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WWE SmackDown Live comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (July 9, 2019) from the SNHU Arena in Machester, New Hampshire, featuring all the latest build to the upcoming Extreme Rules pay-per-view (PPV) scheduled for this Sunday night in Philadelphia.
Advertised for tonight: Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler, Finn Balor vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, the reveal of Aleister Black’s opponent, 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 JULY 9
Wearing an olive drab but feeling somehow inside opalescent. Wonder how I’m managing to smile, oh, when I can’t even pay my rent. Maybe it’s because I’ve finally found my little tulip, my Norge dear. Funny how in spite of all my woes life can appear rosy and clear, and I’m more than happy to be here liveblogging this pro wrestling show for you, folks.
The show opens with footage of Dolph Ziggler arriving at the building earlier today.
He runs into an interview and mocks Kevin Owens as a “worthless tub of excuses” and claims he carried him on his back like he has all of WWE for 10 years. Everything he does is to be better--
Enter KO, driving past and honking his horn over and over. He gets out and collects his bags while Ziggler complains. They bicker and finally Kev hauls off and decks him! Dolph fights back and we got a brawl! Lower card guys and security swarm to separate them, soon joined by Shane McMahon, who tells Owens he’s done for the day and sends him home.
Backstage in the present, Shane McMahon is interviewed as to why he canceled the Ziggler/Owens match that was to be tonight’s main event.
He says it’s his job to protect the superstars and since Owens instigated it, he was sent home. He’s got a few ideas for the new main event and he’s going to go see to it right now.
Live in the arena, Kevin Owens appears at ringside with a mic, saying he’s got something to say.
Last week he spoke the truth about Dolph Ziggler and now Shane McMahon needs to hear the truth. He’s tired of being a good company man so he’s going to speak out, and a while ago the McMahons came out and said they were going to give us what we want, but all that’s happened is Shane has gotten more power and more TV time, and nobody watching ever wanted that!
Every week we have to sit back and hear him call himself the best in the world and that makes Owens want to smash his head on the announce table!
Enter Shane McMahon, yelling for Kev’s mic to be cut and he finally gets his way after about ten seconds. Owens gets another mic and resumes, talking about how McMahon calling himself best in the world is an insult to everyone that busts their ass on the road every week and it makes him sick. He tells Shane he can kick his ass as he finally gets that mic shut down.
A third mic in hand, KO pledges never to call himself the best in the world and names off a few of the guys and gals on the roster who deserve time more than Shane, from Buddy Murphy to Kairi Sane. Finally Shane manages to get security down and Owens is escorted out.
Commentary hypes up the rest of tonight’s show and we see Finn Balor walking backstage. He’ll be in action after the break.
Back from commercial, Finn Balor gets a pre-taped promo during his entrance about how he’s known Shinsuke Nakamura for 15 years but he’s not gonna let him start clawing back at his expense.
Finn Balor vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Test of strength, Nakamura with a waistlock, standing switch, elbows to break, wristlock, more elbows to the neck, whip reversed, sunset flip countered with a dropkick from Balor! Front chancery, Shinsuke rams him into the corner for repeated shoulder thrusts and referee Jason Ayers warns him off as we go to break.
Back from commercial, whip reversed, flyhing forearm into the double leg / double stomp combo and Balor is running hot! Corner chop, whip blocked, duck the roundhouse, Finn hits the inverted facelock elbow drop... NOPE! Looking for Sling Blade, blocked, boots up in the corner denied and Nakamura hits a roundhouse kick to the back of the neck that hangs him up in the ropes.
Running... SLIDING GERMAN SUPLEX OUT OF THE ROPES! He’s got Balor lined up... SLING BLADE! Finn fired up, headed up top, Shinsuke crotches him, running start for the knee to the ribs! Sliding out to the apron, Nakamura off the second... KINSHASA! Beating Finn up on the floor, breaking the count, dumping him back outside... SUPERKICK-STYLE KINSHASA! Referee Jason Ayers counts... BALOR IN AT NINE!
Shinsuke puts boots to him, back outside again, whip into the barricade and a toss into the steel steps, Nakamura leans him against the steel and hammers him with knees and kicks. Ayers at nine... BALOR BACK IN! Shinsuke lines him up...
Shinsuke Nakamura wins by pinfall with Kinshasa.
Backstage, Elias, Drew McIntyre, and Shane McMahon are talking strategy.
Drew talks about the physical and mental advantages they have and Elias says he’s got the perfect funeral song for the Undertaker, when Dolph Ziggler rolls up.
He says what Shane did was bogus and he was ready to end Kevin Owens once and for all, and eventually McMahon books him against Roman Reigns as a make good of sorts.
Bayley is shown walking backstage, she’ll have a contract signing after the break.
Back from commercial we get a video package for Kofi Kingston vs. Samoa Joe.
Joe cuts a promo, saying last week he showed passion and offered safety and he knew Kingston wouldn’t take it because he’s everything he said he was. He sees the hustle and what Kofi truly is, and at Extreme Rules, he’ll tear away every last shred of the lie he clothes himself in and beat him down to his bare essence. When he gets to that point, he’ll put him to sleep, and for everyone he’s walked to greatness upon, he’ll take everything Kingston has taken from them, and he’ll take the WWE Championship.
Bayley and Nikki Cross come out for their contract signing, with Cross having some kind of wrestling power of attorney to represent her pal Alexa Bliss as well.
Bayley says she’s happy Nikki came out alone because she thinks they’re very similar. She came into WWE starstruck and it took a while to realize people only came to her because they need something and she became champion on her own. Cross objects and Bayley very seriously asks if she’s okay with helping somebody else win a championship. Nikki dismisses the question and Bayley continues, telling her to understand that she’s bringing everything she has Sunday and she’s gonna do everything it takes to win.
So what’s gonna happen when Bliss loses and blames you, Nikki?
Nikki says she’s sick and tired of Bayley trying to drive a wedge between them and avows again that she’s not being used. And after Sunday she’s not gonna hold the title alone because they’re gonna be the first ever SmackDown Women’s Co-Champions! And when it’s time to play, she’s getting all the fun.
Enter Carmella.
She has a match against Cross, up next.
THE EVOLVE VIDEO PACKAGE PLAYS AGAIN AHHH I STILL CAN’T QUITE BELIEVE IT, THE TINY PURPLE INDIE I LOVE ON CABLE TV EVEN FOR A BRIEF SHINING MOMENT!
Ahem, to break.
Carmella vs. Nikki Cross
Cross charging in, crossbody into grounded punches, screaming mad, ram into the corner for shoulder thrusts before putting boots to her. Snapmare sets up a dropkick, suplex gets a nearfall and sets up a Rings of Saturn but Carmella reverses into a pin for one and the break. Half nelson chinlock, Mella escapes, grounded punches but Nikki clobbers her with a lariat!
Dragging her in front of Bayley, Cross screams that this is on her and starts hammering Carmella with forearsm! Whip reversed, drop down to avoid the crossbody, running lariats follow! Atomic drop, boot to put Nikki into the corner, follow with the Bronco Buster! Superkick blocked, fisherman neckbreaker reversed into a small package... NOPE! Cross blocks a kick...
Nikki Cross wins by pinfall with the fisherman neckbreaker.
Cross steps on the ropes and jaws at Bayley.
We get footage of the Kabuki Warriors in Japan and go backstage where Paige and her wards are waiting outside the Iconic Duo’s locker room.
Paige demands the title match tonight but Peyton Royce says Billie Kay is sick with mad cow bird flu disease, very rare. Paige sees the through the ruse and says all they ever do is run and calls them shrill cowardly annoying little clowns before hauling off and slapping Kay across the face! They go to fight back but Paige reminds them she’s supposed to be sick and Billie kind of coughs pathetically and moves on.
We see Dolph Ziggler chilling backstage with a lot of water.
Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan are shown walking backstage ahead of the tag team title summit, whatever that is, to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Becky Lynch’s cover of ESPN Magazine gets a little hype.
We get a recap of last night’s main event to Raw featuring Cedric Alexander as Gary “the GOAT” Garbutt.
Roman Reigns is interviewed backstage.
He says these crazy nights have made his career and he’s ready to put his career on the line because Dolph ain’t ready for him, and on Sunday he and the Deadman are gonna do the thing and those boys? They’re gonna rest... in... peace.
Big E and Xavier Woods make their entrance.
Woods says tonight he’s got a triple threat with Daniel Bryan and Otis Dozovic, and on Sunday your boys the New Day will be in a triple threat for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. E says that wasn’t what he had in mind when he heard he was going to be in a three-way on Sunday, but his hope is for all three of them to finally be able to touch their championship tips together.
Enter Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan.
Bryan gets on the mic and says the crowd should be booing New Day because despite all the violence last week they’re out here making jokes. But he’s figured it out, and it’s because every time they win the titles, no one takes them seriously either. Xavier says Dan talks too much without ever actually saying anything, and he wants to hear what Big Red has to say.
He confuses Woods, because he took orders from Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and now Daniel Bryan, and he has trouble keeping up week to week with who his daddy is! This gets Rowan hot and Bryan has to restrain him as “Who’s your daddy?” chants go up. The American Dragon says New Day are doing what they always do, deflecting true criticism with jokes.
Here’s the thing, New Day are some of the best athletes in WWE and they’ve had some of the best tag matches in history and somehow they never escape the middle of the card and they’ve been a comedy act for years. The only thing worse than New Day winning the titles would be those buffoons Heavy Machinery winning the tag titles.
Enter Heavy Machinery.
Tucker Knight gets on the mic and says there’s no denying he and Otis took the tag champs to the limit in their first title match, and they’ve earned their opportunity to be in this title match. Dozer reminds everyone that they’re blue collar solid, and Knight explains that means they overcome any obstacle, including New Day.
Tucky says they’re gonna show the world that there ain’t no party like a blue collar party, and Otis adds that tonight, Woods and Daniel have a match and he’s coming!
That match will be after the break.
Daniel Bryan vs. Otis Dozovic vs. Xavier Woods
Bryan takes a breather on the floor right away, so Woods and Dozovic get into it, Xavier with a side headlock, blocking the big man’s attempts to pick him up. Shot off, duck a lariat, slide under but Otis knocks him down and Dan’s right in with a sleeper hold! Big biel, Woods trying to suplex Dozer and Bryan comes in to help but Dozer vertical suplexes both of them with about three seconds of delay!
Cover’s no good, whip Woods into the corner again and again, pop-up drop for Dan but Otis runs into a boot! Erick Rowan running interference, all the partners getting into it at ringside and they shove Erick over the announce desk! Referee Mike Chioda tries to restore order and ends up throwing them all out! We go to break waiting for the match to reset.
Back from commercial and Woods rams Bryan into the barricade before hammering him with punches to the head! Back inside, Xavier up top, he perches and hits a missile dropkick for two! Fireman’s carry, Dan breaks free, shoves him in the corner, charging in, elbow is up, Honor Roll... COUNTERED INTO THE LEBELL LOCK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RING! NOWHERE FOR WOODS TO GO, REACHING, SHAKING... OTIS BREAKS IT UP!
American Dragon with the chest kicks, Dozer catches the buzzsaw finale and scoops him up for the revolution World’s Strongest Slam! Woods with an enzuigiri, springboard caught, Otis turns it into a belly-to-belly suplex! Stinger splashes corner to corner, Bryan down and out... CATERPILLAR TIME! Not enough to win it, Bryan gets his neck snapped over the ropes, Woods catches him with a military press double knee gutbuster!
Kick for Dozer, he catches Xavier...
Otis Dozovic wins by pinfall with a pop-up World’s Strongest Slam.
We get a video package covering the Kevin Owens babyface turn.
We go backstage to catering where Fire and Desire are giving Ember Moon crap for skipping the line. They say this isn’t Twitter, this is real life, and Moon says she was justified in what she said, especially considering she beat Mandy Rose’s ass last week. Sonya Deville says that only brought them closer together, and Mandy suggests Ember find a tag partner so they can have a match next week.
Moon accepts and says if she can’t find a partner, she’ll just do it on her own.
We see Aleister Black being mic’d up, we’ll find out who he’s wrestling at Extreme Rules up next, after the break.
Back from commercial we get a Mustafa Ali promo video where he talks about how evil only wins when the good stand by and do nothing.
So it doesn’t matter what evil looks like, he’s seen ‘em all and fought ‘em all, every night as a police officer he saw evil amongst the people he swore to protect and serve and amongst the people who swore that same oath. So no monster scares him, there’s no evil he won’t battle, and if the devil himself wants to square up, he’ll ask him if he can have this dance.
Evil only wins if you don’t show up to fight.
Commentary shills for the WWE Network and hypes up Extreme Rules.
Aleister Black is interviewed about his opponent, currently represented by an empty chair.
We’re informed that his opponent is not identifying himself at this time, and Black says he sees what they’re doing, and it’s something he’d do, so he applauds them for doing it. It’s smart! It’s really, really smart. But at this point he doesn’t care anymore, no, at Extreme Rules he’s just going to walk out-- a man in a suit walks by the chair and circles it a few times before stopping and taking a seat.
It’s Cesaro!
He says he’s the one who knocked at his door because he’s here to pick a fight. Aleister says that’s very good because on Sunday he’s going to fight him.
Shelton Benjamin is interviewed backstage about Dolph Ziggler’s match tonight. Again he looks around quizzically, before starting and abandoning an answer and leaving.
Dolph Ziggler and Roman Reigns are shown walking backstage to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Paul Heyman interrupts the intro to an interview with Kofi Kingston as he wanders backstage.
He leaves and Kofi arrives. He says he’s not worried about Samoa Joe affecting his mindset-- he knows who he is and what he does, and that is being a lethal weapon who gets inside his opponents’ heads, but last week he got in Joe’s head and hit him upside the dome with Trouble in Paradise. But he welcomes that challenge, because beating guys like Samoa is exactly how he’s going to become one of the greatest WWE Champions of all time.
We get main event entrances and Shane McMahon comes out after, flanked by Drew McIntyre and Elias as ever. They take up position at ringside and we go to break before the match can begin.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Roman Reigns
Circling, collar and elbow, Ziggler with a handful of hair but Reigns turns him around and backs him into the corner, breaking clean at referee Charles Robinson’s behest. Dolph with a shove, Roman gives it back to him, block a punch in the corner and fire a headbutt back. Smashing Ziggler’s face into the turnbuckles, again at the next corner, whip into a big back elbow to lay him out!
Fireman’s carry, dropkick on the button and Dolph follows it up with the Heartstopper elbow for a nearfall! Ziggler taking it to him in the corner with punches, corner body avalanche, off the ropes for a second but the Big Dog lays him out with the big slicing right! On the floor, Roman lays him out again and finds himself surrounded by Shane’s allies as he throws the Show-Off back inside.
Jawing with McIntyre, Ziggler with a handful of hair but Roman shrugs him off! The goons lay him out as McMahon looks on and Dolph comes to collect him and whips Reigns hard into the barricade. Back inside, cover for two, elbow drop, sleeper hold into a mat slam as Roman tries posting to his feet. Neckbreaker follows... NOPE! Big DDT denied, the Big Dog running hot with the lariats, two on his feet and one in the air and the even ten in the corner!
Off the ropes, big boot to finish, calling for it, Superman Punch on Elias and Dolph hits the Zig Zag... NOT ENOUGH! Superman Punch connects on Ziggler this time... STILL NO! Roman fired up, ready to howl but Drew pulls Dolph out of the ring! Off the ropes... BIG DOG SUICIDE DIVE WIPES ‘EM ALL OUT! McMahon hits the ring, Ziggler wakes up to hit a superkick on Reigns, Kevin Owens is in the ring, kick to the gut... STUNNER WIPES SHANE OUT!
Dolph throws Reigns back inside, Zig Zag denied, Roman thinks fast...
Roman Reigns wins by pinfall with the spear.
Shane McMahon collects himself against the barricade, dry heaving.
That’s the show, folks.