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We start our broadcast with a recap of SmackDown women’s division invading RAW and the triumphant visual of a bloodied but smiling Becky Lynch. Unfortunately, the announce team confirms the rumors: A right cross from Nia Jax resulted in a concussion and a “broken face.” She will not be medically cleared to face Ronda Rousey at Survivor Series.
In-ring
AJ Styles walks out to talk about his re-match vs Brock Lesnar, his 371 day reign, and his status as a workhorse for SmackDown (in contrast to Brock’s infamous schedule.) He says he’s beaten every challenge that’s ben put in front of him, except for Lesnar. This time will be different. This Survivor Series, he intends to do more than survive, he will… is that Paul Heyman?!
The advocate introduces himself and says there is no one that Brock Lesnar wants to fight more than AJ because AJ is up there with all-time in-ring performers like Ricky Steamboat, Ric Flair, and Shawn Michaels. Why, AJ is this close to being as good as #1 Daniel Bryan! But he’s not a consolation prize. It’s just a shame that we’ll never see Brock vs D-Bry.
The Phenomenal One tells the “hype man” that he’s on to him. He knows that Heyman is trying to get under his skin. AJ has respect for Daniel Bryan but he didn’t just beat him; he tapped him out. Last year, AJ walked out with a loss but Brock limped out with a win. He’s gotten better at tapping people out while Brock has gotten more vulnerable. This year it won’t be about Brock. It won’t be about Daniel Bryan. It will be about AJ Styles.
Daniel Bryan comes out and he’s not sure why they’re talking about him. They had a match and he got beat and he’s at peace with it… but he’s also been looking for a reason to punch him in the face. If AJ mentions his name again, Daniel will.
AJ says that Heyman brought it up. He thought that they hugged it out two weeks ago. If someone brings up great technical wrestlers that he’s been in the ring with, he can’t say Daniel Bryan? Apparently not. Daniel punches AJ in the face and they brawl until Shane and numerous officials pull them apart and escort Daniel to the back. The exchange makes The World’s Toughest Vegan look unreasonable if not unstable.
Backstage
Shane is in Daniel Bryan’s face, demanding answers as Paige looks on. Before he can get any, AJ comes in and the schmoz starts up again. AJ asks if Daniel if he really wants the title that bad. Based on the exchange, Shane makes the re-match for the title… tonight!
Andrade Cien Almas (w/ Zelina Vega) vs Jeff Hardy
Andrade opens strong with strikes and stomps in the corner. Jeff fights back with chops and a jawbreaker. Jeff sends Almas into ropes but El Idolo catches himself tranquilo style. Almas gets tossed out anyway. Jeff runs him into the barricades and back into the ring but an argument with Zelina gives Almas time to recoup and Jeff is in trouble when he rolls back in. Almas with an ankle pick but Jeff with the twisting mule kick in response. Almas is seated in the corner but Jeff runs into the boots. Cover for two and Almas switches gears with a shoulder lock. Jeff gets up but a fistful of hair brings him down. Back up again with strikes but back down for the grind. Third times a charm as Almas goes off the rope and right into a clothesline.
Jeff takes control with the inverted atomic drop/leg drop/dropkick trifecta and a two count. Twist of Fate gets blocked and a Whisper in the Wind is stifled into the Tree of Woe. Diving stomp for two! A seated Jeff hardy is ripe for stomping and double knees to the face. Jeff tries for a small package but Almas won’t have it. Twist of Fate attempt gets twisted out of and it’s the feint kick to back elbow to drop Jeff cold. Hammerlock DDT attempt sees Jeff lift Almas onto his shoulders for a Twist of Fate. The follow-up Swanton Bomb gets the 1-2-3.
Winner by Pinfall: Jeff Hardy
Locker Room
The Miz is conferencing with GM Paige as they discuss that Daniel Bryan is off of Team SmackDown because of his actions. Miz declares that the open spot should be filled by Jeff Hardy. Paige agrees but balks when Miz says Rey is out because he was Bryan’s pick. Miz doesn’t want anything with DB’s stink on it… coconut oil? Paige says if Miz wants Rey out, he has to beat him… and that match is next.
Backstage
US Champion, Shinsuke Nakamura, is asked how he’ll prepare for Seth Rollins when he’s never faced him before. Shinsuke says he’s thinking, breathing, and drinking Seth. Seth is preoccupied. Seth isn’t thinking of him. He broke Shinsuke’s heart; so The Artist will break The Architect’s face.
The Miz vs Rey Mysterio
Miz goes for series of quick covers but Rey has answer for everything. Rey turns a wheelbarrow into a bulldog and gets moving but is grounded by a clothesline. Rey hits a hurricanrana to send Miz outside and Rey goes for the belly slide press but Miz has it scouted with the knees up. Miz has Rey up top but can’t superplex him. Miz is tossed down and gets a seated press. Miz tries for a sunset flip but Rey rolls through for a head kick and a two count. Rey goes for a rebound cross body but misses and Miz capitalizes with the short DDT. He follows up with a sit-out powerbomb bounced off the top rope for a two count. Rey attempts another wheelbarrow but gets caught in a full nelson. Instead of a Skull-crushing Finale, Rey rolls Miz into the second rope and it’s 619 time. Rey goes up top for the frog splash but Miz gets the knees up. Two count and, as Miz laments, Rey sneaks in a roll up! The King of Lucha Libre is still on team SmackDown.
Winner by Pinfall: Rey Mysterio
Randy Orton rushes Rey but he ducks and catches Randy with an enziguri. As Randy and Miz recover, they bump into each other and it’s an RKO for the A-lister. Rey slips out to escape The Viper and revel in keeping his spot.
Backstage
Extra security in anticipation of a RAW reprisal.
Becky Lynch looking solemn with her left eye looking like a storm of bruising.
In ring w/ GM Paige
All the ladies of SmackDown Live are called down to the ring, individually. The recently hesitant Charlotte Flair is present and first out. Paige says that Becky Lynch is unable to compete due to the injury sustained while fighting for SmackDown but will come out to hand-pick her replacement to face Ronda. Becky is looking unhappy despite the ever-present Becky chants. She’s angry as hell because she took a good beating and, even though that has never stopped her before, the medical team wouldn’t clear her. She’s itching because she got a taste of blood taking out Ronda and half the women’s locker room. Even with a concussion and half a face, she can beat “Ronnie,” who’s not the baddest bitch on the planet; she’s the luckiest. Becky goes from superstar to superstar, looking them all over. Big crowd reaction when she gets to Asuka but Charlotte gets picked and then hugged after Becky makes her promise to tap out Ronda the way she would’ve.
Backstage
Charlotte says that she has spent half her career against Becky but, last night, she fought with Becky and, at Survivor Series, she will fight for Becky. Wooo!
Big Show & The Bar vs The New Day
Sheamus and Kofi to start and the big Irishman uses his size and power but Kofi is too quick. Xavier tags in to start a stream of rapid fire double teams and tags that bring in Big E and back to Xavier for Cesrao to tag in and set Xavier up for Big Show. Chest slaps and booty squashes in the corner and Show continues to manhandle Woods. Show tags in Sheamus and then Cesaro who grinds Xavier down with an armlock. Sheamus in and Woods gets leveled by a double team before Sheamus takes over the armlock. Xavier fights out with a jaw breaker but Sheamus tags Cesaro who cuts off the tag and The Bar double teams Woods with a backbreaker. Big E breaks up the count. Sheamus send big E out of the ring with a knee lift. Big Show sends E into the barricade. Cesaro taunts Xavier and throws him towards the corner but he forearm smashes Sheamus. Cesaro holds him in place and tags Sheamus but Woods lands on his feet after a backdrop attempt.
Sheamus connects with a knee in the corner, though. Xavier is placed on the top turnbuckle but Sheamus is tossed from the top and a flying front dropkick by Woods connects. Cesaro is tagged but so is Kofi who springboards in to clothesline the Swiss Cyborg and knock Sheamus from the apron before going on a roll. Cesaro puts the breaks on Kofi with a diving Euro uppercut. He goes for another but Kofi slips out and hits the pendulum kick. Kofi comes off the top for a cross body but Sheamus breaks up the cover. Big E comes in but right back out and he gets Brogue Kicked off the apron. Xavier gets into the action but is tripped up by Big Show who tosses him into the side of the announce table. Kofi nails Sheamus with Trouble in Paradise. He goes to cover Cesaro but is rolled up for a two count before hitting an S.O.S. for his own two. Cesaro catches Kofi’s kick and slingshots him into the corner. Kofi bounces to the top and flies right into a Big Show right hand. That’s all, folks.
Winners by Pinfall: The Big Show & The Bar
Backstage
We see security at the entrances and Los Colons, The Club, and Sanity in the boiler room. The Usos are handing out team shirts and hyping up the tag division before welcoming RAW to the SmackDown penitentiary.
Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles (c) for the WWE Championship
They rush each other and AJ drives Daniel into the corner. Daniel with chest chops but gets backdropped up and over the top rope. AJ follows him out with a slingshot plancha. Back in the ring, Daniel has taken over and is pummeling AJ in the corner. He begins laying in the kicks but AJ catches one and starts working on the back of the leg. Eventually, Daniel escapes with an enziguri. He rushes AJ in the corner but gets a boot in the face. Daniel avoids a springboard attack by shoving AJ off the rope and down to the floor. D-Bry gets a little vicious when he hammerlocks the champ and sends him shoulder-first into the ring post and repeats into another.
In the ring, a shoulder arm breaker does damage but a standing kimura lock is held off by right hands to the face. DB manages to bring AJ to the canvas and follows up by way of a running kick to the left arm. Two count and a kick out before DB goes back to the armlocks. AJ and Daniel trade punches until AJ hits his signature combo (minus Pele kick) and a leaping splash in the corner. Daniel is sent to the opposite turnbuckle but backflips out. They pinball around the ring until both men go down from the eventual collision. They’re back on their feet and DB is on the offensive, hitting a hurricanrana off of the top turnbuckle. Daniel goes up top but AJ seats him down.
D-Bry fights him off but AJ hits the Pele Kick from the floor to Daniel still sitting on the top turnbuckle. AJ climbs the turnbuckles and is standing on the top but Daniel slips out the back door, crotches him, and sets up the Tree of Woe. Daniel lands kicks to the chest and a running low dropkick. They go all the way to the top and Daniel hits a belly-to-back superplex for two. Yes Kicks but AJ dodges the last one and rolls him up and through into position for a Styles Clash! Daniel kicks him off. Daniel hits a European uppercut but runs into a back elbow.
He lifts AJ up into the electric chair but a victory roll gets AJ a two count. Pele Kick and a springboard 450 but AJ took too long and Daniel gets his knees up. Yes Lock! AJ gets to the rope. Daniel is looking for the running knee but AJ intercepts with a low dropkick to the knee and locks in the calf crusher in the center of the ring. Daniel turns it into an armbar and then a Yes Lock! AJ repositions and hits a slingshot to send DB into the corner. AJ gets sent up and over onto the apron when he rushes Daniel and loads up for a phenomenal forearm. Daniel dodges and it send AJ directly into referee Charles Robinson. AJ turns around and right into… a low blow?! Daniel Bryan kicks AJ Styles below the Mason-Dixon Line! Styles struggles to his feet and Daniel Bryan hits the running knee for the victory and the title.
Winner by Pinfall and new WWE Champion: Daniel Bryan
As AJ gets up to a seated position, Daniel hits a running kick to the head and follows up with repeated stomps. As we go off the air, The Yes Man cradles the title belt and can look forward to Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series.
Final Thoughts: To say this show was bad would be unfair but to say it wasn’t disappointing would be untrue. As Jim Cornette is wont to say, “Sometimes you gotta make chicken salad out of chicken $#!+.” Chicken salad, by definition, isn’t filet mignon, however. This was supposed to be the “go home” show for Survivor Series and build off of the amazing moment created on RAW the night before . Instead, mostly seemed like damage control.
We got good matches but I’m concerned by Andrade Almas’ constant jobbing and the reliance each week on popular but aging stars. Daniel Bryan’s heel turn was expertly foreshadowed and protects AJ Styles from another trip to Suplex City but takes sympathy away from the likely loser. The roughest part? Daniel Bryan turning heel would’ve been the biggest “Whoa!” in months if not for the real life injury to the hottest rocket in the business. Over the past few weeks, Becky’s character has been vicious, relentless, and callous. Tonight, she hugged her arch rival. It may not have been fluid to the story but it was real. With any luck, Becky and the fans will get the run she’s earned and we deserve.
-Matthew Widdis
