Smackdown Thread

Shane McMahon makes his entrance, but no shuffling this week, he's all business. He says we all just witness what he considers a cowardly act carried out by Kevin Owens, beating his father down in the middle of the ring. One thing's for sure, he has to give his old man credit for being one tough, salty SOB.

They haven't always seen eye-to-eye, but at the end of the day he's still his father and he loves him. Shane asks Kevin Owens to imagine if he'd been sitting at home watching someone he love get beat down by a coward, how would that feel? His kids had to see their grandfather take that beatdown, and when you cross one McMahon, the entire family strikes out with massive vengeance.

He doesn't think KO realizes what he's done, or maybe he has, since he hasn't shown up yet. Owens didn't just beat the chairman down, he beat the patriarch of the McMahon family, and Shane condemns him to a ruthless beating at his own hands, to a life of pain and suffering, and to Hell in a Cell

Rusev is yelling about how he just beat Randy Orton when he runs into an interview.

He doesn't know what "elated" means, but he's stoked to return home a conquering hero, "Rusev #1!"

The Singh Brothers give Jinder Mahal his usual huge introduction. Jinder gets on the mic and says he knows it's hard to believe but some folks were in an uproar over what he said about Shinsuke Nakamura last week, and Shinsuke himself wasn't well-pleased either, but at least his face is still full of delight. This leads to them laughing about a picture again.

Mahal says he believes half of the crowd are xenophobic enough to think Japanese people feast on feline and dine on dolphin, and reiterates his thought that the crowd will turn on Nakamura. The man deserves more, he's an artist, which is just an excuse for more pointing and laughing about Shinsuke's face before telling him he always "rook the same".

Jinder says the crowd sing along and chant his name to hide their own xenophobia and tells Shinsuke they're not worth it, that they say behind his back that he gets his hair cut by a dog groomer, they call him Mr. Miyagi, which gets the crowd to chant that he's taken it too far. Mahal then speaks to his people in his language of Punjabi to close this awful segment out

Corbin is hobbling along backstage when he limps into an interview.

He blows right up on Renee Young, yelling that he feels violated. He was gonna win the title when that perfect zero jumped him from behind, then AJ attacked him and sprained his ankle with the Calf Killer. But he's not whining, bitching, or moaning, he's gonna get even.

Charlotte Flair makes her entrance.

She says it's good to be back, and she personally wants to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers while her dad has been sick. It's been an emotional six weeks, literally life and death, but Ric is making a comeback. But when she was away she learned a valuable lesson-- life is fragile and unexpected, and that's why you have to make the moments count.

So from here on out, she's gonna make every moment as big as possible for her and her dad.

Enter Natalya, with some crew members trailing behind her. She says they're all real happy her dad is doing better but it's time to focus on something more important. Flair can stay because this concerns her, and she and the dudes get in the ring with an easel. As champion, she's happy to celebrate WWE's first-ever celebration of women.

From the strength and courage of women like Florence Nightengale, to Oprah Winfrey, to all the incredible competitors of the Mae Young Classic, it's been women to lead the charge, break down barriers, and nurture future generations. Tonight is a celebration of all women by focusing on one woman. A woman who complete the journey that frankly Amelia Earheart couldn't, a woman that Nattie is frankly very proud of.

She takes the cover off and of course it's a picture of herself. Charlotte says that was truly inspiring, uplifting even! She's glad she interrupted because she's challenging her for the SmackDown Women's Championship!

Enter Becky Lynch. She's sorry to interrupt her ego Olympics but there's something she and Charlotte agree on, that Neidhart is the craziest there is, the craziest there was, and quite possibly the craziest there ever will be. She has nothing but love for the Flairs, but she disagrees and says the title isn't going anywhere but back to her as its rightful owner.

Enter Naomi. She tells Nattie she doesn't represent all women. She doesn't even represent the women of SmackDown, the only thing she represents is her stank cats.

Enter Lana and Tamina. Lana asks Natalya not to listen to these "disrespectful villagers" and Nattie is glad Lana respects her. Lana says she thinks she's a crazy cat lady who needs to shut up before continuing with an argument that the three in the ring already had their chance and now it's Tamina's time.

Nattie says this isn't about any of them, it's about the women, and she's not a crazy cat lady. She's Natalya and she's going to be SmackDown Women's Champion forever.

Enter Daniel Bryan. He's sorry Natalya's celebration was cut short, but tonight the women of SmackDown WILL get a spotlight, and in tonight's main event, Naomi, Becky, Tamina, and Charlotte will have a four-way match, where the winner will go on to face Nattie at Hell in a Cell

Hype Bros are backstage. Mojo says he's tired of losing, and something has to give. If they want things to change, they're gonna have to do something drastic. Zack nods at him solemnly.

Dolph Ziggler comes down to ramble about being the greatest in-ring performer in WWE history again. He does Triple H's entrance and asks if he can run NXT now. But that's not him, he can do something a little... stop the show. Or, rather, become the Showstopper, because he comes out to Shawn Michaels' theme and does his entrance.

He says it doesn't get anymore superficial than that and he actually feels himself losing his smile. He doesn't know how anybody could dress like that and be taken seriously, but we can go lower. He heads back again and the D-Generation X theme plays, and of course he comes out with the glowsticks and does the thing.

He has two words for us... "Who cares?" He runs people down for coasting off their names into retirement and once again says all we care about entrances and don't care about matches and he's the best and so on and so forth and he doesn't care about us and he drops the mic

Kevin Owens makes his entrance. He gets on the mic and says all he's heard for weeks now is that Shane McMahon is going to address his actions, take action, Shane this, Shane that, but where is he? Kev says he's been called a coward for what he did to Vince McMahon and for not being on the show last week, but right now he's standing in the middle of the ring in the land of opportunity.

This is Shane's opportunity, and where is he? Maybe it's McMahon that's the coward! He lets the crowd chant for Shane before saying he knows better, McMahon is no coward, he's actually very smart. Last week he said he has nothing but respect for Vince and he meant it. Not only that, but he actually likes Vince... and Shane saw what he did to a man he respects and likes, so imagine what he'll do to someone he doesn't.

Enter Sami Zayn. He gets in the ring and shakes his head at Owens before asking what's wrong with him. He's not out here to fight, he's out here because Kev has lost complete control. He asks KO if he realizes what he's done-- he headbutted Vince McMahon! He's known him for fifteen years and he knows what happens when he snaps, and it never ends well. And when Owens headbutted Vince, Sami said to himself, "That's it, he's snapped."

So he's out here against his better judgment trying to talk some sense into him before he crosses a line he's never crossed before. And if he crosses that line, there's no coming back from it, and that's not just his career, but his life and his family. Zayn tells Kevin he needs to get a grip and stop right now. KO says he didn't snap, he's cool.

Don't worry about his family, that's for him to worry about, but be honest, Sami, you're not here to talk sense into him. No, KO thinks he's here because he has once again outshined him, like he has for the last fifteen years. Or even just looking at their WWE careers, Sami signed two years earlier, but Kev has held the Intercontinental, Universal, and United States Championships while Zayn watched from the back.

Just like he'll be watching from the back at Hell in a Cell when he destroys Shane and makes him regret ever bringing him to SmackDown. You think he's gone too far? Just watch Hell in a Cell. But that's not it, there's more. Last week he said headbutting Vince was a mistake, but what has Sami ever done in his life that had as much impact as the impact his skull had on Vince McMahon's head?

Sami gives a sad little nod of his head before saying Kev is right-- since coming to WWE he's done a lot more than him, but he's taken every cheap shot, cut every corner, took every reprehensible action. So right now, yeah, he's not doing too great, but when his day comes, he'll do it his way, the RIGHT way! Fine, he's won all these titles Zayn hasn't, but the real difference is that when Sami looks in the mirror he doesn't see a giant piece of trash looking back at him!

Owens drops his mic and takes a few steps towards Zayn and Sami reciprocates, but before they can come to blows...

Enter Daniel Bryan. He tells Kev he might be right, and Shane isn't here right now and Bryan doesn't know if he's going to be. But he knows someone who is here and would love to fight him, and so he books Zayn vs. Owens for tonight. (and the 14 year rivalry is renewed again)

Jinder Mahal and the Singh Brothers are in the ring together.

Jinder begins, reminding us that his opponent at Hell in a Cell is Shinsuke Nakamura. Last week he may have gone a little too far, but he realized he respects Nakamura and thinks of him as a worthy opponent, so unlike last week, he's going to compliment him. He understands Shinsuke was very upset last week, and again we get a still of Nakamura on the tron and the Singh Brothers falling over laughing.

Mahal says he hears that Shinsuke has realized that the Maharaja is superior in every way to him... and again, making fun of a picture of his challenger's face. He has one more photo, which represents his face after he embarrasses and defeats him at Hell in a Cell... but this time the picture starts moving like it's Vigo the Carpathian and whatnot.

Shinsuke says this is a face that's here, on SmackDown, and the lights go down for his entrance. Jinder sends the Singhs down and Nakamura fends them off but the champion himself gets involved and puts Shinsuke into the ringpost and then the barricade before throwing him into the ring, where the King of Strong Style comes back with leg lariat!

The Singhs back in, Shinsuke fights them off, dodges Khallas... KINSHASA! Nakamura stands tall to end the segment

Aiden English is presiding over the Pride of Bulgaria Ceremony as master of ceremonies.

He introduces the mayor of Rusev's home town, Plovdiv, Bulgaria before introducing Rusev in grandiose fashion. Aiden sings the Bulgarian national anthem and Rusev makes his entrance, holding the Bulgarian flag aloft. The Bulgarian Brute gets atop a podium festooned in the Bulgarian tricolor and the mayor gives a speech in Bulgarian before switching to English.

He says it's his honor to present the key to Plovdiv to their great hero and protector, Rusev. He also proclaims today Rusev Day! He presents the oversized key to Rusev, who holds it aloft and gets on the mic, saying a few words in Bulgarian to the mayor before continuing in English. He'd like to take this time to relive his historic victory from last week.

What you just witnessed, he says, is the law of the jungle. Randy Orton once established himself as the Apex Predator, the Legend Killer, but now a younger and hungrier predator has come into the jungle, and last week the Lion of Bulgaria ripped the fangs out of the Viper's mouth! He destroyed the legend of the Legend Killer, so SmackDown is his jungle now!

English says he's prepared a song in honor of Rusev Day, and he sings it, recounting the Bulgarian Brute's victory over Orton-- RKO OUTTA NOWHERE! Rusev gets the mayor to safety... ANOTHER RKO! Randy poses on the turnbuckles after.

Backstage Daniel Bryan is on his phone, thanking somebody for the update when Sami Zayn rolls up. Sami says he wanted to see him, and Bryan informs him that was Shane, who is going to be here soon and coming after Kevin Owens. Zayn asks Dan to call him back and ask McMahon not to get involved in their match. Bryan says he'll try, and Sami talks about how important the match is to him, since he won't have the opportunity at Hell in a Cell. Daniel says tonight, KO is Zayn's