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WWE SmackDown comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Sept. 25, 2020) with a show from the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. Tonight’s lineup includes an interview with Roman Reigns, Alexa Bliss vs. Lacey Evans, Jeff Hardy vs. Sami Zayn, Otis making a decision about his Money in the Bank contract, 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. 25
If you question what I would do to get over and be with you, lift you up over everything to light up my room. There’s a shopping cart in the ravine, the foam on the creek is like pop and ice cream. A field full of tires that is always on fire to light my way home, where I liveblog this here pro wrestling show.
The show opens with a memorial graphic for the late Road Warrior Animal.
Thence to the intro video.
Live in the arena, AJ Styles makes his entrance and commentary informs us we’re starting with an ascension ceremony for the Intercontinental Championship.
Sami Zayn and Jeff Hardy follow, and Corey Graves is in the ring to play MC for the segment.
He introduces the concept and AJ tells Jeff to savor the moment because this is the last time he’s ever going to hold the title. And he doesn’t even know why Sami is here and he tells him he’s a nobody that’s spent the whole summer growing out his neckbeard. Zayn fires back, saying Styles made the mistake of competing in a fradulent tournament to crown a sham champion.
And Hardy, the shampion, should have given up the title right away and insisted that Sami be recognized as the champion. Jeff tells him to shut up and says he can’t believe it but he actually agrees with AJ. Zayn should be grateful, because unlike him, both he and Styles defended the title on the regular instead of going home.
The title hanger is lowered and both champions hang their belts on it, completing the ceremony.
Sami cheapshots a ladder into his two opponents! He beats Hardy down with mounted punches and runs away when Styles recovers! He goes to leave but five-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion Adam Pearce comes out and says AJ Styles has been added to Zayn’s match against Jeff Hardy tonight.. and it’s next!
Hardy hits a Twist of Fate on Styles and we go to break.
AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Sami Zayn
Zayn taken out at the bell, Hardy in control on Styles, Blockbuster connects and Sami comes back. Jeff stays on him, puts him in the corner, but Zayn fights back with a front kick. Manhattan Drop to the double leg drop to the basement dropkick but AJ cuts Jeff off! Putting boots to him in the corner, Styles follows it up with a backbreaker and baseball slides Sami clean into the announce table!
Whip reversed, Hardy with boots up but AJ throws him over the ropes and to the floor! Brawling on the floor, Zayn attacks Styles and throws him into the barricade! Back into the ring, Sami stalks after him, putting boots to the Phenomenal One in the corner. Whip across, big lariat, only a one count! Knocking Hardy off the apron, but the distraction gives AJ the opportunity to force him into the corner and hammer away.
Snapmare into a reverse chinlock, choking Sami over the ropes briefly before going right back to the chinlock. Hardy back in the fight, short-arm lariat, a windmill of kicks, Zayn cuts him off but he comes off the ropes with a double dropkick! Back body drop, Jeff hits Poetry in Motion off of Sami’s back!
Headed up top but Zayn dumps Hardy off the top and to the floor! Styles dives on them to send us to break!
Back from commercial, jockeying for position in the corner, Styles slips out and trips Sami into the turnbuckles! Hardy with the boots up, he goes up top... WHISPER IN THE WIND TAKES BOTH MEN OUT! Trading strikes in the middle of the ring, Jeff lays AJ out with the leg-feed mule kick, Helluva Kicks to both guys but Styles gets a last gasp Pele Kick off and takes Sami down!
All three men down and out, AJ out to the apron, setting it up, Zayn bails, Phenomenal Forearm takes Hardy out but Sami runs back in and throws Styles to the floor...
Sami Zayn wins by pinfall with a lateral press on Jeff Hardy.
Post-match, Styles lays both men out with a ladder! He sets a ladder up and climbs it, unhooking the titles and holding them high so those of you who’ve never seen a ladder match can get an idea what it’s about.
We see Heavy Machinery backstage chatting as we go to break.
Back from commercial, Heavy Machinery are interviewed backstage.
Otis says his mama always told him not to trust carnival clowns, 1% milk, and lawyers, and nobody’s taking Money in the Bank from him.
Miz and John Morrison roll up and Miz makes his case that they’re just trying to give the WWE Universe the Mr. Money in the Bank they deserve. The A-Lister makes it real simple, his legal firm bill $2000 an hour and they do not sleep, so when they’re done with Otis, he’ll have nothing but a mountain of legal bills that he can’t afford.
And if you think he can’t do it, just ask Mandy Rose, who he got traded to Raw. Tucker points out that it’s just Miz’s name that’s on the lawsuit, and that’s a prompt for Dozer to beat the hell out of Morrison! Road agents (including five-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion Adam Pearce and former Ring of Honor World Champion Jamie Noble) and referees swarm to break it up as we cut away.
Bayley makes her entrance holding a chair and a microphone.
She unfolds the chair and sits on it, getting on the mic. She says she could see the footage of her hurting Sasha Banks over and over but she won’t, because her time is precious and she’s not wasting any more of it on useless Sasha Banks. And unlike Sasha, she has work to do, a championship match to prepare for.
So, Nikki Cross. Let her start off by saying she admires her heart and her fighting spirit, but she wants her to really think long and hard as to why Sasha isn’t going to be in her corner on Sunday. If she’d do that to her best friend, she better be damn worried as to what she’s going to do to her.
She’s gonna start by wiping that stupid smile off her stupid face, and then... well you can only imagine what happens next.
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, Lucha House Party are in the ring, and Gran Metalik will be in action.
Gran Metalik vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Nakamura in control early, knees to back Metalik into the ropes. Gran comes back, whip reversed, duck a lariat, somersault Arabian Press arm drag sends Shinsuke to the floor! Sidestep the baseball slide, nail Metalik with a kick and put him on the apron for a running knee to the side of the head!
Back inside, cover for two, a knee out of the corner is followed by putting Gran into the turnbuckles and stomping him until referee Jessika Carr forces the break! Front chancery, knee strikes, controlling Metalik, inverted exploder blocked, off the ropes, tijeras puts Nakamura on the apron! Catch a kick, land a gamengiri, off the ropes... TOPE CON GIRO!
Back inside, moonsault, nobody home, Metalik rolls through and goes up top but Shinsuke cuts him off, Kinshasa to the back of the head! Inverted exploder, lying in wait...
Shinsuke Nakamura wins by pinfall with Kinshasa.
Post-match, Lince Dorado goes to help his pal but Cesaro hits the ring and the tag champs beat them down while Kalisto looks on!
Jey Uso is walking backstage all excited and he knocks on Roman Reigns’ door, saying they got stuff to do as we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get a highlight reel of memorial tweets for the late great Road Warrior Animal.
A video package for Jey Uso vs. Roman Reigns featuring commentary from their family follows.
Jey makes his entrance and gets on the mic while Roman and Paul Heyman are shown watching backstage.
He’s hyped for Sunday, and he calls Corey Graves out, saying Graves was supposed to interview Roman but he wants to keep it in the family. He rolls footage of last week’s main event and Reigns staring death at him while his back was turned. He asks Roman what’s up with that, but neither Reigns nor Heyman answer.
Uso says he thought they were better than that and reiterates his request to know what’s up. Paul Heyman leaves the room and speaks. He believes the entire WWE Universe deserves to hear what Roman Reigns has to say to his cousin face-to-face, in the ring, but here’s where we have it all wrong— it’s not going to happen when Jey wants it to happen, it will happen on Roman’s schedule.
Paul guarantees it’ll happen tonight, though. Jey says that’s fine, either way it goes, he’ll show Reigns what’s up at Clash of Champions.
We get a recap of King Baron Corbin vs. Matt Riddle from Payback last month.
Corbin cuts a promo backstage and calls Riddle out, saying tonight he looks forward to making Matt say “bro” like it means “intolerable misery” and “excruciating agony.”
Riddle gets an inset promo where he says Baron has serious anger issues, but you can’t keep a good bro down.
Back from commercial, we get a hype reel for Connor’s Cure.
King Baron Corbin vs. Matt Riddle
Riddle rushes Corbin before the bell, referee Charles Robinson breaks it up and we’re off!
Lariat sends Baron over the top and to the floor, Matt follows out after him, forearms push him back into the ring and he cuts Riddle off on the apron with a kick! Hammering him with forearms, Matt tries to pick the leg but Corbin blocks and punches him in the head! Kimura lock applied, he can’t quite get all of it and Baron counters with a body slam!
Punches into the ropes, Riddle fires back with punches of his own but when he runs the ropes, Baron lays him out with an elbow! Hard whip, out and back in, Matt cuts him off, Pele Kick connects and Corbin falls out of the ring! Riddle follows after, throwing him over the announce table and standing tall atop it to send us to break!
Back from commercial, Riddle is in control, triangle choke in the ropes! Corbin manhandles him back inside, looking for the powerbomb counter, first try no, second try YES! Choking Riddle in the ropes, overhead elbow, right hands and Matt is down and out. Off the ropes for a strike of some time, Riddle slumps down and Baron draws him up... it was a feint!
Ripcord knee strike connects, charging corner forearms, exploder suplex, nobody home for the moonsault but the high jump senton connects! Running knee... NO DICE! Trapping Corbin, looking for the Bromission but he can’t get it, sleeper hold and Baron stands up and gets the ropes for the break! Big kick, another ripcord is countered, Deep Six!
Only a nearfall, Matt goes for a springboard and Corbin plucks him out of mid-air with a right! End of Days countered into a knee to the face! Riddle to his feet, heading up top... KNEES UP ON THE CORKSCREW MOONSAULT! Baron clutches him...
King Baron Corbin wins by pinfall with End of Days.
Post-match, Riddle is interviewed.
He’s not gonna lie, losing sucks, but he won’t let this setback stop him. He came here to push himself, and he’s going to continue to grind until SmackDown is the Bro Show.
Another Carmella vignette follows, this one focused on her doing her makeup and putting her jewelry on while writing “Untouchable” on the mirror.
Alexa Bliss gets an inset promo where she says Lacey Evans calls herself a lady and she agrees— the kind of lady that demands to speak to a manager and gives ladies a bad name.
This sends us to break.
Back from commercial, we get some hype for tomorrow morning’s edition of Talking Smack.
Alexa Bliss vs. Lacey Evans
Collar and elbow, Evans pushing Bliss into the corner, Alexa comes back with a schoolboy for two. Front kick, whip acrss, Bliss counters an arm drag into an Oklahoma roll for another two count. Single leg, punch, Lacey taking control back and slinging Alexa into the corner! Choking her in the corner, Senton de la Muerte connects for a nearfall!
Cobra Clutch applied, shifting to work the arm, wrenching it over the top rope, Alexa fights back with Nodowa Otoshi! The Fiend’s laughter rings out and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Evans is working Bliss over, stepover toehold, slamming her face into the mat over and over before chainsawing her forearm bones across Alexa’s face! Rear chinlock applied, smashing Bliss into the turnbuckles, whip reversed, bail to the apron, smash Alexa’s face into the turnbuckle again! Slingshot dropkick, repeated covers but Bliss won’t stay down!
Sidestep the charge, Alexa gets a lariat off, a forearm, a big palm strike into a dropkick! Fired up, clutching her, shaking off the cobwebs but Lacey counters with an arm wringer! The lights go red and Fiend sounds play, Bliss straightens up with violence in her heart and clobbers Evans with a knee! Striking away, kicks in the corner, repeated stomps to the back of the head in the ropes and referee Ryan Tran calls for it...
Lacey Evans wins by disqualification due to castigo de excesivo.
Post-match, Alexa takes her out on the floor and hits Sister Abigail!
She rolls in the ring and stands tall, staring at the camera as the Fiend appears on the tron, asking to be let in.
Paul Heyman and Roman Reigns make their entrance as she leaves, and she stares long and hard at Reigns.
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, Paul Heyman starts cutting a promo but Jey Uso cuts him off with his entrance.
Roman Reigns gets on the mic and says he’ll be honest, he’d give him the title, but he wouldn’t know what to do with it. He doesn’t understand the accountability, the responsibility to being on top, the weight and the pressure from being the face of the WWE. How could he? He’s a twin, his entire life he’s depended on his brother.
He’s not saying he’s half the man he is, no, he’s one half of the greatest tag team of their generation, and he and the family are proud of Jey, but the family depends on him being the tribal chief, and that’s who he is. It won’t ever be Uso, because it’ll always be Roman.
Point made, Reigns and Heyman leave the ring.
Jey pipes up, simply asking what if Roman’s wrong? Why can’t he be the one to provide for the family? Why can’t he provide for his wife and kids, Reigns’ nephews? He’s been battling this his whole life, it’s always “there goes the Big Dog, Roman Reigns, Mr. WrestleMania,” but what do they say for Jey? “Which one are you.”
After Sunday, when they ask, they’re gonna know— he’s the one that beat Roman Reigns at Clash of Champions for the Universal Championship.
Everybody goes to leave... AND ROMAN LAYS JEY OUT WITH A SUPERMAN PUNCH! He says he doesn’t just feed his kids or Jey’s kids with the title, he feeds the whole family with the title, and Uso wants to take it away? He tells Jey he’s gonna take the payday and the ass-whooping that comes with it, but he’ll never take the title or Roman’s place at the head of the table.
That’s the show, folks.