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WWE SmackDown Live comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Aug. 20, 2019) from the Denny Samford Premiere Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, featuring all the latest build to the upcoming Clash of Champions pay-per-view (PPV) scheduled for next month in Charlotte.
Advertised for tonight: Daniel Bryan vs. Buddy Murphy, King of the Ring first round match-ups, 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 AUG. 20
Can’t you see I’m easily bothered by persistence? One step from lashing out at you. You want in to get under my skin and call yourself a friend? I’ve got more friends like you, what do I do? Well, for one, I liveblog this here pro wrestling show for you, folks.
The show opens with Randy Orton making his entrance.
He runs Kofi Kingston down as an idiot who ran away and calls him stupid before pointing out that he got RKO’d twice. He talks about how he and the Revival broke Xavier Woods’ leg and puts the RKO over again.
New Day’s music plays but they don’t come out through the entrance, instead Kofi appears behind him... TROUBLE IN PARADISE! He stands over Orton’s fallen form and says we’re gonna find out who the stupid one is today before leaving to get a chair. He comes back in the ring and wraps it around Randy’s leg, telling him it’s for Woods. Up to the second, Dash Wilder makes the save and gets dropkicked out of the ring!
Scott Dawson follows, Orton runs away and the Revival take the brunt of Kingston’s wrath!
A video package about the attacks on Roman Reigns follows.
Andrade “Cien” Almas makes his entrance, flanked by Zelina Vega as always. He’ll be in action after the break.
Back from commercial, we get some hype for NXT moving to USA and going to two hours.
We go backstage with Shane McMahon when Kevin Owens rolls up.
Shane wanted to see him and tells him to not show the abhorrent behavior he did last week or his $100K fine will seem like a slap on the wrist. Owens says he’s not here for that, he’s had a terrible week and he’s focused on King of the Ring, so he’s just here for whatever McMahon wanted and nothing else. Shane asks what’s on his mind, and KO says it’s the fine, and he can admit he didn’t react like he should have.
He went home and looked at his family and he realized just how bad it is, and a hundred grand is huge to him even if it’s not a big deal to McMahon. He tries to relate to Shane father to father, man to man, and says he wishes Shane would reconsider. McMahon says he’ll take it under consideration.
Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Apollo Crews (King of the Ring 2019 First Round Match)
Crews out hot with a lariat but Almas rallies, corner double knees... NOPE! Hammerlock DDT reversed to a small package, still just two, fireman’s carry, jockeying for position takes them to the apron, cross armbar in the ropes from Cien! Andrade dives... CUT OFF IN MID-AIR BY A DROPKICK! Fighting on the floor, Apollo gets headscissored into the steel steps to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Almas with a diving crossbody, Crews catches him but Cien slips out, off the ropes, pop-up double knee gutbuster! Pump kick, leaping lariat into a kip-up, fired up, Apollo running hot, Olympic Slam... NOPE! Andrade in the corner, jockeying for position, Crews calling for the military press but his arm gives out and Almas drop toeholds him into the corner!
Exploding out for the double knees... Apollo gets away in time! Kicks from Crews, standing shooting star press... SO VERY CLOSE! Vega interjects, Andrade with the big back elbow, hammerlock...
Andrade “Cien” Almas wins by pinfall with the hammerlock DDT.
Backstage, we see Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan walk a hooded man into a small room and they sit him down.
Bryan says tonight the whole world is going to find out what he did, so in the meantime, don’t even think of moving from that chair or he’ll be very, very sorry.
Elias is shown walking backstage and playing his guitar when he decides to accost a crew member who turns out to be referee John Cone in disguise. He asks Cone where “he” is and Cone points at a road case. Elias passes the referee his guitar and opens the case, revealing Drake Maverick. Drake is convinced he’s got him even as the Drifter has him goozled and makes him read a letter.
The letter is a proclamation that the 24/7 Championship rules have been suspended tonight so Elias can beat Kevin Owens in King of the Ring tonight. The Drifter chokeslams Drake back into the case and goes about his day. Maverick pops his head out of the case and says he just wants to consummate his marriage.
A Moment of Bliss is after the break.
Back from commercial, Alexa Bliss and Nikki cross welcome us to A Moment of Bliss and pose with the Women’s Tag Team Championship.
Bliss talks about how humbled they are by their title reign and they don’t want us to think that being champions changes anything, and their show will always be open to the less fortunate, but tonight’s a little different, because their guest asked to be here, 9-time Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair.
Flair says the throne for King of the Ring is more her style and Alexa talks about how her victory over Trish Stratus could be seen as a passing of the torch, but Charlotte disagrees, saying she took the torch outright. Bliss moves on to the question of whether or not Bayley, as champion, is the real face of the SmackDown women’s division, to which Flair says people say a lot of things.
Bayley might be the champion, but she’s the brand. You gonna put Bayley and her side pony on the red carpet? Of course not! Bayley is an afterthought, and that’s why the title is an afterthought.
Enter Bayley.
She’s had enough of the bragging and insults, but to her it just sounds like a bunch of excuses because she’s the champion and she’s better than Charlotte and she knows that eats her up inside. Flair asks if she knows how people feel about her and the title? Don’t take her word for it, go back and see who everybody was talking about after SummerSlam. Bayley’s devalued the title and now Flair has to restore its prestige and beat her at Clash of Champions.
Bayley says if that’s a challenge, she accepts, and she can’t wait to do all these people a favor and finally shut Charlotte’s mouth. Oh, and one more thing-- SHE SHOVES FLAIR OFF THE CHAIR!
Buddy Murphy is shown getting ready backstage when Roman Reigns walks in.
Reigns tells him they can do it like they did a couple weeks ago or they can have a conversation, man-to-man. He wants to know who Buddy is lying to. Murphy says he’s pretty sure he saw Erick Rowan, and the Big Dog says he needs better than pretty sure. Buddy complains about everybody sticking their nose into his business when he was only trying to help Roman, to which Reigns says if he finds out he was lying again, he’ll come back and whoop his ass.
Daniel Bryan makes his entrance, flanked by Erick Rowan in a Satyricon shirt, and we go to break.
Buddy Murphy vs. Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan gets on the mic before the match starts to run Buddy Murphy’s credibility down and call him a liar.
And not just a liar, but the worst kind, a cowardly liar, and they’re going to prove that he had something to do with it.
Murphy with a running knee at the bell... NOT ENOUGH! Putting boots to the American Dragon, outside after him, back in, up top, Dan runs away and back inside. Kick to the face, chest kicks in the corner, Bryan taking control but Buddy fires chops back to turn him aside. Jockeying for position in the corner, Dan biting him in the face, kick to the chest, snapmare into a shoot kick to the back!
More kicks connect, chops in the corner. Charging over, backflip up and over, lariat sends Bryan to the floor and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Murphy back body dropped to the apron, enzuigiri connects, off the top with the Meteora... NOPE! Boots up in the corner, Bryan with an armbar takedown and the LeBell Lock is on! Buddy’s got nowhere to go, scraping, clawing, stretching, Dan changes his grip to a fishhook briefly before shifting into an Ode to Jim Breaks briefly and then the Rings of Saturn!
Leg hook added, back to the LeBell lock after a beat, and Buddy gets a foot on the ropes! Chest kicks follow, ordering Murphy to stay down, buzzsaw finale ducked, rolling solebutt connects! Bryan sets him up top, Tree of Woe chest kicks, exploding out of the corner... HESITATION DROPKICK! Back suplex lift sets him up top, Dan gets underneath him... THE BACK SUPERPLEX IS YOUR FIVE MINUTE WARNING!
Chest kicks in the corner, running dropkick, Buddy slips out... CHEEKY NANDO’S INTO THE LIGER BOMB FOR TWO! Slugging it out punch for punch, Murphy with a kick combo but Bryan cuts him off with uppercuts before the knee! Buddy with a backslide for a tight two, a pair of knees... SHEERDROP BRAINBUSTER BUT THE AMERICAN DRAGON GETS HIS FOOT ON THE ROPES!
O’Connor roll with an assist from Rowan, Buddy takes the big man out with a superkick, off the ropes, huge knee, Murphy’s Law... HE DID IT!
Buddy Murphy wins by pinfall with Murphy’s Law.
The Revival are shown walking backstage to send us to break.
Back from commercial, we get a recap of what we just saw and an abortive interview with Buddy Murphy.
Erick Rowan attacks with Daniel Bryan right there with him calling him a lying, cowardly piece of trash as he eats the clawslam into a road case! Referees and road agents swarm and pull them off of Buddy.
The Revival come to the ring, microphones in hand, to run New Day down as cowards and especially Big E as too scared to show his face. So they officially challenge New Day to a title match!
Heavy Machinery (Otis Dozovic & Tucker Knight) vs. the Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson)
Wilder and Knight to start, Tucker with a pop-up bear hug, he tags Dozer in to keep it going but Dash slips out. Tag back to Knight, double suplex, Otis leaves Wilder in Tucker’s hands, stereo delayed vertical suplexes! Clearing Revival from the ring, the big boys are fired up and we go to break.
Back from commercial, the Revival in control of Knight, Wilder with a reverse chinlock, Tucky to his feet but Dash pulls his hair to get him out of the corner. Bulldog out of the corner, only two! Dawson tags in, off the top for a diving elbow but Knight rolls away! Tag back to Wilder, Tucker pops him up and tags Otis in! Dozer running hot, freight training both men, scoop and a spinning body slam!
Charging in, Stinger Splash... CATERPILLAR! Tag to Knight, scoop him up, Scott with a dropkick, Tucky hits the Lou Thesz Press but Wilder thinks fast...
The Revival win by pinfall with a schoolboy pin from Dash Wilder on Tucker Knight.
Backstage, Chad Gable is interviewed.
He agrees that he’s an underdog but that’s been the case his whole life. Shelton Benjamin sticks his head through the locker room door as Gable keeps talking about how nobody believed in him, and Shelton slaps a “you must be this tall to participate in King of the Ring” sign on the door behind him as he leaves, clearly like three or four inches too tall for Chad.
Gable runs into it and deadpan calls it funny before heading into the locker room.
The Miz makes his entrance to send us to break.
Back from commercial, we get some more hype for NXT moving to USA.
Miz is in the ring and jumps right into his MizTV patter and says his guest tonight requested to be here and he’s just as curious as we are as to why.
Enter Sami Zayn. He wants to be honest right off the bat, he doesn’t care about Miz or his show but he needed TV time to get some things off his chest. The A-Lister talks about all the losing Sami’s been doing and Zayn fires back and says he’s right. He’s been losing for months now and last night he had an epiphany and he’s realized why he loses. He’s gotten caught up in the trap people like Miz get caught up in, greed.
Selfishness, ambition, and any success he’s ever had has been in fighting for things bigger than himself, causes and for what is right, and Sami finally realized the path to redemption for Sami Zayn is through altruism, through helping others. Yes, he’s one of the greatest competitors alive today but so many SmackDown stars need his help. Miz asks who this could possibly be, and Zayn says one is ready to come out right now.
Enter Shinsuke Nakamura.
Miz asks why Nakamura would ever associate with Sami, and Zayn answers by asking Miz what language he expects to interact with Shinsuke in? English? Nakamura is a poet who is in pain when he can’t articulate what’s in his soul, but Sami understands that pain and they have a bond that no one will ever understand, from the day that Shinsuke set foot in NXT, they’ve been two sides of the same coin.
From here on out, Nakamura doesn’t have to express that pain, and if you want to talk to him, you talk to Sami Zayn. Miz walks right past Sami and asks “Shin” if he’s really going to let Zayn speak for him, and Nakamura just points at Sami. Zayn says they’ll express themselves in language Miz can understand, and Shinsuke kicks his leg out from under him! KINSHASA TO THE BACK OF THE HEAD!
Putting boots to the A-Lister, Sami eventually backs Nakamura off before drawing Miz up and into place... ANOTHER KINSHASA!
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan return to the room with the hooded man.
Bryan says he’s called for Roman and he’s going to find out exactly what he did.
Shane McMaon is in his office when Kevin Owens returns.
Shane says he remembered the main reason he called KO in the first time, and he knows he can’t put his hands on an official, and he’s going to need an apology from Owens. Kev apologizes and McMahon says he’s reconsidering his judgment and he’s thinking about lifting the fine, but if KO ever intentionally puts his hands on another official he’ll be IMMEDIATELY fired.
KO says they’re clear and offers Shane a handshake but McMahon says they’re not quite there yet.
Elias vs. Kevin Owens (King of the Ring 2019 First Round Match)
Circling, collar and elbow, Owens with a side headlock but Elias forces a break with a body blow. Off the ropes, shoulder block, only one. Elbow strike, side headlock, shot off, drop down, back elbow, a clothesline sends the Drifter to the floor and KO comes off the ropes but Elias moves aside! Outside after him, punches and chops, whip reversed and Kevin eats the barricade hard.
Drawing him up, back inside, whip reversed, up and over blocked, big German suplex out of the corner! Owens has him lined up... CANNONBALL FOR TWO!
Enter Shane McMahon as we go to break.
Back from commercial and Elias is wrenching a reverse chinlock in as Shane McMahon continues to watch. Clawing at his face, but Owens gets to his feet and fights out with body blows and chops. Off the ropes, front kick gets a knee to the face and KO crumbles... ONLY TWO! Putting boots to Kev, striking in the corner, referee Jason Ayers warns the Drifter off and he punctuates with a running knee.
Clawing away at KO’s face, scoop and a slam, still just a one count. Back to the reverse chinlock, Owens to his feet, off the ropes and he snaps off a DDT for separation! Back elbow in the corner, up to the second, missile dropkick and KO is starting to fire up! Running senton, Elias gets under him, electric chair powerbomb... NOT ENOUGH!
Jockeying for position in the turnbuckles, Owens knocks him down, senton atomico but the knees are up! Low bridge sends the Drifter to the floor, cannonball off the apron! Shane McMahon gets in Kev’s face and takes his shirt off to reveal a referee’s shirt and begins issuing a count from the floor! Back inside, Elias with the distraction, he eats a superkick, kick to the gut, Stunner denied!
Owens has to stop short of McMahon, Elias with a schoolboy...
Elias wins by pinfall with a schoolboy pin and a fast count from Shane McMahon.
Roman Reigns arrives in the room with Daniel Bryan and the hooded man.
Bryan says he’s been trying to tell the whole world that Erick Rowan is innocent, so he had to go to extreme lengths to exonerate Erick Rowan, and he’s found the man that nearly ended Reigns’ career. He pulls the hood off and... it’s... some bald guy... with a red beard... like Rowan’s.
Roman’s as confused as we are.
That’s the show, folks.