Tonight’s episode of SmackDown LIVE opens up from The Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey as Tom Phillips welcomes us to the show. He is joined by Corey Graves & Byron Saxton.
We go right to the ring and out comes The New Day – Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods. We get a replay from last week’s 1000th episode of SmackDown LIVE where we see The Big Show helping The Bar to win The SmackDown Tag Team Titles. There will be a rematch at Crown Jewel and The Big Show will be at ringside with The Bar.
Xavier Woods begins on the mic by saying that last week your boys were cheated and defeated by The Bar for The SmackDown Tag Team Titles. Kofi Kingston then continues by saying that they didn’t just set the bar, they lowered the bar, but they get it, they took advantage of the situation and that’s what they do, but he’s got a hard time wrapping his head around Big Show. Big Show? Big Show. Woods then asks if that makes The Big Show The Bartender and Big E says that they thought The Big Show was cool, but that grizzly seven foot goof flips back and forth more times than a flapjack. Kofi then says that he wants all the smoke, the payback, whether it’s Cesaro, The Big Show or Sheamus, he doesn’t give damn, somebody’s getting that work, baby!
The Bar’s music hits and they make their way down to the ring. They fake Kofi out a few times but it’s The Big Show stepping up.
The Big Show vs. Kofi Kingston: The opening bell sounds and Show starts this one off strong. He backs Kofi into the corner and hits some big shots, then he gets in a shouting match with the referee. Big Show throws Kofi across the ring and then hits a big chokeslam. Big Show isn’t done yet and he hits two more chokeslams. Big E and Woods have seen enough and they hit the ring, so the referee calls for the bell. Winner via DQ: The Big Show
After the match, all six Superstars brawl and go at it. The dust settles and The Big Show chokeslams Big E in the middle of the ring. The Big Show calls for The Bar to hold Woods next and he drops him with the knockout punch. The Big Show and The Bar stand tall in the middle of the ring to mostly boos as The Big Show’s music hits. The Big Show grabs Woods and delivers another chokeslam in the middle of the ring. Cesaro talks trash in Woods’ face before the group exits the ring.
Commentary hypes up tonight’s MizTV with Rey Mysterio as well as the rematch between the team of WWE Champion AJ Styles & Daniel Bryan vs. The Usos to send us to a commercial break.
Back from the commercial break and we get a recap from last night’s episode of Monday Night RAW where Roman Reigns announces that his leukemia has returned and that he would have to vacate The WWE Universal Title.
WWE Champion AJ Styles & Daniel Bryan vs. The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso): Bryan starts off strong and sends both Usos out of the ring. AJ comes in and they hit suicide dives in tandem on The Usos at ringside. Back in the ring, The Usos turn things around against Bryan and Jimmy keeps him grounded. AJ and Jey tag in and AJ hits a flurry of strikes. AJ then kicks Jimmy to the floor and then he flips over Jey on the mat. AJ follows up with a brainbuster over the knee for a two count. AJ looks for the Styles Clash, but Jey escapes. Jey misses a shot in the corner and AJ applies the Calf Crusher. Jimmy breaks it up, then Daniel comes in to brawl with Jimmy. Daniel dumps Jimmy outside. AJ misses a shot on Jey and almost hits Daniel. Daniel grabs Jey and AJ looks for the Pele kick, but Jey ducks it and AJ kicks Daniel in the head. Jey drops AJ, then Jimmy tags in and hits the big splash off the top for the three count. Winners: The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso)
After the match, AJ and Daniel looks frustrated with the finish of the match as The Usos head up the ramp to celebrate and we go to replays.
Commentary hypes up Evolution and sends us to a video package for Nikki Bella vs. RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey. After that, they promise us a look at the altercation between SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair at The WWE Performance Center after the commercial break.
Back from the commercial break and we get a video package showing us WWE’s efforts to spread breast cancer awareness.
WWE Champion AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan are walking backstage when they run into an interview. AJ contests the idea that what just happened was anything but an accident and Bryan agrees in a somewhat facetious manner, asking if they hit him in the face because his nose might be growing. Styles takes a second to figure out it’s a Pinocchio reference as Bryan continues to make like his nose is growing before playing it off like he wants a Too Sweet, brother, leading AJ to storm off.
Commentary tosses to The WWE Performance Center footage where Charlotte Flair is talking to a bunch of the women who are students there including Mia Yim and Lacey Lane. She throws the floor open to questions and answers one about what it’s like to go to the main roster and she speaks to that a bit before Lacey asks about The Last Woman Standing Match and Becky Lynch shows up to say that folks should be listening to the real champ. Lynch then tells the students that they are not gonna make it if they listen to Flair and they shouldn’t make friends with anybody, which is a lesson Shayna Baszler is pretty into. A shoving match breaks down and Flair and Lynch brawl on the floor. Becky throws Charlotte into the steel steps and the students hold them back as they jaw at each other.
Flair gets a backstage promo where she says that what Lynch did at The WWE Performance Center was unforgivable. Flair then says that Lynch disrespected what got them where they are and showed that she changed. Flair also says that there is no going back now and that there is no line that Lynch won’t cross. Flair then says that at WWE Evolution when she wins her title back, she won’t just be standing over a defeated opponent, but over a friend who lost her way.
Rusev makes his entrance but we get a hype reel for tonight’s episode of Mixed Match Challenge and go to a commercial break before his match can begin.
Back from the commercial break and we are just in time for Aiden English to sing his way to the ring as he makes his entrance.
Rusev vs. Aiden English: Rusev immediately takes the fight to Aiden and beats him down around ringside. Back in the ring, Aiden turns it around with a kick to the face and a swinging neckbreaker. Aiden stomps on Rusev and talks some trash to him. Aiden talks trash to Lana from the ring to the floor and Lana throws a shoe at him. The distraction leads to Rusev hitting the big boot and then locking in The Accolade for the win via submission. Winner: Rusev
After the match, Rusev keeps the hold applied for a few extra seconds. Rusev and Lana stand tall over English as the music hits.
Commentary hypes up Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton for later on tonight, but first we go backstage with The Miz as he is getting ready for another must-see episode of MizTV before sending us to a commercial break.
Back from the commercial break and The Miz is in the ring to welcome us to another must-see episode of MizTV.
He talks about SmackDown 1000 from last week and all the great memories made on the show including Becky Lynch cutting Edge down on his own show, Evolution reuniting and of course, most importantly, him beating Rusev in record time to qualify for The WWE World Cup Tournament. But also a future WWE Hall Of Famer returning in grand fashion and defeating Shinsuke Nakamura to secure a spot in the same tournament. None other than Rey Mysterio. Rey makes his way to the ring and takes his seat. The Miz puts him over but says that as the host of MizTV he is curious as to why Mysterio is back. Mysterio says that it feels so good to be back, but the reason he’s back is. The Miz cuts him off and says that he knows why Mysterio is back. The Miz then says that Mysterio is here to show the world that the little engine can climb up that hill and if you wish big enough and try hard enough all dreams can come true.
The Miz then calls it very 90s of him and says that folks aren’t interested in the plucky underdog anymore. What they care about is larger than life stars like himself. The Miz then says that while Rey has been on hiatus, he has been here becoming the most must-see superstar of all time, the star of this show, the network, and everything, the multi-talent of WWE who does it all and at Crown Jewel he will be crowned best in the world by winning The WWE World Cup.
The Miz poses for a moment before telling Mysterio that he is sorry to disappoint and Rey says he is right, he is very disappointed because he thought he was booked for TruthTV. The Miz then asks if that is a joke before saying that Truth was full of jokes until he got beat and his show got canceled and he is taking legal action over last week’s return. The Miz then threatens to cancel Rey as well, but Mysterio rebuts by saying that he will save him the trouble. Mysterio then says that he didn’t come back to be on some dusty talk show, he came back to compete and so if The Miz doesn’t have anything else to say, he wants to throw down right now.
The Miz demurs at first but it’s a ruse and he gets a cheap shot in, putting boots to Mysterio. But Rey gets an enziguiri, sets The Miz up and looks for the 619, but The Miz bails to send us to a commercial break.
Back from the commercial break and we’ve got a match.
Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz: Rey starts off strong and dumps Miz outside with a hurricanrana. Rey knocks Miz down on the floor and then hits a sliding suicide dive under the ropes on Miz down on the floor. Back in the ring, Rey hits a springboard cross-body off the top for a two count. Rey misses a shot in the corner and Miz turns things around with some knee strikes. Miz hits a DDT for a two count and then follows up with the Yes Kicks. Miz throws Rey into the turnbuckle and looks for a Skull Crushing Finale off the top, but Rey reverses it and flips Miz down to the mat. Rey hits a splash off the top and then kicks Miz in the head. Rey misses a shot and Miz comes back with a backbreaker/neckbreaker combo and then a boot to the face for a two count. Miz looks for the Skull Crushing Finale, but Rey escapes and hits the 619. Rey follows up with a splash off the top for the three count. Winner: Rey Mysterio
After the match, Rey celebrates as his music hits and we go to replays. The Miz looks on from the ramp.
We see Jeff Hardy backstage looking into the camera. His match with Randy Orton is still to come tonight.
Asuka and Naomi make their entrance, but their match will have to wait until after the commercial break.
Back from the commercial break and we are just in time for Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville to make their entrance.
Naomi & Asuka vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville: Before the match, The IIconics come out and cut a promo on the ramp, but Lana interrupts it. Lana starts to talk about Lana Day, but Carmella interrupts. Carmella interrupts and says that the people really want a dance break. Billie Kay attacks Carmella from behind and this turns into an all-out brawl. All of the women hit the ring and start fighting and then throwing each other out of the ring. Asuka ends up being the last woman standing. Winner: No contest
After the all-out brawl, Asuka stands tall as her music hits.
Commentary then runs down the card for Sunday’s Evolution PPV.
We cut to Randy Orton being intense backstage and then get a hype reel for tonight’s episode of Mixed Match Challenge that sends us to a commercial break.
Back from the commercial break and SmackDown LIVE Commissioner Shane McMahon makes his entrance.
He starts by saying that there is a lot of firsts happening in WWE right now including The First-Ever All-Women’s PPV this Sunday. Shane then says that it is a momentous occasion for women past and present and he congratulates them on it. Shane then says that another first is going to happen at Crown Jewel where the first ever WWE World Cup will determine who is the best in the world. Shane then says to think about that for a second, before saying that one superstar will know that they are the best in the world, but who?
CM Punk chants answer Shane’s question, but Shane says that CM Punk is not in The WWE World Cup Tournament and moves right along. Shane then says that personally he thinks somebody from SmackDown is going to take it, whether Jeff Hardy, The Miz, Rey Mysterio or Randy Orton. But that’s at Crown Jewel and this is now, so he calls for the main event entrances, but we go to a commercial break before the match can begin.
Back from the commercial break and the match is underway.
Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton: The opening bell sounds and Jeff levels Orton with a shot off the ropes and then he leads the crowd in a “delete” chant. Orton starts to fight back, but Hard stuns him with a jawbreaker and a kick. Hardy misses a shot in the corner and Orton comes back with some strikes, then he takes the fight down to the ringside floor. Orton repeatedly slams Jeff into the ring steps. Back in the ring, Orton stomps on Hardy then pins for a two count. Orton ties up Jeff in the corner and stomps on him some more. Orton sticks his finger through the hole in Jeff’s ear and yanks on it until the referee calls him off. Orton takes Jeff outside and slams his head on the announce table and then back suplexes him on it. Back in the ring, Orton covers for a two count. Hardy fights his way to his feet and hits an inverted atomic drop, then a leg drop and a dropkick for a two count. Hardy boots Orton in the face and follows up with the Whisper In The Wind off the top for a two count. Jeff hits the Twist of Fate then goes up top. Orton rolls out of the ring and Jeff hops down to the apron. Jeff looks for a Swanton bomb off the apron on to Orton at ringside, but Orton rolls out of the way and Jeff splats on the floor. Back in the ring, Hardy starts to fight back, but Orton fights him off an connects with an RKO for the three count. Winner: Randy Orton
After the match, Orton has his arm raised as the music hits. We go to replays. Orton poses in the corner and looks around as the announcers hype The WWE World Cup tournament. SmackDown goes off the air with Orton posing in the corner.