Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, & Byron Saxton
Buddy Murphy finally gets to wrestle on the show he was drafted to eighty years ago as he looks for revenge against Roman Reigns for beating him up in the locker room. Buddy is the heel? Also on the show we get SummerSlam fallout and other whatnots. Join me LIVE as we do this SmackDown Live thing together as a family.
CHAMPIONS
- WWE CHAMPION: Kofi Kingston
- WWE INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION: Shinsuke Nakamura
- SMACKDOWN WOMEN’S CHAMPION: Bayley
- SMACKDOWN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS: The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods)
LINEUP
- Ember Moon vs. Charlotte Flair (**1/2)
- Roman Reigns vs. Buddy Murphy (***3/4)
- Kevin Owens vs Samoa Joe (**3/4)
- The New Day vs. Randy Orton & The Revival (***)
*****
OPENING SEGMENT
Kevin Owens out to open the show, his home country going nuts as expected. Owens says that yesterday was the five year anniversary of signing his contract with WWE and talks about how SummerSlam is one of the most memorable moments of his career. Owens says his family and the crowd came to see him kick Shane McMahon’s ass, and kick his ass he did. Owens says what he will remember most is hitting Shane with the Stunner because of THE FANS. Owens is setting his sights on something else: next Monday’s King of the Ring tournament, saying that winning the tournament will mean just as much to him as any of the titles he has won. OOOO HE SAID TITLES, THAT’S A PADDLIN’.
His spiel is interrupted by the music of Shane McMahon, causing Owens to fall to his knees out of annoyance. HA. McMahon takes it to the ‘Tron so we can see stills of Owens kicking him in the junk at SummerSlam. “YOU DESERVE IT!” chant. Owens refuses to be lectured to about being a man by someone who used to be in The Mean Street Posse (CHEAP POP!); being a man is standing up for what you believe in and that’s what Owens has done. McMahon says Owens is a lowlife and will always be known as a cheater. Seeing Owens still employed makes McMahon want to walk down to the ring and beat the crap out of him; Owens is all about it. McMahon says he’s going to refrain, lest he soil his hands, but Owens is competition tonight (opponent TBA). Cut back to SummerSlam where Owens beat the hell out of special guest enforcer Elias with a steel chair. Elias has the night off and the 24/7 Title rules have been suspended. Oh right he’s the 24/7 Champion. McMahon brings up the fact that Elias was in an official WWE referee uniform and fines Owens 100,000 dollars. Owens says McMahon is going to reconsider this because he knows it’s crap, McMahon responds with a simple “NOPE” and walks off, leaving Owens steaming in the ring.
- A droll and uninteresting way to start the show. Owens/McMahon had a good match at SummerSlam that would have been a good ending point, but hey whatever let’s keep this dragging and take FIFTEEN MINUTES to get to nothing interesting. Meh. I hope the rest of the show is better.
—
-After a commercial break Kevin Owens charges into Shane McMahon’s office. McMahon says if Owens wants to hit him he’ll bankrupt him with a lawsuit. McMahon says Owens put his hands on an official and they have to set an example, Owens says “let’s make it 105” and throws a barstool at the TV. K.
—
Ember Moon vs. Charlotte Flair
Moon with a waistlock, Flair breaks out with an elbow right to the face. Moon kicks at her legs and connects with a headscissors followed by a one-foot dropkick. Flair bails to the floor to jaw at the crowd and stall, playing to the crowd. Moon finally charges and she runs into a forearm. Moon responds by dropkicking her off the apron. Moon waits a few seconds for some reason then connects with a splash to the floor. Moon rolls Flair in for a one-count. Flair rolls to the floor for more stalling. This time Moon goes at her with strikes until Flair drives her in the apron and barricade. Flair in control as we go to picture-in-picture commercials. Moon reverses a corner irish whip and hits a springboard forearm, Flair escapes a slam and bops her in the back of the skull. Moon tries a suplex, Flair fights out and locks in a Dragon Sleeper. Flair with a fallaway slam and a kip up into a strut and some chops. Moon awkwardly escapes a suplex and rolls Flair up for the 1…2…Flair kicks out and starts targeting Moon’s knee. Wonder why! Moon fights out of the Figure Four but eats a kick flush to the mouth and Flair decides to use a Liontamer instead. Moon gets to the rope, Flair pulls her off and goes back to the left knee. Moon mounts a comeback with a series of kicks, rapid knees, and a rolling…fist? Moon connects with a pump kick and covers for the 1…2…nope. Moon with a codebreaker outta nowhere for the 1…2…Flair kicks out again. Moon climbs to the top, Flair pulls her to the mat by the hair. Moon dodges a spear, Flair hits the buckle, and Moon rolls her up for the 1…2…Flair kicks out. Moon with a kick for the 1…2…Flair refuses to stay down. Flair with a big boot, into the Figure Four, and the Figure Eight for the tap out.
Charlotte Flair defeated Ember Moon via submission with the Figure Eight (11:40)
- The opening minutes were rough but the match got better as it went along to end up being decent. Good win for Charlotte to build on her defeat of Trish on Sunday, Moon loses again but it was competitive so she didn’t look terrible or anything. (**1/2)
—
-RECAP: Roman Reigns has been mysteriously attacked by production equipment and a slow-moving car, Rowan implicated by Buddy Murphy, yadda yadda.
—
ENTRANCE STAGE SEGMENT
Out come “The New” Daniel Bryan and Rowan. Bryan says there’s no question that someone is out to get Roman Reigns but he and Rowan have nothing to do with it. Bryan says Buddy Murphy is a LIAR, but he doesn’t blame him because anyone would have lied and caved if they had their face pressed against a wall by Reigns. The problem is that Buddy Murphy gave the WRONG way. “IT WAS YOU!” chant. Bryan says this is what is wrong with society; someone tells a lie, it spreads, and it becomes the “truth”. Bryan vows to prove they had nothing to do with the attacks on Reigns tonight.
—
-Shane McMahon is checking on his busted TV. In comes, uh, a blonde lady to ask about who Kevin Owens will be facing tonight. Samoa Joe shows up randomly to offer to face Owens to prove that HE is the only badass (who loses a lot) around here. McMahon is cool with that. Eh, fine.
–Aleister Black says that we all must pay in debt, and Black will pay his in his self-afflicted anguish. Such is his burden, such is his sin. All anyone has to do is knock, knock, knock to face him. What a f*cking nerd, save this sh*t for your DeadJournal.
—
Roman Reigns vs. Buddy Murphy
Reigns backs Murphy into the corner, breaks clean but talks trash so Murphy paint brushes him. Reigns responds with a right hand, Murphy claps back with a jumping knee strike for a two-count. Murphy stomps a mudhole in Reigns, who bails to the floor. Murphy repeatedly sends Reigns into the barricade and bounces his head off the announce table. Murphy breaks the count, giving Reigns time to recover and hit an uppercut followed by sending him bouncing off the announce table with a toss. NICE. Reigns tosses Murphy into the ring, Murphy immediately rolls back out. He dodges the Drive By and sends Reigns into the steps, following up with a meteora as we go to commercial.
Back live Reigns rolls Murphy up for the 1…2…Reigns deadlifts Murphy into a one-armed sit-out power bomb for the 1…2…Murphy kicks out. Reigns and Murphy trade forearms, Reigns catches a right and belts him with a series of clotheslines. Count-a-long clotheslines in the corner followed by a big boot. Murphy dodges a Superman Punch and sends Reigns shoulder-first into the post, rolling him up with his feet on the ropes for the 1…2…Reigns still kicks out. Murphy sends Reigns to the floor and connects with a beaut of a tope con hilo. BUDDY! Murphy with a meteora from the top for the 1…2…Reigns gets the shoulder up. Murphy with a series of strikes and a foot stomp, Reigns dodges a knee strike and connects with a right hand. Murphy with a right hand, Reigns with a boomerang Superman Punch for the 1…2…MURPHY KICKS OUT! YESSSS! Murphy counters a spear with a series of knee strikes followed by a Brainbuster for the 1…2…REIGNS KICKS THE F*CK OUT. Aw man. Murphy to the top, Reigns grabs the legs. Murphy fights him off, Reigns with a right hand that sends Murphy crashing into the barricade. Reigns with a Superman Punch off the steps followed by a Spear in the ring for the 1…2…3.
Roman Reigns defeated Buddy Murphy via pinfall with the Spear (9:49 shown)
- A great match that made Buddy Murphy look like someone worth paying attention to. Hell yeah. Props to Reigns for giving as much as gave, and props to Murphy for making every move count in his SmackDown debut. Hell yeah. BUDDY MURPHY FOR WWE CHAMPION. (***3/4)
Roman Reigns nods his head in acceptance of Buddy Murphy’s excellence. Respect.
—
–Kayla Braxton is joined by The Revival. They won the 24/7 Championship but realized what a slap in the face that title is for the tag team division (well yeah it’s a singles title) and got rid of it. They then throw shade at The New Day for being goofy and will be showing them their definition of a punchline.
–Kofi Kingston and Big E console Xavier Woods about not being in the King of the Ring. Kayla Braxton interrupts to ask them what they think about The Revival’s accusations that they ruined tag team wrestling. They’ve ruined other things (all unfunny jokes) but never the tag team division. Kingston justifies attacking Randy Orton with a kendo stick because he’s a Viper and whatnot and there was no telling what he would do to his family. He just looked at them, though. Kingston turns it back to his New Day bros and hypes them up for their match with The Revival. I love The New Day, even when they tell terrible jokes.
—
Kevin Owens vs. Samoa Joe
Elias is announced as the special guest enforcer. 24/7 rules are still suspended for the night though. Joe pummels Owens in the corner, Owens comes rushing out with a clothesline. He stares daggers at Elias and goes for the cannonball but Joe leaves the ring. Owens climbs to the apron to do a cannonball there, but Elias gets in between them and Joe trips him up as we go to a picture-in-picture commercial break. Joe belts Owens with a back elbow off an Irish whip that he sells like a long lost Hennig child. Joe chokes Owens on the middle rope, Elias pretending to do some officiating. Owens with rights, Joe staggers him with a headbutt and connects with a chop. Joe charges, Owens catches him with an elbow and a boot, then drops Joe with a missile dropkick. Owens follows up with a senton for the 1…2…Joe kicks out. Owens dodges a splash and charges, Joe drills him with an STO for the 1…2…Owens kicks out. Owens with a Swanton for the 1…2…Joe gets a shoulder up. Joe with a Coquina Clutch, Owens slings him off and connects with a pop-up power bomb for the 1…2…Elias pulls the ref out of the ring and ref BELLYFLOPS ON THE FLOOR. Damn. Joe rolls Owens up for the SUPER QUICK 1,2,3!
Samoa Joe defeated Kevin Owens via pinfall with a roll-up (5:49)
- The fix was in as soon as Elias was announced as the special guest enforcer, but Joe and Owens had a fun match in the time given. Not a lot of meat to it but hey Joe won a match! Nefarious means of course but a win is a win is win is a-(**3/4)
—
-Daniel Bryan and Rowan clear the locker room out except for Buddy Murphy. Bryan says they know why Murphy lied last week, and wants him to admit as much. Bryan yells at Murphy to tell everybody that he LIED. Murphy doesn’t get a chance to say anything as Rowan immediately attacks and throws him around. Rowan keeps attacking while Bryan says he needs to admit what he’s done. Rowan forearms Murphy against a whiteboard and tells Bryan to admit that he’s wrong. Murphy, under duress, repeatedly says he lied. Bryan says he really just hates liars and Rowan throws Murphy into a trash can. Dang.
- Bryan and Rowan saying Murphy only implicated them under duress then making him say he lied while putting him under WORSE duress was great. Total hypocrite move, and now it’s hard to know which one is the truth. That was great. Can we get a Bryan/Murphy match next week, please and thank you?
—
-VIDEO: King of the Ring returns next week on RAW…*and* SmackDown Live!
–The New Day make their way out for the main event. Before their opponents hit the ring out comes Randy Orton. Orton asks how Kingston can cheerlead tonight when he ran away from a fight at SummerSlam. Orton says everyone knows why he ran; because he knows he can’t beat him. Orton says Kingston couldn’t beat him 11 years ago and can’t now. I thought he won at least one of those matches? Orton says Kofi ran away from a fight in front of his wife and two sons. Orton has a proposition: they join in on the tag team match and make it a SIX MAN TAG TEAM MATCH.
—
The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E, & Xavier Woods) vs. “The Viper” Randy Orton & The Revival (Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder)
Orton teases starting against Kingston, but tags out to Dawson instead. Urge to change the channel falling. Kingston ducks a clothesline and sends Dawson flying with a monkey flip followed by a dropkick for a one-count. Big E tags in and holds Dawson for a penalty kick by Kingston for a two-count. Woods tags in, Big E wheelbarrow slams him on Dawson for the 1…2…Dawson kicks out once again. Dawson sends Woods into the corner and tries to cave his chest in with a knife-edged chop. Wilder tags in and Dawson sends Woods into his partner’s knees. Woods floats over Wilder, ducks a clothesline and connects with a tilt-a-whirl headscissors followed by a dropkick for a two-count. Dawson blind tags in, Woods with an O’Connor roll but Wilder breaks it up with an armbreaker. Nice bait and switch on the expected spot. The Revival go to work on Woods’ left arm, doing their Minnesota Wrecking Crew thing. Woods catches Wilder with a rolling elbow, Dawson tags in and cuts the ring off to bring him to the heel corner. Woods fights out of the corner, Dawson wrenches the left arm and throws him to the floor. Orton immediately grabs Woods and bounces him off the announce table with a slam as we go to commercial.
Back live as Woods tries go for a tag, but Dawson stops it with a hammerlock belly-to-back suplex for the 1…2…Woods kicks out. Overhead armbar time. Woods escapes by sending Dawson face-first into the LED post. I refuse to buy that hurts as much as an actual steel post. Big E gets the hot tag and goes buck wild on, uh, Wilder with two belly-to-belly suplexes and a Warrior Splash. Dawson distracts Big E, Wilder rolls him with a handful of tights for the 1…2…nope. Kingston gets the tag, Revival double DDT Big E then get dropped with a double flying fist from the WWE Champion. Boom Drop on Wilder, and Kingston sets up for Trouble in Paradise. Orton runs in, Kingston dropkicks him out and hits a stage dive on his hated foe. Woods tagged it at some point and battles Wilder with his one good arm, rapid chopping Kobashi-style. Dawson tags in, Shatter Machine for the 1…2…3!
Randy Orton & The Revival defeated The New Day when Scott Dawson pinned Xavier Woods after a Shatter Machine (8:24 shown)
- Orton barely got involved in the actual match so this pretty much was the tag team match that was advertised, just with Kingston sometimes doing stuff as well. The Revival picking up the win I assume gives them a title shot, so we go back down that well, but hey good for them they are top guys and deserve top guy matches. (***)
The Revival attack Big E, Kingston makes the save then eats an RKO from Randy Orton. Orton hits an RKO on Woods, Revival pick Big E up and Orton hits an RKO on him as well. Orton picks Kingston back up and connects with a 2nd RKO. Orton surveys the damage.
—
-Cut to the locker room where Daniel Bryan and Rowan welcome Roman Reigns. Bryan asks Reigns to apologize, like he did to Samoa Joe last week. Reigns teases fighting, Bryan says he and Rowan have been conducting their own investigation, and they are bringing the culprit to the show next week. Reigns stares Rowan down as the show concludes. Daniel Bryan RULES.
*****
FINAL THOUGHTS: Like last week the first hour dragged but things picked up starting with the excellent Roman Reigns/Buddy Murphy match. What a great piece of business that was. The Owens/McMahon stuff and Orton’s nonsense bored me but hey what can you do, you know? They aren’t just writing this show for me after all. I’m interested to see who Daniel Bryan and Rowan claim went after Roman Reigns next week. You think it’ll be a higher power-style situation where they unmask the culprit and it’s themselves? That’d be funny. ANYWAY that’s the show this week, comment with your own thoughts if you’d like I’m down for some banter.
