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WWE SmackDown Live comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (May 23, 2017) from the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio featuring the fallout show from the Backlash pay-per-view (PPV) that went down this past Sunday night in Chicago.
Advertised for tonight: Jinder Mahal is your new WWE champion, it’s time to start gearing up for Money in the Bank, 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.)
WWE SMACKDOWN RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR MAY 23
When you're talkin to yourself and nobody's home, you can fool yourself. You came in this world alone. So nobody ever told you baby, how it was gonna be? Well, I'm gonna liveblog this here pro wrestling show for you, folks.
The show opens with a still picture recap of Jinder Mahal's shocking title victory peppered with quotes from the press.
Commentary welcomes us to the show and sirens ring out. A police escort is shown escorting several vehicles with Indian flag license plates into the building. The Singh Brothers get out of one and get a carpet from the back, rolling it out in front of the back door of the other, opening it for WWE Champion Jinder Mahal to step out onto.
He looks like he smells something funny for a minute until he puts the title on his shoulder and laughs.
In the arena, Shane McMahon comes down to the ring. He gets on the mic and asks Toledo's what's up before talking about how history was made on Sunday night, crowning Jinder Mahal as WWE Champion. But he's here to announce that in four weeks at Money in the Bank, that Randy Orton will be cashing in on his rematch clause against Jinder.
And also on the show, of course, the actual Money in the Bank match, where one superstar will climb the ladder of success and collect a briefcase with a guaranteed title shot for the WWE Championship. So without further ado, he introduces us to the five participants in the 2017 Money in the Bank ladder match.
First up, AJ Styles, followed by Baron Corbin, then Sami Zayn. Our fourth man is Dolph Ziggler, and last but not least, Kevin Owens. Or not, because Shane orders the production truck to kill his music and tells him he knows full well he's not in the match. The actual fifth entrant in the Money in the Bank ladder match... Shinsuke Nakamura.
Shane begins talking them up but Owens cuts him off, asking if that's really the five guys they're going with? He gets why some of these guys are in-- Nakamura won at Backlash, Sami won at Backlash and Owens himself won at Backlash, yet the guy he beat is in the ladder match and he's not? He doesn't get that, it's gotta come down to favoritism.
SmackDown really is the land of opportunity, but Shane McMahon dictates those opportunities. Or is it something else? Is he upset that KO did what Shane couldn't do at WrestleMania and beat the crown jewel of SmackDown? Shane says Kev had a lot to say and made salient points, so because of his performance at Backlash, he's in Money in the Bank!
Owens congratulates Shane on making the right decision and Corbin tells him to stop talking, saying he whined and he cried to get in the match. For the rest of 'em, it's not working, they don't stand a chance, so lower that briefcase now and just hand it to him. AJ tells him before he huffs and puffs and continues to blow, he best remember this is the House That AJ Styles Built.
And it wasn't built with twigs, sticks, or even bricks, it was built with him being phenomenal night after night. It wasn't built with count-outs or cheap shots, either, so he doesn't care if it's WWE's version of Eric Cartman or the Show-Off or the Lone Wolf or the Underdog or the rock star, he's gonna show the world why he's the franchise player of SmackDown when he retrieves the briefcase and regains his championship.
Sami says he has a lot of respect for AJ and everything he accomplished, but he didn't come to SmackDown to watch him do victory laps. Baron interrupts him to tell him he's the Rudy of SmackDown and there's a reason why there was no sequel. It was some guy that made some play when the garbage players were in and he's living with it for the rest of his pathetic life.
Zayn says Corbin calls it a fluke but he calls it kicking him in the face and pinning him in the middle of the ring, but if he wants to run his mouth, he'll go double or nothing. In fact, why wait until Money in the Bank? The Lone Wolf says that's too bad and Owens demands they shut up.
Dolph interrupts, saying he's the only one in the ring who actually won Money in the Bank. He cashed it in and became world champion and he'll be damned if he doesn't do it again. Shinsuke takes the mic and says for those of you who don't know him, he's Shinsuke Nakamura, but you can call him Mr. Money in the Bank.
Shane tells Corbin that things don't happen on his time, and there will be a Backlash rematch between him and Sami Zayn, and also the main event will be Ziggler and Owens vs. Styles and Nakamura.
Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, and Naomi are walking backstage as we go to break.
Back from commercial in time for the babyface entrances for our women's tag.
Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair vs. Welcoming Committee (Carmella & Natalya)
Carmella and Becky to start, collar and elbow, Carmella grabs a side headlock, does a takeover but Lynch reverses to a headlock of her own. To her feet, shoot off, up and over, Becky hits another side headlock takeover. Princess of Staten Island reverses, gets shot off but knocks Lynch down with a shoulder block and mocks her taunt.
Off the ropes, drop down, arm drag blocked but Becky gets a backslide for one. Waistlock, O'Connor roll blocked, schoolboy pin connects but it's no good, Nattie runs in, Charlotte dropkicks her and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Nattie knocks Lynch down and the Committee put boots to the Lasskicker while Charlotte loses her mind on the apron. Becky slips through, Neidhart thinking Sharpshooter but she's kicked away, tag made! Flair in, chops for everybody, whip, back elbow, swinging neckbreaker, big boot, only a nearfall.
Charlotte climbing the turnbuckles, Tamina cuts her off, Naomi attacks Tamina and Natalya takes advantage to hit a German suplex. Tag to Becky, missile dropkick, tag to Carmella. Kick, forearm, a slap, Lynch going for Dis-Arm-Her, James Ellsworth trying to make the save and Naomi knocks him down, the armbar is in...
Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair win by submission with Dis-Arm-Her from Lynch on Carmella.
Commentary talks up Jinder's celebration for later, but up next is Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin, after the break.
Back from commercial in time for the bell to ring.
Baron Corbin vs. Sami Zayn
Collar and elbow, Corbin backs Zayn in the corner and biels him across the ring. Sami grabs him...
Sami Zayn wins by pinfall with a schoolboy.
Baron blindsides him after the match and boots him in the corner before dumping him outside. Tossing the underdog over the timekeeper's barricade, the Lone Wolf gets a chair and waffles it across Sami's back! Laying forearms in on the floor, Corbin barks at the referees to back them off and runs Zayn face-first into the second layer of barricades!
Scooping him up... Snake Eyes, again on the internal barricade! Dragging him back towards the barricade nearest the ring, Baron tells Sami he asked for this and puts his head on the barricade, sandwiching his skull against the hard surface over and over with elbows! EMTs roll a stretcher down and we cut away.
Commentary hypes up our main event tag team match, but up next is another episode of the Fashion Files, after the break.
Back from commercial we get a recap of the beatdown we just saw, with extra footage of Sami Zayn being stretchered away.
In the locker room, Shinsuke Nakamura is shadowboxing when AJ Styles rolls up to welcome him to SmackDown. They go way back, they were on the top of the world in Japan and earned each other's respect, but tonight, for the first time ever, they're a tag team. He has to admit he learned a thing or two from Shinsuke in Japan, but tonight he wants Nakamura to follow his lead.
Shinsuke says tonight they're a team, but at Money in the Bank he's taking that contract and turning AJ's house into his playground. Styles is incredulous as Nakamura walks off.
It's Fashion Files time, this one titled The Final File. At the precinct, Shane McMahon rolls up asking who did this. Breeze walks in with a box of costume stuff and says they wanted him to come in. Fandango wonders where his mustache went and they're here to hand in their badges.
McMahon asks them if they know they're not real cops and Fandango says his dad says that too. Tyler asks if he wants their guns, too, and they hand over toy pistols before stripping all their other gear. Shane stops them, saying they've already proven they belong, so they're gonna face the Usos individually in singles competition.
Fandango's stoked they're back on the case, they collect their stuff, Dango takes a donut and leaves his gun, which Shane plays with as we cut away.
At ringside, the crew are hanging cloth and flower garlands to get the ring ready for Jinder's celebration, which will be after the break.
Back from commercial, we have drums in the dark and chanting. Colorfully dressed dancers make their way from the stage and down the entrance ramp and... I have a nuclear power plant warning breaking into my cable feed. Uh-oh. Hopefully that's just a test.
Anyway, back to SmackDown, Jinder's in the middle of the ring with the Singh Brothers as the dancers continue to dance around the ring. They stop and he holds the title high as boos rain down. He tells the crowd they can shower him with hatred, but that doesn't change that the great nation of India is celebrating his title reign.
They booed him because he looks and talks different, but now they boo because he exposed them for the fools that they are. They didn't believe that he could beat Randy Orton, but at Backlash the Maharaja became WWE Champion. Orton is just like America, he's on the decline, but Jinder is the greatest WWE Champion of all time.
You people think you can ruin his celebration, hijack the Maharaja's crowning, but this is not about them, it's about him, as he celebrates for his people, for Punjab, for India. He requests the crowd to keep quiet as he speaks to his people in his language of Punjabi. He poses on the turnbuckles as pyro goes off and the dancers begin dancing their way back up the entrance.
Commentary again hypes up our main event and we go to break.
Back from commercial we get another Lana vignette, still just vaguely promising that she's coming soon.
Jey Uso vs. Tyler Breeze
Jey gets on the mic, saying they already beat those two chumps at Backlash. He goes to attack Fandango who's on the apron with his water gun, Breeze comes in...
Tyler Breeze wins by pinfall with a folding press.
Fandango vs. Jimmy Uso
Jimmy right in with a kick, a slap, another slap backs him in the corner, hard whip across. Breeze provokes Jey on the outside to charge him like a bull, generating enough of a distraction...
Fandango wins by pinfall with a schoolboy.
Fandango gets on the mic and asks why the long faces? It looks like they just got caught wearing white after Labor Day. Tyler adds that that's a fashion felony, but you know what isn't? A rematch for the tag titles. Dango adds that unless they're afraid the titles will look better around their waists. The Usos wanna go right now!
Referee Mike Chioda gets on the horn with Shane McMahon. It's on, after the break!
Back from commercial and the match is in progress!
Breezango (Fandango & Tyler Breeze) vs. the Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso) (c) (WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship)
Breeze is locked down by Jimmy but manages to free himself and kick him away, crawling for the tag. Tags made all around, Fandango in hot, turning jabs, flying forearms, Uso pops him in the jaw but Dango has a spinning wheel kick for him! Charging in, stepping up Jey on a run-in for a tornado DDT... NOT ENOUGH!
Hooking him, thinking Falcon Arrow, Jey floats over and puts him into the post so Jimmy tags back in. Stereo superkicks on both hot cops, climbing the turnbuckles, diving splash but the knees are up! A nearfall! Fandango crawls the turnbuckles, kicks Jey down but Jimmy's able to cut him off.
Thinking superplex, tag made, Fandango with a headbutt, the Last Dance but Jey is legal and atop the turnbuckles...
The Usos win by pinfall with a diving splash from Jey Uso on Fandango, retaining the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship.
Our main event is up next, after the break.
Back from commercial Shane is in his office on the phone when Natalya rolls up to demand an opportunity at the SmackDown Women's Championship. He starts to consider it when Carmella and James Ellsworth roll up to make their case. Becky Lynch joins the pile saying that as first champion that's her title to reclaim.
Tamina rolls up making the cogent point that they all had shots and failed, so she deserves on. Jimmy tells her she's too busy making goo-goo eyes at him when she's in the friend zone, duh. Charlotte Flair comes in demanding her crown and they bicker loudly a bunch more. Shane books a five-way elimination match for next week to determine a #1 contender for Money in the Bank.
This is acceptable and everyone clears out.
Brian Kendrick has a promo talking about teaching Tozawa lesson after lesson, and tonight he'll finally learn when there are no rules to protect him in their street fight.
AJ Styles & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Dolph Ziggler & Kevin Owens
Styles and Ziggler to start, circling, collar and elbow, struggling, AJ goes behind and gets a side headlock, Dolph reverses but the Phenomenal One goes around and grabs the headlock again. Ziggler trying to shoot him off, AJ slides low but a stamp to the foot does the trick and Dolph locks a side headlock of his own on.
Styles shoots him off, leapfrog, drop down, trading dropkicks! Wristlock, tag to Nakamura and Ziggler gets the hell outta town. Tag to Owens, and it's War of the Worlds 2014 all over again! Circling, KO jawing at AJ and Shinsuke but Nakamura gets in with a kick and some knees. Loading up Kinshasa and KO bails as we go to break.
Back from commercial and Shinsuke pushes Kev against the ropes for the shimmy. Back in the middle of the ring, knee drop and a little Good Vibrations, but KO turns it around and puts boots to the former IWGP Intercontinental Champion. Overhead elbows, armbar, tag to Ziggler. Dolph scrapes Nakamura's face across the top rope and puts him in the corner for chops.
Shinsuke firing forearms back, Ziggler fires a boot to the knee, Rude Awakening complete with hip swivel, only good for one and he locks a reverse chinlock in with bodyscissors. Temporary escape, Dolph with a headscissors and a tag to Owens. KO putting the boots in, mocking Good Vibrations before a snapmare, knee to the back, and the reverse chinlock.
Nakamura fighting in the hold, Styles hot on the apron, the King of Strong Style throwing hands but Kev catches him with a shoulder block off the ropes. Ziggler back in, Shinsuke throwing elbows on both heels, backing Dolph off, but Ziggler gets him back in the corner and Owens knocks AJ down.
Corner lariat sets the cannonball up, only a nearfall and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Shinsuke gets a schoolboy for two but Dolph gets a dropkick off in return that gets two as well. Tag to Owens, he puts the boots to Nakamura, follows it with a senton for a tight nearfall and scraps his forearm across the King of Strong Style's face. Tag to Dolph, telling him to finish him and get his revenge, but Nakamura throws more elbows.
Kick to the knee, dodge the charge and Ziggler goes hard into the post! Tag made to Styles and he runs Dolph over! Styles Rush connects all the way through, off the ropes for a sliding forearm, only a nearfall. Knocking Owens off the apron, Dolph comes from behind, back suplex, AJ lands on his feet and hits Ushigoroshi... NOT ENOUGH!
Drawing Ziggler into the Styles Clash clutch, again KO runs interference and and Styles turns around into a Hot Shot. Dolph dumps him outside, tag to Kev. Owens with a senton on the floor, he rams AJ back-first into the apron and sets him on it before Penalty Kicking him off of it and tauning Nakamura.
Back outside with Styles, KO rolls him back in and locks him down with a reverse chinlock. AJ to his feet, body blows, a forearm to the jaw, off the ropes right into a back body drop and a nearfall. Owens with vicious overhead elbows and stomps, tag to Dolph. Ziggler sets Styles in the corner, headbutt, putting him up top.
Climbing after, thinking superplex, AJ throwing hands as they struggle. Facelock on, Styles slips out, looking for a tag but Dolph blocks. Duck under, back suplex facebuster! Tags made all around and Nakamura and Owens throw hands! Shinsuke takes the lead, knees ahoy, charging knee in the corner, setting him up top for the rope-hung knee lift, only two.
Off the ropes, Nakamura lands a knee and a reverse roundhouse, only for Ziggler to break up the pin! Fameasser dodged, inverted exploder suplex connects! Getting fired up, KO blindsides him, AJ catches Owens with the Pele kick, Dolph in with a superkick, Nakamura runs Ziggler off with Kinshasa, he's got one more in the chamber...
AJ Styles & Shinsuke Nakamura win by pinfall with Kinshasa from Nakamura on Kevin Owens.
Styles and Nakamura celebrate together, Shinsuke being himself while AJ looks on from the second turnbuckle. They fist bump as commentary hypes next week's women's #1 contender match.
That's the show, folks.