WWE SmackDown Live results (Oct. 18, 2016): AJ Styles vs. James Ellsworth

WWE SmackDown Live comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Oct. 18, 2016) from the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado featuring all the latest build to the upcoming dual brand Survivor Series pay-per-view (PPV) scheduled for next month in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Advertised for tonight: AJ Styles defends the WWE world championship against the great James Ellsworth, Alexa Bliss takes on Naomi, and more!

Come right back here at 8 p.m. ET when the SmackDown live blog kicks off once the show starts on USA. It will be below this line here. (REMINDER: NO GIFS OR PICS ARE ALLOWED IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. OFFENDERS WILL BE BANNED.)

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WWE SMACKDOWN RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR OCT. 18

This is the time of the ending, it's the dawn of a new world order. This is a new beginning, where a new world shall arise, but me, I'm just here to liveblog a pro wrestling show, folks.

Show opens with a recap video of Ellsworth/Styles I. Then we cut backstage where Ellsworth is trying to tape his wrist up when Ambrose rolls up with one of his brand new shirts and gives him a little pep talk.

In the arena, Randy Orton makes an entrance. He gets on the mic, saying he has to give credit where credit is due, and the evil in Bray Wyatt runs deeper than he thought possible. Trying to escape Bray's world is like trying to escape quicksand, and the more you fight, the deeper you sink. He feels like he's losing his mind, and that's a problem, but it's an even bigger problem for Bray Wyatt. He torched every last shred of sanity Orton had left, but in the process he set him free. Randy says he's wrath, he's vengeance, and he's coming for Bray.

Cut to the smoky room, full of disciples in black sheep masks lined up behind a casket. The camera pans past and reveals Bray is lying in it. He tells Randy to get over himself. He doesn't have to go after Bray because Bray is coming after him. Wyatt is going to take him on a journey where he'll feel his last gasp of air over and over again. Bray says he's having so much fun, but Randy is not and, by the way, he's here.

That's Luke Harper's cue to come out in the arena, and we got a match.

Luke Harper vs. Randy Orton

Collar-and-elbow, they struggle and break. Orton ducks a lariat, lays a boot and uppercuts in, Harper back with a dropkick that sends Orton to the outside. Tope con Harper runs into a forearm, Orton tries to set him up in the corner, Luke fights out but before he can land whatever he's thinking of Wyatt comes back with punches. Orton to the second for the superplex!

Wyatt's sound effect plays and the arena goes dark. Bray makes an entrance, rolled out in the casket by all the masked disciples from the smoky room. Orton stares at him and we go to commercial.

Back from break and Orton is laid out on the outside between Wyatt and the casket. He just barely beats referee Mike Chioda's ten count but Harper is right on him with a reverse chinlock, taking him to the mat and locking bodyscissors on. Orton gets to his feet and out with body blows and a headbutt, goes off the ropes right into a Luke Harper Michinoku Driver! Wyatt opens the casket, taunting Orton while Harper does the gator roll and goes to a side headlock.

Orton back to his feet and out, big right but Harper's on him. Luke tries to dump Randy in the casket but gets reversed. Strikes exchanged, Orton with the snap scoop powerslam but when he goes for the rope-hung DDT, Wyatt runs in...

Randy Orton wins by disqualification after Bray Wyatt strikes him.

Harper lays Orton out with a big boot and Bray fires mounted punches and stomps at him. Bray opens the casket to try and put Orton in it, but Kane's inside! Kane grabs the goozle and stands up on the apron. Right hands, Kane up top, Orton with the rope-hung DDT, Kane jumps off to clobber Harper with a diving clothesline! Kane and Orton set their finisher taunts up and the arena goes back again. When the lights come back, Harper and Wyatt are gone. Kane then makes fire to try and cheer himself up but it doesn't seem to work.

Backstage, AJ Styles gets interviewed. He says he can't believe Ellsworth is getting a title shot. He's the world champion, he's AJ Styles. He's scratched and clawed and earned the right to be called the Face That Runs the Place, but he's getting in the ring with a fat, skinny turd like James Ellsworth? He knows it, we know it, Dean Ambrose is gonna slither in and try to embarrass him. It could be WCW all over again, just like when David Arquette won their world title!

It'd be embarrassing, it's embarrassing being in the ring with a wet noodle like Ellsworth. Styles swears to god that no matter where Ambrose is, he'll find him and take him apart, piece by piece.

Commentary puts the Ziggler/Rhyno/Slater vs. Miz/Mikey/Kenny trios match and the Bliss/Naomi rematch over for later and we go to break with an ad for Hell in a Cell.

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Back from commercial and Alexa Bliss is in the ring waiting for Naomi.

Alexa Bliss vs. Naomi

Alexa is none too impressed by Naomi's entrance. Collar-and-elbow, they shove each other away almost immediately. Back to it again, Naomi forces Alexa against the ropes and they trade shoves after the break, but Bliss hides behind referee Jason Ayers. Big boot, Naomi back with a slap, Bliss hides in the ropes. Charge in, Naomi ducks a lariat, Lou Thesz press and punches. Bliss lays Naomi out and grinds her face into the mat but eats the Speedball kicks when she goes to capitalize.

Naomi finishes with a standing dropkick and charges at Alexa but Alexa ducks and eats a roundhouse kick and a springboard crossbody for her trouble. Naomi locks a front chancery on and turns it into an armlock when Alexa gets to her feet. Sliding clothesline and a leg drop get two and Naomi goes to a reverse chinlock. Bliss out with a mat slam, but when she drags Naomi to her feet she gets a drop toe hold into the turnbuckle and bails as we go to break.

Back from commercial and Naomi's standing up out a cravate and we see footage of Alexa turning the tide during the commercial. Naomi tries to roll out of it but Alexa stays with her until Naomi gets a few shots in and then all the way out of the hold with a backbreaker. Naomi ducks a lariat, flips, leg lariat, jawbreaker, puts a stomp in, double jump split-legged moonsault!

Naomi heads back up top but Alexa meets her and fires a knee at her skull before yanking her to the mat with her hair and climbing to the top herself...

Alexa Bliss wins by pinfall with Twisted Bliss.

Renee Young interviews Alexa in the ring about her title shot in Scotland next month. Alexa says that in three weeks, the fairytail is over. The glass slipper doesn't fit, there's no happily ever after, and the wicked witch is dead. That night there'll be a new champion, and she'll be the fairest of them all, Alexa Bliss. She then hops out of the ring and demands that Ayers raise her hand.

Commentary discusses the world title match for later in the night and recap Ziggler vs. Spirit Squad from last week before hyping the trios match and Curt Hawkins for later and going to break.

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Back from commercial and Apollo Crews is waiting in the ring.

Curt Hawkins comes out and cuts a short promo about how all he has to fear is fear itself... and Curt Hawkins. And also Apollo will have to change his name to Apollo Lose, which earns him a big right hand from the One Man Nation. Hawkins bails and gets back on the mic, saying that since Apollo ruined his big debut, he's leaving.

Commentary puts the Bella Twins' appearance in Muscle & Fitness over and we cut to Carmella walking backstage. She'll be out to tell us the truth about Nikki Bella after the break.

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Back from commercial with a video for the More Than Pink campaign.

In the arena, Carmella makes her entrance. She says two months ago in Brooklyn she was basking in the glow of her very first pay-per-view match, and whose music does she hear? Nikki freakin' Bella. Everybody went nuts for her, but Carmella doesn't get it. But luckily, she's here to spill the tea--

Nikki Bella comes out, she says she's so curious what Carmella has to say, and instead of attacking her from behind, she can say it to her face. Carmella says Nikki can get away with whatever she wants because she's with John Cena. The only reason she's still Fearless is because she goes home every night with Mr. Hustle, Loyalty, & Respect.

Nikki says that makes Carmella like every jealous hater she's dealt with over the last feud years. Carmella asks why she's hiding, and Nikki points out quite logically that their relationship is all over two TV shows and the internet, but here on SmackDown, it's about what she does in the ring by herself. And shame on Carmella for trying to reduce her accomplishments to a man. Carmella claims she's just exposing Nikki as a clingy gold digger that they both know she really is.

If we watch the reality shows, we already know, but Carmella has a clip that will prove it. It's a supercut of Nikki being clingy, like you'd expect. Nikki says she pays her own bills and she wears the pants in the relationship, so one edited video is nothing. She paid her dues and was told that she'd never wrestle again but she never gave up, and that's why her shirt says Fearless. She's not afraid of anything, not a boss, not a queen, not some princess from Staten Island.

Carmella says that's cute, did John help her come up with that? Nikki may be fearless, but Carmella tells the truth, and says Nikki used her looks, her sister, and her boyfriend to get to where she is.

Renee interviews James Ellsworth. He says he's trembling, of course he's nervous. But last week he wrestled AJ Styles and survived, and Daniel Bryan talked to him like he was a real person on Talking Smack and gave him this match. Never in his life did he believe this would happen, and he knows he doesn't deserve it, but no matter what his life is different now. He's gonna be able to tell his grandkids that he wrestled for the WWE Championship one day.

Commentary puts the trios match over as up next and we go to break on an ad for the Network.

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Back from commercial and Miz is making his entrance for the trios match. Spirit Squad are out first to pump him up with a little dance.

Rhyno and Slater get a picture-in-picture promo where they put over their motivations for saving Dolph. Slater wants to be a role-model for his kids, and Rhyno just doesn't like male cheerleaders.

Beauty and the Man-Beast (Heath Slater & Rhyno) & Dolph Ziggler vs. the Miz & the Spirit Squad (Kenny & Mikey)

Mikey and Rhyno start, circling, collar-and-elbow, Rhyno with a hammerlock, a side headlock, Mikey reverses to a side headlock of his own, Rhyno shoots him off and levels him with a shoulder block. Shoulder thrust in the corner, chop gets a forearm, Mikey with a boot, tag to Kenny. Diving axehandle gets caught into a belly-to-belly for two, Rhyno tags Slater. Whip, double elbow for two.

Arm drag into an armbar, knee drop to the arm, right hand to the face, tag to Dolph. Dolph fires a right hand that drops Kenny to his knees, whip, reversal, big jumping back elbow from Kenny, Miz demands the tag and receives it. Miz runs face-first into a dropkick, Stinger Splash, neckbreaker attempted but Miz slips out and puts boots to Dolph in his corner. Dolph ducks a lariat and drops Miz with a low superkick. The heels bail outside to regroup and we go to commercial.

Back from break, Dolph and Miz are going hard, Dolph knocking Miz to the mat with a boot but Maryse cuts him off and lets Miz lay the hurt in with grounded punches. Miz grabs a rear chinlock with a knee to the back as the crowd chants for Slater. Dolph to his feet, Miz uses a handful of hair to trip, tag to Kenny. Kenny off the turnbuckle with a punch and a stomp to the face for two. Facelock, tag to Mikey, Mikey puts boots to Dolph's ribs, looking for a suplex but Dolph blocks and throws one of his own.

Tag to Miz, he cuts Dolph off before he can tag Slater and throws punches. Knocks Rhyno off the mat, Ziggler ducks a lariat and throws a superkick to lay Miz flat. Kenny tries to block the tag but it's not good! SLATER'S IN! Boots for both Spirit Squad boys, ducks a lariat, Miller's Crossing for two! Rhyno Gores Mikey, Slater with an O'Connor Roll for two, Miz clocks him in the face...

The Miz & the Spirit Squad win by pinfall with a schoolboy from Kenny to Heath Slater.

The heels celebrate up the ramp and we go backstage, where Daniel Bryan is on the phone with Shane McMahon. Now that Stephanie McMahon accepted their challenge, they have to think about teams for Survivor Series. Natalya rolls up and says she wants to be the first woman in the five-on-five elimination match. Bryan asks her why, and Nattie says she can teach them to have a sense of pride to beat Raw. Bryan is skeptical, believing she's quoting Whitney Houston, but says he'll think about it.

Nattie thanks him and asks if he's following her cat on Instagram, and that's how we go to break.

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Back from commercial, Jack Swagger is rolling into the ring as we show off some sportsballmen at ringside. Baron Corbin comes out and we get a picture-in-picture with Corbin saying Swagger's a joke and the crowd is just having fun at his expense when they join in with "We the People!" Not only is Corbin gonna beat him tonight, he's gonna beat everybody that joins in with him.

Baron Corbin vs. Jack Swagger

Swagger runs him over and throws hands, whip, reversal, ducks a lariat, clotheslines Corbin to the outside! Sends him back in, blocks a punch, throws one of his own, Corbin shoulder blocks him off the apron and to the barricade. Corbin just throwing wicked punches to Swagger's ear with his head pressed into the barricade. Corbin throws Swagger back inside and stalks as he gets to his feet, cutting him off with a knee and...

Baron Corbin wins by pinfall with a short-arm End of Days.

Cut to Natalya showing Bryan pictures of her cats on her phone. She has the same motorized toy with a yellow smock over it that we do, drives the cats wild but it eats batteries like mad. Ambrose comes in with a referee shirt on claiming he's gonna call the match right down the middle tonight, just like a sheriff. Bryan says he was about to send somebody to talk to him, but he can't be referee tonight.

Dean tries to "C'mon!" him and Bryan says not tonight, not for a world title match, but he will let Dean do anything else he wants-- timekeeper, ring announcer, commentator, whatever. Dean says that's great, he'll do that, but doesn't specify what exactly, and we go to break.

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Back from commercial and Dean Ambrose makes his entrance. He moseys on over to the timekeeper's area and AJ comes out next, jawing at Ambrose. Ellsworth comes out last, with his shirt on, his own tron and music and everything. "Ellsworth!" chants go up and AJ loses his mind.

Dean Ambrose does the introductions, going real big for Ellsworth, calling him Rocky 2, 3, and 4 combined. AJ gets the "master of taking the easy way out" as well as "temporary" champion, and Dean runs over to play timekeeper.

AJ Styles (c) vs. James Ellsworth (WWE World Championship)

The bell rings... and rings... and rings. AJ jaws at Dean some more, Ellsworth grabs an arm wringer and a whip but AJ catches him in an abdominal stretch when Dean announces that it's time for a commercial, so time out, everybody.

Back from break and AJ is dragging Ellsworth to his feet before dropping him back down for a rear chinlock but it doesn't work because he has no chin! Styles drops him with a right hand and Dean pipes up to advertise the James Ellsworth t-shirt on the tron. Ellsworth with a right, AJ catches it and fires a headbutt, telling him nobody wants his shirt before firing forearms in the corner.

Irishi whip, AJ with a picture perfect dropkick and an overhead elbow to the back of Ellsworth's neck. AJ's pausing constantly to yell at Dean here, too. Ellsworth forces him in the corner but AJ adjusts and suplexes him into the turnbuckles before heading outside to tell Dean that this is all his fault. Back in the ring, Styles pulls Ellsworth to his feet and throws a chop before setting James up top. He's thinking superplex but Ambrose has an announcement about a Toyota in the parking lot with its lights on.

Dean then follows up by talking about how the program for tonight is brought to you by Verizon, which gives Ellsworth time to go high risk with a dive! AJ moves out of the way and puts boots to him before chucking him to the outside like a sack of potatoes. Ambrose sends him back in, Styles throws him back out. In, and out. In, and out. In, and out. In... and Ellsworth stumbles dizzy to his feet and against the ropes. AJ goes up top to jaw at Ambrose and Ellsworth picks his foot, tripping him face-first into the turnbuckle. SUPERKICK! NOT ENOUGH!

AJ sits in the corner, Ellsworth charges in and AJ drops him with a thrust spinebuster. Forearm on forearm, referee Dan Engler pulls him off and Dean criticizes him for not hitting hard enough. Stomping a mudhole, Dean says AJ kicks like a soccer mom. More forearms, Engler counts...

James Ellsworth wins by disqualification when AJ Styles refuses to break while hitting him against the ropes.

Dean announces the result and drops AJ with Dirty Deeds before pointing out that Ellsworth has more wins over AJ Styles than John Cena does now.

Dean stands tall, and that's the show, folks.