SmackDown Live Recap
SmackDown Live opens up in Ontario California and the Miz is already in the ring. Miz TV begins when Miz brings out the Bludgeon Brothers who come out and stand face to face with the Miz. The crowd is hot tonight chanting “Daniel Bryan”. The Miz starts ranting and comparing Bryan to being a movie villain by walking out last week for the gauntlet match interrupting the victory of the Bludgeon Brothers. Daniel Bryan walks out telling the Miz to “shut up”. Bryan tells all three superstars in the ring that he does not fear any of them and wants to know who he will face first. Luke Harper, while grabbing the Miz by the arm, puts the mic in front of himself and challenges Bryan tonight.
XAVIER WOODS VS RUSEV
As we come back from commercial we see the New Day backstage drinking pancake batter. Xavier Woods enters the ring hyped up and ready to face Rusev. As the bell rings Woods goes for a headlock takeover which is blocked by Rusev. Rusev irish whips Woods into the ropes and hits a massive spinebuster when Woods attempts a flying attack. Rusev dominates during the split screen commercial break. Woods rallying with a bottom rope launching DDT. Rusev still on the offensive catches Woods with a samoan drop. Rusev picks up Woods and starts with a corner attack. When Rusev misses a running spear into the corner slamming his left shoulder into the ring post Woods start to make a comeback as he climbs the top rope looking for the Limit Breaker, but Rusev moves out of the way. Rusev has had enough and locks in the Accolade to submit Xavier Woods fairly quickly. After the match Rusev grabs a mic and dueling chants begin for Rusev Day and AJ Styles in the WWE Universe. Rusev warns Styles of what is to come and that Styles proved how scared he is of Rusev when Styles attacked Aiden English last week. Could the Accolade spell the end to the long title run of AJ Styles at Extreme Rules?
JEFF HARDY VS ERIC YOUNG
Jeff Hardy cuts a rather trippy promo covered in face paint. We get an official announcement from the announcers that Shinsuke Nakamura is not medically cleared to compete tonight and that Jeff Hardy has issued a United States Championship Open Challenge. Corey Graves mentions Seth Rollins recently did this with the Intercontinental Championship and that didn’t work out too well for him… After Hardy hits the ring we wait in suspense as to who will be coming out of the curtain to accept the challenge. Sanity’s music hits and the new trio to SmackDown Live starts heading to the ring. Question is who will face Jeff Hardy? Eric Young enters the ring to face the US Champion. Young starts the match with several strikes. Hardy reverses out of an Irish whip and trips Young. Hardy climbs the top rope looking for a swanton bomb. Young slides out of the ring. Young gets back in the ring after taking a moment to slow the momentum down and uses a neck breaker to take back control of the match. Hardy is able to reverse the offense using a sit out jaw breaker followed by his comeback moves. Hardy gets the crowd to start chanting “DELETE, DELETE, DELETE, DELETE” as the Usos appear from out of the WWE Universe and attack the other two members of Sanity outside the ring. The action spills into the ring and Eric Young turns his attention to the Usos and the match is stopped due to disqualification. After a commercial break we find out that the match has now been turned into a six man tag. Jey Uso is dominated by Killian Dain. Jey attempts a comeback and goes for a hot tag, but is cut off by Dain. Eric Young tags in and is thrown out of the ring. Jey again goes for the tag to Hardy, but Young pulls Hardy off the apron. Eventually Jey tags in his bother Jimmy. Jimmy misses a super kick on Alexander Wolfe. Both Jimmy and Jey then attempt a double super kick and connect to Dain’s head and send him out of the ring. Wolfe who was still the legal man goes for a German Suplex on Jimmy, but Hardy tags himself in as Jimmy super kicks Wolfe. Hardy climbs to the top rope and hits the swanton bomb for the win.
BECKY LYNCH VS SONYA DEVILLE
Becky Balboa… I mean Becky Lynch is shadow boxing in the back when she is startled by a stage hand and she almost punches him. The match starts with a test of strength. This goes back and forth until Deville shoulder blocks Lynch. Deville is thrown out of the ring and Lynch follows her to the outside where she tosses Deville over the announcers table. After a commercial break Deville has taken over with a series of headlocks and a backslide near fall. Lynch begins a comeback with the Bexploder. Deville accidentally collides with Mandy Rose on the apron as Lynch locked in the disarmer to submit Deville.
Backstage James Ellsworth gets called a 1 by Tye Dillinger
We also get a promo from Zelina Vega with Andrade “Cien” Almas and she brags about how Almas put Sin Cara on the shelf. Vega claims no one is competition for Almas.
James Ellsworth is in the ring and challenges Asuka to a fight. General manager Paige comes out blowing up Ellsworth’s spot telling the WWE Universe how the only reason he is challenging Asuka is because Ellsworth was backstage asking where Asuka was and found out she was in Japan. Paige then announces that at Extreme Rules Carmella will face Asuka for the WWE SmackDown Women’s title, but next week it will be James Ellsworth vs Asuka!
LUKE HARPER VS DANIEL BRYAN
With Luke Harper already in the ring, Daniel Bryan enters and is attacked right at the sound of the bell by Harper. Bryan tries to use his speed to avoid Harper, but Harper is too strong. Bryan uses a series of kicks, but Harper again throws Bryan. As they fight on the outside of the ring Daniel Bryan is kicked into the time keepers area. After a commercial break Harper has a headlock on Bryan. Every time Daniel Bryan makes any form of a comeback Harper stops him. Finally Daniel Bryan builds a comeback with drop kicks in the corner, but yet again Harper catches Bryan with a michinoku driver. Harper displaying his athleticism with a drop kick. After a series of punches to Harper, Daniel Bryan hits a spinning DDT. Bryan quickly transitions into the yes lock, but Erick Rowan attacks and Daniel Bryan wins by DQ. The Bludgeon Brothers begin to dismantle Daniel Bryan when suddenly Kane returns and goes for a double choke slam on the Bludgeon Brothers, but is blocked. Daniel makes the save for Kane and clears the ring. Kane and Daniel stare at each other and Kane opens his arms looking for a hug. Daniel begins to not trust Kane, but ultimately embraces Kane in the middle of the ring. The crowd pops into an epic Yes chant!. Paige once again comes out saying she will not let this moment go to waste. At Extreme Rules The Bludgeon Brothers will face team Hell No for the SmackDown tag titles!
