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WWE SmackDown Live comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (June 26, 2018) from the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California, featuring all the latest build to the upcoming Extreme Rules pay-per-view (PPV) scheduled for next month in Pittsburgh.
Advertised for tonight: A United States championship open challenge, 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 JUNE 26
It’s a sign of the times, the impression that you made, glossed over by a wave, a golden lining in your grave, beneath the dirt its all the same. Last night a saw a thousand faces in a line, and I could not recall a name and I could not recall a time. When I... I needed someone to move me, not someone to save me. And right now, I need to liveblog this here pro wrestling show for you, folks.
The show opens with Miz in the ring to welcome us to MizTV.
He launches into his introductory spiel and introduces us to two soul-destroying carnivores, the Bludgeon Brothers. They have something in common, you see, last week they both proved how easy it is to dismantle Daniel Bryan. His agenda was crystal clear, but the WWE Universe has been speculation as to why they attacked, and Miz asks them why.
The Bludgeons stand there in silence holding their hammers as the crowd chants for Daniel Bryan and the A-Lister orders them to shut up. He gets it, they’re the strong silent type and he’s got a video package to explain why they attacked. It’s a clip of Bryan saying he’s ready to take on the biggest and baddest superstars, and Miz calls it act one and explains to them how three-act stories work.
He calls Daniel Bryan a glory hound and plot twist, Dan is the villain of the film. And onto act three, wherein the Bludgeons take him out and Miz eliminates him. He says they deserve Mizzies and suggests they were trying out to be the new Miztourage before offering them gigs on his new film, Ruff Ruff Ref. They swat the mic out of his hand and here comes Daniel Bryan.
Miz tries to turn the Bludgeons on him but Bryan tells him to shut up and them that they cost him an opportunity, but size isn’t nearly as important as heart and he’s not afraid of any of them. So he’s not out here asking if they’ll fight, he’s asking which one is going to fight him first. Miz takes his jacket off, Rowan goes to step up, and Harper holds him back.
Luke tells Bryan he never learns, but he’s gonna tonight.
New Day are backstage with Mr. Bootyworth making some kinda drinks and generally having a good time, and we go to break.
Back from commercial, we’re informed that Daniel Bryan and Luke Harper will in fact be wrestling later.
Rusev vs. Xavier Woods
Side headlock from Woods, Rusev blocks the takeover, shoots him off, shoulder block, stomps to the back, whip across, back body drop scouted and Xavier throws chops. Tilt-a-whirl headscissors puts Rusev on the ropes, dropkick follows, whip reversed, boot up in the corner, Honor Roll countered with a spinebuster... only a nearfall and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Woods is trapped in a bear hug and trying to free himself by clapping Rusev’s ears! Punches to the face, a jawbreaker, he’s out, blocks a punch, throws a few of his own, kick combo into chops. Whip reversed, duck a lariat, slide under, rolling elbow! Charging in, back body drop to the apron, back in, big DDT from Xavier... NOPE!
Fireman’s carry, the Bulgarian Lion breaks out with elbows, runs into a forearm, duck the kick, superkick lands flush! Off the ropes, Samoan drop gets Rusev a nearfall and he proceeds to set Woods up top. Xavier fights back down, puts the Bulgarian Lion into the post, he climbs up top, Limit Breaker denied, duck lariats, slide under, caught by a roundhouse kick!
Machka Kick follows it up, stomp to the back...
Rusev wins by submission with the Accolade.
Rusev gets on the mic and says tonight wasn’t about Xavier Woods, trombones, pancakes, or whatever, tonight was about AJ Styles. He calls AJ out and says he knows he’s scared, and he proved that last week when he punched Aiden English in the face. He says this is a preview for Extreme Rules, because he’s breaking the door to Styles’ house down, taking the title, and it’s gonna be a great Rusev Day.
Jeff Hard is upside down with his face painted, talking about how adrenaline is heightening his awareness and clarifying his vision. He’s ready to take flight and fight.
Hardy makes his entrance, right side up, and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Lana and Naomi are backstage and arguing about their dance contest from a few weeks back when the cast of GLOW rolls up.
Naomi welcomes them and Alison Brie takes point, saying they’re all huge fans that feel the glow. Naomi puts Alison’s character over and Brie does a bit of Zoya to try and flatter Lana, who suddenly remembers her accent. They ask why they’re arguing when they’d work better together, and Lana misunderstands what “tripping” means in context.
Offering an olive branch, Naomi says Lana is a good dancer and maybe if they can get on the same page they could be ravishing together, snatch some opponents bald, and then everyone would feel the glow.
Back to Jeff Hardy and his open challenge... SAnitY answer the call! Eric Young is taking the challenge!
Eric Young vs. Jeff Hardy (c) (WWE United States Championship)
Young in with clubbing strikes, putting boots to Hardy. Whip reversed, Flair Flip, slide back in, Twist of Fate partially connects, up top and EY heads to the outside as we go to break.
Back from commercial, Eric has a neck crank locked on and the Charismatic Enigma fights to his feet. Breaking with elbows, off the ropes, clobbered with an elbow strike, cover gets two and EY heads up top for the hanging Dragon sleeper! Diving axehandle, no good, back to the neck crank and just wrenching and throwing Hardy away. Another neck twist, and now a slightly different flavor of neck crank as Jeff fights back into it.
Mat slam, back to the neck crank, fighting out, whip reversed and Hardy takes the turnbuckles hard! Jeff with kicks and punches, whip reversed again but this time he bounces out into a schoolboy for two. Lariat from EY almost does the job and he returns to the neck crank, but Jeff slips out with a jawbreaker. Punches, a whip reversed, lariat connects, Manhattan Drop into the double leg drop and the basement dropkick... NOPE!
Kick to the midsection, Twist of Fate... countered into a neckbreaker and both men are down and out! Alexander Wolfe and Killian Dain point across the arena and here come the Usos! We’ve got a brawl on the floor! Eric Young gets into it...
Eric Young wins by disqualification.
Hardy joins the brawl and we’ve got all-out chaos! The babyfaces manage to run SAnitY off and stand tall as we go to break.
Back from commercial we’ve got an unannounced six-man tag in progress, my very favorite thing.
Jeff Hardy & the Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso) vs. SAnitY (Alexander Wolfe, Eric Young, & Killian Dain)
Killian Dain with a huge crossbody on an Uso, tag to Wolfe, the action spills outside for some brutality and back in, tag to Young, Demolition Decapitation... NOPE! Neck crank applied, off the ropes, back elbow, can opener over the bottom rope! Dain with a cheap shot, he tags in, front kick on Jey and a suplex, not enough to put him away. Neck crank, Uso gets out, big slap, reaching for the tag, cut off with an uppercut and Killian clears the apron.
Corner body avalanche, tag to EY, back suplex, Jey lands on his feet, shoves him out of the ring, the way is clear... and Eric pulls Jeff Hardy from the apron! Back in, elbow drop to the face, tag to Dain, and Uso sidesteps a charge and puts him into the post! Jimmy on the apron, tags made! Wolfe comes in, gets run over with lariats, low kick, right hand, off the ropes, Samoan drop!
Back body drop puts Uso on the apron, up top, diving crossbody... NOPE! Superkick reversed, enzuigiri, running hip attack... ERIC YOUNG BREAKS IT UP WITH A DIVING ELBOW DROP! Into the “everybody does something cool” part of the match, superkicks aplenty, the Usos are fired up! Off the ropes, suicide dive, Wolfe from behind with a schoolboy but he can’t put him away!
German suplex, superkick, Hardy with the blind tag and he takes his shirt off, headed up top...
Jeff Hardy & the Usos win by pinfall with the Swanton Bomb from Hardy on Alexander Wolfe.
Commentary hypes up Bryan/Harper again and we cut backstage to Becky Lynch shadowboxing and almost knocking a crew member out when he rolls up to tell her she’s next.
Commentary informs us that Becky has Sonya Deville, and we go to break.
Back from commercial in time for entrances.
We get a clip of a WWE.com interview where Sonya Deville interrupted Becky Lynch to mock her and Lynch asked which arm she’d like to have broken.
Becky Lynch vs. Sonya Deville
Fast-paced jockeying for position to start, test of strength, Lynch forces Deville down and breaks her bridge before Sona gets herself back up and throws a knee to break. Off the ropes, shoulder block, a strut before the cover but Becky bridges up to her feet and goes for an O’Connor roll. Off the ropes, solebutt from Deville, waistlock takedown, another one, Lynch with a side headlock, reverse to a waistlock, standing switch and she slides to the ropes to knock Sonya to the floor.
Deville picks the legs, drags Becky out and gets thrown over the table for her trouble as we go to break.
Back from commercial, Deville is throwing kicks and follows them up with a bodyscissors. Backslide on the escape, roundhouse kick, and back to the bodyscissors. Out again, sidestep the charge, springboard kick and into the lariat combination as Becky gets fired up! Exploder suplex, only two, sidestep a sliding knee, no good. Pick the arm, blocked, schoolboy pin, step-up enzuigiri from Sonya can’t put her away.
Headed up top, Mandy runs interference, Deville picks her off the top and gets a nearfall out of it. Raining punches down, a malfunction at the junction leads to Rose getting clobbered with a forearm, Lynch capitalizes...
Becky Lynch wins by submission with Dis-Arm-Her.
Commentary hypes up Bryan/Harper again and we go backstage with James Ellsworth. He puts Asuka’s mask on and runs into Tye Dillinger. He raises his mask for an exuberant greeting and Tye insists he put the mask back on, because without it, he’s a one.
We go to break.
Back from commercial, Andrade “Cien” Almas and Zelina Vega get a handcam promo about how they put Sin Cara on the shelf and haven’t had any competition since.
James Ellsworth makes his entrance. He says there are two types of men in the world, those who wear sandals and like to talk about their feelings, and real men like him that stand up for what they believe in. Last week, Asuka attacked him for no reason, but that’s okay, because he knows Asuka is here tonight, and when you mess with the bull, you get the horns.
Before the WWE Universe starts blowing up his Twitter, he wants to make it clear that he loves and respects women, and his love life’s so hot he can fry an egg on it. He strips to the waist and says he wasn’t ready last week, but he is this week and dares Asuka to come down and try again.
Enter Paige. She says Asuka is in Japan visiting family, and their rivalry with her deserves some love and respect, but from her, and she makes a rematch between Carmella and Asuka official for Extreme Rules. Jimmy says everybody knows Asuka doesn’t deserve it and says that’s not the only reason she’s out here, he sees the way she’s looking, she wants to ask him out on a date!
She admits to it and asks how next Tuesday sounds before running a hand down his arm. He accepts, she shushes him and says next Tuesday sounds great, she’ll see him then. But not a date with her, no. And not so much a date, but a match. And it’ll be against ASUKA!
We go backstage with the Bludgeon Brothers. Harper turns to the camera and stares intensely as the camera zooms in on him.
Elsewhere, Daniel Bryan is training with the Club to get ready for their match and send us to break.
Back from commercial, we get some hype for Lio Rush’s debut on 205 Live.
Daniel Bryan vs. Luke Harper
Outside and back in, Bryan traps Harper in the corner with kicks but gets overpowered and forced back to the floor. Slingshot dropkick caught and Luke puts him into the barricade! Keeping his space, throwing kicks, back inside and Harper floors Dan with a forearm before tearing at his face. Arm-trap rear chinlock applied, tearing the face again, Bryan out and back in with big chops but a right hand drops him to his knees.
Shove into the ropes, come back with a front kick, low bridge, going for the dive and Luke catches him and lawn darts him into the announce desk! Big boot puts the American Dragon over the timekeeper’s barricade and we go to break!
Back from commercial, Harper has a reverse chinlock but Bryan posts to his feet. Knees from the tag champion, a chop in the corner, whip across, backflip up and over, duck the lariat... TRUCK STOP CAN’T PUT THE AMERICAN DRAGON AWAY! Forearm to the back, giant step, slingshot senton atomico, just another nearfall and Luke grabs an arm-trap choke.
Stunner to escape, Harper goes right back to a reverse chinlock, Bryan to his feet and Luke pastes him! Calling his shot, boot up on the charge, shotgun dropkick to the arm, and into the running dropkicks! Harper cuts the last one off, counters with the Michinoku Driver... NOPE! Dragging Dan over, back to the chinlock and then the arm-trap choke, wrapping a leg around his torso to increase the pressure but Bryan fights back to seated and then standing.
Elbows, leg kicks, off the ropes, dropkick from the big man! Chops in the corner, Luke with the headbutt, setting him up top, right hand slap, climbing up, thinking about a superplex but Dan fights out with body blows and punches to the head... TORNADO DDT! Yes! Kicks follow, duck the buzzsaw, up for the powerbomb, Bryan floats over, ducks a lariat and takes him down into the omoplata!
The Yes! Lock is on and Rowan hits the ring...
Daniel Bryan wins by disqualification.
The Bludgeons put boots to Bryan in the corner, Harper slaps Rowan, assisted whip into an elbow and Erick freight trains Dan in the middle of the ring! Drawing him back up, Luke gets on the second... KANE MAKES THE SAVE! He knocks Harper down with a boot, double goozle, cut off with kicks but Bryan’s recovered... double missile dropkick!
Busaiku Knee takes Rowan out! Kane hits the chokeslam on Harper! Bryan rises to his feet and stares at Kane as the crowd chants “Team Hell No!” and “Hug it out!” Kane advances on him in the corner and opens his arms wide, but Dan doesn’t want the hug! He goes to leave before reconsidering... TEAM HELL NO HUG IT OUT ONCE AGAIN!
They do the Yes! Fingers together and Paige comes out. She’s not letting the moment slip through her fingers and she books Bludgeons vs. Team Hell No for Extreme Rules!
That’s the show, folks!