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The men and women of SmackDown Live were back in Japan with hometown girl Asuka making a special appearance. The show was headlined by Jinder Mahal defending his WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura.
Fan favourite AJ Styles also had a special surprise for the fans in Osaka.
The New Day (C) vs Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin
All three members of the New Day came out but it was Kofi Kingston and Big E who would be defending the titles against the totally random team of Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin.
Corbin and Ziggler didn’t get along too well and it helped the New Day retain their SmackDown Tag-Team Championships.
There was a great moment where Xavier Woods mocked Ziggler by taunting him with an air guitar pose.
The New Day def. Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin
Sami Zayn vs Aiden English
Aiden’s customary song for the fans came before the match. English and Zayn put on a good match but it was clear that the crowd were firmly behind Sami, who had a history in Japan prior to his WWE career.
After back and forth match, Sami took the upper hand. However, despite his popularity, Sami lost to English on the night.
Aiden English def. Sami Zayn
Randy Orton vs Rusev
Randy Orton was given a hero’s welcome by the fans in Osaka as he faced the ‘Bulgarian Brute’ Rusev. Rusev lost to Orton in about 10 seconds at SummerSlam and looked to redeem himself in Japan.
The duo put on a good Last Man Standing match, and even though it went a lot longer than 10 seconds, Rusev couldn’t come up with the win despite his best efforts.
Randy Orton def. Rusev
AJ Styles vs Kevin Owens (for the WWE US Championship)
AJ Styles came back home to Japan and paid tribute to his time in Japan by coming out in a mask, paying homage to his time as leader of the Bullet Club. Kevin Owens on the other hand, didn’t really perform in Japan much before WWE and he lost his NXT Championship to Finn Balor at WWE Beast In The East, so he doesn’t have a good history with Japan, performance-wise.
Styles and Owens put on the match of the night but it wasn’t enough to turn his luck in Japan around, with AJ Styles leaving Osaka with the US Championship still around his waist.
AJ Styles def. Kevin Owens
Luke Harper vs Erick Rowan
Former Wyatt Family members Luke Harper and Erick Rowan took on each other next. The two put on a short but hard-hitting match with Harper coming out on top.
There has been talk recently of Harper being repackaged and we hope it’s true because Harper is one of the most talented big men in pro wrestling right now and fans didn’t really care about this match tonight.
Luke Harper def. Erick Rowan
Charlotte, Naomi, and Becky Lynch (with Asuka) vs Natalya, Lana, Tamina Snuka, and Carmella
Asuka came out before the match to one of the biggest pops of the night and the Japanese fans were elated to see her back in the city of her birth. She stayed afterwards in the corner of the babyfaces as they took on Natalya, Lana, Tamina and Carmella.
Charlotte, Naomi and Becky won the match despite the gulf in numbers between them.
Charlotte, Naomi, and Becky Lynch def. Natalya, Lana, Tamina Snuka, and Carmella
Jinder Mahal (C) vs Shinsuke Nakamura (for the WWE Championship)
Nakamura received a huge ovation from the fans in Osaka, the biggest of the night, just slightly bigger than the one Asuka got earlier in the night.
Nakamura and Mahal’s match followed the vein of their other matches. After a back and forth early on, Nakamura looked set to win the match when the Singh Brothers intervened. Nakamura took out both Singh Brothers but Mahal hit him with a Khallas to retain his title.
Jinder Mahal def. Shinsuke Nakamura
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