WWE Smackdown results

Tonight's WWE SmackDown opens with Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan backstage with James Ellsworth. He's very sick and can't compete against WWE Champion AJ Styles tonight. They send him home and have to find a new contender now. Ellsworth leaves and they load up on the hand sanitizer. We go to the SmackDown opening video.

- We're on a slight tape delay from Washington, DC as Mauro Ranallo welcomes us. He's joined by JBL, Tom Phillips and David Otunga.



- We go right to the ring and WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz is in with Maryse for another episode of MizTV. He puts over his guest and introduces AJ Styles. Out comes the WWE Champion.

Miz brings up Ellsworth not being able to wrestle tonight. AJ says it looks like he came down with a case of chin-fluenza. Styles says they did Ellsworth a favor by giving him the night off but eventually AJ is going to destroy Ellsworth in the ring. AJ goes on about what he's done and asks Miz who else is on his level. Miz says AJ is right but there's only one other Superstar that has restored prestige to his title. Miz says he has taken the Intercontinental Title and made it legendary. No offense, but Miz says AJ hasn't beat Ellsworth and he's been battling Dean Ambrose for months. Miz says he just beat Ambrose last week. AJ asks what's the point. Miz says AJ is right, he's not on AJ's level - he's above it. They stand up and face off. Miz says maybe it's time he made the WWE Title legendary. They get ready to fight but the music hits and out comes Ambrose.

Before anything can happen or Ambrose can speak, Dolph Ziggler's music hits and out he comes. Ziggler calls them paper champions and says they can't win without cheating. Miz comes in from the apron but Ziggler kicks him. Miz ends up dropping him with a Skull Crushing Finale. Ambrose hits Miz with a Dirty Deeds. AJ backs off as Ambrose stares at him from the ring. Ambrose nails Dirty Deeds on Ziggler. A graphic similar to The Wyatt Family's flashes and Harper appears with a massive clothesline on Ambrose. Harper points out at AJ. The graphic flashes again and that's it for the segment.

- Still to come, a #1 contenders tag team battle royal. Also, Carmella vs. Natalya. Back to commercial.

- AJ comes in and demands protection from Shane and Bryan. Bryan mocks him and they announce a Fatal 4 Way Elimination Match with Luke Harper, Dolph Ziggler, Dean Ambrose and The Miz. If anyone interferes, that will cause an elimination. The winner will face AJ on December 27th. AJ isn't happy and storms off.



Natalya vs. Carmella

We go to the ring and Nikki Bella is out for commentary. Natalya makes her way to the ring next.

Natalya takes the mic and addresses Nikki. She goes to clear the air between them but the music interrupts and out comes Carmella. The bell rings and Natalya unloads on her. Carmella scrambles to the floor but Natalya keeps it up. Carmella finally gets a breather at ringside as the referee counts. Carmella comes in off a big slap. Carmella pounds on Natalya and keeps control as we go to commercial.

Natalya turns her attention back to Nikki. Carmella takes advantage and rolls Natalya up for the win.

Winner: Carmella

- Still to come, the six-team #1 contenders battle royal. Back to commercial.

- John Cena's return is announced for December 27th.



- Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias is backstage with Apollo Crews. He's excited and mentions being on Tribute to The Troops tomorrow night. Maryse and The Miz walk up asking for "quiet on the set" so Miz can prepare for tonight's match. They diss Fluffy and he cracks a joke back at them.



#1 Contenders Battle Royal: American Alpha, The Hype Bros, Rhyno & Heath Slater, Breezango, The Ascension, The Vaudevillains

We go to the ring and out comes Chad Gable and Jason Jordan. Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley are out next. Back to commercial.

Back from the break and Tyler Breeze is out with Fandango. Konnor and Viktor are also in the ring as are Simon Gotch and Aiden English. Rhyno and Heath Slater are out next.

The bell rings and Gotch is immediately eliminated.

The match continues as everyone goes at it. The next elimination sees Gable toss Viktor several minutes later. Konnor comes right over and eliminates Gable. Rhyno fights off Breezango on the apron. Slater jumps at them but accidentally hits Rhyno and knocks him off the apron. Rhyno is eliminated. Slater can't believe it as we go to commercial.

Back from the break and Jordan saves himself. Jordan eliminates English from the apron. The Vaudevillains are the first team to be eliminated. Fandango and Slater go at it on the apron now. Slater sweeps him and Fandango is eliminated.

Jordan is the next man eliminated. Mojo was also eliminated at one point. American Alpha is out of the match. It's down to Konnor, Breeze, Slater and Ryder. They attack Ryder. Slater and Breeze go at it now. Konnor eliminates Slater. Konnor eliminates Breeze several minutes later. Ryder counters a move and sends Konnor over the top to win it.

Winner: Zack Ryder (The Hype Bros are new #1 contenders)

- After the match, Mojo comes out to celebrate with Ryder as we get replays.

- Alexa Bliss is backstage walking as we go to commercial.

- Back from the break and we get a vignette for Baron Corbin.

Alexa Bliss vs. Deonna Purrazzo

We go to the ring and out comes SmackDown Women's Champion Alexa Bliss. Her opponent, Deonna Purrazzo, waits in the ring. Greg Hamilton goes to introduce her but Bliss grabs the mic and dismisses him. Bliss calls Deonna Jane Ellsworth and says she doesn't do charity cases like Becky Lynch does. Bliss ends up beating Deonna down. The music interrupts and out comes Becky. She wants her rematch but Bliss says it will be on her own terms. Shane McMahon comes out and makes the match for right now.



SmackDown Women's Title Match: Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss

Back from the break and we get the bell. Becky goes for an early Disarm-Her.

Back and forth until Becky takes control. Becky unloads but Bliss blocks the Bexploder suplex. Bliss gets out of a submission and goes to the floor for a breather. Becky follows and nails her. Becky with another forearm to drop Bliss. Becky rolls Bliss back in but she retreats out the other side. Bliss sells a knee injury and fans boo her. The referee counts. Bliss keeps walking and gets counted out but retains.

Winner by Count Out: Becky Lynch

- After the match, Becky goes after Bliss and attacks her. Becky brings Bliss back in the ring and beats her around. Bliss escapes and leaves with her title as fans boo. Becky's music plays and we go to the announcers for WWE Network hype.

- Still to come, Harper vs. Miz vs. Ambrose vs. Ziggler to crown a new #1 contender. Back to commercial.



Fatal 4 Way #1 Contenders Elimination Match: Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz vs. Luke Harper

Back from the break and Dean Ambrose is out first for the main event. Dolph Ziggler is out next, followed by WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz and Maryse. Luke Harper is out next. Back to commercial.

Back from the break and WWE Champion AJ Styles is out for commentary. The bell rings and Harper unloads on everyone as Miz looks on. Harper nails a big dive to Ambrose on the floor. Harper comes back in and ends up taking Miz out. It comes down to Ziggler and Miz going at it as Maryse looks on. Miz mocks Daniel Bryan and does the "yes!" kicks on Ziggler. Ziggler ducks the running kick but Miz blocks him. Miz with two corner dropkicks. He goes for a third but Ambrose runs in and hits the bulldog. Ambrose runs the ropes and nails a big dive on Harper. It's blocked. Ambrose comes right back but Harper floors him. Harper comes in and grabs Ziggler but gets rolled up. Harper with a backbreaker on Ziggler.

Harper keeps control of Ziggler and goes back out to send Ziggler into the barrier. Harper stares down Miz and comes back in to continue the offense on Ziggler. Ambrose runs in and breaks a hold. Ziggler superkicks Harper into a Dirty Deeds. Harper with a big clothesline. Miz runs in for a 2 count on Ziggler and a 2 count on Harper. Miz throws a fit. Ambrose rolls Miz up with a small package. Miz is eliminated.

Back from the break and Ambrose with a 2 count on Ziggler. They go on and Ziggler gets caught in a swinging backbreaker. Ambrose keeps Ziggler grounded with a submission now. Ambrose with a snap suplex for a 2 count. Ambrose goes to the top but Ziggler runs up. Harper runs in and gets Ziggler in the Electric Chair. Ziggler turns it into a Zig Zag. Ambrose comes off the top with a clothesline on Ziggler for a 2 count.

Ziggler and Ambrose trade pin attempts. They collide in the middle of the ring with clotheslines and both go down. Harper comes back in and ends up hitting a big sitdown powerbomb on Ziggler for a 2 count. Harper with big running elbows on Ambrose and Ziggler in the corners. Harper takes Ambrose to the top but turns around for a superkick from Ziggler. Ambrose comes off the top and hits Dirty Deeds for the pin. Harper is eliminated.

Ziggler and Ambrose go at it now. Ziggler unloads but misses an elbow drop. Ambrose ends up launching Ziggler into the ring post. More back and forth. Ziggler with a big top rope facebuster. Ziggler goes over but Ambrose rolls him up for 2. They collide with clotheslines again. The Miz comes back to ringside and taunts Ziggler. Ziggler rolls to the floor and wants to fight. Ambrose nails a dive from the ring, sending Miz into the barrier. Ziggler superkicks Miz. Ambrose takes advantage and drops Ziggler. Ambrose brings Ziggler back in the ring. Miz stops Ambrose from entering by grabbing his leg. Ambrose sends Miz into the barrier. Ambrose comes back in but Ziggler superkicks him for the win.

Winner and New #1 Contender: Dolph Ziggler

- After the match, Ziggler recovers as his music plays and we go to replays. Ziggler poses in the corner as WWE Champion AJ Styles stares him down from ringside. Ziggler talks some trash as we go backstage to WWE Cruiserweight Champion Rich Swann to hype WWE 205 Live. SmackDown goes off the air with AJ mouthing off as he leaves with the title in the air.

So after months and months of Ziggler vs Miz and Ambrose vs AJ after we had Ziggler vs AJ and Ambrose vs Miz we are now back full circle again with Ziggler vs AJ and potentially Miz vs Ambrose again - Is the Smackdown roster that bare?

Valid point Paul... Not really sure what's happening with Orton but with Cena away the main-event scene is seriously thread-bare at the moment and for all the praise they getting for consistently putting on a strong show, they seriously need to start building up Bray Wyatt with Luke Harper/Baron Corbin close behind so they seriously need to be smart with their next storylines. Not sure what's going on with Undertaker involved in something could help spice things up!?

In a way I think Smackdown's strength is in it's smaller roster allowing them to tell more simple stories and have to come up with ways to present feuds without just having them face each other every week. 

I feel like they easily have enough though, they just have to use people cleverly. 

You've got John Cena and The Undertaker for the big feuds when they come back.

Then you can easily have one of the Wyatts, be it Bray, Orton or Luke Harper enter the main event scene. You've got Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose to challenge for either belts. Baron Corbin can be used in the main event and you could even do title vs title with The Miz.

That's more than enough for a year long program, then I imagine there will be a draft which can mix things up a bit. I'd have also thought Samoa Joe will be moving up soon to join Smackdown.

I'd have thought this week would of been perfect for Joe really since no longer needed in NXT tapings & rematch done.

I'm going to guess it will be a Rumble appearance for Joe.

John Cena vs Styles at the rumble?

Smackdown beats Raw again this week. Miz/Styles promo was better than the whole of Raw.

I see either Cena vs Styles at Rumble, or Styles vs The Undertaker. AJ will drop the title to either of them and then the WWE Championship match will be Cena vs Undertaker.

House shows through January are supposed to be Cena v Styles v Ambrose, so not sure if that's the plan.

I'm not convinced it's Cena v Taker. I think it's Cena v AJ with Cena winning his 16th WWE Title at the big one.

Cena v Taker for the title makes no sense.

I think based on the past year AJ deserves his WrestleMania Main Event - Its also the ultimate WCW/TNA vs WWE showdown in terms of star names in the past 10+ years to have AJ vs Cena - So Vince obviously wont miss the opportunity to have his guy go over on the grandest stage of all

I am not complaining about AJ vs Dolph. Its going to be exceptional but I fear no real feud and there wont be much of a build.

Doesn't need to be since being done in 2 weeks time when Cena comes back conveniently so i imagine it'll be him & Cena at Rumble

Ziggler needs to sort his hair out. At one point on Smackdown he looked like he should be in Def Leppard.

Smackdown is really bad compared to Raw - AJ/Miz the only ones doing great work - Ambrose is a mid carder at best, Ziggler a glorified spot monkey

Had high hopes for SmackDown! and think they've done well establishing it but it's clear as day that they're seriously short on main event talent, with the direction they've taken Orton, and it seems to be a much longer route than I anticipated them going and with Cena on a much reduced scheduled then the main event division is down to the bare bones, I don't think this would necessarily be a big problem if the long term objective was for Ambrose to win the belt back off AJ, if that were the case then we could play off an Ambrose hard luck story as well as AJ doing his thing from afar but it's clear to me that while Ambrose will have his day again sometime he ain't the guy to play hero to AJ's villian either short or long term.

Having Styles beat Ziggler in a Title match wouldn't be that bad in normal circumstances but we've already had the shock #1 contendeship land on his lap 4 months ago, we also had him in a pretty entertaining but losing feud with The Miz for the IC Title - I'm not quite sure what Ziggler did to merit a spot higher up the card when he failed lower down the card, I think fans find that hard to by into when being asked to suspend their belief about potential title changes.

I fully expect AJ and Cena to me the main feud going into the Rumble and depending on how it goes it could be the big SD WrestleMania match too, I'd rather if they wanted them at Mania then not to throw them together at the Rumble but that is just me, regardless, Cena is likely to take far more breaks now than ever and go luck to him, he's at a stage where he's paid his dues to get that type of role but it leaves a huge gap on SD and if they're planning on taking AJ to RAW next year which should be a no brainer then they really need to put guys who are capable of making that Main Event step up on SmackDown!.

They could eradicate this problem in a nanosecond if they dipped their toes into the talent pool in nXt to be fair, Joe, Bobby Roode and Nakamura would add star quality by the bucket load to a show like SmackDown! Live.

Baron Corbin has potential to step up but needs to make the move against a face champion which likely wont be for a while. Tying up Wyatt and Orton wasnt the best idea despite how much Im enjoying it, you've lost two main eventers there.

Its looking more and more likely Cena is moving into a part time schedule to fit in his outside work.

Cant help but think of what could have been had Sami Zayn actually be traded to RAW. He would have amazing matches with AJ.

They need to start working with Crewes more. The guy is stupid talented but needs a character or atleast something to do.

I'm not just saying it because I'm a big fan - Heath Slater has all the tools to main event as a face or a heel. It'll take a bit of work to undo all the tomfoolery that they've made him do in the last few years - but he could step up.

Heath is certainly over as a babyface, and could probably be believably slotted into a program as an underdog whos written off but surprises everyone. Champion? Dont think so, but could be in a feud for the title for a month of two.

I'd take that

Cesaro, Sheamus and Zayn would all be amazing for Smackdown, all floundering instead. Strowman too.

I must admit. I stopped caring about the number one contender match when it was Ambrose/Ziggler. Harper should have won, hes an amazing and underutilised talent

I hope they can do something useful with Heath Slater to be fair, I know people wanted Sami traded to SD but I think and hope that's an opening they'll keep for Slater, I agree he has all the tools, when I first saw him around 2008 he reminded me of a young Edge/Christian type of figure, he got completely swallowed up earlier in his WWE career but he took that free agent thing and made it work, he showed he can talk, showed he can connect with fans and proved that fans actually give a damn about him.

He would he a guy I think can be built up but I don't think at the moment or in the immediate future (now to Mania) that he has the genuine credibility for the Main Event scene

As for Baron Corbin I just don't get him, I don't rate him at all and don't see him as a guy who could do anything major, could be wrong but all I see is a guy who tries to hard to be Randy Orton, now that's not necessarily a bad thing but he isn't even doing a good impression of Orton plus we've already got Orton on the same show.

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:Cesaro, Sheamus and Zayn would all be amazing for Smackdown, all floundering instead. Strowman too.

I must admit. I stopped caring about the number one contender match when it was Ambrose/Ziggler. Harper should have won, hes an amazing and underutilised talent

Are Cesaro and Sheamus floundering? I know you don't particularly like their tag team but they've been consistently featured on Raw and I'd expect them to be the next tag team champions.

A Heath vs Miz feud could be really good

Crimey wrote:

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:Cesaro, Sheamus and Zayn would all be amazing for Smackdown, all floundering instead. Strowman too.

I must admit. I stopped caring about the number one contender match when it was Ambrose/Ziggler. Harper should have won, hes an amazing and underutilised talent

Are Cesaro and Sheamus floundering? I know you don't particularly like their tag team but they've been consistently featured on Raw and I'd expect them to be the next tag team champions.

I wouldnt say so. I saw someone on Facebook complaing that Sami was being buried. I dont really think that featuring on TV every week in a decent mid card program constitutes burial.

They're not in the main event scene but that certainly doesnt mean they are floundering. I was skeptical at first about Cesaro and Sheamus but I've generally enjoyed their work as a team and the natural build to them finding a mutual respect and forming a strong bond together. I expect they'll beat New Day for the titles now to complete the story, even more so now that Demolitions record is gone.

I do wonder where they are going with Sami. I dont think he's beating Braun on Sunday but I do think he'll last the 10 minutes, but where do they go from there? Getting your ass kicked for 10 minutes doesnt scream US TITLE SHOT to me. It'll help put over his toughness and tanacity that we saw in NXT.

I don't think an odd couple months tag team is the best use of either, especially if you look at the mess of the Smackdown main event scene. I don't think it will enhance either career, nor do I think they should ever be tag champs.

Cesar has had better partners and Sheamus is going back into a "he likes to fight" role.