WWE SmackDown
March 21, 2017
Uncasville, Connecticut
Commentary: JBL, David Otunga and Tom Phillips
Results by: Adam Martin and Mike Tedesco of Wrestleview.com
A video packages opens SmackDown showing AJ Styles attacking Shane McMahon last week. Footage of Daniel Bryan “firing” Styles backstage and Shane telling Styles he now has a match with him at WrestleMania is also shown.
We go live to the backstage area where AJ Styles confronts Daniel Bryan smiling. Bryan said he doesn’t like this and if it was up to him, Styles would be fired. He said Shane McMahon sees this as an opportunity on how to handle things like a man at WrestleMania. Bryan tells Styles he has no idea what he is in for in two weeks. Styles asks Bryan where Shane is. Bryan says he is on the way. Styles hints that he may just attack Shane again.
Tom Philips welcomes us to the show at ringside. JBL joins him and David Otunga is back. Mauro Ranallo is out for the second week in a row and was described as being sick.
AJ Styles addresses Shane McMahon
Styles heads to the ring and grabs a mic. He says he isn’t sorry for anything he did last week. Styles said it felt great throwing his fist in the face of Shane McMahon. “Everything that Shane McMahon has put me through, I’m glad I got to put you through something Shane McMahon…a car window.” He talks about Shane issuing a challenge between the two last week. Styles says Shane must be crazy and he accepts his challenge. He says Shane should want to be in the ring with him because without AJ Styles, Smackdown will plummet. Styles refers to himself as being untouchable noting he can put Shane McMahon through a car window and still book a spot at WrestleMania. He teases waiting for Shane again like last week and if you thought it was bad what he did last week, it can be “phenomenally” worse.
Adam’s Thoughts: It’s pretty interesting to see how comfortable AJ Styles is on the mic. He’s really settled in well to his role on Smackdown as a heel. While I may not be thrilled about a match between these two, Styles has kept it fun.
-Commercial Break-
Backstage, Daniel Bryan is on the phone with Shane McMahon and talks about AJ Styles saying he’s going to be waiting for him again in the parking lot. Bryan smiles and says that it sounds like “that is going to work” saying he supports Shane. Baron Corbin walks in and wants to know if Dean Ambrose accepts his WrestleMania challenge. Bryan said he hasn’t heard from Ambrose in weeks. Bryan books him in a match with Randy Orton tonight.
Rob Gronkowski is shown sitting at ringside tonight.
WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championships
American Alpha (c’s) vs. The Usos
We start with Jason Jordan and Jimmy Uso. Jordan with a trip takedown on Jimmy. Jordan with another takedown. JBL sends his thoughts and prayers to Jim Ross on commentary. Chad Gable gets the tag and he drops a knee over the left arm of Jey who got the tag. Jimmy gets the tag and Gable takes him down working over his left arm. Jordan gets the tag and drops a shot over Jimmy. Quick tag to Gable who keeps Jimmy grounded. Jordan gets the tag and American Alpha clears house on both Usos.
-Commercial Break-
Back live, Jey whips Gable with force into the corner. Jimmy gets the tag and prevents a hot tag to Jordan. Gable tosses Jimmy back, Jey tags in and Jey attacks Gable. Gable counters, goes under the legs of Jey and then kicks him away. Jimmy pulls Jordan off the ring apron to prevent the hot tag and Gable gets tossed out. Jimmy levels Gable with a clothesline on the outside. The referee starts the count. Gable rolls in and Jimmy gets the tag. Jimmy sends Gable face first into the corner and Gable falls down in the tree of woe. Gable avoids a charge from Jimmy sitting up. Jordan with repeated belly to belly suplexes on both Usos. Jordan with a charge to Jimmy in the corner and Jordan slams Jey to get a two count. Jordan has Jey up. Jimmy with a superkick to Jordan. Jey rolls up Gable for a two count. Jey with a superkick on Gable (who is now the legal man). Jey comes off the top catching Gable with a splash and a very close two count as Gable powers out. Jordan prevents a double splash by both Usos. Jordan tosses Jey off the top rope. Jordan has Jey up in the electric chair. Gable off the top with a bulldog. Jordan covers and Jey breaks it up. Jordan with a belly to belly to Jey on the floor. Jimmy with a shot to Jordan off the ring apron. Gable with a moonsault off the corner, but he gets sent into the crowd. Jordan with a spear to Jey. Jordan tosses Jey back in. Jimmy pulls at the leg of Jordan. Jey with a superkick to Jordan to get the win.
Winners and new WWE Smackdown Tag Team Champions: The Usos
Backstage, we see AJ Styles waiting on the arrival of Shane McMahon.
Randy Orton vs. Baron Corbin will take place later tonight. John Cena will also be in action taking on Fandango. Never before seen “Total Bellas” footage is up next.
Adam’s Thoughts: Very good tag team match between The Usos and American Alpha. It’s not secret that I just haven’t been a big fan of Alpha’s run as tag team champions. The act just feel really flat on the main roster despite having a good following in NXT. The Usos presentation has been really good since the heel turn and they definitely deserve a run as champions right now heading into WrestleMania. Gable and Jordan were just not connecting with this audience so that needs a lot of work.
-Commercial Break-
Backstage, Luke Harper says a new evil roams the Earth and talks about Bray Wyatt pushing Randy Orton to unspeakable lengths. He promises to “destroy him” next week.
A spoof of “Total Bellas” airs featuring The Miz and Maryse.
Baron Corbin heads to the ring. He will face Randy Orton next.
-Commercial Break-
Randy Orton vs. Baron Corbin
Lock up and Corbin catches Orton with a shoulder block. Corbin avoids an early RKO and bails out of the ring. Corbin returns and pushes Orton to the corner in a lock up. Orton drops Corbin on his head and starts stomping away. Orton with uppercuts to Corbin and then throws some quick right hands. Corbin sends Orton to the corner.
-Commercial Break-
We return live and Corbin has Orton grounded in a modified headlock. Corbin catches Orton with a clothesline and gets a two count off a pinfall attempt. Orton catches Corbin with boots in the corner and connects with a series of clotheslines. Corbin avoids a snap powerslam attempt, kicks Orton in the ribs, slides out and this time Orton catches him with the powerslam on his way back inside. Orton with a full nelson slam on Corbin for a two count. They brawl to the outside. Orton sends Corbin into the steel steps. Orton rolls in, pulls Corbin through the ropes and connects with his spike DDT. Orton is setting up for an RKO. Corbin counters and connects with Deep Six for a two count. Corbin misses a shot on Orton on the outside and goes shoulder first into the steel steps. The crowd is distracted by something. Dean Ambrose is standing on top of a forklift distracting Corbin. Orton then jumps up and connects with an RKO on Corbin, gives a nod to Ambrose and gets the pinfall.
Winner: Randy Orton
After the match, Dean Ambrose gets inside the ring and asks Corbin if he wants a match for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania? Ambrose tells Corbin he has one. He picks up Corbin and connects with Dirty Deeds.
Becky Lynch vs. Carmella is advertised for later tonight.
Backstage, AJ Styles is still waiting for Shane McMahon.
Adam’s Thoughts: Average match between Orton and Corbin tonight. It was refreshing to see both guys work together to get a fresh match up on this brand. The finish was pretty fun with the Ambrose distraction to confirm the Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania. That is becoming a very deep card.
-Commercial Break-
Hot tag to Mike Tedesco who will take over the rest of the recap tonight.
It’s official: Dean Ambrose will be defending his WWE Intercontinental Championship against Baron Corbin at WrestleMania.
Later tonight, we’ll see John Cena take on Fandango.
Renee Young is backstage with Randy Orton. She asks for his response to Bray Wyatt’s message last week. Orton says he doesn’t know how to get rid of Wyatt once and for all. Last week, when he bathed himself in Sister Abigail’s ashes, he didn’t expect that. The lights start flashing, and Renee runs off. Orton demands that Wyatt show his face. The screen goes black. When the lights come back on, Orton is surrounded by people wearing sheep masks. Orton tries to fight them off, but the quickly beat him down. They hold Orton up, and Bray Wyatt charges in. Wyatt speaks in tongues and waves a stick over Orton. Wyatt says Orton exposed his one flaw: Abigail. What Orton didn’t know is that one flaw would become his greatest strength. She’s one with him, and her power lives inside of him. Wyatt is stronger than he could have ever imagined. Wyatt thanks Orton and chuckles. Wyatt then sings, “He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands.”
Mike’s Thoughts: Campy isn’t even the word to describe what just happened. I enjoyed this storyline when they were teasing Orton destroying The Wyatt Family from within, but my goodness has it flown off the tracks with this supernatural garbage. The Undertaker stuff has nothing on this. I’m almost completely checked out on this match.
-Commercial Break-
Fandango makes his entrance alongside Tyler Breeze, who is dressed up like Nikki Bella.
Fandango w/ Tyler Breeze vs. John Cena w/ Nikki Bella
Before the match begins, Fandango shushes the crowd and calls Cena, “Johnny Boy.” Cena was exposed for being a lousy boyfriend on “Total Bellas.” Breeze throws a ticket at Cena. Wearing jorts in 2017 gets another ticket. Finally, Fandango will expose him for being the lousy wrestler he is, so that gets a final ticket. As for Breeze, who is dressed as Nikki Bella, that’s his muscle. Fandango calls him, “Breezy Bella.” The real Nikki Bella then makes her way to the ring.
The bell rings, and Cena just stares at Fandango with a smirk. Fandango keeps throwing citations at Cena. Finally, Cena ducks a clothesline and connects with a pair of shoulder tackles before hitting a back suplex powerbomb. Cena gives him the 5 Knuckle Shuffle. Breezy Bella gets in the ring, but Nikki Bella spears him down. Cena hoists Fandango up, and Nikki picks Breeze up. Cena connects with an Attitude Adjustment while Nikki hits the Rack Attack 2.0. They then apply stereo STFs for the win. Breeze also taps out to Nikki.
Winner by Submission: John Cena
AJ Styles is seen waiting for Shane McMahon in the parking garage.
Coming up next, we’ll see Becky Lynch take on Carmella.
Mike’s Thoughts: Did I do something wrong? I come on to recap and these last two segments happened? Did Adam Martin have an advanced copy of the script? He was all too eager to turn it over to me. I jest. I actually kind of chuckled watching Tyler “Breezy Bella” Breeze get demolished by Nikki Bella. Sometimes you just simply have to stop taking wrestling seriously and just laugh at some of the hijinks.
-Commercial Break-
Natalya will be on commentary for the next match. A replay is shown of Becky Lynch defeating Natalya last week. Then Carmella came out and gave both of them superkicks.
Becky Lynch vs. Carmella w/ James Ellsworth
Lynch quickly connects with some uppercuts and a flying forearm. Carmella quickly gets out of the ring and signals that she’s going to walk out. Lynch chases her, sidesteps Ellsworth, and hits Carmella. Carmella gets in the ring, and Ellsworth grabs Lynch’s ankle. Lynch kicks him away and eats a superkick from Carmella. Natalya gets in the ring and drops Carmella with a Discus Clothesline for the DQ.
Winner by Disqualification: Carmella
Natalya stomps Carmella down. Mickie James runs down and catches Natalya with a Thesz Press. Alexa Bliss runs down, and Natalya takes her down. Lynch goes for a missile dropkick on Carmella, but she pulls Ellsworth in front of her. Lynch hits Carmella with an exploder suplex. James then whiffs on a Mick Kick. Bliss then wipes out James with a right hand and holds up her Smackdown Women’s Championship.
We’ll see even more “never before seen” footage of Total Bellas, next.
Mike’s Thoughts: They kept this pretty short and sweet. Typical buildup for a multi-person match. Do the interference ending and then everyone takes turns hitting their finishers. Pretty paint by numbers segment.
-Commercial Break-
Neville cuts a promo to try to get people to watch WWE 205 Live after Smackdown.
Next week on Smackdown Live, Luke Harper will face Bray Wyatt.
Miz and Maryse spoof the relationship of John Cena and Nikki Bella once again. “Cena” fakes proposing to “Nikki.”
Renee Young asks AJ Styles what his intentions are, but he runs off when a car starts approaching. Styles gets ready to attack, but Rhyno and Heath Slater come out of the car instead.
Shane McMahon’s music hits, and he makes his entrance. McMahon is sporting a nasty looking black eye. McMahon gets the crowd fired up and mentions that AJ Styles is looking for him. McMahon says he’s now looking for Styles.
We go backstage to see AJ Styles leaning against a car in the garage. Renee comes up to him and says Shane McMahon is waiting for him in the ring right now. Styles seems surprised by that.
Mike’s Thoughts: The Miz and Maryse doing the “Total Bella” spoof was a “so bad it’s good type thing.” Maryse really nailed Nikki’s mannerisms. I’d be stunned if the match at WrestleMania doesn’t end with a proposal. Take it from me, John… don’t do it! Oh god, I hope my wife doesn’t see this…
-Commercial Break-
Shane McMahon calls out AJ Styles
Shane McMahon says he’s still waiting for AJ Styles to come out. McMahon says he wants to give Styles the opportunity to come out and prove just how tough he is. Whatever Styles’ issue is with him, they could have just talked man to man. They also could have just thrown down if they couldn’t come to an agreement. Styles came in from the blind side with a sneak attack. Whatever Styles’ issue is with him, the issue just got worse. Either Styles comes out here or he’s coming out there. An “AJ Styles” chant fires up.
AJ Styles is seen walking backstage. Styles takes his time walking before finally going through the curtain. His music hits, but he stays on the stage. Styles tells McMahon to calm down and take a deep breath. McMahon has to understand what he’s going through. He thought he had the main event of WrestleMania, and then all of a sudden he didn’t. Styles went off the deep end and apologizes. The crowd boos. Styles tells him not to listen to the crowd. McMahon did him a favor and gave him a match at WrestleMania. Daniel Bryan is right: he’s not like the rest of the McMahons. For that, he’ll be a man about this. He’ll come in the ring, look him in the eyes, sincerely apologize, and shake his hand.
Styles gets in the ring, and McMahon immediately peppers him with jabs. Styles gets away, but McMahon gets him back with more. Styles gets out of the ring and slams McMahon into the LED apron. Styles then gives him a scary looking suplex into the barricade! Styles clears off the commentary table and picks McMahon up, but McMahon comes back with a vicious back body drop onto the hood of the commentary table! McMahon continues to clear off the table and slams a monitor on Styles. McMahon lays him out on the table and goes to the top rope. McMahon takes a deep breath and dives off for a Leap Of Faith! Replays are shown of what just happened. McMahon is on his feet, and he points at the WrestleMania sign.
Mike’s Overall Thoughts: Good ending to the show. The visual of the Leap of Faith, for me at least, doesn’t get old. Still, watching Shane McMahon throw punches is still a brutal sight to behold. My cousin Brett said it best: this really has to be a No DQ street so maybe we can believe that Shane McMahon can hang in there with one of the best wrestlers in the world. Overall, this episode was a bit of a disappointment. The title switch was good, as was this last segment, but the rest of the show was just a potpourri of mostly garbage, particularly the Orton/Wyatt thing. Thanks for reading!
Follow me on Twitter: @adamwrestleview, @MikeTedescoWV
Quick Match Results:
* The Usos def. American Alpha to become the new Smackdown Tag Team Champions
* Randy Orton def. Baron Corbin
* John Cena def. Fandango via Submission
* Carmella def. Becky Lynch via DQ