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WWE SmackDown Live comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Dec. 6, 2016) from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, featuring the fallout show from the TLC pay-per-view (PPV) that went down this past Sunday night in Dallas, Texas.
Advertised for tonight: Time to figure out what everyone is doing headed into Royal Rumble!
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.)
WWE SMACKDOWN RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR DEC. 6
First strike of the creation shakes the earth at its very core. Pangea shattered, humanity is scattered, separation for evermore, and me, I ended up liveblogging this here pro wrestling show.
Show opens with a recap of TLC’s main event, focusing on James Ellsworth’s involvement therein.
In the arena, AJ Styles makes an entrance in street clothes and a walking boot for his bum ankle, WWE World Championship held high. He gets in the ring for a promo but pauses when the crowd boos. He’s gonna get right to it, and address the elephant in the room. Some call it a travesty, some call it a blessing, you be the judge, he says, and gestures to the tron, where a picture of the rip in his tights appears.
He accuses us “gullible geeks” of thinking about the walking boot, but of course it’s not that! He put Dean Ambrose through tables and deprived him once more of the WWE Championship. If he’s stuck in the boot for a week, so be it, and the only negative is he’s not medically cleared for his match against James Ellsworth tonight.
Ellsworth comes out, agitated. He gets in the ring and shadowboxes AJ a little and the champ tells him he looks like he’s in slow motion. Jimmy gets on the mic and tells AJ he’s hobbling around in a boot and questions his need for the boot, wondering if it might just be a convenient way of getting out of his title defense tonight. Heck, he says, maybe Daniel Bryan is protecting AJ since Ellsworth has his number.
He’s beat AJ three times, and he accuses AJ of ducking him, saying that if he got his match he’d beat him tonight, and indeed he only won on Sunday because of his assistance. AJ denies this and accuses Ellsworth of drinking his own chin and tonic, before pointing out that every victory James has is from Dean Ambrose. He burned that bridge and he burned himself, because AJ put him in a neck brace, put him in a back brace.
AJ says he knows where to stop, but Dean doesn’t, putting him over as a wildman who’s gonna smash Ellsworth’s face in until it matches his chin. This, naturally, brings Dean Ambrose out. He kicks James, delivers a Dirty Deeds, and leaves! AJ, having bailed to ringside, is stoked and he and JBL celebrate over the replay.
Commentary promises us a championship celebration for Alexa Bliss and the tag title rematch for later in the night. The match is up next, after the break, but first we go to the dark room with the Wyatts.
Bray turns to Randy and then to Luke and laughs, before saying “We’re here,” to send us to break.
Back from commercial just in time for entrances for the title match.
Beauty and the Man-Beast (Heath Slater & Rhyno) vs. the Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton) (c) (WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship)
Orton and Slater start, circling, collar and elbow, Orton with a waistlock, Slater out to a side headlock, Randy steps on his knee and reverses. Heath shoots him off and runs him over but the Viper’s able to fire off a hooking lariat and tag Bray in. Headbutt to the arm, charging in but Slater gets a foot up, diving crossbody, tag to Rhyno.
Rhyno runs Wyatt over with back elbows before firing off a belly-to-belly suplex and calling for the Gore, but Bray bails when he charges in and we head to break while the Wyatts regroup.
Back from commercial and Bray has a rear chinlock in on Rhyno but the Man-Beast fights to his feet. Cut off with a knee, Wyatt hammer whips him hard in the corner and clobbers him with a lariat before following with the senton for two. Tag to Orton, who puts the boots to Rhyno. He goes to start punching and Rhyno blocks, firing back, but Randy takes him down with a standing dropkick for two.
Rhyno with more punches, Orton with a kick and a whip to the corner, Rhyno comes back out and rolls over Randy before tagging Slater. Heath knocks Bray off the apron and brings it to Orton with a high knee and a leg lariat, ducks a lariat in return, Miller’s Crossing! Not enough! He knocks Wyatt down again only to run right into the snap scoop powerslam, on which Rhyno breaks up the pin.
Bray takes care of Rhyno and Orton tags him in. Heath fires a wild haymaker but Wyatt returns with a lariat before setting Sister Abigail up. He tags Orton in instead of hitting it, and throws Slater out of the clutch, right into Orton’s waiting arms...
The Wyatt Family win by pinfall with an RKO from Randy Orton on Heath Slater, retaining the SmackDown Tag Team Championship.
Cut to Kalisto stretching backstage when an interview rolls up questioning the wisdom as asking for a rematch against Corbin. He gets it, being in that match left him feeling like he was in a car wreck, but he has one advantage— speed. And speed, he says, kills.
Commentary promises Carmella vs. Natalya next and throws us back to break.
Back from commercial in time for entrances for the match once again.
Carmella cuts a mic first, saying before Natalya waddles to the ring she wants to say a few things. First off, thanks for reminding her about losing her match at TLC, and second, she told Nikki Bella the truth about Nattie attacking here. Nattie wishes she was as glamorous, as curvaceous as Nikki, and as beautiful as Carmella... or Nikki.
She says Nattie is always second best, the runner-up to the homecoming queen if you will. She’s jealous, envious, and that she’s still denying attacking Nikki proves that she’s a con artist.
Nattie comes down and charges in for a beatdown before the bell rings. They roll around and brawl and eventually Carmella slips away and hits a big slap before bailing and running. Nattie chases her up the ramp and into the entranceway before cameras cut to her backstage. She’s lost track of Carmella but she runs into Nikki and pleads her innocence. Bella takes a good long look at her and walks off to end the segment.
Commentary puts over Alexa’s celebration again before announcing a special edition of Miz TV, with Dean Ambrose as our guest before throwing to break.
Back from commercial and Baron Corbin is being interviewed. He agrees that there’s no denying his speed, but he’s the same as everybody else against the big man— little. He says he’s gonna splat Kalisto like a mosquito.
We get a picture-in-picture from the Ascension about how the tag landscape is shifting and they are the things that go bump in the night. They claim that the Hype Bros are the dinosaur and they’re the comet and they will raise.
Hype Bros fire back, Mojo mocks their makeup and skirts, saying that they’re gonna waste the wastelanders and move on to the tag titles.
Hype Bros (Mojo Rawley & Zack Ryder) vs. the Ascension (Konnor & Viktor)
Ryder and Viktor to start, Zack in with shoulder thrusts and punches over the ropes but Viktor sends him in the corner and establishes control. Tag to Konnor, who just yanks Ryder out of the ring hard before dragging him to the apron by the beard. Back in the ring Konnor makes a cover for one and tags Viktor back in for double-team strikes.
Viktor locks a reverses chinlock on while Mojo fires up the crowd. Zack to his feet but Viktor throws him down and ends up choking him on the ropes and letting Konnor get a shot in. Giant step, tag made to Konnor, straight suplex attempted but Ryder reverses to a neckbreaker! Tags made all around and Rawley steamrolls Viktor hard.
Stinger splash, a second, full nelson slam gets two and Konnor breaks it up. He dumps Ryder outside, Mojo dumps Konnor, Viktor gets a schoolboy, tag to Ryder...
Hype Bros win by pinfall with a Hype Ryder on Viktor.
Commentary tells us that Miz TV is up next and we go back to break once more.
Back from commercial with an ad for 205 Live and then Miz’s entrance in the arena, Maryse with him as always.
He puts over his Intercontinental Championship Reunion Tour before saying no one’s been lower than his guest tonight, Dean Ambrose. Dean comes out and Miz welcomes him, asking how angry he was earlier tonight when he nailed Ellsworth with Dirty Deeds. He really gets into his description of how angry Dean must be and Dean says he’s not angry.
Miz has never seen him angry, he says, but he was surprised that this guy who was working minimum wage until he came along and got him a title shot, merch— Miz cuts him off saying he can’t really be surprised that a man he treated like a puppet cut the strings and fought back. And he’s upset that we can’t see the match he wanted to see tonight, Dean Ambrose vs. James Ellsworth.
He continues, saying that everyone wanted to see James give Dean exactly what he deserved and tear him limb from limb. Dean says it always surprises him when somebody tries to intentionally piss him off, and he gets up in Miz’s face. Miz begs off and points out that he left TLC empty-handed, but not anymore, because Miz got him something. Miz presents Dean with the first ever Miz Participation Award!
It has pictures of Miz and Maryse on it and a blue ribbon that says “You Tried” The crowd chants that Dean deserves it, and Miz agrees. Dean is faux flattered and says it’d be fun to see if he can shove the entire award down Miz’s throat.
Daniel Bryan makes the save! Er, well, he comes out with a mic in hand and his brow furrowed in thought. He says as GM he can’t let Dean attack the Miz right now, but that’s because he has one better. In tonight’s main event, it’ll be Dean Ambrose vs. the Miz... but wait a second, is the crowd excited for an Intercontinental Championship match? They’re getting one!
Commentary says Baron Corbin vs. Kalisto is up next and we go to break.
Back from commercial in time for Kalisto to make his entrance.
Baron Corbin vs. Kalisto
They circle, Kalisto goes behind for a waistlock and Corbin grabs him by the neck and throws him aside. Kalisto with a leap over him, Corbin slips around and hits him with a pounce before throwing a series of grounded punches. Baron drags him to his feet by his head and throws Kalisto out of the ring, yelling at referee Mike Chioda to count.
Kalisto back in at nine and he immediately rolls to the apron to fire a few kicks off and low bridge Corbin outside... MOONSAULT OFF THE TOP TO THE OUTSIDE! Corbin throws him aside but Kalisto hits a Penalty Kick off the apron. Corbin charging in the ring, Kalisto with a roll-through enzuigiri, springboard tornado DDT, HEADSCISSORS DRIVER! NO GOOD!
Kalisto up top, moonsault, nobody home, lands on his feet, heads back in but the Lone Wolf is ready for him...
Baron Corbin wins by pinfall with End of Days.
We go backstage with Nikki when Sophia Grace rolls up. Nikki says it’s been a rough night but she’s happy to see her and she’s excited for her new single. Grace reminds her of their special guest stars, including Lana, Sasha Banks, and Brie Bella. They high five and I’m still not sure what that was about.
Commentary reminds us about Alexa’s championship celebration and we go to break on an ad for NXT.
Back from commercial with Tom Phillips putting over Cena’s appearance on SNL with a reference to living in a van down by the river.
American Alpha come out but it’s Chad Gable going one-on-one with Tyler Breeze! We get a recap of an interaction they had earlier that lead to the match.
Chad Gable vs. Tyler Breeze
Breeze charges in and Gable immediately takes him down before throwing a monkey flip. Charge in the other corner, Breeze ducks him, Gable with the ARMBREAKER IN THE ROPES! Cactus Crossbody takes both men outside and Fandango gets involved. Back in the ring Tyler throws mounted punches on the mat and drags Gable up for a back suplex for two.
Prince Pretty working a rear chinlock but Chad gets to his feet and punches free. Breeze shoots him to the apron but Gable gets a skin the cat bodyscissors takeover off. Breeze back in to eat an exploder suplex and then corner mountaed punches but he slips out, so Gable comes off the top with a diving clothesline. He ends up outside and Jordan suplexes Fandango, Gable gets back in...
Chad Gable wins by pinfall with Chaos Theory.
Commentary tells us that Alexa’s celebration is up next and we go to break.
Back from commercial and Alexa Bliss makes her entrance. She holds the title up on the second turnbuckle as a bunch of pyro goes off.
“Ding-dong the witch is champ!”, she starts. At TLC she proved that happy endings don’t exist. The crowd chants for Becky Lynch and she obliges them, saying that Becky called her a bitch, well, this little bitch runs the whole SmackDown women’s division now.
Becky Lynch makes her entrance. Bliss demands her music be cut and tells her to back off, since this is her party and no losers are allowed. Becky tells her to shut her face. She may not have got the job done on Sunday, but she can’t stand that some petulant, whiny little girl could be considered the leader of SmackDown.
Unlike Becky, though, Alexa doesn’t care about getting the adoration of the WWE Universe. This isn’t the New Era anymore, she says, it’s her era, and you can call her whatever you like as long as you call her champion. Becky says she likes what she called her last week better, and her reign begins and ends with her rematch, which she wants right now.
Alexa takes her title and jacket off like she’s gonna fight then and there but quickly bails and heads up the ramp, taunting the former champ.
Commentary recaps the opening segment to get us ready for our main event, which is starting now with Dean making his entrance. But first, off to break we go.
Back from commercial in time for Miz’s entrance and championship introductions.
Dean Ambrose vs. the Miz (c) (WWE Intercontinental Championship)
Circling, collar and elbow, Dean gets a waistlock, Miz reverses to a side headlock, Dean shoots him off, Miz with a shoulder block and off the ropes again into a hip toss. Ambrose with a headlock takeover, Miz to his feet, shoots him off, he eats the shoulder block this time and goes for the hip toss but Dean counters with his own. Lariat takedown from the challenger into mounted punches, clothesline over the ropes but Miz pulls Maryse in the way of the follow-up dive!
Ambrose heads outside and throws Miz into the barricade, dumping him on the back of his neck as we go to break.
Back from commercial and Dean’s in the corner as Miz does Yes! fingers to set up the repeated corner dropkicks. Corner clothesline connects and he heads up top to follow up with an axe handle but jumps right into a kick and a Dirty Deeds attempt. Miz slips out, off the ropes a bunch, Dean with a lariat! Corner forearm into a running bulldog and La Magistral picks Dean up a two-count.
Ambrose up top but Miz heads in and he leaps over. Miz looking for Skull Crushing Finale, Dean looking for Dirty Deeds, both escape, Miz in the corner with a kick and a dropkick right to the knee! He wrenches the leg over the ropes until referee Dan Engler makes him break and Dean crumples under the strain. Knee drops to the back of the knee, Miz continuing to soften the leg up before going for the figure four leglock but Dean kicks him away.
Miz hits a shinbreaker and Dean’s legs are out from under him again. Miz calls Bryan out as he does the Romero Special stomp. Goes for a second shinbreaker, Ambrose rolls him up for two. Missile dropkick, Miz steps back and the figure four is locked in! He’s posting up on his arms and Dean is in absolute screaming agony until he gets a hand on the ropes.
Dean drags himself to his feet by the ropes, trying to will some life into the bad leg as Miz charges in and he low bridges him for his trouble. Ambrose crosses himself and hobbles up for a suicide dive! Engler counts, Ambrose back in, Miz blocks the pendulum lariat into a Skull Crushing Finale attempt that Dean reverses to a pin. Miz escapes and hits the basement DDT!
Daniel Bryan chest kicks in now but Dean ducks the big one and grabs a schoolboy for two. Pendulum lariat connects and Dean drags himself outside and up top only for Miz to cut him off with punches and climb to the second thinking superplex. Dean blocks, throwing headbutts and elbows to send Miz to the mat but Maryse crotches him! Miz hits the Busaiku Knee but it’s not enough!
James Ellsworth comes down and distracts the ref while Dean has Miz trapped in a small package! He was trying to help but pointing out Maryse but it doesn’t matter, Miz takes advantage of the distraction...
Miz wins by pinfall with the Skull Crushing Finale, retaining the Intercontinental Championship.
Ellsworth immediately high-tails it up the ramp.
Miz and Maryse celebrate up the ramp as Ambrose lies in the ring thinking about what just happened, and that’s the show, folks.