Daniel Bryan on ‘SmackDown Live.’ (WWE.com)
A new episode of SmackDown Live just finished airing on the USA Network. Here’s what has happened so far:
9:58 – After the match ends, Randy Orton enters and attacks The Singh Brothers and Jinder Mahal. Mahal is gearing up for an RKO on Mahal when The Singh Brothers enter the ring and team up on Orton. Orton executes an RKO on both of them, but by the time he’s finished, Mahal has fled.
9:44 – Jinder Mahal defeats Luke Harper. Towards the very end of the match, Baron Corbin enters with his Money in the Bank contract, but this is just to mess with Jinder Mahal. This almost allows Luke Harper to pick up the victory, but Mahal ends up winning.
9:30 – Daniel Bryan enters, and he says that it’s great to be back. He says that he’s spent the past two days trying to sort this out, sticking to the WWE rulebook. He then introduces Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Tamina, Natalya, and Carmella. Daniel Bryan says that Money in the Bank ladder matches are no disqualification matches, and there’s nothing in the rulebook that says that you can’t have someone else climb the ladder and unhook the briefcase. That said, while there have been Money in the Bank interferences before, there has never before been someone who climbs the ladder, unhooks the briefcase, and hands it to someone else, so we’re in uncharted territory. Daniel Bryan concludes that Carmella has to hand over the Money in the Bank briefcase because he’s not going to let Carmella ruin an important moment in women’s WWE history. Bryan says he’s going to take the briefcase, and next week, there will be another women’s Money in the Bank ladder match, featuring all five women again.
9:23 – Backstage, Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder want their SmackDown Tag Team Championship title opportunity, as they became the number one contenders last fall. Daniel Bryan says that he’ll give them another opportunity to become the number one contenders; they just have to beat The Usos next week.
9:17 – Kevin Owens defeats Chad Gable in a match with the United States Championship on the line.
9:11 – Kevin Owens enters. He says that the only reason he didn’t win the ladder match on Sunday was because the other competitors conspired against him. He also says that he wants to make SmackDown Live the land of opportunity, and so he’s issuing an open challenge to anyone from Dayton, Ohio. AJ Styles enters. Styles is ready to go, but Owens says that the challenge was specifically for a local resident of Dayton. Chad Gable then enters. Gable says that he just recently moved to Dayton…this morning. Styles is flustered, but the referee rings the bell.
9:03 – Backstage, Daniel Bryan tells Sami Zayn that he’s booked him in a match against Baron Corbin next week. Becky Lynch approaches Daniel Bryan, and she’s upset because she physically had the briefcase in her hand before it was handed to Carmella. Becky says that SmackDown isn’t feeling like the land of opportunity right now; it feels like the land of handouts. Daniel Bryan says that it’s complicated, and Becky Lynch asks him why doing the right thing is so complicated.
8:45 – Shinsuke Nakamura defeats Dolph Ziggler.
8:36 – Randy Orton says in an interview that on Sunday, he just lost control when he saw the Singh Brothers put their hands on his father. He says that he’s willing to do anything that it takes to get his hands on Jinder Mahal, threatening to end his career.
8:32 – In a backstage interview, Naomi says that it’s unfortunate what happened with the women’s ladder match at Money in the Bank. She also says that it doesn’t matter who ends up with the contract because she’ll be ready. She’s interrupted by Lana. Lana says that if it weren’t for Carmella’s distraction, she would have won the match on Sunday. Lana challenges Naomi to a rematch. Naomi finds this ridiculous, but she still agrees to have a rematch with Lana next week.
8:27 – Backstage, Natalya sucks up to Daniel Bryan, congratulating him on becoming a father. Taminta cuts right to the chase, asking if he’s going to let Carmella get away with this. Bryan says he’s going to have an official decision shortly.
8:20 – Big E defeats Jimmy Uso.
8:14 – The New Day enter. They say they’re disappointed that The Usos walked away from the match on Sunday. The Usos enter, with Jimmy Uso ready for a match with Big E.
8:09 – Backstage, Charlotte approaches Daniel Bryan and demands he take action. Bryan says that technically, the Money in the Bank ladder match was a no disqualifications match. Charlotte says this should only apply to those who were actually in the match, and she urges Daniel Bryan to do the right thing.
8:03 – Carmella and James Ellsworth enter. Ellsworth demands that everyone puts their hands together for the first ever Ms. Money in the Bank. Carmella welcomes the audience to the fabulous era of Carmella. Carmella says that her name has been trending worldwide over the past 48 hours, but not because she won the ladder match; instead, it’s trending because of how she won the match. Everyone says that she relied on James Ellsworth to win, but she doesn’t care what everyone thinks, she says. Carmella adds that she won the match fair and square, pointing to recent instances of people interfering in Money in the Bank matches and saying that the match did not have any rules.
8:00 – Becky Lynch, Natalya, Charlotte and Tamina crowd outside Daniel Bryan’s office. He exits and tells them to calm down, saying he wants to hear them out but first needs to hear from Carmella and James Ellsworth.