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This week's episode of WWE SmackDown aired on tape delay from the O2 Arena in London. The show saw the debut of Andrade 'Cien' Almas as well as another SmackDown star qualifying for MITB.
We also got a big match between AJ Styles and Nakamura to decide who will choose the stipulation for their match.
Renee Young interviews Daniel Bryan
Renee Young introduced Daniel Bryan to the fans in the O2 Arena who became unglued at the sound of his theme. Bryan spoke to Renee about wanting to get back on top because simply returning to action wasn't enough anymore. Bryan added that winning the WWE Championship was his ultimate goal.
Big Cass came out to interrupt Bryan, throwing shade at him and telling Bryan how he would destroy Bryan. Cass went to join Bryan in the ring and Daniel attacked Cass, unloading on him in the corner till referees came out to separate them. Bryan attacked Cass from outside the ring, before locking in a heel hook in the middle of the ring, forcing Cass to limp away.
New Day vs The Bar (one member of the winning team qualifies for MITB)
The Miz was on commentary for this one. Xavier Woods and Sheamus started us off. Woods began with a surprise superkick to Sheamus on the apron before hitting Cesaro with a spinning forearm. Woods followed it up with a dive over the ropes at Sheamus. Cesaro tagged in and took out Woods before The Bar posed over him as we cut to commercial.
Back from the break, Big E came in on the hot tag and hit Sheamus with belly-to-belly suplexes but Sheamus got the knees up before the Big Splash. Cesaro tagged himself in and The Bar hit a double DDT. Cesaro followed up with a Sharpshooter on Big E before Woods broke it up.
Woods tagged himself in and hit Cesaro with a DDT for a 2-count. Big E came in at this point and speared Sheamus right out of the ring. Woods followed it up with the springboard elbow to Cesaro for the win.
The New Day def. The Bar
SmackDown GM Paige is backstage with Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville. Paige announces a triple threat match for a place in the MITB qualifier - Becky vs Sonya Deville vs Mandy Rose.
Andrade 'Cien' Almas vs Jake Constantino
Andrade 'Cien' Almas finally made his main roster debut against local talent Jake Constantino, Almas made short work of Constantino, beating him in under 2 minutes with the Hammerlock DDT.
Andrade 'Cien' Almas def. Jake Constantino
Carmella's Mellabration
Carmella got a special announcement before she made her entrance and came down to the ring. Carmella says she deserves respect and berates the fans for lining up to see the Royal baby but not respecting her. She then told the fans that even though they didn't think she should be champion, she was better than all of you.
Carmella started listing all the women she was better than when Paige's music hit. Paige informed Carmella that she would be facing Asuka at MITB as Asuka's music hit.
Asuka came down to the ring and face Carmella who quickly left with her title. Wise move.
Becky Lynch vs Sonya Deville vs Mandy Rose (MITB Qualifier)
Sonya Deville debuted her new theme song before the match.
The match started in unexpected fashion as Mandy cheekily tried to roll up Deville. As Rose and Deville argued, Becky tried to roll Deville up. Rose and Deville then saw the light and started working together again, unloading on Becky in the corner before throwing her against the barricade.
Back inside the ring, Sonya and Mandy almost came to blows again before turning their attention back to Lynch. Deville then took Rose out with a punch to the face.
Rose came back in and planted Becky with the double underhook Facebuster but Deville didn't let her make the cover. Lynch then hit a dropkick to Rose who had Deville in the electric chair position, sending both women crashing down.
Becky looked to follow up with a Dis-Arm-Her to Rose but Deville intervened with a well-placed knee. Becky regrouped and locked in a Dis-Arm-Her on Rose to make her tap out.
Becky Lynch def. Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville
Two big MITB qualifiers were announced for next week's SmackDown - Samoa Joe vs Big Cass and Lana vs Billie Kay.
AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura (winner decides the stipulation)
Nakamura and Styles started off at a furious pace and with a hot crowd behind them. Nakamura slowed down the pace with a series of knee strikes before Styles floored Nakamura with a dropkick. Nakamura rolled out to ringside for respite and Styles followed it up with a springboard forearm.
Still outside the ring, Nakamura replied with a nasty knee strike before rolling up AJ for a 1-count inside the ring.
The match just kept getting more brutal as both men started hitting each other harder and harder with whatever they had. AJ followed up a Pele Kick with a Facebuster for a 2-count. Nakamura replied with a landslide. AJ kicked out at 2 and went for a Phenomenal Forearm but Nakamura stopped him in his tracks and hit a knee to the gut.
Nakamura and AJ continued their battle on the apron. Nakamura hit Styles with a knee and rolled him inside for 2-count. He looked to hit a Kinshasa but AJ reversed it and got Nakamura in the Styles Clash position. Nakamura booted himself free and caught AJ with a stray boot.
With the referee down for a second, Nakamura pretended that AJ lowblowed him and took advantage of the distraction to hit AJ with a reverse Exploder Suplex and followed it up with a Kinshasa to beat AJ Styles.
Shinsuke Nakamura def. AJ Styles
