It’s always fun when a main event delivers and on this edition of SmackDown Live, an amazing Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship was witnessed. Bray Wyatt put his newly won WWE Championship on the line against the two men who both had valid claims for a rematch and it was exciting.
As if that wasn’t enough, The Eater of Worlds also had to withstand a pre-match attack by his former Family member, Luke Harper. The Champ had his work cut out for him.
Bray ultimately stood tall and retained his title, a first notch in his reign that he’ll definitely want to remember.
Other moments from the show that maybe WWE as a whole wouldn’t want to be remembered include Konnor forgetting the existence of tag ropes, electrical equipment that exploded in the sheer anticipation of a Dean Ambrose bump, and a table in the main event that A.J. Styles could not break on his first impact.
Actually, the table thing was really cool – you’ll definitely want to follow to the end of this article to see that gif.
Five of the most botchy and outrageous moments from the night have been prepared for your viewing pleasure, so go ahead and check out these SmackDown Live highlights...
#5 A ruined trip
SmackDown Live came to us from Anaheim, California this week. Google informs me that the distance from Australia to California is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 8,000 miles. That’s a long distance to travel for a champion that no longer carries a title.
The fans who made that yellow sign behind John Cena’s head crossed the Pacific Ocean because they wanted to see the 16x World Champion. He still can technically be called the 16x World Champion, but adding the caveat of “former” to that claim has got to be at least a little bit of a bummer for them.
Hopefully, they made a several-day WWE vacation out of this and at least got to witness him come into the Elimination Chamber on Sunday carrying the strap.
#4 Konnor did not grab the tag rope
Call me a nitpicker all you want but Konnor was not legal when he tagged in at this point during this tag match between Ascension and American Alpha. He clearly did not have a hold of the tag rope. Just look at it dangling off the turnbuckle on the right.
It wasn’t long after this that Viktor tagged back in only to take the Grand Amplitude followed by a successful pinfall. I’m no Ascension mark but if they wanted to make a case about the legality of the match finish, they may have an argument.
#3 Premature sparks
Dean Ambrose was supposed to take on James Ellsworth in a singles match but thanks to Baron Corbin, James was spared. Carmella must be tickled.
The Lone Wolf jumped The Lunatic Fringe while he was making his way to the ring, causing a wild fight around the production equipment. The brawl ended when Baron delivered his Deep Six to Dean on top of a stack of gear, causing an electrical explosion.
The slip up for this cool spot was that the sparks shot out noticeably before Ambrose actually landed. The highlight shown here is slowed down slightly to prove the point but it’s still clear that Dean made contact after the explosion.
#2 Say what?
The Nikki Bella/Natalya rivalry is pretty much constant bickering at this point, regardless of whether it makes much sense or not. Daniel Bryan was backstage about to tell his sister-in-law about an idea that he thought she was going to like when Bret Hart’s niece interrupted them.
The banter between the two ladies kept escalating, producing the above line from Nikki Bella. WWE or Shakespeare... really, what’s the difference?
Daniel Bryan, who looked absolutely bemused by the brawling, told the ladies that they’d soon be competing in a Falls Count Anywhere Match. Judging by what they’ve done up to this point, that’ll probably be a really fun match.
#1 One stubborn table
A.J. Styles shared his WWE Championship rematch with John Cena, who also was due for a rematch.
The triple threat main event was quite the TV contest, perhaps one of the best we’ll get all year. It really was that good. However, one failed attempt at an announcer’s table break halted progress for the Phenomenal One, as seen in the highlight above.
While the non-break wasn’t what Styles was hoping for when he performed this splash off of the barricade, it sure was entertaining to see him try one more attempt. A.J. next performed a leg drop onto the WWE Champion, this time accomplishing his task.
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