Tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live opens up with a video package recapping last week’s main event followed by Team Hell No’s reunion.
We are live from the Century Link Center in Omaha, Nebraska as Tom Phillips welcomes us to tonight’s show. He is joined by Corey Graves and Byron Saxton. Commentary goes over the line-up for tonight’s show – Asuka vs. James Ellsworth, WWE Champion AJ Styles vs. Aiden English in a non-title match, an Independence Day US Open Challenge from WWE United States Champion Jeff Hardy.
We go to the ring and Renee Young welcomes us to tonight’s show. She introduces Team Hell No (Kane & Daniel Bryan). Kane heads out first and stops on the ramp. Daniel Bryan heads out next to join Kane on the ramp. They head to the ring together. Renee Young starts the in-ring interview by asking Team Hell No about their success and Daniel Bryan says that sometimes they fight, sometimes they hug, but in the ring they always deliver and together they are unstoppable. Kane adds by saying that they have fought with one blindfold and the other’s arm behind his back, went toe-to-toe against The Shield in a TLC match and even graduated from anger management with honors.
Kane also says that they have been through hell, and he assures the crowd that Team Hell No is back and better than ever. Kane then says that he came back because Bryan can have a bit of a temper and after The Bludgeon Brothers attacked him two weeks ago he knew that it was only a matter of time before Bryan got in trouble and he always has a demon watching over him. Bryan contests the idea of “always” but doesn’t elaborate when asked and says that he has no doubt they will win the tag titles at Extreme Rules.
Bryan now elaborates by saying that the last time he and Kane were in the ring they were opponents, and Kane says that they were always friends. Bryan contests this and says that Kane tried to end his career, and Kane’s response is that everybody likes to win, to which Bryan reminds him that he Tomb-stoned Bryan three times and it wasn’t even in a match. Kane deflects and says that they need to concentrate on what unites them.
Bryan then mentions Kane trying to abduct his wife, and Kane again says that he has always had his back, and it turns into a trade of “No!” and “Yes!” chants until The Usos interrupt. They greet Kane and Daniel Bryan and say that the tag team division just got hot. We get a moment of exchanges that ends in The Usos saying that Team Hell No does not actually deserve their opportunity at the tag titles, because this is The Uso Penitentiary.
The Usos then say that you don’t get a tag title shot by hugging and The Usos suddenly hug to demonstrate. Four times, even, and Bryan contests the idea, but wants them to come in the ring and fight right now. Kane then says that he wants to consider it as a team and get back to them and Bryan gets on him for still thinking he’s the weak link, asking if he knows what he has done since the last time they have teamed.
General Manager Paige heads out. She says that she is obliged to do what’s right by the WWE Universe and so she makes the main event The Usos vs. Team Hell No, and if The Usos win, they get into the tag title match at Extreme Rules.
Jeff Hardy is shown in a dark room sharing some bald eagle facts with us in honor of the Fourth of July. He turns to reveal his patriotic face paint and says that the challenge is now open to send us to a commercial break.
Back from the commercial break and Asuka is shown backstage. She then removes her mask and says that men, women, sexist pigs, it doesn’t matter who she faces, they all face the pain. She then says that James Ellsworth is not ready for her.
Jeff Hardy makes his way down to the ring for his Independence Day United States Title Open Challenge. Hardy then waits for his opponent and out comes The Miz to answer his United States Title Open Challenge.
Jeff Hardy (c) vs. The Miz: The WWE United States Title is on the line in this one. The opening bell sounds and The Miz starts off strong, backing Jeff into the corner with strikes. Jeff fights back and the brawl briefly spills out to ringside. The Miz misses a baseball slide kick on the outside and Jeff drops him on the floor. Back in the ring, Jeff repeatedly slams Miz’s head into the turnbuckles, but The Miz fires back with a knee to the face. Miz follows up with a big boot for a two count. Jeff fights back with a forearm shot to the head and an inverted atomic drop. Jeff follows up with the leg drop and the low dropkick for a two count. Jeff dumps The Miz out to ringside and follows up with a baseball slide dropkick. Jeff runs on the floor and leaps off the ring steps towards The Miz, but Miz side-steps and Jeff crashes into the fan barricade by himself. They fight back into the ring where Miz looks for the Skull Crushing Finale, but Jeff escapes and drops Miz in the corner. Jeff looks for a dropkick but Miz fends him off. Jeff looks for the Twist of Fate, but Miz escapes and comes back with a DDT for a two count. Jeff comes back out of the corner with the Whisper In The Wind for a two count off his own. Jeff goes for the Twist of Fate, but Miz escapes and pins. The Miz puts his feet on the ropes for leverage and the referee sees it, so he stops counting. The Miz argues with senior official Charles Robinson, and the distraction leads to Jeff connecting with the Twist of Fate. Jeff follows up with the Swanton Bomb for the three count. Winner & Still The WWE United States Champion: Jeff Hardy
After the match, Hardy stands tall and raises the title as Miz crawls out of the ring.
Commentary then hypes up the card for the upcoming Extreme Rules PPV Event.
We head backstage where we see that James Ellsworth is looking in the mirror. Ellsworth goes on about men being superior to women and says that the battle of the sexes ends tonight when he puts Asuka in her place because Mella is Money and Ellsworth is Exquisite.
Commentary hypes up our main event between The Usos & Team Hell No with Extreme Rules implications and The New Day’s First Annual 3rd of July Pancake Eating Contest with Host Byron Saxton to send us to a commercial break.
Back from the commercial break and Byron Saxton is already in the ring to host the aforementioned pancake eating contest and introduces The New Day.
The New Day make their way down to the ring and take their places in the ring where there is a huge table set up and Byron gives them all introductions, except for Big E, for whom they don’t have enough time. They have five minutes to eat as many pancakes as possible, and a reversal of fortunes is automatic disqualification. They start eating their pancakes, but the lights go out and SAnitY comes out to interrupt. SAnitY hits the ring and attacks The New Day from behind. They beat down all members of The New Day all over ringside and throw Big E over the announce table. Dain hits a cross body on Kofi on the floor, and then in the ring Eric Young puts Xavier through the table with a flying elbow off the top. SAnitY’s music hits as they taunt The New Day and stand tall.
Commentary hypes up our main event for tonight between The Usos & Team Hell No with Extreme Rules implications. Commentary also hypes up our intergender match between James Ellsworth and Asuka by way of a history lesson about tennis’ own Battle of the Sexes to send us to a commercial break.
Back from the commercial break and we are just in time for the entrances of our next match which is the intergender match between James Ellsworth and Asuka.
Carmella makes her way down to the ring as well. She gets in Asuka’s face before backing off and joining the commentary booth.
Asuka vs. James Ellsworth: The opening bell sounds and Asuka shoves Ellsworth down, and Ellsworth rolls outside for a breather. Carmella gives Ellsworth a pep talk, but Ellsworth is still hesitant to engage. Ellsworth gets back in the ring and goes after Asuka, but Asuka tees off on him with a series of strikes. Asuka spins Ellsworth around until Ellsworth looks like he’s going to get sick, then she slaps him across the face and hits a spinning back fist. Ellsworth runs out of the ring and Asuka chases him through the crowd and to the back of the arena. The referee counts them both out. Winner: Double Count-Out
After the match, we see Asuka chasing Ellsworth back to the ringside area. They come over the barrier but Carmella takes advantage and drops Asuka at ringside. Carmella talks some trash and pushes Ellsworth up the ramp. Carmella stands on the ramp with the title as her music hits. Asuka looks on from the ring and she’s not happy.
We head backstage where we see that Kane is pacing and Daniel Bryan suddenly shows up with papers in hand. Kane asks if those are diagrams for the match. Bryan then says that they have no time for diagrams, they need to get on the same page and to do that, Kane needs to apologize. Bryan starts reading off various incidents written down on the paper, incidents that Kane needs to apologize going back to 2012. Kane then says that he apologizes and Bryan asks for which random incident. Kane then says for everything. Kane tries to change the subject and tells Bryan that The Usos are at the top of their game right now but when Team Hell No is on the same page, they create a fire that no one can extinguish. Kane then says that when they can do that then they will become SmackDown Tag Team Champions. Kane asks Bryan if he’s ready for The Usos. Bryan tosses the papers to the floor and starts a “yes!” chant as Kane looks on.
We see WWE Champion AJ Styles backstage putting his gloves on, and he will be wrestling Aiden English after the commercial break.
Back from the commercial break and we are just in time for the entrances of the next match which is AJ Styles vs. Aiden English.
AJ Styles gets on the mic and soaks in the crowd’s appreciation for a moment. He then says that at Extreme Rules he defends against a man who’s bigger and stronger than he is, but what else is new? AJ Styles then says that honestly he likes proving people wrong, and he heard Rusev talking about taking the WWE Championship, but this isn’t rental property, this is the House That AJ Styles Built. AJ Styles then says that don’t get him wrong, Rusev is a super athlete, but he’s not phenomenal.
Rusev and Aiden English interrupt, and Rusev gets on the mic himself by saying that he doesn’t care how phenomenal AJ thinks he is, because he’s never faced this Rusev, who’s got a title opportunity for the first time ever. Rusev then tells Styles that he meant what he said last week and he’s gonna evict him and move into the house that he had built. Rusev then asks Aiden what day they’re moving in on and, of course, the answer is Rusev Day.
AJ Styles vs. Aiden English: This one is a non-title match. After the opening bell, Rusev gets on the mic from ringside to distract AJ, and this leads to English dropping AJ from behind. English works on keeping AJ grounded until AJ fights his way up and levels him with a clothesline. AJ hits a flying forearm and unloads with more strikes. AJ looks for the Styles Clash, but English escapes. AJ gets him again and applies the Calf Crusher for the win. Winner: AJ Styles
After the match, Rusev pulls AJ out of the ring by his leg. Rusev sends AJ into the ring post. AJ turns around to a big Machka Kick on the floor. Rusev’s music hits but he’s not done. Rusev brings AJ back into the ring and stomps on him, then applies The Accolade in the middle of the ring. Rusev breaks the hold and stands over AJ as the music starts back up. We go to replays.
Commentary hypes up our main event for tonight between The Usos & Team Hell No with Extreme Rules implications and sends us to a promo from The IIconics in which Peyton Royce isn’t smiling but she says that she is going to expose Becky Lynch for what she is tonight – a has-been who never wins when it matters most. Billie Kay also knocks Becky. Peyton then says that she is going to finish the job Billie recently started. Peyton says that she is going to beat Becky but first she’s going to hurt her, and that will make Peyton smile. That match is next. On that note, we go to a commercial break.
Back from the commercial break and Carmella & James Ellsworth are walking backstage and bickering as Paige rolls up on them. Paige says that Ellsworth has a rematch against Asuka next week and since he’s such a lady’s man, she’s making it a lumberjack match with the entire SmackDown women’s locker room at ringside.
Becky Lynch vs. Peyton Royce: Billie Kay is at ringside for this one. The bell sounds and Peyton starts off strong. Billie tries to interfere but isn’t successful, and Becky rolls up Peyton for a 2 count. They fight in the corner until Peyton drives Becky down to the mat and works on keeping her grounded. Becky fights up and rolls up Peyton for another 2 count. Peyton hits a headbutt, but Becky keeps fighting back and hits a t-bone suplex. They brawl back and forth, with Becky hitting a kick to the face. Peyton blocks a shot in the corner and knees Becky in the face. Peyton goes to pick up Becky, but Becky catches her in the Dis-Arm-Her, and Peyton taps out. Winner: Becky Lynch
After the match, Becky celebrates as her music hits.
Commentary sends us to a promo by Shinsuke Nakamura responding to his title match at Extreme Rules. He asks why Jeff Hardy paints his face. He then wonders if Jeff Hardy is a clown, insane, or ashamed. Nakamura then says that he will strip everything Jeff Hardy has including his pride, his honor and his title at Extreme Rules.
The Usos make their way down to the ring and we go to a commercial break before our main event begins.
Back from the commercial break and we get some hype for Buddy Murphy vs. Mustafa Ali in a No DQ Match that will be taking place tonight on 205 Live.
Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan & Kane) vs. The Usos (Jey & Jimmy Uso) (If The Usos wins, they will be added to the SmackDown Tag Team Title Match at Extreme Rules): Jimmy and Daniel start off with Bryan looking dominant in the opening moments. Jey tags in and they double team Bryan, then Kane tags in and cleans house. The fight briefly spills out to ringside where The Usos take control. Back in the ring, Bryan hits some kicks, but The Usos shut him down and trade frequent tags to control the pace of the match. The Usos continue to double team Bryan, but Bryan gets a breather when he collides mid-air with Jey and both men are down. Kane finally gets the tag and he unloads on Jey Uso with strikes and a splash in the corner. Kane hits a side walk slam, but Jimmy breaks it up. Jey dropkicks Kane to the outside and Jimmy looks for a suicide dive, but Kane blocks it. Jey charges at Kane but Kane shuts him down with a right hand. Kane looks for a chokeslam, but Jimmy gets back in the ring and they hit the double superkick on Kane. Jey tags in and The Usos go up top for the double splash, but Kane catches them both by the throat as they come down. Bryan drops Jimmy, and Kane chokeslams Jey for the three count. Team Hell No wins which means that The Usos will not be added to The SmackDown Tag Team Title Match at Extreme Rules. Winners: Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan & Kane)
After the match, Kane’s music hits as Team Hell No stands tall. The music stops and Bryan tries to get Kane to do the “yes!” chant. Fans join in and Kane starts doing it. Bryan’s music hits and they hug as the celebration continues. The music interrupts again as SmackDown Tag team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers come out to the stage as some fans boo. Rowan and Harper stand on the stage and stare back at Team Hell No in the ring as SmackDown goes off the air.