WWE.com Charlotte Flair vs Carmella
The latest episode of WWE SmackDown aired tonight on the USA Network. Here’s what happened:
10:20 – Flair wins. After her victory, Becky Lynch shows up and attacks her. She grabs a microphone and tells her she’s taking her title back. The episode ends with Lynch leaving the ring as fans chant her name.
10:10 – Carmella gains the upper hand early on, attacking Flair with a series of brutal body hits. She taunts Flair verbally in between hits, but she eventually pushes it too far and Flair turns the tables.
Carmella vs Charlotte Flair
9:50 – AJ Styles comes to the ring and demands that Samoa Joe come to the ring. Samoa Joe calls Styles’ wife while he’s in the ring. He continues to play mind games heading into their Hell in a Cell encounter. We then cut to commercial.
9:30 – Almas does some damage to Bryan early on. Bryan manages to recover, however, and puts up a fight on his own. Just when it seems like Bryan is able to seal the victory, The Miz comes out of nowhere and gets Bryan in a headlock.
Andrade Almas vs Daniel Bryan
9:10 – Andrade Almas and Zelina Vega come out. Vega says Almas has done a lot since coming to SmackDown, and now it’s time for him to wrestle Daniel Bryan. Paige comes out and makes the match official.
9:00 – Kay wins. Afterwards, Daniel Bryan and Brie come to the ring to talk about their upcoming match against Maryse and The Miz at Hell In the Cage. They share a few harsh words before cutting to commercial.
8:50 – Kay hits Naomi with several body shots and lands a close two-count. Naomi recovers and hits Kay with a jawbreaker. She runs Kay into the middle turnbuckle and hits her in the face. Despite this, Kay rolls up Naomi to get the pin.
Naomi vs Billie Kay
8:33 – The Bar wins. Jeff Hardy comes out to talk about Randy Orton’s obsession with him. Orton shows up and says he’ll fight Hardy, but not on his terms. Hardy announces reveals he and Orton will be fight at Hell in a Cell.
8:30 – Primo tags himself in and dives right into a kick from Gallows. Anderson and Gallow set up for their finisher, but Epico manages to save Primo with a backstabber. Cesaro covers Gallows during some mayhem outside the ring, and he winds up pinning him for the win.
The Bar vs Colons vs Anderson and Gallows
8:10 – SmackDown opens with The New Day heading to the ring to celebrate defeating The Bludgeon Brothers last week. Big E talks about being a five-time champs, but Booker T comes and interrupts him. He congratulates the team and they cut to commercial.
There’s plenty going on this week. WWE Champ AJ Styles vowed to keep his cool for his family’s sake after battering Samoa Joe at SummerSlam, but it remains to be seen whether he’ll be able to keep his promise until the two have their rematch in San Antonio next month. The biggest question regarding Styles and Samoa is whether general manager Paige will be forced to add a cell stip to keep them on their best behavior.
The New Day will also have a big night, and its likely that Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Big E will be celebrating with lots of breakfast food. Elsewhere, The Bar will battle Gallows & Anderson and The Colons in a mini-tournament that will determine who their first challengers will be.
United States Titleholder Shinsuke Nakamura has been relatively quiet after he defended his title against Jeff Hardy at SummerSlam. Chances are high that SmackDown will appoint a new challenger this week, or at least plant seeds for a new Nakamura rivalry.
Some early candidates for the role of Nakamura nemesis could be Andrade “Cien” Almas, a heel who’s yet to be used to his fullest potential, and who’d probably like to squash his feud with Rusev, or Luke Harper, who’s currently flying solo in the wake of his fellow Bludgeon Brothers’ injury.
As for Hardy, he showed no signs of the injuries he suffered at the hands of Nakamura when he beat Randy Orton at Barclays Center last week. Based on what we know about both Hardy and Orton, however, expect the bad blood to transition into a minor rivalry. Its likely that Orton will have plenty to say about his opponent tonight.
The rivalry between Daniel Bryan and The Miz will continue to pick up steam this week, especially after their respective wives entered the picture. Brie Bella is set to come back, and fans are expecting her to be by her husband’s side during the lead up to Hell in a Cell. Her presence would, however, prevent The Miz from playing dirty with Bryan.
Another major storyline heading into tonight’s episode is that Charlotte Flair will be defending her Women’s Title against former champ Carmella. The latter told Paige she’d be exercising her contractually obligated rematch clause on the tonight’s episode, so expect to see plenty of action.
Flair will have to deal with Becky Lynch. The newly minted heel has been targeting Flair since SummerSlam, and its all but guaranteed that she will try to interfere during the Flair vs Carmella match as a means of sabotaging the former.