Smackdown Thread

Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable vs The Ascension: Shelton with a Dragon Whip, but Konnor counters Paydirt, he misses the Yakuza Kick, Shelton with a Step-Up Knee for a near fall, Viktor with The Pyscho Crusher then a Diving Knee for a near fall, Gable with The Chaos Theory, Shelton tags in & they finish Viktor with the Powerbomb/Inverted Bulldog combo for the win

New Day are answering more questions, and if they were judged individually, it would have to be the smartest and strongest of them... which Xavier and E swerve us on by agreeing that’s Kofi Kingston. Kofi, for his part, says he’d break his #1 position in half and give it to both of them if he could

We go backstage with Sami Zayn where he’s being interviewed. He says tonight is his opportunity to step out from KO’s shadow. It’s hard for him to admit it, but he’s won all these titles and that’s fine because they’re best friends. But even as best friends they’ve fought more than anybody, and he knows what Kevin is capable of. He’ll stop at nothing, but then again, neither will he

AJ vs either Kevin Owens or Sami Zayn at Fastlane in a Singles match would've been pretty cool. The Triple Threat just kinda waters it down to me. I wish they hadn't done that.

Sarah Logan vs Charlotte Flair: Logan with a Tackle to the back for a 2 count, Butterfly Suplex for a near fall, Charlotte with a Running Knee & Sarah answers back with Shotgun Knees for a near fall, strike flurry for another 2 count, Lariat for a near fall, Logan evades the Yakuza Kick then hits a Release Regalplex for a near fall, Charlotte with an Inverted Backbreaker/Reverse STO into the turnbuckle then hits a nasty looking (Logan is spiked into the mat head first) Natural Selection for the win

Flair celebrates her victory with Becky Lynch and Naomi before heading to commentary to gesture that she has one left in her war against the Riott Squad.

Daniel Bryan is backstage when Shane McMahon rolls up, asking if Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are the type of WWE Champion he’s looking for? It’s not going down like that, and he’s already spoken to Baron Corbin and Dolph Ziggler, and he’s gonna give them their opportunity tonight, in singles matches, Corbin against Owens and Ziggler against Zayn, and if either win, they get a spot in the title match at Fast Lane.

And if Sami or Kevin interfere in the match they’re not in, they’re out of the match, to boot

Bobby Roode makes his entrance.

He gets on the mic and says that from the moment he won the title he said he wanted to be the greatest United States Championship in history, but to do that he has to steal a tradition from a man he wants to surpass, John Cena. Cena defended the title week in and week out against anyone and everyone, so it gives him great pride and respect to continue the United States Open Challenge.

Obviously the open challenge is for anyone in the locker room, but for tonight, he’s hoping that the man who accepts his challenge comes out and meets him face to face instead of hitting him with an RKO outta nowhere.

Of course, Voices hits and Randy Orton comes out, we have a match.

...except Jinder Mahal’s music hits before the bell can ring. He says at least the WWE Universe respects Orton, but the SmackDown roster do not, voting him #9 on the top ten list. He talks up Randy’s credentials before reminding him that he beat him for the WWE Championship, but he does respect him. The rest of the roster thinks the Viper has peaked.

Randy says he doesn’t care about any top ten list and never will. Mahal questions this, bringing up that it’s been sixteen years and he’s number nine, but Roode’s been around six months and he’s number five! Orton’s sacrificed everything for his career, and this is how far he gets? Jinder says he respects Randy again, but has it on good authority that Roode considers himself a future Legend Killer.

Bobby says those are big words for a man who couldn’t even make the top ten. Why couldn’t he make the list? Nobody respects him, and speaking of respect, Roode has nothing but it for Orton and everything he’s done. But why is Orton number nine? Just his opinion, but people are getting sick and tired of being attacked out of nowhere. Randy asks if he means like when he-- RKO OUTTA NOWHERE ON THE SINGH BROTHER!

Jinder fires back with Khallas on both men!

New Day vs Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable: Shelton with a Running Knee to Kofi for a near fall, Gable with a Rolling Koppu Kick to Kofi for a near fall, Gable hits The Chaos Theory, but E comes back with Belly to Belly Suplexes, The Midnight Hour ends it

Backstage, Dolph Ziggler runs into an interview. He says he’s been a little more selective lately, picking his spots and somehow here we are, another opportunity. He lives for this, he loves it, and it’s about doing what he was put on this planet to do, perform in that ring. No one does what he can do, and no one will outshine him, and Sami and Kevin know that, hence the attack from behind.

They know it’ll take a hell of a lot more than that to stop him, and the only reason he’s back is for the one thing that’s eluded him his entire career-- he wants to main event WrestleMania, and he’ll be damned if he doesn’t walk in there as WWE Champion.

AJ Styles making his entrance for an in-ring interview.

The interview is almost immediately derailed by the crowd chanting thunderously for the Champ That Runs the Camp, but they get back on track and he says he’s still in control of his own destiny on the way to WrestleMania. He feels like he can beat anybody that gets in the ring with him, and he knows that sounds cocky but he can back it up and has his whole life.

The five-way at Fast Lane is a problem, yes, because anything can happen, inside the ring, outside the ring... You see the commentator’s table? It would feel real good to put Kevin Owens through that announce table, but there’s a problem with that, because if he does that, Dolph Ziggler could pin Sami Zayn and he wouldn’t be WWE Champion anymore.

Or the ring steps, they’re tailor-made for Zayn and he’d love to put his face into those steps, but in the five-way, again, in the middle of the ring, Ziggler could beat Owens, and there’s nothing he can do about it. Individually, he can take ‘em all. Kevin Owens? Big, athletic, but he can take him. Sami Zayn? Ruthless with or without KO,but he can beat him.

Dolph Ziggler? He’s every bit of the man he says he is, but he’s not Phenomenal. Then we have--

Enter Baron Corbin. He wants to stop AJ before he says he can beat him and makes a fool out of him. The fact of the matter is the last time they fought, Corbin won the United States Championship, and then he beat him again in the rematch. He says he has AJ’s number and he knows it, and that’s because there’s a difference between them, Styles is an athlete and the Lone Wolf is a fighter, and he’s gonna enjoy pinning him for the title...

...or he’ll pin somebody else and there’s nothing AJ can do about it, but either way you’re looking at the new WWE Champion.

This brings Kevin Owens out. He says AJ doesn’t have to worry about running here and there because the only man going through the announce table is him, with a pop-up powerbomb. And Corbin didn’t look so tough last week, he looked like a scared little cub. Baron says that’s funny because when he got back to his feet and they stood face to face, he dropped Owens like a punk.

Kev says that’s funny for a guy who got handed an opportunity by Shane McMahon, and reminds us that Shane has had it out for him ever since he busted Vince McMahon open with a headbutt. Styles tells him he looks great and asks if he had the boil lanced off his back. KO is confused and AJ explains that he’s talking about Sami, and Owens mockingly laughs and says he only lost last week because he had no time to prepare.

Shane wants to catch him off-guard, he says--

Speak of the devil, enter Shane McMahon. He says a lot of talk emanates from the ring tonight, but he doesn’t think talk is what Phoenix, Arizona wants, so he makes a main event match between Baron Corbin and AJ Styles. And for Owens, he adds to the conspiracy theory by making him a match, right now, against Dolph Ziggler