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The New Day kicked off SmackDown Live and started explaining how Kofi Kingston would beat Dolph Ziggler at Sunday during Stomping Grounds inside a steel cage. Ziggler came out to tell us that on Sunday, it will be him who walks away the winner and Kofi would go on an apology tour for disappointing his fans and losing the WWE Championship.
Dolph went on one more of his rants about how it should've been him before he prepared for his match with Xavier Woods which was up next.
Xavier Woods vs. Dolph Ziggler
Dolph went for Woods' legs right away but failed to get a submission. The two rolled around in the ring for a moment and then Woods hit a big dropkick. Dolph hit a neckbreaker and Woods hit a lariat before Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn attacked Big E and Kofi outside the ring. Woods hit a huge dive on the attackers before the referee banned the duo from ringside. Dolph went for a pin but Woods got out of it as the match continued.
Woods lifted Dolph and hit a big knee and Dolph dropped Woods with a Superkick on the apron. Dolph hit the ZigZag followed by another Superkick before Woods was knocked out and Ziggler got the three count.
Result: Dolph Ziggler def. Xavier Woods
Match rating: A
Baron Corbin had a line outside his locker room with Shelton Benjamin and the B-Team waiting to talk to Corbin. Matt Hardy walked out of the locker room after having spoken to Corbin and he made an Impact Wresting reference, calling Shelton Senor Benjamin.
Alexa and Nikki were out next for another episode of A Moment of Bliss with Bayley as the speical guest. Alexa asked for her coffee and Bayley came out instead, drinking Alexa's coffee.
A Moment of Bliss with special guest Bayley
Alexa called Bayley selfish for stealing her coffee and the champ told Nikki that Alexa was using her and wasn't really her friend. Alexa and Bayley went into a shouting match and took shots at each other. Nikki was caught in the middle as the two called each other names and Alexa even said Bayley peaked at NXT before Bayley attacked her. Nikki separated the two before Alexa knocked out Bayley from behind and that was that.
Segment rating: A
Apollo Crews walked up to Vega backstage and was looking for Andrade who attacked Crews from behind while Chad Gable stood there taking notes.
Heavy Machinery vs. B-Team
Curtis and Tucker kicked off the match; Otis was tagged in and so was Dallas. Otis took out both opponents with a splash in the corner. Otis did the worm and landed on Bo before hitting their combined finisher on him and getting an easy three count as Bryan and Rowan watched on from the announce table.
Result: Heavy Machinery def. B Team
Seth Rollins came out after the match and took out the B-Team with steel chairs. I wonder if he sleeps with the chair under his pillow.
Match rating: C
Shane McMahon was out next with Elias and Drew McIntyre. Shane was hyping Drew's match with Roman when The Miz interrupted and gave us a flashback of last night's attack on Shane before McMahon threatened to fire anyone who was brave enough to play the video on the Titantron.
The Miz reminded us that his injury in the Best in the World tournament led to Shane going on this ego trip and so it was his responsibility to take Shane down for good. Shane proposed a match with The Miz vs. Drew and Elias; The Miz was allowed only ten seconds to pick a partner. R-Truth happened to be around the ring at the right moment and like that, the awesome Truth was back!
Segment rating: B
Backstage, The IIconics were walking around and ran into Paige who revealed that she had negotiated Kairi and Asuka a match for the women's tag titles in Tokyo.
The Miz & R-Truth vs. Drew McIntyre & Elias - Tag Team Elimination Match
Elias was facing off with Truth in the ring when Shane took out The Miz from the corner just as Truth was about to make the tag. Elias pinned Truth and a horde of Superstars came out and Shelton stole the 24-7 title before he was caught by an official. Truth grabbed his title in the commotion and ran into the crowd as the rest of the stars ran after him.
The Miz was left alone in the ring and was sent outside. Shane hit Miz on the outside before Drew ran at him. Miz sidestepped and Drew crashed into the barricades. Back in the ring, Miz was dismantling Elias before he hit the 'It' kicks. Drew came back in with a Glasgow Kiss and then a Claymore, getting the three count.
Result: Drew McIntyre & Elias def. The Miz & R-Truth
Drew hit two more Claymores in the ring, sending a message to Roman Reigns.
Match rating: A
We got a rerun of last night's Firefly Funhouse which was quite creepy.
R-Truth was in the parking lot and his uber driver turned out to be a referee. Drake Maverick came out dressed as Carmella and tricked Truth out of his title. Drake Maverick is the new 24-7 Champion.
Seth Rollins & Kofi Kingston vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
Kofi started off strong with a trouble in paradise to Sami Zayn and got the first fall in the match. We returned to see Seth tag Kofi in and the two traded tags again taking turns beating on KO.
Owens fought back and got a near fall on Seth as we learned that Heyman was watching from behind. Rollins dropped KO and tagged Kofi who came in guns blazing. Zayn hit the Blue Thunderbomb but Kofi kicked out of it.
Rollins came back in and hit a superkick to KO and then the stomp, geting the second pinfall, winning the match.
Result: Seth Rollins & Kofi Kingston def. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
Match rating: A
Episode rating: A
A lot of great matches but we would have loved an exciting finish.
