WWE Friday Night SmackDown rolls on. We see a tribute to the late great Howard Finkle as Michael Cole puts over that Finkle was one of his mentors when he first got into the business. Plenty of goofy moments as well as major calls and some words from an interview with him where he calls his WWE career a magical journey.
We then see the Miz backstage in front of the supply closet chain link fence. Calls tonight’s match the biggest injustice in WWE history and claims that management will never hear the end of this. But that’s besides the point as he will nevertheless prove that he’s the Miz and he’s awesome. We then get a very quick look at the Forgotten Sons before moving right along to the Men’s Money In The Bank qualifying match pitting Daniel Bryan against Cesaro.
Daniel Bryan vs. Cesaro
Cesaro with a shoulder tackle. Monkey flip sends Cesaro to the floor, suicide dive sends him right into the announce table! But then we see another cut in from the hacker who is still talking about revealing the truth. We see random clips of some tag teams, the Usos, The New Day, Miz & Morrison, Bliss-Cross, Bayley and Sasha… hacker man says that some keep their friends close and their enemies closer. He pushes a button and seemingly takes it upon himself to send us into a commercial break. We come back to see Bryan taking Cesaro down in the ring and stomping into his chest. Cinches in a double wristlock.
Cesaro rolls through, pounds his elbow to seperate, hits the ropes but a hip toss takes us into a Cross Armbreaker! Cesaro powers out though for a Backlund-style Powerbomb! Bodyslam, very crisp. And a second one for a 2 count. Even bodyslams from Cesaro kinda look like they could finish. Bryan escapes to the apron, wroks his arm over the top rope, goes up top for a crossbody but Cesaro catches him and out of an awkward position he counters into an incredible Tilt-A-Whirl Backbreaker! Single Leg Boston Crab, Bryan grabs the bottom rope for the break. Has to roll from the ring, Cesaro pursues, charging European Uppercut takes him into the barricade! Commercial break.
We come back to see Bryan and Cesaro wrestling for a Backslide attempt, Cesaro breaks and Bryan slips him into a Cross-Armbreaker, Cesaro powers him off the mat, Bryan escapes and picks the leg to the mat, kick to the arm. Yes Kicks commence but they’re all aimed at that arm! Cesaro tries to block the headkick but that arm is too sore for that now, so Bryan nails him right across the back of the head for a nearfall! Hooks the arms and nails driving elbows into his face! Cesaro powers out, drives him into the turnbuckle, Military Press into a GTS! Cesaro has to take a moment to breath before the cover, nearfall so Cesaro gets him into a Crossface instead! Bryan rolls through and turns it into the Crossface of his own, Yes Lock cinched in… no, Cesaro breaks the grip and rolls him onto his back for a cover, Bryan reverses, both back to their feet, Cesaro with a big lariat!
European Uppercuts into the corner, Cesaro can’t use his left arm. Whip to the opposite corner, Bryan with the corner float-over black flip, gets Cesaro down into the Yes Lock! Shinsuke Nakamura tries to intervene but Drew Gulak stops him and eventually throws him into the barricade, Cesaro to submit!
Winner: Daniel Bryan
Very good match and a neat little finish there. Bryan qualifying for the Men’s Money In The Bank match is no surprise of course but exciting all the same.
SUBSCRIBE NOW: Get TheOvertimer’s Hottest Stories, Breaking News and Special Features in your email, CLICK HERE!
