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WWE SmackDown Live took place in Richmond, Virginia this week and we had a lot of questions ahead of the post-Battleground show. What next for Kevin Owens? Who will be Jinder Mahal’s next opponent? Is the Great Khali back for a while?
Kevin Owens opens SmackDown Live
Kevin Owens, the new US Champion, kicked off SmackDown Live. Owens came out and said that the champion was back and said he was going to reinstate the US Title open challenge once again from next week.
AJ Styles’ music hit at this point and the former champion came out and demanded a rematch. Owens replied that he wasn’t in the mood to defend his championship when a familiar theme song hit.
Chris Jericho made his return to WWE and made his way down to the ring as Kevin Owens looked like he’d seen a ghost. Jericho announced that he was ready for his rematch for the WWE US Championship but AJ Styles cut him off.
As Styles and Jericho argued, Owens slinked away and made his way up the ramp. Shane McMahon’s music hit at this point and McMahon announced that both Styles and Jericho had a legitimate claim for a rematch before announcing a triple threat match for the US Championship later on in the night.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs Baron Corbin
After a DQ finish at Battleground, a livid Shinsuke Nakamura faced Baron Corbin once again on SmackDown. Nakamura started off in control, dodging Corbin’s offence and landing strikes on him repeatedly. Nakamura followed it up with a jumping knee drop to Corbin as he hung from the apron. As Nakamura looked to follow up, Corbin flattened him with a clothesline as we headed to a commercial break.
We came back from the break to see Corbin in firm control with a chin lock locked in. Corbin then looked to hit his trademark clotheslines but Nakamura started to land his trademark kicks. Corbin blocked one of the kicks and slapped Nakamura off the face. Nakamura replied with repeated knee strikes followed by one to Corbin as he was hung up on the top turnbuckle. Nakamura followed it up with a jumping knee strike from the middle rope for a 2-count.
Nakamura then attempted a Kinshasa but Corbin dodged it and hit a backbreaker. Corbin followed it up with a sliding knee to Nakamura’s gut and followed it up with a Deep Six for a nearfall. Corbin tried to finish Nakamura off with an End of Days but Nakamura caught him with a spinning backfist.
As Corbin fell to his knees, Nakamura hit him with a knee strike to the back of the head before following it up with a Kinshasa for the win. Another great performance from Shinsuke Nakamura.
Shinsuke Nakamura def. Baron Corbin
We got a backstage segment between Naomi and Natalya as they hyped up their SummerSlam match. Natalya accused Naomi of having no respect and treating the title like a child’s toy while Naomi told Natalya to keep up with the times.
Carmella also made another appearance as she flaunted her Money In The Bank briefcase.
Charlotte and Becky Lynch vs Lana and Tamina
Becky Lynch made both Lana and Tamina tap at WWE Battleground and she teamed up with Charlotte to take on Tamina and Lana.
Becky and Lana started us off. Becky immediately went for Lana’s arm as Lana screamed and tagged in Tamina. Becky rolled Tamina up for a 2-count and hit her with a spinning kick to the jaw.
Tamina replied by dumping Becky in the corner before planting her face-first onto the mat. Tamina then tagged in Lana who hit Becky with a running knee in the corner followed by a snap suplex for a 2-count. Lana then pulled Becky down onto the mat by the hair before attempting to pin her again. A tag to Tamina followed.
Becky hit Tamina with an enzeguiri and tagged in Charlotte who hit Tamina with a back elbow before knocking Lana off the apron. Charlotte followed it up with a big boot before taunting Tamina with the Flair strut.
Charlotte looked to follow up with a bodyslam but Tamina caught her with a Superkick and tagged in Lana. Charlotte hit Lana with a big boot to pin her.
Charlotte and Becky Lynch def. Tamina and Lana
Jinder Mahal demands an opponent for SummerSlam
No Singh Brothers or Great Khali with Jinder Mahal as he came out. Jinder got massive heat from the fans in Richmond, VA as he claimed that he’d vanquished the legend of Randy Orton. He then demanded to know his SummerSlam opponent.
Mahal then turned to speak to “his people” in Punjabi, saying that no one, not even John Cena could stop him. Predictably, Cena’s music hit right after.
Cena came out and said that he respected that Jinder was in the best shape of his life. He also said he respected Mahal for doing whatever he could do to defend his championship. Cena then said that he came out to give Jinder Mahal a heads up, it would be Cena vs Mahal at SummerSlam.
SmackDown GM Daniel Bryan came out as Cena was walking away. Bryan congratulated both men for winning at Battleground. He then sad that Cena didn’t make the matches, Shane and him did. Bryan then gave Cena a chance to face Mahal at SummerSlam – Cena would face Nakamura next week to see who would face Jinder Mahal.
Tye Dillinger and Sami Zayn vs Aiden English and Mike Kanellis
Aiden English and Tye Dillinger started us off. Tye took control early and tagged in Sami as we headed to commercial.
We came back from commercial to see the heels back in control thanks to a distraction from Maria Kanellis during the break. Mike Kanellis got tagged in by Aiden English and he went to work on Sami Zayn as he hit Zayn with a nasty running boot.
Kanellis then tagged in Aiden English who hit Sami Zayn with a couple of right hands. Zayn hit back with right hands of his own before he tossed English out of the ring and tagged in Tye Dillinger.
Dillinger took on both English and Kanellis as he fired up the fans with the 10-count punches to Kanellis, which he followed up with a double-axehandle to Aiden English. Sami Zayn came in at this time and hit Mike Kanellis with a Helluva Kick to pin him.
Tye Dillinger and Sami Zayn def. Aiden English and Mike Kanellis
New Day’s Championship celebration
The New Day were on their way to the ring to begin their championship celebration but they never made it there. They were attacked backstage by The Usos and completely destroyed on the entrance ramp.
Kevin Owens (C) vs AJ Styles vs Chris Jericho
Both Jericho and Styles charged at Owens as soon as the match began, beating him down and sending him rolling out of the ring. Jericho and Styles then traded pinning attempts before Owens came back in to confront Jericho. The duo traded punches before Owens sent Jericho crashing out of the ring and turned his focus on AJ Styles.
Styles locked in a Calf Crusher in the middle of the ring only for Jericho to hit a Lionsault to break up the move. He then looked to Pin Styles but just got a 2-count.
We came back from commercial to see a KO attempt an Electric Chair drop on Jericho with Jericho countering and attempting a Walls of Jericho. Owens avoided it and hit a right hand before Styles tossed him out of the ring. Styles then hit Jericho with a springboard 450 splash. Owens threw Styles out of the ring and went for a pin but only got a nearfall.
Jericho then briefly locked in a Walls of Jericho to AJ Styles, before locking one on Kevin Owens. Owens looked trapped in the middle of the ring but Jericho broke the hold and hit Styles with a Codebreaker. He covered Styles for a nearfall.
With both Styles and Jericho laid out in opposite corners, KO hit both men with a cannonball. Styles then hit Owens with a running forearm. Jericho followed it up with an enzeguiri to Styles and Owens finished the trio with a Superkick to Jericho.
Styles looked to his a Phenomenal Forearm and Jericho caught him with another enzeguiri in midair. Owens then hit Jericho with a Pop-Up Powerbomb for a nearfall. Owens followed it up with a Frog Splash and looked to cover Y2J. Styles came in and threw Owens out of the ring before covering Y2J for the 3-count.
AJ Styles def. Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho
Owens went on a rampage after the match, throwing chairs around and chucking the monitors on the announcer;s desk. Owens then took to the mic and berated everyone from the fans to Shane McMahon.
Owens then demanded a one-on-one rematch next week. What a way to end the show.
