The first thing we see to open Smackdown Live is a video package starring A.J. Styles, Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon. Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens is going to be absolutely fantastic. I wonder if it leads to Owens moving on or Shane getting off TV for a while. No beach balls required for the beginning of Smackdown Live as the crowd is HOT for A.J. Styles. We get the A.J. Styles open challenge for the U.S. Title and Kevin Owens theme hits. Owens relates what happened at Summerslam to the Montreal Screwjob that’s gold. Now we get Shane coming out to explain his actions from Summerslam. Kevin Owens goes on to tell us everything he said he wasn’t going to tell us. Styles accepts Owens challenge and he gives in to allow Kevin Owens to name his own referee. I have a feeling we may have a glorious referee.
Backstage Daniel Bryan does his best Kurt Angle impression and the Singh Brothers interrupt him. Mahal calls Bryan Xenophobic and Bryan makes a match between The Singh Brothers and Nakamura. We see Owens backstage with Sami Zayn and he asks Sami Zayn to be the special guest referee. I can’t tell you how much I love what just happened between Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. Kudos WWE!
Aiden English is out for his Elias moment and he’s INTERUPTED by The Glorious One himself Bobby Roode. The crowd is red hot and he’s looking fantastic in his Ric Flair tribute robe. Not to go away from Roode talk so soon but who is balding worse Aiden English or Baron Corbin? Roode works the crowd like a violin and on command eighteen thousand people chant Glorious together. There are seven weeks until the next SDL network special I expect things to move slowly for a few weeks. Bobby Roode just hit a really pretty spine buster. Roode hits the glorious DDT for the finish and a nice way to showcase him for all the non NXT fans. Anyone who watched on TV just saw an entire crowd go nuts for Roode and he get a win. After the match Renee Young is in the ring to interview Roode.
We have Bryan again doing his best Angle impression and Chad Gable is introduced to Shelton Benjamin as his next tag team partner. The absolute best part of this is the reasoning that Bryan gave of trading Jordan for leverage to land Benjamin. KUDOS! The loser in all of this is Jason Jordan who is floundering on Raw as Chad Gable is about to get a big push. Backstage Sami Zayn declines Owens offer to be the special guest referee and I’m not excited about that.
We now have the return of the Hype Bros and I’m in the minority I know but I like them as a tag team. They are taking on the new tag team champions and they show the Woods outside Samoan Drop spot that was absolutely BRUTAL. I’m kind of surprised that Mojo is playing the baby face in peril and Ryder is waiting on the hot tag. Ryder gets the hot tag and he’s fired up and I hear the crowd going crazy and I swear if it’s for a beach ball. There are seriously people playing with a beach ball instead of watching the Usos the tag champions. Usos cut a promo and pronounce themselves the top tag team on Smackdown Live.
Nakamura has in incredible entrance and the Singh Brothers aren’t exactly dressed to wrestle. Mahal is out with them in a great looking suit and tie. We have Nakamura pulling his best Cass impression and the Singh Brothers playing the part of Enzo. This has to be leading to Nakamura and Mahal in Hell in a Cell right? Nakamura gets the win with something other than the Kenshasa. After the match Mahal lays Nakamura out and the crowd boos. Nakamura gets up and hits the Kenshasa on Mahal. Mahal needs to come out bragging about defeating Nakamura and drop the Xenophobic stuff. Let’s evolve this character and my guess is Nakamura takes the title in October.
Kevin Owens is walking around backstage with a referee shirt and the fashion police offer their services. This makes Kevin Owens freak out and it’s amazing. Baron Corbin offers to be referee as long as he gets first shot at the US title if Owens wins. Carmella teaming with the champion against Naomi and Becky Lynch next and if she’s smart, she allows the faces to beat her down in a handicap match and then cash in.
The Queen of Harts is out with her title and she looks absolutely ecstatic about it. She cuts a promo that’s not completely awful and out comes Carmella and Jimmy E. Carmella keeps getting better and better every week on the mic and also the new attire is a great thing for her. That little girl in the front row that got Becky Lynch’s glasses just made my night with her excitement. This Smackdown reminds me of the Smackdown prior to the superstar shakeup. The only time Nattie looks natural is when she’s wrestling, when walking to the ring or cutting a promo it looks so unnatural. Carmella is doing exactly what she should be as Nattie’s partner. Naomi and Nattie go back and forth and Nattie tags in Carmella blindly while she’s holding the briefcase. Carmella catches a becksploder suplex and a splitlegged moonsault for the baby face women to win.
We get an interview with Dolph Ziggler who is reintroducing himself. Apparently Ziggler’s new character is a crazy person. Lana and Tamina have a backstage segment and Tamina has a match set for next week. A.J. Styles is interrupted backstage by Baron Corbin and lets him know what’s going on. A.J. Styles says he will have an open challenge every week and if he wants a shot at the title just answer the challenge.
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Smackdown Live has done something so simple however impactful tonight and that’s build the entire show around the main event. This is your traditional layout to an attitude era raw, you open the show with the most important thing and build upon it throughout the show until the main event comes. Corbin does the old point to the patch on his referee shirt early in the match. Corbin tells Styles to break the hold because Owens grabbed the rope. Owens knocks Styles into Corbin and Corbin tries a fast count. Shane McMahon is now down at the ring and Corbin tells him he’s doing a great job. Owens hits a low blow on Styles and Corbin goes the count and Shane pulls him out the ring. Corbin gives Shane the referee shirt and now I guess Shane is the referee. Styles with a phenomenal forearm and the pin fall victory. We go off air with Styles standing tall with the title and Owens looking like a person who is going to do bad things to Shane McMahon.