The final build to Extreme Rules took place on last night’s SmackDown from Philadelphia.
Two days before his Universal Championship defense against “The Demon” Finn Balor, Roman Reigns was in action against Montez Ford in last night’s main event. After getting his knees up when Ford went for a frog splash, Reigns used a guillotine to get the submission win.
Paul Heyman then counseled Reigns to beat down Ford as a way of showing both Balor and Brock Lesnar what happens when Reigns takes it to the extreme. Reigns attacked Ford with a steel chair and slammed him through a table at ringside. Ford’s tag team partner Angelo Dawkins couldn’t make the save because it was said that Dawkins was attending a friend’s wedding and wasn’t at last night’s show.
The lights went out after Reigns put Ford through the table. When they came back on, Balor was standing on the top rope dressed as The Demon. Balor took out Reigns and The Usos with a crossbody to the outside, then started hitting both Usos with kendo sticks.
Reigns cut Balor off and threw him into the ring. But when he went to attack Balor with a steel chair, Balor hit a slingblade and used the chair himself. Balor hit Reigns and The Usos with the chair and then took out Reigns with a dive to the outside.
Killian Dain is leaving the main roster following the split up of the Sanity stable.
Dave Meltzer has confirmed that Dain will be moving to NXT following the events of the Superstar Shake-up. This comes as his former stablemates have been moved to different brands. Eric Young has made the move to Raw, though has yet to appear on television Alexander Wolfe, meanwhile, has been moved to NXT UK.
Nikki Cross, who is married to Dain, has also been confirmed as part of the Raw brand after being called up earlier this year. She too has yet to appear on television since the Shake-up two weeks ago.
Dain, who in the UK independent scene was known as Big Damo, signed with WWE in 2016 and soon alligned himself with the stable. They were called up during last year’s Superstar Shake-up, but after a short feud with the New Day were largely relegated to house show events, rarely appearing on television.
NXT’s next tapings are set for tomorrow at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.
The Bar (Cesaro & Sheamus) will face either Rusev & Aiden English, The Usos, or SAnitY to decide The New Day’s SmackDown Tag Team title challengers for Hell in a Cell.
The first of two triple threat matches in SmackDown’s tag team tournament took place tonight, with Cesaro & Sheamus defeating Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson and The Colons to advance. Cesaro tagged in and stole the pin from The Colons, then he and Sheamus confronted The New Day (who were on commentary for the match).
A backstage segment aired where Paige told Rusev & English they’d be in the tournament, with the story being that English had approached her to state their case. She announced that they’d be facing The Usos and SAnitY in a triple threat match next Tuesday. The winning team will advance to a number one contender’s match that’s being held on SmackDown’s Hell in a Cell go-home show to determine who will challenge New Day at the pay-per-view.
Hell in a Cell is taking place at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas on September 16.
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.
Ahead of it beginning tomorrow, WWE has revealed the matchups for SmackDown’s tag team tournament.
WWE announced today that The New Day vs. SAnitY will be the first tournament match and will take place on tomorrow’s SmackDown. That means that Cesaro & Sheamus will face The Usos in the other first round matchup on next week’s episode.
The tournament finals are scheduled for the August 7 edition of SmackDown, with the winning team getting a Tag Team title shot against The Bludgeon Brothers at SummerSlam. The pay-per-view will be held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on August 19.
SAnitY (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe & Killian Dain) defeated The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) in a tables match on the Extreme Rules pre-show earlier this month. The Bludgeon Brothers’ program with Daniel Bryan & Kane also finished up at Extreme Rules as Harper & Rowan retained their titles.
On last week’s SmackDown, Young defeated Kingston in a singles match. He won with the wheelbarrow neckbreaker after Dain threw Woods into Kingston.
This Tuesday’s show will also feature Paige revealing AJ Styles’ WWE Championship challenger for SummerSlam, along with Carmella facing Becky Lynch in a non-title match. If Lynch wins, she’ll challenge for Carmella’s Women’s Championship at the PPV.
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.
Paige announced on Twitter today that The New Day would face all three members of SAnitY (Killian Dain, Alexander Wolfe and Eric Young) in a tables match. It will take place on the kickoff show prior to the main card.
The match stems from an angle last week where the New Day were competing against one another in a pancake eating contest. They had just started when SAnitY’s music hit. The trio jumped them from behind, leaving them all lying.Young then launched off the top rope and put Woods through the table with an elbow drop.
Here is the latest card for this Sunday’s show, which will air live on the WWE Network:
AJ Styles vs. Rusev for the WWE title
Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley
Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax in an Extreme Rules match for the Raw women’s title
Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins in a 30 minute Iron Man match for the Intercontinental title
Carmella vs. Asuka for the SmackDown women’s title
Jeff Hardy vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the United States title
Bludgeon Brothers vs. Team Hell No for the SmackDown tag team titles
Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens in a steel cage match
Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt vs. the B-Team for the Raw tag team titles
With Money in the Bank now over, SAnitY are finally set to make their SmackDown debut.
Two of the members of SAnitY vs. The Usos has been added to the lineup for tonight’s episode. It will be their first appearance since it was announced during April’s Superstar Shakeup that Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe, and Killian Dain would be coming up to the main roster without Nikki Cross, who unsuccessfully challenged for Shayna Baszler’s NXT Women’s Championship at TakeOver: Chicago this past Saturday.
SAnitY debuted on the SmackDown house shows earlier this month and have been doing matches where the person who isn’t wrestling interferes for the disqualification.
Becky Lynch vs. Billie Kay is also set for tonight’s SmackDown, and WWE is teasing another “Mellabration” after Carmella retained her SmackDown Women’s Championship against Asuka at Money in the Bank. Carmella won after a distraction from the returning James Ellsworth.
The show will feature a number one contender’s gauntlet match to decide who will be challenging for AJ Styles’ WWE Championship at Extreme Rules on July 15. The Miz, Samoa Joe, Rusev, Daniel Bryan, and Big E will be included in the gauntlet.
Submitted by Jeff Salazar from SmackDown’s Saturday night house show in Waco, Texas
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers defeated The Usos and Rusev & Aiden English in a triple threat match to retain their titles
– Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows defeated SAnitY (Eric Young & Alexander Wolfe) w/ Killian Dain by DQ
Though they’ve yet to appear on television since being announced as coming to SmackDown in the Superstar Shakeup, SAnitY had their first main roster match here. Dain was at ringside and interfered to cause the disqualification.
– Andrade “Cien” Almas (w/ Zelina Vega) defeated Sin Cara
Almas won with the hammerlock DDT.
– Asuka, Becky Lynch & Naomi defeated Peyton Royce, Billie Kay & Lana
Asuka used the Asuka Lock on Lana for the finish.
– United States Champion Jeff Hardy defeated The Miz, Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Shelton Benjamin in a fatal five-way match to retain his title
Hardy retained by hitting the Swanton Bomb and pinning Miz.
– The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) defeated Cesaro & Sheamus
New Day hit their finisher on Cesaro for the win.
– SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella defeated Charlotte Flair to retain her title
Carmella had her feet on the ropes as she got the pin.
– Daniel Bryan defeated Big Cass
Bryan made Cass tap out and thanked the fans to close the night. This was a good, very wrestling-heavy show.
Submitted by Shane Johnson from Raw’s Saturday night show in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
– Finn Balor defeated Jinder Mahal
– No Way Jose, Titus O’Neil & Apollo Crews defeated The Ascension & Curt Hawkins when Jose pinned Viktor.
– WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander defeated Buddy Murphy to retain his title
– Sasha Banks, Bayley & Dana Brooke defeated The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan & Liv Morgan) when Bayley pinned Morgan.
– Bobby Roode defeated Mojo Rawley
– Braun Strowman & Bobby Lashley defeated Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn when Strowman pinned Owens.
– Raw Tag Team Champions Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt defeated The B-Team (Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas) by DQ
– Raw Women’s Champion Nia Jax defeated Alexa Bliss to retain her title
– Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins defeated Elias to retain his title
The Big News: Instead of competing for the NXT Championship, Johnny Gargano spent the night in a local medical facility as Tommaso Ciampa laid him out.
The Medium News: Aleister Black beat Eric Young in a substitute main event.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Riddick Moss and Tino Sabbatelli continued their slow-moving breakup, as Sabbatelli walked out on their tag team match.
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The show began with The Undisputed Era coming to the ring for a promo. Cole pointed out all their championship belts and said this is what happens when you back them into a corner. NXT’s mission has been to prevent this from happening, yet here they stand. Bobby Fish said they were thrown to the wolves at War Games and, again, in New Orleans, but they are one step above everyone else.
Roderick Strong was next, mocking the fans for asking why he joined Undisputed Era. He said for once he did something for himself and made the best decision of his career. He said if he had won the titles with Pete Dunne, how long would it have been until Dunne turned on him since he only cares about the UK Championship? Suddenly, in the middle of the match, he had an epiphany. Why fight by himself and come up short, when they could fight together and take over NXT.
Kyle O’Reilly said they are done being backed into a corner — and no matter what the powers that be do, they cannot be stopped. Times are changing and they are leaving everyone in the dust.
Cole said they will prove it as he defends his North American title by himself against Oney Lorcan. He actually laughed about needing help to beat Lorcan.
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NXT North American Champion Adam Cole defeated Oney Lorcan to retain his title
This was the first televised title defense for Cole. It was more competitive for Cole than he was expecting — as Lorcan went after Cole’s DDP-trademarked taped ribs. Cole sold them for the duration of the match.
The fans liked Lorcan, but no one felt he had a chance to win here. He dropped Cole ribs-first across the top rope and Cole was injured! Oh no, what a horrible thing to happen to him. O’Reilly ran down with a paramedic to check on his leader. Strong gave Lorcan a back suplex on the apron when suddenly — it was a miracle! Cole got up and finished off Lorcan, retaining the title.
After the match, Strong and O’Reilly continued the beatdown. Danny Burch ran down for the save, but he got overpowered by all three men.
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Up next was a video package for Shayna Baszler.
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Last week, Candice LeRae defeated Zelina Vega after a double Gargano Escape, with Gargano doing it to an interfering Andrade “Cien” Almas.
LeRae will wrestle Bianca Belair next week, so we got a video package for Belair.
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Heavy Machinery defeated Riddick Moss & Tino Sabbatelli
These two teams squared off two weeks ago, but that match didn’t have a finish due to the War Raiders debuting and destroying both teams.
These teams actually work pretty well together and we had some good four-way brawling to start the match. It broke down into a tag team match with Otis Dozovic playing the role of Ricky Morton tonight. He made the hot tag to Tucker Knight, who ran wild on Moss. Sabbatelli was knocked off the apron, accidentally, by his partner.
Sabbatelli did his best Sid impersonation by reaching for a tag to his ailing partner, before dropping off the apron and walking away. All that was missing was for him to threaten to punch Brutus Beefcake. Anyway, Dozovic beat Moss with The Compactor.
After the match, Heavy Machinery vowed to eat all the steaks and lift all the weights — and then they will kick the asses of the War Raiders.
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We had a video package looking at potential challengers for Shayna Baszler, including Nikki Cross, Aliyah, and Kairi Sane.
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Dakota Kai was interviewed by Cathy Kelley regarding Shayna Baszler earlier today. She refused to talk about Baszler. Kelley kept asking questions and Kai kept deflecting them until Baszler walked in. Baszler intimidated her and informed her that Baszler running the women’s division is Kai’s worst nightmare.
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Kona Reeves is coming.
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Lacey Evans, Vanessa Borne, and LeRae also vowed to defeat Baszler if they get the chance.
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Next week:
TM61 vs. The Street Profits
Pete Dunne vs. Roderick Strong
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Johnny Gargano came to the ring for his championship match with Aleister Black, when he was attacked by Tommaso Ciampa. Ciampa threw Gargano into the stage, but he fought back and delivered a running crossbody off the announce table. Gargano continued to punch away before Ciampa booted him low and shoved him down. The fans chanted that Ciampa tapped out until Ciampa hit the Randy Orton punt to the head of a downed Johnny Wrestling.
Referees finally came out, but Ciampa ignored them and hit an Emerald Fusion through some production tables set up nearby.
The EMTs and medical staff came out to stretcher Gargano away. Kassius Ohno was one of the people helping out. As they loaded Gargano into the ambulance, Black arrived and watched the scene unfold. As the ambulance drove away, the camera zoomed out and there was Ciampa on top of a ring truck.
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Back in the arena, Black stormed to the ring and grabbed a mic. He was prepared to offer a challenge to Ciampa, but SAnitY came out instead. Eric Young said that Gargano’s hope was taken away by chaos. Out of chaos, EY said, we will find hope and we will find sanity. Before Young could continue, Black cut him off and challenged him to an immediate title match.
NXT Champion Aleister Black defeated Eric Young to retain his title
A bell rang and the match was on. The announcers weren’t sure if this was an actual title match, but the bout itself was on. This was a basic match and was probably designed as a sendoff for SAnitY in addition to a showcase for the new champion.
Alexander Wolfe tried getting involved early, but he got kicked out of the ring. Young did not enjoy being kicked in the thigh, but there was nothing he could do to stop it, as Black turned EY black and blue. Young did the Ric Flair corner flip and slid back into the ring, but he got laid out with Black Mass for the pin.
Wolfe and Killian Dain slid in and both took the Black Mass for their troubles.
So, that does it for another episode of NXT. Until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers.
SAnitY were announced as from SmackDown after their move up to the main roster.
– Dakota Kai & Steffanie Newell defeated The IIconics (Peyton Royce & Billie Kay)
With Royce and Kay being called up to SmackDown, the two teams hugged and showed respect for each other after the match as part of The IIconics’ farewell to NXT.
The male members of SAnitY are coming up to the WWE main roster.
A video hyping the group’s arrival aired on SmackDown tonight, with Eric Young voicing it over and saying the only thing they care about is chaos. It was later noted that it would be Young, Alexander Wolfe, and Killian Dain debuting.
They’re the second act from NXT to be included in this year’s Superstar Shakeup. Former NXT Champion Drew McIntyre, who suffered a torn bicep when he dropped the title to Andrade “Cien” Almas last November, was added to Raw and aligned with Dolph Ziggler.
The Authors of Pain, Ember Moon, and No Way Jose debuted on Raw last week, with Peyton Royce and Billie Kay coming up to SmackDown.
SAnitY won the NXT Tag Team titles from The Authors of Pain in August 2017 and dropped them to The Undisputed Era in November. They were one of the teams that were involved in the Tag Team title match/Dusty Rhodes Classic finals at TakeOver: New Orleans earlier this month, which was won by Undisputed Era when Roderick Strong turned against Pete Dunne.
Young and Dain had matches at NXT’s television tapings last week.
The Big News: Thanks almost entirely to Killian Dain, SAnitY defeated The Undisputed Era in a tornado tag team main event.
The Medium News: Johnny Gargano offered to put his NXT career on the line to once again challenge Andrade “Cien” Almas for the NXT Championship.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss may be breaking up. If you look up “little news” in the dictionary, this would be listed.
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Nigel McGuinness was back from his flu. Just want to point out that Percy Watson announced a five-star match and McGuinness has not.
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The Undisputed Era came out for the opener, in which they would defend the NXT Tag Team Championship. However, as all three members were preening to the camera, SAnitY (their opponents) assaulted them from behind. Security ran out to break everything up as Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O’Reilly snuck away as Killian Dain laid out multiple security guards.
Mr. William Regal came out next and announced that all six men would take part in a tornado tag match in the main event. So for the second time in a month, SAnitY will not be getting their title match.
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Heavy Machinery defeated Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss
SAnitY and Undisputed Era went to the back, so instead we got the next chapter in the ongoing rivalry between Heavy Machinery and Sabbatelli & Moss.
Moss got the heat on Tucker Knight by grabbing his tights from behind and using a lariat to the back of the head. Sabbatelli was greeted with “Tino sucks” chants, which surprised pretty much everyone since the heel duo is used to no reaction.
For some reason, Sabbatelli and Moss tagged each other exceptionally hard. Sabbatelli tried to use a roll-up with his feet on the ropes (which won them their last match), but the referee caught it and he got pinned by Knight after The Compactor.
After the match, Moss walked out on Sabbatelli. Someone should show these guys video tapes of Blake & Murphy and track what happened to that team in the ensuing two years after their break up. Meanwhile, their manager at the time, Alexa Bliss, has won four Women’s Championships on the main roster.
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Out came Johnny Gargano for the first time since his bout at TakeOver: Philadelphia where he came up short in his quest to conquer Andrade “Cien” Almas for the NXT Championship.
Gargano said he went into Philly more confident than ever. He saw himself winning and coming back here as champion. Unfortunately it didn’t happen, which sucks, but getting this overwhelming positive reaction from the fans and the respect it shows means more. It gave him the inspiration to pick himself back up and continue being Johnny Gargano.
He’ll never forget TakeOver, but will also never forget Tommaso Ciampa hitting him in the back with a crutch. He is coming for Ciampa and was in the middle of challenging him to come out when we were joined by Almas.
Zelina Vega asked him who cares if Gargano won everyone’s respect. There should be a parade with confetti for the champion. Gargano proved nothing — except that he is a loser. Almas has beaten him again and again and again. He is not Johnny Gargano, he is Johnny Loser. The fans began chanting for Candice LeRae, so Gargano mentioned his second favorite part of TakeOver was his wife beating the hell out of her.
Vega got up in Gargano’s face, so LeRae ran out and shoved her down. Almas bailed and the husband-wife duo was left standing tall.
Vega got on the stage and said they’ve beaten him three times. Gargano wants another title shot, and Vega said that if Gargano loses he must leave NXT. Gargano agreed to the challenge.
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Shayna Baszler said she is the most feared woman in NXT. There will not be a rematch with Ember Moon because Moon is scared. Baszler dared the press to go tell Moon she said that.
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Tyler Bate wasn’t happy that he didn’t beat Roderick Strong last week, but he said he’ll be watching when Strong challenges Pete Dunne next Wednesday. He also said he was happy to win Match of the Year last year and can’t wait to have more Match of the Years with everyone in NXT.
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Bianca Belair defeated Jessica Hill
Hill was trained by Dory Funk Jr and went one-on-one with The EST of NXT this week. Belair hit a Burning Hammer and a fallaway powerbomb, called the Alley-Oop, for the win in 30 seconds.
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A video package for Kairi Sane aired. She’s back to being the Pirate Princess, so I guess her enthusiasm for yachts has lessened in the last two weeks.
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Next week:
Aleister Black in action
Ember Moon vs. Shayna Baszler for the NXT Women’s Championship
Pete Dunne vs. Roderick Strong for the WWE United Kingdom Championship
Mauro Ranallo encouraged us to set our DVR for the UK title match. I’m not sure if he understands that the WWE Network isn’t on normal television.
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SAnitY (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe & Killian Dain) defeated The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) in a tornado tag team match
I’m not sure the order any of this was taped, but the fans were a lot more enthusiastic for these six guys at the start of the show than they were early on in this match. The match began with a wild six-way brawl, and the fans finally woke up five minutes in when Young pulled out the plunder.
As Dain mopped up the ringside area with Fish, Cole and O’Reilly separated Young and Wolfe from the pack and fought them through the backstage area. Fish did hit a beautiful moonsault to Dain. Unfortunately for Fish, his advantage didn’t last long and he began running away to get away from Dain. At this point, the other four returned from the backstage area, so Dain heaved Fish off the stage and onto everyone else.
As the match continued, Undisputed Era had no problem throwing around Wolfe and Young, but spent more time than not in flight when Dain got his hands on them. Cole discovered the best offense against Dain was to move out of the way, which was proven right when Dain went crashing through a table that Cole, seconds earlier, was propped against.
Back in the ring, Wolfe held his own for a second, but got superkicked and laid out with Total Elimination. Young was in with his kendo stick, but he got superkicked and laid out with a brainbuster on Cole’s knee. Dain got back in the ring and single-handedly destroyed all of Undisputed Era, pinning Fish with the Ulster Plantation.
So, that does it for this week. Will SAnitY ever get their title match? Until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
NXT returns to Center Stage in Atlanta for television tapings tonight and tomorrow, and two matches have been announced for next week’s TV.
Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly will defend their Tag Team Championship against Eric Young & Alexander Wolfe, with Adam Cole set to face Killian Dain. The storyline for the Tag Team title match is that SAnitY hasn’t challenged for the titles since losing them to Fish & O’Reilly in November. In a backstage angle last month, The Undisputed Era attacked SAnitY before they were scheduled to get their rematch.
SAnitY also got involved in Cole’s extreme rules match with Aleister Black at TakeOver: Philadelphia and helped even the odds against The Undisputed Era.
This week’s tapings will feature the follow-up to TakeOver: Philadelphia and some of the build to WrestleMania weekend. NXT will be back at Full Sail University on March 7th for the final tapings before TakeOver: New Orleans.
