“King” Bad News Barrett vs. Dolph Ziggler
We’re back from the break and out comes Dolph Ziggler and “King” Bad News Barrett. Barrett cuts a demeening promo on Ziggler. Once the bell rings, Ziggler immediately blasts Barrett with a super kick and pins him in a way that you thought it was going to be over right there.
Instead, Barrett kicked out, got back to his feet, and immediately took over control of the offense. Barrett pounds away on Ziggler as we head to a mid-match commercial.
When we return from commercial, the first thing we see is the action resuming in the ring. Barrett is still in firm control. In the end, Barrett managed to blast Ziggler with a “King Bull Hammer Elbow,” which allowed him to score the pinfall victory.
Winner: “King” Bad News Barrett
Sheamus Attacks Dolph Ziggler
Once the match concluded, Sheamus made his way out and attacked Ziggler from behind. He yells at him that he’s not fit to clean his shoes as he stops away at him. Sheamus continues to beat down Ziggler until finally Ziggler fired up with some wild punches. It wasn’t enough, however, as Sheamus blasted Ziggler with a Brogue Kick to floor him and establish dominance, ending the segment. We head to another commercial break.
Fandango vs. Erick Rowan
When we return from the break, out comes Luke Harper with Erick Rowan. We see highlights of what happened on SmackDown. Out next is Rowan’s opponent tonight, Fandango.
The bell sounds and here we go. And well, that one didn’t take long at all. The clock had it at 0:37 seconds. Harper dominated from bell to bell and picked up the easy squash-match victory.
After the match ends, Harper comes in the ring and joins Rowan as the two do a two-on-one beat down on the dance master.
Winner: Erick Rowan
U.S. Open Challenge
– John Cena (c) vs. Neville
John Cena’s music hits when we return from the break and out comes the WWE United States Champion. Cena cuts a lengthy promo on the significance of the U.S. title, as well as his history with Rusev.
With all of that said, Cena finally gets to tonight’s business, as he announces that right now he is holding another U.S. Open Challenge.
After a small pause, Neville’s music hits and out he comes. The crowd is into Neville in Cincinnati. The bell sounds and here we go. Keep in mind, the WWE United States Championship is on the line in this one.
As the bell sounds, Cena goes to work on Neville, but Neville is using a good job of utilizing his speed and foot work, as to not get beaten up too bad by the larger, stronger U.S. champ. Cena remains in control as we head to a mid-match break.
When we return from the commercial, the action is still going on in the ring. Neville is finally having his moments, and is stringing together some nice offense. Neville goes to the middle rope and does a modified version of his Red Arrow finisher. He covers Cena, but it was only good enough for two and a half.
Neville really starts getting in some offense, effective offense at that. This all leads to Neville laying Cena out in perfect position for him to climb to the top rope and hit his Red Arrow finisher. The fans in Cincinnati were hot for this spot, but in the end, Rusev came out and spoiled the whole damn thing for everyone.
Rusev beats down Neville and Cena, the giant Russian flag drops, his theme plays and he stands tall in the ring as we head to another commercial break.
Winner via Disqualification: Neville