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SmackDown before Clash of Champions kicked off with Corey Graves in the ring with Jeff Hardy, Sami Zayn and AJ Styles as Hardy and Zayn prepared to hang up their belts for the ladder match on Sunday.
The trio started bickering and insulted each other as words like fraud champion, neckbeard, and cheater were being thrown around. Sami brought down a ladder on AJ and Hardy before attacking them. Sami was leaving when Adam Pearce came out and said because of his misconduct, Zayn will now face AJ and Jeff in a triple threat match up next.
AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Sami Zayn on SmackDown
Hardy hit a Twist of Fate before the bell even rang and Sami ran back to the ring as we headed for a break. Back on SmackDown, AJ was dominating the match but AJ him out before hitting a backbreaker and then a baseball side on Zayn.
Hardy was on the top rope and took out both AJ and Sami with the Whisper in the Wind before Sami hit Helluva kicks on them. AJ hit a pele kick and all three men were down.
AJ rolled to the apron and leapt over the ropes onto both of his opponents, attempting the Phenomenal Forearm but Sami ducked and it hit Jeff. Sami got up and tossed AJ out of the ring before getting the sneaky pin on Jeff for the win on SmackDown.
Result: Sami Zayn def. Jeff Hardy & AJ Styles
Styles attacked Hardy and Zayn with a ladder after the match before setting up a ladder in the ring and retrieving the Intercontinental titles to pose with them.
Match rating: A
Otis and Tucker were backstage on SmackDown and Otis said that he didn't trust lawyers. Miz and Morrison came in and Miz reminded them that the lawsuit was very much real and after he was done, Otis would have nothing else.
Miz again brought up that he had Mandy sent to RAW and Otis was angry as he yelled that they should decide it with a match. Tucker revealed that it was only Miz's name on the lawsuit and Otis attacked Morrison and laid him out on SmackDown.
Bayley was out with her new sidekick, the steel chair she used to "break the Boss". She sat down on the ramp on SmackDown and said that Nikki Cross made a mistake thinking she was going to be easy to beat without Sasha. Bayley let Cross know that she had a new best friend as she stared menacingly at her steel chair.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Gran Metalik on SmackDown
The match went outside early on and Nakamura sent Metalik into the barricades before setting him up for a knee strike on the apron. Back in the ring, Metalik was driven into the turnbuckles before Nakamura was sent outside for a huge dive over the ropes.
Metalik was in control but missed the moonsault before Nakamura hit the running knee to the back of the neck followed by the Exploder. Nakamura finished up with the Kinshasa and got the pin on SmackDown.
Result: Shinsuke Nakamura def. Gran Metalik
Lince came in to help Metalik but was taken out by Cesaro as Kalisto watched from ringside. After the champs left, Lince and Metalik turned on Kalisto.
Match rating: B
We got a short video hyping Jey Uso and Roman Reigns' Universal championship match after we saw Jey knocking on Roman's locker room backstage on SmackDown. Jey didn't get an answer and headed to the ring.
Uso came out on SmackDown and asked Reigns what the deal was last week with the look that he gave Uso behind his back. Paul Heyman came outside the locker room and said that Reigns will answer that face to face, in the ring, tonight.
Apparently Roman changed his phone number as well and Uso had no choice but to leave for now.
Baron Corbin vs. Matt Riddle on SmackDown
Riddle unloaded on Corbin before the bell and took control of the match after the bell rang. Corbin slowed Riddle down in the ring and took him down with a running elbow.
Riddle managed to take back control and sent Corbin over the announce desk as we headed for another break on SmackDown. Riddle had a submission locked in when we returned and Corbin fought out of to it hit a powerbomb.
Baron Corbin vs. Matt Riddle on SmackDown (contd...)
Corbin hit a huge Deep Six off a counter for a near fall. Riddle went for the Floating Bro but Corbin got his knees up before hitting the End of Days for the win after a great match on SmackDown.
Result: Baron Corbin def. Matt Riddle
Match rating: A
Alexa Bliss vs. Lacey Evans on SmackDown
Alexa was having a normal match when we heard the Fiend's laughter that resulted in Alexa spacing out again and SmakDown headed for commercials. We returned to see Lacey in control but Bliss got back momentum with a dropkick.
The Fiend's creepy music came on and the lights turned red when Bliss lost it and attacked Lacey. She kept kicking her on the ground as the referee called the match due to disqualification.
Result: DNF
Bliss took Lacey outside and hit the Sister Abigail before The Fiend appeared on the Titantron saying "let me in" and Alexa just laughed and left. As she left, Roman Reigns was making his entrance and she stared at the champion angrily.
Match rating: A
Roman Reigns was out on SmackDown with Paul Heyman and Jey Uso came out as well. Roman said he would give Jey the title if he could but Jey wouldn't understand how to be a proper champion. He kept making underhanded insults and said the family depends on Roman as the 'tribal chief'. Roman even sneaked in a: 'it will never be you', for the added burn.
Jey got on the mic as Roman was walking out and said "What if you're wrong?". Jey was getting emotional as he said after Sunday, everyone would know who he is. Roman walked out without saying anything but he came back to hit Jey with a Superman Punch on the ramp and said that he would never take Roman's place at the 'head of the table'.
The virtual crowd present at SmackDown was booing in unison as Roman stared off into space and the show ended.
Episode rating: B+
A decent go home episode as we head for Clash of Champions. Roman and Jey have set up a very intense feud in a short time and Jeff Hardy's triple threat challenge is one to look out for as well. Alexa pulled of an epic transformation on tonight's SmackDown.
Teddy Long snaps when Swerve Strickland's race is brought up HERE
