The New Day became five-time WWE Tag Team Champions in the main event of this week’s SmackDown.
After Erick Rowan suffered a torn biceps at SummerSlam, Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston defeated Harper & Rowan in a no disqualification match to win the SmackDown Tag Team titles last night. The Bludgeon Brothers had retained by DQ at SummerSlam when Rowan used a mallet to attack Woods and Big E.
Also on SmackDown, Becky Lynch confirmed her heel turn in a promo before brawling with Charlotte Flair, Samoa Joe attacked AJ Styles during an interview, and Daniel Bryan & Brie Bella vs. The Miz & Maryse was announced for next month’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view.
Two matches have been announced for the post-SummerSlam edition of SmackDown.
The Bludgeon Brothers defending their SmackDown Tag Team titles against The New Day in a no disqualification match is set for tomorrow’s show, along with Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy. The Tag Team title match was announced despite PWInsider reporting tonight that Erick Rowan suffered an arm injury at SummerSlam.
New Day defeated The Bludgeon Brothers by DQ on Sunday when Rowan attacked Xavier Woods and Big E with a mallet.
Orton and Hardy have been feuding since Orton returned at Extreme Rules last month, with Orton attacking Hardy multiple times since then. Orton came out after Hardy lost to United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura at SummerSlam but didn’t end up attacking him this time. In a post-show video, Orton explained the storyline by saying he would deal with Hardy on his own terms.
An “exclusive interview” with AJ Styles, who got disqualified in his WWE Championship defense against Samoa Joe at SummerSlam when Joe taunted his family, is set for tomorrow. WWE is also hyping that Becky Lynch will explain why she attacked Charlotte Flair after Charlotte defeated Lynch and Carmella to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
Two matches and a few segments have been announced for tonight’s SmackDown.
The New Day vs. SAnitY in a six-man tag match and Aiden English vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas are set for the show. The story for English vs. Almas is that English is looking to make it up to Rusev and Lana after accidentally costing them matches against Almas and Zelina Vega over the last few weeks.
New Day are set to challenge for The Bludgeon Brothers’ Tag Team titles at SummerSlam on Sunday. They defeated SAnitY in the first round of SmackDown’s tag team tournament and beat Cesaro & Sheamus in the finals to earn the title shot. Prior to the tournament, SAnitY won a six-man tag team tables match against New Day at Extreme Rules.
WWE is hyping that AJ Styles has more to say to Samoa Joe after responding to him last Tuesday. Two weeks ago, Joe insulted Styles and called him a bad father and husband. Styles will defend his WWE Championship against Joe at SummerSlam.
SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch will take part in a face-to-face segment ahead of their triple threat title match at SummerSlam, and WWE is teasing that Paige will give Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville an “opportunity” tonight after they complained on Twitter about Charlotte and Lynch getting preferential treatment.
The Bludgeon Brothers’ challengers for SummerSlam were decided on this week’s episode of SmackDown.
The New Day defeated Cesaro & Sheamus in a 20-plus minute main event on SmackDown last night to become Harper & Rowan’s next challengers. Harper & Rowan were also in action on the show, defeating an enhacement team in what was their first match on television since retaining against Daniel Bryan & Kane at Extreme Rules.
The build to SummerSlam continued elsewhere on the show, with AJ Styles responding to Samoa Joe insulting him and saying last week that Styles puts being WWE Champion ahead of his family. Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch teamed up against Peyton Royce & Billie Kay, and Daniel Bryan tried to attack The Miz but was hit with a vase.
The SmackDown Tag Team Championship match for SummerSlam is now official.
It will be The New Day challenging for The Bludgeon Brothers’ titles at the August 19 pay-per-view. New Day were confirmed as Harper & Rowan’s challengers when Big E & Kofi Kingston defeated Cesaro & Sheamus in the SmackDown tag team tournament finals tonight.
New Day defeated SAnitY in the first round of the four-team tournament, while Cesaro & Sheamus beat The Usos.
The Bludgeon Brothers were also back in action on SmackDown this week. In their first televised match since retaining against Daniel Bryan & Kane at Extreme Rules last month, Harper & Rowan squashed an enhancement team.
The updated SummerSlam card is listed below:
Universal Champion Brock Lesnar defending against Roman Reigns
Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss defending against Ronda Rousey
WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Samoa Joe
Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz
SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella defending against Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair in a triple threat match
Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler defending against Seth Rollins
United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura defending against Jeff Hardy
Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens (If Owens wins, he gets Strowman’s Money in the Bank briefcase)
Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers defending against The New Day
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander defending against Drew Gulak
There weren’t any surprises among the announcements. It will be The New Day, SAnitY, The Usos, and Cesaro & Sheamus vying to become the team that challenges for Harper & Rowan’s SmackDown tag titles at SummerSlam.
Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson and Rusev & Aiden English are the most notable teams not in the tournament.
The tournament is set to take place on SmackDown over the next three weeks. Though they’ve been in action at house shows and in dark matches, this will be the first time Cesaro & Sheamus have wrestled on television since May 29. They moved from Raw to SmackDown in April’s roster shakeup.
SummerSlam will be held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on August 19. AJ Styles’ WWE Championship challenger for the pay-per-view is scheduled to be revealed on Tuesday’s SmackDown, and Becky Lynch will face Carmella in a non-title match on the episode. The angle is that Lynch will challenge for Carmella’s SmackDown Women’s Championship at the PPV if she wins.
All of the participants for the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match may be known following Tuesday’s SmackDown.
One of the two remaining spots will go to a member of The New Day after they defeated Cesaro & Sheamus in a qualifier, and a Miz TV segment with Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods, where The Miz will try to find out which one is in the match, has been announced for the May 22nd episode of SmackDown.
Miz is one of the other wrestlers in next month’s ladder match and was on commentary for New Day vs. Cesaro & Sheamus, pushing the storyline that he thinks the New Day members are holding each other back because they’ve accomplished everything they can as a team.
Two qualifying matches are also set for Tuesday’s SmackDown. Samoa Joe will face Big Cass to determine the final wrestler in the men’s match, and Lana will take on Billie Kay in a women’s qualifier.
The New Day member and Joe vs. Cass winner will join Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, Miz, Rusev, Bobby Roode, and Kevin Owens at Money in the Bank. Ember Moon, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, and Becky Lynch have qualified on the women’s side.
Tuesday’s show is taking place at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts as WWE returns from its European tour.
Another multi-man match has been set for WrestleMania 34, this time a triple threat match for the Smackdown tag team titles.
It was made official tonight that the Usos will defend their titles against The New Day and the Bludgeon Brothers in a triple threat match. The New Day and The Usos have been feuding over the titles for the last year, trading the titles back and forth. But the Bludgeon Brothers have made it known that they are interested in the titles as well, and have destroyed everyone in their path since their return. The match was made after the Usos ran down during a Bludgeon Brothers/New Day match that ended with both Usos and The New Day standing tall.
Here is the current card for WrestleMania 34, now with 13 matches:
Triple H and Stephanie McMahon vs. Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey
Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns for the Universal title
AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE title
Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon vs.. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
The Miz vs. Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor for the Intercontinental title
Randy Orton vs. Bobby Roode vs. Jinder Mahal vs. Rusev for the United States title
Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax for the Raw women’s title
Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka for the SmackDown women’s title
Cesaro and Sheamus vs. Braun Strowman and TBA for the Raw tag team titles
The Usos vs. The New Day vs. The Bludgeon Brothers for the SmackDown tag team titles
Cedric Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali for the Cruiserweight title
Another big Raw vs. SmackDown match has been confirmed for Survivor Series.
WWE officially announced that The Shield would be facing The New Day in a six-man tag match at Sunday’s pay-per-view. That was set up when New Day’s distraction caused Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose to lose their tag titles to Cesaro & Sheamus last week, with Roman Reigns returning on Raw tonight as The Shield issued a challenge for Survivor Series.
After Reigns, Rollins & Ambrose defeated The Miz, Cesaro & Sheamus on Raw tonight, Sunday will be the second time all three members of The Shield have teamed together since their reunion. Last month’s TLC PPV was supposed to feature their first match back together until Reigns was forced to miss the show due to a viral infection.
The Toyota Center in Houston, Texas will host Survivor Series on Sunday. Here’s what the card for the show looks like as of now:
Brock Lesnar vs. AJ Styles
Kurt Angle, Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe, Finn Balor & Triple H vs. Shane McMahon, Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, Shinsuke Nakamura & John Cena in an elimination tag match
Alicia Fox, Nia Jax, Asuka, Sasha Banks & Bayley vs. Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Naomi, Carmella & Tamina in an elimination tag match
The Shield (Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose) vs. The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods)
Alexa Bliss vs. Natalya
The Miz vs. Baron Corbin
Cesaro & Sheamus vs. The Usos
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore defending against Kalisto (pre-show)
The final episode of Raw before Roadblock was headlined by The New Day attempting to break Demolition’s record and become the longest reigning tag champions in WWE history. After opening the show with a successful defense, they once again put their titles on the line in the main event.
Catch up on that and other video highlights from last night’s show.
The Big Takeaway: The New Day are the longest-reigning tag team champions in WWE history. They defended the Raw tag team titles twice in the show. First, they won a scheduled three-way match against Anderson/Gallows & Cesaro/Sheamus. During a celebration party, Xavier Woods accidentally sprayed Stephanie McMahon with champaign. So Stephanie ordered the New Day to face Owens/Jericho. Mick Foley later added Rollins and Reigns to the match to make it a three-way. In the main event, the New Day retained after Woods pinned Jericho.
The New Day cam out already set to celebrate becoming the longest-reigining WWE Tag Team Champions in history. Xavier Woods dedicated tonight to anyone who purchased a New Day t-shirt, and specifically mentioned his mother.
Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day defeated Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows and Cesaro & Sheamus to retain the Raw Tag Team Championship in a three-way match(11:55)
A very good match. Perhaps as a rib, Cesaro and Sheamus did Demolition’s old finisher on Kofi Kingston. Gallows and Anderson did the Boot of Doom on Kofi Kingston, but Cesaro made the save. Cesaro did a great hot tag sequence where he delivered a “Swiss-1-9” on Anderson, then in one motion jumped out of the ring for an uppercut on Kingston and a double stomp on Gallows.Cesaro did a Giant Swing on Anderson and put him in the Sharpshooter, but Gallows broke it up. Sheamus got a tag and gave Big E a Brogue kick while Cesaro held him up. But Kingston ran in and gave Sheamus Trouble in Paradise for the pin.
The celebration for the New Day started backstage. Stephanie McMahon, Mick Foley, Bayley, Bob Backlund and others were there. Stephanie proposed a toast to the longest-reigning WWE Tag Team Champions, but Woods unloaded the champaigne bottles right in Stephanie’s face. Stephanie was drenched and walked out of the party in a huff, turning over a punch bowl full of Booty-O’s that Big E was holding.
Later tonight, we’ll have Rusev and Lana Behind Closed doors.
A stagehand helped Stephanie dry off. Kevin Owens said he saw what happened to Stephanie and that New Day doesn’t deserve to be champions. He had a proposition for Stephanie. She agreed to listen when she got dressed.
Braun Strowman defeated Curtis Axel (1:14)
Bruan Strowman gave Curtis Axel the Torture Rack. Axel attempted a dropkick off the second rope, but Strowman clotheslined him instead, and got the pin with a Wheelbarrow Slam.
Byron Saxton tried to interview Strowman. He asked Strowman for a response to Sami Zayn’s tweet saying he wants a match with Zayn. Strowman said Foley is protecting Zayn because Zayn can’t last two minutes with him, and neither can anyone else.
Foley watched on from backstage when Zayn walked in. He demanded Foley give him a match with Strowman. Foley said he can’t do that. Zayn said Foley shouldn’t feel the need to save him because no one saved him. What if someone had tried to save Foley years ago against the Undertaker? Foley said there were times when he wished someone was there to save him. He said he would give Zayn a match against anyone on the roster, but not Strowman because he would end Zayn’s career. Zayn said if his childhood hero didn’t believe in him, maybe he didn’t belong on the Raw roster. Foley said he would call Daniel Bryan and try to arrange a trade.
Ariya Daivari defeated Lince Dorado by DQ (2:32)
After Ariya Daivari hit a clothesline, Jack Gallagher walked out. Instead of doing a run-in and jumping Daivari, he announced his intention to interfere in the match. He called Daivari a scoundrel and said he was there to give Daivari a thorough trashing. Daviari walked out of the ring, but Gallagher gave him a headbutt to the chest and dropkicked him all of the ring.
Rollins came out for an edition of the Rollins Report and reiterated his challenge to HHH. He knew that meant he had to go through Owens, but he can’t get rid of Owens until he beats Jericho at Roadblock. Rollins wondered if he was facing Jericho one-on-one, or facing Jericho with Owens’ help. He introduced Owens as his guest.
Owens started to come out, went backstage, then came back out with a stool and sat down on the ramp as opposed to the ring. Rollins wanted him in the ring, but Owens said he didn’t care about Rollins’ Report. Owens said he had an announcement to make. Rollins wanted to know about Owens friendship with Jericho. Owens started to bring up what he was talking to Stephanie about, but Rollins interrupted him. Owens told him not to worry about his friendship with Jericho. Owens said Jericho would have his back against Reigns, just like he would have Jericho’s match against Rollins. Owens announced that the New Day would have another tag team title match tonight on Raw against him and Jericho.
Jericho came out to the biggest reaction on the show so far with the List in hand. Jericho asked Owens if he was crazy? Jericho wondered if Owens really thought after costing him the U.S. Championship against Reigns last week and telling him to shut up two weeks ago if he would really consider being his tag team partner again. Owens said they could make history by becoming Raw Tag Team Champions and ruin the New Day’s chance of becoming the longest-reigning tag team champions in histroy. Owens said Stephanie had already made the match so it was going to happen one way or another.
Rollins interrupted and told Jericho it sounded like Owens was trying to tell Jericho was to do, saying it was like a reunion between Bon Jovi and Meat Leaf. Jericho told Rollins to shut up “you stupid idiot.” That got a huge pop too. Rollins asked if Jericho was going to put him on the list? Jericho did the build up to put him on the list, but didn’t. He said he would put Rollins on the list alright, the disabled list. Jericho started to go to the ring. Owens joined him. Owens and Jericho double teamed Rolliins outside the ring., threw him into the barricade. Jericho hit a stiff punch to Rollins’ nose while Owens kneed him in the groin. Reigns came out for the save to a classic Philadelphia reaction. Jericho jumped Reigns from behind, but Rollins put the fists to Jericho. Reigns gave Owens a big boot and Jericho a clothesline. Rollins tried to give Jericho a pedigree, but Owens pulled him away.
Charly Caruso did an interview with Rich Swann. They showed Swann’s match against Brian Kendrick from 205 Live when T.J. Perkins got involved, leading to Kendrick losing. Kendrick and Perkins brawled afterwards, leading to Swann getting iinvolved, but Perkins accidentally giving Swann a super kick. Swann faces Kendrick and Perkins in a three-way for the Cruiserweight Championship at Roadblock. Kendrick walked in and told Swann if it wasn’t for Perkind, he would be the cruiserweight champion. Kendrick said Perkins weasled his way into the title match. Perkins walked in and asked if Kendirck was trying to let Swann win again. Swann said Kendrick was trying to say Perkins was a traitor because Perkins kicked Swann on purpose. Perkins said Swann would find out how dangerous he was on Sunday, but Kendrick could find out right now.
Brian Kendrick defeated T.J. Perkins (8:33)
Perkins clotheslined Kendrick over the top rope. Kendrick landed face-first on the apron. It led to Kendrick hitting the Wrecking Ball Dropkick. Kendrick attempted the Captain’s Hook, but Perkins flipped over into a drop kick. Lots of drop kick variations from Perkins, including a springboard for a two count. Kendrick used a cradle back suplex for two and again teased the Captian’s Hook. But Perkins grapeined his leg and sank in the kneebar, but Kendrick got the ropes. Kendrick gave Perkins a drop toe hold into the turnbuckles, then earned the pin with the Sliced Bread #2. Fine match, but the crowd got bored late and started chanting for something that didn’t involved the match.
Reigns and Rollins walked backstage when Foley walked up to them. Foley said they reminded him of a brash young tag team who worked together and won the World Tag Team Champions, clearly referring to the Shield. Foley said tonight’s tag team championship main event is now a three-way, with the New Day defending again against Owens/Jericho and Rollins/Reigns. Rollins and Reigns didn’t really look excited to tag with each other and they both had other plans in mind for their careers, which they mentioned to Foley before he made the match.
There was another profile piece for a Charlotte/Banks Raw Women’s Championship match. Good video piece.
Bayley defeated Alicia Fox (2:45)
Another match set up by Alicia Fox’s crush on Cedric Alexander. Fox destroyed one of Bayley’s Bayely Bears and said that was payback for Bayley trying to move in on Alexander. Bayley denied that. Bayley won the match with a Bayley-to-Belly again.
Lana came out dressed in all camoflague. Rusev said ever since he’s arrived in the WWE, he’s destroyed all of the fans’ American heroes one-by-one. But last week was different, he took out American trash. Week after week, Amore runs his mouth about how he’s a Certified G, and it wasn’t until last week he understood what G stood for: garbage. After he threw the human garbage out in the hallway and closed the door behind him, he and Lana took care of business together. Rusev offered the fans a chane to see what he was talking about. He asked the fans if they wanted to see it. The footage was a little edgy and a little out there. Lana told children to close their eyes because it may be senative to them.
All they showed was Enzo getting crushed again and nothing behind lewd. Lana made fun over the fans thinking they would show her and Rusev getting it on. Rusev credited his wife for coming up with the plan that ended up with Enzo getting crushed. Lana stole Big Cass’ catchphrase “C-R-U-S-H. CRUUUSHHH!”
Cass came out and said Enzo was at home recovering after suffering the beating of a lifetime. Cass said Enzo runs his mouth, but he has the balls to back it up. Last week, Enzo got caught with his pants off, but tonight, Cass had his pants on and he wasn’t Enzo.
Cass and Rusev brawled around the ring. Cass tackled Rusev through the ropes to the floor. They brawled around ringside until Rusev threw Cass into the ringpost. Cass barely sold it while Rusev and Lana headed for the exit.
It was announced later that Rusev would face Cass at Roadblock.
Owens was upset about Rollins and Reigns being added to the tag team title match. Jericho looked like he had no use for Owens, who droned on about how they were going to be tag team champions.
The makeover of Emmalina premiere was postponed tonight. Despite the company promoting her premiere as recently as this morning for tonight’s show, it’s still “coming soon.”
Sami Zayn defeated Jinder Mahal (3:24)
The announcers played up like this was Zayn’s final match on Raw before he gets traded to SmackDown. Zayn pinned Jinder Mahal with the Helluva Kick.
Postmatch, Foley came out and said he got off the phone with Bryan for a “talent of equal value.” That wasn’t supposed to get a pop from the crowd. It did. Zayn still wanted the match with Strowman, but Foley still said no. Then Zayn agreed to go to SmackDown. Foley said Zayn would be the small fish in a big pond. Foley offered Zayn the chance to hear the talent that Zayn was traded for. It was Eva Marie. Zayn couldn’t believe his ears and said he was worth 1,000 Eva Maries and it blows his mind that Foley doesn’t see what he’s worth. All the times that Foley had people tell him he couldn’t do it. Zayn was incensed and screamed at Foley, who asked him what he wanted? Zayn screamed he wanted Strowman. Foley told Zayn he wanted Zayn to remember the anger he felt right now because he would need every bit of it when he faces Strowman on Sunday.
Foley said there was never any trade with SmackDown for Eva Marie because he would never trade him. He wanted a class act like Zayn to find the fire, the rage, the anger to beat Strowman. Foley said Strowman believed that Zayn wouldn’t last two minutes against him. Foley said he’s giving Zayn ten minutes to prove he can beat Strowman and prove the world wrong.
They showed highlights of John Cena hosting Saturday Night Live. Michael Cole mentioned how he loved Cena portraying Donald Trump’s mirror, which wasn’t shown.
Raw Tag Team Champion The New Day defeated Kevin Owens & Chris Jericho and Seth Rollins & Kevin Owens to retain the Raw Tag Team Championship in a three-way match (20:20)
First big spot was where Owens tried to set up a superplex on Woods. Jericho tried to make it a double superplex, but Rollins joined in. Before you knew it, all six men were involved for a Tower of Doom spot where Rollins and Woods landed with a thud after the big bump. Owens did a somersault legdrop on Woods. Some fan stole the show dressed in a Ric Flair robe holding up a sign saying “Charlotte, I am your father.” Big E. got the hot tag and gave Jericho three belly-to-belly suplexes. Rollins tagged himself in when Big E ran the ropes and gave Jericho a tope, when delivered another one on Big E. Rollins hit the springboard knee, Reigns tagged himself in and went for a spear on Jericho, who kicked Reigns. Jericho went for the Codebreaker, but Reigns caught him for the Liger Bomb for a near fall. Woods tagged Jericho and went to the top rope for a coast-to-coast elbow drop on Reigns for another near fall.
Fans started to get involved as Reigns and Woods squared off head-to-head. Rollins tagged in and gave Woods a knee to the jaw, then gave Jericho and Owens superkicks. But Jericho threw Rollins off the top rope and tagged himself in. Jericho hit a Lionsault on Wods for a two count while Owens gave Rollins a cannonball. Jericho put Woods in the Walls of Jericho, but Woods reversed it into a small package for a two count. Owens gave Woods a superkick, then Owens hoisted Woods into a codebreaker. Jericho covered Woods, but Rollins pushed Owens into Jericho just as he was about to get a three count on Woods. Jericho started arguing with Owens and the two got into a shoving match. Rollins gave Jericho a knee to the back. Jericho collided with Owens, and Rollins gave Jericho a pedigree. Big E. pulled Rollins out of the ring and Woods covered a lifeless Jericho for the pin. Great finish.
Postmatch, Jericho and Owens argued some more. Owens tried to explain that Rollins pushed him into Jericho. While they argued, Reigns put himself into position to spear Owens. The fans sensed that and started booing. Jericho told Owens that he didn’t want to hear it and left. Owens turned around and Reigns speared him.
Following last week’s injury angle where The Club took out Big E on Raw, WWE confirmed on Monday that Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston will defend their tag titles against The Club’s Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows at SummerSlam.
Tonight’s episode of Raw should provide more information on Big E’s storyline condition, but WWE.com initially reported that he had suffered a groin injury after The Club’s attack. It was later updated that the injury was a contusion to the area, and WWE.com said it was unknown when he would return.
Big E was held out of action on this weekend’s live events as his New Day partners have defended against The Club, but Big E has distracted The Club leading to the finish in both weekend matches.
Though more will be added, the updated card for SummerSlam on August 21st at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, is:
Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton
Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE Universal Championship
WWE Champion Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler in a championship match
John Cena vs. AJ Styles
WWE Women’s Champion Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte in a championship match
Intercontinental Champion The Miz vs. Apollo Crews in a championship match
WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston) vs. The Club (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) in a championship match
– Air Date: June 2, 2016 – Location: BMO Harris Bank Center in Rockford, IL
– The Big News:
AJ Styles is a full-fledged heel and won a match with the Styles Clash. Also, it appears the MITB ladder match will just involve the six guys already announced.
– Show Recap:
AJ Styles & The Club confront The New Day
The New Day came out to a big reaction. They mentioned the Vaudevillains robbing everyone of the opportunity to see Stephanie McMahon dance. Xavier Woods seemed particularly bummed about this.
What was more notable to New Day though was the attack by Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows. New Day were about to remind us that they are our WWE Tag Team champions, but Anderson and Gallows interrupted. The Club said the New Day didn’t exactly look like champions on Raw, and the Club would be the champs soon.
Woods wondered what kind of “club” they actually were, and figured they meet in a treehouse. Big E said they definitely weren’t the hair club for men. New Day challenged them to a fight but figured they wouldn’t accept without their papi AJ Styles with them. That brought out Styles.
Styles was a full-fledged heel. He said this wasn’t a new day, it’s “our day,” and the WWE belonged to the Club. New Day reminded them who the tag champs were. Styles called Kingston a joke for being in an act like New Day after all these years. Kingston reminded Styles that he was a multiple time IC, U.S. and Tag Team champion, and what was really funny was how long it took AJ just to get to WWE.
Styles reminded them what happened on Raw and challenged Kingston to a match, which he accepted. Good segment. Styles and Kingston both came off well.
They announced a tag match between Dean Ambrose and Sami Zayn vs. Alberto Del Rio and Kevin Owens.
Non-Title: Becky Lynch beat Women’s Champion Charlotte (w/Dana Brooke) via DQ
Like JBL, Lawler is not a fan of what Charlotte did to Ric Flair, although he doesn’t seem as disgusted by it. Brooke provided a distraction two minutes into the match allowing Charlotte to take over going to commercial.
They went back and forth after the break leading to Lynch trying an armbar as Mauro Ranallo let us know she trains in Brazilian jiu jitsu. Charlotte powered out, though, and hit a powerbomb. Charlotte went for a moonsault but landed on her feet as Lynch rolled out of the way. Lynch applied the Disarmer but Brooke tried pulling Charlotte out of it so the referee called for a DQ.
Brooke finally pulled Charlotte out of the ring, but Natalya cut them off on the ramp. Natalya and Lynch tried to apply their submission moves on the heels but they escaped through the crowd. The action was fine but the finish was crap. The crowd liked Becky.
MITB Interview Segment
Backstage, Renee Young interviewed Zayn and Ambrose. With Ambrose standing right there, Zayn tipped his hat at Renee. Zayn said he and Ambrose have a good track record as a team despite Ambrose’s comments on Monday.
Ambrose was skeptical of Canadians because of Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho and the border patrol guy. Zayn told Ambrose he shouldn’t have tried to bring nunchucks into the country. Owens and Del Rio interrupted. Owens tried to convince Ambrose that Zayn was manipulating him. After Del Rio added some insults of his own, Ambrose said they should just fight right now but the heels left.
The Dudley Boyz beat Golden Truth via pinfall
Tyler Breeze and Fandango sat in Breeze’s lounge at ringside. Truth rapped a new song on the way out, and they had the lyrics on the screen. Lawler called it terrible, and he’s right. During the match, Breeze jumped on the apron to take a selfie, so Truth knocked him off. Goldust was distracted, so D-Von pushed him into Truth and used a school boy for the win. Breeze and Fandango made bad jokes afterwards. This was not good.
They ran a video package for, of all things, Baron Corbin and Dolph Ziggler. Outside of the arena, Renee said Corbin requested for interview time. She asked why they were doing it outside, and Corbin said the crowd doesn’t deserve his presence after they cheered what Ziggler did on Raw. Corbin said the next time he enters an arena it would be to end Ziggler.
Sami Zayn & Dean Ambrose beat Alberto Del Rio & Kevin Owens via pinfall
Ranallo plugged Raw in Oklahoma City and Lawler namedropped “J.R.” They showed a graphic for the MITB ladder match and there was no seventh mystery guy, just the six guys who already qualified.
There were some “Ole” and “Let’s go Ambrose” chants early on. There was a dumb spot during the heat where Del Rio hit a version of his double foot stomp finisher and never went for the cover. They double-teamed Ambrose on the outside so Zayn hit a flip dive to take out the heels.
Ambrose hit the rebound clothesline and went for the hot tag, but Del Rio knocked Zayn off the apron. Ambrose used a neckbreaker and went for the tag again but Zayn was still down. Del Rio tried a running enziguri on Ambrose, but he ducked and Del Rio nailed Owens instead. Zayn made the hot tag and immediately hit Del Rio with the Helluva kick for the win. Really good finish.
An enraged Owens grabbed Saxton’s headset and said he was sick of his partners costing him matches and he would show them what will happen at MITB. Owens grabbed a ladder to go after the briefcase, but Cesaro ran out and gave him a springboard uppercut – while wearing in his suit. Cesaro climbed the ladder and grabbed the briefcase, sealing his fate. Ambrose and Zayn appeared nonplussed.
Non-Title: U.S. Champion Rusev (w/Lana) beat Jack Swagger via submission
Lana introduced Rusev, and her accent was about 20% as strong as usual. As Swagger made his entrance, Rusev attacked him and tossed him into the steps. The referee asked Swagger if he was ok to start the match and he said yes. I feel like they’ve done this exact angle with these two before.
Rusev tried a superkick immediately but Swagger caught him for the ankle lock. Rusev escaped to the outside and cut off Swagger with a clothesline and took control. Swagger did get some offense but Rusev won with the Accolade. He refused to break the hold, so Titus O’Neil made the save, and Rusev bailed.
They actually plugged that after a break they would show the crap angle with Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. And then they did. Also, there was another dumb segment with Darren Young and Bob Backlund. Basically, Backlund wants Darren to walk, not run. Literally.
AJ Styles (w/The Club) beat Kofi Kingston (w/New Day) via pinfall
They had a quick back and forth exchange and they both did a kip-up at the same time to face off, because wrestling is fake and choreographed. Just kidding. It’s fine. Styles got the better of Kingston with a couple of arm drags and posed with the Club.
Kingston got the better of the next exchange, which led to a corner dropkick accompanied by Woods playing the trombone. The Club and New Day all jumped in the ring but they were held back from fighting. This led to a commercial break, which was only two minutes into the match. Keep in mind they had already gone to commercial break after the entrances.
Anyway, after a while, Woods, Big E, Gallows and Anderson all got in each others faces outside the ring. Kingston was distracted so Styles ran him face first into the steel post. Crowd chanted for Kofi as Styles had control. As the announcers discussed Styles’ attitude, Saxton asked why AJ didn’t just show his hand in the first place, to which Lawler replied, “You’ve obviously never played poker.”
Kingston came back with a monkey flip, dropkick, clothesline and leg drop. Styles ducked the Trouble in Paradise and hit a fireman’s carry into a neckbreaker. Styles went for the Styles Clash but Kingston (sort of) countered and eventually hit a double knee attack for two. Styles set up for the Phenomenal forearm but Woods distracted him with the trombone, allowing Kingston to use an S.O.S. for a near fall.
Anderson attacked Woods on the outside, so Big E tossed Gallows into the barricade. Anderson lept at Big E, but Big E caught him and hit a belly-to-belly onto the announce table, which was cool. Gallows booted Big E, so Kingston took out Gallows with a crazy flip dive. As Kingston stepped back into the ring through the ropes, Styles caught him with a Pele kick and nailed the Styles Clash for the win. Fun stuff.
– Final Thoughts:
AJ Styles as a heel with The Club is cool and freshens things up. Tonight’s main event was pretty good but this was an otherwise normal Smackdown show.
Solid opener. Crowd is hot! Moonsault to floor! Red arrow for the finish with Neville winning.
– Bo Dallas & Heath Slater vs. Damien Sandow & Darren Young
Sandow got a good reaction. Crowd still hot! Outcasts won.
– Rusev with Lana vs. Fandango
Rusev in less than a minute; why? Rusev then challenged anyone.
– Rusev vs. Ryback
Ryback got a huge reaction! They worked hard and crowd was into it.
– Enzo & Big Cass with Carmella vs. The Ascension
There was some that knew the Enzo & Cass gimmick, but not a lot. Small “How you doin?” Chant. Real quick match with Enzo & Cass going over with finisher. Wyatts jump Big Cass & Enzo with Big Show making save with huge pop, which leads to…
– Luke Harper & Braun Strowman & Erick Rowan vs. Big Cass & Enzo & Big Show
Surprised to say it was a solid match. Big Show only in for hot tag after double heat. Crowd was loud. Show choke slammed Rowan for finish.
– Divas Champion Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch
Damn good match. Best match on the show. Lots of near falls leading to Charlotte winning with feet on ropes.
– WWE Tag Team Champions New Day vs. Usos
Crowd was hot for both teams. Total comedy until heat started. Fun match
– Bray Wyatt vs. Kane
Bray got a big reaction. Kane got a pretty good pop also. I am not sure why Bray has not turned baby. Bray did a crotch chop and said “suck it” to a fan. Crowd kinda died and people started leaving. Bray was working hard, no one cared. Kane pins Bray after choke slam.
– Summary:
A solid house show, especially since this is the B crew. I was told this was the same exact show as the night before in Cape Girardeau, MO. Most over on the show was probably Big Show (surprising, but probably because he has been there so long and everyone knows him). As for the new guys, New Day were really over and crowd liked Usos a lot also. Another big surprise and it was the same as last time they were in Jonesboro, but Sandow was really over with the crowd. Pretty good for a guy that has not been on TV in months. Enzo & Cass were not over when they first came out, but before that 6 man was over the crowd was loving them. Natural charisma from the trio.
