AJ Styles and Co. made their presence known on RAW this week, but what’s ahead on SmackDown? (Instagram)
Well, they tried to play nice for one night.
After Vince McMahon announced that both Stephanie and Shane would have control over running RAW, the siblings put on their best faces – Stephanie even gave Shane a present on Monday night – but by the end of the show, the two were, once again, at odds.
It’s that tension that will help add to the drama of this week’s SmackDown as the WWE roster continues to respond to the events of Sunday night’s Payback pay-per-view. Read on for a complete breakdown of this week’s event, which taped in Kansas City on Tuesday night, including a look at who notched victories, who added fuel to a rivalry fire and who didn’t show up:
- The New Day will be without Kofi Kingston during SmackDown. Xavier Woods told fans that Kofi, who welcomed his second child with his wife just a few days ago, was home dealing with family business.
- Chris Jericho and the recently reinstated Highlight Reel segment get SmackDown underway and the Superstar begins by recounting how he put Dean Ambrose in the hospital. He brings out his guest Sami Zayn, but they’re interrupted by WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz and Maryse. Jericho is less than pleased and storms off. The Miz and Zayn scuffle.
- Sami Zayn defeated The Miz by DQ. Naturally, Kevin Owens came out during the match to join in on commentary and ended up interrupting the match and attacking Zayn. Cesaro also ran out in an attempt to the make the save.
- AJ Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson are part of a backstage segment and the tag team tells Styles that he has to get extreme in preparation for his match with Roman Reigns.
- The Vadevillains took down Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel. Afterwards Big Cass came out to confront The Vaudevillains again and took them both out. The crowd loved it.
- Natalya and Becky Lynch joined forces to beat Emma and WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte after Emma tapped out.
- AJ Styles approached Roman Reigns in the locker room and asked if he planned to get involved in The Usos match against Gallows and Anderson. Reigns basically avoided an answer, saying he’s the champion, so he goes where he wants.
- Rusev cruised to a victory over Zack Ryder and is joined in-ring afterwards by Lana. WWE United States Champion Kalisto breaks up the celebration, nailing a corkscrew forearm on Rusev.
- The storyline with Fandango, Goldust, R-Truth and Tyler Breeze continued. It’s still as awkward as you’d expect.
- Another round of Luke Gallows/Karl Anderson/AJ Styles against The Usos/WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns. The champ gets hit by Anderson who ends up kicking him in the face outside the ring. Reigns jumps into the ring and the match ends in DQ.
- Reigns and The Usos defeat Styles/Gallows/Anderson after Reigns speared Anderson for the pin.
SmackDown airs at 8 p.m. ET Thursday on USA.