Credit: WINC
Big E vs. John Morrison
We go right to the ring and out comes Big E as Greg Hamilton does the introductions. We get a pre-recorded video of Big E hyping himself up for this singles run. Out next comes John Morrison. We also get a pre-recorded vide of Morrison talking about how The New Day is injury prone.
The lights start flickering as the match is about to begin. A masked female member of RETRIBUTION appears on the apron. Big E and Morrison stop and look at her. She enters the ring and faces off with Big E and Morrison now. More masked men and women appear with weapons inside the Performance Center. Cole and Graves run to the back. Big E and Morrison start fighting the masked invaders but they’re beat down. Other members of the group are standing on top of the announce table, yelling and raising their weapons. They lay Big E and Morrison out as the boos get louder. RETRIBUTION now takes off and runs away to the back.
Big E is face down in the ring. Morrison is laid out on the floor at ringside. The Miz runs down and checks on Morrison as we go to commercial.
Back from the break and a group of Superstars are in the back. The Miz apologizes to John Morrison for not being there, noting that he had a call with Maryse. Morrison blames everything on Big E sending a tweet out. Miz and Morrison leave. King Baron Corbin enters and says we are under attack. No one wants to listen. He says we need direction and he is that guy. If everyone follows him, he can lead them to safety.
He goes on and Big E tells him to shut his mouth. Big E says this is our house and he’ll be damned if the Foot Clan from Ninja Turtles runs up in here and puts their feet on his couch. Big E goes on and gets everyone hyped up. He says he will go back in the ring tonight, beat Morrison and show RETRIBUTION how it’s done. Big E says now is not the time to run and hide, it’s the time to fight. He asks who is with him and most everyone seems to be. Sheamus walks in and mocks Big E. Sheamus goes on and taunts Shorty G. Sheamus isn’t afraid of RETRIBUTION but if they had any sense at all, they’d be afraid. Big E isn’t backing down but he leaves and some of the others follow. Sheamus, Corbin and a few others look on.
We go back to the arena and see extra security standing guard now.
Triple Brand SmackDown Women’s Championship #1 Contender’s Battle Royal
Asuka reverses the clutch by Shayna Baszler and sends her out of the ring to earn her another title shot.
Winner: Asuka
Asuka now has SummerSlam title shots against Banks and Bayley. She celebrates as the music hits and we go to replays as The Golden Role Models look on, not happy with the result.
Still to come, an update on Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose.
Back from the break and we see Sasha Banks and Bayley backstage. Bayley isn’t happy about Asuka earning the right to face her at SummerSlam. They calm down some but Asuka suddenly attacks and beats her down. Asuka taunts Banks and Bayley as officials rush over to break things up.
Sheamus tells security guards that they can leave because RETRIBUTION won’t come when he’s out there.
Backstage, Nikki Cross tries to explain her actions last week to Alexa Bliss, but Bliss says that with The Fiend’s attack, she has a lot on her mind.
Sheamus vs. Shorty G
Sheamus wins with the Brogue Kick.
Winner: Sheamus
WWE Intercontinental Champion AJ Styles is seen backstage yelling at WWE Producer Joseph Parks, who looks terrified as he shows AJ something on a screen. Graves says AJ is tired of facing challengers who aren’t worthy, so tonight we will see the debut of the Phenomenal Statistic System. Back to commercial.
– Back from the break and out comes WWE Intercontinental Champion AJ Styles. WWE Producer Joseph Parks is with him, but it looks like he’s playing a new character. There’s an easel in the middle of the ring but it’s covered up.
AJ says a lot of going on in WWE right now and nobody cares about these hooligans trying to tear stuff up. He says we have more pressing things to worry about, like who he will face at SummerSlam. AJ goes on about being a fighting champion and how nerds keep telling him who he should defend against based on statistics. AJ says it dawned on him – when he watches baseball he looks at batting averages. He also looks at statistics when he watches football. Then he realized he’s a handsome stud of a nerd himself, because he cares about statistics. AJ says it’s as easy as this – if you’re going to go by statistics, then he’s hired a team to come up with the Phenomenal Intercontinental Statistics System or P.I.S.S. He says it’s a work in progress.
AJ says this doesn’t mean he’s just handing out title shots, he doesn’t hand anything out. You will earn this. He pulls off the top part of the easel covering and the whiteboard shows his name at the top in the #1 spot. He pulls off the rest of the covering to show who else is on the chart but there’s no one else. The crowd boos. AJ says no one else has earned the right to be in the ring with him. But here’s the truth – if you work hard, real hard, really, really hard, then one day you can make it on the board and face him for the title. The music interrupts and out comes Jeff Hardy to a pop.
Hardy mentions the respect he has for AJ and his career. He also talks about how Sheamus robbed him in the Intercontinental Title tournament. Jeff goes on about how special the Intercontinental Title is to him. Jeff goes on and says AJ has to admit that Styles vs. Hardy sounds mega-cool. A “mega-cool!” chant breaks out. Hardy says he’s out here, man to man, to ask AJ for a shot at the title. AJ says statistics aside, he respects Jeff and always had. They’ve known each other for a long time and Jeff has always been good to him. AJ admires what Jeff has been through and where he’s coming from. AJ says a lot of people would love to see them in the ring together. AJ goes on giving Jeff props and says he deserves to be on the board. AJ lures Jeff in and says “hell no!” to the title shot. AJ says hits won’t be a pity party… Jeff suddenly attacks AJ and beats him down. Jeff grabs the marker and writes his name on the whiteboard. Jeff stands tall as his music hits while AJ is laid out on the floor.
– Still to come, a face off between The Fiend and The Monster. Plus, Big E vs. John Morrison.
– We see SmackDown Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura backstage. They put the belts on display and talk some about Lucha House Party not having a chance against them. Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik suddenly creep up and snatch the titles, running away with them. The champs go after them as we return to a commercial break.
– Back from the break and Kayla Braxton stops AJ Styles and his assistant, Joseph Parks. Kayla asks about Jeff Hardy. AJ says Jeff assaulted him and doesn’t respect the title or him, or analytics. AJ says if Jeff wants a piece of him, he’s going to get it. AJ says he will show everyone what happens when you mess with him – you get erased. AJ turns to erase Jeff’s name off the whiteboard that his assistant is carrying, but he gets upset when he sees it’s written in permanent market. AJ fumes and tells his assistant to come on.
Gran Metalik vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Metalik wins with a big elbow drop.
Winner: Gran Metalik
Alexa Bliss is preparing for her interview backstage.
Matt Riddle is asked about King Corbin, and he calls him a royal pain. Shorty G comes out and wants to apologize for his actions and Riddle accepts his apology before Corbin strikes him from behind. He thanks Shorty G for the help and G looks concerned. Corbin says he knew he’d amount to something great.
Alexa Bliss talks about his relationship with Braun Strowman and she says at first meeting Braun was intimidating, but over time they grew close as a pair. She says that she may even thought about them as a couple. SHe doesn’t know if that was why The Fiend attacked her, and that’s a question for him. Bliss then says she understands a moth to a flame through her interaction with The Fiend last week.
When Braun said he didn’t care about Alexa, Alexa isn’t able to answer and we go to commercial.
Sonya Deville is backstage. She addresses Mandy Rose and says she was surprised to hear her Hair vs. Hair challenge for SummerSlam. Deville says Rose is going to look great bald. Deville goes on taking shots at Rose and says she will destroy her once and for all. Deville accepts the challenge for SummerSlam.
Big E vs. John Morrison
Big E wins with the standing leg lock submission.
Winner: Big E
After the match, Big E stands tall as his music hits. He rolls to the floor to leave as Miz checks on Morrison. Big E is suddenly leveled at ringside by a big Brogue Kick from Sheamus, who runs down the ramp as Big E is exiting the ring. WWE Universal Champion Braun Strowman suddenly comes out yelling, with a freshly shaved head, but still with his beard. Strowman stares at the ring and marches down as the others retreat. We go to commercial.
– Back from the break and WWE Universal Champion Braun Strowman is in the ring with his new bald look.
Strowman delivers a message to “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt and says he warned him after the Swamp Fight that he would bet he most evil son of a b—h we’ve ever seen. Strowman calls The Fiend to the ring so he can rip him from limb to limb. Strowman says he will be the last thing The Fiend sees before he eats out his entrails. The music hits and out comes Alexa Bliss instead.
Bliss says at the risk of upsetting Braun more, she thinks she owes it to their friendship to have a conversation. He asks about what. She doesn’t believe his comments from last week when he said he doesn’t give a damn about her. She says they’ve been friends for years but he disagrees, saying she used him as a pawn. Strowman goes on about how Bliss played him for some clown. He says everyone can get it now, including Bliss. He tells her to get out of his ring so he can deal with The Fiend. She tells him to be careful for what he wishes for. She threatens to slap some sense into him if he won’t listen. She yells at him to look at her when she’s talking. Strowman turns but she starts slapping him over and over, telling him to wake up.
Strowman scoops Bliss and presses her high above his head. The lights start going out as Strowman still has Bliss held above his head. It sounds like The Fiend is making his arrival. Strowman yells and asks where he is. Strowman tosses Bliss through the air right as the lights go out all the way. The red lights come back up and we see Bliss down on the mat, but didn’t actually see Strowman throw her to the mat. The Fiend is standing over Bliss but there’s no sign of Strowman. The Fiend looks around and Strowman appears on the big screen. He’s just laughing. The Fiend clutches his own head and starts laughing in his mask. Braun keeps laughing until he yells out at The Fiend. The Fiend looks up from Bliss as he and Strowman stare at each other, Strowman still on the big screen. The screen flashes with a shot of The Fiend and we hear him say “Let me in!” as SmackDown goes off the air.
