WWE Smackdown Live results & recap indicates that we didn’t waste any time as Elisa interrupted Shane McMahon backstage to apologize for focusing so much on his music that he was distracted when Reigns attacked him.
WWE SmackDown Live Results: Dolph Ziggler Is Back & On A Mission – Kofi Kingston’s WWE Championship In Peril
He promised to help Shane at the upcoming Super Showcase (June 7). Shane said he would be fine, but he’d help Elias, meaning he’d be in his corner for his MITB rematch with Roman Reigns.
Big E Returns
Nothing like starting a New Day by welcoming back Big E!
After a quick joke with an imposter in a dark cloak, Big E rejoined the group after his six week absence, his left knee in a brace standing testament to his time away. The group made their way to the ring where Big E and Xavier Woods mentioned Big E’s Twitter activity and joked about Kevin Owens.
Of course, Owens came out, quickly followed by Sami Zayn. Zayn wasted no time in ripping into Big E about how Zayn was gone for nine months and didn’t get anything while Big E gets a party.
Big E replied with, “Sami, we’re going to get you the very same thing that your buddy, Kevin Owens, got Sunday at Money in the Bank, and that’s… (harmonizing) nothing…”
Woods: “Nothing…”
Kingston: “Nothing…”
All: “Nothing!”
They harmonized pretty well in a pretty good Three Stooges bit.
Instead of responding, Owens handed Zayn his mic and walked away (that can’t be a good thing, right?).
Zayne then showed he didn’t learn anything following Strowman’s manhandling of him by blaming the fans for creating a toxic culture. This time, Woods interrupted him by blowing on his horn. Frustrated, promised the night wouldn’t end in fun after he defeated Kingston later on. Kingston closed things out by saying he’d walk right through Zayn.
Seeking R-Truth
Backstage, Carmella was looking for R-Truth and was stopped by Drake Maverick, who had an armful of Wanted posters with Truth’s face on them. She crumpled up the one he gave her, then asked another Superstar who told her he hadn’t seen him, but if she did, to let him know.
She then came upon someone with blonde hair and sunglasses looking through an equipment case. She recognized him and called out his name.
His response? “You can tell?”
She quickly guided him into a side room where he asked if the title gave him away. While it was an obvious plug for the title, hearing her call his wig cheap and him complain it cost him twelve dollars signaled some potential hilarity.
After a series of, “Help me!” she agreed.
Ali beat Andrade by pinfall
Both Superstars were taped up (Ali’s back and Andrade’s left shoulder) following their Money in the Bank Ladder Match. While they were playing up their injuries like Ricochet the night before, they had to still be hurting like him in some way, so kudos for still performing at a high level.
Andrade took the early advantage, but Ali countered a possible atomic drop with an inverted frankensteiner and a near pinfall. Ali tried to capitalize by taking to the ropes, but Zelina Vega distracted him, so when he did jump, Andrade met him with a dropkick.
Andrade continued working on Ali’s back and arm, looking to take advantage of Ali’s injuries.
A satellite DDT gave Ali the advantage, followed by a suicide dive and a somersault after Andrade rolled out of the ring.
After taking back control, Andrade pulled him into the ring and Ali surprised him with a small package for the pin.
Undercovering R-Truth
What’s a better disguise than adding a hat and short shirt to a bad wig and sunglasses? Why, nearly suffocating R-Truth with a can of hairspray. One has to wonder is Carmella was really trying to help him at this point, hmm?
In Carmella’s own words, “You look so fabulous,” and “Rupaul would be proud.”
Truth said he felt like something was missing, so she handed him a large bra, to which he needed help, confessing, “I need help. I’ve always had trouble getting these open.”
Maybe they should’ve hidden the 24/7 belt in the bra? Out of sight, out of mind, right?
Mandy Rose vs Carmella ended in no contest
First, it’s been great to see Carmella doing better after injuring her knee at MITB. While it wasn’t anywhere as bad as Big E’s injury, she did come out with extra padding on her knee. Second, R-Truth came out with her and even had his back to the ramp. Truth didn’t appear to have much confidence in his disguise as he looked as comfortable as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. What could possibly go wrong, right?
The match itself was more of a brawl as Carmella was limited. She resorted to mainly punching away on Rose and Sonya Deville when she got close enough.
After a minute or so, the locker room came running out, led by the B-Team, Matt Hardy, and the rest. Truth entered the ring, then out the other side with Carmella and into the crowd. To hasten his escape, he carried her piggy-back.
The commentators were awesome as they played it up.
“I guess the disguise didn’t work.”
“Ya think, Byron?”
I admit, I hate the fact this isn’t the Hardcore Championship, but R-Truth is rising to moment and really playing this up. These skits are far hilarious.
Smackdown Live’s Women’s Champion Bayley Drops the Gauntlet
In a backstage interview, Bayley said, “All these opportunities, I’ve exceeded people’s expectations and yet, people still doubted me. So, that’s why at Money in the Bank, I created my own opportunity; I made it impossible for anybody to doubt what I’ve been capable of all along.”
And the gauntlet drops in… “They need to know that Bayley has moved past the hugs, and I want everyone in that locker room to bring their best.”
R-Truth, Track Star
Running backstage, R-Truth and Carmella try to hide in the women’s locker room, but after a couple of screams give them away (maybe he should’ve worn a corset?) they continue down the hall with the other Superstars on their heels.
Stay tuned for the ongoing adventures of R-Truth…
Okay, that was beyond cheesy, but this is too much fun not to be goofy.
Kofi Kingston beat Sami Zayn by pinfall
Zayn came out looking a little too happy and relaxed, and we quickly found out why. Someone jumped Big E backstage and reinjured his knee. Big E kept saying it was Owens. Maybe next time they’ll pay attention to him when he doesn’t say anything? His silence is like the Jawstheme.
Kingston came out furious and took it out on Zayn early on. Zayn countered with a backdrop over the rope, threw Kingston into the steps, then mock clapped and hopped up and down.
A jumping double knee to Zayn’s chest led to a Trouble in Paradise (after Zayn ducked the first one) for the pin.
Kingston Troubles: “It Should’ve Been Me!”
As if he hadn’t been through enough, while Kingston celebrated his win, Paul Heyman came out and teased him with the Money in the Bank contract. While Kingston was distracted, Dolph Ziggler attacked from behind and brutally beat the champion to the point he was taken out on a stretcher. The stretcher only made it halfway up the ramp before Kingston rolled off it and walked the rest of the way, refusing any help.
The addition of Ziggler to the mix brings up a lot of different possibilities, especially when he later stated to the fans that he was jealous cause everything that Kofi Kingston succeeded at “Should’ve been me!”
This throws a wrench into the idea that Lesner will challenge Kingston, but anything’s possible. Ziggler could be in cahoots with Lesner and Heyman, though it’s doubtful. Either way, it’s definitely going to be an interesting story arc going forward.
Elias Serenade
Roman reigns arrived at the arena to Elias serenading him from atop a trailer. After pausing to listen to how he was “jealous” of Elias, he shook his head and continued inside.
Becky Lynch and Bayley beat Lacey Evans and Charlotte Flair by pinfall
In a promo prior to the match, Lynch and Bayley seem friendly, but things weren’t as smooth as they appeared as Lynch’s desire to get her title back still burns within her.
“If someone else has to walk around with it without beating me, I’m glad that it’s… her.”
And Bayley’s response, “All this talk about Becky Two Belts, I think I’m liking the sound of… Bayley Two Belts.’
The two agreed to put their budding rivalry aside for the time being and headed to the ring.
The match started off with Lynch running past the waiting Flair and attacking Evans instead. After a brief pause, Flair went after Lynch, then charged Bayley, who gave her an ole!move, sending her out of the ring.
With the ring cleared, Lynch and Bayley exchange a few words, then agreed to work together.
The match mainly focused on Flair and Bayley, eventually leading to Bayley countering a figure-4 leglock by rolling Flair into a small packager the pin.
Afterwards, Lynch and Bayley were back to jawing at one another as their rivalry continued to spark.
This was a pretty good match overall, and the Superstars did a great job of creating and adding to their respective rivalries. It’s going to be so much fun to see Flair/Bayley and Lynch/Bayley going forward. Evans seems to be the odd one out as her rivalry with Lynch will probably continue, but most likely won’t have the same flare or attention as the others. Time will tell
R-Truth Escapes
The last time we saw our heroes…
Still trying to get out of the arena, R-Truth it ambushed by Jinder Mahal with a kick to the stomach and a quick pin that Truth kicked out of.
Continuing to run, they reach the parking lot, but Truth was blindsided at the one yard line by the B-Team. After a quick pin attempt, the B-Team fell apart as they broke up the pin to argue over who gets the title. Truth then fought them off and made good his escape.
Tune in next week to see what trouble R-Truth and Carmella get into.
Triple H and Randy Orton
A pretty awesome promo video detailed Triple H and Orton’s past friendship and falling out over the years to build hype to their match at Super Showdown.
Roman Reigns beat Elias by pinfall
A largely one-sided match in favor or Reigns, Elias had a brief moment of near success. After taking advantage of Shane’s distraction, Elias hit Reigns with a DDT and a quick pin, but Reigns kicked out.
After Reigns took back control of the match, Elias hit him with a powerbomb and nearly got the pin.
An exchange of blows let to a knee to Reigns’ face, to which Reigns came back with a Superman Punch. Shane put Elias’ foot on the rope to save the pin, and Elias took advantage of the distraction by bouncing Reigns off the barricade and ring steps before hitting with a flying elbow drop.
Once more, Shane distracted the official and slipped Elias his guitar, but Reigns speared him for the pin.
Shane quickly pounced on Reigns, but was hit with a Superman Punch. As Reigns was about to use Elias’ guitar on Shane, Drew McIntyre hit him from behind with a Claymore.
Overall, the match wasn’t that great. Reigns carried it and Elias’ only offense came from Shane’s interference.
Final Thoughts
Following what was the best Raw in at least a month, Smackdown fell flat. The thing is, that’s expected as they’re gearing up new rivalries for the upcoming pay-per-view. The highlight of the show was R-Truth’s plight. As horrible as the 24/7 title is (Please, WWE, change it to the Hardcore Championship.) it’s added a fun element to the show and allowed R-Truth to run with it (literally and figuratively). Not sure how long they can keep this fun and fresh, but at least it’s a break in the monotony.