taking place now, it’s hard to get fully interested.
Here are the latest points following Clash of Champions:
Current prediction points rankings:
Steve Khan: (WWE SmackDown Live Recapper) (54 points)
Kyle S. Johnson: (Columnist) (52 points)
Bryan Rose: (New Japan/CWC Reporter) (52 points)
James Cox: (WWE Superstars Recapper & WWE DVD Reviewer) (50 points)
Jeremy Peeples: (Lucha Underground Recapper) (33 points)
Brian Hoops: (Daily Pro Wrestling History) (32 points)
Ryan Frederick: (UFC Reporter) (23 points)
PeachMachine: (University of Phoenix Online Mascot) (17 points)
Paul “Gramps” Fontaine: (MMA Writer and Recapper and new grandfather) (13 points)
Kevin LaRose: (WWE Main Event and Total Divas Recapper) (4 points)
JJ Williams: (NXT/CWC Roving Reporter) (3 points)
Jack Swagger vs. Baron Corbin
Bryan Rose: Corbin I guess? I mean if you really want to do something with Swagger you should give him momentum, but it’s obvious Corbin is the one they want to push to the moon.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Brian Hoops: Corbin gets the win here after Swagger won on TV. Corbin has been winning at house shows:
Winner: Corbin
Jeremy Peeples: Swagger won on TV, so Corbin wins on PPV. This feels like an odd use of both guys, but it is better than them just doing nothing.
Winner: Corbin
James Cox: Vince likes Corbin for some reason. They need to reboot Swagger, he has something to offer.
Winner Baron Corbin
Kyle S. Johnson: So, I guess they’re building up Swagger to establish Corbin as a threat to the top guys? Or something? I don’t know. Corbin wins; maybe he feuds with Swagger a bit more thereafter, maybe he doesn’t.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Ryan Frederick: I don’t know how I feel about this one. Baron Corbin should win, but who knows what they do. Coin flipping this one.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Paul Fontaine: Swagger won on TV, so Corbin wins on PPV. Basic WWE booking here.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Steve Khan: Corbin will likely get a cheap win after what happened on SmackDown.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Nikki Bella vs. Carmella
Bryan Rose: Nikki’s winning this one, unless they want to continue the feud. Given the lack of depth on this women’s roster, they probably have to. But let’s go with Nikkisawa anyway.
Winner: Nikki Bella
Brian Hoops: Since the Bellas show started, I will anticipate WWE will push her over Carmella.
Winner Nikki
Jeremy Peeples: With Total Bellas being a thing and Brie being pregnant, Nikki’s push is going to continue. Carmella could use the win more, but Nikki should win this one.
Winner: Nikki
James Cox: Nikki to win in four minutes or less. Those Total Bellas figures were poor, though, so who knows.
Winner: Nikki Bella
Kyle S. Johnson: Vince McMahon tweeted this week that Total Bellas is total entertainment. I don’t know that I trust his word on that, but the tweet itself should tell you what you need to know about this match’s result.
Winner: Nikki Bella
Ryan Frederick: I figure the fact that Total Bellas just started gives the outcome away. I don’t expect much from this.
Winner: Nikki Bella
Paul Fontaine: Carmella’s 15 minutes were up about two weeks ago. Nikki should win in a squash, although it will probably be a little more competitive than that.
Winner: Nikki Bella
Steve Khan: I wouldn’t be surprised with Carmella winning again, but with her new show out, Nikki will probably get her win finally.
Winner: Nikki Bella
WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler
Bryan Rose: I mean, I don’t think Dolph is going anywhere, so he has to win this time, right?
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
Brian Hoops: Ziggler putting his career on line makes you think he has to win.
Winner: The Miz
Jeremy Peeples: This has easily been the best-built WWE feud of the last few months, and the Spirit Squad stuff was unexpected. They’ve been building Dolph up as the ultimate underdog here, so he has to win it and retain his career.
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
James Cox: I’m not sure Ziggler is leaving, Miz has been great on the mic in the built up to this, which is what he does best. Should be a decent match.
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
Kyle S. Johnson: Kudos to both guys for making this feud feel like it means something. Right at the point where Miz seems to be hitting his stride as IC champ, it seems like Ziggler has to take the belt off of him. He’s been tweeting about his post-WWE bookings, which seems too on the nose to mean anything other than him winning, and I would rather see him lose just because that would take the story in a potentially more interesting direction. Things being what they are, Ziggler will just win, and the feud will continue.
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
Ryan Frederick: The fact that Ziggler is putting his career on the line screams swerve to me. This has been built very well and I’m actually very interested in this match.
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
Paul Fontaine: Buh bye, Dolph. He’ll probably come back under a mask but I hope he actually leaves. Miz is one of the top three acts in all of WWE and Dolph sucks.
Winner: The Miz
Steve Khan: They did a good job rebuilding this, as I previously had no interest in seeing these two wrestle again. I also have no idea who’s going to win. I’ll go with Ziggler if only because I don’t know how they get out of this otherwise.
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss
Bryan Rose: Miss Bliss I think will miss, allowing Becky to get the win and retain her title.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Brian Hoops: No way they change the title here.
Winner Becky Lynch
Jeremy Peeples: This started out with promise, but they’ve been on auto-pilot. Becky lost on TV, so she will win the PPV match and retain the title.
Winner: Becky Lynch
James Cox: No need to beat Lynch yet. Expect this to be short and poor.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Kyle S. Johnson: Bex wins, no question.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Ryan Frederick: It is way too early to take the belt off of Becky, though I think Alexa gets it before the end of the year.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Paul Fontaine: I’m going with Bliss to win the match but Lynch to keep the belt so this feud keeps going. I really like these two together and Bliss has done far better than she had any right to.
Winner: Alexa Bliss
Steve Khan: I like these two, but they don’t seem to work well together. Hopefully they can pull it off. It’s too early for Lynch to lose, so I’ll go with her.
Winner: Becky Lynch
SmackDown Tag Team Champions Heath Slater and Rhyno vs. The Usos
Bryan Rose: The Rhyno/Slater team seems to be de-emphasized over the last couple of weeks, and more focus has been given to the Usos becoming the more dominant team. I think the real goal here is to have Usos and American Alpha feud over these titles, so I’ll go with my gut and say Usos will win the titles here.
Winner: The Usos
Brian Hoops: I think ultimately they are building to Usos vs. American Alpha, but too early to change title from Slater/Rhyno.
Winners: Slater/Rhyno.
Jeremy Peeples: The Usos have been doing way too many TV jobs to American Alpha to justify a title win right now. I’ll go with the Usos losing, but not clean.
Winners: Heath Slater and Rhyno
James Cox: I think The Usos win but the titles stay on Rhyno and Slater. Too early to change the titles, but good to keep the program going.
Winner: The Uso’s (no title change)
Kyle S. Johnson: The direction is clearly The Usos vs. American Alpha, but there’s no reason to rush to get there. Having Slater and Rhyno hold onto the belts for another month is the right thing to do, but I would not be the least bit shocked if they just put the belts on The Usos, either.
Winners: Heath Slater and Rhyno
Ryan Frederick: I wouldn’t be shocked at all if they put the titles on the Usos as that seems the eventual direction. It is way too soon to take them off of Heath and Rhyno. The team is working and they are super over. Keep it going!
Winners: Heath Slater and Rhyno
Paul Fontaine: Times up for Beauty and the Man Beast. The Usos win so they can start feuding with American Alpha over the belts.
Winners: The Usos
Steve Khan: I like the Usos here. They can extend this program with a win and keep building to a rematch with Jordan & Gable, this time for the titles.
Winner: The Usos
Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt
Bryan Rose: Ugh, I really don’t care. The spooky time stuff they do with Wyatt is so bad. Orton wins so we can all move on.
Winner: Randy Orton
Brian Hoops: Orton needs a win after getting killed and left for dead with no revenge by Lesnar. Orton has been going over at all the house shows.
Winner: Orton
Jeremy Peeples: This feud has fallen off the rails. Bray lost to Kane at the last PPV, so he really shouldn’t lose here — but he never wins, and Orton needs to be kept strong for title matches. I’ll go with a Bray win after Luke Harper returns.
Winner: Bray Wyatt
James Cox: Wyatt loses a lot, Orton lost to Lesnar and then they stick them together and do a terrible job with it. At this stage, Wyatt can lose and it won’t mean anything, but it depends what’s next for Orton.
Winner: Randy Orton
Kyle S. Johnson: Last time these two were scheduled to meet, I said that both men really needed a win, but Orton needed it more since he had just been killed by Lesnar. Orton was concussed, the match never happened, and somehow, Bray lost clean to Kane, a character who debuted 19 years ago. Fair to say that Bray now needs that win just a bit more. Harper will probably return to secure the win for Wyatt.
Winner: Bray Wyatt
Ryan Frederick: Too much outlandish stuff being put into this feud. And I think it’s all just for Bray to lose. Again. I’m so lost as to what they want to accomplish with him, and with this feud.
Winner: Randy Orton
Paul Fontaine: Who could possibly care? Certainly not me. Let’s go with Bray with help from the returning Luke Harper, which is what I called for their last scheduled match.
Winner: Bray Wyatt
Steve Khan: Orton seems in line for the next title shot, so he should win.
Winner: Randy Orton
WWE World Champion AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose vs. John Cena
Bryan Rose: AJ’s winning this. Will probably be a great match, too.
Winner: AJ Styles
Brian Hoops: Would be a huge mistake to take the title off Styles at this point. The Cena storyline is good, but could be terrific if it was the focus of WrestleMania.
Winner: Styles
Jeremy Peeples: AJ is riding a huge wave of momentum since winning the title. Cena is embracing the worn-down veteran role, while Dean always looks like he’s on day 14 of a two week bender. AJ should win, but I can see Cena winning at another show — probably Mania, to tie the official flair record. An Ambrose heel turn would make sense here too since they’re building him up as unstable and unpredictable.
Winner: AJ Styles
James Cox: Ultimately I think Cena is taking the belt back, but not yet. It’s only a matter of time before he equals Flair’s record. I think Styles will pin Ambrose. Should be a great match, what an absolutely crucial acquisition AJ Styles has been.
Winner: AJ Styles
Kyle S. Johnson: Too early to take the title off of Styles. He’s been great, and this feud has been pretty great all around. Styles wins; if they’re looking to keep both opponents relevant, Ambrose could have Cena cold before AJ takes him out, and then AJ opts to pin Cena again for more bragging rights.
Cena could survive another loss, and it builds a natural reason for him to chase AJ after Dean drops out of the picture. Or they could just have him beat Dean because that’d be easy enough to do. Either way, this should be a good match.
Winner: AJ Styles
Ryan Frederick: Again, it is way too early to change the title. Taking it off of Styles would be a huge mistake. He’s the best all-around performer in the company right now. The only way they take it off of him is to give it to Cena, but now is not the time for that.
Winner: AJ Styles
Paul Fontaine: I said last month that AJ would keep the title until the Rumble and I’m sticking with that. I would have AJ and Cena do a one-on-one match at Survivor Series and then do a rematch at the Rumble, which is where Cena wins the belt. Ambrose should probably take the fall.
Winner: AJ Styles
Steve Khan: Should be really good, but seems somewhat obvious that AJ Styles is winning.
Miss Tuesday night’s episode of SmackDown or want to watch something again? Check out last night’s video highlights from a go-home show that featured John Cena, Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles going face to face in advance of their title match this Sunday, the return of The Spirit Squad, and more build to No Mercy.
With No Mercy just days away, SmackDown presents its final show before the brand’s second exclusive pay-per-view this Sunday.
No Mercy will be headlined by AJ Styles defending his WWE World Championship against John Cena and Dean Ambrose in a triple threat match. And in advance of that match, the three competitors will come face-to-face tonight in advance of their title match.
The show will also see more build for the brand’s other title matches at No Mercy. It was announced on last week’s show that Dolph Ziggler would challenge The Miz for his Intercontinental Championship, and if Ziggler loses he will be forced to retire.
Becky Lynch will defend her SmackDown Women’s Championship against Alexa Bliss at No Mercy, and Tag Team Champions Heath Slater & Rhyno will defend their titles against The Usos.
Tonight’s SmackDown will also feature more build to Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt at No Mercy after that match was announced last week.
Bray Wyatt comes out to start the show. Not to cut a promo, however, as it’s a match that’s about to kick off Smackdown.
Kane defeated Bray Wyatt by count out
They started off pretty hot with some brawling. Kane’s already bleeding from the mouth. Wyatt countered a chokeslam with a uranage and was about to go with the Sister Abigail when he notices Orton on the screen. Orton says at No Mercy he’s going to turn his life right side up instead of upside down. He can play his game better than he can.
Of course, this means Kane gets right back up as Wyatt is distracted, and tries to finish but Bray escapes and after contemplating things a bit, walks away for the count out.
Baron Corbin was sulking around backstage when he runs into Charly, who mentions Jack Swagger. Corbin says that if Swagger thinks he can make waves, he’s dumber than he looks. Swagger came in. Swagger says he wants to go right now. Corbin says he wants to do it in the ring. Swagger says fine, he’ll find Daniel Bryan and they can finish this “conversation” in the ring.
Wyatt was wandering around a spooky hallway backstage while rambling about Orton.
Nikki Bella defeated Alexa Bliss by DQ
Carmella was on commentary, so about a minute into the match the two were on the outside when Carmella started jawing at Nikki. She responded by throwing Bliss at Carmella. Not too long after that, Carmella came back and attacked Nikki for the DQ.
This brings out Becky Lynch to even things up as we go to a commercial. Spidey senses indicate this’ll probably be turned into a tag…
Carmella and Alexa Bliss defeated Nikki Bella and Becky Lynch
Carmella and Bliss worked over Nikki until Carmella missed a bronco buster spot and Nikki tagged in Becky who made the hot tag. Carmella takes out Becky with a superkick as Nikki chases her away, leaving Alexa alone with a prone Becky. She hits the Twisted Bliss and gets the pin.
Wyatt was calling out Randy’s name in the spooky hallway. Wyatt’s chair was at the end. He asks if this is Orton’s master plan, is this all he got? Orton then closes down a garage door, apparently trapping Wyatt. Orton asks how it feels that the hunter is now the hunted. He finishes by saying “Lord, have mercy…or not”.
Daniel Bryan came out for a Susan G. Komen segment, bringing out a number of breast cancer survivors. He brings up More than Pink, the Susan G. Komen initiative which recognizes people who help battle breast cancer. He recognizes five women who have helped take part of this movement. They say not all heroes wear capes, but aren’t all these women heroes? Fans eventually chanted yes. They were all given Smackdown Womens titles in a very nice gesture.
They confirmed Swagger/Corbin was a go later tonight.
Hype Bros. defeated The Vaudevillans
Not very long, pretty basic. Early in the match Mojo decided it was hammer time and mimicked MC Hammer straight out of 1991. Zack was worked on for a while before Mojo came in for the hot tag and hit the Hype Ryder for the win.
The Ascension looked on at the entranceway, staring down the Hype Bros.
Miz TV is on the air. Miz wastes no time in introducing Dolph Ziggler. They teased this might be the last time Ziggler appears on Smackdown. Miz shows a video of Zigglers career, entitled “The Success of a Failure”, which goes over all of the embarassing details of his career, from being Kerwin White’s caddy, a member of the Spirit Squad, and various other moments that made him look like a loser.
Once the video ends, Ziggler cuts off Miz, he could have quit a long time ago but he’s still here because of the people who support him, the make a wish kids backstage. He mentions how he cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase a few years ago at Wrestlemania when he won the World title…that’s why he can’t walk away.
He’s come at a crossroads, and that is why he’s putting it all on the line. He will deliver on Sunday, he will become Intercontinental champion. Through all the hard work, the highs, the lows, it’s been a hell of a ride and he’s not done yet.
Miz says yes, you are. Say goodbye to everyone who’s supported you because your career will end at the end. He brings out, of all people, Kenny and Mikey from the Spirit Squad. They did a long cheer that basically told him he’d be at the unemployment line thanks to Miz. Miz said that there were more of them, but believe it or not they got lost in transit when they were sent back to OVW.
They eventually jump him, laying him out with their big parachute drop move. Mikey charges into a corner to finish the job but Dolph superkicks him and leaves them both laying. Miz comes in to lay out Ziggler but he reverses and Miz bails.
Wyatt was losing it backstage. Maybe he never had it to begin with.
Jason Jordan defeated Jey Uso
This didn’t last long, with Jordan scoring a roll up in a couple of minutes. Usos took both he and Gable out after the match, with the Usos going for their finish when Heath Slater and Rhyno came out, sending them their way.
Bray is now sitting in his chair, still mumbling. He says it’s nice to see you again Abigail, he’s ready to come home.
Orton comes back to the scene of the crime and unlocks the garage door. BUT SURPRISE, Bray isn’t there. He isn’t happy about that.
They showed clips of John Cena speaking out against Dean Ambrose on Talking Smack, leading to their face off later tonight.
Curt Hawkins had more facts for us to share, before revealing he’ll make his in ring return at No Mercy.
Jack Swagger defeated Baron Corbin by submission (kinda)
Corbin was in control for a lot of the match, including hitting the deep six. Swagger started to mount the comeback. Went for the Swagger Bomb, but Corbin got the knees up so instead he went for the ankle lock. The bell rang, but Corbin never submitted as he was going for the ropes and slamming his wrist on the floor, not his hand. That was a weird finish. Announcers were treating it like it was a bad call by the ref.
Needless to say, Corbin was mad afterwards, destroying stuff at ringside.
Time for the main event – lots of talking! AJ Styles came out to start. He says Smackdown Live is all about opportunity, and he agrees, as he became the face that runs this place. He had the opportunity to beat Dean Ambrose, and he did that too.
Dean Ambrose comes out and calls him a chump. He respects that he’s won a bunch of titles over the last fifteen years but when it came to the top title in the business, he took the low road. He’s mad right now because John Cena just had to come in and interfere. He couldn’t stand a lowlife like me winning the title. He should thank me for bringing the WWE title to Smackdown so he could even have a chance at breaking Ric Flair’s record.
This brings out John Cena. AJ told him to shut up and mentions the Ric Flair reign again. How dare you compare yourself to an icon, a legend like Ric Flair. I don’t care how many championship you won, you’ll never be in the same league as Flair. While you chase history John, I make it.
Ambrose says he knows what Cena is going to say. He’s gonna spin it around, make yourself look good because you’re the master of the political spin and why he’s in the match to begin with. Anyone who’s a threat to you, you cut their legs off. He’s tried to do that from day one. He’s hustled more in the ring than him, he knows he has no respect for him because he wasn’t one to kiss his ass and ask for advice.
He guesses if he wants to be a fake, plastic suck ass like him he’d rather be himself than the guy who plays John Cena on TV.
Cena says “talk is cheap” as he strikes Ambrose and lays him out with the AA, taking out AJ in the process. He poses with the WWE title but Styles spears him to the floor and lays him out with the Phenomenal Forearm. Styles poses with the title, but Ambrose blindsides him and takes the title, yes, posing with it to close out the show.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
This was a fine show. Not a lot of strong wrestling, but plenty of angles and good interviews to further storylines for No Mercy which, yes, is this Sunday. There’s way too much wrestling on TV these days, but Smackdown still emerges as a better show than Raw in that it does a better job of furthering angles and keeping thing concise in a two hour period than Raw does in three.
Submitted by Chance Treyger from the Palm Springs Convention Center
This is their first show here since July 2009. The entire crowd is on floor level with no risers due to the venue specs.
– Dolph Ziggler def. I-C Champion The Miz with Maryse in a non-title match. Miz cut a promo before the match, trashing the venue, saying he’s gonna show us what he’s gonna do to Dolph Ziggler at No Mercy. Maryse got ejected. Ziggler won via superkick.
– American Alpha & Hype Bros def. Vaudevillains and The Ascension after AA hit Grand Amplitude.
– Apollo Crews def. Curt Hawkins after hitting a spinout sitdown powerbomb. Crowd was dead, as very few cared for/knew Hawkins. Short match.
– Smackdown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch & Naomi def. Natalya, Alexa Bliss and Carmella. Lynch & Naomi won via submission as Lynch tapped Natalya with the Dis-arm-her.
– Baron Corbin def. Jack Swagger with a schoolboy pin
– Randy Orton def. Bray Wyatt after hitting an RKO
– Kane def. Tyler Breeze after hitting a chokeslam. Breeze wanted to take a “big red selfie” with Kane which led to the quick match and finish.
– Smackdown Tag Team Champions Heath Slater & Rhyno def. The Usos. Usos attacked pre-match, but the champs won after Rhyno hit a gore.
– WWE Champion AJ Styles def. John Cena and Dean Ambrose in a three-way. Styles used a steel chair on Ambrose as he was gonna hit Dirty Deeds on Cena. He then low-blowed Cena for the pin.
Styles cut a promo afterwards threatening to take Cena out with the belt before the PPV. Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds on AJ. Cena and AJ had a tug of war with the title, but Cena let go, AJ fell down, and Cena hit AA after he charged him.
Miss Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown or want to watch something again? Catch up on last night’s video highlights from a show that featured AJ Styles putting his WWE World Championship on the line against Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler putting his career on the line in an emotional challenge, and more build to the brand’s upcoming No Mercy pay-per-view.
Date: September 27, 2016 Location: Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH
The Big Takeaway —
AJ Styles retained his WWE World title in a great match by defeating Dean Ambrose after John Cena got involved. Cena laid out both men to end the show in a heated segment.
Speaking of heated, Dolph Ziggler will put his career on the line at No Mercy for a shot at The Miz’s IC title following a really good segment between the two in their hometown of Cleveland.
Show Recap —
The show started with a promo for the WWE World title main event.
Randy Orton came out to a pretty big reaction. He’s wearing track pants and has grey in his beard. Orton claimed Bray Wyatt was afraid, but that’s okay, because people are afraid of many things, like spiders and snakes. Orton said Bray was afraid of him, and called him out to face his fears.
Bray appeared on the screen, apparently ready for this. He told the story of Hansel and Gretel, called himself a god and omniscient being. He said the sands of time wait for no man and sang, “He’s got the whole world in his hands.” The screen went black, so Orton left the ring and stormed to the back.
Backstage, Charly Caruso asked Dean Ambrose for his thoughts. Ambrose said he had many thoughts, but it’s a PG show. He said AJ Styles has been bragging about beating John Cena, which is no big deal, because he did it last week. Styles beating Cena was old news, just like Cena was old news. Ambrose said he would break Styles’ face, make him cry, and take back his WWE World Championship.
8-Man Tag Match: The Usos & The Ascension defeated Heath Slater, Rhyno & American Alpha
The Usos have new music. They’re the only team that got an entrance. Jimmy = shirt, Jey = no shirt.
Gable used an armbar on Jimmy over the ropes, but Jey took him out from behind with a chop block to the bad leg. As they worked over Gable after a break, the crowd chanted “Rhyno” and “ECW.” The Ascension took out Jordan, so Rhyno took out the Ascension. That left Slater on the apron as the crowd chanted “Heath.”
Slater got the hot tag and ran wild on the bad guys. Everyone got involved, but it came down to Slater and the Usos. They attacked his leg, an Uso applied a Tequila Sunrise, and Slater tapped.
Charly Caruso asked John Cena, who will be at ringside for the title match, if he cares who walks out as champion. Cena said Ambrose at least has guts, unlike Styles. Either way, he would walk out of No Mercy as 16-time champion.
They showed Miz and Maryse backstage staring at a Cleveland Cavaliers championship banner. A stagehand came by with a Miz poster to cover up a poster of LeBron James and the crowd booed.
They cut elsewhere backstage to Orton searching for Bray’s dark room. There was an object on the wall in the form of an arrow, pointed toward the right. He tried turning it around thinking it might do something, perhaps open a door, but it didn’t. Orton left, but when they cut back to the arrow, it was pointed toward the right again, and Erick Rowan was standing there. After the break, Bray laughed and said Orton was always bad at taking direction.
Natalya & Carmella defeated Naomi & Nikki Bella
The heels worked over Naomi after Natalya gave her a Michinoku Driver on the floor. Ranallo talked about Naomi’s resilience as she fought back. JBL said, “It’s the glow!” and Otunga responded, “It’s definitely the glow.” Ugh.
Nikki made the hot tag and used shoulder tackles in the corner on Carmella. She turned around to nail Natalya with a forearm, but Carmella rolled her up for the win after about 10 minutes. This was bad. Carmella is terrible.
Backstage, Orton saw “One way out, choose wisely” written on the wall. There were two doors to choose from. He opened one and there was a cardboard cutout of Orton (with the eyes missing) behind the door. Orton opened the other door, and Rowan was standing behind waiting for Orton to enter. There was also a camera man back there, and they cut back and forth to make this feel as fake as possible. Orton outsmarted him. He closed the door, locking Rowan inside whatever room he was in.
The Miz’s Homecoming Celebration
Miz and Maryse entered to a huge fireworks display. Miz got a mixed reaction, and they played a video package of his career. Miz announced that he’s home and put over the Cavaliers winning “the NBA finals.” However, he turned on the crowd because the Cavs got 1.2 million people at their celebration and he didn’t. Miz called LeBron a traitor, and Miz was winning championships while LeBron was gone.
Miz welcomed his parents, who were in the front row. Maryse informed Miz that Dolph Ziggler’s parents were at ringside too. Miz told them they created an elite-level loser, so Ziggler stormed out. Maryse got between him and Miz. Ziggler grabbed a mic and told Miz he shouldn’t say anything about his parents or his city.
Miz said he’s already beaten Ziggler over and over, and Ziggler reminded him that he cheated over and over. Ziggler was about to leave, but Miz noted that the record books won’t show that he cheated, they’ll just show how many titles he’s won. Miz said Ziggler loses constantly now. He thought Ziggler’s career was embarrassing, and that his parents and friends should be embarrassed.
Miz said he was going to celebrate in Hollywood and left the ring. He passed Ziggler’s parents and told them, “You must be so proud.” Ziggler asked him to stop and called him Mike. Ziggler said Miz was right – the ring was all he had, but sometimes the things you love don’t love you back. Ziggler mentioned fans asking why he still does it, but he can’t stop himself.
Ziggler told Miz to put the title on the line one more time (the crowd chanted “one more time”) and Ziggler would put up his career. Miz wanted clarification that his career would be over–Ziggler can’t go to Raw or NXT or come back in 30 days. Ziggler said he’ll walk out as champion or he’ll be done. Either way, he’ll be out of his misery. Miz accepted (at No Mercy). I wasn’t looking forward to this feud continuing, but this was really good.
Backstage, Bray Wyatt is still waiting. “The door is open, Randy.”
Becky Lynch began making her entrance to the ring but was attacked from behind by Alexa Bliss. Bliss grabbed her title and told Lynch she doesn’t deserve it. The crowd booed and she tossed the title down.
Curt Hawkins promo. He’s making an announcement next week.
Bray is still waiting. He’s disappointed, and began yelling “Where you at, Randy?” Suddenly, Orton popped up behind Bray wearing a sheep mask. Bray turned around and Orton attacked him. Bray shoved him off and ran away. Orton chuckled, sat down, and put the sheep mask on. He began singing “he’s got the whole world,” but the camera started shaking and Bray re-appeared on the screen in the seat. They cut to the announcers who talked about how serious this was as the crowd chanted “New Day rocks.”
Caruso caught up to AJ Styles. Styles said he beat up Cena, then beat Cena. He beat up Ambrose, then beat Ambrose for the title. He’ll beat Ambrose again tonight.
WWE World Championship: AJ Styles defeated Dean Ambrose
Cena is on commentary. Ambrose was all over Styles and tossed him onto the announce table. JBL began sending it to commercial, but he was too early. Ambrose climbed back in the ring as Cena noted Ambrose can’t win the title on a countout, and then they did go to commercial. The world title is on the line and they scheduled a commercial break one minute into the match.
After a break, Cena talked about the importance of No Mercy, and acknowledged that he’ll go down as one of the all-time greats. Otunga asked about his other commitments getting in the way. Cena compared himself to Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson, because they were two-sport athletes. Cena, not a two-sport athlete, said he’s able to do two things at once and he’s not leaving anytime soon.
Ambrose was in control as they kept cutting back to Cena. Ambrose applied a Texas Cloverleaf, but Styles got to the rope. Ambrose followed with a suicide dive and flying elbow to the outside, and they went to commercial.
After the break, Styles targeted the leg and applied the Calf Crusher. Ambrose was in the hold a long time before breaking out by bouncing Styles’ head off the mat. They traded strikes leading to Ambrose hitting a chickenwing facebuster for a nearfall. Styles followed with a rack bomb for two.
Ambrose crotched him on the top rope and nailed a hard clothesline off the ropes for two. Styles came back with a back elbow and Pele kick, but missed a springboard 450. Ambrose followed with a flying elbow drop for a nearfall.
Ambrose tried a plancha, but Styles moved and nailed with a running knee strike. Styles tossed Ambrose back in the ring, then clobbered Cena with a forearm.
Cena jumped on the apron to go after Styles but the referee stopped him. Ambrose rolled up Styles but the referee was still distracted. The ref turned around and began the count, but Styles kicked out. Ambrose spilled out of the ring and knocked down Cena for costing him the match.
Ambrose jumped back in the ring, but Styles caught him in a rollup holding the tights for the pinfall victory.
Immediately afterwards, Cena jumped in the ring and he argued with Ambrose. Ambrose tried to hit Dirty Deeds, but Cena countered into an AA. Styles then tried to attack Cena from behind, but Cena got him with an AA as well. He held up the title as the announcers put over Cena chasing the record at No Mercy. Great stuff.
Final Thoughts —
Really good show thanks to a great world title main event and the segment between Miz and Ziggler. While the main event result might have been pointless thanks to the upcoming triple threat, they made the most of it and told a good story.
I wasn’t a fan of the Bray Wyatt/Randy Orton stuff.
Show opened with a Daniel Bryan video welcoming everyone to the show.
– Dolph Ziggler def. I-C Champion The Miz w/Maryse in a non-title match
Good match that went about 15 minutes. Ziggler won with a superkick after the Miz distracted himself when Maryse was ejected. Maryse slapped Ziggler twice, and he sold them like she was Mike Tyson. Crowd was really into this match.
– Baron Corbin def. Jack Swagger
Decent match that went about 10 minutes. Corbin was ripping a few fans because Penn State lost to Michigan in football the day before. A few false finishes, and Corbin ended up hitting Swagger with the End of Days. Crowd was pretty dead for this match.
– Hype Bros vs. The Ascension
The Ascension came out with mic with Konor letting the fans know that he’s from Michigan, getting Penn State football heat. Match went about 8 minutes. Ascension were getting the heat on Mojo. Zack came in after the hot tag and pinned Viktor with a sunset flip.
– A quick AJ Styles video package, and they announced that the main event would be a triple threat between him, Dean Ambrose, and John Cena.
– Smackdown Tag Team Champions Heath Slater & Rhyno def. American Alpha, The Usos and Breezango in a fatal four way
Wasn’t a bad match considering the total number of bodies in the match. It went about 11 minutes. American Alpha was in for a bit early, but otherwise weren’t doing much. Gable sold his knee. The heels took turns working over Slater until he could make the hot tag to Rhyno. AA busted up the pin, and the Usos attempted to do so as well, so they brawled and knocked themselves out of the match. Rhyno hit Tyler Breeze with the Gore for the win. Crowd was really into this match.
– Apollo Crews def. Erick Rowan (w/Bray Wyatt) by DQ
This wasn’t that great of a match. It went about 8 minutes. Rowan was jaw-jacking with the crowd a lot. Somebody tried to get a Husky Harris chant going, but was told to shut up by other fans. That made Bray laugh. Rowan controlled most of the match. Crews got to do a lot of his athletic flips, and went to the top rope when Bray attacked him for the DQ.
They were going to hit Crews with Sister Abigail, but Kane came down for the save. Rowan and Bray worked over Kane a bit, and as Bray was trying to hit Kane with Sister Abigail, Crews hit him with an Enziguri. Kane then chokeslammed Rowan. Crowd was pretty dead until Kane came out.
– Smackdown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch, Nikki Bella, and Naomi def. Carmella, Alexa Bliss, and Natalya
This went about 9 minutes. They gave Carmella a good bit of time in this match. The heels worked over Naomi for the heat. Becky ended up in the ring with Natalya after the hot tag. They did the “each participant knocks out a member of the opposing team” thing until only Natalya and Becky were left. Natalya tried a schoolboy, but Becky kicked out and turned it into a Dis-arm-her for the win. Faces went around the ring after the match taking photos and giving hugs to fans along the rail. Crowd was into this match.
– WWE Champion AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose vs. John Cena in a triple threat
This was a pretty good match that went about 17 minutes. Crowd was hot during Cena’s entrance which got the loudest reaction of the afternoon. They kept Cena out of the first half of the match by throwing him into the steps, but he ended up coming back into the ring to break up both a Calf Crusher and a pin after the Phenomenal Forearm. AJ hit Ambrose with a chair, then tried to hit Cena with it.
Cena caught the chair, threw it away, and AJ hit him with a low blow and the pin. Afterwards, it looked like AJ was going to hit Cena’s ankle with the chair, but Ambrose ran in, hit AJ with Dirty Deeds, and then gave him to Cena, who hit him with an AA.
– Dolph Ziggler defeated Intercontinental Champion The Miz w/ Maryse in a non-title match
Decent reaction for both, Miz got a lot of heat. Maryse got thrown out by the ref, and Ziggler picked up the victory after hitting a superkick.
– Apollo Crews defeated Erick Rowan
Slow match, Crews got a decent pop. Crews got the win after a roll-up.
– The Hype Bros defeated The Ascension
Almost no crown reaction when The Ascension came out. Slow match again. Hype Bros picked up the win, and got a nice reaction after the match.
– Kane defeated Bray Wyatt
The crowd was into both men. Wyatt teased hitting Sister Abigail, but Kane reversed it into a chokeslam to get the win.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions Heath Slater & Rhyno defeated American Alpha, Breezango and The Usos in a four-way tag match
– Baron Corbin defeated Jack Swagger
Crowd seemed very into this match to my surprise. Corbin beat Swagger with the End of Days. The crowd clapped for Swagger on the way out. Corbin got some heat throughout the match.
Nikki and Carmella went at it a couple times. Lynch got the win for her team.
– WWE World Champion AJ Styles defeated John Cena and Dean Ambrose in a triple threat match to retain his title
All three received good pops. This was a good match. Styles pinned Cena after a low blow to retain his title. After the match, Ambrose and Cena teamed up on Styles. Cena locked in the STF on him to send everyone home happy.
Miss Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown or want to watch something again? Check out last night’s video highlights from a show that featured John Cena taking on Dean Ambrose in the main event, The Miz defending his Intercontinental Championship against Dolph Ziggler, the return of American Alpha, a contract signing between Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss, and much more.
Date: September 20, 2016 Location: Legacy Arena in Birmingham, AL
The Big Takeaway —
Dean Ambrose beat John Cena clean in the main event. Ambrose will get a title rematch against AJ Styles next week on SmackDown.
The Miz successfully defended his Intercontinental Title once again over Dolph Ziggler.
Finally, The Usos defeated American Alpha to become number one contenders and will face Slater & Rhyno at No Mercy.
Show Recap —
Right off the top, they plugged Dean Ambrose vs. John Cena, as well as Miz defending the IC title against Dolph Ziggler as two big main events for tonight.
SmackDown Women’s Championship Contract Signing
Daniel Bryan led “Yes” chants in the ring to start things off. Bryan acknowledged how contract signings usually go, but said he wanted to keep this one civil. The crowd booed, and Bryan responded, “Don’t boo that,” which was funny.
He brought out Becky Lynch first and asked that she keep things civil, and the crowd booed again. Lynch said she would have on her thick skin. Alexa Bliss came out next and made cracks about Lynch’s appearance. Lynch said that while Bliss is preparing for pageants, Lynch was getting ready to fight.
Bliss claimed Lynch didn’t fit the role of champion, her role was someone who never quite gets to the top. She said Lynch would lose her title, because she was born to be a loser. The crowd chanted for Lynch, who said she watched too much TV and believed when they said she could do what she wanted.
Lynch said she poured her heart and soul into everything. She wasn’t born to be champion, she fought to be champion, and would rip off Bliss’ head if she thought otherwise. Bliss mocked her and said would win the title and expose Lynch as a one-hit wonder.
Bliss smacked Lynch with the clipboard, which knocked Lynch down somehow. Bliss signed the contract and tossed the table over on Lynch. Bliss left, but Lynch got up and attacked Bliss, who managed to run away. Bryan gave Lynch the contract and she signed it.
They announced The Usos vs. American Alpha in a number one contender’s match.
Miz and Maryse confronted Bryan backstage. Miz was pissed he had to defend the title tonight, even though he was content with his new contract. Bryan offered to cancel the match, but that would mean his contract gets cancelled too. Bryan let Miz know this little detail was in his contract, which Miz didn’t read. Bryan asked if Miz still had a problem and he begrudgingly said no.
Number One Contender’s Match: The Usos defeated American Alpha
Backstage, Jordan and Gable did a good little promo saying the Usos made things personal. Gable started out hot as soon as the bell rang, but the Usos eventually attacked his injured leg and took control. Jordan made the hot tag and hit each Uso with suplexes and running shoulder tackles.
Jordan tried a belly-to-belly off the middle rope, but the Usos knocked him down. Jey hit a superkick and Jimmy followed with a splash, but Gable just barely broke up the cover.
Jordan was about to tag Gable, but Gable’s leg gave out on the apron. Gable still wanted a tag, but Jordan decided to save his teammate and fight on alone. Bad idea. The Usos took out Gable, hit Jordan with superkicks, and a splash for the win after about 12 minutes. It’ll be Heath Slater & Rhyno vs. The Usos at No Mercy.
Backstage, Slater and Rhyno weren’t worried about the Usos. Rhyno was still eating crackers with cheese. Slater wanted to start a “Rhy-no” chant, in the vein of “Us-o.” Rhyno wasn’t into it. Usos interrupted and threatened to take out Slater’s leg. They also threatened Rhyno’s crackers, but he told them not to dare touch his crackers. Usos insulted Slater’s 26 raggedy-ass kids, so Rhyno smashed his own crackers and stood up for Slater. The Usos backed off.
They aired a Hispanic Heritage video, honouring Roberto Clemente.
Baron Corbin defeated Apollo Crews
Crews didn’t smile on his way to the ring. He lost in 3 minutes via End of Days. Jack Swagger was on commentary and said he joined SmackDown because he wanted to be champion. He had a brief staredown with Corbin after the match.
They showed Dean Ambrose getting ready for his match, behind a cage in a dark room.
They congratulated Rami Malek for winning an Emmy and aired another stupid Curt Hawkins video.
Charly Caruso interviewed Naomi and Nikki Bella. Naomi told Caruso that “the glow” was about confidence. She said Nikki had the glow, but Natalya lost it a long time ago and claimed Natalya would feel the glow tonight. Nikki said Carmella wanted to make a name for herself, but Nikki was in the fight of her life. She feels rebooted, and Carmella was nothing but a bootleg. Holy hell, this was dumb.
Elsewhere, a downtrodden Dolph Ziggler told Renee Young that he has to give it his all tonight. After running down the Miz, Ziggler talked about being a World Champion and now a Kent State hall of famer. Ziggler fired up and said he would take it all tonight.
They aired a commercial for WWE 2K17 using actual game footage, including Brock Lesnar and Goldberg fighting backstage. Chris Jericho wasn’t with them.
Intercontinental Championship: The Miz (w/Maryse) defeated Dolph Ziggler
Mauro Ranallo said that two of Ziggler’s four previous IC Title reigns started with wins over Miz. Miz again used Yes Kicks and running dropkicks as part of his offense. Crowd chanted “coward” at him. After a break, Miz tried a sunset flip powerbomb but couldn’t land it — so he actually did a springboard sitout powerbomb for a near fall. Ziggler followed with a fameasser for a near fall.
Maryse was about to pepper-spray Ziggler in the face, but the referee caught her and tossed her out. They traded rollups when Ziggler hit a Zig-Zag for a very close near fall. Miz crawled out of the ring, grabbed his title and began walking out, but Ziggler cut him off and tossed him into the steel steps.
Miz had the title on him when Ziggler tossed him back in the ring, so the referee and to put it away. As he did this, Miz sprayed Ziggler in the face and followed with the Skull Crushing Finale for the win.
The first half of the match was not good, but it picked up after commercial and the finish was pretty clever. This didn’t do Ziggler any favours, though. He hit his big move and Miz kicked out.
Otunga said Cena and Ambrose would be facing off for the first time. It’s not.
Randy Orton defeated Erick Rowan
The crowd chanted “Randy Orton.” He won in 2 minutes after a draping DDT and RKO.
Afterwards, Bray’s video went off and when they came back to the ring, Rowan had disappeared, but his mask was still there. Bray showed up on the screen and said Gods never die, I think.
Naomi & Nikki Bella defeated Natalya & Carmella via DQ
Only Naomi got an entrance. The match was shorter than her entrance. Natalya applied the Sharpshooter on Nikki right away, but Carmella–Natalya’s partner–pulled Nikki out of the ring to attack her and the ref called for the bell. Naomi kicked Natalya and checked on Nikki afterwards. This sucked.
Caruso asked AJ Styles about his rivalry with Cena and Ambrose. Styles correctly noted that he has no rivalry with them, because he’s beaten them both. He called himself the champ that runs the camp and superior in every way. He claimed they booked a triple threat because the only way he can lose the title is if he doesn’t get beat.
Dean Ambrose defeated John Cena
Ranallo clarified that this was the first match between these two on SmackDown. Ambrose didn’t get a notably different reaction than usual on the way out. Dueling chants for Cena to start the match.
After a break, Ambrose was all over Cena. Cena caught him in an STF but Ambrose crawled to the rope. Ambrose nailed a suicide dive and tried a diving elbow, but Cena caught him, rolled through and hit an AA for a near fall.
Cena hiked him up again for an AA, but Ambrose slipped out and hit Dirty Deeds for a near fall. They traded punches until Ambrose went for the rebound clothesline. Cena countered and tried for another AA, but Ambrose reversed into a rollup for the win. Match was only about 10 minutes.
Afterwards, AJ Styles laid out Cena with a flying forearm, then gave Ambrose a Pele kick in the ring. Daniel Bryan came out and informed Styles that Ambrose will get his one-on-one title rematch–next week on SmackDown. Crowd booed because they weren’t getting it now.
Styles tried to attack Ambrose again, but Ambrose nailed him with Dirty Deeds.
Final Thoughts —
This show was alright. The IC Title match was good, and Ambrose defeating Cena is pretty eventful. I didn’t really care for anything else on the show.
When they announced the main event, I wondered why it wasn’t just a number one contender’s match. Now that Cena lost, I’m not even sure why he’s getting a title match. He lost to Styles at SummerSlam, and Ambrose tonight.
