Jordan hit a Northern Lights suplex to score the pin.
– Baron Corbin defeated Jack Swagger
Much better than you would think. Corbin showed some personality. Swagger kicked out of the End of Days and Corbin kicked out of a Swagger Bomb. Corbin reversed an ankle lock and thumbed Swagger in the eyes for the win.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions Heath Slater & Rhyno defeated Breezango and The Usos in a triple threat match to retain their titles
Slater and Rhyno were over huge. Rhyno pinned Breeze after a Gore to retain the titles.
– Randy Orton defeated Bray Wyatt w/ Erick Rowan
Huge pop for Orton. Orton pinned Wyatt after an RKO in a decent match.
Lynch caught Natalya in an armbar for the submission.
– Apollo Crews defeated Intercontinental Champion The Miz w/ Maryse in a non-title match
Miz announced that it was day 166 of the Miz World Tour. After Maryse was caught interfering, she was sent to the back. Crews then quickly won with a spinning powerbomb.
– WWE World Champion AJ Styles defeated Dean Ambrose to retain his title
Styles was his usual phenomenal self, and Ambrose did his wacky facial expressions and mannerisms. Styles removed the top turnbuckle pad and rammed Ambrose’s head into it, then hit the Styles Clash for the pin. After the match, Ambrose hit the Dirty Deeds to send Styles to the back and then posed with the crowd.
After defeating Dean Ambrose for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Backlash, AJ Styles will defend the title for the first time at SmackDown’s upcoming No Mercy pay-per-view.
But it won’t be against just one challenger. It was announced during the opening segment of Tuesday night’s edition of SmackDown that Styles will face both John Cena and Dean Ambrose in a triple threat match for the title at No Mercy.
Styles opened the show with a promo gloating about winning the title at Backlash. Styles continued mocking John Cena, which led to Cena interrupting Styles and making his first appearance on television since SummerSlam.
Cena told Styles that he had something that belonged to him. Styles thought he meant the armband that he took after Cena exited the ring at SummerSlam, but Cena was referring to the title. Cena mentioned tying Ric Flair’s World Championship record by beating Styles, but Dean Ambrose came out and took exception to Cena getting the next shot after Styles had to low blow him to get the win at Backlash. Shane McMahon then came out and made the triple threat match for No Mercy.
No Mercy is scheduled for October 9th in Sacramento, CA.
They set up a pre-show match between Apollo Crews and Baron Corbin backstage. This promo in general was really bad between Corbin sounding as wooden as ever and Crews, after Corbin said something about a spelling bee, said he’d kick his A-S-S.
Orton/Wyatt is still being promoted in the pre-show.
Baron Corbin defeated Apollo Crews
Typical WWE style match, a bit quicker than usual. Not bad. Corbin got the heat, but Crews cut him off and started building towards a comeback but Corbin laid him out with an STO. Corbin missed a splash and Crews countered with an Angle slam. Crews kicked out of the deep six. Corbin missed a charge on the outside and hit the steps.
Crews hit a Samoan drop on the outside, rolled him in but when going to the top rope for a move Corbin rolled out of the way. Crews was going for punches on the top rope when Corbin struck him with a knee, and while Crews was recoiling walked right into the End of Days and was pinned.
They started off the PPV with a nice 9/11 tribute.
Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan came down to the ring to open the PPV. Shane thanked the fans and says it’s all about the WWE Superstars on SmackDown getting an opportunity. They run down the big title matches for tonight, then said the women’s title match would start now.
SmackDown Women’s Championship, Six Pack Challenge: Becky Lynch defeated Carmella, Natalya, Nikki Bella, Alexa Bliss and Naomi to become the first champion
Pretty good match. It was sloppy in parts, but everyone got to shine and looked good for what this match was. They pushed Nikki Bella and Carmella as the focal point of the match as they teased interactions with one another early on and reiterated Carmella’s heel turn in the last few weeks. Everyone was given a chance to hit some good looking spots. They did the tower of doom spot with Natalya powerbombing Nikki while suplexing Carmella. Naomi did a big springboard crossbody spot that wiped out everyone.
Assisted by Natalya, Naomi hit a blockbuster to eliminate Alexa Bliss. Not too long after that. Naomi went for a springboard but Nikki blasted her with a forearm and Natalya submitted her with the sharpshooter. Nikki hit Natalya with the forearm and pinned her, but right after she did Carmella did a sneaky roll up to eliminate her, leaving it between Carmella and Becky Lynch.
Carmella was aggressive, but Lynch trapped her in the disarmed her out of nowhere and Carmella submitted leaving Becky Lynch the winner and first SmackDown women’s champion.
Becky was interviewed after the match, with fans chanting “you deserve it”. You have believed in me in every step of the way, thank you. This is for every time there was a poster, or when you sang my song. She thanked the fans once more as her music played again.
Miz was backstage when he came across Nickelodeon star Jagger Eaton’s dressing room. The punchline was that he’d love to have Miz on his show, unless they can get John Cena. Miz got mad but had the door shut in his face before he could do anything.
Bray Wyatt was shown destroying Orton’s leg backstage, repeatedly slamming it on a door, then walked away. So there’s your storyline reason if the match doesn’t happen.
The Usos defeated The Hype Bros. to advance to the finals
This was fine, but not really much to talk about. As heels, Usos lose some of their hot moves and the Hype Bros. are just there. Usos have a brand new look, ditching the paint and colorful gear for black tights. Usos stalled a bit, but eventually got control after posting Zack shoulder first into the turnbuckle. Mojo hit the press slam as he and Ryder were going for their finish but one of the Usos took out Mojo. He got thrown into the barricade as Ryder hit the broski boot but the other Uso stopped his momentum as he leg was chopped. One of the Usos grapevined the arm and sunk in a Boston crab, the move that put Chad Gable out, and submitted Ryder.
Heath Slater and Rhyno were interviewed backstage. He said nothing will stop a Rhyno, that’s how good he was feeling. He then left, thinking that the interview was over, then came back. Heath said he had something going on in his stomach and asked if Rhyno was alright. Rhyno said we’re still live. Heath then joked, saying that he’s been swerved. Heath then acted like he pooped his pants. Always fun when the primary directive of your show is about humoring one person, leaving the rest to question why you do things like this when it almost never gets a reaction.
Miz is with Daniel Bryan backstage where we says he wants to renegotiate his contract. After he retains his championship tonight, it’ll make things more tougher so go back to your little cubby hole where I do what you can’t do anymore.
The Miz defeated Dolph Ziggler to retain the WWE Intercontinental title
Lame finish to what was a good back and forth match. Miz looked way better here than he has in the past.
Miz catapulted Ziggler to the outside and worked on him for a lot of the match. Just to show you how volatile WWE’s thinking is, they’ve gone from completely separating Daniel Bryan and Miz to making it the focal point of the match between he and Ziggler, with Miz taunting Bryan and even doing a yes chant at one point. Ziggler started to make the comeback. Miz hit a cool springboard powerbomb for a near fall. Miz works on Ziggler’s leg but Ziggler fires back with a famouser.
Ziggler locks in a sleeper but Miz runs Ziggler’s head into the turnbuckle. Ziggler went for a superkick but Miz blocked hit, hit a standing DDT and locked in the figure four. Ziggler gets to the ropes but Miz hones in right back on the leg. Ziggler hit a superkick out of nowhere but Miz got his foot on the ropes.
Maryse distracted Ziggler as they did back and forth roll ups. Ziggler made it to the ropes where Maryse sprayed him with what I guess was perfume or something, which allowed Miz to hit a distracted Ziggler with the Skull Crushing Finale for the win. So that makes it the upteenth time Ziggler has lost the big one. He’s kind of like a reverse Tomoaki Honma at this point as the more he loses, the less over he gets.
Bray Wyatt came out for the match, but a person at ringside handed a note to the announcer. He announced that Randy Orton could not be cleared tonight, and that Wyatt has demanded the referee to count to ten to officially make it a forfeit. The referee counted to ten and Wyatt was awarded the win.
BUT WAIT! The announcer says instead, Bray Wyatt will compete in a no holds barred match against this man….and this man was none other than Kane. Why is it a No Holds Barred match? And who wrote the note, Wyatt? Shane McMahon? Daniel Bryan? Wait, sorry, I thought about this for more than ten seconds.
Kane defeated Bray Wyatt in a No Holds Barred match
Okay brawl of a match. They didn’t do anything excessive and was perfectly safe aside from the few normal bumps this match entails.
They brawled around ringside to start, then entered the ring. Wyatt got a chair and pummeled Kane with shots. Wyatt went for the Sister Abigail on the chair but Kane powered out and dragged him back outside. Wyatt came back with a clothesline, laying out Kane. He put him on the announce table and hit a running splash, sending him through it.
Wyatt threw him back in the ring and hit the Sister Abigail but Kane countered with a chokeslam. Wyatt came back with a chokeslam of his own on the chair or a near fall. Suddenly, Orton emerged, his foot all wrapped up. He took out Wyatt with the RKO, which allowed Kane to get the win after the chokeslam.
AJ Styles was backstage when he came across two indie guys. He says you guys know my story. You guys are destined for failure, don’t let it bother you. You can say you met him, the face that runs the place, the Phenomenal AJ Styles became WWE World Champion.
Heath Slater and Rhyno defeated The Usos to become the first SmackDown Tag Team champions
Most of this match was pretty boring, but once Rhyno got the tag things picked up a bit.
Usos focused on Slater, isolating him from Rhyno. With them as heels, Usos are really just there, losing the flash they had as babyfaces. After what feels like forever, Slater collides into his opponent and they both make the tag. Rhyno runs wild and goes for the Gore but is pushed head first into the turnbuckle.
Slater hits neckbreakers on both Usos and hits a lifting DDT for a near fall. Jimmy Uso hits a superkick on Slater but walks into a Gore by Rhyno and Slater gets the pin. So Heath is not only employed, but also one half of the tag team champions.
The new champions are interviewed. Heath said this is one of the biggest nights of his life, next to a couple of his kids being born. He finishes the interview saying “BEULAH, WE’RE GETTING A DOUBLE WIDE BABY!”
AJ Styles defeated Dean Ambrose to win the WWE World championship
Pretty damn great main event. Really picked up during the second portion of the match with some good submission work and some crazy spots near the end.
Things started out tepidly as they did some brief back and forth. Styles exited the ring as Ambrose teased doing something, but AJ slid under Ambrose and sent him neck first to the middle rope, giving him control. Ambrose tried to rally a comeback, but Styles came back, only to miss a splash.
Ambrose tried to do something, but something seemed lost in communication as Styles was suplexed and landed chest first while Ambrose also fell hard. Some more back and forth. Styles tried to hook in the calf crusher but Styles countered and suplexed him into the turnbuckle.
Both men teased their finishes, but neither got it. Styles got Ambrose’s knee and started working on it. Styles got the calf crusher in but Ambrose made it to the ropes. He sunk it in again but Ambrose grabbed his head and smashed it to the floor repeatedly, freeing him.
Styles went for the Styles Clash but Ambrose managed to make it to the apron. Styles grabbed him but Ambrose countered and slingshotted him into the turnbuckle shoulder first. They make it back to the ring where Styles comes back with a flurry of offense. Styles hit the springboard 450 but Ambrose kicked out.
Ambrose made a comeback, dropkicking AJ through the ropes to the floor. Ambrose continued flinging him around like a ragdoll, throwing him into the announcers table then through the barricade. Ambrose took out Styles with a running clothesline as they brawled throughout the crowd.
They made it back to the ring where Ambrose went for the Dirty Deeds, but AJ pushed Ambrose into the ref. Seeing that the referee was down, Styles immediately low blowed Ambrose and hit the Styles Clash to pin Ambrose and win the title.
WWE Backlash, the first PPV of that name since 2009, will be the first brand split PPV of the new era. The build has been rather solid, but seems a bit rushed as SummerSlam is still fresh on everyone’s minds. Unfortunately, that isn’t changing anytime soon, given the rest of the year’s schedule.
The main event of the show will be AJ Styles getting another crack at the WWE title, this time challenging Dean Ambrose for the title. Getting a big win over John Cena at SummerSlam has cemented him as a top act on the brand, so it only makes sense to go in this direction while the iron is still hot. Whether or not he wins the title, however, is another story.
Ambrose is also pretty much cemented as a top guy on the blue brand for the moment. Timing is probably not on AJ’s side, but it could be if there are more rematches afoot in the coming months.
Your previewers with pick points to date:
Steve Khan (WWE SmackDown Live Recapper) (44 points)
Kevin LaRose (WWE Main Event and Total Divas Recapper)
JJ Williams (NXT/CWC Spoiler)
Winner Advances to SD Tag Title Match: The Usos vs. The Hype Bros
Bryan Rose: Usos finally turned heel in the last week. They needed that as while they’re a good team, they are just stale as hell in the role they’ve been in for years. This gives them some momentum, and I don’t see it being derailed by The Hype Bros., who I don’t think were even getting much of a push on NXT before being called up.
Winner: The Usos
Steve Khan: The Usos should win. They just turned, and the Hype Bros already lost to Slater & Rhyno on SmackDown.
Winner: The Usos
James Cox: Wouldn’t put it past them to put over the Hype Bros, but Usos should win.
Winner: The Usos
PeachMachine: This is a punishment match for the Usos. They must have irritated someone.
Losers: The Usos
Brian Hoops: Throw away match.
Winners: The Usos
Jeremy Peeples: Usos are getting a push, the Hype Bros are just another team…in a roster of maybe six teams – Usos win this easily.
Winners: The Usos
Paul Fontaine: Rhyno and Slater are winning the tournament and they’ve already wrested the Hype Bros, so we don’t need to see that match in the finals again. Logic says the Uso win, so of course….
Winners: Hype Bros
Kevin LaRose: The Hype Brothers are super over good guys, the Usos just destroyed the top contenders in the tournament, turning heel. The Usos are winning by nefarious means.
Winners: The Usos
JJ Williams: The Hype Brothers as Daniel Bryan calls them will be no match for the redundant Uso Brothers who are clearly on their way to the silver.
Winners: The Usos
Kyle S. Johnson: This is building to a Usos vs. American Alpha program. The Hype Bros are perfect fodder for getting over a newly-turned heel team.
Winners: The Usos
Ryan Frederick: There is a clear direction of going to an Usos vs. American Alpha program and this is just a throwaway match added to the card to fill time. Usos win and advance.
Winners: The Usos
Smackdown Women’s Championship: Alexa Bliss vs. Becky Lynch vs. Carmella vs. Naomi vs. Natalya vs. Nikki Bella
Bryan Rose: This will probably not be pretty. Any time a women’s match goes beyond 3 or more people it probably isn’t going to turn out good. In terms of who’s winning the title, Becky makes the most sense, but they could also go with Nkki. No one is really strong on a heel side, so makes sense you go with one of those two. I’ll go with Becky.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Steve Khan: After tapping out on SmackDown, I can see Nikki going heel, but I’m not sure how that plays into this match. They won’t have Lynch win just yet but they do need to establish the new title. I’ll go out on a limb, I guess, and say Natalya.
Winner: Natalya
James Cox: I think it’s Becky Lynch’s time, but I see it going down to her and Nikki.
Winner: Becky Lynch
PeachMachine: Bliss sucks. Lynch is the worst performer on the roster. Carmella is lost alone. Naomi’s entrance is rad. Natalya is fantastic… but I’m picking Nikki because of the Total Bellas TV show.
Winner: Nikki Cena
Brian Hoops: Another match that no one will care about. Natalya is the only one that can carry the match and resemble a credible champion.
Winner: Natalya
Jeremy Peeples: Nikki is getting the biggest overall push of the group, but she’s a part-timer, so I don’t see her getting it until Cena’s back. Becky seems logical, but it would also make sense for her to be frustrated by losing a lot and turn heel. That would be awful for her character, so I’m going with a win for her in this “history-making” match.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Paul Fontaine: The promo “battle” to kick off Smackdown did something I didn’t think was possible…it made me less interested in this match. I’m fairly certain that Nikki Bella takes this bout for some reason though and ends up feuding over the belt with Carmella.
Winner: Nikki Bella
Kevin LaRose: Nikki came back on the heel team at Summerslam, while Carmella was on the good team. Now Carmella is heel for attacking Nikki Bella for no reason. This could only mean one thing: Naomi is winning.
Winner: Naomi
JJ Williams: Launching a new title on a brand that needs strong babyface characters for both television and live events says this is the perfect time to reward Becky Lynch for her past couple years work.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Kyle S. Johnson: This one is absolutely a toss-up. Becky should get it, but it seems almost as likely that the belt would wind up on Nikki.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Ryan Frederick: If it were me, I’d put the title on Becky Lynch. I don’t see them doing that, though, at least not right now. Nikki Bella has been pushed the hardest since she came back, and it seems like she’s the choice to win.
Winner: Nikki Bella
Intercontinental Championship: The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler
Bryan Rose: The Miz retains. Dolph Ziggler is pretty much useless as a character. He cuts promos like he’s a main eventer but never pulls off the wins to attain the status of one. Unless they just don’t care about this title right now, Miz is probably retaining.
Winner: The Miz
Steve Khan: Ziggler losing again would suck for him, but Miz has some momentum for once, so I’ll go with Miz retaining.
Winner: The Miz
James Cox: I think it’s time for a switch, Miz has had the title for a long time now. He doesn’t need it.
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
PeachMachine: There’s no point to this feud. Thus no winner is necessary.
Winner: Alan4L
Brian Hoops: The fact they have moved on from Apollo Crews so quickly tells you volumes what WWE thinks of his upside. Would make zero sense to take the title off the Miz and a clean loss to the Miz for Ziggler drops him to entry level status.
Winner: The Miz
Jeremy Peeples: These two have had good chemistry before, but this just feels like a rushed program with no real reason to exist. There is one Miz match people want and we’re not getting it, so the winner here doesn’t seem important.
Winner: The Miz
Paul Fontaine: Miz might as well keep this belt until Daniel Bryan comes back to wrestle or forever, whichever comes first. Ziggler should be in next year’s BOLA tournament or something.
Winner: The Miz
Kevin LaRose: Ziggler is passing by the Miz now on his trip back down the card. Wave goodbye to the Main Event, Dolph.
Winner: Miz
JJ Williams: It isn’t the time to take the Intercontinental title off The Miz yet, Dolph needs a good match here as well to make people care if this is all leading to a burn out heel turn down the line.
Winner: The Miz
Kyle S. Johnson: Miz is suddenly one of the most talked-about guys on Smackdown, which in and of itself would almost indicate that WWE now decides to take the IC belt off of him. Miz should win the match by nefarious means, and this feud will probably continue.
Winner: The Miz
Ryan Frederick: The Miz has a lot of momentum and it seems like the angle is going towards Dolph Ziggler turning heel because he can’t win when it counts. I see Miz cheating his way towards victory.
Winner: The Miz
Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt
Bryan Rose: Here’s the gist of their feud: Bray Wyatt talked. Randy Orton responded by talking and telling a story about a snake. Here we are. Doesn’t feel compelling in any way, shape or form. Probably some sort of lame finish to continue the feud. Let’s go with Bray?
Winner: Bray Wyatt
Steve Khan: This feud will likely continue which points to a win for Bray, but Orton needs a win after SummerSlam.
Winner: Randy Orton
James Cox: Orton should win to save face after that SummerSlam finish.
Winner: Randy Orton
PeachMachine: They should just put the Bo Dallas and Wyatt together and watch their real life drama unfold.
Winner: Irwin R. Schyster
Jeremy Peeples: Orton needs to rebound from Brock, and Bray can lose any match as long as he says spooky things afterwards. Bray can win when Harper returns.
Winner: Randy Orton
Brian Hoops: After the beating he took at SummerSlam, WWE owes Orton to squash Wyatt.
Winner: Orton
Paul Fontaine: First match of a feud that’s probably going to have go through Survivor Series. The heel should win and Orton should have enough control over his own program to make that happen. I like Luke Harper returning to help cost Orton the bout.
Winner: Bray Wyatt
Kevin LaRose: Wyatt’s alway running around trying to bring the evil out of his opponents. Someone needs to bring the evil out of Wyatt. Wyatt loses. Dejected, he goes on a Spirit Quest, eating gelato, going on dates, and praying. He finds himself.
Winner: Randy Orton
JJ Williams: As with most talents coming out of a program with Lesnar, we are going to act like their last program didn’t happen. Randy Orton will win and move on to the title picture.
Winner: Randy Orton
Kyle S. Johnson: Is it possible for both guys to win? Because god knows that both Bray and Randy both could use one here. Given that Orton’s most recent claim to fame was being beaten to near-death and bled dry by Brock Lesnar, he probably needs it just a bit more.
Winner: Randy Orton
Ryan Frederick: Randy Orton needs the win more after Summerslam and this is likely the first match of a series. Bray can always lose and it not kill him, but he should be kept strong in a losing effort. Going with Orton to win this time.
Winner: Randy Orton
Smackdown Tag Team Championship: Heath Slater and Rhyno vs. TBD
Bryan Rose: I’m guessing it’s gotta be Slater and Rhyno, right? Makes sense considering they wrote Gable and Jordan out of the finals. Though it doesn’t make any sense for the Usos to do a job early, but whatever. The Slater stuff has been the most interesting part of Smackdown so far.
Winner: Heath Slater and Rhyno
Steve Khan: I figure it’ll be the Usos in the finals. Maybe they’ll cheat to win and delay Slater getting a contract, but taking American Alpha out of this spot was obviously by design, so I’ll go with Slater & Rhyno. Perhaps Jordan (and Gable) will interfere to cost the Usos.
Winner: Heath Slater & Rhyno
James Cox: Credit to Slater, he’s really made the most of his position and the stuff they’ve given him.
Winner: Heath Slater & Rhyno
Jeremy Peeples: Rhyno and Slater have great chemistry and solid momentum – they should win this.
Winner: Slater and Rhyno
PeachMachine: It’s gotta be the Ascension.
Winner: Ascension
Brian Hoops: Good storyline with Slater, I say keep it going.
Winners: Slater/Rhyno
Paul Fontaine: Slater and Rhyno are the best thing on Smackdown, besides Talking Smack, and maybe my favorite thing on the main roster right now. They absolutely deserve the titles. That said, I suspect they somehow lose, continuing the storyline of Heath trying to get a contract. Maybe Rhyno turns on him or something.
Winners: Hype Bros (oh, and Peach is an idiot)
Kevin LaRose: The stakes couldn’t be higher. The whole world wants to see Slater in a brand new above ground pool. WWE isn’t that cruel as to deny us that.
Winners: Slater/Rhyno
JJ Williams: The now heel Usos will cheat to win the greatest prize in the historic Smackdown tag team division’s history against the lovable team of Heath Slater and The Rhyno. After all those weeks of actually being a tag team, it just wasn’t enough to beat the lifetime tag partners.
Winners: The Usos
Kyle S. Johnson: The “Slater must win or he doesn’t get a contract” stip might resonate a bit more if WWE didn’t break stips like they were crackers at communion. Usos will win the belts, Slater and Rhyno will get signed anyway, the world keeps on spinning.
Winner: The Usos
Ryan Frederick: They have something here with this Heath Slater angle. I have the feeling they’ll keep it going by having them lose here, but maybe Slater is the guy to beat Miz to get on the show. The Usos by cheating to further cement their heel turn.
Winners: The Usos
WWE Championship: Dean Ambrose vs. AJ Styles
Bryan Rose: Well, I dunno. Personally I think Smackdown should be headed by Styles as champion. He has all the momentum in the world after beating John Cena clean at SummerSlam, and it just feels like the right moment to do it is here at Backlash. Ambrose has been fine as champion, but nothing out of this world. AJ consistently working Smackdown main events I think is the best thing to do at the moment, but since WWE doesn’t normally book like that…hell, I dunno. I’ll go with Styles anyway
Winner: AJ Styles
Steve Khan: This should be interesting. The real World Champion against the guy who beat the face of the company. Styles should be the champion even if there was only one brand, but it also seems too early to take the title off Ambrose. This is the first split-brand PPV, so they should really start off strong, and that could be good news for Styles.
Winner: AJ Styles
James Cox: Ambrose really surprised me on the Stone Cold podcast; I wouldn’t want him as my babyface champion if that’s how he’s going to be. Styles is fantastic, it’s time.
Winner: AJ Styles
PeachMachine: This should be a hair match. Both men have horrible hair, especially Ambrose who is slowly losing it to time.
Winner: Mother nature.
Jeremy Peeples: Styles is the best overall act in the company, while Dean is pretty ice-cold after the Dolph program that saw each man shine and yet their stock plummeted. AJ should win this and become the only man to win the TNA, IWGP, and WWE Titles.
Winner: AJ Styles
Brian Hoops: Only match that has any intrigue. Beating Styles clean in this match removes any intrigue for future matches. They need to keep both guys strong and build to a rematch. Styles should be the champion and let Ambrose chase him for the title in a series of rematches. To make a statement on the first brand split PPV, look for a title change.
Winner: AJ Styles
Paul Fontaine: I’m going with the upset and a new champion here. Ambrose has been slacking it for months now and it may be because he knew this was coming. AJ should get a good run before dropping the belt to Cena at the Rumble.
Winner: AJ Styles
Kevin LaRose: Dean Ambrose is the Bruce Willis of WWE. That’s cool. I like his attitude.
Winner: AJ Styles
JJ Williams: This match is a test for AJ Styles to see if he can get yet another great match out of a WWE sculpted superstar. Can’t see them taking the title off Ambrose this soon after putting him over both Rollins and Reigns clean so recently, could see them stretching this program out and possibly adding Cena in to make it a triple threat in the coming months so for now I’m going with Dean Ambrose to retain.
Winner: Dean Ambrose
Kyle S. Johnson: Despite reasonable doubt, AJ Styles became a top guy in WWE by sheer virtue of being one of the best wrestlers on the planet. Along the way, he’s also become one of the company’s most entertaining and compelling acts, and he seems to get more and more comfortable on the microphone and in long segments as each week passes. Dean has been a bit flat of late, and I can’t see AJ eating a pin this early into what should be a huge hot streak that builds to the return of John Cena.
Winner: AJ Styles
Ryan Frederick: I’m torn on this one. Dean Ambrose is perfectly fine as champion, but AJ Styles is the biggest star they have on Smackdown. They have the face that runs the place angle going, and Styles should win the title this time. It’s not the last time we see these two square off.
Les Thatcher is still hurting this week, but he’s tougher than a $2 steak, so he’s back with Vic Sosa this week to discuss WWE Backlash and answer your questions from the mailbag!
We’ll start with Backlash and what feels like a lack of hype and/or interest in the first single brand show of the “new era.” Should AJ Styles or Dean Ambrose be WWE Champion? And how has Ambrose done on TV since becoming the leader of the blue brand?
Also in the mailbag today: wrestlers looking at the ref while they’re being covered (24:34), which brings up a couple of pet peeves and things Les is sure to mention when training future superstars, and should the WWE begin airing shows from independent promotions on the WWE Network (32:31)?
We’ll also share some thoughts on CM Punk (36:04) stepping into the Octagon. Is he doing exactly what he felt was done to him when The Rock returned to main event WrestleMania twice?
Though Tuesday’s SmackDown didn’t feature Daniel Bryan and The Miz interacting directly, Miz defended himself against Bryan’s critical comments from last week’s Talking Smack.
But he was interrupted by Dolph Ziggler, which led to a match between the two for Miz’s Intercontinental title at Backlash being announced later on this week’s post-show.
The Hype Bros vs. The Vaudevillains
The tournament to crown the first SmackDown Tag Team Champions of the new era continued with The Hype Bros facing The Vaudevillains. And it was Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley who advanced after hitting the HypeRyder on Aiden English.
Apollo Crews vs. AJ Styles
Ahead of his championship match against Dean Ambrose at Backlash, AJ Styles got a win over Apollo Crews with the Phenomenal Forearm.
Renee Young visits Heath Slater
In an absurd segment, Renee Young visited Heath Slater and his “wife” at their trailer. Rhyno was there as well, and Young asked them about their quest to win the tag titles as Rhyno snacked on crackers and spray cheese.
More Curt Hawkins facts
Another video hyping Curt Hawkins’ impending SmackDown debut aired, citing more facts about Hawkins.
Becky Lynch & Naomi vs. Natalya & Alexa Bliss
Four of the competitors in the Backlash six-pack challenge for the SmackDown Women’s Championship faced off in a tag team match.
Carmella once again attacked Nikki Bella as she was doing commentary for the match, and Alexa Bliss capitalized on that by pinning Becky Lynch as she was distracted.
Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton is set for Backlash
After interrupting Randy Orton last week, Bray Wyatt targeted Orton in a promo of his own on Tuesday. Wyatt said Orton was only a mortal, and Brock Lesnar exploited all of his flaws at SummerSlam. He claimed that Orton had all of his fears exposed in that match.
Orton came out to the ring, saying that he has been damaged for some time. Orton accepted Wyatt’s challenge for a match at Backlash, but said he’s not afraid of him.
Kane returns
Kane made his return to SmackDown and destroyed Gary “The Milkman” Millman in the process.
Heath Slater & Rhyno vs. The Headbangers
The Headbangers returned to WWE for the first time in over 15 years, but were defeated by Slater and Rhyno. Slater’s hopes of joining the SmackDown roster and winning the tag titles were kept alive as they advanced in the tournament.
Dean Ambrose vs. Baron Corbin
SmackDown’s main event ended in a disqualification when AJ Styles accidentally hit Baron Corbin instead of Ambrose. Styles and Ambrose didn’t wait for their match at Backlash to get physical, with Ambrose crotching Styles over the ropes as the show went off the air.
SmackDown fallout: Is this it for The Headbangers?
The Headbangers were asked if their time back in WWE was over after being knocked out of the tag team tournament, but they didn’t seem to know the answer either.
SmackDown fallout: Kane denies an interview
Kane refused to comment on his demolition of The Milkman.
SmackDown fallout: Heath Slater is one step closer to a SmackDown contract
Slater and Rhyno were interviewed in the ring about their win, and Slater vowed to upgrade his trailer to a double-wide if he wins the titles and joins the SmackDown roster.
Date: August 30, 2016 Location: American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX
The Big Takeaway —
Despite what was advertised for the show, Daniel Bryan only barely addressed the situation with Miz. On Talking Smack, Bryan made an IC Title match for Backlash, with Miz defending against Dolph Ziggler.
The Headbangers did return, but promptly lost to Heath Slater and Rhyno.
Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt was made official for Backlash.
John Cena was once again absent from SmackDown.
Show Recap —
They showed what happened on Talking Smack last week right off the bat. The clip started with Daniel Bryan calling Miz a coward in the ring followed by Miz’s response. They seemed to play it in full after that, including Miz telling Bryan to go back to the indies and Bryan saying he would return if “they” would let him.
They cut to Shane McMahon and Bryan standing backstage. Shane told Bryan he owed Miz an apology because he can’t provoke talent like that, even if he agreed with Bryan, and told him not to get so involved with the talent. Bryan said maybe he won’t be so honest next time, but called this advice ironic considering Shane’s involvement with Brock Lesnar.
After the SmackDown intro, Miz marched to the ring (before he music even started) with Maryse. The crowd booed him heavily. Miz yelled at the fans for booing him. He said there’s nothing wrong with his style, that he’s smarter and better than the guys getting hurt, that he deserves respect for being IC champion and for all the appearances he does for the company. He added that it wasn’t right that the fans didn’t like him just because he didn’t spend years on the indies.
He called the fans cowards until he was interrupted by Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler said the crowd sees right through Miz, because the rest of them love this business, but Miz just wants to be famous. Ziggler said Miz had the opportunity to prove them wrong every night, then challenged Miz to a fight – no title on the line, no referees, no ring bell. The crowd chanted Yes.
Miz teased that he would accept the fight, but left instead. Ziggler said Bryan was right to call him a soft coward. Miz began marching back down the apron but Maryse stopped him as the crowd chanted “coward.”
They announced Dean Ambrose vs. Baron Corbin for the first time ever for tonight.
Tag Team Tournament Match: Hype Bros defeated The Vaudevillains
Hype Bros won in just under 3 minutes with the Hype Ryder. After the match, Ryder and Mojo told Charly Caruso that they would win the tag titles because they stay hype.
They showed tournament brackets with the Headbangers listed, which is the first time they were referenced on the show.
A very cheerful AJ Styles walked around backstage, wearing John Cena’s headband. He ran into Apollo Crews, but didn’t appear to know his name. Crews spelled it out for him. AJ mocked him for doing that and walked away as Crews just stood there.
Styles came to the ring as the ring announcer let us know that he wants to be referred to as “the face that runs the place.” The crowd chanted for Styles, who said he was going to beat up Dean Ambrose and become champion. He was interrupted by Crews.
Styles was annoyed, and asked if he was out there for another spelling B. Crews said he went to Bryan and got a match with Styles right now.
AJ Styles defeated Apollo Crews
There was a “Beat up Crews” chant as the match started. Crews got a couple of moments to shine, but Styles won in about 7-8 minutes with the Phenomenal forearm.
They aired a pre-taped video of Renee Young visiting Heath Slater’s home over the weekend. Slater introduced her to Rhyno, who was just standing there. He also introduced her to the love of his life – Beulah. (The joke, of course, is that she isn’t particularly attractive. She even burped at one point.) She served them crackers with spray cheese.
Slater told Renee that not getting drafted was just an oversight. As Renee continued the interview, they showed Rhyno drawing a sad face on a cracker. Renee asked Rhyno why he’s teaming with Slater and he just shrugged. Slater said they would upgrade to a double-wide if they win the tournament. They also said his kids were in the backyard picking up cans. Anyway, this was pretty dumb.
They announced Rhyno & Slater against the returning Headbangers for later tonight. (So far, they’re acting as though we already knew about the Headbangers’ return.)
Bray Wyatt promo
Bray said he doesn’t fear snakes or monsters, because he is fear. Orton is just a man who believes he has venom in his veins. Bray went on about Orton getting beat by Brock Lesnar as the crowd chanted “what” at him.
Orton interrupted and got some “Randy” chants. Orton said the voices in his head were wondering who Bray thinks he is. Orton said he wasn’t damaged because of the staples in his head, he’s been damaged a long time and it’s part of his charm.
Bray said he, not Orton, was the predator and would cut the head off the snake at Backlash. Orton said Bray couldn’t play games with him, and mentioned being dropped on thumbtacks by Cactus Jack and his battles with Undertaker.
Orton said the worst scars were internal and accepted the match at Backlash. Orton said he wasn’t afraid of kicking his ass and jumped in the ring, but Bray’s creepy video went off and the segment ended.
They announced Daniel Bryan would be on SportsCenter tomorrow at 9 PM.
Nikki Bella was on commentary and called herself the “living Wonder Woman.” They showed Carmella attacking her last week on SmackDown and Talking Smack. Nikki said, “Ugh, hard to watch,” so Otunga had to follow up to get more out of her. Nikki said Carmella is trying to make a name for herself.
They went to commercial almost immediately after entrances, but not before they had Nikki plugging Total Bellas.
They got the heat on Naomi as Lynch led the crowd in a “Naomi” chant. Lynch came in on the hot tag and ran wild on Bliss, although the two of them did not work well together. Carmella suddenly appeared (through the crowd) to attack Nikki, and Bliss used the distraction to roll up Lynch for the win. Lynch and Naomi checked on Nikki after the match.
They aired a video package for the Headbangers. There was also another one for Curt Hawkins.
Tag Team Tournament Match: Heath Slater & Rhyno defeated The Headbangers
Otunga said the Headbangers must have ring rust because they haven’t been in WWE in 16 years. The crowd didn’t seem to care about them, but they did like Slater and Rhyno. The Headbangers got the heat on Slater and knocked Rhyno off the apron. They hit a powerbomb/leg drop combo on Slater, but Rhyno broke up the cover. Rhyno was bleeding from a cut above the eye. He dragged Slater to their corner, made the tag, and hit a Gore for the win.
The next round of the Tag Team Tournament will feature American Alpha vs. The Usos, and Hype Bros vs. Heath Slater & Rhyno.
AJ Styles was on commentary for the main event, but there was a random man in a suit in the ring who introduced himself as Gary “The Milkman” Millman. He cut a purposely bad promo saying he’s been granted a chance to compete tonight and demanded an opponent. He disrobed down to his underwear when Kane came out to give him a chokeslam. As Kane left, Baron Corbin made his entrance, and the two men crossed paths.
Non-Title Match: WWE World Champion Dean Ambrose defeated Baron Corbin via DQ
Near the end of the match, Corbin tossed Ambrose into the barricade. Styles got up from commentary and told Corbin to stay on Ambrose. Corbin confronted Styles, but Styles responded, “You better get out of my face.” Ambrose pushed Corbin into Styles.
Back in the ring, Corbin countered a Dirty Deeds and tossed Ambrose toward the ropes. Styles tried to kick him, but Ambrose ducked and he caught Corbin instead for the DQ. Ambrose immediately attacked Styles and they brawled.
Corbin got involved so Ambrose gave him a Dirty Deeds. Styles was about to attempt a Phenomenal forearm, but Ambrose crotched him, and bounced him up and down on the rope. Ambrose gave him a little slap on the face and walked off with his belt. Weird ending.
Final Thoughts —
There were some bright spots, but I didn’t think this show was particularly good.
– Enzo Amore & Big Cass defeated The Vaudevillains
– Intercontinental Champion The Miz defeated Darren Young and Titus O’Neil in a triple threat match to retain his title
– Golden Truth, Sin Cara, & Jack Swagger defeated The Shining Stars & The Ascension
Goldust had a great comedy bit where he hit an atomic drop on the whole heel team and then stopped himself from doing it to R-Truth. R-Truth pinned one of The Ascension to pick up the win. A lot of comedy in the match.
– Kane defeated Baron Corbin by DQ
For the finish, Baron Corbin threw Byron Saxton off of his chair and hit Kane in the leg with it for the DQ. After the match, he got in the ring and was laid out by Kane with a chokeslam.
– Dolph Ziggler defeated Sheamus
Dolph Ziggler got a good response from the crowd. He eventually won with a superkick that didn’t quite hit its mark after Sheamus kicked out of a Zig Zag.
– Becky Lynch & Alicia Fox defeated Natalya & Dana Brooke
Becky Lynch won with the Dis-Arm-Her on Dana Brooke to a huge pop.
– Chris Jericho defeated Neville
Chris Jericho got a big reaction when making his entrance, but immediately cut a promo to get heat on himself. Great stuff, dumping on the city and Shawn Michaels.
They messed around with Jericho’s scarf for a while and then Jericho played keep away, running in and out of the ring until they finally started going at it. Big crowd response when they thought they were getting the Red Arrow, but eventually Jericho hit a Codebreaker for the win.
– WWE World Heavyweight Champion Dean Ambrose defeated Bray Wyatt and AJ Styles in a triple threat match to retain his title
Good reactions for all three guys, especially for AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose. Styles and Bray Wyatt spent a lot of the match double teaming Ambrose until Wyatt turned on Styles. Ambrose eventually hit the Dirty Deeds on Wyatt for the win.
After picking up a definitive win over John Cena at SummerSlam, AJ Styles will be the next challenger for Dean Ambrose’s WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Styles defeated Dolph Ziggler in a match to determine the main event of Backlash on Tuesday night’s edition of SmackDown. If Styles won he would face Ambrose one-on-one, but if Ziggler won he would be included in a triple threat match.
Styles will challenge Ambrose for the title on September 11th. Backlash is the first SmackDown-exclusive pay-per-view following the WWE Draft.
The match will be Styles’ fourth time challenging for the championship after competing in this year’s Royal Rumble match for the title and coming up short against Roman Reigns earlier in the year at Payback and Extreme Rules.
Styles has yet to be given a run with any title since joining the company in January. Ambrose originally won his championship at Money in the Bank after cashing in the title opportunity he won earlier in the night to defeat Seth Rollins.
It’s the biggest party of the summer, and we’re all invited!
It’s SummerSlam, the traditional August pay-per-view WWE has held since 1988, and it feels like the biggest one yet with six hours of sports entertainment, including the two-hour kickoff show (and let’s not forget most PPVs now have overruns).
The three biggest matches are Dean Ambrose defending the WWE title against a rejuvenated Dolph Ziggler, Finn Balor squaring off against Seth Rollins for the new WWE Universal title, set to be the top title on Raw, and Brock Lesnar facing Randy Orton.
Carmella, Becky Lynch and Naomi vs. Natalya, Alexa Bliss and ???
– Bryan Rose: Sounds like just filler on a show that has a ton of it. Probably won’t be bad. We’re just running in place until they decide to do something for the title that’s coming. It would have been easy for Eva to get a cheap win here, but with her gone you might as well just have Becky or another face get the win.
Winners: Carmella, Becky Lynch & Naomi
– Ryan Frederick: It’s something to get the SmackDown Live women some attention, but I think this will be an angle to see how Eva Marie can avoid wrestling once again. I pretty much see this as a handicap match and the faces going over.
Winners: Carmella, Becky Lynch & Naomi
– James Cox: Eva getting popped this week means they either bring someone in like Nikki Bella and the heels go over or they just revert and go with the babyfaces.
Winners: Carmella, Becky Lynch & Naomi
– Steve Khan: I would’ve gone with the heel team if Eva was still in it, but the faces should probably win now.
Winners: Carmella, Becky Lynch & Naomi
– Brian Hoops: With Eva out of the match, history suggests WWE should put over the new participant and her team.
Winners: Natalya, Alexa Bliss & ???
– Jeremy Peeples: Eva is gone, which does hurt the interest a bit since they’ve been holding off her return. The babyfaces should win this – but they won on SD, which hurts their chances and it could get a new heel over with a win.
Winner:s Natalya, Alexa Bliss & ???
– Gary Mehaffy: I figure they’ll put over Carmella In NYC, but who can ever tell!
Winner: Carmella, Becky Lynch & Naomi
– Paul Fontaine: Becky is likely the biggest star of the 6 women in the match and Carmella is a local so it seems likely their team will get the win.
Winners: Carmella, Becky Lynch and Naomi
– Kyle S. Johnson: I would presume that the faces were going to win this match before Eva got suspended, and so I don’t imagine that this would change.
Winners: Carmella, Becky Lynch and Naomi
Cesaro vs. Sheamus (Match number one of their best-of-seven series)
– Bryan Rose: I’ve seen these two wrestle long matches on Raw. So now I get to see it seven more times, lucky me. Sheamus lost both, so I guess it’s his turn to win. Yay.
Winner: Sheamus
– Ryan Frederick: I don’t really care for a best-of-seven between these two, but it keeps them busy. Cesaro already has two wins over Sheamus before the best of seven series, and past logic when it comes to these types of things is the heel goes over in the first match. So, Sheamus wins I guess. Cesaro deserves to be higher up.
Winner: Sheamus
– James Cox: I think this could actually be a pretty good set of matches, but no one will care too much. It just essentially ties them into a program for a few months. Cesaro should win the war, but Sheamus will probably win the battle here.
Winner: Sheamus
– Steve Khan: It seems obvious that Sheamus will start this series with the advantage, but Cesaro can win the first one and Sheamus can win the next two, or something.
Winner: Cesaro
– Brian Hoops: Cesaro deserves better but at least this is something. I look for Sheamus as the heel to gain an advantage and Cesaro come back to win the series.
Winner: Sheamus
– Jeremy Peeples: This is the definition of a mid-card treadmill feud anyway, and this best-of-seven series is only going to ensure that neither man is given a chance to gain momentum for at least two months. If this series had any stakes beyond “who is the better man,” it could be something. As it is, the winner of this match doesn’t really matter, but Cesaro needs the win more.
Winner: Cesaro
– Gary Mehaffy: Cesaro will win overall (and deserves to be on the main show and not the pre-show, but I digress) but I think they’ll start with a Sheamus win to kick it off.
Winner: Sheamus
– Paul Fontaine: Sheamus has lost the last two matches against Sheamus so it feels like he’ll probably take the first match in this best-of-seven. I actually like the matches these two have had so far and hopefully they get the kind of time to have the match that they’re both capable of.
Winner: Sheamus
– Kyle S. Johnson: Cesaro has won two matches in a row against Sheamus, and he’s likely going to win the series, so Sheamus striking first blood seems like the most logical route here.
Winner: Sheamus
Intercontinental Title: The Miz (c) vs. Apollo Crews
– Bryan Rose: Even though they now have the platform to elevate people with two different rosters, this title match has gotten very little time on TV, other than Apollo won a match to get the shot. Build has been so lackluster I don’t see a title change here. Maybe a lame DQ to set up a rematch on the next SD PPV.
Winner: The Miz
– Ryan Frederick: The Miz is entertaining in his role and the never-ending title reign gimmick is a good idea. I think that gimmick is going to end. They need to elevate some guys, and while the Intercontinental Title being on both brands has been a killer, on a single brand it should be the elevation title. Apollo Crews winning it here is probably the right call.
Winner: Apollo Crews
– James Cox: Apollo Crews just has so little about him, I can’t see the point of just slapping a strap on him in the hope that he gets over. The Miz to retain unfairly here.
Winner: The Miz
– Steve Khan: It’s almost alarming how little attention they’ve given this match, considering it’s for the IC Title. They should switch the title as a way to kick-off the new era, but Crews is not the right guy at the moment, unfortunately.
Winner: The Miz
– Brian Hoops: The Miz has a better act than Crews but WWE may view a title change on a big SummerSlam stage as a way to try to elevate Crews. They can and will always change it back.
Winner: Apollo Crews
– Jeremy Peeples: Miz and Maryse as an act are great, and they actually don’t even need the title to do it. Miz could just carry around a replica and call himself the champion and it would fit the character being delusional. The title is sadly back to meaning very little, so I can see Crews winning it to gain something resembling on-paper momentum.
Winner: Apollo Crews
– Gary Mehaffy: I was always a supporter of Miz over the years, but he doesn’t need the belt and Apollo needs all the help he can get.
Winner: Apollo Crews
– Paul Fontaine: I’m a pretty big fan of the Miz/Maryse act and don’t feel like it’s time to take the title off of Miz just yet. And even if it was, Crews just isn’t the guy to do it, in my opinion.
Winner: The Miz
– Kyle S. Johnson: This is probably the most low-profile match on the show, which really says something about the state of this belt. Taking it off of Miz should have happened much, much sooner, but Crews also doesn’t seem quite ready for a championship run. Still, Miz’s shtick works just fine on its own and Crews would get at least an aesthetic rub from carrying the belt, so I’ll take Apollo for the win.
Winner: Apollo Crews
Enzo Amore and Big Cass vs. Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens
– Bryan Rose: To me, this seems like an angle that’s going to go for a few months. Don’t know how they’ll do it other than Owens and Jericho get a cheap win to set up a rematch on the following PPV. Let’s go with that.
Winners: Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens
– Ryan Frederick: Enzo and Big Cass are going to be mega stars in front of this crowd, especially Enzo. Kevin Owens is going to be a megastar in front of this crowd too. Jericho probably as well. You know Cass isn’t taking the fall, and Owens taking the fall isn’t smart either. This seems like the start of a program that is going for a little bit for the split brand events, and Owens and Jericho should win the first one.
Winners: Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens
– James Cox: Flip a coin here. Neither really need to be losing here, but you can see Enzo as the fall guy in this situation. Fun match, no doubt, if they’re given time.
Winners: Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens
– Steve Khan: Enzo and Cass are hot, but this still feels way beneath Jericho and Owens. It’s their first official night as a team, so I’ll go with the Canadians.
Winners: Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens
– Brian Hoops: Enzo and Cass will be huge favorites in front of this crowd. Should be a fun match if Jericho and Owens build heat on Enzo and Cass finally makes a hot tag.
Winners: Enzo & Cass
– Jeremy Peeples: Enzo and Cass are in Brooklyn, the heels are a great makeshift team – but still a makeshift team, and the faces should win. This wouldn’t be a bad choice for an opener on the PPV, and a face win would get the show off to a solid start.
Winners: Enzo & Cass
– Gary Mehaffy: As with Carmella, it’s NYC and they’ll put over Enzo and Cass. With Y2J leaving soon it makes sense, although, again, when has that ever worried them.
Winners: Enzo & Cass
– Paul Fontaine: I really like both of these teams but I think that Cass and Enzo are the next team to hold the tag team titles and as such I expect them to go over here.
Winners: Enzo & Cass
– Kyle S. Johnson: All four guys don’t really have any immediate direction after this feud ends, so I could foresee Jeri-KO getting a win over the hometown favorites and the feud being extended just a little while longer before Enzo and Cass start their pursuit of the tag titles.
Winners: Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens
WWE Tag Team Championship: The New Day (c) vs. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson
– Bryan Rose: You would think this is a ripe time for the New Day to lose the tag team titles, and you know what? It probably is, and I can see it happening here. Maybe do a storyline where they aren’t at full power and without Big E, Anderson and Gallows get the win over Woods or something, then set up a rematch with a returning Big E. The angles to build up this match have been really lame, but a title switch here would give some momentum to Anderson and Gallows.
Winners: Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
– Ryan Frederick: I’m pretty sure Big E is going to come back at the end and cost Gallows and Anderson right when it looks like they’re going to get the win. The New Day is one of the most over acts on the roster, and keeping the titles on them to get past the one year mark of holding the tag titles is a good move. Gallows and Anderson are probably going to win them soon, but now seems like it’s too soon.
Winners: The New Day
– James Cox: The fact that they have pushed that it has been a year since The New Day won the title suggests that we’re going to see something here. Gallows and Anderson are being used all wrong, but I think they might be given the titles.
Winners: Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
– Steve Khan: When they announced this match, it seemed like a lock that the Club would win. It certainly doesn’t feel like that now, and I almost expect New Day to retain with help from Big E. It’s possible Jericho and Owens are being set up for New Day, but I feel a title change since there might not be any others elsewhere on the show (besides the new belt on Raw).
Winners: Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
– Brian Hoops: WWE has missed the prime opportunity to put the titles on Anderson & Gallows and giving them the belts now seems too late. I have to believe Big E shows up and costs Anderson & Gallows the match and New Day retains.
Winners: The New Day
– Jeremy Peeples: The Club’s momentum has fizzled immensely since even the start of this lukewarm feud. There was a time when the heels should’ve won the titles, but that time has passed and the storyline works far better with Big E returning on the big stage to help his team win and extend their reign.
Winners: The New Day
– Gary Mehaffy: The Club had so much potential (and still could have) but they have been WWE-ized and have lost a lot of their sparkle, as Jeremy rightly said. I could have gone either way on this, but I too see this as Big E’s return leading to a New Day win. I think Gallows/Anderson need to win them soon, and should have here, but I can see the storyline should lead to a New Day win.
Winners: The New Day
– Paul Fontaine: As I said earlier, I expect that Cass and Enzo will be the next tag team champs. I do feel, though, that The New Day will lose this match…..by DQ. I fully expect Big E to return here and go for revenge against Gallows and Anderson for injuring his balls. Or Kingston and and Woods will hit the double nut-shot for the DQ. Either way, balls will be involved and the champs will lose by DQ, leading to a rematch.
Winners: Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (but The New Day retains titles)
– Kyle S. Johnson: This has been a pretty underwhelming feud, but the match itself should be a lot of fun. The New Day are not going to lose any luster if they drop the titles, and Anderson and Gallows could really use the belts to make them appear credible (they probably should have gotten the championships before they were split off from AJ), so I’ll take Guns and Gallows to win the titles.
Winners: Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
WWE Women’s Championship: Sasha Banks (c) vs. Charlotte
– Bryan Rose: I really doubt Charlotte’s regaining the title so quickly, so I see Sasha retaining here. Should be a really good match given time.
Winner: Sasha Banks
– Ryan Frederick: The title change was going to happen here before they made the switch to kick off Raw with the change. It’s way too soon to take the title off of Sasha, and it seems like there is going to be a new program for her post-SummerSlam. I expect Dana Brooke to cost Charlotte the match in some form by turning on her, leading to them going into a program.
Winner: Sasha Banks
– James Cox: Sasha Banks to retain. There’s no need to be playing hot potato with this title.
Winner: Sasha Banks
– Steve Khan: Banks. Despite this new era, the women are still severely underrepresented on this show, so hopefully these two are given a lot of time and have a great match.
Winner: Sasha Banks
– Brian Hoops: Should be a great match. Taking the title off Banks this early weakens her and she will be a huge babyface in front of this crowd.
Winner: Sasha Banks
– Jeremy Peeples: Sasha has a solid act now and she has put over last year’s Brooklyn show too much to lose here. Charlotte doesn’t need the title and can easily lose due to Dana here if they really want to protect her in the booking.
Winner: Sasha Banks
– Gary Mehaffy: This will be a well rehearsed match, eh, I mean, a great match. It’ll kill Sasha’s momentum if she doesn’t win and they can use it as a backdrop to split Charlotte and Dana up. In saying that, the way they book break up angles, this could lead to a Charlotte win with Dana double bluffing everybody. I hope not, but you know how it goes….
Winner: Sasha Banks
– Paul Fontaine: Sasha should retain in what I expect will be a great match. Charlotte is one of the only heels in the company that actually gets a heel reaction and she really doesn’t get enough credit for that. May I also add that I think the WWE 24 special on the women was really good and I’d recommend checking it out.
Winner: Sasha Banks
– Kyle S. Johnson: This should be a pretty great match if the match from Raw a few weeks back is any indication. Sasha will retain, and once her feud with Charlotte ends, I could foresee her being rushed into a program with Nia Jax.
Winner: Sasha Banks
United States Championship: Rusev (c) vs. Roman Reigns
– Bryan Rose: I don’t know why you would do a long match on Raw, with Roman winning, just to lead to another potentially long match here. I’m going to assume it’s because Reigns is not walking away with the title here. I’ll guess that there will be a screwy finish leading Rusev to somehow get the win in the record book.
Winner: Rusev
– Ryan Frederick: It sure seems like they’re going to put the title on Roman Reigns. I don’t think it happens here, though. I’m sensing Rusev getting disqualified somehow and this program going on. Turn Reigns heel. It’s time.
Winner: Roman Reigns (but Rusev retains the title)
– James Cox: Reigns won on Raw so WWE logic says Rusev goes over here. Good to see Reigns in a program where people aren’t dead set against him. Rusev is excellent, Reigns is good, I think this will be pretty good.
Winner: Rusev
– Steve Khan: Rusev shouldn’t lose the title after losing on Raw, but I can’t see Reigns losing either. That leads me to think this match won’t have a great finish, and this feud must continue. I’ll go with Reigns, but by DQ or whatever.
Winner: Roman Reigns (Rusev retains)
– Brian Hoops: 50/50 booking means Rusev wins after Reigns won on Raw. Rusev could win by DQ, countout or some fluke finish and retain the title.
Winner Rusev
Jeremy Peeples: A Reigns win puts him in the Cena spot of making this a top-tier title again, which is good — but he won on Raw, so he’s doomed. His character really should lose this anyway for being such a prick to the newlyweds week after week, and Rusev finally feels like he’s regained most of his lost heat from the last year of bad booking. It’s not the right time for him to lose, and a win over Roman puts him right in the mix for a Universal Championship feud with Balor if he wins.
Winner: Rusev
– Gary Mehaffy: Rusev wins by shenanigans, with Vince thinking that this will make the fans back Reigns, when in reality, he will not be treated as such by the NYC crowd. Don’t believe me? Just check back and watch the Sid/HBK match and then you’ll see what I mean.
Winner: Rusev
Paul Fontaine: Step one in the rehabilitation of Roman Reigns. These two just work really well together and it’s the first time in a while that Reigns has actually been connecting with the fans. I’ve been back and forth on this but I do think that Reigns is going to win the title and go on a strong run leading up to whatever they have planned for him at next year’s Mania.
Winner: Roman Reigns
Kyle S. Johnson: Reigns winning here seemed like a sure thing until he pinned Rusev on Monday night. Since the priority is the rehabilitation of Roman, however, I’ll stick with Roman winning, though probably through some means where he doesn’t walk out with the championship.
Winner: Roman Reigns
John Cena vs. AJ Styles
– Bryan Rose: This should be a really good match and maybe the best on the show if given enough time. Styles is still really tremendous, and Cena can work hard with just about anybody and hold his own. You would think judging by how SmackDown ended Styles would get the win, but since he got the win on their last PPV match, and knowing how they book with Cena, this seems like Cena’s thing to win. But then again, with him taking a limited schedule, Styles seems like the best choice. So against better judgment, I’ll go with him.
Winner: AJ Styles
– Ryan Frederick: History says John Cena wins this as they are really tied up in this program with one win each (though Cena won in a 6-man). They need to buck history here. Cena isn’t going to be around for a while, and Styles should be the top guy on SmackDown Live along with Ambrose, Orton and Wyatt. Styles should be next for Ambrose heading into the stand alone events, so he needs to win here. It’ll probably be great.
Winner: AJ Styles
– James Cox: I rarely don’t back Cena on PPV, because they rarely have him lose on one. But here it does seem odd to beat Styles again. Styles is fantastic, really looking forward to this one.
Winner: AJ Styles
– Steve Khan: I expect this to be match of the night. Cena shouldn’t be losing every big match or anything, but the timing is right here with Cena’s schedule decreasing, and with Styles as one of the guys who has to carry SmackDown.
Winner: AJ Styles
– Brian Hoops: Cena will not be full time and Styles is advertised on house shows for September working with Ambrose. That means Styles should win.
Winner: AJ Styles
– Jeremy Peeples: Cena’s reduced schedule feels like it’s a way for him to put folks over on the way out. AJ needs the momentum and could really benefit from a WWE Title feud to cement his status in WWE.
Winner: AJ Styles
– Gary Mehaffy: Cena is winding down, which should mean AJ goes over, and I think that for once Vince will go that direction and build AJ up for the next series of title shots.
Winner: AJ Styles
– Paul Fontaine: AJ Styles has to win as Cena is leaving and I can’t see anyone else on the SmackDown side being ready to challenge Ambrose for the WWE title.
Winner: AJ Styles
– Kyle S. Johnson: AJ Styles should be the next in line for Dean Ambrose’s championship, and so he absolutely needs the win here. A clean win over Cena puts AJ at that level, and it is the right call to make in this situation.
Winner: AJ Styles
WWE Championship: Dean Ambrose (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler
– Bryan Rose: Would be stunned if Ambrose lost here. I think the whole Ziggler thing is a tone deaf, three years too late way of making fans happy and making SmackDown the face brand. Ziggler has been good in his new role, and Ambrose is really holding his own as the top guy on the brand, so it hasn’t been a total failure. And this should actually be a really good match, despite the weird premise. Don’t think Ziggler is walking away with the title, though.
Winner: Dean Ambrose
– Ryan Frederick: They’ve done a great job convincing fans that Dolph Ziggler may beat Dean Ambrose. Ambrose is the most polished guy to lead the SmackDown Live brand, and he has been fantastic as the champion. Ziggler has been fantastic in his role as well. I’d like to see the program continue, but it feels like it will be done after this event. Ambrose will keep the title.
Winner: Dean Ambrose
– James Cox: Dean Ambrose came across like a contrarian and frankly like a guy you don’t want doing a ton of media by his performance on the Stone Cold Podcast. I don’t know if the subsequent heat on him means in anything. Given that this is the SmackDown title now, why not give it to Ziggler? Still, I don’t see it yet.
Winner: Dean Ambrose
– Steve Khan: Ambrose is on a roll, and this should be pretty great. Ambrose should definitely retain, and I’m all for a Ziggler heel turn post-match.
Winner: Dean Ambrose
– Brian Hoops: Ambrose is advertised as champion for house shows following SummerSlam and since WWE has NEVER false advertised before, Ambrose must be retaining.
Winner: Dean Ambrose
Jeremy Peeples: Dolph has shown more here than he has in quite a while, and they are giving him chances to do something different that he is making use of. This still feels like what the original World Heavyweight title matches were towards the end — a second IC Title with a more important name. They have made things somewhat personal, but it still feels like things are building and this isn’t the conclusion. I can see Dean winning this one, and then Dolph winning later with a heel turn.
Winner: Dean Ambrose
– Gary Mehaffy: Dolph is talented, but there’s no way that they can put the title on him, unless Dean really is in the dog house after the Austin interview. That being said, Dean wins and Dolph turns heel the next night in a feud that must continue.
Winner: Dean Ambrose
– Paul Fontaine: The way this feud has been booked, Ziggler kind of has to go over or it’s just been a complete waste of time to try and rehab him. But that’s been the story of the last 10 years for this dude, so yeah, he’s losing.
Winner: Dean Ambrose
– Kyle S. Johnson: Who would have thought that Dolph Ziggler might do some of his best work in years with just a little bit of motivation. Both men have been pretty great in the build-up here, and I think they’ll follow through with an equally entertaining match. Dean retains and gets paired up with AJ or Bray moving forward.
Winner: Dean Ambrose
WWE Universal Championship: Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins
– Bryan Rose: This is interesting. The easy thing to say is for Rollins to get the win and the title. But they could go all the way with Balor and make him top champion of Raw in quick fashion. Thing is, they haven’t really let him talk, and being champion requires long periods of talking for no real reason, something they feel comfortable letting Rollins do. I think Rollins gets a cheap win and they continue the feud. A surprise win for Balor here would be cool, though.
Winner: Seth Rollins
– Ryan Frederick: This is the perfect time to make Finn Balor into one of the biggest stars in the company. Rollins doesn’t need the title right now, though he will eventually get it. Balor is getting The Demon get-up at the event, and he is going to be over huge in front of that crowd. The time is right and Balor holding the new title first makes him and it special instead of a retread with Rollins. Make the right move WWE.
Winner: Finn Balor
– James Cox: I think they’ll try Finn Balor on top for a little while. The downside is his mic skills, but he’s an outstanding performer. This is a match to get really excited about, a perfect main event program for SummerSlam
Winner: Finn Balor
– Steve Khan: Rollins winning would give the title more credibility, but Balor can’t lose already. Maybe they’ll do something crazy and have the Club with with Rollins, but I’ll stick with Balor becoming inaugural champion.
Winner: Finn Balor
– Brian Hoops: Potential show stealer here. Way to early for Balor to lose and Rollins has had a run with a title already and if they wanted him with the belt, why have him lose to Ambrose when he cashed in the briefcase?
Winner: Finn Balor
– Jeremy Peeples: Seth has stated far too often that he’ll repeat history and be the first NXT and first Universal Champion. They debuted the Demon paint on Raw, will use it again on SummerSlam and that will seemingly ensure that Balor wins the title and gives Raw a babyface champion. Balor doesn’t quite feel like “the man” on Raw yet, but a title win would help him a lot in both the short and long-term, so I would go with that.
Winner: Finn Balor
– Gary Mehaffy: So, I’m not being biased seeing as Finn is from the Emerald Isle, but this is the time to shake things up on Raw and common sense would be that Finn has to win the title. Now, Vince and common sense don’t always go hand in hand, but this is not the time for Balor to lose in his big debut, although they could go the DQ route (Reigns runs out, turns heel on Finn, costing him the match) but I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Finn.
Winner: Finn Balor
– Paul Fontaine: All signs point to Finn Balor but I really don’t think they’re going to do that. Seth Rollins is so good and with them scaling back on the push of Roman Reigns for the time being, he really is the top guy on the brand. At the end of the day, I just can’t see Vince deciding to go with with the 190 lb Balor as that guy. I really hope I’m wrong here, though.
Winner: Seth Rollins
– Kyle S. Johnson: My head says that Seth just wins and establishes himself as the man once again, but my heart says that this has to conclude with Finn winning the championship. Putting Finn over here makes him a bona fide top-five star, and one who will sell a whole hell of a lot of merchandise. Rushing back to Roman vs. Seth seems silly (although 100 percent plausible), so I’ll take Finn to win the championship and carry on his feud with Seth.
Winner: Finn Balor
Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton
– Bryan Rose: They’ve protected Lesnar so much over the years it’s hard to see anything else than a Lesnar win. Might be a better match than people expect it to be, but I’m not compelled about the match to be honest. I think it’ll be fine, but doesn’t come off like a real big WWE main event. Lesnar should be having all the momentum in the world following the UFC win, but with the drug test failures that really isn’t true at all now. He gets the win here, but where he goes next is anyone’s guess.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
– Ryan Frederick: This is interesting to me to see how mad the company is at Brock Lesnar. I don’t think they care about what happened with the UFC and the drug tests, and they pretty much made that clear with their statement. I have this sense the WrestleMania main event is Lesnar vs. Reigns, which means Lesnar wins. I get the feeling we’re going to have someone cost Orton the match, that being Bray Wyatt. That would be a bad move, and just let these two men work. I think they can have a fantastic match. Lesnar is going to win.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
– James Cox: Cannot wait for this. Both are extremely good at what they do. Randy is an excellent performer and one who I think Lesnar is likely to want to work well with. Lesnar is what a big WWE PPV is all about. Sticking my neck out here, though, I say they put Orton over.
Winner: Randy Orton
– Steve Khan: This should be really good. No matter what the situation is with Lesnar, Orton just isn’t the guy who should beat him.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
– Brian Hoops: Lesnar is their only big money player and no way should they hurt him with a loss to Orton. With that being said, I could see WWE “punishing” Lesnar with a loss.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
– Gary Mehaffy: In any other time, Orton would go over, but he can afford a loss in a strong match whereas I don’t think Brock can. It depends on which side Vince gets out of the bed of on Sunday morning, as he could decide to show Brock who’s boss (seeing as he can’t be suspended for a PED failure), but I’m sticking with Brock.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
– Jeremy Peeples: Lesnar should win this since he’s the company’s biggest star, but Orton is their guy who they know won’t leave and isn’t under scrutiny for a drug test failure.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
– Paul Fontaine: This is probably the toughest match on the show to call. Logic would say that Orton will go over because he’s the full-timer and they’re probably pissed off at Lesnar for failing the drug test in UFC. But Lesnar is the bigger star and there’s probably more money matches down the road for him. So it’s really a coin flip and it just came up heads for me.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
= Kyle S. Johnson: I am going to go with the single most unlikely scenario here: Brock Lesnar loses after Bill Goldberg somehow interjects himself, setting up a rematch between the two for WrestleMania 33. For as much as Vince McMahon may not want to do business with Goldberg, he can sense the potential for money like a shark senses blood in the water.
Having Brock lose in a flukey manner shouldn’t hurt his credibility too much (and even if it does, Paul Heyman can save it with one promo as he did after SummerSlam 2015), but it does make for a splashy story to push in mainstream outlets that cover WWE.
Having him lose on account of Goldberg serves the purpose of creating interest in the upcoming video game, generating new network subscribers by pushing WCW stuff in the archive, and setting up this year’s WrestleMania as a must-see for lapsed fans. Having him lose to a guy he really doesn’t have any business losing to might also be a decent enough way of sending a message to Brock where fines and suspensions are not available avenues.
Is this the likely outcome? Not even remotely, but it sounds much more interesting to me than Brock just suplexing Randy 15 times, kicking out of an RKO, and then winning the match, which is probably closer to what actually happens.
Is anyone in WWE a draw in 2016? Your hosts Les Thatcher and Vic Sosa take a look at an article in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, and talk about whether or not any one person can be a draw in modern WWE.
Also on the schedule for this week’s show:
– The news of Shawn Michaels (23:59) may be soon coaching at the Performance Center and making Orlando his new home
– This week’s quotes from Daniel Bryan (30:38) regarding not really being over the idea that his career is over, his love for the CWC, and how the Smackdown GM stuff wasn’t something he seemed to have a say about.
– From there, we’ll talk Billy Corgan (47:40) and his new position at Impact Wrestling, then open up the mailbag (57:30).
Get all this and more in this week’s Wrestling Weekly only on F4Wonline.com!
A miscommunication between challenger and champion opens SmackDown
Last night’s edition of SmackDown opened with a Bray Wyatt promo after last week’s loss against Dolph Ziggler. WWE Champion Dean Ambrose interrupted Wyatt after being mentioned, and he was later joined by his SummerSlam challenger when Dolph Ziggler made his way out.
Ziggler rushed the ring to take on Wyatt and Erick Rowan, with Ambrose eventually joining in. Ziggler tried to take out Wyatt with a superkick, but accidentally hit the WWE Champion. Wyatt then laid Ziggler out with Sister Abigail.
Ambrose wasn’t convinced that Ziggler’s superkick was an accident. SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan later announced that the two would team together against Wyatt and Rowan in the show’s main event.
American Alpha look impressive again
After a successful debut against The Vaudevillains last week, American Alpha stayed on the winning track against a team of two enhancement talents. The segment concluded with a brawl between SmackDown’s tag division, with American Alpha coming out on top of that as well.
A look at Apollo Crews
A video on Apollo Crews aired ahead of him challenging for The Miz’s Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam.
Eva Marie avoids competition again
Eva Marie was able to avoid “injury” this week, but she has still yet to make her post-draft SmackDown debut after suffering a “wardrobe malfunction” last night.
Alexa Bliss picks up an upset win in her debut
Alexa Bliss picked up an unexpected win in her SmackDown debut over the brand’s first women’s division draft pick after Eva Marie distracted Becky Lynch.
Randy Orton vs. Alberto Del Rio
It was Randy Orton vs. Alberto Del Rio as Orton prepares to face Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. Orton won the contest by disqualification after Del Rio hit him with a chair, but Orton came out on top after hitting Del Rio with an RKO to end the segment.
Scooby-Doo makes his second appearance of the week
Scooby-Doo made his second appearance of the week to promote Scooby-Doo! and WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon after appearing in a segment with Goldust and R-Truth on Monday’s Raw. This time, Scooby shared the screen with fellow film star The Miz.
Wrestling’s self-proclaimed hottest free agent vs. Rhyno
Heath Slater got his latest opportunity to earn a WWE contract against Rhyno. But wrestling’s self-proclaimed hottest free agent left the match still on the market after Rhyno picked up the win with the Gore after Slater tried to get an underhanded pin.
Heath Slater talks his way out of a SmackDown contract
Even though Slater lost, Bryan told Shane McMahon that Slater embodied SmackDown’s fighting spirit and intended to offer him a contract. But Slater talked his way out of the contract after berating the two authority figures.
Carmella makes her SmackDown in-ring debut
It was a successful night for former members of NXT’s women division. After Alexa Bliss was successful in her main roster debut earlier in the show, Carmella was also able to make a strong first impression by defeating Natalya via submission.
Despite both being absent on the show, a video recapping the feud between John Cena and AJ Styles aired
Last night’s SmackDown didn’t feature either a live appearance by John Cena or AJ Styles, but a video aired recapping their feud ahead of their match at SummerSlam.
Baron Corbin attacks Kalisto
Still blaming Kalisto for his loss last week, Baron Corbin attacked the former Lucha Dragon in the back.
Dean Ambrose & Dolph Ziggler vs. Bray Wyatt & Erick Rowan
Champion and challenger were able to briefly unite to defeat Wyatt and Rowan, but the unity was short-lived after Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds on Ziggler to end the show.
SmackDown Fallout: American Alpha talk SmackDown’s tag division
After standing tall over the SmackDown tag division earlier in the night, American Alpha did an interview talking about reigniting the division and being the team to beat.
SmackDown Fallout: A still unaware Heath Slater leaves the building
A still irate Slater left the building, unaware of the contract that Bryan intended to offer him.
SmackDown Fallout: Eva Marie vows to compete next week
Though she called the wardrobe malfunction she suffered every woman’s worst nightmare, Eva Marie vowed to compete next week.
WWE Champion Dean Ambrose appeared on the Stone Cold Podcast with Steve Austin last night on the WWE Network after Raw went off the air and had interesting comments about his match with Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 32 earlier this year.
Lesnar defeated Ambrose in convincing fashion at WWE’s biggest event of the year, and Ambrose provided a glimpse into how the match was put together.
“It was pretty cool, you know? I went to the ring that night pretty pissed off, and then, as I walked to the ring, I had no idea what was gonna happen.” Ambrose said. “Went out there with not much of a plan so to speak. I felt like I was pulling teeth to turn that match into something epic.”
After further prodding from Austin, Ambrose said, “Artistically, Brock didn’t want to do anything if you want me to be perfectly honest. Because you know, Brock’s gonna Brock. He’s all about Brock.”
“I had a vision for that match to be the craziest thing imaginable, you know what I mean? And I was trying to pitch everything to everybody and had every idea. I put so much effort in and so much work in, and other people did too, and I was met with laziness.”
But Ambrose said that it was an invigorating feeling walking to the ring against Lesnar in front of one hundred thousand people not knowing what was going to happen. He described those moments as something he lived for.
The interview started somewhat awkwardly as Ambrose answered questions about his childhood, but it kicked into gear when Austin asked Ambrose if he had a chip on his shoulder. Ambrose replied that he has at times, but doesn’t consider himself someone who has a chip on his shoulder now.
Austin came back to that near the end of the interview and challenged Ambrose to overcome what he perceived as complacency.
Austin challenged Ambrose, “I’m challenging you to amp up and amplify everything you’ve got because I think the WWE Universe deserves to see that, and you’ve shown a lot of that, but I would dare say you’ve rested on your laurels, you’re a little bit comfortable and you need to find the edge again.”
Ambrose was offended by the suggestion, and said that pushing the envelope is something that he always tries to do, but it can be challenging in the current environment.
At the interview’s conclusion, Ambrose said he liked that Austin reminded him that getting on top is one thing, but staying there is another.
