Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin
WWE.com
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura by disqualification…
Highlights: Nakamura and Corbin got real rough as soon they were within eyesight of each other. Some taunting from Nakamura while Corbin took refuge outside the ring occurred, which led into Corbin switching places with Nakamura. Back inside the ring, Corbin struck down Nakamura and locked him into a Bearhug. Nakamura winced in pain for a good while, but he soon escaped and locked Corbin into a nasty arm/head lock. Corbin fought out of it and responded with a Big Boot to the Japanese superstar. Corbin decided to take the action to the outside and slam Nakamura’s now weakened back into the barricade. Corbin threw Nakamura back into the ring for more back punishment soon after.
Nakamura finally broke Corbin’s tight grip and countered Corbin again with a knee strike when he attempted to Chokeslam him. Nakamura got into a furious striking exchange with Corbin that he ended up on the winning end of and also landed his two corner knee strikes on the big man. When Corbin got some offense going again, it was due to him pulling off his slide underneath the top rope followed by a devastating Lariat. Corbin went to Suplex Nakamura, but Nakamura used his knees to break out of his grip. Nakamura then dropped Corbin with a Gordbuster and signaled for his Kinshasa. Corbin caught wind of what Nakamura was doing and caught him off guard with a Deep Six slam. When both men crawled back to their feet, they went back and forth on each other with continued strikes. Nakamura got the better of their exchange once more and looked to land his knee strike finisher again. Corbin lay dormant though, which cause Nakamura to pick Corbin back up. But Corbin chose to take the easy way out by low blowing Nakamura and getting himself disqualified. A smiling Corbin left the ring, retrieved his MITB briefcase and left Nakamura in the middle of the ring. But then, Corbin decided to return to the ring and finish Nakamura with a briefcase shot to the gut and his End of Days.
Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Lana vs. Natalya vs. Tamina (Fatal 5-Way Elimination Match to Determine the #1 Contender for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship at SummerSlam)
WWE.com
Winner: The new #1 Contender for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship, Natalya!
Highlights: Naomi came out before the match began o present her colorful entrance to the live crowd and join the commentary team. After all the women entered the ring, the fast and furious action ensued. Lana targeted Charlotte for a bit until she got shoved outside the ring. Tamina started to dominated for a bit herself. Lana chose to stay on the outside and beat down Natalya and Lynch. Lana and Tamina grouped up on Charlotte while the other match’s participants tried recovering on the outside. The action truly got even more intense after Tamina landed a Superkick on Lynch and began targeting Natalya. Charlotte threw herself back into the fray and got into it with Natalya, but then she found herself locked into a Sharpshooter. Charlotte almost looked like she was on the verge of tapping out, but she escaped. Lynch came in and almost tapped Lana out with a Dis-Arm-Her on two different occasions, but Lynch ended up causing Tamina to be the one to submit to her. Lynch then got one more big Dis-Arm-Her on Lana to finally cause her to quit.
While Lynch had her back turned though, Natalya rolled up her up for the elimination. Soon after, Natalya and Charlotte ended up as the last two women standing. Submissions attempts became the theme of their finishing home stretch. At one point, Charlotte picked Natalya up and brought her back down with a Sitdown Powerbomb. Charlotte looked to take out Natalya with a Moonsault, but Natalya got her knees up in time to weaken Charlotte long enough to throw her head back into the corner ring post. Natalya rolled up Charlotte for the big win soon after. Naomi ran into the ring to shake her next challenger’s hand, but Natalya chose to ignore her sign of respect.
John Cena vs. Rusev (Flag Match)
WWE.com
Winner: John Cena!
Highlights: Rusev wasted no time in trying to recover his respective flag, but Cena pulled him back down and locked into him a headlock on two occasions. Rusev shook him off, then squashed him in the corner with an Avalanche Splash. Rusev then took another chance at grabbing his flag, but Cena cut him off once more and slammed his head into the mat with a Facebuster. Cena then made his first attempt at getting the US flag, but Rusev awoke just in time to bring him down to the mat. Rusev then dished out plenty of strikes on the fighting patriot. While Cena tried to get back to his feet, Rusev climbed up this flag. Rusev was forced to come back down and spike Cena with a big DDT.
While the crowd roared on, Cena finally fought hard to make a comeback against the “Bulgarian Brute.” Cena landed most of his signature comeback moves until Rusev cut off his Attitude Adjustment attempt. Rusev landed a Spinebuster on Cena and then threw Cena right to the outside. Rusev then got extremely close to recovering his flag, but Cena clobbered him with repeated punches. Cena flew off the top rope for his flying leg drop, but Rusev caught him in a Powerbomb. Rusev then proceeded to finally get his hands on his flag. When he came back down with with it, Cena responded with a dropkick that cause Rusev to drop his flag. Rusev got back up, ran head first in the corner steel pole and then got grounded with an AA. Cena tried to get hands around the US flag, but Rusev pulled him off in a Powerbomb position. Cena flipped out of it later on and soon forced Rusev to pass out while locked in an STF. Cena then unhooked the US flag, but then got walked right into a devastating Superkick from Rusev.
Rusev almost took his flag right up to his podium, but Cena cut him off before he could do so. Cena entered the ring to get his flag and try to make his way up the ramp, but Rusev caught up with him to stop him. A shot from the steel steps from Rusev to Cena came as a result of this exchange. When the fight entered the podium area, Rusev caught Cena during a flying body press attempt and threw him away with a Fall Away Slam to the entrance area. Rusev set up two tables soon after and continued beating Cena into mush. Rusev taunted Cena with his own taunt and looked to put him through both tables with an AA, but Cena escaped Rusev’s grasp. Cena climbed up the ramp for his flag, but Rusev knocked him down again. Both men clotheslined each other on the entrance ramp, but Cena woke up in time to grab his flag and almost stick it into place.
Rusev would have none of it, which led to him using the podium stand to lay out Cena long enough to lock him into The Accolade. Cena passed out, which gave Rusev a chance to put his flag into the podium stand. Out of nowhere, Cena put himself between Rusev and the stand to stop him. Cena almost landed an AA, but Rusev escaped and went for another Accolade attempt. With Rusev on his back, Cena flipped Rusev into position for an AA. When he finally did, Cena dropped Rusev onto both tables with it and stuck the US flag into its rightful place.