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This week's SmackDown was main-evented by Randy Orton and Sami Zayn. Shane also had something special in store for Kevin Owens. AJ Styles and Jinder Mahal were surprisingly absent from the show.
Sami and KO kick off SmackDown
Sami and Owens came down to the ring to kick-off SmackDown Live. Owens said early on that an angry McMahon always tried to get their pound of flesh. They then listed others who'd battled the McMahon's like Daniel Bryan and Bret Hart.
Sami pointed out that like Shane, Stephanie used to use Randy Orton to do his bidding not that long ago. Sami went on to add how he was never actually at ringside as he started to give the fans an impromptu tour of the SmackDown Live set. Orton came out of nowhere and hit Owens with an RKO.
Shane McMahon's music hit at this point.He announced that Sami and Owens would team up at Clash Of Champions to face Orton and a partner of his choosing. Shane also announced Sami vs Orton for later on in the night. Shane also announced that KO would be handcuffed to the ring rope during the match.
Rusev and Aiden English vs New Day
Before the match started, we saw Aiden English and Rusev in the ring. English introduced fans to the 12 days of Rusev, before Rusev unveiled the new Rusev Day t-shirt. New Day came out after this and we found out that Kofi and Big E would wrestle tonight.
English and Big E started off on top and E soon floored English and tagged Kofi in.Kofi hit a crossbody from the top rope before taking English down with a flying clothesline. Rusev pulled his partner out of the ring as we headed to commercial.
We came back from the break to see Kofi tag in Big E. The former football player cleaned house and tagged Kofi back in. Rusev pulled Big E out of the ring and sent him crashing into the steel steps. Kofi followed it with a beautiful dive over the top ropes.
However, this wasn’t to be for New Day. Rusev hit Kofi with a nasty kick to the back of the head and pinned him.
Rusev and Aiden English def. The New Day
Daniel Bryan is backstage with Carmella, Lana and Tamina when the Riott Squad intervened. Ruby Riott asked how she wasn't in the SmackDown Women's Championship match despite pinning Charlotte last week on RAW.
Liv and Sarah Logan continued to badger Bryan who finally lost his cool and made Charlotte vs Natalya a lumberjack match.
Bludgeon Brothers vs Adam James and Josh Carr
This was even more one sided than their squashes of the Hype Bros in the last two weeks. After wiping Carr at ringside, Rowan hit Page with a spinning slam before bodyslamming Harper onto him.
Harper and Rowan then hit the double powerbomb for the win.
Bludgeon Brothers def. Adam James and Josh Carr
Baron Corbin vs Bobby Roode
Dolph Ziggler was at ringside for this match. We got this match just a couple of weeks ahead of the triple threat at Clash of Champions and it lived up to expectations.
Corbin and Roode started off at at fast-pace before they knocked each other down with simultaneous clotheslines. To no one's surprise, Dolph Ziggler chose this moment to interfere and he hit Bobby Roode with a Zig Zag, which led to a DQ.
Bobby Roode wins by DQ
Ziggler followed with a Zig Zag to Corbin.
Charlotte vs Tamina
Carmella, Natalya and Lana were at ringside for this match....for some reason. Tom Phillips said it was because it was a teaser for the match at Clash of Champions.
As the match started, it was clear that Charlotte was the much superior worker. Tamina couldn't outwork Charlotte who drove rings around her as we headed to commercial.
When we came back from the break, Tamina had a headlock locked in. Charlotte fought her way back to her feet but Tamina took her back down with a clothesline. Charlotte then attempted to roll Tamina up but the Samoan kicked out. Charlotte then hit a Big Booted and locked in the Figure 4 for the win.
Charlotte def. Tamina
Natalya took the mic after the match as she, Carmella and Lana surrounded the ring. The Riott Squadd came down to ringside as well. A scuffle broke out between Tamina and Sarah Logan and they had to be separated.
Sami Zayn vs Randy Orton
Kevin Owens was handcuffed to the bottom rope for this match and he wasn't happy about it.
Orton viciously attacked Zayn as the match started, sending him over the announcer's desk before backdropping him into the barricade. Owens did his best to distract Orton, giving Zayn the chance to hit a baseball slide dropkick.
After the break, Sami took bolt-cutters out from under the ring and tried to free Owens. Orton seemed to have interfered right on time but Sami took advantage. Back in the ring, Sami headed to the top rope but Orton took his feet out from under him.
Orton hit Zayn with a superlex as we saw Owens cut himself out of the handcuffs. Orton clotheslined Owens and hit Zayn with the draping DDT. He then motioned for the RKO as Owens looked to interfere again. Sami failed to roll Orton up and missed with an attempted Helluva Kick.
Orton then rolled Zayn up for the win.
Randy Orton def. Sami Zayn
Owens and Zayn unloaded on Orton after the match was over but Nakamura came out and cleaned house. He hit Owens with a Kinshasa and Orton followed it up with an RKO to Zayn.
Orton then hit an RKO to Owens and Nakamura finished Zayn off with a Kinshasa.
After the match, we got a shot of Daniel Bryan backstage with Shane McMahon. Shane announced that he wasn't done punishing Owens and Zayn and that he would be the special guest referee at Clash of Champions. He also added that if Sami and KO didn't win, they'd be fired
