Following an angle where he seemed to be written off television, James Ellsworth posted a statement yesterday about his status with WWE.
Ellsworth took part in a segment on this Tuesday’s SmackDown where he interrupted Paige while she was announcing Samoa Joe as AJ Styles’ WWE Championship challenger for SummerSlam. It led to Paige firing Ellsworth and having him taken out of the building.
In his statement, Ellsworth reflected on his time with WWE, wrote that he doesn’t know what’s next for him, and noted that he’ll never give up on his dream. He returned last month and was paired back with Carmella to be part of her feud with Asuka, which included Ellsworth being involved in their matches at Money in the Bank and Extreme Rules and facing Asuka twice on TV.
Dave Meltzer reported that Ellsworth wasn’t under contract for his most recent run with WWE and was working on a per-date basis. His first stint with the company began after a memorable squash match loss against Braun Strowman in 2016, with him eventually being signed by WWE before being released in November 2017.
Ellsworth has also been using the hashtag “#RehireEllsworth” since the angle on SmackDown. His full statement is posted below:
Two years ago today I went to Pittsburgh PA for Raw to be an extra talent for WWE.
Little did I know I would be facing Braun Strowman that night. I was picked by Arn Anderson who was the agent for the match to be the one that got to be apart of raw against the Monster Among Men..
Before the match started I got to cut a promo as Braun made his way down to the ring, talking on a microphone in a WWE ring is a moment I’d dreamed about my whole life. During the promo, I said the most important words of my life, words I’ll always live by, ‘Any Man With Two Hands Has A Fighting Chance’ I believe those words, the beating I took from Braun and my lack of Chin of course is all what caught the WWE Universes eye about me.
These past 2 years has been the best years of my life! I’ve been able to support my daughters by doing what I love to do for a living! I’ve been on WWE television the last two years more often than not, got to travel the world more then once, wrestled in my opinion the best wrestler in the world AJ Styles, even shared the ring with the #1 guy in the business John Cena! Not to mention I got to be apart of WrestleMania!
Smackdown Live has been my home for the majority of the past two years, and that show along with every writer, producer agent, camera man, and all other staff will always have a place in my heart! Last but certainly not least spent a lot of time on tv with my home girl Carmella! She’s an amazing person, and so fun to work with, Can’t say enough good things about her.
What an amazing ride the last 2 years have been!! The fans have been great, WWE has taught me so much and giving me opportunity’s I woulda never dreamed I would get.
In closing, I’m not sure what’s next for me, but I promise you this, I will keep fighting, never give up on my dream, if anything when people look back at James Ellsworth I want them to be inspired by the fact that I refused to give up on my dream, even after accomplishing so much, because there’s so much more left to do, and to prove, I’ll continue to show the world ‘Any Man With Two Hands Has A Fighting Chance’
A new stipulation has been added to the SmackDown women’s championship match at Extreme Rules.
GM Paige made the announcement during SmackDown tonight that James Ellsworth will be suspended above the ring during the match between Carmella and Asuka. Ellsworth was the one responsible for Asuka’s loss last month at Money in the Bank when he made his return to the promotion, helping Carmella score the win while distracting Asuka.
After the first Battle of the Sexes bout proved to be inconclusive, James Ellsworth and Asuka had their second encounter on tonight’s episode of SmackDown. Like the previous week, Ellsworth continually tried to escape out of the ring. But this time, since it was a lumberjack match, he was kept in the ring thanks to the likes of Becky Lynch and Naomi. Asuka eventually latched on with the Asuka lock for the submission.
Despite winning the match, it was Asuka and James Ellsworth who were left standing, as Ellsworth sprayed Asuka in the eyes with an unknown substance. Carmella followed up with a superkick which laid Asuka out.
Extreme Rules is this Sunday on the WWE Network. It will take place at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
James Ellsworth and Asuka aren’t done with one another just yet.
The two will square off next week in a lumberjack match after their match tonight ended in disarray. In a Battle of the Sexes match that took place tonight, Asuka dominated the match until Ellsworth bailed and headed into the crowd. Asuka chased after him, the match ending in a double count out when neither made it back in time. Once they returned from the crowd, Carmella jumped Asuka from behind, shoving her into a barricade.
Later in the night, GM Paige stopped Carmella and Ellsworth backstage and made the lumberjack match for next week.
Ellsworth has been a thorn on Asuka’s side ever since he made his return at Money in the Bank. He dressed up exactly like her, distracting Asuka long enough for Carmella to score the win. A rematch between the two has been set for Extreme Rules.
SmackDown next week will be at the SNHU Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Tonight, Team Hell No kicks off SmackDown after reuniting last week. Kane made his return to save Daniel Bryan from a beatdown at the hands of SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers. GM Paige immediately announced that Harper & Rowan would put their titles on the line against Team Hell No at Extreme Rules.
Before defending against Rusev at the pay-per-view, WWE Champion AJ Styles takes on Aiden English in a non-title match tonight. Rusev won the gauntlet match a few weeks back to earn the title shot. After the match, Styles decked English when he rudely pulled back on a handshake.
Asuka also goes one-on-one with James Ellsworth after he returned at Money in the Bank and helped SmackDown Women’s Championship Carmella retain her title. The next night, Asuka knocked out Ellsworth with a kick. Ellsworth issued a challenge last week and claimed he’s ready for Asuka this time.
United States Champion Jeff Hardy will issue a special Independence Day Open Challenge. Plus, Becky Lynch takes on Peyton Royce after defeating Billie Kay two weeks ago. Additionally, The New Day will host the “First Annual Third of July Pancake Eating Contest.”
Our live coverage beings at 8 p.m. Eastern.
**********
Renee Young was in the ring to start SmackDown. She introduced Team Hell No and mentioned that it’s the first time in 5 years they’re back as a team. She pointed out that despite the complicated relationship they’re a success. Bryan said that sometimes they fight and sometimes they hug but when they’re in the ring they get the job done.
Kane brought up their successes as a team including facing The Shield at TLC and graduating from anger management. Kane said he returned because Bryan as a temper and there is always a demon watching over him. Bryan pointed out that Kane isn’t always looking out for him. Kane said they’re friends but Bryan reminded him that he tried to end his career. Bryan mentioned that Kane also tried to abduct his wife. Kane said he always has Bryan’s back and they argued “Yes” and “No” back and forth.
This brought out the Usos. The Usos said Team Hell don’t deserve a shot at the titles. Bryan challenged The Usos to face them in the ring but Kane said they’d think about it. Bryan and Kane started to argue again until GM Paige interrupted. She announced Team Hell No against The Usos in tonight’s main event. If The Usos are successful they’ll be added to the tag team title match at Extreme Rules.
In the back, Jeff Hardy prepared for his upcoming Independence Day Open Challenge.
Backstage, Asuka promised to defeat James Ellsworth because he’s not ready for Asuka.
United States Champion Jeff Hardy defeated The Miz
They went back and forth early trading moves. Miz gained the advantage and slowed down the action. Hardy fired back and the paced picked up. Hardy jumped off the steps but Miz moved and Hardy crashed into the barricade. Hardy attempted the Twist of Fate, which Miz countered into the Skull Crashing Finale but Hardy rolled him up for a near fall.
Miz rolled up Hardy with his feet on the ropes but the referee caught him. Miz and the ref argued, which gave Hardy the chance to hit the Twist of Fate. Hardy hit the Swanton Bomb to retain the United States Championship.
In the back, James Ellsworth promised to defeat Asuka later because men are better. He said some women aren’t ready for Asuka but he’s no woman and promised to win the Battle of the Sexes later.
Byron Saxton introduced The New Day for the First Annual Third of July Pancake eating contest. The contest started but suddenly the lights went out and Sanity’s music hit. Sanity jumped The New Day from behind. Alexander Wolfe tossed Kofi Kingston over the top rope, Eric Young sent Xavier Woods into a table leg and Killian Dain tossed Big E over the announce table. Sanity then put Woods through a table.
Battle of the Sexes Asuka vs. James Ellsworth (w/Carmella) ended in a double count out
Asuka pushed Ellsworth out of the ring but Carmella yelled at him to get back in. Asuka nailed him with a series of strikes and gave him an airplane spin. Asuka rocked him with a stiff slap.
Asuka chased after Ellsworth and he ran out through the crowd. They ran to the back and were counted out. Asuka chased him back to ringside and Carmella shoved Asuka into the barricade.
Kane and Daniel Bryan met in the back. Bryan demanded Kane apologize. Kane asked why and Bryan read off a list of reasons. Kane said Bryan’s like his brother and Bryan pointed out that Kane set his brother on fire. Kane apologized and promised they are going to win the tag team titles.
WWE Champion AJ Styles defeated Aiden English (w/ Rusev) in a non-title match
Before the match, Styles got on the mic and promised to defeat Rusev at Extreme Rules. He said this is the house AJ Styles built. Rusev interrupted and guaranteed to win the title and move in to the house Styles built on Rusev Day.
Rusev distracted Styles and English jumped him to gain the early advantage. English was firmly in control. Styles made his comeback and attempted the Styles Clash but English tired to counter. Styles held on and locked on the Calf Crusher for the win.
After the match, Rusev jumped Styles and hit him with the Machka Kick. He then locked on The Accolade.
In the back, Peyton Royce and Billie Kay mocked Becky Lynch. Royce promised to hurt and defeat her.
Backstage, Paige ran into Carmella and James Ellsworth. Paige announced that next week Ellsworth faces Asuka in a rematch but this time it’s going to be a lumberjack match.
Becky Lynch defeated Peyton Royce (w/Billie Kay)
Lynch was firmly in control until Kay distracted her and Royce took over. Lynch made a fiery comeback but Royce briefly regained control. Royce lifted up Lynch but she countered into the Dis-arm-her for the win.
GM Paige announced Jeff Hardy defending the United States title against Shinsuke Nakamura at Extreme Rules. Nakamura responded to the announcement and promised to win the title.
Team Hell No defeated The Usos
Team Hell No gained the early advantage by isolating Jimmy on their side of the ring. Usos fought back and nailed suicide dives onto Kane to take over. Bryan fired up and hit the running drop kick and hurricanrana on Jimmy. The Usos fought back and isolated Bryan.
Kane got the hot tag and hit a sidewalk slam for a two count. The Usos attempted suicide dives on Kane but he caught them. The Usos hit a double superkick on Kane for a near fall. The Usos attempted a double splash on Kane but he caught them again. Bryan hit the running knee and Kane nailed the choke slam for the win.
After the match, The Bludgeon Brothers came out and had a stare down with Team Hell No.
Next Week: Asuka takes on James Ellsworth in a Lumberjack match.
James Ellsworth is set to have his first match in WWE since being released last November.
It will be another intergender match involving Ellsworth as he faces Asuka on next week’s episode of SmackDown. That was announced tonight, with Paige coming to the ring and making the match when Ellsworth called out Asuka. Ellsworth challenging her was part of a storyline where he knew she wasn’t there this week.
WWE also announced that Carmella will again defend her SmackDown Women’s Championship against Asuka at Extreme Rules on July 15.
Ellsworth’s last match for WWE took place on November 7, 2017. He lost to Becky Lynch and was then written off television as he was superkicked by Carmella. He returned at Money in the Bank earlier this month, was again paired with Carmella, and helped her retain her title against Asuka.
Carmella didn’t appear on SmackDown this week due to her and AJ Styles traveling to Australia to promote WWE’s Super Show-Down pay-per-view, which is taking place in Melbourne this October.
As expected, James Ellsworth made an appearance at tonight’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view.
Ellsworth played a role in the finish of Carmella and Asuka’s SmackDown Women’s Championship match. Dressed like Asuka and wearing her mask, he stood on the apron to cause a distraction. Carmella rolled Asuka up for a near fall, then Asuka hit a strike and turned her attention back to Ellsworth. He unmasked, winked at Asuka, and Carmella hit a kick to retain. Carmella and Ellsworth went to the back together following the match.
PWInsider first reported that Ellsworth would be at Money in the Bank and that there had been creative pitches for him to return recently. Ellsworth denied the report by pointing out that he had a booking for Middle Kingdom Wrestling in China on the night of the PPV, but MKW announced earlier this week that he would no longer be appearing at their show.
Ellsworth was released by WWE last November after being written out by losing a match to Becky Lynch and then being superkicked by Carmella. He signed a full-time deal with WWE after appearing for the company in 2016, including a memorable match where he was squashed by Braun Strowman. Ellsworth played an underdog babyface at first before turning heel and being paired with Carmella.
Ellsworth also helped Carmella win the Money in the Bank briefcase at last year’s PPV and got involved in the rematch that took place on SmackDown, which Carmella also won.
Yesterday was a big day for match announcements from the non-WWE shows that will be taking place during WrestleMania week in New Orleans.
Joey Janela’s Spring Break II, Revolution Pro Wrestling, and Impact vs. Lucha Underground were among the events that made announcements for Friday, April 6th. James Ellsworth vs. Matt Riddle became the last match to be confirmed for Spring Break, joining Janela vs. The Great Sasuke, David Starr vs. Mike Quackenbush, WALTER vs. Pierre Carl Ouellet, Penta El Zero M vs. Nick Gage, and the second-annual Clusterf*ck match.
The Pontchartrain Center will host Spring Break at 11:55 p.m. Central time.
Minoru Suzuki’s match for Revolution Pro Wrestling’s show was also revealed. It will be Suzuki facing Jeff Cobb at The Sugar Mill, with the card set to start at 4 p.m. Central.
RevPro is part of WrestleCon’s weekend of events, which also includes Impact vs. Lucha Underground. An Impact Tag Team title match has been announced for that show, with LAX (Santana & Ortiz) defending against Killshot (Shane Strickland) & The Mack (Willie Mack). Impact vs. LU will be held at The Sugar Mill at 9 p.m. Central.
‘I Left My Wallet In Greg Polanco’ is back for episode 3 as I talk with fellow former WWE superstar and the World Intergender Champion, James Ellsworth!
The man who came to national fame through matches with Braun Strowman and AJ Styles, and captured the Money In The Bank briefcase for Carmella in the first ever women’s MITB ladder match is also a huge baseball fan.
We dip into some MLB talk as James talks about his hometown Baltimore Orioles, their outlook for 2018, taking batting practice with Manny Machado and Adam Jones, the Tony Tarasco/Jeffrey Maier “catch”, Zach Britton not being used in the 2016 wild card game, his top 3 all-time Orioles, and memories of both Memorial Stadium and Camden Yards. You even get a Mike Devereaux reference!
The conversation then turns to the state of the Baltimore Ravens where he takes offense to Vincent Verhei’s claim that Joe Flacco is the worst quarterback in the league. What did he have to say in response to Big Vinny V?
Any man with two hands has a fighting chance, and any man or woman who is a fan of sports and/or pro wrestling will love this candid chat with James.
In the summer of 2016, WWE began to re-introduce enhancement talent and one of these wrestlers struck a chord when he had a match with Braun Strowman. He didn’t look like your average WWE wrestler which was part of his appeal. He didn’t recite interviews like your regular WWE wrestler, which made him stand out a little. That unorthodox man was James Ellsworth.
Over the next 14 or 15 months, Ellsworth appeared in a variety of guises including wrestling AJ Styles and seconding/managing Carmella at WrestleMania. He was loved and hated at times by the fans, but he always played his part on the show until he was released in November 2017.
In this Q&A, we find out what Ellsworth is up to, is reflections on his year in WWE, and his plans for the future.
You were released mid-November from WWE. How have things been for you since then?
I’ve just been spending time with my kids. I’ve been wrestling since I was 17 years old and I’ve never had this much time off. 90 days is a long time when you’re a wrestler being home, so I’m just making the best of it by enjoying time with my two daughters.
A lot of casual fans think that enhancement talent aren’t always actual wrestlers, but just people who wrestle a little bit. But as you said, you have been wrestling for years on a consistent basis.
Yea. I started wrestling school when I was 17 and I just turned 33, so I’ve been doing it for just over 15 years and there hasn’t been a week that’s went by where I haven’t done something like go out to a show or train. So, that last two-and-a-half months have been long and I can’t wait to get back out there and perform again.
What first attracted you to wrestling and getting trained? I assume you were a fan growing up.
I’ve always been a fan. I started watching it at a young age. Since I can remember, I’ve always watched wrestling. It’s all I ever thought about or wanted to do. It was always in my mind: “I like this, I like watching this, I want to do it!”
I assume back in those days that wrestling wasn’t your full time gig. What were you doing to supplement it?
I worked with people with special needs and helped find them jobs for 8 years. I still own my own wrestling promotion – Adrenaline Championship Wrestling – so I made money doing that plus wrestling indies. So like I said, I like to work! I was always busy before WWE and during WWE, so these 90 days have been hard for me (laughing).
How difficult can the life of an indie wrestler be?
At first, it was “You have to work hard, you have to pay your dues, and you have to try to make a name for yourself.” Very few people make a name for themselves right away. It took me forever. I don’t look like a normal wrestler, never mind a normal wrestler, I don’t look like a normal guy (laughing). It was hard for me. I always worked hard, always developed my craft, always listened to the right peopple, but yeah, i’s difficult. You have to hustle to get work and hustle to get noticed.
Whenever you appeared on Raw at first in the summer of 2016, there had been some clamour for WWE to bring back enhancement talent, so that they didn’t burn through every available match. How did you end up in that role with WWE?
I had been “extra talent” several times before then, although I had never had a match (in WWE) before then. You email them and send pictures and say “I’m from this area and if you need extra guys, I’m available” and they call you or they don’t. But back to WWE using enhancement talent so they don’t burn through matches, I think that’s a really good thing when they do that. They’ve stopped doing that lately and they’re burning through matches. It was cool when they brought that back, but now you’re just seeing matches all the time: John Cena vs. Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman vs. Brock Lesnar we’ve already seen. It’s something (enhancement matches) that I think they should do more often.
You got a cult following after your in-ring promo before the Braun Strowman match. Did they give you any warning/direction ahead of time or were you allowed to be yourself to try and build it up?
When the match with Strowman came about, it was about 2 hours before the match that they said “Hey, we’re going to give you a quick promo.” They wrote some notes, and the only thing that I asked was if I could say, “Any man with two hands has a fighting chance.” That was the only line in the promo that was mine and the cool thing is that it caught on.
How did the conversation and situation turn from enhancement matches to a full time role?
After the initial match with Strowman, I wasn’t seen on television again for six weeks. When I came back, I was supposed to team with AJ Styles to face Dean Ambrose and John Cena — that’s when The Miz came out and beat me up — and even then, no contract was offered. When they brought me back a month later to wrestle Styles for the first time with Dean Ambrose as the referee, still no contract was offered The contract was offered when I went to Scotland for SmackDown for the six-man match I had that night with me, Kane and Ambrose vs. Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt, and Luke Harper. That was the night it was offered to me and that was probably early November 2016 (laughing).
It must have been a little bit surreal, given how long that you had pushed to try and get noticed in the business and all of a sudden, very quickly, you were involved in these types of storylines.
Yeah, it was very surreal. You watch these guys on TV every week and all of a sudden you’re on TV with them, interacting with them. It was so surreal at first, but I kept the mindset of “I have a job to do and I better do it well or this is going to go away real quick.”
Would you have liked to have wrestled more to show what exactly you could do?
I love to wrestle. I understood what they wanted me to do as far as character work and I got it. I was on SmackDown, there was no cruiserweight division on SmackDown and all these guys are bigger than me. So if I was just wrestling every week and getting beat up every week, it would have got old fast. I was wrestling every now and then. It was a special occasion when I wrestled, and that was really cool. I love to wrestled and perform, so any time they asked me I was happy to do it, but I understand why they didn’t want me to do it all the time.
You then moved into an on-screen partnership with Carmella which had you as beloved and hated by the fans at various times. How much fun was it to be involved with all of the women and the matches that they were doing?
It was so much fun. I added something different to the women’s division. You had this little guy wreaking havoc on the women’s division. I got along with all of those girls and they got along with me, and we had a lot of fun. We were all very sad when it ended, because we had a lot of fun doing it.
You had your WrestleMania moment during the women’s six-pack challenge, as well as during the Money In The Bank show where you pushed Becky off the ladder before Carmella won the title. From where you were a year before, it must have seemed inconceivable that at that point, that’s what you would be doing.
The wrestling business is like no other business. Literally, one minute you would be at a Boys and Girls Club wrestling in front of 100 kids and the next minute you could be in front of 75,000 people at WrestleMania. It’s just a weird business and the farther you go up, the more you understand that. For me, it doesn’t matter. I just like to do it, wherever it’s at. WrestleMania was my biggest goal and now that I’ve accomplished it, it’s different. A year before, I’m doing a match somewhere in West Virginia in front of 100 people to a year later, I’m grabbing the MITB contract. It is surreal and it takes you back.
Did Vince ask you to become a transgender wrestler and have you challenge for the Women’s title at this year’s WrestleMania?
Vince had never brought it up to me, so I don’t really have an answer for that. I’ll just leave it at that (laughing).
Now that you’re out of WWE full time, how much of an influence do you think that you can be for good in the lives of people who have seen you on TV but who can relate to you if they see you in the real world?
I get approached all the time. In WWE, I was a character that people always paid attention to because I was so different. If you have a picture of a football team, and they’re all big guys, and you have one guy in that picture who’s very small, you’re going to look at the small guy and go “Wow, how did he make the team?” A lot of people say “Man, you inspired me!” It’s cool and I’ll always be grateful for that. Even if I inspired one person to chase their dreams, that’s a cool thing for me.
After you were released, you had your own Cody Rhodes-style bucket list of wrestlers that you wanted to wrestle, and a lot of women were on it. How close are you to getting any of those matches?
I do have matches lined up with seven or eight of the girls on the list already. Those will all be coming out very soon, I’m sure.
How did you get into running your own promotion?
In 2009, ACW had a different owner at the time, but he had me write a lot of the storylines. I started being the booker per se, and I think it was around 2012, he decided he didn’t want to do it anymore, so he sold me his titles, the belts, the banners – all of the stuff that he owned. I thought “Yeah, I’ll give this a try and run it.” So, I started running it and started making money, and I thought “Hey, I’m not bad at this!” (laughs) I just kept it going, and I’ve been doing that for six years.
You are returning to ACW on February 16th on a show that also has Austin Aries, Jerry Lawler, and Gillberg on it. In the UK and Ireland, the independent scene is really exploding. What do you see as the future for indies of all levels?
I was an independent wrestler for 14 years before I made it to WWE, and I see now that the independent scene is growing bigger than whenever I started. They are a way higher level. I’m going to be coming to the UK, and hopefully over to Ireland, and it’s cool to see that everything is growing. I hope I can be a part of that growth, and if I can come to any promotion in my country or any other country, and help out and hopefully draw some extra tickets and perform and get people interested in coming to see a promotion, wherever I go.
I can’t imagine that you left WWE under any sort of cloud or with any sort of heat. Is the door open for you to return and do you think that might happen at some point down the line?
I think so. A lot of people leave and come back, more often than not. I feel like I did leave on good terms. I didn’t do anything unlawful, I was never late, I was a good employee. I was told that once I got the call, “You did good here.” Anything they put me in seemed to work. I’m not bitter about the release, but I don’t understand why I got released! (laughing) I don’t know if maybe they didn’t have anything else for me right now, maybe the Carmella thing they wanted to get away from. But in the future, I’ll be back.
The company’s statement: “WWE has come to terms on the release of WWE Superstar James Ellsworth. WWE wishes Ellsworth the best in all of his future endeavors.”
Ellsworth lost to Becky Lynch in a match that was billed as a “battle of the sexes” at last Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings in Manchester, England. He was superkicked by Carmella after the match but continued to be featured on the rest of the tour stops, getting beaten down by the entire SmackDown women’s division after their matches on the house shows.
Following a memorable cameo in a squash match against Braun Strowman last year, WWE started using Ellsworth on SmackDown and eventually signed him to a contract. He was first used as an underdog babyface and faced AJ Styles multiple times before turning heel and being paired with Carmella.
Ellsworth joins Emma, Darren Young, Summer Rae, NXT’s Sawyer Fulton, Performance Center trainee Leo Gao, and former Tough Enough winner Josh Bredl as wrestlers WWE has released over the last few weeks.
While it remains to be seen how the match will be laid out or how long it will actually go, an intergender matchup is set for tomorrow’s episode of SmackDown from Manchester, England.
WWE announced today that Becky Lynch would be facing James Ellsworth at the show. The announcement was made by Cathy Kelley in a video update, who went over how Lynch vs. Ellsworth was set up by a Twitter angle. Carmella volunteered Ellsworth, who had said Lynch wasn’t deserving of being SmackDown’s Survivor Series captain, for the match after Lynch challenged her.
Tomorrow’s SmackDown will be headlined by Jinder Mahal defending his WWE Championship against AJ Styles. A tag team title match is also scheduled for the show, with Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin challenging The Usos.
Before the Manchester Arena hosts SmackDown this week, Raw is taking place at the venue tonight. Both of those episodes will air on a tape delay.
Though the match didn’t last long, James Ellsworth finally got his WWE Championship shot against AJ Styles on last night’s SmackDown. Styles will once again defend his title next week on the final SmackDown of 2016 as he faces Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin in a triple threat match.
Ziggler put his title shot on the line against Corbin in the main event of last night’s show, and Daniel Bryan made the triple threat for next Tuesday after the two went to a double countout.
Elsewhere on the show, The Miz defended the Intercontinental Championship against Apollo Crews, Becky Lynch got a match against Alexa Bliss while disguised under a mask, Natalya admitted to attacking Nikki Bella at Survivor Series, and more matches were announced for the year-end edition of SmackDown in Chicago, Illinois.
Date: December 20, 2016 Location: Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, MI
The Big Takeaway —
SmackDown was an eventful show. AJ Styles easily defended his WWE world championship against James Ellsworth and destroyed him afterwards. Natalya revealed it was her who attacked Nikki Bella at Survivor Series, and the Miz informed the world that Renee Young and Dean Ambrose are, in fact, an item. (Details below.)
They strongly pushed next week’s SmackDown show in Chicago. AJ Styles will now defend his title in a triple threat against Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin after the latter two fought to a double countout. Also on next week’s show, Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton will defend the tag titles in a 4 corners elimination match and Alexa Bliss will defend the women’s title against Becky Lynch.
John Cena returns next week as well in the building he made his debut.
Show Recap —
WWE World Championship: AJ Styles defeated James Ellsworth
Huge pop for AJ Styles. They announced James Ellsworth without mentioning where he’s from or how much he weighs. (They mentioned both for Styles, as usual.)
As Styles yelled that he deserves better than this, Ellsworth tried to catch him off guard with a superkick, but Styles blocked it. Styles hit him with combination strikes, then nonchalantly pinned Ellsworth for the win. Match was a minute or less. This was the perfect ending to this story.
Afterwards, Styles attacked Ellsworth and dropped him back-first on the corner of the announce table, which led to “Yes” chants. He then tossed Ellsworth onto the steps and into the steel frame under the ring. He was about to leave, but went back down to suplex Ellsworth into the barricade.
As they placed Ellsworth on a stretcher, Styles grabbed a mic and said he could finally move on to 2017. He didn’t need anything for Christmas because he already has the world title. This brought out Ziggler, who reminded Styles of their title match next week. As they carried Ellsworth out on a stretcher, Styles claimed he forgot, and informed Ziggler that the best thing he does is be a loser.
Ziggler thought that was funny considering it took Styles four tries to beat Ellsworth. Styles said beating Ziggler would be easy. They got face to face, which brought out Baron Corbin. Corbin said Ziggler will lose next week, because that’s what he does. He added that Ziggler doesn’t steal the show, he steals opportunities. He attacked Ziggler, who tried to fight back, but Corbin finished him off with End of Days. The crowd chanted “one more time.”
Backstage, Daniel Bryan told Ziggler not to let Corbin get under his skin, but Ziggler wanted a match tonight. Bryan agreed, but if Ziggler lost, Corbin gets the title shot instead. Bryan gave Ziggler a chance to change his mind, but he didn’t.
Intercontinental Championship: The Miz (w/Maryse) defeated Apollo Crews
Crews was all over Miz before, during and after a commercial break. After Crews hit an Olympic Slam for a near fall, Maryse got on the apron. The referee kicked her out even though she didn’t appear to do anything. Crews followed with a schoolboy for a near fall, and a high back suplex for another near fall. Miz inadvertently bumped the referee, who went down just for a moment, allowing Miz to poke Crews in the eye and hit a Skull Crushing Finale for the win.
After the match, Renee Young jumped in the ring to ask Miz about Dean Ambrose and Miz’s apparent obsession with him. Miz said Renee was the one who was obsessed with Ambrose, stating “after all, you’re the one sleeping with him.” Big crowd reaction for that. Renee slapped Miz and stormed off.
They updated us on Zack Ryder and announced a 4 corners elimination match for the tag titles next week in Chicago. It’ll be Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton vs. American Alpha vs. Heath Slater & Rhyno vs. The Usos.
They played a return video for John Cena next week.
Natalya came out and called out Nikki Bella. (Natalya actually came out and began talking, but they cut to commercial break. So she jumped the gun or they mistimed this.) Nikki came out, but Carmella interrupted. She exposed some nasty things Natalya said about Nikki. Nikki asked if it was true that Natalya attacked her. Natalya told Carmella, “you caused all this,” chased after her and tossed her into the Christmas decorations on the stage.
Natalya grabbed a mic and admitted that it was her who attacked Nikki and called her a bitch. Natalya was pissed that Nikki and Brie got all the opportunities because they were pretty and got their own spinoff reality show. She said her cat had more charisma than Nikki and called her a bitch again. Natalya finished off by saying that John Cena would never marry Nikki. Nikki is sad now. Natalya was pretty good here.
Alexa Bliss limped into Daniel Bryan’s office. Bryan told her she would be defending her title next week against Becky Lynch. Bliss didn’t like that. Bryan was told by the trainers that she’s cleared to wrestle tonight, and put her in a match. She didn’t have to wrestle, but if she doesn’t, she’ll be stripped of the title. Bliss stormed off and Bryan noted that her leg looked just fine.
Dean Ambrose defeated Luke Harper (w/Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton)
Harper had control after a break and launched Ambrose like a lawn dart into the middle turnbuckle. Ambrose fought back and attempted a flying elbow drop off the apron, but Harper moved and Ambrose landed on Bray and Orton instead. Ambrose kicked out of a sit-out powerbomb and followed shortly after with a la magistral cradle for the win. Not a great follow-up for Harper after last week’s performance, but Ambrose needed a win.
Bray and Orton jumped in the ring immediately afterward to beat down Ambrose. Orton finished him off with an RKO and the Wyatts posed. The Wyatts disappeared after the lights momentarily went off. The Miz and Maryse came out as Ambrose struggled to his feet, but Miz nailed him with a Skull Crushing Finale. The crowd booed as Miz and Maryse kissed.
La Luchadora (Becky Lynch) defeated Alexa Bliss
La Luchadora wore a full blue body suit with a purple (magenta?) mask. She used some wacky offense as the crowd chanted “Si! Si! Si!” They traded moves leading to La Luchadora applying a Disarmer for the submission win. La Luchadora ran around the ring celebrating the win. She jumped back in the ring and took off her mask to reveal it was Becky Lynch. It was mostly obvious this was Lynch, but this was still well done.
Ryan Phillippe from the TV show Shooter was walking backstage looking for Randy Orton but bumped into Mojo Rawley instead. They were interrupted Curt Hawkins who informed Rawley he will never be a tag champion. Rawley said he would punch him out in their match.
Mojo Rawley defeated Curt Hawkins
Phillippe was on commentary and plugged his show. He wanted to know where Orton was, but JBL said he better not go looking for him. Ranallo messed up Hawkins’ name for the second straight week. Rawley won quickly with a running punch in the corner.
Backstage, Dasha Fuentes informed us that Ellsworth was taken to a local medical facility, which the crowd cheered. However, Ellsworth was still there. He came out of the trainer’s room behind her, arm in a sling and wrapped up from head to toe. She tried asking him a bunch of questions, but he was very obviously in too much pain to answer. Carmella entered the scene and told Fuentes to leave him alone. Carmella offered to take care of him and they left together.
WWE World Title #1 Contender’s Match: Dolph Ziggler DCO Baron Corbin
Styles replaced Tom Phillips on commentary. Styles let us know it was Ranallo’s birthday soon (tomorrow) and he doesn’t look a day over 60. JBL and Ranallo informed Styles of the athletic backgrounds of Corbin and Ziggler, and Styles sarcastically thanked them for the info.
Corbin dominated for a while until Ziggler managed to hit a fameasser for two. (The camera cut to Styles in the middle of the count.) Ziggler slipped out of a powerbomb into a jackknife cover for two, and Corbin followed with an STO for two. Ziggler then kicked Corbin’s leg out of leg and hit a Zig Zag, but Corbin kicked out. Corbin followed shortly after with a Deep Six for a near fall.
Corbin then tossed Ziggler into the barricade a couple of times. Ranallo said Corbin should be cognizant of the referee’s count, but it was hard to tell what it was because the crowd was chanting “ten.” Corbin then launched Ziggler into Styles, which was a pretty stupid thing to do. This led to a double countout.
Styles got up and killed both men with a steel chair. He hit them both repeatedly and left them laying. Daniel Bryan announced a triple threat match for the title next week.
Final Thoughts —
The ending was weak, but this was an entertaining show and the best SmackDown show in a few weeks at least. I liked the payoff to the Styles/Ellsworth program and they really did a good job pushing next week’s show, which looks to wrap up a few things before they start building to the Rumble.
James Ellsworth may finally be getting his shot at AJ Styles and the WWE Championship.
WWE announced on Tuesday afternoon that Styles defending his title against Ellsworth was once again scheduled for tonight’s episode of SmackDown. The announcement also stated that the match would kick off the show.
Styles has been unable to wrestle since suffering an ankle injury in his match against Dean Ambrose at TLC earlier this month. He didn’t appear at any of this weekend’s house shows and Bray Wyatt instead took on Ambrose in the main event of the SmackDown brand events.
Ellsworth interfered to help Styles retain his title against Ambrose at TLC, with the storyline being that Ellsworth thought he had a better chance against Styles after getting three fluke wins over him on SmackDown in recent months. Ellsworth has been scheduled to face Styles for the title for the past two weeks, but the match was canceled both times.
Tonight’s show will also feature an Intercontinental Championship match as Apollo Crews challenges The Miz for the title. The two matches join the previously scheduled bout between Ambrose and Luke Harper as advertised matches for this week’s SmackDown.
This went about 12-15 minutes. Chad Gable and Jason Jordan got some stuff in early before Breezango took over on offense. There was a slow build to some inventive ways to try and get the hot tag by Gable. Jordan finally came in and American Alpha went over.
– Luke Harper defeated Mojo Rawley
– SmackDown Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss defeated Carmella, Natalya, and Nikki Bella in a fatal four-way match to retain her title
The match started with everyone beating up Bella. Carmella and Bella ended up in the ring for the first part. Bella showcased some good offense. Bliss kept trying to get in and kept getting booted out of the ring.
Bliss eventually hit her finisher on Natalya, then rolled up Carmella and used a handful of tights to win.
– Apollo Crews defeated Intercontinental Champion The Miz w/ Maryse in a non-title match
Miz claimed that he signed a contract saying that he doesn’t have to defend the belt in places like Hamilton. He did say that he’s being generous for the holiday season and was going to beat up Apollo Crews and present him with the Miz Participation Award.
Maryse got thrown out after trying to interfere and Crews hits a sit-out powerbomb for the win. This was the longest match of the night. It had some slow sections but the crowd loved it.
Crews ripped up the Participation Award and threw it at Miz after the match.
– Rhyno & Heath Slater defeated The Vaudevillains and The Ascension
This had some interaction between the heels but it was mostly Rhyno and Slater fighting them off until the end. The finish came when Slater finally made the hot tag. Rhyno tore through everyone and hit the Gore on Aiden English for the win.
– Baron Corbin defeated Kalisto
Crowds with a lot of children always go crazy for Kalisto and this was much of the same. They had a good little match. Kalisto showed off his abilities to their fullest but Corbin went over after rallying late and blasting him with the End of Days after kicking out of a Salida del Sol.
– Dean Ambrose defeated Bray Wyatt in a Hamilton street fight
The crowd was ready for some tables and chairs from the moment this was announced as a street fight. Earlier billing on the website had Ellsworth as the ring announcer for this but he was absent at the start.
Very good back and forth, just straight up wrestling until Wyatt rolled out around the six minute mark and grabbed a kendo stick. Luke Harper eventually hit the ring and distracted Ambrose, allowing Wyatt to put him through a table. Ambrose looked down and out but Ellsworth ran in, slid into the ring, and pointed at both Wyatt Family members before giving them a crotch chop.
Wyatt clocked Ellsworth with a kick to the head which put him down and out on the apron, but that gave enough time for Ambrose to recover and hit Dirty Deeds for the win.
