22nd August 2017

Information rom this page

AJ Styles and Kevin Owens agreed to a high-stakes matchup for later in the night



After AJ Styles retained the United States Title in an action-packed melee against Kevin Owens at SummerSlam with special guest referee Shane McMahon doing his best to call it right down the middle, both Owens and Styles were right back in each other’s face tonight on SmackDown LIVE.

KO, believing he was robbed of a victory following a controversial call by Shane-O-Mac, demanded a rematch tonight.

Although Shane didn’t believe Owens was deserving of another chance, The Phenomenal One was ready to oblige.

Feeling liberated, KO also demanded that he choose the referee, another concession the ever-confident Styles was willing to make.

Shane-O-Mac agreed under one condition: If Owens loses tonight, this would be his last opportunity at the United States Title for as long as Styles was champion.

Your move, Owens.

Bobby Roode def. Aiden English



SmackDown LIVE just got a whole lot more GLORIOUS!

Much to the surprise of the WWE Universe, former NXT Champion Bobby Roode arrived on Team Blue and made an immediate impact, emphatically defeating Aiden English with a head-ringing Glorious DDT in an impressive debut bout.

After the contest, Renee Young interviewed Roode in the ring, asking what had brought him to SmackDown LIVE.

After congratulating Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan for breaking the bank to bring him to the blue brand, Roode very simply stated that SmackDown LIVE just went from being “great” to … you guessed it, glorious.

Shelton Benjamin returned to WWE on SmackDown LIVE



Now that his former partner Jason Jordan had moved to Raw, Chad Gable paid a visit to SmackDown LIVE General Manager Daniel Bryan’s office to inquire about his future on the brand, and the “Yes!” Man had some great news for the former Olympian: In exchange for sending Jordan to Raw, Raw General Manager Kurt Angle helped SmackDown LIVE sign a good friend of The Olympic Hero: Shelton Benjamin! And, not only had Team Blue inked the former Intercontinental, United States and Tag Team Champion, but the “Gold Standard” was interested in forming a tag team with Gable.

Astonished that he would get the chance to team up with one of his heroes, Gable jumped at the opportunity, and Bryan informed the new team that they would have their first match together next week.

The Usos def. The Hype Bros



Fresh off regaining the SmackDown Tag Team Championship with a victory over The New Day at SummerSlam Kickoff, The Usos looked to keep the momentum going against The Hype Bros.

Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley gave it a valiant effort, pushing the pace against Jimmy and Jey, but The Usos prevailed with a merciless kick to The Ultimate Broski’s head for the 1-2-3.

After the match, The Usos put the entire Team Blue Tag Team division on notice, letting them know that the titles were back in The Uso Penitentiary for good.

Shinsuke Nakamura def. The Singh Brothers



With Shinsuke Nakamura closing in on the WWE Title against Jinder Mahal this past Sunday at SummerSlam, the pesky Singh Brothers interjected themselves into the bout, drawing Nakamura’s attention.

The King of Strong Style immediately eliminated them from the equation, but the distraction allowed Mahal to sneak up behind The Artist and defeat him with the ring-shaking Khallas.

The repercussions were less than pleasant for The Singh Brothers on Team Blue, as The King of Strong Style decimated them in a 1-on-2 Handicap Match that saw WWE’s Rockstar absolutely dominate, defeating Samir with a Triangle Choke.

After the match, The Modern Day Maharaja attempted to blindside The Artist to no avail, as Nakamura fended off the attack and left Mahal seeing stars after connecting squarely with the Kinshasa.

Advantage Nakamura.

Naomi & Becky Lynch def. Natalya & Carmella



As the new SmackDown Women’s Champion, Natalya wasted no time gloating over her triumph against Naomi at The Biggest Event of the Summer.

However, before she could get too far into her celebratory diatribe, her partner for the upcoming match and Ms. Money in the Bank, Carmella, arrived to remind The Queen of Harts that she could cash in at any moment, with James Ellsworth chiming in that it could even be tonight.

That statement prompted Carmella to nudge Ellsworth, implying that he shouldn’t give away her potential game plan.

Naomi, looking to get a measure of redemption after losing her title on Sunday, appeared as focused as ever as she teamed up with the Straight Fire of Becky Lynch.

It appeared that Ellsworth’s pre-match proclamation appeared to be the actual strategy, as Carmella did everything she could to avoid being tagged in to the contest, perhaps hoping that she would have a chance to cash in after Natalya was worn down by her opponents.

However, after Natalya became hip to her jive, she was able to forcefully tag in Carmella, who was immediately dropped with a Bexploder.

Naomi followed up by finishing off The Princess of Staten Island with the Split-Legged Moonsault for the win.

Dolph Ziggler promised to do what the “stars” do next week on SmackDown LIVE



Acting a bit erratic in an interview with Dasha Fuentes, Dolph Ziggler promised to start acting like the “star” of WWE, doing everything from singing, to wearing a flashy robe, to having a theatrical entrance.

The Showoff promised these changes would start occurring next week before abruptly storming off.

United States Champion AJ Styles def. Kevin Owens with Baron Corbin as the special guest referee



After attempting to lock down several options, Kevin Owens finally landed on Baron Corbin as his choice to be the special guest referee for his United States Title Match against AJ Styles.

Corbin agreed to the officiating role on the condition that KO gives him an opportunity to challenge him for the United States Title if he wins back the championship, to which Owens agreed.

However, after confronting Styles in the backstage area, The Phenomenal One told Corbin to answer the call of his United States Championship Open Challenge after he defends his title.

Corbin remained mostly impartial throughout the high-stakes title bout, but the mood quickly changed when Styles inadvertently bumped into Corbin after Owens shoved him.

The Lone Wolf then got in Styles’ face and shoved him back, leading to several near falls on a pair of rollups by KO.

Shane McMahon then rushed out to make sure no injustice would be served.
Shane and Corbin began getting into it, allowing Owens to low-blow The Phenomenal One behind Corbin’s back.

Owens attempted to capitalize on his rule-breaking ways, but Shane, having seen the low blow, pulled Corbin out of the ring during his count.

Enraged over Shane’s actions, The Lone Wolf took off his referee shirt, tossed it at Shane-O-Mac and made his exit.
Shane, thinking on his feet, donned the referee shirt as the match continued.

A furious Owens tried to get his head back in the game, but he could not recover from the shock, which allowed Styles to mount some offense and connect with the devastating Phenomenal Forearm for the win.

Shane raised Styles’ hand, Corbin was nowhere to be found, and Owens, now with no more opportunities at the United States Title anytime soon, walked off in utter shock.

The New Face of America was now rocking a pretty mean frown.