Despite what others may think, The Miz believes wins and losses are crucially important in professional wrestling.
Miz addressed the topic during a guest appearance on the latest episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet. Explaining why his character works so much better as a heel, Miz said he’s able to lose and then cut a promo moving on from what happened. But when you’re a babyface, fans want to see you win. The audience loses their faith in you when you fail to make that happen.
“My character doesn’t really work as a babyface, if I’m being honest,” Miz said. “It’s a person that can lose and then the next day you’ll forget about that loss, because I’ll just cut a promo and make you believe.
“But with the babyface, babyfaces can’t really lose a lot. If a babyface loses too much — everyone always says, like, ‘Winning doesn’t matter. Winning doesn’t matter.’ It matters. It really does matter. Especially if you’re a babyface. Because in my opinion, if you’re a babyface and I’m a kid out there — my kids always ask me, ‘Did you win? Did you win? Did you win?’ And I always have to go, ‘Ahh, daddy didn’t win this week, but I’ll get them next week.’ You can only say that so many times to a kid where they’re just like, ‘I want a winner. I want a winner. I want to cheer a winner.’ People like winners. People like first place. They don’t like second place. They don’t like third place. They want the guy, their guy. They want their guy to win.”
Miz said the past year has been “weird” for him with the reactions he’s getting. His usual heel tactics aren’t receiving boos, but fans aren’t completely cheering him either. While Miz can feel the increased respect people have for him, he thinks the reaction of ‘Ahh, he’s so good’ is death for a wrestler when fans aren’t fully behind or against them.
This Friday on SmackDown, Miz will be in action against Randy Orton. It’s a qualifying match where the winner earns a spot in the fatal four-way number one contender’s bout that’s taking place on January 24 at Saturday Night’s Main Event. The winner of that match advances to the Royal Rumble to challenge WWE Champion Drew McIntyre.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Filthy Tom Lawlor is back with tons to talk about including all the latest on Dynamite 300, how ticket sales are doing, who might be making their return, American Gladiators, Miz, injury and return updates, the NXT TV report, and so much more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Well, not really, but a lot of people think Bryan doesn’t like certain people, and in pretty much every case they are wrong. So we’ll talk the Botchamania video with FTR and Undisputed Era, Triple H and wiener questions, why Bryan would enjoy living next door to Baron Corbin, how he and Punk had more in common then they’d like to admit, how to ask questions at press conferences, MAX numbers, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including a serious injury to Shinjiro Ohtani, RAW tonight with the return to the ring of Cody, Rampage, New Japan’s big show this past weekend, and tons more. A packed show as always so check it out~!
Despite the show premiering only a few weeks ago, Miz and Mrs. has already been picked up for a second season.
The Miz and Maryse announced tonight on SmackDown that the reality show had been picked up for a second season. A press release sent after the announcement confirmed that 14 new episodes will be coming in 2019 on the USA Network. The show usually airs right after SmackDown on Tuesdays, though obviously that will change next fall.
Miz and Mrs. is a reality show based on the lives of Miz and Maryse as they face the experiences and challenges of becoming first time parents. They also deal with a move from Los Angeles to Houston. Episodes aired so far have focused on WrestleMania, photo shoot mishaps and Maryse’s baby shower.
Last week’s episode placed third for the night in the 18-49 demographic, scoring 1.2 million viewers. USA Network touted the premiere episode as its highest rated reality show premiere since 2011, when that year’s Tough Enough season aired.
Date: September 20, 2016 Location: Legacy Arena in Birmingham, AL
The Big Takeaway —
Dean Ambrose beat John Cena clean in the main event. Ambrose will get a title rematch against AJ Styles next week on SmackDown.
The Miz successfully defended his Intercontinental Title once again over Dolph Ziggler.
Finally, The Usos defeated American Alpha to become number one contenders and will face Slater & Rhyno at No Mercy.
Show Recap —
Right off the top, they plugged Dean Ambrose vs. John Cena, as well as Miz defending the IC title against Dolph Ziggler as two big main events for tonight.
SmackDown Women’s Championship Contract Signing
Daniel Bryan led “Yes” chants in the ring to start things off. Bryan acknowledged how contract signings usually go, but said he wanted to keep this one civil. The crowd booed, and Bryan responded, “Don’t boo that,” which was funny.
He brought out Becky Lynch first and asked that she keep things civil, and the crowd booed again. Lynch said she would have on her thick skin. Alexa Bliss came out next and made cracks about Lynch’s appearance. Lynch said that while Bliss is preparing for pageants, Lynch was getting ready to fight.
Bliss claimed Lynch didn’t fit the role of champion, her role was someone who never quite gets to the top. She said Lynch would lose her title, because she was born to be a loser. The crowd chanted for Lynch, who said she watched too much TV and believed when they said she could do what she wanted.
Lynch said she poured her heart and soul into everything. She wasn’t born to be champion, she fought to be champion, and would rip off Bliss’ head if she thought otherwise. Bliss mocked her and said would win the title and expose Lynch as a one-hit wonder.
Bliss smacked Lynch with the clipboard, which knocked Lynch down somehow. Bliss signed the contract and tossed the table over on Lynch. Bliss left, but Lynch got up and attacked Bliss, who managed to run away. Bryan gave Lynch the contract and she signed it.
They announced The Usos vs. American Alpha in a number one contender’s match.
Miz and Maryse confronted Bryan backstage. Miz was pissed he had to defend the title tonight, even though he was content with his new contract. Bryan offered to cancel the match, but that would mean his contract gets cancelled too. Bryan let Miz know this little detail was in his contract, which Miz didn’t read. Bryan asked if Miz still had a problem and he begrudgingly said no.
Number One Contender’s Match: The Usos defeated American Alpha
Backstage, Jordan and Gable did a good little promo saying the Usos made things personal. Gable started out hot as soon as the bell rang, but the Usos eventually attacked his injured leg and took control. Jordan made the hot tag and hit each Uso with suplexes and running shoulder tackles.
Jordan tried a belly-to-belly off the middle rope, but the Usos knocked him down. Jey hit a superkick and Jimmy followed with a splash, but Gable just barely broke up the cover.
Jordan was about to tag Gable, but Gable’s leg gave out on the apron. Gable still wanted a tag, but Jordan decided to save his teammate and fight on alone. Bad idea. The Usos took out Gable, hit Jordan with superkicks, and a splash for the win after about 12 minutes. It’ll be Heath Slater & Rhyno vs. The Usos at No Mercy.
Backstage, Slater and Rhyno weren’t worried about the Usos. Rhyno was still eating crackers with cheese. Slater wanted to start a “Rhy-no” chant, in the vein of “Us-o.” Rhyno wasn’t into it. Usos interrupted and threatened to take out Slater’s leg. They also threatened Rhyno’s crackers, but he told them not to dare touch his crackers. Usos insulted Slater’s 26 raggedy-ass kids, so Rhyno smashed his own crackers and stood up for Slater. The Usos backed off.
They aired a Hispanic Heritage video, honouring Roberto Clemente.
Baron Corbin defeated Apollo Crews
Crews didn’t smile on his way to the ring. He lost in 3 minutes via End of Days. Jack Swagger was on commentary and said he joined SmackDown because he wanted to be champion. He had a brief staredown with Corbin after the match.
They showed Dean Ambrose getting ready for his match, behind a cage in a dark room.
They congratulated Rami Malek for winning an Emmy and aired another stupid Curt Hawkins video.
Charly Caruso interviewed Naomi and Nikki Bella. Naomi told Caruso that “the glow” was about confidence. She said Nikki had the glow, but Natalya lost it a long time ago and claimed Natalya would feel the glow tonight. Nikki said Carmella wanted to make a name for herself, but Nikki was in the fight of her life. She feels rebooted, and Carmella was nothing but a bootleg. Holy hell, this was dumb.
Elsewhere, a downtrodden Dolph Ziggler told Renee Young that he has to give it his all tonight. After running down the Miz, Ziggler talked about being a World Champion and now a Kent State hall of famer. Ziggler fired up and said he would take it all tonight.
They aired a commercial for WWE 2K17 using actual game footage, including Brock Lesnar and Goldberg fighting backstage. Chris Jericho wasn’t with them.
Intercontinental Championship: The Miz (w/Maryse) defeated Dolph Ziggler
Mauro Ranallo said that two of Ziggler’s four previous IC Title reigns started with wins over Miz. Miz again used Yes Kicks and running dropkicks as part of his offense. Crowd chanted “coward” at him. After a break, Miz tried a sunset flip powerbomb but couldn’t land it — so he actually did a springboard sitout powerbomb for a near fall. Ziggler followed with a fameasser for a near fall.
Maryse was about to pepper-spray Ziggler in the face, but the referee caught her and tossed her out. They traded rollups when Ziggler hit a Zig-Zag for a very close near fall. Miz crawled out of the ring, grabbed his title and began walking out, but Ziggler cut him off and tossed him into the steel steps.
Miz had the title on him when Ziggler tossed him back in the ring, so the referee and to put it away. As he did this, Miz sprayed Ziggler in the face and followed with the Skull Crushing Finale for the win.
The first half of the match was not good, but it picked up after commercial and the finish was pretty clever. This didn’t do Ziggler any favours, though. He hit his big move and Miz kicked out.
Otunga said Cena and Ambrose would be facing off for the first time. It’s not.
Randy Orton defeated Erick Rowan
The crowd chanted “Randy Orton.” He won in 2 minutes after a draping DDT and RKO.
Afterwards, Bray’s video went off and when they came back to the ring, Rowan had disappeared, but his mask was still there. Bray showed up on the screen and said Gods never die, I think.
Naomi & Nikki Bella defeated Natalya & Carmella via DQ
Only Naomi got an entrance. The match was shorter than her entrance. Natalya applied the Sharpshooter on Nikki right away, but Carmella–Natalya’s partner–pulled Nikki out of the ring to attack her and the ref called for the bell. Naomi kicked Natalya and checked on Nikki afterwards. This sucked.
Caruso asked AJ Styles about his rivalry with Cena and Ambrose. Styles correctly noted that he has no rivalry with them, because he’s beaten them both. He called himself the champ that runs the camp and superior in every way. He claimed they booked a triple threat because the only way he can lose the title is if he doesn’t get beat.
Dean Ambrose defeated John Cena
Ranallo clarified that this was the first match between these two on SmackDown. Ambrose didn’t get a notably different reaction than usual on the way out. Dueling chants for Cena to start the match.
After a break, Ambrose was all over Cena. Cena caught him in an STF but Ambrose crawled to the rope. Ambrose nailed a suicide dive and tried a diving elbow, but Cena caught him, rolled through and hit an AA for a near fall.
Cena hiked him up again for an AA, but Ambrose slipped out and hit Dirty Deeds for a near fall. They traded punches until Ambrose went for the rebound clothesline. Cena countered and tried for another AA, but Ambrose reversed into a rollup for the win. Match was only about 10 minutes.
Afterwards, AJ Styles laid out Cena with a flying forearm, then gave Ambrose a Pele kick in the ring. Daniel Bryan came out and informed Styles that Ambrose will get his one-on-one title rematch–next week on SmackDown. Crowd booed because they weren’t getting it now.
Styles tried to attack Ambrose again, but Ambrose nailed him with Dirty Deeds.
Final Thoughts —
This show was alright. The IC Title match was good, and Ambrose defeating Cena is pretty eventful. I didn’t really care for anything else on the show.
When they announced the main event, I wondered why it wasn’t just a number one contender’s match. Now that Cena lost, I’m not even sure why he’s getting a title match. He lost to Styles at SummerSlam, and Ambrose tonight.
Wrestling Observer Live returns on a bright sunny Wednesday with your hosts Mike Sempervive and Josh Nason to talk all of the news in professional wrestling and mixed martial arts.
And you guys know what the big story of the day is: The Miz and how soon we could see him in the octagon against either Conor McGregor and/or C.M. Punk. We also talk about emotion in wrestling, Brock Lesnar and Jon Jones’ good day, THESPIANS, the success of UFC 202, take your calls, and much more~!
The mid-week feel good has arrived. Click below to listen!
The Big Takeaway: Two more matches announced for Battleground. They aren’t rushing the John Cena-A.J. Styles singles rematch. Instead, it will be a trios match with Enzo Amore, Big Cass and Cena vs. The Club. Also announced for the show was Natalya vs. Becky Lynch.
It was a holiday-themed Raw where the company knew beforehand it would get a low rating, perhaps the lowest in show history. So they handled it like a throwaway show. No Shane or Stephanie McMahon. Names like Mark Henry, Jack Swagger and Zack Ryder were in the main event. And the zany opening would have fit right in during a 1985 Saturday Night’s Main Event episode.
Show Recap:
They signed on with a scene straight from Tuesday Night Titans. Almost the entire roster was sitting around eating a Fourth of July meal together. R-Truth led the group in singing Naughty by Nature’s “Hip Hop Hooray.” Then the Vaudevillains asked them to leave the stage and Aiden English started singing the Declaration of Independence. Bubba Ray Dudley threw guacamole on him, but before a food fight could start, The Miz and Maryse got up to plug the July 19th draft live on SmackDown.
Miz said that tonight was not about food fights, which led to Dolph Ziggler spraying chocolate syrup on him. Someone threw macaroni onto Maryse, and the food started flying everywhere while the “War of 1812” played. While everyone was pelting each other with anything you can think of, Apollo Crews and Cesaro were oblivious to it all, focusing solely on their arm wrestling match. Bo Dallas was about to dump the punch bowl over Enzo Amore, but Big Cass stopped him and Dallas got the punch dumped on his head instead. Kevin Owens hid under a table in an attempt to escape the madness.
The Big Show was enjoying chicken wings when Kalisto doused him with cake. Show threw a chicken wing at Kalisto, but he ducked and it hit Kane instead. Kane and Show teased choke slamming each other when they saw Heath Slater laughing at them. So Kane and Show gave Slater a double chokeslam through a table. Everyone laughed as Slater was down and out, and then the room cleared. Owens got up from under the table unscathed and said, “This would never happen on Canada Day.” Then a cake wound up in his face. Owens screamed, stopped to lick the icing, then screamed some more.
Lillian Garcia performed the National Anthem.
United States Champion Rusev defeated Titus O’Neal via submission to retain the U.S. Championship (5:42)
Rusev got the clean submission with the Accolade after two roundhouse kicks. Titus O’Neal stayed in it for about 35 seconds before he tapped. O’Neal hit Clash of the Titus but Rusev kicked out. It appeared Rusev was supposed to get his hands on the ropes to force a break, but he was too far away. After he won, Rusev denounced America as Lana smiled. Lana was an afterthought here, she didn’t come out with Rusev during his ring entrance and only stood in front of the hard camera when the match went to the floor.
The Bella Twins were pictured on the cover of the new Latina Magazine.
Dallas, Curtis Axel and Slater came out dressed as minutemen. Slater had the complete Spirit of ’76 gear on, and was selling the chokeslam from earlier with his arm in a sling and his head bandaged. Enzo and Cass interrupted Dallas for their routine. Amore said it was the Fourth of July so it was only right to give the fans some Star Spangled Banter. Amore actually reeled off all the presidents of the United States in order, which had to take his entire Independence Day to memorize, and said they would all be insulted if they saw the Social Outcasts dressed like they were.
Enzo & Cass defeated Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel (2:04)
Enzo pinned Dallas after the Bada Boom Shaka Laka. Axel and Dallas wrestled with blue robes and British court dress wigs on. Enzo posed in the wig after the win.
Charlotte and Dana Brooke came out. Charlotte said Sasha Banks gets a lot of people to chant “We Want Sasha,” but chants don’t pay the bills. Charlotte said Banks was all hype. Banks came out to interrupt the two and said Charlotte would never be her. Charlotte said she didn’t want to be Banks, but Banks said that Charlotte has done almost everything she can do over the past year except beat her. Banks said Charlotte would have never won at WrestleMania if it wasn’t for her father and said she would dominate Charlotte when they meet.
Charlotte said next week would be the one year anniversary of their debut on the Raw roster and she’s held the WWE Women’s Championship almost that entire time, so that makes her the boss. Banks started saying all the things that make her a true boss. Brooke tried to give Banks a forearm, but Banks easily ducked that and sent Brooke out of the ring. Charlotte kicked Banks in the head and said her reign had only begun. Charlotte tried to lift Banks up, but Banks escaped and hit the Back Stabber, followed by the Bank Statement. Brooke pulled Charlotte out of the ring for the save.
WWE Champion Dean Ambrose defeated I-C Champion The Miz in a nontitle match (9:35)
Ambrose won with Dirty Deeds after a series of near falls following a small package, a victory roll and a schoolboy cradle. Miz clamped on the Figure Four, which they’re still trying to get over as a submission finisher. Ambrose sold the leg effectively for the rest of the match as Miz attempted the Skull Crushing Finale but failed, leading to the finish. Miz was down for a long time after the match and the referee checked on him outside the ring.
Post-match, Seth Rollins came out for his match with Ziggler. Rollins and Ambrose had a face off as Rollins passed by him on the ramp. Ambrose ran back to the ring like he was going to attack Rollins, but instead went to the commentator’s table, where he started doing analysis at the Spanish table.
Brock Lesnar’s opponent for SummerSlam will be announced on this week’s SmackDown. If you’re wondering how much Saturday’s UFC fight was mentioned, the answer is zero.
Seth Rollins defeated Dolph Ziggler (11:15)
Rollins won with the Pedigree. Ziggler hit his jumping DDT, but Rollins was up within five seconds of taking it. Immediately, Ziggler tried for the Zig Zag, but Rollins blocked it and hit the finish. Solid match.
Post-match, Rollins stood on the announcer’s table and cut a promo on Roman Reigns, saying that Reigns needs to take shortcuts in order to achieve anything in life, just like all of the fans. Rollins said Reigns should be ineligible for the main event of Battleground, which got cheered.
Rollins walked past Ambrose at the commentator’s table dismissively, then started talking about how he was going to take his championship back from Ambrose at Battleground. Ambrose stood on the Spanish announce table and said that Rollins could have it, he threw the belt at Rollins, then jumped him. It ended with Ambrose giving Rollins Dirty Deeds onto the Spanish announce table.
The Wyatt Family have a new vignette look. Bray Wyatt said New Day comes from a world that doesn’t exist because the power of positivity doesn’t actually exist. In the world he comes from, the pains of the real world are apparent. Wyatt invited them into their world where he would deliver them the truth, because the power of positivity is nothing but a fairy tale.
They aired another Baron Corbin video where JBL called him a future world champion.
Vickie Guerrero came out for the first time in two years as the latest authority figure. She was a total heel, still using her “Excuse Me” catchphrase. She reminded the fans she was the former general manager of SmackDown and Raw. She said that while Shane and Stephanie McMahon are handling Raw, SmackDown can’t be left in the hands of Teddy Long or Kane, but it should be left for her to run. She submitted her name for the job of SmackDown COO and dropped in her famous cackle. Security had to force her out.
Big Show lined up members of his American team for the 16-man elimination tag like he was General Patton addressing his troops. His team consists of the Dudley Boyz, Kane, Zack Ryder, Jack Swagger, Crews and Mark Henry. He gave them a rah-rah speech about how this would not be a walk in the park, but they wouldn’t be afraid, they would never back down, this was the Fourth of July and they were Americans. They were going to show the same fight against the International Alliance that soldiers showed 240 years ago to win America’s freedom.
Vickie was being hauled out when she ran into Ziggler. She claimed that she was invited by Shane and Stephanie. Ziggler said he had never seen that woman before in his life, then hopped back on the phone with someone to say, “Yeah, I lost but I tried really hard.”
The Golden Truth defeated The Vaudevillains (1:25)
R-Truth pinned English with Solid Gold, which is a Powerbomb/Final Cut combination. R-Truth now has the lyrics to his rap song on the screen so fans can try to follow along. Fandango and Tyler Breeze watched from ringside.
Life Lessons with Bob Backlund is next. Backlund wanted to know what Darren Young’s finisher was. He said the Gut Check. Backlund wanted to know what his submission finisher was, but Young said he didn’t have one. Backlund gave him permission to use the crossface chicken wing, which was the last move Randy Savage sold before he left the WWE. Young was thrilled that Backlund would give him his finisher.
John Cena came out and actually chided the fans for lack of crowd heat. Fans started the usual dueling chants, and Cena started in on A.J. Styles. Cena said he knew Styles would bring out the best in him. But he was disappointed when Styles couldn’t stand on his own two feet and leaned on the shoulders of Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows to defeat Cena at Money in the Bank. Now he has to worry about The Club every time he steps into the ring. Cena said he was sick of looking over his shoulder and challenged them to come out.
Styles, Anderson and Gallows came out. Styles said Cena was pathetic for crying about a personal setback. If he wanted to talk about something being unfair, Styles said they arrived in Japan this past weekend for a heroic return. Instead, all they saw was Cena’s face all over posters and walls. But The Club proved they ran Tokyo this weekend and soon they would run the WWE.
Styles said the reason why The Club always stays by his side is because Cena could bury him at any point, just as he’s done many times before. Styles also mentioned how no WWE superstar is coming out to help Cena because Cena has put himself on an island. No other WWE superstar can relate to Cena, but they can relate to The Club. He said most superstars would love to beat up Cena, but they were the only ones who had the balls to get it done.
Styles said they would continue to beat up Cena because there was nothing more fun to do. They vowed to do it week after week after week for the rest of the year. When Labor Day rolls around, Styles asked Anderson what he was going to do? He said beat up Cena. Styles asked Gallows what he was going to do for Halloween. Gallows said he was going to dress up as Bushwhacker Luke and beat up John Cena. Styles said he was thinking about dressing up as Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, do some strutting and cutting, and beat up John Cena. Anderson said for Christmas, he would hang out with his hot Asian wife and beat up John Cena. Then they said for the Fourth of July, they were going to beat up John Cena.
The Club surrounded the ring and immediately put the boots to Cena. Styles laid in the punches, as did Gallows. Enzo and Cass came out for the save. Cass gave Gallows a big boot while Cena threw Styles out of the ring and Enzo disposed of Anderson.
The Shining Stars said Puerto Rico wasn’t over-commercialized like the United States.
Becky Lynch defeated Summer Rae via submission (2:58)
Becky Lynch won with Dis-arm-her. They botched a vertical suplex spot where Lynch fell right on top of her head. She looked shaken up but finished the match. Natalya watched the match from backstage.
The multinational team of Chris Jericho, Sin Cara, Sami Zayn, Kalisto, Cesaro, Owens, Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus were backstage. Jericho was the captain. Del Rio wanted to know who made him the captain of the team. Jericho started speaking Spanish to Del Rio. Everyone started talking until Owens, deadly serious, said he was ready to beat some American ass after what happened to him earlier tonight in the food fight. Jericho told the rest of the team to “watch out for it.” Zayn asked, “What is it?” Jericho said “It” and walked off. Zayn, Cara, Cesaro and Kalisto vowed to stay together in unison because the rest of the team made them look bad.
Enzo and Cass did a product placement for Sonic restaurants. There’s now a “How You Doin?” lunchbox. They’re naturals as product guys.
New Day came out. Kofi Kingston said a lot of people think the Wyatt Family are weird looking hillbillies. Big E said rumor has it the Wyatt’s don’t stray far from the family tree, they keep it Archie Bunker, as in “All in the Family.” Kingston said they like the Wyatts and the Wyatts like them because why else would they invite them to their world.
Erick Rowan popped up on the TitanTron. He said the sound of laughter is a precious thing. Braun Strowman said the sound of a scream is music to his ears. Wyatt said the New Day should come to his world and seek the truth like men. Wyatt said it’s a challenge to see if they’re men or cowards. He wanted to know how far they would go to fight for what they believe in. Wyatt said the New Day started this, and he must end it.
Kingston said they accept and they would spray positivity all over the place. Big E started to quote Lil’ John and said they would spray positivity “to the windows to the wall,” but Xavier Woods screamed at his cohorts and said Wyatt is a true threat. He couldn’t understand why Kingston would fight them on their grounds. Woods said everything up to now has been fun and games, but if they don’t see the threat that Wyatt poses to them, he doesn’t think the New Day will survive. Woods walked off while Big E and Kofi watched on.
Team USA (The Big Show, Zack Ryder, The Dudley Boyz, Jack Swagger, Mark Henry, Kane and Apollo Crews) defeated the International Alliance (Chris Jericho, Lucha Dragons, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Cesaro, Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio) in a 16-man elimination tag team match in 22:14.
Bubba Ray eliminated Cara after a 3-D in 1:05. In an instant, Sheamus gave Bubba Ray a Brogue Kick, and Kalisto pinned Bubba at 1:16. Cesaro eliminated Devon Dudley via submission with a Sharpshooter after a 10-rep Giant Swing at 5:34. Jericho (who was born in New York while his father played for the Rangers) pinned Jack Swagger with a Codebreaker after he broke up a Swagger Bomb at 7:44, which made it 7-on-5 in favor of the Internationals.
The 12 remaining men filled the ring for a brawl to go into a commercial. Mark Henry eliminated Kalisto after the World’s Strongest Slam at 13:18. There was another instant elimination when Owens got Henry up for the Pop-Up Power Bomb at 13:34. Owens threw Ryder into Zayn, and then Zayn ran in to start brawling with Owens. Kane was about to give Zayn a choke slam, but Owens ran in with a chair and popped Zayn in the back. That got Owens disqualified at 14:46, even though he did it to his own partner. Then Kane grabbed the chair and hit Owens with it. That got Kane disqualified at 15:13. Kane choke slammed Zayn anyway. Crews ran in and gave Zayn a splash for the pin at 15:45. Then Sheamus gave Owens a Brogue kick and pinned him at 15:56.
At this point, the Internationals began arguing with each other and Cesaro started throwing forearms against his heel partners. Cesaro went for the Neutralizer on Ryder, but Ryder turned it into a jackknife cradle for the surprise pin at 18:31. So it was 3-on-2 for the Internationals, with Jericho, Del Rio and Sheamus vs. Show and Ryder. Show eliminated Jericho with the Knockout punch at 20:05. Show pinned Del Rio with a choke slam at 20:26. Suddenly it was 2-on-1 for the Americans. Sheamus gave Ryder a powerslam, but Ryder kicked out. Show grabbed Sheamus by the throat and threw him into the Rough Ryder, and Ryder got the pin on Sheamus for the American victory. Show and Ryder did the woo-woo-woo chant as a giant American flag came down above the ring.
The show opened with a recap of the Money in the Bank qualifying matches from RAW on Monday which saw Kevin Owens, Cesaro, Sami Zayn, Chris Jericho and Dean Ambrose earn their spots in that match.
After the opening credits, Michael Cole was in the ring with the Money in the Bank briefcase and called out Dean Ambrose for an interview. Cole congratulated him for winning the first ever Asylum match at Extreme Rules and asked what he would do in order to earn the MITB contract. Before he could answer, Kevin Owens’ music hit and he interrupted from the ramp.
He insulted Cole and warned him to leave the ring before he got there, which he did. He vowed to climb the ladder and become Mr Money in the Bank just like he should’ve done at WrestleM…. and Sami Zayn’s music hit. He finished the sentence. “Like you would’ve done at WrestleMania if it weren’t for me, who is the bane of your existence”. Ambrose made a joke about it and Zayn said “Hey Dean, this isn’t a joke”, which was a nice touch. He said that neither Owens nor Zayn would stop him. They were interrupted by Alberto Del Rio.
He reminded them that he was a former winner and he is going to win again. Zayn announced that Del Rio has to beat Zack Ryder in order to qualify and before he could finish, he was jumped from behind by Owens. Ambrose almost DDT’s him as well but Zayn slipped out.
ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. ZACK RYDER (Money in the Bank qualifying match)
Zack cut an inset promo harkening fans back to his WrestleMania win under similar circumstances. “I’m not supposed to be here but I deserve to be here”. Eden Stiles did the ring announcing in what I’m assuming was her final show for the company. Ryder took the offence early but Del Rio gained control pretty quickly. They went through a commercial break where Del Rio landed the double foot stomp outside the ring from the barriers at ringside onto Ryder. Ryder recovered and got more offence than you’d think, including landing the Broski boot, which Del Rio kicked out of. Del Rio missed the double foot stomp and Ryder hit the Rough Ryder but Del Rio rolled out before Ryder could pin him. Ryder rolled him back in and went for the cover but Del Rio applied the cross arm-breaker to get the win.
WINNER: ALBERTO DEL RIO by submission. Del Rio makes it 6 in the Money in the Bank match with one more to come.
Next up was a recap of Seth Rollins returning at Extreme Rules and the announcement from RAW of Rollins getting the next title shot vs Roman Reigns at Money in the Bank. Rollins will make his return to Smackdown later tonight.
Enzo and Cass are out next.
Enzo does his sing along speech on the ramp before the guys get in the ring. Before he could get any more words out, The Dudley Boyz interrupted things. Enzo had some smack talk for them and then Cass called them out. D-Von accepted the challenge and they made their way down the ramp. Bubba stopped before they got into the ring and said “Not tonight, we’re going to do this at Monday Night RAW”. Bubba then teased the “Get the Tables” spot but instead asked if they could “leave this stinkin’ town”. Cass called them S-A-W-F-T and that was that.
Renee Young was backstage with Lana and Rusev. Lana instructed her that she needs to refer to Rusev as the “Greatest United States Heavyweight Champion of all time”. Rusev called Kalisto a baby and a mosquito and after he plucks the wings off the mosquito, he will never be able to fly again. Good promo. A recap of the 4 way IC title match at the PPV and the Miz-Cesaro qualifying match from RAW aired next.
US CHAMPION RUSEV w/Lana vs. KALISTO
Lana was in the ring with a mic and took over the ring announcing, asking the fans to put one hand over their heart and welcome the Greatest United States Champion of all time. Much better match than the PPV. After a brief period of offence from Kalisto, Rusev took over and dominated him. Announcers told the story that Kalisto was coming into this at less than 100% and didn’t stand a chance and that’s pretty much how it played out. At one point Kalisto tried to bodyslam Rusev and of course his back gave out.
A minute later, he actually hit the bodyslam but then sold his back even more. He did get a two count off a roll-up after Rusey missed a splash in the corner. He then hit the corkscrew off the ropes and a spike rana for a two. Kalisto hit a springboard moonsault on the outside and rolled Rusev back in but only got a two count. Rusev missed a diving headbutt and then Kalisto took forever to climb to the top rope. Kalisto hit a 450 off the top but Rusev got his knees up to block it. Rusev stomped him on the back and then put on the Accolade for the win.
WINNER: RUSEV by submission
Rusev was going for a beatdown on Kalisto after the match but Titus O’Neill came down to challenge him to a US title match RIGHT NOW. Fans were into this, chanting USA but Rusev backed off, which got some good heat. Nice little angle to set up the next US title program. Another recap from RAW aired next, this time of Charlotte ditching the Nature Boy. Mauro called it “an emotional night for the dirtiest family in the game”.
DANA BROOKE VS NATALYA
Charlotte joined the commentary team for this match. Lawler actually criticized Charlotte for what she did with Flair and Charlotte said that it was something coming from him who spent so much time away from home. Natalya put on the sharpshooter 30 seconds in and Charlotte broke it up for the DQ.
WINNER: NATALYA by DQ
Natalya recovered and put Charlotte in the sharpshooter but Brooke broke it up and then they beat her down for a couple minutes. No one saved and Charlotte and Dana posed with the belt while Charlotte’s music played. We got a recap of AJ’s tough week where he lost to Reigns at the PPV, broke up with the Club and lost to Owens in his qualifying match. Renee Young interviewed him backstage and asked what’s next. AJ said he was “this close” to winning the title but he’s not sure what’s next, he’ll have to think of something. It was better than it reads.
Golden Truth was out next with Goldust introducing them and then Truth doing an updated version of his song with new lyrics about the tag team. It will take some getting used to.
GOLDEN TRUTH (GOLDUST/R-TRUTH) VS BREEZANGO (TYLER BREEZE/FANDANGO)
Short match with some miscommunication between Goldust and R-Truth leading to the Supermodel kick from Breeze on R-Truth and Fandango getting the pin off of it. Fans were more into this than they had any right to be but were killed off by the finish.
WINNERS: BREEZANGO by pinfall
Goldust and R-Truth were talking backstage. Goldust says that just because they lost two out of the chute doesn’t make them two-time losers. He claimed that no one will be able to stop them. Breezango stopped by to mock them. Tyler Breeze said “Looks like Goldylocks fell off the beanstalk and cracked his own eggs” and then “nailed it!” as he and Fandango walked away laughing. Goldust went back to his pep talk, egging on the crowd to cheer from them and they actually did. R-Truth said he’s with him and vowed to give it another shot.
Seth Rollins came to the ring for a promo.
Mauro put over that Rollins and Charlotte cracked SI’s Fittest 50 list. I’m surprised that hasn’t gotten more play, to be honest. Despite his heeling on the crowd at RAW, Rollins got a good reception coming out and was smiling. When the music stopped, you could hear booing but what you could see were fans clapping and chanting WELCOME BACK. He played up to the crowd at first and then heeled on them again without really saying anything. Fans were still chanting THANK YOU SETH when he left.
IC CHAMPION THE MIZ w/Maryse vs. CESARO
Cesaro took control early heading into the break but Miz took control during the commercial. Miz worked over Cesaro’s left shoulder for most of the match. Miz got a two count off a backslide and then Cesaro started nailing uppercuts with his good arm. Miz kicked the left shoulder but Cesaro tossed Miz in the air and hit the uppercut for a two. Pretty vocal CE-SAR-O chant from the crowd. Miz hit a short-arm DDT for a two and then tried to undo the top turnbuckle pad. Ref stopped him but Maryse finished the job.
They teased a spot into it which never paid off and then the ref spent about a minute hooking it back up. Cesaro got what would’ve been a three but the ref took too long to make the count. Miz hit an O’Connor roll for two. Cesaro turned that into a sharpshooter but Miz made the ropes to break it up. Miz tossed him out of the ring but Cesaro hit an uppercut from the outside and then went back in and tried to hit his swing but Miz escaped and bailed from the ring. He teased a walkout but Cesaro followed him out, hit the “Very European Uppercut” (called as such by Mauro) and then rolled him back into the ring. Cross body from the top by Cesaro got a two count.
Somewhere amidst all of this, Maryse had removed the turnbuckle again and Miz tossed Cesaro into it shoulder first and then hit the Skull Crushing Finale. Really good match, one of the better TV matches of the year.
The show opened with Michael Cole in the ring with a Money in the Bank briefcase. He brought out Dean Ambrose. Then, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Alberto Del Rio all came out. Chris Jericho didn’t come out as he wasn’t booked for Smackdown, and Cesaro didn’t come out since he was on the show later. Del Rio said he would become a two-time Money in the Bank winner.
– Del Rio then qualified by beating Zack Ryder with the armbar.
– Big Cass and Enzo came out. They were talking when the Dudleys came out. They challenged each other to a fight, but the Dudleys did the heel back off deal.
– US Champion Rusev beat Kalisto with the accolade to retain
– Natalya beat Dana Brooke via DQ when Women’s Champion Charlotte interfered. They both beat down Natalya.
– A.J. Styles did an interview. He was asked what is next for him, but he didn’t know.
– Fandango & Tyler Breeze beat Goldust & R-Truth.
– Seth Rollins came out. Everyone cheered him huge until he turned on the fans once again during his promo.
– Intercontinental Champion The Miz beat Cesaro to retain due to help from Maryse.
