After entertaining the fans in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the SmackDown entourage flew to Manchester, England to continue the hectic live event schedule. The event was nearly sold out and barely had any empty seats left according to the fans in attendance.
All the titles of the SmackDown brand were put on the line apart from other singles and tag team matches. With a vocal Manchester crowd and a host of promising matches, the event was a big success. So here are the results and highlights from the show:
The house show began with a short video package that had the Usos hyping up the tag team titles match for the night. Breezango interrupted and ended the video with a customary selfie.
#1 Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz (WWE Intercontinental Championship)
The show kicked off with a solid match between the current and former Intercontinental Champions. The two told a good story in the ring with Miz as the methodical heel and Ziggler as the stubborn babyface looking to make a comeback. It’s worth noting that Miz apparently lost a tooth due to a Ziggler superkick.
In the closing stages of the match, Maryse attacked Ziggler and was sent back to the locker room after being caught red-handed. Ziggler then proceeded to take advantage of the distraction and hit Miz with a superkick to pick up the win. Miz got some tremendous heat all throughout the match due to his smarmy tactics while Ziggler was over as always.
Result: Dolph Ziggler def. The Miz via pinfall to retain the IC title
#2 Heath Slater & Rhyno vs. The Usos vs. Breezango (WWE SmackDown Tag Team title match)
The unorthodox team of Heath Slater and Rhyno put the SmackDown tag team straps on the line against The Usos and Breezango. The most surprising aspect of the match was the fact that The Usos got plenty of cheers despite being a heel team (Manchester fans aren’t tuning into WWE TV it seems).
Fandango and Slater kicked off the match in a fun-filled way with a mini dance-off. The finish was especially great as all the men exchanged superkicks before Jey Uso was Gored by Rhyno. The monstrous Gore was enough for the Champions to pick up the win.
Result: Heath Slater & Rhyno def. The Usos and Breezango via pinfall (Rhyno pinned Jey Uso) to retain the tag team titles
#3 Jack Swagger vs. Curt Hawkins
Hawkins’s string of blink-and-you-miss losses continued as he dropped another match to Jack Swagger in under a minute. Hawkins spewed a lot of smack towards Swagger before the match, and the fans did their bit in giving the heel a ‘what’ treatment. Swagger was ready to face the facts and took Hawkins down with an inverted flapjack. He quickly locked in the Ankle Lock and forced Hawkins to tap out.
Result: Jack Swagger def. Curt Hawkins via submission
#4 Nikki Bella and Naomi vs. Carmella and Natalya
The first women's match of the night saw the babyface team of Bella and Naomi go up against Carmella and Natalya. The match followed the expected routine as seen on SmackDown and recent live events.
In the end, Nikki Bella hit the Rack Attack 2.0 on Carmella to pick up the win for her team.
Result: Nikki Bella and Naomi def. Carmella and Natalya via pinfall
#5 Kane and The American Alpha vs. Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper (Six-man tag team match)
After countless singles matches between Kane and Randy Orton, WWE drifted away from the usual booking and put forth a six-man tag team match. The Demon Kane got some help in The American Alpha to counter the Wyatts and Randy Orton in a solid match.
Kane was insanely over with fans, and so were Orton and Bray to an extent. Orton masterfully transformed the cheers to boos when he refused to stay the ring – a typical heel trait. The match picked up pace after Kane got the hot tag and went on a rampage. He cleared off Orton and Wyatt with a double chokeslam before laying Harper out with another chokeslam for the pinfall. Even though Gable and Jordon weren’t as over as Orton, Kane and Wyatt, the run they got by hanging with the veterans will surely help them a lot in the long term.
Result: Kane and The American Alpha def. Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper via pinfal
#6 Baron Corbin vs. Kalisto
The Lone Wolf and the former United States Champion faced each other in a fun match. The match was short and sweet that saw Kalisto pull off some breathtaking aerial moves to keep Corbin down. Kalisto was met with a Corbin big boot while the Luchador tried to flip into the ring during his entrance.
The match kicked off soon after with Corbin dominating the proceedings for the better part of the bout. Kalisto rallied with his high-flying move-set but fell short of a win when Corbin hit the End Of Days after grabbing Kalisto in mid-air.
Result: Baron Corbin def. Kalisto via pinfall
#7 The Hype Bros vs. The Ascension
The forgotten team of The Ascension were fed to the overly enthusiastic team of The Hype Bros in a short match. The bout had nothing worth notable apart from Mojo Rawley’s popular dance moves. Ryder and Rawley got the win courtesy of their spine buster/Rough Ryder combo off the top rope.
Result: The Hype Bros def. The Ascension via pinfall
#8 Becky Lynch vs Alexa Bliss (WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship match)
The women's title match was a great back and forth encounter between the two women who are set to face each other for the title on the upcoming episode of SmackDown in Glasgow. Bliss was particularly impressive as she got in a lot of offence and looked good in defeat.
In the end, Becky Lynch picked up the win and retained the title. This was a good dress rehearsal before their televised match on Smackdown.
Result: Becky Lynch def. Alexa Bliss via submission to retain the SmackDown Women’s title
#9 AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose (WWE World Heavyweight Championship match)
The main event of the evening was the match of the night. Styles and Ambrose showed off their impeccable chemistry and put on a back and forth encounter for the fans at hand. The match was a perfect blend of mat wrestling, high flying and power moves.
Despite being cheered initially, Styles managed to get some heat due to his heel tactics all throughout the match. Ambrose was naturally the fan favourite and had the crowd firmly behind him. The final sequence of the match saw Ambrose kick out of the Styles Clash and take the fight to Styles, but the Phenomenal One pushed Ambrose into the exposed turnbuckle, rolled him up and picked up the win. Ambrose hit Styles with the Dirty Deeds after the match to send the fans home happy.
According to the fans at the show, this was one of the best matches they’ve seen in all the live events through the years, which goes to show how well these two know each other in the ring.
Result: AJ Styles def. Dean Ambrose via pinfall to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Points to note
– The heels of the SmackDown roster did their bit in getting the required heat as Bliss, Corbin, Styles and The Miz were despised by the fans in Manchester.
– When it comes to the faces, Ambrose, Kane, Lynch and Nikki Bella were quite over with the fans. Randy Orton was quite over initially but managed to garner some heat later on the match due to some classic heel tactics.
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
