Smackdown Thread

The Miz’s locker room was heavily secured. Dasha Fuentes tried to get a word with Miz. She knocked on the door and Maryse answered. She said nothing, but Miz said he’ll only talk to Renee Young

The Wyatt Family vs Beauty & The Man-Beast vs American Alpha vs The Usos: Slater with a Jumping Side Kick, then went up top, but slipped he fell into the ropes when Jimmy catches him with a Superkick and Slater & Rhyno are eliminated

Dolph Ziggler was getting ready backstage when he was approached by Renee Young. Ziggler talked about the decision he made last week, putting his WWE Title opportunity on the line against Corbin. Ziggler said opportunities have slipped through his fingers over and over again. He said it keeps him up at night, but also makes him the wild card in this deck

Dasha Fuentes was joined elsewhere backstage by James Ellsworth. He still had a neckbrace and arm in a sling. He talked about what it was like to be made fun of for his looks. Carmella interrupted, saying by questioning him, Dasha too is making fun of him. Then she said he’s “uniquely attractive.” She walked off the scene with Ellsworth

Backstage, Fuentes asked Nikki Bella what it felt like getting betrayed like she was. Nikki talked about all she’s accomplished, not because of her looks, but because of her drive. Nikki said anything she has to say to Natalya, she’ll say to her face

Young was backstage with Corbin. She asked how he’s feeling before his title match. He said it’s been a long time coming and that Ziggler and Styles are two little men about to meet the end of days

Miz making his entrance alongside Maryse. He’s wearing a suit, however, so presumably his title defense against Dean Ambrose isn’t kicking the show off.

He gets on the mic to tell us that we’re looking at the “It” Couple, the Ratings Spike, the Most Must-See WWE Superstar of All Time, and other superlatives. He only has one new year’s resolution, and that’s to be more forgiving. And somehow, this means he wants Renee Young (without naming her) to come out and apologize, and SmackDown will not continue until he gets the apology.

He accuses Renee of setting him up to be attacked and rails against Dean getting a title shot for being on Daniel Bryan’s good side. The crowd chants that they want Ambrose and Miz says he wants an apology before continuing to wonder how Renee can sleep at night when she sacrificed her journalistic integrity for Dirty Deeds with Dean Ambrose.

Enter Dean Ambrose. Miz hides behind Maryse as Dean gets in the ring, and Maryse hauls off and slaps him across the face to boot. Ambrose fumes for a second and Miz beats feet, Maryse following after. Dean gets on the mic and says the hard part of his night is over because Maryse hits way harder than Miz does

Back from commercial and Carmella is stretching backstage when James Ellsworth comes over. He’s sorry to interrupt but he wants to kind her for the thank words and wish luck good her match tonight. And he got her a t-shirt, the very one on his back!

She hesitates for a second before telling him how sweet he is before inviting him to go ring her for her match tonight.

Rhyno, Mojo Rawley, and Apollo Crews are in the locker room when Dolph comes in on a tear. Apollo says he understands getting angry but what he did to Kalisto crossed a line. Dolph tells him to mind his business and Crews says Kalisto’s his friend so he’s making it his business, and Ziggler attacks! Rhyno and Mojo pull them apart and Dolph heads out to fume elsewhere

Daniel Bryan makes his entrance. He welcomes us to the contract signing and brings Cena and Styles out after him.

AJ asks Bryan why they’re doing this— they go back 12 years and they’re cut from the same cloth. They’ve wrestled in high school gyms in front of nobody because they love wrestling, but John Cena isn’t like them. He’s off TV for four months and he comes back and gets a title shot, how does that work?

Bryan understands where AJ’s coming from, but Styles has to understand where he’s coming from. Last week they beat Raw in the ratings for the first time ever, and why? Because AJ headlined it and Cena made his return. They have to keep that momentum going, and how do you do that? You make the biggest match possible, the match that everbody’s talking about, AJ Styles vs. John Cena.

It’s the match everybody wants, and it’s the match Bryan is going to give them. And hey, he doesn’t know what AJ’s worried about, he beat Cena three times already. He bids them luck and takes his leave, at which point Styles tells Cena that he’s the luckiest man alive, gifted this match by his brother-in-law.

But he relents, and says Bryan is right, they gotta do what’s best for SmackDown, and last year Cena told AJ, with this title on his shoulder, he had to win to prove he’s not just an overrated indie guy, but now, if Cena doesn’t win, he doesn’t belong in the WWE. He beat Cena three times, and he wants to do his taunt? Nobody can see him, because he’s a ghost lately, and he takes credit for SmackDown’s ratings success.

Spoiler alert: They can do it without Cena, he says. John says he’s got a lot of respect for Styles but AJ tells him not to try and cover his tracks. He saw Talking Smack, he saw Cena say he was wrong about the Rock, but AJ thinks he was right, he was telling the truth about the Rock and guest what? That’s the truth about John Cena, too.

AJ will give Cena credit, though, he’s been great for a long time, but notice the words “has been”. He tells John he’ll never be as good as the Rock in Hollywood, and in the ring, he’ll never be as good as AJ Styles. AJ signs the contract, and Cena fires back, saying part of being a man is admitting you’re wrong and apologizing.

Another big part of being a man is if somebody pushes you, you push back, and he tells Styles he just make the biggest mistake of his life by pissing off John Cena. And he’s right, he needs a win here to prove he belongs because of chumps like AJ that think he’s already gone. So he pushes back, and says he’s lost all respect for Styles and thinks he’s a punk little bitch. Why’s everybody talking about John Cena vs. AJ Styles?

Because everybody who despises him thinks AJ’s his replacement, but they know deep down he’s made a career of defending his spot and making them eat his words. He’s gonna make Styles feel as stupid as he looks. He says Cena has no passion, he destroyed his shoulder and came back in a fraction of the time. AJ goes where they tell them to go, they tell him to stop. AJ walks down the ramp because he has to, Cena walks down because he wants to. Lot of people would have already left for Hollywood but he’s still here, and that’s all proof of his passion.

Everybody needs this match because it’s more than just Styles and Cena, AJ’s no different than anybody that’s ever said Cena sucks or tried to knock him off. They try their best but realize on their best day they could never be him. So at the Royal Rumble, bring your family, your friends, the noise (Bass, how low can you go?), your A game, and Cena’s still gonna kick your ass and take the championship. Why? Because he’s John Cena, recognize.

Baron Corbin comes out, microphone in hand. On his first day in WWE he won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal in Memory of Andre the Giant, so he’s making it known right now that he’s the first SmackDown superstar to not just enter the Royal Rumble match, but he’s going to win it. He doesn’t care who walks in as WWE Champion, he’s going to leave WrestleMania as champion.

Cena picks a fight with him and Corbin tells him that if he talks like that again, he’ll knock his teeth down his throat! Cena throws the table away to get ready to fight and AJ blindsides him! Corbin kneels over the 15-time champ and says maybe AJ’s right, Cena’s time is up.

Cut backstage where Maryse walks up to Renee Young and slaps her on behalf of the Miz! She warns her never to touch her husband again

Breezango vs American Alpha: Alpha puts Breeze down quickly with The Grand Amplitude

Cut to the Wyatt Family in their lair. Bray Wyatt says nothing lasts forever and to appreciate the moment. Reality will eventually hit, and they haven’t won anything just yet. You may think you’ve stolen the light that binds the family, but you’ve only made it stronger, and next week they’re going to reclaim what is rightfully theirs. He takes his leave and Luke Harper steps forward only for Randy Orton to cut him off and tell Alpha to run