AJ Styles fights Jinder Mahal on ‘SmackDown Live’ tonight. (WWE.com)
A new episode of SmackDown Live just wrapped up. Here’s what happened:
9:35 – Randy Orton defeats Baron Corbin. After the match, Jinder Mahal enters and tells Randy Orton to relish his time with the WWE Championship because he’s going to lose it this Sunday. As Orton is listening to Mahal, he’s attacked from behind by the Singh Brothers.
9:33 – Backstage, Sami Zayn says that he thinks Baron Corbin feels threatened by him. Suddenly, he’s attacked from behind by Baron Corbin.
9:30 – Backstage, Dolph Ziggler says that he doesn’t see the hype around Shinsuke Nakamura. But he says that he did some research into the subject and wants to share with us footage of everything Nakamura has done on SmackDown Live: Ziggler just shows a screen that says “No Footage Found,” with Ziggler saying Nakamura has done nothing of significance in the WWE.
9:12 – Carmella defeats Naomi. This occurs after Naomi becomes distracted by Tamina and Natalya brawling with Becky Lynch and Charlotte at ringside.
8:57 – Shane McMahon facilitates a contract signing between the tag teams of Tamina, Carmella and Natalya and Becky Lynch, Charlotte and Naomi. Natalya says that Becky Lynch, Charlotte and Naomi are pathetic. Becky Lynch says she can’t wait to slap the faces of all three of these women. Naomi says she’s going to snatch all three of these women bald. Charlotte warns the three of them to bring everything they have to the table at Backlash. Charlotte also says that after Backlash, she’s coming for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. James Ellsworth takes the microphone and preemptively turns Becky Lynch, Charlotte and Naomi down, suggesting that they have been checking him out.
8:50 – After the match, The Usos come out and trash talk Breezango, saying they’re going to beat them on Sunday.
8:46 – Breezango defeats The Shining Stars.
8:41 – Backstage, Randy Orton says that people don’t dislike Jinder Mahal because he’s different; they dislike him because he’s an ass.
8:38 – In another Law and Order parody segment, The Fashion Police investigate fashion crimes on SmackDown Live and say they’re going win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship this Sunday.
8:14 – Jinder Mahal defeats AJ Styles. The Singh Brothers watch the match at ringside and at one point attempt to distract AJ Styles, but they are unsuccessful. Eventually Kevin Owens, who was sitting in on commentary, attacks AJ Styles, but the official does not see it, as he is distracted by the Singh Brothers’ shenanigans, and so Jinder Mahal is able to sneak in and score the victory.
8:00 – The show opens with Kevin Owens in the ring hosting an episode of The Highlight Reel. He says that the segment has been updated with a new host. He’s taking this show over because its original host will never return, Owens says. Owens then shows footage of himself beating up Chris Jericho two weeks ago, and he says this is only a sneak preview of what’s going to happen this Sunday at Backlash when he beats AJ Styles.
AJ Styles enters. He says that he didn’t think Kevin Owens would stoop so low as to steal Chris Jericho’s segment. Owens tells Styles that he wasn’t invited to be on The Highlight Reel. Styles says that he’s going to beat Kevin Owens at Backlash and bring the United States Championship back to the United States. But rather than waiting until Sunday, maybe they can just have the match right now, Styles says.
Jinder Mahal enters. Mahal says that he was supposed to be the guest on The Highlight Reel. Mahal says that he’s going to become WWE Champion this Sunday, and all the Americans will have to bow down before him. Styles says that Mahal should focus on tonight, otherwise he won’t even make it until Sunday.
WWE ‘SmackDown Live’ Match Results & Spoilers May 16th