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WWE SmackDown Live comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Dec. 4, 2018) from the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas, featuring all the latest build to the upcoming TLC pay-per-view (PPV) scheduled for later this month in San Jose.
Advertised for tonight: Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, and Asuka sign the contract for their triple threat, WWE Champion Daniel Bryan appears on Miz TV, 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 DEC. 4
Learning to love a disaster, direct your soul in the essence of light. To draw the blood of the master, flee. The stains on your wings now carry the coldest zeal, extracted from the omen’s life, one steady hand in victory. Darkness weeps as love informs under a pure and present night. Point from the eye, endure the way. So many reasons why one should never entertain the taste of scarlet, and among them that you can enjoy the liveblog for this here pro wrestling show instead, folks.
The show opens with a recap of the #1 contender’s battle royal from last week.
Paige is in the ring, which has a table set up in it for our contract signing. Scattered around ringside are all the accoutremonts of tables, ladders, and chairs matches.
She begins, saying SmackDown is the brand that makes history, and she’s proud to sanction the first-ever women’s TLC match for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. But it’s not just a TLC match, it’s a triple threat, and she introduces the participants, starting with Asuka before moving on to Charlotte Flair, and saving the Smackdown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch for last.
Lynch says she makes history every time she steps foot in the ring and she plans on doing the exact same thing at TLC. Being put through a table or having a chair bent over her back or a ladder bent off her skull, none of that compares to the pain she’s endured to get here today, so it doesn’t matter to her if your opportunity was earned or not, she couldn’t care less and she’s gonna do anything it takes to win.
Charlotte tells her to change the song, because it’s been the same every week and she can spin it how she likes but the fact is she picked up the ball that she dropped at Survivor Series and destroyed Ronda Rousey with one kendo stick, and she’s pretty sure it took Nia Jax one punch to break her face. Lynch jaws at her and Flair tells her to shut up and imagine what’s gonna happen with tables, ladders, and chairs.
Becky says she’ll own her just the same and Asuka interrupts, saying Lynch already beat Charlotte... and has never beat her. At Survivor Series, Becky chose wrong, and Asuka claims she would have beaten Rousey, and at TLC she’s gonna beat her! Charlotte scoffs at the idea that Asuka could beat Ronda since she beat her streak at WrestleMania, to which Asuka tells her she got lucky one time.
They jaw at each other, Paige settles them, and Lynch says neither of them could beat Rousey OR her before signing the contract and leaving. Flair says she’s gonna beat both of ‘em, wooo, and Asuka fires back in Japanese. Charlotte says she shattered the mystique at WrestleMania and will finish her at TLC. Paige orders them to sign and they do so. Asuka then suggests that she might break Charlotte right now!
Paige tries to restore order but Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville make their entrance and question her methods to make history with these two undeserving women instead of the two women she personally groomed for stardom. Mandy points out that Charlotte lost at Survivor Series and Sonya points out that Asuka only won the battle royal by a fluke after she made one tiny mistake.
They want to see fire and desire, they’re looking right at it, and what happens if Charlotte and Asuka don’t make it to TLC? Paige tells them they’re past idle threats and books a tag match between them... right now!
Or, well, after the break.
Back from commercial, Miz rolls up on Shane McMahon to complain about Daniel Bryan being on MizTV.
He says he’s gonna do a great job as host but he wants Shane to do his job and be part of the best tag team in the world. McMahon says they’re not partners and he needs to use his mental acumen to get answers out of Bryan. Miz says he’ll do it but Shane owes him, and McMahon denies this thought.
Asuka & Charlotte Flair vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville
Asuka and Deville to start, circling, Sonya with a front chancery, reversed to a waistlock, standing switch, reversed to a wristlock. Deville reverses, Asuka breaks free, grabs the wristlock again, whip reversed, shoulder block, fired up and the Empress catches an arm but finds herself reversed into a side headlock! Out to her feet, roundhouse ducked but Asuka grabs the Fujiwara armbar!
Shifting to a kneeling armbar and then wristlock stomps to the shoulder, arm wringer blocked with a knee and Rose tags in. Double whip into a double boot, series of kicks and a double mat slam for two! Asuka to her feet, palm strikes, Mandy catches the hip toss knee and lands a hard forearm! Asuka with a dropkick for two, tuning up the, er, band for the hip attack before tagging Flair in.
Snapmare and a knee to the back, to the corner, scoop, Rose floats over and puts the Queen into the turnbuckles! Drawing her up, Charlotte recovers, exploder suplex, boot for Sonya and a suplex for her as well when she runs in! Both women on the floor and Flair takes flight with a plancha! Quick strut on the floor and Becky Lynch comes down the ramp as we go to break.
Back from commercial, Asuka fires off a leg kick but Rose counters into a tilt-a-whirl slam for two! Smashing her face into the mat, tag to Deville and they put boots to her together. Sonya with knees, a snapmare, off the ropes with a sliding knee for two! Mandy tags back in, huge knee... NOPE! Back to the corner with kicks, tag to Deville, body blow and a choke in the corner, quick tag right back.
Rose with rights, Asuka fighting back with body blows, off the ropes into a clothesline and Mandy draws her up into a wheelbarrow that the Empress of Tomorrow counters into a bulldog... tag to Flair! In hot with forearms, chops, backing a legal Sonya into the ropes. Whip across, back suplex connects, the Queen kips up and follows it up with a spear! Knee lift and a dump to the apron for an interfering Mandy Rose!
She pulls Asuka off the apron, right hand for Flair, Asuka with the save but Charlotte boots her off the apron! Sonya with an O’Connor roll, Flair reverses and Asuka blasts her with a kick...
Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville win by pinfall with a folding press from Deville on Charlotte Flair.
Commentary hypes up MizTV, Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton, and Xavier Woods vs. Cesaro vs. Jey Uso to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Jon Stewart joins us in the front row.
Cesaro vs. Jey Uso vs. Kofi Kingston
Uso and Woods with an impromptu alliance, they dump Cesaro to the floor and get into it with themselves. Collar and elbow, Jey with a side headlock, shot off, shoulder block, drop down, leapfrog, drop down, leapfrog, drop down, leapfrog, Uso blocks a German suplex, back suplex and Xavier lands on his feet! Slide under, duck the rolling elbow, trading pinning predicaments but neither can end it!
Stalemate, Cesaro back in but the other two dump him right back to the floor and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Uso with a dive... RIGHT INTO SWISS DEATH FOR TWO! Going for the Neutralizer, breaking away to attack Woods but he lands an enzuigiri and Jey capitalizes with strikes. Off the ropes, pop-up Samoan drop, both men down and out in the corners, hip attack for Xavier but Cesaro bails so Uso improvises with a dive! Woods with a suicide tornado DDT on Uso!
Back in, Woods ducks a lariat and wipes Cesaro out with the rolling Face Eraser... NOPE! Honor Roll blocked, Jey up top, diving splash... KNEES ARE UP, SMALL PACKAGE FOR TWO! Xavier drops an elbow... JEY BREAKS IT UP! Woods and Uso to their feet, trading right hands, staggering each other, Xavier pulls ahead but Jey cuts him off with a charging forearm!
Trading more forearms, Cesaro with a double leg for Uso, he gets Woods on his shoulders... DOUBLE SWING! He’s got the Sharpshooter locked on Xavier in the middle of the ring! Nowhere to go but he posts to his hands, Jey with a kick, schoolboy nearly wins it for Woods! Uso is ready after Cesaro dumps the New Day man...
Jey Uso wins by pinfall with a superkick.
Backstage, Rusev and Lana are interviewed and footage of Rusev being attacked by Shinsuke Nakamura last week. He says Nakamura’s terrified of his wine barrel chest, his biceps bigger than Mount Fuji, and his traps, like double decker taco supremes. Rusev’s hungry, but not for food, for the United States Championship. Shinsuke holds onto it like a toy, but it’s not a toy, it’s honor, courage, and tradition, things Nakamura doesn’t have.
He’s not avoiding it this time, though, because once he gets his hands on Shinsuke, he’s gonna feast on him on the greatest holiday of them all... RUSEV DAY!
Commentary hypes up MizTV and we go to break.
Back from commercial, commentary hypes up free agent Lars Sullivan and we get another vignette for him.
In the ring, Miz welcomes us to MizTV with his usual introductory patter... or he tries to, when Carmella and R-Truth come out for a DANCE BREAK before leaving immediately. Miz does his gimmick and introduces Daniel Bryan. He asks how he should refer to him before saying he’s gonna stick with Daniel but there IS something new about him. He seems more confident, like his eyes have been opened... like he’s realized Miz was right all along.
Bryan says everybody thought the old Daniel Bryan was very smart, but how smart could he have been if he constantly catered to the opinions of these people, allowed their expectations to subvert his dreams, but he realized he doesn’t care about these people and let his dreams take control. He doesn’t have a lot of intellectual peers, Miz included, but he has books where he can consult the great minds of history.
Men like Alexander Hamilton, and he takes a moment to decry the fickle, fickle sheep, reciting “What?” chants from twenty years ago, but Hamilton said giving the mindless masses power is dangerous both to them and society, but you know what’s even more dangerous? The theoretical knowledge of the old with the wisdom and brutality of the new Daniel Bryan.
Miz says the only reason Bryan has the title is he did what he said, whatever it takes. Dan runs him down for dancing around the issue and says he kicked AJ Styles in the groin, to be clear, one man in the groin on one day. While these people harm the earth every day with their needless consumption, drinking their water bottles and eating their meat that causes permanent change to the climate.
If you wanna count sins, Bryan yells, he kicked one man in the groin on one day, but these people commit countless atrocities against the earth and future generations every day, every week, every month, every year... count the sins. Miz is befuddled and says for eight years Dan has painted him as the bad guy and he had everyone fooled, but not him. He saw right through and he demands a simple answer for a simple question-- is he champion because he listened to what Miz said, yes or no?
Bryan answers in the affirmative... and then in the negative. Yes and no, over and over, before saying it doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is that the old Daniel Bryan is dead. The Yes! Movement, with these logos (the sideplates from the title, that he casts down), is dead, and your WWE Champion is the new Daniel Bryan. He calls the crowd fickle again...
Enter AJ Styles. He hits the ring but Bryan throws Miz into him and makes a break for it! Styles kicks Miz once for good measure before heading over and pulling Dan back over the barricade, and they end up back in the ring with Miz, who pulls AJ aside and hits the Skull-Crushing Finale!
Commentary hypes up Orton vs. Hardy again and we go to break.
Back from commercial, we’re informed that AJ Styles vs. the Miz will be our main event tonight.
We get a picture in picture promo from Randy Orton saying Rey Mysterio’s entire existence has been shredded and now he has to stomp on Jeff Hardy one last time.
Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton
Hardy with a forearm out the gates, right hands, Orton fires back and goes right after the ear! Jeff with a jawbreaker, off the ropes and he sends Randy to the floor with a lariat! Flying forearm against the barricade, putting the Viper into the ringpost but Orton fights back and smashes his face into the announce table. Back suplex blocked with right hands, smashing Randy’s face into the table himself a few times and it’s Hardy that hits the back suplex into the table to send us to break!
Back from commercial, Orton is in control with a reverse chinlock applied, suffocating Hardy on the mat. Jeff posts to his feet, throwing elbows to get out, leg-feed solebutt, boots up on the charge and Whisper in the Wind doesn’t quite land but he gets two off it anyway! Right hands, whip reversed, axhandle off the ropes into the Manhattan Drop, the double leg drop to the midsection and the basement dropkick for two!
Twist of Fate denied, an elbow puts Hardy on the apron but he fires shoulder thrusts off. Randy lands a knee and follows it with the hanging DDT! The Viper goes to that special place, lying in wait but Jeff shoves the RKO off! Twist of Fate dodged, another RKO blocked and the Charismatic Enigma hits a lariat! Headed up top, Orton meets him with a right hand!
Jockeying for position, Hardy trips him up and finally gets the Twist of Fate! To the floor, taking the announce table apart, he smashes Randy’s face into it before back suplexing him into it again! Leaving Orton in position, Jeff heads up top... and gets cut off by Samoa Joe appearing on the tron live via satelitte from a bar, telling him to keep it up.
The distraction proves enough for Randy to recover...
Randy Orton wins by pinfall with the RKO.
Joe continues, saying he’s WWE Superstar Samoa Joe here to warn you about the dangers of excess. There can be too much of a good thing, and moderation is key. You can make good choices, like having a few beers and enjoying yourself with friends, or you can have fourteen of them and wake up in jail if you wake up at all. He pours a beer and tells us to drink responsibly before offering a toast.
Commentary hypes up our main event and we go to break.
Back from commercial we’re informed that the Bar have challenged the Usos to a rap battle for next week, plus Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka has been booked.
During entrances for the main event, Daniel Bryan is interviewed backstage.
He says the new Daniel Bryan doesn’t run, everything he does, he does with purpose, and now he’s going to commentary.
And we’re going to break before the match can begin.
AJ Styles vs. the Miz
Styles rams Miz into the corner, repeated shoulder thrusts, a chop, to the next corner, laying more chops in, smashing his face into the turnbuckle in the next corner, short whip into the corner and Miz clinches up with him to get referee Jason Ayers to count a break. Side headlock to follow, shot off, shoulder block, drop down, leapfrog, drop down, dropkick from the Phenomenal One!
Miz to the floor, Styles gives chase and picks his leg on the apron and follows it with a slingshot senton for two. The A-Lister with a jawbreaker, AJ blocks a right hand, fires a chop back, whip reversed, big knee lift and Miz gets him hung up on the second and clobbers him with a knee to the back of the head! Rear chinlock applied, Styles fights out with elbows but gets caught with the backbreaker / neckbreaker combo for two!
The A-Lister follows it up with punches to the face, whip across, mocking “Yes!” fingers but AJ cuts the charge off with a superkick! Back body drop to the apron, a forearm and Miz kicks his head off to send us to break!
Back from commercial we get a hype reel for tonight’s episode of Mixed Match Challenge.
Back to the match, both men are down and out and struggling to rise. Styles blocks a punch, fires back, Styles Rush connects in full! Off the ropes, sliding elbow, corner lariat, fireman’s carry into the Ushigoroshi... NOPE! Calling for the Styles Clash, reversed into a catapult into the ringpost, Skull-Crushing Finale reversed into a victory roll pin for two!
Miz follows the kickout with the snap basement DDT... NOT ENOUGH! Off the ropes, AJ sidesteps a boot and passes the A-Lister to the floor! Slingshot plancha forearm connects and he and Bryan square up on the floor. Dan extends a hand... AND MIZ PUTS STYLES INTO THE STEEL STEPS! Back inside, drawing him up, Skull-Crushing Finale... AJ STYLES KICKS OUT!
The A-Lister dropping knees to the hamstring but Styles kicks him off into the turnbuckles! Bryan interferes, AJ kicks him away and catches the Miz into the Calf Killer! He wrenches it in...
AJ Styles wins by submission with the Calf Killer.
Post-match Bryan chop blocks AJ and puts his knee into the post over and over until he falls to the floor! Jawing, he throws Styles into the ringpost! Drawing him up, smashing his face into the announce table, he throws AJ back in the ring and stalks after him... ANOTHER CHOP BLOCK! Picking the leg, he sits down into the heel hook! Jason Ayers tries to pull him off and calls more refeees down to help and finally they get him to break the hold!
Dan takes his jacket off... AND KNOCKS AJ’S HEAD OFF WITH THE BUZZSAW ROUNDHOUSE! Double wristclutch... KICKING HIS HEAD IN! Bryan takes a victory lap before grabbing his wrists again for yet more stomps! He poses for the crowd before heading to the floor and collecting his title belt, accosting ring announcer Greg Hamilton and demanding he be announced again.
Greg complies and Dan holds the title high over his head before taking the mic himself. He asks the crowd why they don’t approve, cheer, or love the new Daniel Bryan and calls them fickle again and again while AJ pulls himself to his feet.
Back in the ring... ONE MORE CHOP BLOCK AND BACK INTO THE HEEL HOOK!
That’s the show, folks.