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My Thoughts on SmackDown (9/20/16): A Clown in Sheep's Clothes

  • We kick off the show with a contract signing for the Women's Championship match at No Mercy. Daniel Bryan says the signing will stay civilized, which means that this contract signing will definitely not stay civilized. He brings out Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss before MY GOD DAMN CABLE STRIKES AGAIN AND GOES OUT! JESUS CHRIST! DIDN'T GO OUT ONCE ALL DAY, BUT AS SOON AS THE SHOW I WRITE A REVIEW OF COMES ON, BOOM, LIGHTS OUT! FOR F*CKS SAKE! When it came back on, Alexa Bliss smacked Becky Lynch before signing the contract and flipping the table onto Becky. Alexa leaves, but Becky chases her and Alexa runs off. I bet that was a cool segment. WISH I COULD'VE SEEN IT!
  • Backstage, Daniel Bryan is confrontedby the Miz & Maryse. Miz has a problem with his title defense tonight against Dolph Ziggler, so Bryan says he'll cancel the Miz's new contract if he doesn't defend the title, which was in the fine print of Miz's new contract.
  • The Usos vs American Alpha-You know, it's kind of hard to take the Usos seriously as heels when they still have this high energy, cheery entrance music. They can dress like stereotypical thugs all they want, but their music is still definetley a face team's music. Gable charges and takes down both Usos one-by-one before working over the left leg of Jimmy Uso. Jordan tags in and does the same. American Alpha then dropkicks both Usos out of the ring and keep control until one Uso ties Gable's previously injured leg up in the ropes and superkicks it, sending Gable to the outside before the commercial break. We come back to the Usos continuing to work over Gable's leg before Gable back body drops one Uso to the outside and tags out. IT'S JASON JORDAN HOT TAG TIME BITCHES! Jordan suplexes both Usos around the ring, getting a near-fall off a belly-to-belly on Jey Uso. Jordan sets up Jey on the top rope and goes for a belly-to-belly, but Jey knocks him down, superkicks him, and Jimmy hits a splash. Gable is able to break up the pin just in time, only to get tossed from the ring by Jey. Jordan hits an exploder suplex on Jey before taking out Jimmy with a lariat. Gable climbs up onto the apron, but his knee gives out. Jordan opts not to tag out, but gets superkicked by Jimmy. The Usos take out Gable before hitting a double superkick on Jordan. Jey finishes Jordan off with the top rope splash for the win. Great match, best the Usos have looked in a long time.
  • Backstage, Heath Slater & Rhyno discuss having to face the Usos again at No Mercy before Slater talks about getting a chant started while Rhyno eats crackers. The Usos come over and tell the champs that the only they won was because they cheated. They then threaten to take out Slater's knee and Rhyno's plate of crackers. The two teams stare eachother down before the Usos walk off.
  • Apollo Crews vs Baron Corbin-Jack Swagger is out on commentary. Crews takes it to Corbin to start, quickly hitting a running dropkick, sending Corbin to the outside. Crews follows him out and tosses Corbin into the barricade before rolling him back in for a near-fall. Corbin is able to gain the upperhand and sends Crews out of the ring, elbowing him against the barricade and stomping him into the ring post. Corbin picks up Crews and hits the End of Days for the win. Man, what are they doing with Crews. I mean, nothing obiviously, but man, he deserves so much better. After the match, Corbin gets in Jack Swagger's face at commentary before walking off.
  • Another Curt Hawkins vignette, in which he states more facts while doing slightly-racist impressions for no reason whatsoever.
  • Backstage, Naomi & Nikki Bella are interviewed. Naomi spews some stuff about glowing or something before saying Natalya is a jerk and Nikki says Carmella is a bootleg of her.
  • Renee Young interviews Dolph Ziggler. He says he's going to give everything he's got tonight to win the Intercontinental Championship. He calls Miz & Maryse the Brangelina of SmackDown, which could literally not have been made at a worst time. He says tonight he proves he belongs in WWE. He says he wasn't supposed to suceed, but he did and now he wants to shut the Miz up.
  • The Miz (c) vs Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental Championship-Ziggler mat wrestles Miz to start, getting several near-falls before Miz rolls out of the ring. Ziggler chases Miz around ringside and dodges an elbow drop back in the ring before trying to lock in a sleeper hold. Miz rolls out, so Ziggler follows Miz out and clotheslines him down. Miz is able to get offense in, dropkicking Ziggler three times and sending him outside the ring. Miz hits a double ax handle back in the ring and calls for the Skull Crushing Finale, Ziggler reverses and after a series of reversals, Miz keeps control and starts mocking Daniel Bryan, doing the "YES!' chant before doing the buzzsaw kicks. Ziggler tries to fight back, only to hit the ring post after Miz dodges him in the corner. Miz works over Ziggler until Ziggler fights out runs wild, hitting two clotheslines and a Stinger Splash, but Miz reverses a neckbreaker and throws Ziggler into the ring post again. Miz mocks Bryan again with the corner dropkicks before hitting an Awesome Clothesline. Miz goes for another double ax handle, but Ziggler counters with a dropkick for a near-fall. Miz counters the Famouser by dropping him onto the ropes with an Alley-Oop and goes for the Skull Crushing Finale, but Ziggler counters and hits a jumping DDT. Ziggler calls for the superkick, but instead hits the Cactus Clothesline, sending both him and Miz out of the ring before the commercial break. We come back to Ziggler trying to superplex Miz, but Miz reverses and goes for a sunset flip powerbomb. Ziggler holds on, but Miz is able to hit a sitdown powerbomb for a near-fall. Miz goes for the Figure 4, but Ziggler counters with a Sleeper Hold. Miz makes it to the ropes and hits a big boot for a near-fall. Ziggler gets a near-fall off a reversal of the Skull Crushing Finale and hits the Famouser for another near-fall. Miz blocks the Zig Zag by holding the ropes before Maryse hops up on the ring apron with the spray can like at Backlash. The referee catches her this time and ejects her before Miz and Ziggler trade roll ups. Ziggler hits the Zig Zag, but Miz kicks out. Miz rolls out and tries to leave with the title, but Ziggler catches him and rams him into the stairs on the outside. Ziggler rolls Miz back in the ring with the belt and while the referee gets the belt out of the ring, Miz sprays Ziggler with a spray can and hits the Skull Crushing Finale for the win. Another great match from these two, their feud has been great from a wrestling stand point so far.
  • Randy Orton vs Erick Rowan-Erick Rowan now has clown make-up painted onto his sheep mask. Why? Who knows/cares. Orton almost immediatley hits the RKO, but Rowan counters and hits a spinning powerslam. Rowan beats down Orton, dropkicking Orton out of the ring and beating him down on the outside. Rowan rolls Orton back in the ring, but Orton catches him with the drapping DDT when he tries to get back in the ring. Orton calls for the RKO and connects for the win. After the match, Wyatt's effect hits and the arena goes dark, with a spotlight revealing Rowan's sheep mask in the ring. Another screen effect hits and Wyatt appears on screen. He says Orton is just a man and can die, unlike a God like him.
  • Nikki Bella & Naomi vs Natalya & Carmella-Nikki almost gets the TKO right away, but Carmella causes her to drop Natalya. Natalya then tries to lock in the Sharpshooter, but Carmella pulls Nikki out of it so she can throw her around ringside. This causes a DQ, and Naomi boots Natalya in the face.
  • Backstage, Charly Caruso aproaches AJ Styles shining his WWE Championship. He says he's beaten both John Cena & Dean Ambrose and he's superior to both of them in every way. He says the only way he can lose the title is him not getting beaten, and says he's going to soak in Cena & Ambrose beating the crap out of eachother tonight.
  • John Cena vs Dean Ambrose-The two lock up to start, with Ambrose getting the better end of it. Ambrose floors Cena, forcing Cena into the corner to recover. Cena locks in a side headlock before flooring Ambrose. The two trade finisher reversals before Cena locks in another headlock. Ambrose gets to his feet and Cena floors him again, but Ambrose is able to side step and send Cena into the ring post and to the outside before the commercial break. We come back to Ambrose hitting a running bulldog on Cena. Ambrose calls for Dirty Deeds, but Cena reverses and locks in the STF. Ambrose makes it to the ropes and dumps Cena to the outside before hitting a suicide dive. Cena rolls through on a crossbody attempt and hits the Attitude Adjustment, but Ambrose kicks out. Ambrose reverses another Attitude Adjustment and hits Dirty Deeds, but Cena kicks out of that. The two trade punches, ending with Ambrose reversing an Attitude Adjustment attempt with a roll-up for the surprise win. Good match. Afterwards, AJ Styles pops up out of nowhere and hits a Phenomenal Forearm off the barricade on Cena and hits a Pele Kick on Ambrose. Outcomes Daniel Bryan, who announces that Ambrose will get his one-on-one rematch for the WWE Championship next week. Styles yells at Bryan from the ring before turning around into Dirty Deeds. Ambrose celebrates to close the show.
And that's about it. Overall, a fantastic SmackDown this week. This was honestly one of the best SmackDown's in a while. Two really good matches, another good match in the main event, and the women's contract signing got a big reaction (from what I saw). Great show this week.
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