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WWE SmackDown comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Sept. 17, 2021) with a show emanating from the Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee, featuring all the latest build to the upcoming Extreme Rules pay-per-view (PPV) scheduled for later this month.
Nothing is advertised for the show as of this writing. Last week’s episode ended with the return of Finn Balor’s Demon form, so we should get a sense for how concerned Roman Reigns is about his Universal championship match against The Demon at Extreme Rules. In addition to that, it should be interesting to see how Seth Rollins has changed after he went to the darkest of places last week in his match against Edge.
Come right back here at 8 pm 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. 17
Come bail me out of the state I’m in, the drinks I’ve had are no match for the truth. The crowd down here put it’s teeth in us but the cure’s more dangerous than the venom is so we leave it in, and I liveblog this here pro wrestling show for you, folks.
The show opens with a recap of Seth Rollins beating Edge last week.
Roman Reigns makes his entrance, flanked by Paul Heyman and the Usos as usual.
We get a recap of Brock Lesnar berating Paul Heyman and getting attacked by the Bloodline last week.
Reigns gets on the mic and demands that Knoxville acknowledge him and then asks Heyman to educate the crowd as to how to acknowledge him, which he does. He asks why Finn Balor needs to bring the Demon out if he doesn’t fear Roman, and says he’s known Lesnar intimately on a professional basis for twenty years and has never seen fear in his eyes, not in WWE, not in UFC, not on the operating table... until last week in Madison Square Garden.
Newly-minted WWE Champion Big E makes his entrance and “You deserve it!” chants reign down at him, because he absolutely does. They square up and...
Enter Finn Balor, to send us to break.
Big E & Finn Balor vs. the Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso)
Back from commercial, match in progress, Balor tags E in but Jimmy gets away and tags Jey in. Big nails him wtih a back elbow and drags him out of the ring and to the apron for the big splash! But the Usos turn things around on them and start working E over at length. Balor tags in, Jey pulls him to the floor and Jimmy dives on him as we go to break!
Back from commercial, Jimmy hits a Blu-Ray on Balor and follows it up with a reverse chinlock! Out of it, punch and a Pele kick and the path is clear! Hot tags, E in like a house afire (hey remember those videos Sean did back in the day?), throwing the belly-to-belly suplexes but Jey hits a Samoan drop! Big with the Rock Bottom out of the corner, lariat and a big splash to Jimmy and he throws him out of the ring!
Uso off the top, nobody home but he corrects course with a superkick for a deep two count on the WWE Champion! Balor in, the match breaks down, stereo finishes...
Big E & Finn Balor win by pinfall with the Big Ending from E on Jey Uso.
Backstage, Roman Reigns stews and asks Paul Heyman if there’s something he wants to tell him.
Heyman says no, Roman asks again, and a third time, this time changing tacks and telling him to pretend that he already knows this thing and to tell him again. Paul says he knows what he’s getting at but he did not know that Brock Lesnar was coming to SummerSlam. He reiterates that Brock is scared of him.
Reigns asks if Lesnar is going to show up at Extreme Rules, Paul says he’s not, and Roman asks how he knows. Heyman says he’s under the impression that Brock is afraid of him and won’t show up, and Reigns says he doesn’t pay him for impressions, he pays him to know in advance.
Rick Boogs plays Shinsuke Nakamura in and we go to break.
Rick Boogs vs. Robert Roode
Circling, Dolph Ziggler running interference and allowing Roode to take over and work Boogs over in the corner. Whip reversed, boot up in the corner, diving blockbuster from Robert for two! Rick with the fireman’s carry, squat into a Samoan drop followed by a belly-to-belly suplex and an exploder! Corner lariat, running bulldog!
Stomp the foot, pumphandle...
Rick Boogs wins by pinfall with the Boogs Cruise.
Post-match, Commander Azeez and Apollo Crews attack Boogs and Nakamura and lay them out!
They head in the ring and Crews gets on the mic, asking if this is our king before demanding a rematch for the Intercontinental Championship.
Backstage, Happy Corbin walks along whistling a jaunty tune and fist bumping crew members to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Kevin Owens is interviewed in Gorilla.
He says he’s mad, furious even, because two weeks ago Corbin was on his show and cheap-shotted him. He’s also mad at himself for trying to help Happy, but he’s gonna use that anger as fuel and turn his frown upside down and turn Corbin’s smile upside down.
Happy attacks KO during his entrance and leaves him lying, so presumably we’re not actually getting the match.
Seth Rollins makes his entrance to send us to break.
Back from commercial, we get a video package of Bianca Belair returning to her home town.
Paul Heyman is walking backstage when Kayla Braxton jumpscares an interview out of him.
He mocks her for not having sources but rather just a sapiosexual lust in her heart for an intellectual like him and turns to walk away before immediately running into Big E. He puts E over as being deserving but also for “realizing” that he’d never beat Roman and instead going after a champion he knew would be vulnerable.
He says we’ll know when he faces Paul’s boy at Survivor Series, whether that’s Roman or Brock, or maybe Finn will ruin his plans? The Usos blindside Big with a superkick and beat him down in the road cases! They throw him into the side of one and put boots to him something vicious! Reigns walks by coolly.
Seth Rollins is in the ring and on the mic wearing a shiny foil suit.
He talks about how he heard a pop and felt a crunch when he hit Blackout on Edge last week, likening it to the feeling of stepping on a cockroach by accident before tossing to the footage.
After the video, Seth has a question for us that he’s been asking himself all week— what did you think was going to happen? He begs for an answer and says it’s one of the greatest wins of his career and he couldn’t enjoy it because everybody was staring at him and calling him a monster on social media.
Even WWE said what he did was unconscionable and asked if he went too far and says he just did what he’s always done in his career and it’s Edge who went too far. He blames Edge for dumping black goo on him and such and says he’s not done with him yet. It’s been eating at his brain the past week and he can’t live with feeling sorry for someone like Edge.
And that means moving on, so this ends one of two ways— either Edge holes up in his tiny little cabin and Seth comes and beats him there, or he crawls his way back to the ring and they dance one more time for Rollins’ own sanity.
Becky Lynch is interviewed backstage.
She says momentum is a tricky thing because it keeps going until it meets an opposing force. Bianca Belair had a lot of momentum before she ran into Lynch, but tonight’s her night. Becky says she’s never been to a homecoming but she’ll have to check it out.
Carmella and Zelina Vega (wearing an absolutely killer ring coat) make their entrance to send us to break.
Carmella & Zelina Vega vs. Liv Morgan & Toni Storm
Carmella and Toni to start, Mella blasts Morgan off the apron, duck a lariat and runs away to tag Vega in. Block a kick, overhand chop, duck a lariat but Storm nails her with a boot! Hammerlock applied, Zelina up on her knees, Toni reverses to a suplex! Carmella tags in and gets put into the turnbuckles and freaks out over her nose as referee Jason Ayers counts...
Liv Morgan & Toni Storm win by countout.
Post-match Morgan gets on the mic and apologizes, asking if she just broke Carmella’s nose before saying she’s not sorry at all because she’s tired of Mella running her mouth and running away, so she’s gonna challenge her to a match at Extreme Rules and make her look as hideous on the outside as she is on the inside.
Street Profits cut an interview backstage about how they’re here in Knoxville to celebrate but what they’re really hungry for is that championship gold.
They talk about how the Usos are clearly scared and about to lose their titles and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Carmella and Zelina Vega are in the trainer’s room with five-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville.
Mella’s nose is okay and she accepts Liv Morgan’s challenge, but Vega says Liv will have to get through her first.
Finn Balor explains the origin of the Demon, saying he was born to a family of railroad workers and he wasn’t supposed to be here, but he clawed and scratched and fought and the Demon is a manifestation of anyone who’s ever doubted or disrespected him, a rage that cannot be controlled. He doesn’t summon the Demon, the Demon summons him.
Eventually CGI Demon makeup swallows Finn up.
Dominik Mysterio makes his entrance to send us to break.
Back from commercial we get some hype for a six-man tag between New Day and the Bloodline on Raw next week.
Sonya Deville is on the phone berating someone when Naomi rolls up and tells her to get off the phone.
She says she’s been more than patient and respectful and she’s not playing games. When is her match. Sonya brushes her off again and Naomi says she doesn’t understand what the problem is when she’s been her and done more than Deville has, and she’ll never quit. Mark her words, one way the other, she will get her match.
Dominik Mysterio vs. Sami Zayn
Rey Mysterio is on commentary for this one.
Zayn bails to jaw at Rey and Dominik comes out after him, which leads Sami to put him back inside and put boots to him. Off the ropes, big lariat for two. Mysterio crotches Zayn on the ropes and knocks him to the floor, springboard plancha takes him out and we go to break!
Back from commercial, Zayn with a back suplex, blocked with elbows, Sami pulls him back in for the Blue Thunder Driver but Dominik counters for a nearfall! Charging in, back elbow, tornado DDT... NOPE! Zayn is on top of his game...
Sami Zayn wins by pinfall with a sunset flip.
We get another Bianca Belair homecoming video package.
Kane makes his entrance to send us to break.
Back from commercial, commentary hypes up next week’s show.
Kane gets on the mic and says as mayor of Knox County it’s his pleasure to welcome Bianca Belair back to her hometown.
Belair says it’s amazing to be back in Knoxville and shouts out her family and friends that came to see her tonight. They say everything in your past shapes your future, and Knoxville made her into the EST. It was right here where her daddy told her that if somebody starts something with you, you better finish it, and Becky Lynch did catch her off-guard at SummerSlam.
She’s been down before but she always scratched and clawed her way back to the top, and at Extreme Rules, she’s gonna take her title back.
Kane tells her that after she wins the title back she has to come back to Knoxville for a huuuuuge celebration in her honor. But speaking of honors, it’s his honor to present her with a key to the county. She holds the (giant) key high and leads the crowd in singing Rocky Top until she’s inevitably interrupted.
Becky Lynch makes her entrance.
She says she’s not gonna win the title back and says she was cute. She got a key! Bianca asks why she’s even here, she doesn’t even go here. Becky says SummerSlam and Extreme Rules are her night, but tonight is Belair’s night and she just came to show her some respect. She offers a handshake and Bianca accepts but refuses to let go!
Lynch drops her title, Belair ducks the lariat, backbreaker rack, Becky slips out... MANHANDLE SLAM!
She stands tall with the title while Bianca recovers.
That’s the show, folks.