Tag: tamina

Show Recap —

Daniel Bryan comes out to start the show to a big ovation. He went over the two big women’s matches on tonight’s show. As he explains the Money in the Bank match, Carmella and James Ellsworth come out to interrupt.

Carmella says you’ve said this is a land of opportunity, but this is a land of injustice. She talks about unfairly being stripped of the briefcase. She mentions that the rulebook clearly states that it is a no disqualification match — there are no rules, the first woman to gain possession of the contract wins the match. “How can you break a rule if there are no rules?” she whined. 

Bryan said she makes some valid points, but no one has ever grabbed the briefcase and handed it to another competitor. Bryan takes it to the crowd, asks them if they want him to cancel the match. They heartily chant no in response. 

Ellsworth takes it to the crowd, said that they were villains here, you control this puppet. You’re upsetting my homegirl. Loud “Ellsworth sucks” chants. He used to look up to Bryan, but all he sees now is a coward who can’t cut it in the ring anymore so made up some fake injury. Bryan responds by saying, well, he did say last week on Talking Smack that he was going to ban him from ringside during the Money in the Bank match, but he’s not going to do that…instead, he’s going to ban him from the entire arena! Bryan calls for security as Ellsworth tries to flee, but to no avail and is dragged away.

Bryan wishes Carmella the best of luck as she’s left all on her own tonight.

The Usos defeated The Hype Bros.

This didn’t last long and was pretty much just your basic back and forth television match. They went to a commercial then when they came back, immediately went for the finish as one of the Usos pinned Ryder.

The New Day immediately came out after the pinfall. Big E made it clear they wanted that gold, and at Battleground they’ll pick them up. Usos said they didn’t deserve it, but they eventually accept, but be careful about what you wish…it ain’t about the New Day, it’s about the Day One Ish. 

Woods says it’s all about the fire, and instructs Kingston to, I guess, rap against the New Day. Kingston says they’re underdogs like Rudy, but the Uso’s underwear are booty. Byron Saxton says that the Usos “got served”.

Fashion Vice returns, this episode titled “Under Pressure”. We see the detectives interrogate The Ascension in a dark room. Fandango shows the alleged culprits a picture of stick figures and asks if they look familiar. Konnor says that’s not them. Fandango plays the nice cop, saying he has two tickets to Paradise. Viktor goes to grab them, but Konnor says no, we only listen to grindcore death metal.

Breeze comes in and also plays the nice cop, giving them a cheese platter and iced tea. Konnor says look, we weren’t the ones who thrashed the office, we just wanted a spot on the card at Money in the Bank. The two detectives converse to one another, saying this is a tough case to crack.

Suddenly, a loud noise is heard. They go to their office and see that it’s thrashed once again. Knowing that the Ascension were in their interrogation room the whole time, they realize the case is far from over…

Naomi defeated Lana to retain the Smackdown Women’s title

Lana jumps Naomi during the ring introductions and plants her with her seated spinebuster finisher, but Naomi kicks out at two. Lana grows infuriated, but immediately gets cut off with a kick to the head. Naomi follows with the split-legged moonsault for the quick win.

Dasha Fuentes interviews Becky Lynch, asking how she feels about her second chance. Lynch says tonight she has a fair chance to legitimately win the Money in the Bank ladder match.

The announcer introduces us to the operatic, melodious voice of Aiden English. He starts to sing when he’s rudely cut off by Randy Orton as it went to commercial. When we came back, as one would assume, English was quickly disposed of with an RKO.

Orton says that he’s not leaving until Jinder Mahal comes out. Last week, he tore apart the WWE champion, and showed footage of the beatdown. He’s not leaving until he gets what he wants, which is a WWE championship rematch. If he doesn’t get what he want, he’ll beat up Mahal in the back, in the parking lot, in St. Louis, wherever Smackdown is taping next week.

He starts to go backstage to hunt Mahal when Shane McMahon comes out. He said we go a ways back, he can have him threatening the safety of Jinder Mahal. Orton says what are you going to do, fire me? I’ll just go to every arena Smackdown is in and track him down. He disrespected his family, after all.

McMahon said that those kind of tactics that Mahal and the Singh Brothers crossed the line at Money in the Bank, knowing their past, and the look in that eye he’s never seen before, so he will get his rematch. However, there’s going to be a stipulation, and Jinder Mahal will choose that stipulation. Orton says he doesn’t care what that stip is, the title is coming home to where it belongs.

This brings out Jinder Mahal and The Singh Brothers. Despite the prejudice shown to the Maharaja he will name the stipulation. He will bring a stip brough to the WWE by his idol, the Great Khali — the Punjabi Prison match. They show the footage as Jinder Mahal poses with the title.

Bryan is talking to someone on the phone about the Punjabi Prison match when AJ Styles arrives. He talks about the open challenge from last week when Kevin Owens comes in, asking why he’s complaining about the opening challenge. Owens says he wants to face people he hasn’t faced yet, and since he beat him at Backlash, he is a loser. In return, Styles calls Owens “Ron Burgundy’s definition of San Diego”.

Daniel Bryan comes up with an idea — next week is the July 4th edition of Smackdown, so why not do an Independence Day battle royal. Owens leaves, calling it the worst idea ever. Styles, being the battle royal, loves the idea.

Mike and Maria Kanellis come out and start to talk about their love when they’re cut off by Sami Zayn, who makes his entrance for the next match…

Baron Corbin defeated Sami Zayn

Corbin dominates a lot of the match, putting him in long rest holds. Zayn comes back with a roll up after clotheslines to the corner, but Corbin immediately cuts him off again. Zayn takes out Corbin on the top rope and launches off, but Corbin dodges. Zayn turns around, but walks right into the End of Days for the win.

Shinsuke Nakamura is watching the match backstage when Dasha Fuentes comes in to ask a question — the WWE Universe wants to see a match between him and Baron Corbin, but does Nakamura want that? Nakamura says Baron Corbin is strong, but he is afraid of what he might be able to do against him…

The Usos and The New Day will square off in a Rap Battle next week.

Carmella won the Women’s Money in the Bank match

This was a very good main event that was laid out well. This wasn’t like other Money in the Bank ladder matches as this didn’t have the crazy spots as one would expect, but there were still some dangerous looking bumps and enough chaos that made it a nice, dramatic bout.

Everyone pairs off against one another as Carmella is left climbing the ladder…until everyone notices and comes back in. Everyone brawls until Lynch is the one left standing, throwing people around with exploder suplexes. Tamina comes in and lays her out with a Samoan drop, then hits the Superfly splash.

Returning from commercial, Charlotte and Natalya are battling in the ring as Carmella slaps Tamina on the outside. The latter responds by grabbing Carmella by the leg and flinging her into the announcer’s table. 

Meanwhile, Becky climbs the ladder but Tamina and Charlotte close it, eventually sending her to the floor. Charlotte boots the ladder into Tamina, but Natalya comes back with a discus punch and a ladder shot to a prone Charlotte. Natalya goes to climb, but Charlotte sets up another ladder as they fight until Carmella pushes the ladder to the floor. After commercial, Natalya is back up climbing the ladder as everyone but Carmella joins in, but they all fall to the floor, taking a big bump.

Carmella comes in and climbs, nearly grabbing the briefcase but everyone comes in…then starts brawling with one another. Carmella comes off with a crossbody, taking two participants down. Charlotte pins Tamina over the ladder as she starts to climb, but Carmella comes back and fights her off until they both crash to the floor.

Natalya and Charlotte pair off, exiting the ring and going off on one another into the crowd. And what do you know, suddenly James Ellsworth comes in through the crowd and starts to help Carmella like at the pay-per-view. Ellsworth goes to climb when Becky Lynch comes in and grabs the ladder, pushing it as Ellsworth crotches himself on the ropes, putting him out of comission.

Becky starts to climb when Carmella comes back, grabbing her back down to the mat. Lynch tweaks her leg on impact as Carmella hones in, grabbing a chair and pelting Lynch with chair shots, laying her out as she grabs the briefcase on her own, winning the match.

Carmella poses with the briefcase on top of the ladder to close out the show.

Final Thoughts —

On the surface, this looked to be a match-oriented show but as it turns out, was very much a show dedicated to building towards Battleground on 7/23, hyping matches like Mahal/Orton (in a Punjabi Prison match, no less), New Day/Usos and Corbin/Nakamura. I wish they wouldn’t start the build so soon as it makes things REALLY hard between this PPV and the Great Balls of Fire PPV, but I can’t fault them for doing some early build.

Most of the matches on tonight’s card were either pretty short or just there. The main event at least delivered, so those who were looking for a better, less crappy finish from the Sunday pay-per-view got what they wanted, and probably should have been what they got in the first place.

Date: May 30, 2017
Location: Philips Arena in Atlanta, GA

The Big Takeaway —

There will be a five-woman Money in the Bank ladder match at the PPV to determine a number one contender for Naomi’s championship. Shane McMahon made the announcement after the five women got into a chaotic brawl before their elimination match could start.

The New Day returned and will face The Usos at MITB for the tag titles. Kevin Owens will face Shinsuke Nakamura one-on-one next week in a non-title match after Nakamura pinned him again this week.

Oh, and Dolph Ziggler pinned AJ Styles in his home state.

Show Recap —

Cold open with backstage interviews from each woman in tonight’s five-way elimination match explaining why they will win.

Kevin Owens’ Highlight Reel

Owens reminded us that Chris Jericho claims he invented the Money in the Bank ladder match, but Owens will do what Jericho never could and that’s win the contract. The crowd chanted for AJ Styles. Owens claimed he would end up being a double champion and the face of WWE. He introduced his guest, Shinsuke Nakamura.

Nakamura had his full entrance, which now includes pyro (twice). He got a good reaction and people were singing his song. Owens said he retired the last guy who claimed to be a rock star. Nakamura was about to speak but was quickly interrupted by Baron Corbin.

Corbin, who takes the name of the Highlight Reel literally, wanted to show some highlights and they replayed his attack on Sami Zayn last week. Owens said Corbin shouldn’t be bragging about beating up Zayn for a few minutes because Owens has been doing it for 15 years. Corbin called him Cartman.

Nakamura called them forgetful and reminded them that he pinned Owens last week. He also reminded Corbin that Zayn beat him twice. Nakamura got some light “What” chants from the crowd. He was attacked by the two heels but Zayn ran down for the save.

Zayn said the fight between him and Corbin wasn’t over, and the fight with him and Owens is never over. Zayn challenged them to a tag match and they went to commercial. The announcers wondered if the match would be made official. It would be funny if it wasn’t.

Shinsuke Nakamura & Sami Zayn defeated US Champion Kevin Owens & Baron Corbin

A cheap shot by Owens with the referee distracted allowed the bad guys to take control. (I watch the Canadian broadcast and they don’t do the split-screen thing during commercials.)

Zayn hit Owens with a Blue Thunder Bomb immediately following the break but Corbin knocked Nakamura off the apron before Zayn could make a tag. Zayn caught him with a schoolboy for a nearfall but Corbin followed that with a spinebuster. Zayn eventually hit a hard clothesline and made the tag.

Nakamura hit kicks, knees, and running knee in the corner for two. Crowd chanted for Nakamura. Corbin broke up a pinfall attempt by Nakamura and Zayn pushed Owens into Corbin. This led to an argument between the heels. Corbin punched Owens, Zayn knocked Corbin out of the ring, and Nakamura nailed Owens with Kinshasa for the win. Big pop for the move and the win. 

The SmackDown announcers plugged the Network by pushing how great the Raw PPV will be. They also plugged MITB. The Usos will address the tag division up next.

The New Day returns

The Usos accused the fans of looking salty and mad because they were still the champs. They said fans thought American Alpha would beat them, or Breezango would beat them, or the Falcons would beat the Patriots — but nope. Lots of heat for that. The Usos said not to boo them, they weren’t the ones playing. They were interrupted by the returning New Day.

New Day came out to a good reaction. They wear neon lime green now. Xavier Woods said hi to his mom in the front row and said they were happy to return in his hometown. Kofi Kingston started swiveling his hips but they were interrupted by the Usos (who moved outside the ring). “Did you guys get lost skipping down the yellow brick road or something?”

The Usos welcomed them to the Uso Penitentiary. Big E said they know what happens in a Penitentiary. He gazed at their tag titles and said, “we likes them, and we wants them.” Woods said they can do this the hard way or easy way, and Kingston said the answer better be yes.

The Usos told them to wake up from this fairy tale because they run the show and threatened to take them out back like Old Yeller. Woods mocked them and said Shane McMahon actually runs the show and he gave them a tag championship match at MITB.

AJ Styles vs. Dolph Ziggler is tonight’s main event. They aired a video package of Jinder Mahal’s championship celebration and included some media clips from India.

Fashion Files: The Men Who Knew Too Little

This one was like an old black-and-white noir film. They followed Fandango along and we could hear his internal monologue. He saw the silhouette of a shapely lady. Turns out, it was Tyler Breeze undercover. We could hear each of their own internal voices, but it turned out they could somehow hear each other too. Their office and fashion files were destroyed and they looked for clues. They included they got too close to the tag titles and now they have a new case. This was quite good.

#1 Contender’s Fatal 5-Way Elimination match: Charlotte Flair vs. Carmella (w/James Ellsworth) vs. Tamina vs. Natalya vs. Becky Lynch

The match never happened. The Welcoming Committee attacked Charlotte and Lynch before the match could start. They beat them down for a while as the lone referee shouted at them to stop. Lynch made her own comeback on Carmella, tossing her over the barricade into the timekeeper’s area. Lynch then ran the barricade and nailed her with a forearm.

Tamina cleared the announce table but Charlotte tossed her into the ring post and suplexed Natalya on the floor. Charlotte then went up to the top and nailed a damn moonsault to the outside. Carmella nailed Charlotte with a crossbody, Lynch hit an Exploder on Carmella, Tamina superkicked Lynch, Charlotte booted Tamina, and Natalya clotheslined Charlotte.

Charlotte tossed Natalya into the steps and, finally, she powerbombed Natalya through the announce table. The crowd chanted “Holy sh*t.”

Shane skipped down the ramp and danced in the ring as if five women didn’t just try to kill each other. Shane called this amazing. He booked them in the first-ever Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Big Yes chant from the crowd. 

Randy Orton will be on later.

Breezango defeated The Colons

The announcers explained that Breezango wanted a match with the Colons because cologne was among the evidence found in their destroyed office. Breeze wore a dress and wig to the ring, but it was quickly ripped off by Primo. Fandango and Breeze sprayed the Colons with water guns. Fandango back body dropped Primo to the outside and he landed hard on the mats (Epico was supposed to catch him but didn’t).

The Colons had control after a break. Fandango couldn’t tag out because Breeze was knocked off the apron. Breeze eventually reappeared as a janitor, ran wild and hit Primo with an Unprettier for the win.

Backstage, AJ Styles told Renee Young he would build momentum tonight and go on to win MITB. Ziggler interrupted and reminded Styles he’s won MITB once before and would do it again. Ziggler asked if he wanted to fight right now. Styles was ready but Ziggler backed off and told him, “See you out there, kid.”

All five women in the MITB ladder match will be on Talking Smack tonight with Renee Young and Shane McMahon. That should be something.

If there was any confusion, they reiterated that Randy Orton will face Mahal for the title at MITB in St. Louis.

Randy Orton promo

Orton reminded us of who he is. He’s been doing this for 17 years and beaten the very best, like Mick Foley, Shawn Michaels, and Undertaker. His dad main evented the first WrestleMania and this business was in his blood. He said his grandfather would smack him around for losing the title to a guy like Jinder Mahal.

Orton’s family was all about respect and doing things the American way. Respect works both ways and Mahal doesn’t understand that. Orton would take the title back in his hometown or he wouldn’t be able to show his face there again. Orton said to ask his father, the Gagnes or Harley Race and they’ll all tell you that winning is the only option. Orton was about to pose but Mahal’s music hit.

Mahal’s big face showed up on the big screen. He told Orton to look “up here” as if we couldn’t see him. He called himself the future and held up the title as the Singh Brothers clapped. The crowd chanted USA. I guess you want Mahal featured on the show, but they might’ve been better ending this with the Orton promo. Orton sounded like a real person for once, although the stuff about doing things the American way felt pretty forced.

Shinsuke Nakamura will face Kevin Owens in a non-title match next week. Rich Swann and Sasha Banks plugged 205 Live and Extreme Rules.

Dolph Ziggler defeated AJ Styles

Ziggler wore black and silver tights with “Hollywood Heel” on the back. They went to commercial a minute into the match after Ziggler tossed Styles into the post. After the break, Styles came back with a backdrop, strikes and sliding forearm. Styles also hit a facebuster for two. Ziggler tried a cover with his feet on the ropes but the referee caught him and Styles followed with a fireman’s carry neckbreaker for two.

Ziggler tried to fight out of a vertical suplex but Styles suplexed him into the turnbuckles instead. Styles set up for a Styles Clash off the top, but Ziggler countered with a jumping DDT (bringing Styles down from the top rope). Ziggler hit a headbutt but Styles came back with a backbreaker.

They traded a few counters leading to Styles applying the Calf Crusher, but Ziggler raked his eyes to get out of it. Ziggler followed with a Zig Zag for a nearfall. Ziggler missed a superkick but he managed to crotch Styles on the top rope. Ziggler then superkicked Styles for the pinfall win.

That’s what happened. Good match aside from the finish.

Final Thoughts —

This was a pretty good show and probably one of the better episodes in a while. That was until the very end when Ziggler pinned Styles, which was baffling. It probably doesn’t mean anything, but Styles has now lost three straight singles matches (one by countout).

I normally don’t like when they don’t deliver on advertised matches, but the women’s brawl to set up the ladder match was pretty good (except for Shane dancing around afterwards) and got over with the crowd.

New Day’s return helps freshen things up and it was nice to see another episode of the Fashion Files knowing they could’ve easily shuffled Breezango aside.