Jordan Huie of The Overtimer here, ready for another night of recaps! Let’s see if WWE can keep their recent string of good TV going with SmackDown tonight! You can read my preview here.
Randy Orton opens the show.
Recap of Orton and Revival’s assault on New Day last night, which was capped off with the destruction of Xavier Woods. Orton on the mic claims again that Kofi ran away from a fight in front of his wife and children… because he’s stupid. He said in the last week he gave Kofi chances to prove himself and he got RKO’d twice because he is stupid. He seems to really be revelling in this heel promo, savoring the destruction of Xavier.
Orton says the power of positivity can be destroyed any time by the three most dangerous letters in sports entertainment, R-K-O… only to be interrupted by the New Day’s theme! Orton stares at the stage, waiting for Kingston to emerge… but Kofi pops up behind him with a Trouble In Paradise! Kofi is enraged and brings a chair into the ring… he wraps it around Orton’s leg! He wants a Pillmanization of his own! But before he can do it, in come the Revival! He ends up taking the chair to them instead as Orton rolls away.
Dramatic recap package for Reigns’ mystery attacker situation.
King Of The Ring Round 1: Andrade vs. Apollo Crews
Uh nope, before we actually get to the match we have Kevin Owens backstage with Shane McMahon. Owens wants to focus on King Of The Ring rather than deal with him. Shane asks what’s on his mind. Kevin explained that he was angry last week with the fine but after talking to his family, he realizes how bad this all is. He explains that to him, that fine is a big deal for his family. Man-to-man, father-to-father, he asks that he reconsider. Shane shockingly doesn’t just say ‘no’ and instead says he’ll take it under consideration.
Alright, now we get to the match for real this time.
Crews comes in quick for a huge clothesline for an immediate nearfall. Andrade with a drop toe hold to cut off his momentum. Meteora early, hits it! Crews kicks out at 2. Crews tries to fight back but Andrade gets a cross armbreaker hanging him on the top rope. Andrade proceeds to go up top and come at Crews, but Apollo leaps RIDICULOUSLY high in the air to catch him with a dropkick! Andrade fights back, forces him to the outside, hops at him but Apollo catches him in powerbomb position! Goes to bomb him into the steps but Andrade counters with a hurricarana into the steps! And commercial break, but the fight continues with Andrade getting the heat in the inset.
Andrade with the three amigos, nearfall. Wastelands him near the corner, before going up top… very slowly. Apollo unsurprisingly hangs him up in the ropes. The two of them trade punches as Andrade stays up. Crew fires up with chops! Goes up top with Andrade for a superplex attempt… Andrade knocks him away. Back from commercial, Andrade goes for a crossbody, but Crews catches him! Pop-up gutbuster follows! Olympic Slam gets a nearfall. Crews charges in the corner but eats a boot. Andrade goes up top, but Crews catches him with a super high enziguri! Brings him off the corner, tries for a military press, but Andrade escapes. Drop toe hold into the corner, tries for another Meteora but this time Crews avoids it!
Crews with a series of kicks and enziguris takes Andrade down, Standing Shooting Star Press for a nearfall! Apollo gets Andrade up, but Zelina grabs the ankle to distract him. Spinning elbow to the face from Andrade, sets up the Hammerlock DDT for the finish!
Winner: Andrade
Nice stuff! About as much time as could’ve been expected and they performed well. Even got people relatively into it.
Backstage, Bryan and Rowan have a man with a hood over his head, apparently Reigns’ attacker. They set him down in a chair and demand he stay put.
In a different part of backstage, Elias is walking. He spots an inconspicuous man with a hat pulled over his face. He makes him pull his hat up and unzip his jacket to reveal a referee shirt. Elias forces him to reveal Drake Maverick in a nearby crate. Elias grabs him by the throat as he yanks him out, even as Drake continues to shout “I’ve got you now!” Elias hands him a paper from Shane which reads that the 24/7 rule has been suspended for the night to allow Elias to focus on defeating Kevin Owens. He leaves Maverick, who glumly remarks, “I just want to consummate my marriage…”
Alexa and Nikki out now for a Moment Of Bliss. They pose with their titles. Alexa says even though they are champions, a moment of bliss will always exist for the less fortunate. The poor little things who just don’t have championships of their own. They introduce Charlotte Flair, who apparently requested to be on the show. Charlotte points to the KOTR throne on the stage and says that seat would be more appropriate. She claims that she’s the face of the SmackDown women’s division. Alexa points out that some would say the women’s champion Bayley would be the face of SmackDown. Charlotte says that she’s marketable and Bayley is not and that she is SmackDown.
“Bayley is an afterthought, which is why the division and the title are an afterthought.”
That draws out Bayley who says that she can brag all she wants, but they all sound like excuses. At the end of the day, she’s the champ, which means she’s better. Charlotte asks if she even knows how people feel about her and the title. Pause while everyone cheers. Charlotte says the talk after SummerSlam was her and Trish, not Bayley and Ember Moon. Now it’s up to Charlotte to restore the title’s prestige by beating her at Clash of Champions. Bayley says if that’s a challenge, she accepts. And she’ll do everyone a favor by finally shutting her mouth. She proceeds to shove Charlotte, tipping over her chair.
Roman Reigns meets with Buddy Murphy backstage.
Roman asks if he lied to him or if he lied to Bryan and Rowan. Buddy says he’s pretty sure he saw Rowan, which isn’t good enough for Roman. Buddy complains about everyone barging in and getting on his case when all he’s trying to do is help Roman out. Roman says he hopes that’s true, because if he’s lying again, he’ll have to come back and kick his ass.
Buddy Murphy vs. Daniel Bryan
Before the match, Bryan takes up the mic and says, “Now, you think you saw Erick Rowan? You might’ve sorta saw Erick Rowan? Buddy Murphy, you are a liar. You are the worst kind of liar, you are a cowardly liar. Tonight, Erick Rowan and I will reveal to everybody who is the culprit to this tragedy that has been happening to Roman Reigns. And tonight we’re gonna reveal that you had something to do with it too.”
Bell rings, immediate big running knee lift from Murphy takes Bryan right down for a nearfall! Bryan bails, lures Murphy in and out of the ring, Bryan catches him in the corner with the roundhouse kicks! Takes him to the mat, Ultimo Dragon style kick to the back! Gets him up for chops, but Buddy returns them in wicked fashion! Clotheslines Bryan to the outside, hits the ropes, flip senton wipes Bryan out! Commercial break.
We come back to see Murphy hit a dropkick off the second rope! Chant for ‘Buddy’ as he gets up! Charges, back drop to the apron, leaping enziguri to get space, Double Flying Knee off the top! Buddy forces Bryan into the corner, Bryan kicks away, slips behind him, drags him to the mat for the LeBell Lock! Grabs the apparently banged up right arm of Buddy and hooks it back… then grabs the leg as well! He’s going full Zack Sabre Jr. here! Back to the LeBell Lock… Murphy gets his leg on the bottom rope!
More chants for Murphy as Bryan continues to get heat, nailing him with kick after kick and yelling at him to stay down. Murphy avoids a roundhouse kick, pops up for a spin kick of his own. But Bryan keeps the advantage going, hanging him up in the Tree of Woe! More kicks follow before a running dropkick! Takes him up top, looking for a Back Superplex, and nails it! Bryan takes him into the corner and yells ‘Liar’ as he just keeps pelting him with kicks, and a running dropkick to the face! Bryan works him over in the corner, but Murphy escapes with a Cheeky Nandos kick! Follows up with a sitout powerbomb, stacked up for a nearfall!
They start trading blows, uppercuts and punches. Bryan avoids a knee, gets more uppercuts, looks for a running one, Murphy counters with a crucifix cradle! Bryan kicks out, but Murphy gets him with a kick to the face, followed by a Kota Ibushi style short-arm knee lift! Nearfall. Rowan tries to distract, Murphy gets him with a superkick! Murphy’s Law!!! He pins him and he gets the upset!
Winner: Buddy Murphy
Awesome stuff! Didn’t expect that win at all, but that was great!
Murphy gets an interview backstage, except not really as Rowan immediately attacks him. Clawslam onto the metal crate! Bryan yells at him saying he doesn’t deserve the spotlight, he doesn’t deserve anything! Leaves him laying.
Revival out now. They say the attack earlier was just proving that New Day aren’t championship material. Dash claims Big E wasn’t brave enough to show his face, in fact he thinks he’s still trying to help Xavier walk. Scott says Xavier can stop whining, he just needs to make sure his leg is healed up by the time Clash of Champions comes around. They promise to revive the tag team division after they win the titles. Before they can say anything more, out come Heavy Machinery to interrupt, as we’ve got a match here.
The Revival vs. Heavy Machinery
Machinery manhandle Revival early, with synchronized vertical suplexes and clotheslines to the outside. They do a little chest bump as the commercial starts, but the match is again in the inset. Revival get the advantage back and start pummeling them and slowing the match down in classic heel team fashion. We come back with Tucker in a headlock from Dash. Crowd chants for Otis as TUCKEY tries his damnedest to get to the corner, but Dash keeps him back. Bulldog off the middle rope keeps the damage up. Tag to Dawson who comes off the top with an elbow drop. Tucker evades it though! Dawson comes in to try and cut off the tag but Tucker tosses him away and gets to Otis! Otis is an enormous, weirdly shaped house of fire! Gets down Dash and Dawson… and here comes the Caterpillar! Tag to Tucker as we set up for the Compactor… but a dropkick from Dawson causes Dash to fall out on Otis. Tucker with a thesz press to Dawson, but Dash catches him with an immediate O’Connor Roll for the pin.
Winners: The Revival
Backstage, Chad Gable is asked what he thinks about people calling him an underdog. Chad agrees, but recounts that he’s faced people’s expectations all his career. Shelton Benjamin is coming out of the door behind him, and tapes up some paper to the door. After he walks away, Gable turns to see that the paper says “You must be this tall to compete in the King Of The Ring tournament”. And yes, Gable is below that line…
Miz out now for MizTV with Sami Zayn. He says that his guest tonight requested to be on the forum and he’s as curious as anyone as to why.
Sami says off the bat, he doesn’t care about the Miz or the show but he needs some TV time to get stuff off his chest. Miz says he’s been doing a lot of losing lately and has probably had a lot of time to think while he’s lying on his back looking up at the lights. Sami says he’s right, but last night he had an epiphany. He’s gotten lost in the trap that people like Miz and the parasites here get caught up in. The trap of greed, selfishness and ambition. His successes have always been when he fought for causes, for something bigger than himself. What he needs is altruism. Because while he may be one of the best in the world today, there are a lot of people on SmackDown that could use his help right now. Miz asks, “Like who”? Sami says one of them’s about to come out right now… and out comes the IC Champ Shinsuke Nakamura?
Miz says, “Okay, I’ll bite… you’re the Intercontinental Champion, why would you need to associate yourself with Sami Zayn?” Sami says, “What language do you expect him to answer that in? English, for your benefit?” He explains that Shinsuke is an artist, a poet, and nobody understands the pain that he feels not being able to express himself. Sami says he and Nak have had a bond from the first day Shinsuke walked through the door in NXT. He says that himself and Nakamura are two sides of the same coin and they understand each other. Sami says they can express themselves in a language even Miz can understand. Cue Nakamura jumping Miz from behind. He gets him with knees until Sami pulls him away.
Sami pulls him up… then decides, screw it, and lets Nak get Miz with a Kinsasha!
Bryan goes backstage to finally sit down with the hooded mystery man. He says Roman’s coming and he’s gonna find out exactly what the man did.
Shane on the phone. Owens of course comes in. Shane remembers the main reason he called him in the first time. He says that as Kevin knows, he can’t put his hands on a WWE official and notes that one thing he hasn’t heard is an apology. Owens says he’s right and gives him one. Shane says he’s reconsidered and is thinking of lifting the fine. But he lets him know if he ever intentionally puts his hands on a WWE official, he will be immediately fired. Asks if they’re clear, Owens goes for a handshake but Shane says we’re not there yet.
This… doesn’t seem like how you build a Stone Cold or CM Punk, but whatever.
King Of The Ring Round 1: Kevin Owens vs. Elias
Elias quickly gets Owens in a headlock, Owens wastes little time fighting out and clotheslining him to the outside. Tries for a dive but Elias makes the escape. Kevin pursues though and starts chopping him around the ringside area. In the ring, Elias tries to get the advantage, hangs up on the top rope for a leapfrog, but Owens counters with a German Suplex! Owens tries to keep up the offense, but Shane McMahon’s music hits and out he comes to sit at ringside as we go to commercial break.
We come back to see Elias keeping Owens down in a headlock. During the break, Owens caught Elias with a frog splash off the apron to the floor because that’s the kind of thing you do during a commercial I guess. Owens starts to fight out, but he’s cut off with a high knee from Elias. Owens escapes the heat segment with a running DDT. Running senton! Goes for the Pop-Up Powerbomb, but Elias clings to the ropes on it. Owens goes up to the second rope, Elias catches him with an Electric Chair into a Spinout Powerbomb! Elias tries for a superplex, but Owens knocks him away! Swanton attempt, but Elias gets the knees up. Elias hits the ropes, but Owens dumps him from the ring. Cannonball off the apron! Kevin tries to get Elias up but Shane stops him. He takes his shirt off to reveal a referee shirt and starts counting!
Owens gets into the ring and Shane follows him. Elias attacks Owens from behind, but eats a Superkick. Stunner attempt, but Elias pushes him away. Kevin stops short of hitting Shane, Elias rolls him up, lightning fast count.
Winner: Elias
Welp. There’s my first wrong prediction in the tournament. Probably won’t be the last, but that was done about as cheaply as could be.
Backstage… Roman’s with Bryan and Rowan who dehood the hooded man. It’s a guy who looks suspiciously like Rowan. We fade to black.
Cool.
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