WWE SmackDown Live comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Mar. 12, 2019) from the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio, featuring the fallout show from the Fastlane pay-per-view (PPV) that went down this past Sunday night in Cleveland.
Advertised for tonight: Kofi Kingston isn’t going away, Shane McMahon addresses turning on The Miz, R-Truth gets another shot at the U.S. championship, 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 MAR. 12
World turns black and white, pictures in an empty room. Your love starts fallin’ down, better change your tune. Reach for the golden ring, reach for the sky-- Baby just spread your wings. We’ll get higher and higher, straight up we’ll climb. We’ll get higher and higher, leave it all behind, but first, I’ve got to liveblog this here pro wrestling show for you, folks.The show opens with Shane McMahon making his entrance.
He enters the ring and stands next to his Best in the World trophy and waits a long beat, until the ring announcer Greg Hamilton comes over. Hamilton introduces him as the Best in the World, and then makes him do it again and chokes him in the corner, unhappy with his lack of conviction. Greg introduces him a third time and McMahon shakes his hand this time, finally pleased.
Shane gets on the mic and says people are asking why he turned on Miz, and quite frankly he’s sick of it. He’s tired of all the people in his life, and not just all of us, or all the superstars in the back, or all the WWE employees, everyone asking him what he’ll do to get them ahead in life. His entire life, people have been rubbing up against him for promotions, for stock options, and we have no idea what he does behind the scenes for us every day.
Them, them, them, always what he can do for them, and that stopped Sunday when he beat the holy hell out of the Miz in his own home town. He’s not the Best in the World because he won a trophy or became tag champs, no, he’s the Best in the World because he was born that way. And from this point forward he’s doing things for himself, and that’s why it felt so good on Sunday when he beat the hell out of the Miz.
The sweet part is the last thing Miz saw when he was choking him out was his father’s baked potato face, and that felt good. That set off a spark in McMahon that’s never going away, and he tells Miz he’s got, not a request, but an order, and he had such an amazing time beating his ass that he’s gonna continue that very notion on the Grandest Stage of them All, WrestleMania.
So get ready for another Best in the World beating, and it’s gonna make Shane feel... awesome. He then leaves.
Aleister Black makes his entrance, he’ll be in action in an eight-man tag after the break.
Aleister Black, the Hardy Boyz (Jeff & Matt Hardy), & Ricochet vs. Rusev, Shinsuke Nakamura, & the Bar (Cesaro & Sheamus)
Nakamura and Black to start, circling, probing strikes, Shisuke catches a kick and lands one of his own but Aleister lights him up and tags Ricochet in. Double whip, drop down, leapfrog, knee to the gut and a standing moonsault for one! Calling for the tag, Matt in, Nakamura backs off and tags Sheamus in to a chorus of “DELETE!”s. Celtic Warrior clubbing, Hardy boots up in the corner, to the second for the diving elbow to the back of the neck and he tags his brother in.
Double leg to stereo leg drops, only two, reverse chinlock applied and Sheamus shoots him off before landing a lariat with a distraction from Cesaro. Tag to the Swiss Superman, off the ropes, mocking Matt’s leg drop for two. Tag to Rusev, working the Charismatic Enigma over with strikes and shoulder thrusts until referee Mike Chioda warns him off. Cheap shots from his tag partners, the Bulgarian Lion grabs a reverse chinlock to suffocate Hardy.
Jeff to his feet, elbows away but Rusev takes him right back down. Mat slam to release, quick tags, working Hardy over in the corner, jawbreaker on Rusev gets some separation! Flying in for the tag, Ricochet legal, right hands, whip reversed, up and over, roll-through headscissors takeover and a dropkick right on the button! Shoulder thrust, to the apron, boot to Nakamura, springboard... RUSEV CUTS HIM OFF WITH A HAYMAKER AND THE ONE AND ONLY CRASHES TO THE FLOOR!
The heels circle and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Sheamus is in control on Ricochet but finds himself back body dropped to the floor. Cesaro throws him back in and makes the tag, cutting the One and Only off and clearing the apron but a back body drop clears the way! Reaching, crawling, tag to Matt! Lariats and right hands, smashing Cesaros face into the turnbuckles over and over, tag to Jeff.
Double whip, Poetry in Motion! Side Effect connects, Sheamus in with the Brogue Kick, pump knee from Black, roundhouse from Rusev, missile dropkick from Ricochet, roundhouse from Nakamura, Twist of Fate for Nakamura! Another Twist of Fate for Cesaro, Jeff heads up top, Swanton Bomb... EVERYONE BREAKS IT UP! All eight men slugging it out at once, chaos reigns, Chioda failing to restore order as New Day come down...
The match goes to a no contest, presumably.
Xavier Woods takes Sheamus out with a dropkick through the ropes and Big E throws him into the steps! E heads over to Cesaro and holds him up for stomps from Kofi Kingston before ramming him into the barricade. Putting boots to Rusev and Nakamura... TROUBLE IN PARADISE! Fired up and fighting mad, New Day prowl the ring as their music begins.
The Usos are backstage talking about how they get why New Day are frustrated and they run down all the other tag teams as not being worth their time on one level or another before welcoming them to the Uso Penitentiary.
Randy Orton makes his entrance and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Randy Orton gets on the mic.
He says there’s something he has to get off his chest. This is the House That AJ Styles Built, right, well in 2002 AJ was wrestling for ten bucks a night in a high school gymnasium in front of ten people while he was here making his WWE in-ring debut. In 2004, Styles was shaking hands with his opponents in bingo halls and Orton was the youngest WWE Champion ever.
In 2005, AJ was down in Florida getting a tan with Dixie Carter while Randy was wrestling the Undertaker at WrestleMania! 2006, 2007, 2008, and so on, Orton was here and he was a champion, this isn’t the House That AJ Styles Built, it’s the House That Randy Orton Built!
Enter AJ Styles. He says for someone who looks down on the indies, he paid close attention to his career, but AJ’s proud he comes from the indies. They say Randy was built for WWE, and that’s good, because he couldn’t have made it on the indies. Not with things like his intro pose and a knockoff Diamond Cutter! Orton asks if he’s saying face-to-face and man-to-man that he and his indie pals never ripped anybody off before making a Too Sweet.
Styles points out that Randy’s now surrounded by his indie pals backstage because they earned the right to be in WWE, and they didn’t go to their father to get them a job. You wanna talk about a career, AJ’ll talk about it. Randy’s first year he had stroke from HHH, the cunning of Ric Flair, the muscle of Batista, all to make sure he didn’t fail. Orton said he accomplished more by 24 than anyone in the industry has dreamed of accomplishing.
Randy lists off all his accomplishments and says nobody’s ever had to help him-- AJ again reminds him of Evolution, and about Legacy, and Rated-RKO, and the Wyatt Family, saying it sounds to him like Orton had a lot of babysitters. Don’t get him wrong, Randy’s exactly who he says he is, using people and tossing them to the curb, and that’s why he got the jump on him at Fastlane, because he’s not gonna be his next victim.
Orton says he doesn’t get a choice, because he’s the landlord and rent’s due, you son of a bitch. You can make that check out to the most destructive three letters in sports entertainment, RKO. Randy drops the mic and walks away, but AJ stops him in his tracks by saying if he wants his rent he can come and take it, while pointing at the WrestleMania sign.
The Viper leaves, staring the Phenomenal One down the entire way.
Commentary hypes up Harlem Heat being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Asuka makes her entrance, she’ll be facing Sonya Deville after the break.
Asuka vs. Sonya Deville
Circling, Asuka with a front chancery after some feeling out, Deville to a waistlock, the champ reverse to an ankle lock but Sonya’s right in the ropes. Kicks on the break, Asuka returns the favor, Deville ducks a buzzsaw, schoolboy for two. Whip reversed, missile dropkick sidestepped, Sonya with a spear... NOPE! Knee to the ribs, another nearfall, Asuka with rights, blocking Sonya’s forearms, hip toss knee strike, off the ropes, sliding knee and Deville rolls to the floor!
Asuka lying in wait, baseball slide takes both of Fire and Desire out but Sonya is able to throw the Empress back in. Mandy Rose fumbles with the apron trying to get back up, Deville slips and Asuka capitalizes...
Asuka wins by submission with the Asuka Lock.
A bit of strife between Mandy and Sonya on their way out, Rose lecturing Deville and leaving her behind as they head to the back.
The Iconic Duo get a promo mocking Deville and Rose and calling the Boss and Hug Connection out, telling them they can’t run forever and they need to come to SmackDown for an iconic future.
Becky Lynch makes her entrance, still hobbled on a crutch... before casting it aside and walking her way down to the ring!
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get a video package recapping the Raw Women’s Championship feud.
In the ring, Becky Lynch says it feels good to walk down the ramp on her own two feet, and everyone got brave when she was suspended, hurt, unsuspended, arrested, and then disqualified right into the biggest match of her career, but she’s back on her feet and into the main event of WrestleMania. Let’s not forget that she set this match into motion, and she had to earn her way into the match twice.
And she got Ronnie so wound up she did her bidding for her, and she’ll repay the little weirdo by taking her title and ripping her arm off at WrestleMania. Lynch doesn’t care who she has to beat anymore, and at WrestleMania she’s going to reclaim everything that belongs to her that they’ve tried to give to someone else.
Enter Charlotte Flair. She congratulates Becky for finally making it into her main event and says while she was off getting suspended and arrested, she’s been putting the work in and her resume speaks for itself. It’s one thing to be hot for six months, but Flair’s been hot for four years. No matter how hard Becky tries to spin it, she got a handout, and Charlotte’s never seen someone do so little while taking credit for so much, and that’s why she’s going to make her AND Ronda relevant again when they bow down to the Queen.
Lynch offers a rebuttal and holds her fist high in the air.
An interview is waiting for Daniel Bryan when he and Erick Rowan come out of Vince McMahon’s office.
Bryan admits that it IS about Kofi Kingston and he says he thought Vince deserved to hear his honest feedback. He says Mr. McMahon booked them in a match against Mustafa Ali and Kevin Owens and they depart.
Rey Mysterio makes his entrance, he’ll be in a tag team match after the break.
Back from commercial in time for Samoa Joe’s entrance.
Andrade “Cien” Almas & Samoa Joe vs. R-Truth & Rey Mysterio
Truth and Almas to start, circling, Ron with a go-behind and Andrade clocks him with a back elbow. Up and over, big hip toss from Truth into the splits and he’s fired up. off the ropes, corkscrew forearm, tag to Mysterio, wheelbarrow assist to take Cien down, headscissors him into the ropes but Joe makes the tag. Off the ropes, clobbering Rey with jabs and stomps before tossing him to the floor as we go to break.
Back from commercial, Joe has an arm-trap crossface locked on Mysterio before shifting to an arm-trap Fujiwara armbar and Truth comes in to break it up. Tag to Almas, knee to the midsection, straight suplex and he rolls through into the Three Amigos but Rey counters the last one into a Yoshi Tonic! Zelina Vega trying to block the tag, Carmella takes her out and Truth gets the tag!
Off the ropes, shoulder block, shoulder block, Blue Thunder Driver, “You can’t see me!”, off the ropes, Five Knuckle Shuffle! Lying in wait, fireman’s carry but Samoa makes the tag! Splits to duck the lariat, jumping heel kick, knee strike, off the ropes, blind tag from Rey and Joe decks Truth with a superkick! Mysterio puts him on the second with a missile dropkick, headscissors puts Cien next to him... DOUBLE 619!
Up top, frog splash, Joe breaks it up with a senton! Clutching Rey, going for the true uranage, Mysterio reverses...
R-Truth & Rey Mysterio win by pinfall with a victory roll pin from Mysterio on Samoa Joe.
Joe hits the true uranage on Truth and Almas to vent his frustration!
Commentary hypes up Vince McMahon offering Kofi Kingston a WrestleMania opportunity later before tossing to a recap of Alexa Bliss’ announcement that she’s hosting WrestleMania.
Kevin Owens makes his entrance for his tag team match and we go to break.
Daniel Bryan & Erick Rowan vs. Kevin Owens & Mustafa Ali
Bryan and Owens to start, circling, collar and elbow, Kev gets a side headlock and gets shot off. Shoulder block, off the ropes, drop down, leapfrog, drop down, back elbow from KO into the senton! Jawing at him, Dan backs off and tags Rowan in. Kev clubbing away, Erick shoves him off, passes him into the corner and throws a wild back elbow before freight training Owens with a pounce!
Fishhook the nose, drawing KO up, back elbow and an enzuigiri and he tags Ali in! Diving crossbody, caught but he floats out of it, slip to the apron on the charge and he hits the gamengiri. Rolling thunder countered with a lariat, Rowan boots Kev off the apron and roars! Stepping on Mustafa’s chest, tag to Bryan, holding him in place for a boot to the chest.
Headbutt into a toehold, setting up a fishhook STF and then a rear chinlock as Ali fights. Body blows, off the ropes, back elbow cuts him off and Dan snap suplexes him for two and we go to break on the American Dragon going from the pin into a crazy body-and-leg lock.
Back from commercial, Rowan has Ali in a Canadian backbreaker rack and stampedes him into the corner! Tag to Bryan, Mustafa up top and he climbs to join him, underhooks...BUTTERFLY SUPERPLEX! THE LEBELL LOCK IS ON AT THE KICKOUT! Ali crawling, stretching, he gets a foot on the ropes but the American Dragon has until five, referee! Throwing uppercuts, whip across, Mustafa with the pop-up dropkick and he’s got some separation!
Bryan with a leg pick, trying to block, he gets under him, back suplex, Mustafa hits a lungblower... ROWAN BREAKS IT UP! Owens in, kick to the gut, Stunner denied, clawslam denied, superkick... SUPERKICK PARTY SENDS THE BIG MAN TO THE FLOOR! KO on the apron but Erick cuts him off and throws him into the barricade hard! Ali baseball slide, Dan from behind, waistlock, standing switch, O’Connor Roll, reversed... NOPE!
Tag from Rowan, back elbow, springboard... CAUGHT BY THE BIG MAN INTO THE CLAWSLAM! THAT’S IT!
Daniel Bryan & Erick Rowan win by pinfall with the clawslam from Rowan on Mustafa Ali.
As our winners leave victorious, they’re met on the stage by Vincent Kennedy McMahon, who gives them a passing salute as he struts to the ring.
We go to break as Vince grabs a microphone.
Back from commercial, Vince McMahon is on the mic.
He says he’s here tonight to give us and give Kofi Kingston what he wants, an opportunity to compete for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. He tosses to a recap of Kofi’s night from Fastlane and says people hear what they want to hear, and he didn’t do anything he didn’t say he was going to do. When he speaks you better listen, because everything he does is what he calls a teachable moment, and they’re extremely important--
Enter the New Day, unified and dead serious. They get in the ring, face to face with a smug, smirking Mr. McMahon, and Big E begins. He says if he’s honest, they’re not in the mood to be taught a damn thing, and Xavier Woods says they’re done watching what they say. E says they jump through every hoop, do every meet and greet, and they never buck the system or threaten to leave and they STILL get treated like garbage.
Kofi Kingston’s been here grinding for eleven years and he deserves better! Vince says Kofi doesn’t deserve a damn thing, and neither do the other two nor the WWE Universe, nor himself. He created all of this, and he doesn’t deserve anything, no one deserves anything. Big says this is bigger than their opinions or the New Day or Vince’s damn ego, to which McMahon says nothing is bigger than his ego.
Woods says Vince says nobody deserves, but they deserve because they earn. Kofi’s beat WWE Champions when they were champion and never got title shots, and that’s only one of the many reasons he deserves a match for the WWE Championship. E says the WWE Universe has one demand, that Kingston be given the opportunity to compete for that title. McMahon says he wishes Kofi really did deserve this.
He’s known him a long time, and if he were worthy of a title match, it’d have happened a long time ago. Yes he’s an impressive athlete and as of late his performances have been incredible. He’s an extraordinary representative of the product, but face it, one day he’ll be in the Hall of Fame, but not by himself. The only way he goes in is as part of New Day, and he’s pretty smart, too.
At his age he’s got these young bucks(!) here to help him get the glory. He’s got a lot going for him, and he’s been speaking to Daniel Bryan, who hit it right on the mark. He says Dan said Kofi’s awesome, but he’s a good B+ player. Big and Xavier get hot and Kingston holds them back, saying they don’t need to get fired for him. Kofi says he’s not asking for a free ride or a handout, no man.
Look, eleven years ago he was just a kid with a dream and that dream’s damn near come true. He gets to travel the world providing for his family and he loves it, his life is blessed. He’d like to think at some point in those eleven years he’d have proved his worth, but Vince doesn’t see it that way. He doesn’t complain about anything around here, not about how he shows up week in week out and busts his ass while other people are given opportunities, he doesn’t complain about that.
He doesn’t complain about being required to be away from his family, missing weddings, birthdays, never been trick or treating with his kids. Two days ago his son lost his first tooth and he wasn’t there to see the look on his face when he found the money the tooth fairy left for him. He never complais about any of this, or that he’s never let someone like him contend or compete for the WWE Championship.
He’s never complained, and he’s not gonna start now, but what he needs right here, right now, face to face, man to man, to tell him what he needs to do so he can do it. The people believe in him...
Enter Randy Orton. Vince says all he has to do is beat Orton and he’s...
Enter Samoa Joe. McMahon says he also has to beat Joe.
Enter the Bar. Of course Kofi has to beat them.
Enter Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan. Vince says Kofi has to beat all them in a gauntlet match next week and he has the match!
The heels hit the ring and brawl with New Day! Your boys manage to run them all off! They stand tall and stare Vince and Bryan down! Cesaro comes back in... TROUBLE IN PARADISE!
THAT’S THE SHOW, FOLKS!