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After a decent go-home episode of RAW, the spotlight shifted to the blue side as SmackDown Live put forth their final show before SummerSlam gets underway on August 20th.
The card for tonight's show boasted of the first-time-ever clash between Jinder Mahal and John Cena. That and more went down as WWE added the final touches to their SmackDown storylines days before the biggest PPV of the year.
So without further delay, here are the results and highlights from the show:
Opening segment
This week's show kicked off with the announcers hyping up the main event of the evening, Jinder Mahal vs. John Cena. This was the very first match between the two with JBL overblowing things out of proportion by branding it one of the biggest matches in WWE history. Yeah right!
Singh Brothers came out first and introduced the WWE Champion, who made his entrance in majestic fashion. The fans in Providence showered some nuclear heat on Mahal. He addressed the fact that India was celebrating its Independence Day.
A celebration broke out as Punjabi dancers came out and did a typical Bhangra routine. The Singh Brothers could be the most energetic duo on the dance floor in the WWE, just saying.
If you thought it couldn't get any worse, a woman named Madhu sang the Indian National anthem and she was horrible. WWE may have figured that getting a terrible singer would get more heat and it indeed did.
Mahal cut a promo on John Cena and his SummerSlam rival Nakamura, disparaged the duo and promised two both the popular faces.
He claimed that he was the greatest champion in WWE history and credited the spike in network subscriptions to his dominant reign.
He then went on to cut a promo for his people in India in Punjabi before Nakamura's theme song hit. The crowd went ballistic as the Artist made his way to the ring.
Nakamura cut crips promo and said that today in India was Independence Day, but in Japan is also a day where they celebrate heroes who died in the war.
He also added that Sunday is SummerSlam, where Jinder will lose the WWE title to him amid voracious yes chants.
Natalya vs. Becky Lynch
The #1 contender for Naomi's WWE SmackDown Live Women's Championship, Natalya was up next in a match against Becky Lynch.
Both the women made their respective entrances, but WWE had to do the obvious and send Naomi out to join the commentary team.
The bout kicked off with Lynch gaining an early advantage with a couple of strikes. She shot for the arm but Nattie rolled out of the ring as SmackDown went into a break.
Back from the commercial break, Natalya had Lynch locked up in an abdominal stretch and looked to be in complete control. However, it was time for the babyface comeback Lynch mounted stunned the Queen of Harts with a Bexploder followed by a flying forearm.
She went for the Disarmer but Nattie reversed it into the Sharpshooter. Lynch escaped the hold and went for the leg drop from the top rope, but missed!
Natalya took advantage of the situation and locked in the Sharpshooter and left Lynch with no option but to tap out.
Result: Natalya def. Becky Lynch via submission
After the match, Natalya tried to assault Becky with another sharpshooter, but the champion saved the Irish Lasskicker. Nattie teased a brawl with Naomi, but guess who's showed up? Ms MITB: CARMELLA!
Carmella cut a generic promo with her characteristic style that made it bearable and sent out a warning to both Naomi and Natalya that she will be waiting to cash in successfully at SummerSlam.
Backstage, Tamina asked Lana why she didn't have a match. Lana said that Tamina wasn't ready and that she doesn't strike fear in the locker room. Lana told Tamina that with her help, people would start fearing her and that together they'll be unstoppable.
Moving on, Daniel Bryan was approached by The Usos. D-Bry asks if he can be the 3rd member of their rap group. Usos asked him which members of the New Day they'll be facing at SummerSlam. Big E and Xavier Woods, with Kofi Kingston in the corner, was officially announced by the SD GM. Usos asked for a match tonight against Woods and Kofi. Bryan agreed and looked more amped than the Tag Champs.
Usos then put up a fist bump, and Bryan instead high fived their closed fists with a boom to top it, which was by far the funniest thing so far tonight
Rusev vs. Chad Gable
The Bulgarian Brute faced off against Chad Gable days before his SummerSlam date with Randy Orton.
Rusev piled up the offence in the early goings as he cornered Gable in the turnbuckle and unloaded a string of strikes. However, Gable showed incredible strength in taking Machka down with an impressive overhead Belly-to-Belly suplex.
The action shifted to the outside as Rusev got some control back. The match ended in abrupt fashion as the referee declared Gable the winner via DQ. What happened you ask?
Rusev sent Gable crashing into the announcer's chairs! When did that account for a DQ?!
Anyway, Rusev continued to punish the former Olympian as he locked in the Accolade on Gable on the announcer's table and choked him out.
He got back in the ring and just uttered the word 'Randy before The Viper appeared out of nowhere and floored him with an RKO, sending the fans in attendance in a frenzy. How many times has we seen this from the WWE?
Predictable episode thus far barring the Daniel Bryan-Usos backstage segment.
The United States Title feud
The WWE United States Champion was out first as he looked like he had something to get off of his chest. He got a huge pop from the fans and wasted no time in calling Shane McMahon out.
The SmackDown Live Commissionercmade his way to the ring to a major ovation and thanked the fans for the reception.
Shane McMahon clarified that he needed no apology for last week's actions and promised he would be a neutral guest referee in the US title match at SummerSlam.
Styles said that the Pelle kick from last week was accidental. However, AJ doubted Shane's allegiances and wanted an assurance that he wouldn't screw him over.
McMahon said that he would make sure the match goes on smoothly but shot off a warning that he won't hold back if the Phenomenal drew first blood.
McMahon went on to say something but a long awkward silence ensued and Kevin Owens' music hit. A miscue of KO's music from the technical team it seemed.
The former US Champion came to the ring and cut a promo stating that he had complete faith on McMahon and said that he trusted him to be fair. KO offered a handshake but McMahon declined by saying it wouldn't be appropriate.
He instead told KO to shake his opponent's hand and KO hesitantly obliged. It didn't take long before things got explosive and both men began trading strikes.
McMahon broke the two up when he caught almost walked into a Styles punch but caught it in the nick of time. KO amusingly looked on as McMahon and Styles shared a tense moment as they stared each other down.
KO went for the superkick but Styles ducked and it instead took McMahon out.
Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods vs. The Usos
The WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions were the first to come out and cut a promo filled with Game of Thrones references.
Kofi started srong and tagged in Xavier Woods. New Day picked up the pace as they exchanged tags. They continued to pound on and jump on Jey.
Kofi turned things around with a back body drop and he then tagged in Xavier Woods, who hit a flurry of offence. He really shines through in these situations.
He gets caught with a crazy right hand outside the ropes but then hit an enziguri. Kofi got tagged in slyly and the two then try to finish things, but it was not enough. Kofi tried to finish Jimmy Uso, but the former champions are too quick for their liking.
The Usos then attacked Kofi's leg and hit him with a double superkick for the win.
Result: The Usos def. The New Day
Fashion Files comes to an end
The final edition of Fashion Files was possibly the best segment of the night as always as Breezango put together the pieces in identifying their mystery attackers.
Fandango began by claiming he was probed by aliens when he was abducted. The Ascension came to return their terrible pie. Fandango started investigating the pie and found gluten, band-aid and hair. When the Gluten part was mentioned, they got triggered as they live Gluten free lives.
This was truly saddening!! The screen wrote "Breezango will return in 25 years", and the "25 years" was changed to "2 weeks", to which the crowd popped.
Looked like the end of the super-popular Fashion Peaks.
Jinder Mahal vs. John Cena
The Modern Day Maharaja went up against WWE's Franchise Player for the first time ever in singles competition. The WWE Champion made his second entrance of the evening to an even better heat this time as he looked focussed on taking the Cenation leader down.
The 16-time WWE Champion was out next to a great reaction. The traditional "Let's go Cena, Cena sucks" chants reverberated across the arena as both men jockeyed for position early on in the match.
The announcers went on and on about how this was one of the BIGGEST matches in SmackDown history!
Jinder Mahal gained the early advantage over Cena as SmackDown went into a commercial break. The WWE Champion was right on top of the proceedings with the help of his stooges.
However, the referee caught the Singh Brothers distracting Cena and gave them their marching order. The fans popped as the frustrated brothers went backstage.
Cena looked to capitalize and locked in the STFU on a perplexed Mahal. Mahal escaped and did one better in avoiding the AA. He took Cena down with a knee and looked for the kill with the Khalas.
Cena, though, reversed and hit him with the Attitude Adjustment. 1-2-KICK OUT! Mahal miraculously kicked out of the AA clean! WWE does have faith in the Modern Day Champion!
Cena looked pissed and positioned Mahal on the top turnbuckle! Super Avalanche AA from Cena from the rope and it seemed like it was game over! But wait!
Baron Corbin appeared out of nowhere and pushed the briefcase into the ring, effectively breaking the count. The referee called for the bell and the match ended on DQ!
The Lone Wolf then attacked Cena with the briefcase, sending the Cenation leader out of the ring. His attention shifted to Mahal, who looked as lifeless as a dead corpse in the corner.
What followed next may be the biggest mistake in Corbin's career thus far. WWE's too!
Corbin gave the briefcase to the referee and cashed in the contract. He measured Mahal as the referee helped the WWE Champion back to his feet before calling for the bell. In the meantime, Cena had crept up to the apron and distracted Corbin.
Corbin blindly swung at Cena, who ducked, but it proved to be costly. Mahal used the schoolboy roll-up pin on Corbin and picked up the win! What.The.Hell!
Mahal escaped with his belt as a distraught Corbin marched around the ring in disgust. What the heck just happened!
An unpredictable end to a predictable bore fest! WOW! What are your thoughts WWE Universe?
