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WWE SmackDown comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Sept. 18, 2020) with a show from the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. Tonight’s lineup includes the return of Sasha Banks, a Samoan Street Fight, A Moment of Bliss with Nikki Cross, AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn, and more!
Come right back here at 8 p.m. ET when the SmackDown live blog kicks off once the show starts on FOX. 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 SEPT. 18
You’re in an all-girl band, your futon’s second hand. Your parents understand, but you don’t care. But me? I’m just here to liveblog this here pro wrestling show for these folks.
The show opens with the ThunderDome intro.
Miz and John Morrison are in the ring for the Dirt Sheet and they welcome us.
Tonight, they expose the truth behind Bayley’s savage attack on Sasha Banks, the reason why management tried to erase Sami Zayn from history, and the Samoan family secrets that Jey Uso has tried to bury. But first they have the biggest story, the hottest gossip, the sudden and shocking SmackDown departure of Mandy Rose.
He says he’s not playing mind games with Otis or trying to get petty revenge, he’s just trying to help him, and he knows the pressure of being Mr. Money in the Bank. He says he sent Mandy away so Otis can focus on cashing in his contract, and he should be thanking him for that. Sure, Otis is heartbroken, but he’ll get over it, and from what he hears from friends on Raw, Mandy already has.
They make some crude jokes about the interest the men of Raw might have in Mandy Rose, and Otis makes his entrance.
He gets in the ring and double legs Miz into punches, shrugs Morrison off and lays ‘em both out with lariats! Tucker joins him and throws Miz back in the ring so Otis can slam him! Morrison gets exploder suplexed over the ropes and to the floor! Otis hits a Stinger Splash on the A-Lister, Tucky gives him a pep talk... CATERPILLAR!
Dozer heads up top... VADER BOMB! Otis strips Miz down to his white briefs! The heels retreat and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Miz and Morrison are recovering backstage and Johnny SmackDown says Otis is like the Hulk, he doesn’t like him when he’s angry.
The A-Lister says it’s all according to plan and speaks on the phone to someone, asking if “it” was enough.
Lucha House Party get an inset promo where Lince Dorado and Kalisto bicker over who can give Gran Metalik better advice.
Artist Collective get an inset promo of their own where they say they are the fire.
Cesaro vs. Gran Metalik
Metalik sidesteps the charge, schoolboy for a nearfall, off the ropes, satellite tijeras! Gran up top, his partners give competing advice and he dives right into a slam from Cesaro! Metalik with body blows, Cesaro hammers him with an uppercut in return, whip to the corner, boot up on the charge and he hits a diving headscissors!
Forearms and palm strikes in the middle of the ring, whip reversed and the Swiss Superman lays him out with a lariat for two! Kneeling armbar applied to follow it up, wrenching his chin to boot, Metalik out and he gets on the apron where referee Dan Engler has had enough of the other two bickering and he kicks them out!
Cesaro blasts Gran off the apron and throws him back inside... METALIK TOPE CON GIRO SENDS US TO BREAK!
Back from commercial, Metalik off the ropes and right into a boot from Cesaro that gets a nearfall. Reverse chinlock applied, uppercuts into the corner, set him up top, climbing up after him, jockeying for position... GRAN OFF THE POST WITH AN AVALANCHE FRANKENSTEINER THAT ALMOST ENDS THE MATCH!
Moonsault, Cesaro gets the feet up, charging uppercut, Gotch-style clutch...
Cesaro wins by pinfall with the Neutralizer.
Jey Uso is interviewed backstage.
He says Paul Heyman told him last week was a miscommunication, and tonight will be different. Big Uce been throwing his weight around since they were little, but they’re not little anymore, and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Matt Riddle gets a promo where he explains why he says “Bro.” so much.
Y’see, it can convey any emotion or thought, and he runs through a number of thoughts and feelings to demonstrate.
Alexa Bliss has chairs set up on the stage for this week’s edition of A Moment of Bliss, the first such in the ThunderDome.
Her guest this week is her usual cohost, Nikki Cross, who comes out all fired up.
Alexa congratulates her on her title shot and asks her what her plan of action for the match is, given that she’s already lost a title match to Bayley this year. Nikki says this time will be different because Sasha Banks won’t be there, and she’ll be able to focus on beating Bayley without fear of interference.
She vows to win the title, and asks Bliss what’s going on with her. Alexa doesn’t know what she’s talking about, and Cross reminds her she hit Sister Abigail on her last week and just walked off. Bliss sputters and can’t explain because she doesn’t fully understand it.
Enter Lacey Evans.
She calls them nasties and mocks Alexa for having feelings before saying Nikki should be on her knees thanking Bliss for putting her off her game last week, which was the only reason she won. She says Cross is too nice and that’s why she’ll never beat Bayley. Nikki yanks the hankie out of her hand and blows her nose on it dramatically before throwing it back at Evans!
Lacey goes to pick it up and Nikki beats her down on the stage! Lacey storms off and we go to break in anticipation of a match between them.
Lacey Evans vs. Nikki Cross
Back from commercial in time for the bell, we see that Alexa Bliss has joined the commentary team for this one.
Evans immediately bails for a breather and some of her own brand of hand sanitizer. Tripping Cross up, slingshot back in but Nikki is right on her with a sleeper hold! Lacey rams her back-first to break, up to the second, off with a diving crossbody! Short-arm lariat into La Casita... NOPE! Evans with an arm wringer, knee drops to the elbow.
Choking her in the corner, grinding Nikki’s face into the turnbuckles and slapping her ribs. Wrenching her arm over the rope, stomping her shoulder, Senton de la Muerte lands true for two! Arm wringer into a Cobra Clutch, grounding Cross and wrenching it in. Elbows to break, knee drop arm takedown sets up a seated armbar!
Nikki fights away, Evans drops her with a lariat, a mat slam, more knees to the arm and just cold punching the elbow! Standing moonsault, cover for two! Lacey goes and gets her hand sanitizer, squirting it all over Nikki’s face and rubbing it in. Referee Ryan Tran refuses to call a disqualification for some reason and Cross fires up!
Stinger Splash, forearms in the corner, monkey flip, block a drop toehold and she stomps away at Evans! Tornado DDT, roll through with it...
Nikki Cross wins by pinfall with the dragon screw neck whip.
Post-match, Lacey Evans crawls to commentary and screams abuse at everybody at the desk. Alexa Bliss gets up mechanically, clutches her, kisses her forehead... SISTER ABIGAIL!
She walks off glassy-eyed.
We see Sasha Banks in a neck brace, getting mic’d up for an interview, and we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get a video package about the history of the Anoa’i family narrated by Paul Heyman.
Sasha Banks is interviewed via satellite from the Performance Center.
Asked as to the extent of her injuries, she says she’s still here, isn’t she? She says Bayley used her and now she’s useless to her, and she heard every single word she said last week, and she’s filled with emotions about it. She talks about her history with Bayley, how they told the world they’d take over the whole damn company together.
But now when she walks these halls— she gets choked up here— she sees all the girls who are there because of what they did together. If these walls could talk... She came here this week to answer questions, and she knows that Bayley is watching this, so she calls her an idiot and naive, nothing without her.
So since she’s useless to Bayley, one day she’s going to take the one thing that she loves, her SmackDown Women’s Championship— BAYLEY ATTACKS HER FROM OUT OF NOWHERE! SHE RIPS THE NECK BRACE OFF AND HORSECOLLARS HER WITH A CHAIR ONLY FOR SOME PERFORMANCE CENTER FOLKS TO MAKE THE SAVE AND BACK HER OFF!
And on that note, we go to break.
Back from commercial, we see Sasha Banks is still being checked on.
AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn
Zayn berates ring announcer Greg Hamilton for not giving him his proper intro but Styles blasts him from behind and smashes him into the announce table before taking him inside! Referee Jessika Carr rings the bell!
AJ pressing the attack, calling for the Styles Clash early but Sami rolls out of the ring! Giving chase, clubbing at him, rolling him back inside, Zayn ducks a lariat but takes the backbreaker for two! Turning the tide, reverse chinlock applied, Styles backs him into the corner and breaks with an elbow. Charging in, back body drop to the apron, trading punches, Sami smashes his face into the turnbuckles but Styles ducks the Helluva Kick!
A lariat knocks Zayn off the apron, and AJ follows it up with a plancha forearm as we go to break.
Back from commercial, Zayn is in control as they jockey for position in the turnbuckles. Styles slips out and trips him up, boot up in the corner, to the forearm, springboard but Sami rolls under! Stun Gun, AJ reverses a suplex into an Osaka Street Cutter... NOPE! Zayn with a jawbreaker, trading forearms, Styles Rush, Sami lands a big boot and AJ hits the Pele kick in return!
Both men down and out, Zayn floats over a suplex into a waistlock. Back elbows to block but Sami pulls him in, Blue Thunder Driver... NOPE! Leg pick, roll through, no Calf Killer but he kicks Zayn into the corner. SAMI HITS AN OVERHEAD EXPLODER SUPLEX INTO THE TURNBUCKLES! Charging in for the Helluva Kick, AJ tries to counter, Sami’s a step ahead, schoolboy and a handful of tights but referee Jessika Carr catches him!
Styles stacks him up...
AJ Styles wins by pinfall with a schoolboy and a handful of tights.
Post-match, Zayn attacks Styles and then bickers with Carr over the finish before demanding that Greg Hamilton introduce him properly once again.
Enter Jeff Hardy!
He goes after Zayn, throwing him into the barricade and smashing his face into the announce table! Jeff goes under the ring and gets a table! He gets a ladder as well and smashes both AJ and Sami with it! Back in the ring... TWIST OF FATE ON ZAYN! Jeff sets the ladder up and climbs it, but Sami rolls away before he can do whatever he was planning on.
Hardy gets on the mic and says he’s sick of this whole situation and he wants to end it for all with a three-way ladder match.
Heavy Machinery are hanging out backstage when a man serves Otis some papers.
He’s confused because there’s no food, but Tucker pulls the papers out, indicating that he’s being sued.
We go to break on a hype reel for Connor’s Cure.
Back from commercial, Heavy Machinery are going over the lawsuit.
Miz and Morrison are claiming a laundry list of things, up to and including Money in the Bank negligence and violating the Dirt Sheet’s first amendment rights. They have a week to decide whether to accept their terms or it goes to court, and poor Otis is distressed about being in trouble.
Backstage, King Baron Corbin and Sheamus are hanging out when a security guard rolls up. Sheamus is stoked to see him because he’s the guy that helped lure Big E for the beatdown, and he’s there to tell Sheamus his car is being towed. He yells at an attendant... AND IT’S BIG E! He runs Sheamus off and then turns around to face the security guard before beating him down!
He doesn’t know his name, so he’s gonna call him Larry, and he beats the guy unholy before setting him on the car and slapping him as referees swarm to beg him to stop. E refuses and draws Larry up... BELLY-TO-BELLY SUPLEX INTO THE WINDSHIELD! BIG E AIN’T DONE YET! He wakes the guy up and throws him into the trunk as five-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion Adam Pearce begs him to stop.
He closes the trunk on Larry and calls Sheamus out to send us to break.
Back from commercial, we get another Carmella vignette, this one behing her getting dressed behind a backlit screen.
Commentary hypes up tomorrow morning’s episode of Talking Smack.
Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman make their entrance and Roman gets on the mic.
He says he came out here first because he doesn’t want there to be any confusion this week— this is his yard, his island, his ring, his WWE, and if you want it, come and take it from him.
Jey Uso makes his entrance and we go to break before the match can begin.
Butt Mud (King Baron Corbin & Sheamus) vs. the Bloodline (Jey Uso & Roman Reigns) (Samoan Street Fight)
Bloodline in control early, dumping both members of Butt Mud to the floor! Reigns back body drops Sheamus over the barricade and Uso destroys him with a superkick! Corbin with Deep Six on Jey, he throws Roman in the ring and grabs a steel chair to follow him. Reigns gets the chair from him and wails on him with it!
Reigns starts getting a table out and the Celtic Warrior blasts him with a knee into mounted punches! Baron joins in the fun and they both throw the Big Dog over the announce table! They go in the ring and work Uso over, setting a table up. Jey tries to go up top but gets cut off and powerbombed through the table... BUT JEY KICKS OUT!
HOLY HELL ROMAN REIGNS THREW A WHOLE OFFICE CHAIR AT BARON CORBIN’S HEAD! Sheamus gets him up on the announce table but Reigns fights out with elbows! Fireman’s carry... SAMOAN DROP ONTO THE TABLE! Chaos ensues, Corbin takes Roman inside but Jey clobbers Baron with the title belt! Spear! Uso off the top...
The Bloodline win by pinfall with the diving splash from Jey Uso on Baron Corbin.
Uso and Reigns celebrate their victory and embrace after the match.
That’s the show, folks.