Skip to main content

My Thoughts on SmackDown (7/25/17): Welcome Back MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

  • We kick off the show with new United States Champion Kevin Owens. He says being the United States Champion feels right and says that Battleground was proof that good things happen to good people. He says he'll defend the title with the honor & pride it deserves and says he is reinstating the Kevin Owens United States Championship Open Challenge, starting...next week. He says he would never defend his title in Richmond, Virginia before AJ Styles comes out. He says he wants his rematch for the title, but Owens reiterates he will not defend the title tonight. And then...BREAK THE WALLS DOWN!!! CHRIS JERICHO IS BACK! He says he's back and he wants the United States Championship back. Styles interjects and says he is next in line for the United States Championship, not Jericho, so Jericho puts him on the List of Jericho. Owens leaves the ring and walks up the ramp, only for Shane McMahon to come out and announce that tonight, Owens will defend the United States Championship against both Styles and Jericho.
  • Shinsuke Nakamura vs Baron Corbin-Nakamura strikes away at Corbin to start before dropping a knee on Corbin hanging over the apron. Corbin comes back with a huge clothesline outside the ring before rolling Nakamura back in the ring for a near fall before the commercial break. We come back to Corbin working over Nakamura with a half nelson. Corbin controls the match until Nakamura connects with a single leg dropkick. Nakamura kicks away at Corbin until Corbin catches his leg and slaps him. Nakamura comes back with strikes & knees before hitting a diving kick for a near fall. Nakamura goes for the Kinshasa, but Corbin avoids it and a follow-up roundhouse kick before hitting a backbreaker for a near fall. Corbin follows up with knees to a downed Nakamura before hitting the Deep Six for a near fall. Corbin goes for the End of Days, but Nakamura flips out of it and hits a roundhouse kick. Nakamura goes for the inverted exploder, but Corbin goes for the back kick to low blow him, just like at Battleground. However, Nakamura avoids it and catches him with a back elbow. Nakamura follows up with a knee to the back of the head, an inverted exploder, and finally a Kinshasa for the three and the win. Pretty decent match with the ending they should've just done at Battleground.
  • Dasha Fuentes interviews Naomi. She says Natalya is tough as nails, but she won't just let her disrespect her like she did at Battleground. This brings Natalya over, who says Naomi has diminished the SmackDown Women's Championship by turning it into a children's toy. Man, the last person who turned a title into a toy ended up getting it 15 more times. Naomi says Natalya needs to get out of the past and says she'll feel the glow at SummerSlam. Carmella then shows up wearing a "Free Ellsworth t-shirt" and reminds Naomi that she has the Money in the Bank briefcase.
  • Charlotte & Becky Lynch vs Lana & Tamina-Lana & Becky start, only for Lana to quickly tag out when Becky goes for an armbar. Becky goes for the Dis-Arm-Her on Tamina before switching to roll up for a near fall. Becky continues to control the match until Tamina throws her down face first for a near fall. Lana tags back in for a running knee in the corner before hitting a suplex for a near fall. Lana follows up with a hairmare for a near fall before tagging in Tamina for a clothesline. Becky comes back with an enziguri before making the hot tag to Charlotte. Charlotte runs through Tamina with chops before hitting a knee drop for a near fall. Charlotte goes for a bodyslam, but Tamina slips out and hits a superkick. Lana makes the blind tag, only for Tamina to eat a big boot before Lana eats one herself. Charlotte gets the three and the win. Not really anything worth talking about. After the match, Lana looks sad in the ring as Tamina yells at her.
  • Jinder Mahal comes down to the ring. He says he crushed the legacy of Randy Orton at Battleground and that he'll be WWE Champion as long as he wants. He demands to know who he'll face at SummerSlam before speaking in Punjabi. Cue John Cena. Cena congratulates Jinder on getting in the best shape of his life and that the title means so much to him that he'll do anything to keep it. Cena then says that at SummerSlam, Jinder is going to defend the WWE Championship against him, and that's where Cena is going to win his 17th world championship. Cena leaves, only for Daniel Bryan to come out. Bryan says that Cena doesn't make the matches and says he has to earn his opportunities just like everyone else. Bryan announces that next week Cena will face off in a #1 contenders match next week...against Shinsuke Nakamura. Holy. Sh*t.
  • Backstage, Kevin Owens confronts Shane McMahon and says Shane put him in a triple threat title match tonight because he doesn't want him to be the United States Champion. Shane says Styles & Jericho both are owed rematches and says he doesn't care who the champion is, as long as people are given opportunities and the fans are given great matches to watch. Owens says he doesn't care about the fans and if he wasn't the commissioner, he wouldn't care about Shane either.
  • Aiden English & Mike Kanellis with Maria Kanellis vs Sami Zayn & Tye Dillinger-Dillinger & English start off, only for the match to almost instantly go to commercial break. We come back to English working over Zayn with a headlock. The heels control the match until Zayn tosses English out of the ring and tags in Dillinger. Dillinger runs through the heels, getting in 10 punches in the corner on Kanellis before hitting a double axe handle on English. Zayn tags in and hits the Helluva Kick on Kanellis for the three and the win. RIP Mike Kanellis' WWE career.
  • Big E start's to do his opening promo he does before the New Day's entrance, only for the New Day to be jumped by the Usos. The Usos drag Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods out onto the stage and beat them down. They throw Kofi into the edge of the screen before Big E runs out, only to take a double superkick. 
  • Renee Young interviews Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura says that next week, John Cena won't see him, but he'll see Jinder Mahal at SummerSlam.
  • Kevin Owens (c) vs Chris Jericho vs AJ Styles-Styles & Jericho double team Owens to start before Jericho rolls up Styles for a near fall. The two trade rolls up & near falls before Owens clocks Styles and pushes him out of the ring. Jericho & Owens brawl in the ring before Jericho goes for a quick Codebreaker. Owens blocks it and a follow-up Walls of Jericho attempt, but Jericho connects with a dropkick for a near fall. Styles runs in and throws Jericho out of the ring, only to take a clothesline from Owens. Owens throws Styles hard into the corner for a near fall before hitting a senton for another near fall. Owens controls the match until Styles locks him in the Calf Crusher. Jericho manages to break it up with a Lionsault and gets a near fall on Styles before the commercial break. We come back Jericho back dropping Styles. Jericho follows up with a corner clothesline before setting Styles on the top rope for a superplex. However, Owens runs over and gets Jericho in an electric chair position. Jericho slips out and tries for the Walls of Jericho, but Owens blocks it and clocks Jericho. Styles sends Owens out of the ring before hitting a springboard 450 splash, only for Owens to toss Styles away and make the cover, but Jericho kicks out. Styles grabs Owens and throws him into the barricade and tries for the Styles Clash, but Jericho blocks it and locks in the Walls of Jericho. Owens tries to break it up, so Jericho slingshots him into Styles before locking him in the Walls of Jericho. Styles runs in, only to eat a Codebreaker from Jericho, but he kicks out at two. Jericho starts slapping Styles and goes for the Lionsault again, only for Owens to stop him before hitting Cannonballs on both men. Styles ends up catching Owens with a forearm, only to take an enziguri from Jericho...who takes a superkick from Owens...who then eats a Pele kick from Styles, leaving all three men down. Styles goes for the Phenomenal Forearm, but Jericho catches him with a triangle dropkick, sending Styles to the outside. Owens catches Jericho with a superkick and hits the Pop-Up Powerbomb, but Jericho kicks out. Owens goes to the top rope and hits a frog splash on Jericho, but Styles runs in and throws Owens out the ring, steals the pin, gets the three, the win, and the United States Championship. Awesome match. After the match, Owens destroys the ringside before taking a mic and saying that it's not fair that he lost his title tonight or how he lost. Owens says that next week, he wants his rematch for the title and he will win his title back.

Comments

More from The Wrestling Section

Worst in the World: The Gimmick Battle Royal-WrestleMania X-Seven

(Special thanks to Frost for suggesting this match. If you'd like to see a match covered on the Worst in the World, leave a comment down below.) WrestleMania X-Seven. Heavily considered the not just the best WrestleMania, but the greatest wrestling show of all time, WrestleMania X-Seven took place during the hottest period in the WWF's history, and features just about every one of the hottest acts in wrestling at the time. An undercard featuring the likes of Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, William Regal, Kane, and the Big Show. One of the biggest female stars in the history of wrestling in Chyna. A killer TLC match between the Dudley Boyz, the Hardy Boyz, and Edge & Christian. A wild brawl between The Undertaker and Triple H. A massive main event between Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. Hell, even the father vs son Street Fight between Vince & Shane McMahon. It's a star-studded affair. However, there's one match that sticks out like

Worst in the World: The Last Rites Match-TNA Destination X 2007

(Special thanks to an anonymous user for suggesting this match. If you'd like to see a match covered on the Worst in the World, leave a comment down below.) An often discussed aspect of professional wrestling is the backstage politicking of Hulk Hogan. Throughout his career as a major attraction in wrestling, Hogan's philosophy has always been to protect Hulk Hogan...OK, sometimes he'd help Ed Leslie, but most of the time it was to protect Hulk Hogan. Because of that philosophy and Hogan's influence as a top guy, there have been multiple instances where a company's booking and other wrestlers have suffered as a result. Would having Mr. Perfect win the 1990 Royal Rumble made sense and could have elevated a rising star and potentially created a new main event player? Yes, but that would require Hogan to not win, and that doesn't work for Hogan, so he wins the Rumble even though he doesn't need elevating. Would booking Randy Orton to beat Hogan at SummerSlam 20

Worst in the World: D-Generation X vs Brothers of Destruction-Crown Jewel

This match didn't need to happen. After Triple H and the Undertaker had one of the most brutally bad matches of 2018 at Super Show-Down not even a month earlier, nobody wanted to see them try to wrestle again. Also, nobody wanted to see Shawn Michaels come out of retirement after his fantastic sendoff in 2010, especially for a match like this. But here we are, Triple H & Shawn Michaels facing The Undertaker & Kane in 2018. The combined ages of these four at the time is 206. That's a number you'd expect to see from a match at Heroes of Wrestling. And anyone can come up with their own reason as to why this match is happening, but that would just be ignoring the actual reason. For those of you who don't know, Crown Jewel was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. That might not seem like important information, but you can't really discuss this match without mentioning it. Despite the numerous reasons that running shows in Saudi Arabia is morally wrong (their abuse

Worst in the World: What is the Worst Wrestling Match of All Time?

  Note: This series is based off a YouTube series " The Search for the Worst " by I Hate Everything, where he reviews every movie on IMDB's Bottom 100. It's a great, funny series and I'd recommend checking it out. Have you ever just thought to yourself "What is the worst match of all time?"? I don't mean something like a boring John Cena-Randy Orton match, I mean a match where the wrestlers have zero chemistry, little wrestling ability, or literally no idea what they are actually doing. I've thought about this for a while, and I've decided to finally figure it out. So I'm going to watch any match that is: a) A winner of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Award for the Worst Worked Match of the Year. or:  b) Listed on the 100 worst rated wrestling matches of all time on the Internet Wrestling Database .   (Note: Some matches appear on awards that aren't on the list.) There are 115 (EDIT: Now 99)  matches on here. I pu

Worst in the World: Trash at the Beach

Click the link here to vote in the poll and help decide the next edition of the Worst in the World. Just over a month ago, I briefly covered the massive success the WWF was having in 1999. Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock are at the top of the card. Triple H is on the rise to the main event. Mankind is playing the ultimate likable & respected babyface. Names like the Undertaker, Kane, and the Big Show are all major players. The undercard is stacked with big names like D-Generation X, D'Lo Brown, and Ken Shamrock, rising stars like The Hardy Boyz and Edge & Christian, and new signings like Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, and the Dudley Boyz. The WWF was so red hot in 1999 that even an all-time bad WrestleMania in WrestleMania XV couldn't slow them down. But there was one other factor that made 1999 such a good year for the WWF; the fact that their main competitor, WCW, was beginning to crack. At the same time the WWF was reaching the highest heights they'd ever reache