– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day defeated The Ascension to retain their titles
The champions got a massive reaction from the crowd and retained with their finisher. A highlight was Big E autographing a young girl’s sign and chatting with her after the match. Xavier Woods was beaten down throughout most of the match until Kofi Kingston got the hot tag.
– Rusev defeated Tye Dillinger
They had a decent back-and-forth bout, with Rusev winning by submission with the Accolade. Dillinger got a decent pop and plenty of “10” chants. They teased him winning, but Rusev overpowered him in the end.
– SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi defeated Carmella to retain her title
Byron Saxton came out to announce this one, which Naomi won after some decent back-and-forth action.
– United States Champion AJ Styles defeated Baron Corbin, Sami Zayn, and Kevin Owens to retain his title
This was either the best or the second best match of the night. There was plenty of crowd reaction for Owens and Zayn in Canada, but Styles was the most over wrestler on the show.
Owens and Corbin beat down the faces for much of the match, swapping places and taking turns beating on them. They eventually had a disagreement, with Corbin breaking their truce and turning on Owens. A flurry of finishers happened near the end, which led to Styles pinning Corbin after a Phenomenal Forearm.
– Natalya defeated Charlotte Flair
They had what may have been the match of the night. Despite getting a lot of cheers due to being from Canada, Natalya worked heel and won with a schoolboy while holding onto Charlotte’s tights. Charlotte hit a moonsault in the match, they did some technical wrestling, and Charlotte blocked a sharpshooter near the end.
Charlotte took her time leaving, signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans.
– Luke Harper & Sin Cara defeated Erik Rowan & Aiden English
English did a lengthy song/promo before this started, which generated a bit of heat from the crowd. The heels focused on Sin Cara, preventing him from tagging in Harper.
Sin Cara was able to hit a couple of nice offensive moves and eventually tagged Harper in. Harper then won with a superkick and discus lariat.
– WWE Champion Jinder Mahal defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to retain his title
Samir Singh did an intro and brought out Mahal, who cut a typical heel promo before being interrupted by Nakamura. Nakamura got the second biggest reaction of the night. He drew long and loud chants from the crowd.
Both men hit their signature moves in the match. There were a couple of nice near falls, but Mahal retained with the Khallas after interference from Singh. They tried to continue the attack after, but Nakamura cleared the ring to send the fans home happy.
Nakamura stayed behind for a while signing things and posing for pictures, including one with an elderly woman in the front row.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day defeated The Ascension to retain their titles
Big E and Kofi Kingston were in the match and Xavier Woods was on the outside. They had a regular tag match with some near falls at the end. There was a spot where Big E kind of gave Kingston a slingshot over the top rope on the heels.
The champions retained after hitting the Midnight Hour on Viktor, with them getting a good pop for the win.
– SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi defeated Carmella to retain her title
Naomi got a good babyface reaction when she made her entrance and throughout the match. This was pretty much what you’d expect, with Naomi getting the pin after hitting the Rear View.
– Luke Harper & Sin Cara defeated Erick Rowan & Aiden English
English spoke some French (some good French actually) before singing and turning heel on the fans and the French-Canadian culture. The crowd reacted accordingly to that as he got some very good heat.
Sin Cara did some high-flying stuff and took all of the heat. Harper got a big pop for the hot tag, especially since it was against Rowan. He pinned Rowan with a sit-out scoop slam.
– Kevin Owens & Baron Corbin defeated United States Champion AJ Styles & Shinsuke Nakamura
Nakamura’s entrance got a major reaction for his debut in Montreal. Owens got the biggest babyface reaction of the night up until this point. It’s too bad he (or Sami Zayn for that matter) wasn’t on the promotional posters around Montreal to advertise the show.
Corbin and Styles started the match, and since Owens didn’t start the crowd chanted “We want Owens!” There was a big pop when Corbin finally tagged him. Owens worked heel even though the fans cheered for him. The babyfaces were getting booed for having some offense on him, with most of the heat on Styles.
They all hit a big move towards the end, then Nakamura got the win over Corbin with the Kinshasa.
– Rusev defeated Tye Dillinger
Dillinger’s 10 gimmick was really over with the crowd. Rusev even mocked him with it to get some heat, but he got cheered instead. Rusev ended up winning with the Accolade.
– Natalya defeated Charlotte Flair
This was a very good, well-paced technical match. Charlotte hit her moonsault for a near fall at one point. They both exchanged submission moves, with the crowd chanting “This is awesome” for the first time of the night. Natalya eventually won with a roll-up while holding onto Charlotte’s tights.
– They presented Pat Patterson to the crowd before the main event and he sat at ringside. He got a nice pop.
– WWE Champion Jinder Mahal (w/ The Singh Brothers) defeated Sami Zayn to retain his title
Mahal was accompanied by both Singh Brothers. Zayn got a slightly bigger pop than Owens. He did all of his big moves, including a diving crossbody, blue thunder bomb, and tornado DDT.
Near the end, Zayn was on the top rope, but one of the Singh Brothers tripped him behind the referee’s back. Zayn hit the exploder suplex into the turnbuckles and the Helluva Kick, but one of the brothers put Mahal’s leg on the rope in a very well timed spot. Mahal finally won with the Khallas.
They all attacked Zayn after the match until Patterson jumped on the apron. The heels went towards Patterson and after a few seconds, Kevin Owens’ music hit to another huge pop. He ran to the ring and attacked the Singhs, doing the cannon ball in the corner to one of them. Even Patterson, while on the apron, threw a kick at one brother.
Mahal tried to sneak attack Zayn and Owens, but they ducked, hit a double super kick and then a double clothesline to get Mahal out of the ring. The other brother was in the corner, Zayn gave him the Helluva Kick and threw him towards Owens, who finished him with the pop-up powerbomb. Owens and Zayn looked at each other in the middle of the ring. The crowd started chanting “yes” in French and Owens exited the ring.
Zayn then celebrated with the Quebec flag. This was a perfect ending for the Montreal market and the crowd went nuts (or nut as Patterson would say it) for it.
Shinsuke Nakamura will be getting a shot at the WWE Championship at SummerSlam.
In a first-time meeting between the two, Nakamura became the number one contender to Jinder Mahal’s WWE title when he defeated John Cena on SmackDown tonight. Nakamura’s win was completely clean, with him finishing the match with a reverse exploder (that Cena took a rough bump on his neck on) and the Kinshasa.
Cena congratulated Nakamura as he raised his hand after the match, but things continued on the WWE Network after the show as Baron Corbin attacked Nakamura. Corbin tried to fight off Cena as he made the save, but Cena ended up countering him and putting him through the announce table with an Attitude Adjustment.
Whether that will lead to a SummerSlam match between Cena and Corbin hasn’t been announced yet, but WWE did make Randy Orton vs. Rusev official for the pay-per-view earlier on SmackDown.
The Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York will host SummerSlam on August 20th. The updated card is:
WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar defending against Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, and Samoa Joe in a fatal four-way match (Lesnar and Paul Heyman have promised to leave WWE if Lesnar loses)
WWE Champion Jinder Mahal defending against Shinsuke Nakamura
United States Champion AJ Styles defending against Kevin Owens (with Shane McMahon as the special guest referee)
Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss defending against Bayley
SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi defending against Natalya
– Tye Dillinger & Sin Cara defeated Erick Rowan & Aiden English
The Fort Wayne crowd was on fire for Dillinger. After the match, Rowan refused to leave the ring and challenged anyone in the back. That led to the next match.
– Luke Harper defeated Erik Rowan
Harper answered the challenge and immediately hit his discus lariat for the win.
– Randy Orton & AJ Styles defeated WWE Champion Jinder Mahal & United States Champion Kevin Owens
This match was really entertaining. It had a lot of interference from the Singh Brothers, but a Phenomenal Forearm and an RKO on Owens sealed the deal for the faces.
Carmella was hilarious with her antics. Some good spots led to Naomi hitting the Rear View on Natalya to pick up the victory.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day defeated The Usos and Breezango to retain their titles
This was a short match, but it was pretty good.
– John Cena defeated Rusev
The crowd was hot for the entire time. Rusev did a lot with the Bulgarian flag and Cena avoided a chair shot before countering with the Attitude Adjustment for the win.
Date: July 25, 2017 Location: Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, VA
The Big Takeaway —
John Cena vs. Shinsuke Nakamura was announced for next week’s show with the winner earning a WWE Championship match against Jinder Mahal at SummerSlam. Cena initially declared himself Mahal’s next opponent, but Daniel Bryan interrupted to make the announcement since Nakamura picked up a win over Baron Corbin earlier.
AJ Styles won the US Championship in a triple threat match against Kevin Owens and a returning Chris Jericho. Owens invoked his title rematch with Styles in a singles match next week.
Show Recap —
Kevin Owens came out to start the show. JBL tried to describe the title change as AJ Styles slipping on a banana peel, but he wasn’t trying to disparage the win, either. Owens wore a suit and said Battleground was proof that good things happen to you if you’re pure of heart and a good person. The crowd chanted for Styles, but Owens never acknowledged him. Owens said he was reinstating the Open Challenge… next week. He certainly wasn’t doing it in front of hicks from Richmond, Virginia.
Styles interrupted. Owens said he better be out here to congratulate him and call him the better man, to which Styles said, “Nope.” Styles wanted his rematch. Owens said no. Chris Jericho’s music went off on the crowd erupted.
Jericho has grown out his hair a bit and he still has the list. Owens started babbling so Jericho repeatedly said, “Quiet!” until he stopped. Jericho said the last time he was on SmackDown, he left on a stretcher, but since then he’s been getting ready, eating well, doing crossfit and having a few beers. He wanted a US Title match tonight.
Styles said he was the next guy in line. Jericho asked if Styles knew what happened when you try cutting in line ahead of him. Jericho told a story about somebody doing it to him in the grocery store and Styles figured he ended up on the list. Jericho said no, he punched that guy in the face and put him in the Walls. He put Styles on the list.
Owens was leaving during all of this so Shane McMahon came out next. Shane said both men deserve rematches. McMahon announced a triple threat match for the title tonight in Richmond. Big pop. Good opening segment.
Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Baron Corbin
Nakamura received a big reaction on the way out. He took the fight to the outside, but Corbin cut him off with a big clothesline. Nakamura hit a flurry of offense but missed a Kinshasa and Corbin came back with a weak-looking chokeslam.
Corbin then did knee strikes and mocked Nakamura’s pose. Nakamura kicked out of a Deep Six and slipped out of an End of Days. Corbin tried a low-blow, but Nakamura dodged, hit kicks to the head and knee and finished him off with a Kinshasa for the win at 9:23. Good match. Everything about this was better than the PPV match.
They announced that Jinder Mahal would be demanding an opponent for his WWE title at SummerSlam.
Dasha Fuentes asked Naomi about Natalya refusing to shake her hand. Naomi said Natalya was tough as nails, but was disrespectful. Natalya showed up and asked Fuentes to leave. Natalya said Naomi disrespected the title by turning the belt into a kids’ toy and has no respect for legends like the Hart family. Natalya said she would return honour to the division at SummerSlam.
Naomi said Natalya was stuck in the dungeon. The title represented the now and the women’s “evolution.” Naomi respected tradition. She earned her champion and added a piece of her to it. Naomi said Natalya could keep throwing shade because she would feel the glow at SummerSlam. Natalya left. Carmella showed up to remind Naomi she and her contract still exist.
Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch defeated Tamina & Lana
Byron Saxton said Tamina had a reputation in the locker room of never showing her hand. JBL asked, “What are you doing in the girls’ locker room?” The heels got the heat on Lynch briefly and the crowd lightly chanted “You can’t wrestle” at Lana. Lynch hit an enziguri, made a hot tag, and Charlotte ran wild on Tamina.
Tamina cut her off with a superkick, but Lana tagged herself in. Charlotte kicked Tamina out of the ring and gave Lana a big boot for the pinfall win. Match was only 4:27, but this didn’t need to go any longer than that. Charlotte and Lynch came off like clearly the better wrestlers, which they are, so this was fine. They hugged afterwards and appear very much on the same page. Tamina was pissed at Lana, who was sad.
Jinder Mahal demands a SummerSlam opponent
Mahal came out alone, wearing a blue suit. There’s a carpet in the ring. Mahal talked about his win as the crowd booed, so he held up the title and smiled. Mahal said Randy Orton underestimated him. Mahal wanted to know who his SummerSlam opponent was and began speaking Punjabi.
John Cena interrupted. Mahal said he knew exactly what Cena was going to say and rambled on. Cena told him to stop moving his mouth. Cena said Mahal was wrong, he was out here to congratulate him. He complimented Mahal on being in the best shape of his life and was happy the title meant so much to him, to the point where he would do anything to keep it.
Cena did want to warn him, though. Cena didn’t care if Mahal had a giant, Singh brothers, Singh sisters, the cast of ‘Sing,’ his mom, dad, a prison or porta potty — none of it would be enough, because at SummerSlam, he was facing “Super Cena.” Cena said he would become 17-time champion and called for his music.
Cena was about to leave but Daniel Bryan came out before he could. Bryan congratulated both men on their wins at Battleground. Bryan said it was clear Cena was on a quest to make history, but he doesn’t make the matches. Opportunities were earned, even if your name is John Cena. Bryan said Cena would have to face Shinsuke Nakamura next week for the first time ever, and the winner will get Mahal at SummerSlam. Well then. Another good segment, that announcement aside.
Owens confronted Shane backstage. Owens didn’t think this match was fair. Shane didn’t care who the champion was, as long as they defend the championship. He said the match tonight would be amazing and that was for the fans. Owens didn’t care for the fans and didn’t care about Shane either. Owens got in Shane’s face. This was clearly a tease for a match.
Sami Zayn & Tye Dillinger defeated Aiden English & Mike Kanellis (w/Maria Kanellis)
English sang before the match. They might be running long because they went to commercial at a pretty random moment in the match.
The crowd chanted “Let’s go Sami” and he made a hot tag to Dillinger. Dillinger tried to show some fire and hit ten punches in the corner. Dillinger tagged Zayn back in and he finished off Kanellis with a Helluva kick for the win. Like the women’s match earlier, this was a fine match where the superior team won without much problem.
Big E began making his usual introduction (with the New Day backstage and the camera on the crowd) when he was abruptly stopped. The Usos attacked them from behind and the fight spilled on the stage. All three New Day members were laid out and officials ran out to stop the Usos. This was great.
They plugged John Cena vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for next week. Renee Young interviewed Nakamura backstage. (Unfortunate timing for Nakamura. As he started speaking, the crowd chanted “New Day rocks” in the background, as they presumably recovered at this moment.) Nakamura said, “Next week, John Cena… you can’t see me. Which means, I’ll see Jinder at SummerSlam.”
AJ Styles defeated Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho to become U.S. Champion (Triple Threat Match)
A highlight early on saw Jericho break up a Calf Crusher by nailing a Lionsault. Later on, Styles hit a 450 splash on Jericho and Owens tried to steal the pin but Jericho kicked out. Jericho countered a Styles Clash into a Walls of Jericho. Owens tried to break it up, so Jericho caught him, launched him into Styles, then applied the Walls. Styles tried to break that up, so Jericho caught him with a Codebreaker for a nearfall.
Jericho went for a Lionsault but Owens tripped him and hit cannonballs to both opponents. Styles nailed Owens with a forearm, Jericho hit Styles with an enziguri, Owens hit Jericho with a superkick, and Styles hit Owens with a Pele kick. All three men are down. “This is awesome” chants.
Styles tried a springboard move but Jericho caught him with a springboard dropkick. Owens nailed Jericho with a pop-up powerbomb but Jericho kicked out. Owens nailed Jericho with a frog splash but Styles jumped in, tossed out Owens, and pinned Jericho for the win at 14:08. Very good match. Owens reaction to this was perfect.
Styles’ music played and he posed on the ramp. Owens grabbed a mic and told everyone to shut up. He said none of this was fair. It wasn’t fair that Jericho came back, that Shane made him defend in a triple threat, that Styles stole his victory. Owens invoked his title rematch next week in a singles match with Styles.
Final Thoughts —
I thought this was an excellent show and a big rebound from Battleground. Obviously, I don’t think they should do Cena vs. Nakamura on free TV, but we’ll see what happens. You can also argue that they could’ve saved Jericho vs. Owens, since Jericho was left for dead several months ago, but it looks like they have other plans for Owens.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day defeated Breezango & The Usos to retain their titles
This was a fun opening match that really got the crowd into it from the start, with Breezango and New Day doing a lot of comedy. Big E and Xavier Woods were the New Day team in the match.
The Usos got the heat on Tyler Breeze until Fandango made the hot tag, then it broke down into a six-way and Woods pinned an Uso after the Midnight Hour.
– Baron Corbin defeated Sami Zayn
Another pretty good match. The crowd booed Corbin a lot. He continued his heat from Battleground, using a bearhug on Zayn for a while. Zayn made a big comeback, but Corbin cut him off and hit the End of Days for the win.
– Tye Dillinger, Chad Gable & The Hype Bros defeated Aiden English, Erick Rowan & The Ascension
English came to the ring and sang his whole introduction while being booed heavily. Dillinger and The Hype Bros got big reactions as well. Rowan was doing the monster shtick in this match, having all of the babyfaces try individually to take him out and nobody could.
Dillinger and English continued having problems stemming from their match at Battleground. The heels cut off Gable, then Zack Ryder got the hot tag to run wild. Ryder focused on Rowan until everyone ran in the ring and hit a big move. Rowan was eventually hit with the Broski Boot from Ryder and a running punch from Mojo Rawley for the finish.
Viktor complained about competition and demanded a singles match, leading to Luke Harper coming out.
– Luke Harper defeated Viktor
Viktor turned around to put away the microphone, with Harper hitting a discus lariat for the win in one move.
– Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura defeated WWE Champion Jinder Mahal (w/ The Singh Brothers) & Dolph Ziggler
Mahal came to the ring and cut his normal promo where he spoke in Punjabi. Ziggler, Orton, and Nakamura all got big reactions. There wasn’t much to the match. Mahal avoided Orton and they isolated Nakamura and got the heat on him for a very long time.
Orton eventually got the hot tag and cleaned house, doing the draping DDT on Ziggler and a double draping DDT on both Singh Brothers when they tried interfering. Nakamura hit Mahal with a Kinshasa and then Orton hit Ziggler with an RKO for the win. The crowd was really into the finish.
– SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi, Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch defeated Natalya, Carmella & Lana (w/ Tamina)
They had a basic six-woman tag match. Lynch and Carmella went back and forth with a bunch of covers and Lynch teasing the armbar. It eventually came down to Lana and Charlotte, then Tamina interfered and helped cut Charlotte off.
Naomi got the hot tag and ran wild on Lana. She got Lana in her submission finisher, but Natalya broke it up. It broke down again into a six-way with everyone hitting a big move and ended with Naomi hitting Lana with the Rearview for the win.
– United States Champion Kevin Owens defeated AJ Styles to retain his title
They had what was probably the best match on the show, but it wasn’t anything close to what these two could do. Owens took a while stalling at the beginning, then took the mic and started heckling fans at ringside. Styles ran out and attacked him, but Owens sent him flying over the guardrail.
Styles made it back in and we got a ton of chinlocks for the heat. Styles made his comeback and it picked back up with both guys hitting a bunch of big moves for near falls. Styles started gearing up for his finisher when Owens rolled outside, grabbed his title, and walked out.
Styles chased him down and threw him back in the ring. Owens distracted the referee, thumbed Styles in the eye, and then hit the pop-up powerbomb for the win.
Owens grabbed the mic after the match and cut a promo berating the fans. Styles recovered and hit him with the Phenomenal Forearm, then posed with the US title.
– John Cena defeated Rusev
This was the first time in many years that Cena was in Newark, and he got a mega reaction. It was the loudest of the night.
They worked a standard house show main event. Rusev feigned a knee injury, the trainer came out to check on him, Cena turned his back, and Rusev jumped him and beat on him for the longest time. Cena made his usual comeback and went for the Attitude Adjustment, but he hit the referee.
Cena put Rusev in the STF and he tapped out, but there was no ref. Rusev low blowed Cena and got a chair, but Cena cut him off, hit the AA, and won to send the fans home happy.
Aiden English defeated Tye Dillinger (pre-show match)
English got the pinfall win at 9:40 with a modified full nelson slam. A perfectly fine opener. English got a chance to sing for the crowd uninterrupted before the match.
This was Dillinger’s 7th televised match on the main roster (6th singles match) since being called up, 4th against Aiden English. (First win for English.) Their last match together was on the Backlash kick-off show.
Tom Phillips said they expect a capacity crowd here in Philly.
Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods (w/Big E) defeated The Usos to become WWE Tag Team Champions
New Day wore American flag themed gear. JBL said the Usos were expecting Big E to be in the match, but New Day tried a different unit to catch them off guard.
New Day are the new champs.
Kingston tried his trust fall dive to both Usos outside the ring, but they caught him and killed him with a double powerbomb. Woods was actually the legal man and they caught him with an assisted Samoan drop with a nearfall. Wood tried a springboard elbow on the wrong Uso and was caught in mid-air with a superkick from Jimmy Uso for another nearfall.
Jimmy had Woods in a single leg crab forever but Woods got a rope break. Kingston made a tag (he was laid out the entire time previously) and hit a double footstomp for a nearfall. Jimmy caught him with a superkick and Jey hit a splash off the top for another close nearfall. “This is awesome” chants.
Kingston avoided another splash and tagged in Woods. Kingston hit a Trouble in Paradise and Woods hit a springboard elbow drop for the win. Big pop for the finish. Real good match that went 13:46.
AJ Styles was shown warming up backstage.
Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Baron Corbin via DQ
Nakamura did his full entrance and received a huge reaction.
Corbin was trash talking at the start of the match, but Nakamura just rolled his eyes and chuckled. Corbin got the heat pretty early on. Nakamura caught him in an armbar but Corbin slipped out and hit a big boot. Corbin followed by driving Nakamura into the barricade a couple of times. Crowd chanted “Corbin sucks” and he responded, “I’m doing pretty good, dummies!”
Nakamura fought out of a second bearhug and connected with kicks, dropkick and two running knee strikes for a two count. Corbin came back with a big clothesline that turned Nakamura inside out for a two count. Nakamura followed with knee strikes but Corbin reversed a Kinshasa into a Deep Six for a nearfall.
Nakamura hit a backcracker and two more leg strikes. He set up for Kinshasa but Corbin wasn’t budging. Nakamura went after him but Corbin gave him a low-blow in front of the referee for a DQ at 12:27. Afterwards, Corbin attacked Nakamura with the briefcase and hit End of Days.
Five-Way Elimination Match: Natalya defeated Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Tamina and Lana to become number one contender
Naomi is on commentary. Tamina and Lana came out separately. Phillips said this was Natalya’s 38th PPV match, putting her one behind Trish Stratus for most all-time among women wrestlers. (I checked quickly and that may not be accurate, but I could be wrong.)
Lynch eliminated Tamina first with the Disarmer, about 8 minutes into the match.
Lynch eliminated Lana about 25 seconds later with a Disarmer.
Natalya eliminated Lynch seconds later with a rollup.
Natalya won the match, last eliminating Charlotte. Natalya got her knees up on a moonsault attempt, the drove the back of Charlotte’s head into the bottom turnbuckle. This was enough to get the pinfall. Naomi offered a handshake after the match, but Natalya left.
The match was good when Natalya, Charlotte and Lynch were in there. Tamina and Lana are unspeakably bad, especially together. The crowd was displeased with the result.
Kevin Owens defeated AJ Styles to become U.S. Champion
Near the end of the match, Owens dropped Styles shoulder-first onto the ring apron and worked his shoulder over from there. Styles couldn’t get Owens up for the Styles Clash as a result, then Owens tossed him into the referee. After a back-and-forth exchange, Styles applied the Calf Crusher, but Owens countered into a crossface.
Styles countered into a crossface of his own as the referee recovered. Owens rolled Styles into a cover (with the crossface still applied) and the referee counted three. It appeared Styles’ shoulder might have been up but the referee didn’t see it and they never showed a replay. Pretty good match but another weak finish. Also, earlier in the match, Owens took control after driving Styles groin-first into the ringpost, which was somehow not a DQ even though we saw a low-blow led to a DQ earlier.
I watched the finish again. Styles’ shoulder was up before the referee was about to count, but he lowered his shoulder against the mat and they were down for the three count. If the story is that Styles’ shoulders were down, then he basically lost clean.
Backstage, the Singh brothers let Jinder Mahal know they can’t be at ringside for his match tonight. Mahal said he would win anyway.
Flag Match: John Cena defeated Rusev
Byron Saxton said Cena’s career could be lost if he loses this match.
To win the match, you have to grab your flag, carry it down the aisle and place it on the pedestal (positioned by the stage).
Cena won at 21:03.
Rusev got his flag first, just under 9 minutes into the match (part of the crowd reacted like that was the finish), but Cena caught him with a dropkick and AA. Cena also applied an STF and Rusev tapped, but there was no crowd reaction since it didn’t matter.
Cena got the American flag, then Rusev caught him with a superkick. Rusev grabbed his flag and began walking but Cena cut him off with a shoulder tackle off the apron. Cena grabbed his flag and began walking, but Rusev attacked him from behind. Rusev is bleeding from the shoulder after going into the steel steps earlier. He used the steps to knock down Cena.
They fought on the stage and Rusev hit a fallaway slam. Rusev setup two tables next to the America pedestal. They fought for another 5 hours until Rusev applied an Accolade. Cena fought out of another Accolade, put Rusev on his shoulders and gave him an AA through the tables off the pedestal. Cena put his flag in the stand for the win. Cena saluted the flag.
The Fashion X Files
The Ascension showed up and claimed responsibility for destroying their stuff. Breeze thought this was a bit of a letdown. Fandango figured out that it couldn’t have been the Ascension because they weren’t at the show last week. He was also angry they would pretend to have done something so horrible to his horse. He shoved it in their faces and they freaked out and left. The lights went out and Breezango were laid out. There was a flashlight positioned perfectly on their bodies, which allowed us to see Fandango’s body get dragged out. The crowd laughed.
Sami Zayn defeated Mike Kanellis (w/Maria Kanellis)
Mike Kanellis’ tights are now white and pink. A distraction from Maria allowed Mike to gain control. Zayn came back with a flip dive followed by a crossbody for two. Zayn hit a nice tornado DDT, but before he could hit an Exploder, Maria jumped in the ring to block it. The ref kicked her out of the ring instead of disqualifying them. Zayn hit the Exploder anyway and a Helluva kick for the win at 7:17.
Talking Smack will be hosted tonight by Renee Young and Jerry Lawler. The guests will be Natalya, Kevin Owens and the winner of the Punjabi Prison match.
Punjabi Prison match: Jinder Mahal defeated Randy Orton to retain the WWE Championship
Mahal came out first. As they referenced earlier, the Singh brothers are not with him.
Crowd chanted “Trust the process,” “Delete,” and “CM Punk” through the early portion of the match. Orton and Mahal tried and failed to get through one of the four doors on the first three attempts. Orton nailed an RKO with the fourth door open, but the Singh brothers popped out from under the ring and pulled Mahal out of the door, trapping Orton inside the ring.
Mahal began climbing the outer structure as Orton climbed out of the inner one. Orton managed to step from the inner to outer structure, placing him right next to Mahal. Orton knocked him down, but before he could climb out, the Singh brothers pulled him down.
Orton suplexed the Singh brothers, then Mahal attacked Orton with a Kendo stick. Orton fought back and attacked with a Kendo stick. Orton began climbing, but Samir Singh actually slipped through the cage and climbed up from the outside to block him. Orton punched Samir off the cage and he crashed through the announce table, which was nuts.
Orton, who is bleeding from the back and arm, gave Mahal a draping DDT. He then hit Sunil and Mahal with chair shots. Orton began climbing and fended off Sunil one more time.
Mahal’s music suddenly started and Great Khali marched out (wearing his gear). Khali climbed up a few steps and grabbed Orton by the throat. Orton passed out as Mahal climbed over and out. Mahal retains the WWE title at 27:38.
Mahal and Khali hugged and posed. Mahal let him hold up the title, too.
The main show went just about 3 hours and 10 minutes.
WWE finished building to Battleground on last night’s episode of SmackDown.
Heading into Sunday, AJ Styles & Shinsuke Nakamura teamed against Kevin Owens & Baron Corbin, Rusev stood tall over John Cena, Becky Lynch took on Charlotte Flair, and Jinder Mahal brought the Punjabi Prison to SmackDown.
Elsewhere on the show, Chad Gable reacted to Jason Jordan being revealed as Kurt Angle’s son, Mike Kanellis made his in-ring debut against Sami Zayn, and Breezango continued searching for answers in “The Fashion X-Files: The Truth is not H.”
Date: July 18, 2017 Location: Legacy Arena in Birmingham, AL
The Big Takeaway —
Kevin Owens and Baron Corbin beat AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura in the main event, with Owens pinning Styles after a powerbomb. Becky Lynch picked up a somewhat surprising tap-out victory over Charlotte. The two were laid out by Natalya, Tamina and Lana, then Natalya was taken out by Tamina.
Rusev laid out John Cena after a long promo. Mike Kanellis won his debut match against Sami Zayn with help from Maria. Also, at Battleground, it looks like we will finally find out who was behind the attack of Breezango.
Show Recap —
Jinder Mahal and the Singh brothers opened the show. Tom Phillips gave us the details of the Punjabi Prison–the inner structure is 16 feet high and the outer structure is 20 feet. Mahal said this would be the final resting place of Randy Orton’s legacy and the crowd chanted “USA.”
The Singh brothers explained the rules of the match, which was nice of them. Basically, the inner doors will open be open for a short time, and if you miss it, you have to climb out. Either way, you have to climb out of the outer cell. Mahal said he would smash Orton’s face until it represents the ugliness of this country’s people. Mahal’s voice started to crack as he began speaking Punjabi.
Randy Orton interrupted. Orton questioned Mahal’s decision to lock himself in there with him because there would be no escape. Orton said he had nothing to lose after Mahal took his title, messed with his family and left him for dead. Orton slowly began climbing the prison as he spoke.
Orton let Mahal know he has the pressure of the entire nation of India on his back. He stood atop the structure and said this would be his view after he leaves Mahal’s “jacked up” ass in the ring and would be declared the new champion.
The crowd liked Orton but this wasn’t much of a segment. The prison is impressive to look at, but it’s also hard to see through.
Jimmy Uso (w/Jey Uso) defeated Kofi Kingston (w/Big E & Xavier Woods)
Like last week, Phillips let us know how personal the feud is and again they showed clips from the rap battle excluding the thing that made it so personal. Kingston twerked in Jimmy’s face after getting a two count then tossed him outside. Kingston faked a dive then hit a springboard flip dive instead, which was an amusing spot.
Jimmy got the heat during commercial by dropping Kingston on the apron. Kingston came back with a foot stomp and boom drop. Kingston went to the top but was distracted by Jey on the apron. Kingston hit a crossbody anyway, but Jimmy rolled through into a small package for the win at 8:37. This was fine and pointless.
There was a meeting backstage with Shane McMahon and the five women in this Sunday’s number one contender’s match. They were all facing the camera, so they were essentially standing shoulder-to-shoulder-to-shoulder etc. Shane basically wanted them to book their own match for tonight.
Charlotte wanted a match with Lana, Natalya wanted a match with Lana, and Becky Lynch wanted a match with Lana. Tamina said no and Natalya suggested Charlotte face Lynch. Charlotte said Shane wanted a competitive match for tonight, which offended Lynch. They argued and Shane made the match official, which the crowd popped for.
Chad Gable sit-down interview
A video package aired of the Kurt Angle-Jason Jordan segment from Raw. They cut to Renee Young who sat down with Chad Gable backstage. Gable didn’t know anything before the announcement. It didn’t just change the lives of Angle and Jordan, but changed his as well. Gable has spoken with Jordan since last night and understood what he was going through. He said they’ve been through a lot together and ran down their accomplishments. Jordan has his support. Gable said the WWE can look forward to seeing him on his own.
Mike Kanellis (w/Maria Kanellis) defeated Sami Zayn
Mike Kanellis won in 3:00 with a Samoan Driver. Zayn dominated for the first two and a half minutes but Maria jumped in the ring after Zayn hit an Exploder in the corner. This was somehow not a DQ, and the distraction allowed Mike to clock Zayn with a right hand and nail the Samoan Driver for the win. Mike Kanellis’ tights have pink and red lips all over it, as well as a big pink heart with the words “M+M 4ever” and a drawing of Maria in a bikini.
John Cena promo
Cena plugged some of the matches for Sunday, including the women’s match, the Nakamura match, and the Punjabi Prison match. He said the match we remember will be the flag match, taking place in the very city the country was founded. He pointed out the flags which were positioned in each corner as they will be on Sunday.
Cena noted that there was more to the match than just the flags. Cena doesn’t like Rusev. He said we’ll remember the match because of which flag is being flown at the end. He knows he’s not everyone’s favourite, but knows we all care about the American flag (presuming everyone watching this is American).
Cena said the pressure was on but he’s the man for the job. Cena promised that he was ready. He continued on with a long history lesson about how great this country was. He grabbed the American flag and said it will fly high on Sunday.
Cena’s music played and he posed with the flag when Rusev suddenly attacked from behind. Rusev nailed a superkick and applied the Accolade. Cena managed to stand up with Rusev on his back but Rusev never let go and managed to re-apply the Accolade as Cena passed out. Crowd booed Rusev and chanted “USA.” He grabbed the Bulgarian flag and held it high.
Nakamura approached AJ Styles backstage. They both got big pops. Styles was about to reminisce about Japan when he noticed Nakamura was staring at his US Title. Nakamura pointed at the belt and said, “One day, you call… I answer.” This was good.
Becky Lynch defeated Charlotte Flair
This is the first singles match between these two in over a year. Natalya is on commentary. The crowd did dueling chants for each women. They had a couple of back-and-forth exchanges when Lynch almost applied the Disarmer, but Charlotte escaped the ring for a commercial break.
They traded strikes, an exchange Charlotte got the better of. Lynch escaped a Figure Eight attempt and hit a forearm and Exploder. They traded counters until Charlotte nailed a big boot for a nearfall. Charlotte missed a moonsault, Lynch applied the Disarmer and Charlotte tapped out. Lynch with the submission win at just under 9 minutes. Decent match. I’m just glad we got a clean finish.
Charlotte and Lynch shook hands afterwards. Tamina and Lana came out (to Tamina’s music) and the distraction allowed Natalya to attack the babyfaces from behind. The heels took out Charlotte and Lynch. Natalya argued with Lana, so Tamina superkicked Natalya.
Backstage, Naomi said she looks forward to every challenge. She didn’t come here to play, she came here to glow. She hoped her opponent was ready for SummerSlam. Carmella showed up and kicked out Renee. Carmella reminded Naomi that wherever she goes, so does Carmella and her contract.
The Fashion X Files: The Truth is not H
Tyler Breeze wore a wig, of course, playing the role of Scully. They heard a strange ghost-like noise from behind a curtain, but it was just Aiden English warming up. He asked, “Do you mind?” and they shut the curtain. A delivery guy showed up with a package. Breeze was horrified upon looking in the box. Fandango wanted to know what was in the box (a reference to Se7en). Fandango looked in the box — it was the head of Tully (the horse). There was a note that read “Battleground” in the box as well, and it looks like this will come to a conclusion on Sunday.
Drew Gulak plugged his 2 out of 3 falls match against Mustafa Ali on 205 Live.
Kevin Owens & Baron Corbin defeated U.S. Champion AJ Styles & Shinsuke Nakamura
Corbin tried to attack Nakamura during his entrance, but he saw it coming and fought back. Owens ran out to double team him, so Styles jumped in for the save. The good guys got the better of this and jumped back in the ring ready to fight as they went to commercial.
The match was underway after a break with Corbin in control on Styles. Nakamura tagged in and had the better of Owens until Corbin got in the way and they got the heat on him. Nakamura came back with a flying boot but Corbin yanked him down by the hair and knocked Styles off the apron.
Nakamura came back with kicks to the chest. Owens distracted Nakamura and Corbin nailed a Deep Six, but Styles broke up the cover. Styles made the hot tag and nailed Owens with a strike combo, clothesline and sliding forearm for two. He followed that with a facebuster for two but Owens nailed him with a clothesline and tagged out.
Corbin launched Styles across the ring but Styles came back with a Calf Crusher. Corbin got to the ropes and Styles set up for the Phenomenal forearm, but Owens wiped him out on the apron. Nakamura went after Owens but Corbin knocked him into the timekeeper’s arena. Styles set up for a Styles Clash on Corbin, but Owens had made a blind tag and hit a superkick and pop-up powerbomb for the pinfall win. Fun match.
Final Thoughts —
This was another dull show, which is likely because they’re building to a particularly weak split-brand pay per view. Hopefully things pick up heading toward SummerSlam.
By the way, the last Punjabi Prison match occurred at No Mercy in October 2007, nearly 10 years ago, a show main evented by Randy Orton.
Nakamura got a good pop. Ziggler got a lot of offense in, but Nakamura eventually made a comeback and finished the match with a Kinshasa after a botch.
– Rusev defeated Sin Cara
Rusev submitted him with the Accolade. Sin Cara was really over with the crowd. At one point, the crowd chanted “USA,” with Rusev selling it well. They later chanted “Mexico,” which he also sold well.
– American Alpha defeated Aiden English & Epico
American Alpha were surprisingly over. English did his singing gimmick and got great heel heat out of the crowd. This was a really fun match.
– WWE Champion Jinder Mahal defeated Sami Zayn to retain his title
Mahal won with a Khallas after the Singh Brothers distracted Zayn. They had a good match, with lots of high flying from Zayn. Mahal generated a lot of heat and cut a promo in Punjabi. He’s really trying, and it worked here. Zayn beat up the Singh Brothers after so he could make a face exit.
Naomi got a really big pop and pinned Natalya after hitting the Rear View. Carmella took a lot of the action, playing her cowardly heel character. This was one of the better matches of the night and the faces seem to really have fun together.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defeated The Hype Bros and The New Day to retain their titles
This was another fun match, with The Usos being surprisingly over with the crowd. Mojo Rawley did lots of dancing and challenged Big E.
– United States Champion AJ Styles defeated Baron Corbin and Kevin Owens to retain his title
They had the best match of the night. Styles retained after hitting the Phenomenal Forearm. He was really over and got the biggest pop of anyone on the show.
– American Alpha & Breezango defeated The Ascension, Erick Rowan & Epico
This was an okay match with some comedy elements. American Alpha hit their finish on one of the members of The Ascension for the win.
– Luke Harper defeated Aiden English
English sang his way to the ring, which got him a good heel reaction. Harper was one of the most popular faces of the night and there were chants for him throughout. He won with his discus lariat.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defeated The Hype Bros and The New Day to retain their titles
The New Day cut a pre-match promo. The match was fun and had a lot of comedy, with The Usos retaining by using a roll-up.
– United States Champion Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn and AJ Styles to retain his title
This was the most over and best match on the show. Styles got most of the cheers, Owens got a few, and Zayn wasn’t getting a good reaction. He even got some outright boos. Owens won by stealing the pin after pushing Styles away after he had hit a Styles Clash on Zayn.
Owens had the mic after the match, but he ended up getting hit with a Helluva Kick and a Phenomenal Forearm.
– SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi, Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch defeated Natalya, Tamina & Carmella (w/ James Ellsworth)
Ellsworth was over big and the crowd was into this one. Lynch was over with the younger crowd. Naomi has added lights to her title belt and got the win for her team after hitting the Rear View on Natalya.
– Rusev defeated Tye Dillinger
They cut backstage promos to set this up during intermission. There were some “We want Lana” chants and Rusev got a good heel reaction. Dillinger wasn’t really that over. Rusev won with the Accolade.
– Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura defeated WWE Champion Jinder Mahal & Baron Corbin
The fans really hated Mahal and Orton got a big pop. Orton was added to this show late, so many of the fans didn’t know that he was going to be there. He hit an RKO on Corbin for the victory.
Jinder Mahal and Randy Orton are set to face off at another pay-per-view, and WWE is resurrecting a stipulation match for their third meeting.
It was announced on SmackDown tonight that Mahal would defend his WWE Championship against Orton in a Punjabi Prison match at Battleground. That stipulation debuted at Great American Bash 2006, where Big Show replaced The Great Khali at the last minute and wrestled The Undertaker. Khali later faced Batista in one at No Mercy 2007.
Orton came down to the ring on SmackDown and said that he wasn’t leaving until he got a rematch against Mahal. Shane McMahon then made his way out, giving Orton the match but saying that Mahal would pick the stipulation. Mahal referenced Khali being one of his idols when revealing his decision.
In addition to that, The New Day will again get a shot at the SmackDown tag titles as they challenge The Usos at Battleground. That match was announced after The Usos defeated The Hype Bros in a match where Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley would’ve earned a title shot by winning.
The Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania will host Battleground on July 23rd.
– Before the show started, it was announced that all of the champions would be defending their titles.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defeated The New Day and Sin Cara & Mojo Rawley to retain their titles
Xavier Woods wasn’t present, with Big E and Kofi Kingston jokingly searching the stage for him on their way down. Sin Cara did most of his spots in the match. He went to bounce off the ropes for a dive, but one of the Usos kicked him and won with a schoolboy while holding onto his tights.
– Tye Dillinger defeated Aiden English
English came down singing and whining that there’s nothing about Everett to sing about. He threatened to stop singing if the crowd kept booing. The crowd cheered that, so he finished his song. Dillinger pulled out a piece of paper with “10” on it from behind his back during his entrance.
Dillinger kept thrusting the paper up as the audience chanted “10.” English complained to the referee about a foreign object, then the ref took it from Dillinger. But Dillinger continued to use other 10 signs. He won with the Tye Breaker in a fairly standard match that the crowd was into.
– Breezango & American Alpha defeated The Ascension, Erick Rowan & Epico
This seemed like a strange pairing for the heel team. It was another standard match that Fandango won for his team after pinning Epico.
– SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi defeated Carmella (w/ James Ellsworth) to retain her title
Naomi was out first before Carmella entered and did her usual heel promo. She handed the mic to Ellsworth so he could rile up the crowd. Carmella had the advantage early until Naomi made a comeback. Ellsworth tried to interfere, but Naomi caught him and chased him to the back. She hit a split-legged moonsault on Carmella to retain.
The crowd was pretty into this, especially with hating Ellsworth. They chanted “Where’s your briefcase?” at Carmella.
– United States Champion Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn and Rusev to retain his title
Owens entered first and picked arguments with various members of the crowd. Zayn then came out to a big pop. Rusev’s music hit as he came down and told the ref that he’s been added to the match.
They had the best match of the night. Owens and Zayn work so well together and Rusev fits in just fine. Owens bailed as soon as it began, taking a seat at ringside. Rusev beat up Zayn before Owens came in and they started double-teaming him. The heels eventually turned on each other.
Zayn later hit the Helluva Kick on Owens, with Rusev barely making it back into the ring to break up the count. Owens superkicked Rusev while he had Zayn in the Accolade, then picked up Zayn and hit the pop-up powerbomb for the win. He ran as fast as he could to the back as an angry Rusev chased him.
– Baron Corbin defeated Luke Harper
The crowd really hated Corbin. There was a “Boring Corbin” chant that never really stopped throughout the match. He took every free second that he could to mock the crowd. They had a slow match that Corbin won after hitting the End of Days.
– Natalya & Tamina defeated Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch
The faces got excellent pops and the heels were booed. Natalya complained about the “Woo” chants, but the crowd did them louder as she complained. Lynch and Charlotte started doing the chant as well. Tamina tried to take a sign from someone in the crowd, then Charlotte got it and brought it into the ring. Lynch went and got one as well.
They got the crowd to cheer until Natalya tore the sign that Charlotte had. Natalya did some great heel work in the match. Lynch tried to put the Dis-Arm-Her on Natalya, but Tamina superkicked her and got the win. The fans weren’t happy about the finish.
– WWE Champion Jinder Mahal (w/ The Singh Brothers) defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to retain his title
The Singh Brothers introduced Mahal for the match. He cut his regular promo about the fans not respecting him. Nakamura then came down and did his full entrance.
It was back and forth to start. Mahal yelled at fans as Nakamura took the advantage. The crowd started chanting “3MB” and Mahal dropped Nakamura with a forearm. He grinned at the crowd and did a couple of seconds of air guitar. The fans laughed at that.
After some more back and forth, Nakamura started to set up for the Kinshasa. The Singh Brothers got on the apron for the distraction until Nakamura knocked them down. Mahal snuck up and hit the Khallas for the win.
All three heels started beating on Nakamura after the match, but he fought back and hit the Kinshasa on Mahal to close the show. His music played as the show ended.
– The Singh Brothers interrupted Greg Hamilton’s introduction and brought out Jinder Mahal to an enormous pop. Mahal said Shinsuke Nakamura couldn’t get into the country, so he called for a referee to come to the ring and count to 10.
Charles Robinson appeared and got to seven before Seth Rollins’ music hit (to another big pop). He came to the ring and said Daniel Bryan called him this morning. Because Nakamura couldn’t make it, Rollins now has a title shot in the main event.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defeated The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) and Breezango to retain their titles
Jimmy Uso rolled up Fandango for the win. This was a fun match, with Big E teasing going to the top rope as Tyler Breeze slowly rolled out of the way. There was also an entertaining moment where Breeze tried to suplex Big E.
– Luke Harper defeated Aiden English
Harper used his discus lariat for the win.
– American Alpha, Sin Cara & Mojo Rawley defeated The Ascension, Erick Rowan & Epico
Chad Gable got a bridged pin on Epico.
– Natalya defeated Charlotte Flair
Natalya won by submission with the Sharpshooter. Charlotte played heel, with Natalya getting a big welcome in Canada.
– United States Champion Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn and Rusev to retain his title
Owens pinned Zayn following a pop-up powerbomb. All three got a big reception. Owens had a new shirt with a maple leaf over the KO. Rusev got a big cheer for his return, along with a few “Where’s Lana?” chants.
– Baron Corbin defeated Tye Dillinger
Corbin pinned him following the End of Days. Dillinger didn’t get much offense in the match. There was a good bit at the beginning where Dillinger handed his shirt to a kid in the front row, then Corbin took exception and demanded it back because the fan didn’t pay for it.
Naomi connected with the Rear View on Carmella to get the win for her team.
– Seth Rollins defeated WWE Champion Jinder Mahal (w/ The Singh Brothers) by DQ
The disqualification came after interference by The Singh Brothers, with Mahal retaining his title as a result of it. Rollins put him through a table to close the show.
There were lots of Mahal shirts sold in an area that has a pretty large Indian population. Both he and the Singhs got a huge reception.
The final build to Money in the Bank took place on SmackDown last night, with all of the participants in the men’s MITB ladder match involved in a six-man tag in the main event.
Jinder Mahal and Randy Orton also had one final segment before the pay-per-view, with Orton finding a way around Mahal’s numbers advantage.
Elsewhere on the show, two women’s matches furthered things for Money in the Bank, Zack Ryder returned to television and reunited with Mojo Rawley, and The New Day teamed with Breezango against The Usos & The Colons.
