Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Jul 19, 2017 0:31:51 GMT -6
www.f4wonline.com/wwe-results/wwe-smackdown-live-results-battleground-go-home-show-239436
WWE SMACKDOWN LIVE RESULTS: BATTLEGROUND GO-HOME SHOW
BY STEVE KHAN | @shk66 | JUL 18, 2017 4:45 PM
Date: July 18, 2017
Location: Legacy Arena in Birmingham, AL
The Big Takeaway --
Kevin Owens and Baron Corbin beat AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura in the main event, with Owens pinning Styles after a powerbomb. Becky Lynch picked up a somewhat surprising tap-out victory over Charlotte. The two were laid out by Natalya, Tamina and Lana, then Natalya was taken out by Tamina.
Rusev laid out John Cena after a long promo. Mike Kanellis won his debut match against Sami Zayn with help from Maria. Also, at Battleground, it looks like we will finally find out who was behind the attack of Breezango.
Show Recap --
Jinder Mahal and the Singh brothers opened the show. Tom Phillips gave us the details of the Punjabi Prison--the inner structure is 16 feet high and the outer structure is 20 feet. Mahal said this would be the final resting place of Randy Orton’s legacy and the crowd chanted “USA.”
The Singh brothers explained the rules of the match, which was nice of them. Basically, the inner doors will open be open for a short time, and if you miss it, you have to climb out. Either way, you have to climb out of the outer cell. Mahal said he would smash Orton’s face until it represents the ugliness of this country’s people. Mahal’s voice started to crack as he began speaking Punjabi.
Randy Orton interrupted. Orton questioned Mahal’s decision to lock himself in there with him because there would be no escape. Orton said he had nothing to lose after Mahal took his title, messed with his family and left him for dead. Orton slowly began climbing the prison as he spoke.
Orton let Mahal know he has the pressure of the entire nation of India on his back. He stood atop the structure and said this would be his view after he leaves Mahal’s “jacked up” ass in the ring and would be declared the new champion.
The crowd liked Orton but this wasn’t much of a segment. The prison is impressive to look at, but it’s also hard to see through.
Jimmy Uso (w/Jey Uso) defeated Kofi Kingston (w/Big E & Xavier Woods)
Like last week, Phillips let us know how personal the feud is and again they showed clips from the rap battle excluding the thing that made it so personal. Kingston twerked in Jimmy’s face after getting a two count then tossed him outside. Kingston faked a dive then hit a springboard flip dive instead, which was an amusing spot.
Jimmy got the heat during commercial by dropping Kingston on the apron. Kingston came back with a foot stomp and boom drop. Kingston went to the top but was distracted by Jey on the apron. Kingston hit a crossbody anyway, but Jimmy rolled through into a small package for the win at 8:37. This was fine and pointless.
There was a meeting backstage with Shane McMahon and the five women in this Sunday’s number one contender’s match. They were all facing the camera, so they were essentially standing shoulder-to-shoulder-to-shoulder etc. Shane basically wanted them to book their own match for tonight.
Charlotte wanted a match with Lana, Natalya wanted a match with Lana, and Becky Lynch wanted a match with Lana. Tamina said no and Natalya suggested Charlotte face Lynch. Charlotte said Shane wanted a competitive match for tonight, which offended Lynch. They argued and Shane made the match official, which the crowd popped for.
Chad Gable sit-down interview
A video package aired of the Kurt Angle-Jason Jordan segment from Raw. They cut to Renee Young who sat down with Chad Gable backstage. Gable didn’t know anything before the announcement. It didn’t just change the lives of Angle and Jordan, but changed his as well. Gable has spoken with Jordan since last night and understood what he was going through. He said they’ve been through a lot together and ran down their accomplishments. Jordan has his support. Gable said the WWE can look forward to seeing him on his own.
Mike Kanellis (w/Maria Kanellis) defeated Sami Zayn
Mike Kanellis won in 3:00 with a Samoan Driver. Zayn dominated for the first two and a half minutes but Maria jumped in the ring after Zayn hit an Exploder in the corner. This was somehow not a DQ, and the distraction allowed Mike to clock Zayn with a right hand and nail the Samoan Driver for the win. Mike Kanellis’ tights have pink and red lips all over it, as well as a big pink heart with the words “M+M 4ever” and a drawing of Maria in a bikini.
John Cena promo
Cena plugged some of the matches for Sunday, including the women’s match, the Nakamura match, and the Punjabi Prison match. He said the match we remember will be the flag match, taking place in the very city the country was founded. He pointed out the flags which were positioned in each corner as they will be on Sunday.
Cena noted that there was more to the match than just the flags. Cena doesn’t like Rusev. He said we’ll remember the match because of which flag is being flown at the end. He knows he’s not everyone’s favourite, but knows we all care about the American flag (presuming everyone watching this is American).
Cena said the pressure was on but he’s the man for the job. Cena promised that he was ready. He continued on with a long history lesson about how great this country was. He grabbed the American flag and said it will fly high on Sunday.
Cena’s music played and he posed with the flag when Rusev suddenly attacked from behind. Rusev nailed a superkick and applied the Accolade. Cena managed to stand up with Rusev on his back but Rusev never let go and managed to re-apply the Accolade as Cena passed out. Crowd booed Rusev and chanted "USA." He grabbed the Bulgarian flag and held it high.
Nakamura approached AJ Styles backstage. They both got big pops. Styles was about to reminisce about Japan when he noticed Nakamura was staring at his US Title. Nakamura pointed at the belt and said, “One day, you call... I answer.” This was good.
Becky Lynch defeated Charlotte Flair
This is the first singles match between these two in over a year. Natalya is on commentary. The crowd did dueling chants for each women. They had a couple of back-and-forth exchanges when Lynch almost applied the Disarmer, but Charlotte escaped the ring for a commercial break.
They traded strikes, an exchange Charlotte got the better of. Lynch escaped a Figure Eight attempt and hit a forearm and Exploder. They traded counters until Charlotte nailed a big boot for a nearfall. Charlotte missed a moonsault, Lynch applied the Disarmer and Charlotte tapped out. Lynch with the submission win at just under 9 minutes. Decent match. I’m just glad we got a clean finish.
Charlotte and Lynch shook hands afterwards. Tamina and Lana came out (to Tamina’s music) and the distraction allowed Natalya to attack the babyfaces from behind. The heels took out Charlotte and Lynch. Natalya argued with Lana, so Tamina superkicked Natalya.
Backstage, Naomi said she looks forward to every challenge. She didn’t come here to play, she came here to glow. She hoped her opponent was ready for SummerSlam. Carmella showed up and kicked out Renee. Carmella reminded Naomi that wherever she goes, so does Carmella and her contract.
The Fashion X Files: The Truth is not H
Tyler Breeze wore a wig, of course, playing the role of Scully. They heard a strange ghost-like noise from behind a curtain, but it was just Aiden English warming up. He asked, “Do you mind?” and they shut the curtain. A delivery guy showed up with a package. Breeze was horrified upon looking in the box. Fandango wanted to know what was in the box (a reference to Se7en). Fandango looked in the box -- it was the head of Tully (the horse). There was a note that read “Battleground” in the box as well, and it looks like this will come to a conclusion on Sunday.
Drew Gulak plugged his 2 out of 3 falls match against Mustafa Ali on 205 Live.
Kevin Owens & Baron Corbin defeated U.S. Champion AJ Styles & Shinsuke Nakamura
Corbin tried to attack Nakamura during his entrance, but he saw it coming and fought back. Owens ran out to double team him, so Styles jumped in for the save. The good guys got the better of this and jumped back in the ring ready to fight as they went to commercial.
The match was underway after a break with Corbin in control on Styles. Nakamura tagged in and had the better of Owens until Corbin got in the way and they got the heat on him. Nakamura came back with a flying boot but Corbin yanked him down by the hair and knocked Styles off the apron.
Nakamura came back with kicks to the chest. Owens distracted Nakamura and Corbin nailed a Deep Six, but Styles broke up the cover. Styles made the hot tag and nailed Owens with a strike combo, clothesline and sliding forearm for two. He followed that with a facebuster for two but Owens nailed him with a clothesline and tagged out.
Corbin launched Styles across the ring but Styles came back with a Calf Crusher. Corbin got to the ropes and Styles set up for the Phenomenal forearm, but Owens wiped him out on the apron. Nakamura went after Owens but Corbin knocked him into the timekeeper’s arena. Styles set up for a Styles Clash on Corbin, but Owens had made a blind tag and hit a superkick and pop-up powerbomb for the pinfall win. Fun match.
Final Thoughts --
This was another dull show, which is likely because they’re building to a particularly weak split-brand pay per view. Hopefully things pick up heading toward SummerSlam.
By the way, the last Punjabi Prison match occurred at No Mercy in October 2007, nearly 10 years ago, a show main evented by Randy Orton.
www.f4wonline.com/wwe-results/wwe-205-live-results-mustafa-ali-vs-drew-gulak-239496
WWE 205 LIVE RESULTS: MUSTAFA ALI VS. DREW GULAK
BY JEREMY PEEPLES | @jeremy_PEEPLES | JUL 18, 2017 9:02 PM
The Big Takeaway --
The issues between Brian Kendrick and Jack Gallagher continued as Kendrick destroyed a British upstart, Drew Gulak and Mustafa Ali stole the show with a must-see two-out-of-three falls match, and Akira Tozawa and Ariya Daivari closed the episode with a very good main event that didn't quite reach the heights of the opener.
Show Recap --
The show began with a video showing off a ton of flying, leading to a rundown of Drew Gulak's issues with Mustafa Ali. Gulak was shown beating Ali but falling to both mat holds and his own attempt at high-flying.
Vic Joseph and Corey Graves hyped up tonight's two-out-of-three falls match as the first one on 205 Live. Also on the show, Akira Tozawa will face Ariya Daivari.
Gulak's annoying siren bullhorn is actually perfect for this show since it will at least annoy people enough to make them do something.
Mustafa Ali defeated Drew Gulak in a two-out-of-three falls match
Gulak worked on the arm to start things off, but Ali flipped out of the hold. Gulak then got a long headlock until he ate a tackle. Ali got two off a crucifix and then used a weird victory roll cradle for another near fall. After that, Ali scored a fall off of a wacky cradle -- so he went up one fall to zero.
Gulak was enraged and pulled the top off the announce table. It's amazing how much he looks like Simon Dean facially doing this kind of gimmick.
Ali got two off a dropkick and landed a big forearm to the jaw on the apron. Gulak tossed him over the top to the floor. Gulak got a chinlock before stomping him in the corner. He began verbally abusing Ali, with this greatly angering him.
Ali grabbed Gulak's foot and spun him around for a dragon whip. A corner high kick sent Gulak mid-ring and Ali landed a rolling neckbreaker and a baseball slide on the floor.
Gulak tossed Ali into the timekeeper's area. Ali dove off the dasher boards and hit a rana before landing on his head and shoulder awkwardly. Well, that could have ended quite badly. Gulak threw him in and pulled him off the ropes before earning a fall with a dragon sleeper.
Ali got a small package for two. Gulak took him down for another chinlock, but Ali grabbed his arm and went for a run-up rana before eating a powerbomb for two. That was the nastiest powerbomb on WWE TV since Eddie Guerrero powerbombed Lita on the floor.
Ali followed with a nasty reverse rana. Gulak went to the floor to heal up, but he ate a flying somersault dive off the top. Ali went for a crossbody off the top and, like before, Gulak tried to get the win, but it only got two.
Gulak suplexed Ali into the buckle for a close near fall. He landed a series of forearms and then got a headbutt to the gut. Ali spiked him with a jumping tornado DDT for a near fall. Gulak locked in the dragon sleeper, but Ali turned it into a cradle for two.
Ali took a big lariat that almost ended the match. Gulak went up top again, but he took too long and Ali landed a big rana and won it with the inverted 450. This was easily Gulak's best showing in the company, and this division really can shine when it's given time.
We got a recap of Titus O'Neil throwing in the towel for Tozawa last night. WWE.com footage was shown of Apollo Crews and Tozawa having an incredibly organic conversation with Crews talking about how O'Neil cares about them and how Crews and Tozawa are long-time friends.
Brian Kendrick came down to face a British jobber before insulting him, Jack Gallagher, and Manchester. He called his opponent "kid" constantly, and it's funny to see Kendrick go from being the young upstart in WWE to now being the bitter veteran.
Brian Kendrick defeated Devin Bennett
Kendrick beat him up and asked him if he's a clown or a fighter. He then hit a big boot and locked on the Captain's Hook to win it. Kendrick stood atop Bennett and put his flag high. There's a lot to like with Kendrick's overall act, but he just isn't clicking.
A Noam Dar vs. Cedric Alexander recap video showcased last week's events with Dar losing and then breaking up with Alicia Fox.
Dasha Fuentes recapped that issue before asking TJP about his motives against Rich Swann last week. TJP said that he wants real competition between them -- and they'll pick partners next week for a tag match.
Drew McIntyre vs. Killian Dain was hyped up for tomorrow's NXT show. Ariya Daivari came down to battle Tozawa next, but he hyped up Iranian heroes first.
Akira Tozawa defeated Ariya Daivari
Tozawa chopped away with his good arm and landed a big dropkick before hitting a senton for two. Daivari tried to hide behind the ref, but he took a big right hook anyway. Daivari went to the floor and pumphandled Tozawa's injured arm. He pushed the elbow into the ring post connector before locking on an armbar.
Tozawa went for a sunset flip, but couldn't pull him down due to the bad arm, which got stomped. I like that -- haven't seen it before. Daivari pinned the arm between the steps and the post, but Tozawa kicked him to avoid further damage.
Graves talked about O'Neil not being here, but he didn't offer a reason why O'Neil would miss this giant match that is risking his client's health. Tozawa hit a snap rana and the suicide headbutt. He went for a Saito suplex but wasn't able to hoist him up. Tozawa landed a shining wizard that only got two.
The crowd started doing the "Ha!" stuff, but Daivari used a codebreaker on the arm. He dove onto Tozawa off the top, but it only got two while holding the tights. Tozawa rolled through and picked up the win by holding the trunks.
Daivari attacked him after the match and Graves talked about how Tozawa may have gotten the winner's share of the purse, but now he can't use his left arm.
WWE SMACKDOWN LIVE RESULTS: BATTLEGROUND GO-HOME SHOW
BY STEVE KHAN | @shk66 | JUL 18, 2017 4:45 PM
Date: July 18, 2017
Location: Legacy Arena in Birmingham, AL
The Big Takeaway --
Kevin Owens and Baron Corbin beat AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura in the main event, with Owens pinning Styles after a powerbomb. Becky Lynch picked up a somewhat surprising tap-out victory over Charlotte. The two were laid out by Natalya, Tamina and Lana, then Natalya was taken out by Tamina.
Rusev laid out John Cena after a long promo. Mike Kanellis won his debut match against Sami Zayn with help from Maria. Also, at Battleground, it looks like we will finally find out who was behind the attack of Breezango.
Show Recap --
Jinder Mahal and the Singh brothers opened the show. Tom Phillips gave us the details of the Punjabi Prison--the inner structure is 16 feet high and the outer structure is 20 feet. Mahal said this would be the final resting place of Randy Orton’s legacy and the crowd chanted “USA.”
The Singh brothers explained the rules of the match, which was nice of them. Basically, the inner doors will open be open for a short time, and if you miss it, you have to climb out. Either way, you have to climb out of the outer cell. Mahal said he would smash Orton’s face until it represents the ugliness of this country’s people. Mahal’s voice started to crack as he began speaking Punjabi.
Randy Orton interrupted. Orton questioned Mahal’s decision to lock himself in there with him because there would be no escape. Orton said he had nothing to lose after Mahal took his title, messed with his family and left him for dead. Orton slowly began climbing the prison as he spoke.
Orton let Mahal know he has the pressure of the entire nation of India on his back. He stood atop the structure and said this would be his view after he leaves Mahal’s “jacked up” ass in the ring and would be declared the new champion.
The crowd liked Orton but this wasn’t much of a segment. The prison is impressive to look at, but it’s also hard to see through.
Jimmy Uso (w/Jey Uso) defeated Kofi Kingston (w/Big E & Xavier Woods)
Like last week, Phillips let us know how personal the feud is and again they showed clips from the rap battle excluding the thing that made it so personal. Kingston twerked in Jimmy’s face after getting a two count then tossed him outside. Kingston faked a dive then hit a springboard flip dive instead, which was an amusing spot.
Jimmy got the heat during commercial by dropping Kingston on the apron. Kingston came back with a foot stomp and boom drop. Kingston went to the top but was distracted by Jey on the apron. Kingston hit a crossbody anyway, but Jimmy rolled through into a small package for the win at 8:37. This was fine and pointless.
There was a meeting backstage with Shane McMahon and the five women in this Sunday’s number one contender’s match. They were all facing the camera, so they were essentially standing shoulder-to-shoulder-to-shoulder etc. Shane basically wanted them to book their own match for tonight.
Charlotte wanted a match with Lana, Natalya wanted a match with Lana, and Becky Lynch wanted a match with Lana. Tamina said no and Natalya suggested Charlotte face Lynch. Charlotte said Shane wanted a competitive match for tonight, which offended Lynch. They argued and Shane made the match official, which the crowd popped for.
Chad Gable sit-down interview
A video package aired of the Kurt Angle-Jason Jordan segment from Raw. They cut to Renee Young who sat down with Chad Gable backstage. Gable didn’t know anything before the announcement. It didn’t just change the lives of Angle and Jordan, but changed his as well. Gable has spoken with Jordan since last night and understood what he was going through. He said they’ve been through a lot together and ran down their accomplishments. Jordan has his support. Gable said the WWE can look forward to seeing him on his own.
Mike Kanellis (w/Maria Kanellis) defeated Sami Zayn
Mike Kanellis won in 3:00 with a Samoan Driver. Zayn dominated for the first two and a half minutes but Maria jumped in the ring after Zayn hit an Exploder in the corner. This was somehow not a DQ, and the distraction allowed Mike to clock Zayn with a right hand and nail the Samoan Driver for the win. Mike Kanellis’ tights have pink and red lips all over it, as well as a big pink heart with the words “M+M 4ever” and a drawing of Maria in a bikini.
John Cena promo
Cena plugged some of the matches for Sunday, including the women’s match, the Nakamura match, and the Punjabi Prison match. He said the match we remember will be the flag match, taking place in the very city the country was founded. He pointed out the flags which were positioned in each corner as they will be on Sunday.
Cena noted that there was more to the match than just the flags. Cena doesn’t like Rusev. He said we’ll remember the match because of which flag is being flown at the end. He knows he’s not everyone’s favourite, but knows we all care about the American flag (presuming everyone watching this is American).
Cena said the pressure was on but he’s the man for the job. Cena promised that he was ready. He continued on with a long history lesson about how great this country was. He grabbed the American flag and said it will fly high on Sunday.
Cena’s music played and he posed with the flag when Rusev suddenly attacked from behind. Rusev nailed a superkick and applied the Accolade. Cena managed to stand up with Rusev on his back but Rusev never let go and managed to re-apply the Accolade as Cena passed out. Crowd booed Rusev and chanted "USA." He grabbed the Bulgarian flag and held it high.
Nakamura approached AJ Styles backstage. They both got big pops. Styles was about to reminisce about Japan when he noticed Nakamura was staring at his US Title. Nakamura pointed at the belt and said, “One day, you call... I answer.” This was good.
Becky Lynch defeated Charlotte Flair
This is the first singles match between these two in over a year. Natalya is on commentary. The crowd did dueling chants for each women. They had a couple of back-and-forth exchanges when Lynch almost applied the Disarmer, but Charlotte escaped the ring for a commercial break.
They traded strikes, an exchange Charlotte got the better of. Lynch escaped a Figure Eight attempt and hit a forearm and Exploder. They traded counters until Charlotte nailed a big boot for a nearfall. Charlotte missed a moonsault, Lynch applied the Disarmer and Charlotte tapped out. Lynch with the submission win at just under 9 minutes. Decent match. I’m just glad we got a clean finish.
Charlotte and Lynch shook hands afterwards. Tamina and Lana came out (to Tamina’s music) and the distraction allowed Natalya to attack the babyfaces from behind. The heels took out Charlotte and Lynch. Natalya argued with Lana, so Tamina superkicked Natalya.
Backstage, Naomi said she looks forward to every challenge. She didn’t come here to play, she came here to glow. She hoped her opponent was ready for SummerSlam. Carmella showed up and kicked out Renee. Carmella reminded Naomi that wherever she goes, so does Carmella and her contract.
The Fashion X Files: The Truth is not H
Tyler Breeze wore a wig, of course, playing the role of Scully. They heard a strange ghost-like noise from behind a curtain, but it was just Aiden English warming up. He asked, “Do you mind?” and they shut the curtain. A delivery guy showed up with a package. Breeze was horrified upon looking in the box. Fandango wanted to know what was in the box (a reference to Se7en). Fandango looked in the box -- it was the head of Tully (the horse). There was a note that read “Battleground” in the box as well, and it looks like this will come to a conclusion on Sunday.
Drew Gulak plugged his 2 out of 3 falls match against Mustafa Ali on 205 Live.
Kevin Owens & Baron Corbin defeated U.S. Champion AJ Styles & Shinsuke Nakamura
Corbin tried to attack Nakamura during his entrance, but he saw it coming and fought back. Owens ran out to double team him, so Styles jumped in for the save. The good guys got the better of this and jumped back in the ring ready to fight as they went to commercial.
The match was underway after a break with Corbin in control on Styles. Nakamura tagged in and had the better of Owens until Corbin got in the way and they got the heat on him. Nakamura came back with a flying boot but Corbin yanked him down by the hair and knocked Styles off the apron.
Nakamura came back with kicks to the chest. Owens distracted Nakamura and Corbin nailed a Deep Six, but Styles broke up the cover. Styles made the hot tag and nailed Owens with a strike combo, clothesline and sliding forearm for two. He followed that with a facebuster for two but Owens nailed him with a clothesline and tagged out.
Corbin launched Styles across the ring but Styles came back with a Calf Crusher. Corbin got to the ropes and Styles set up for the Phenomenal forearm, but Owens wiped him out on the apron. Nakamura went after Owens but Corbin knocked him into the timekeeper’s arena. Styles set up for a Styles Clash on Corbin, but Owens had made a blind tag and hit a superkick and pop-up powerbomb for the pinfall win. Fun match.
Final Thoughts --
This was another dull show, which is likely because they’re building to a particularly weak split-brand pay per view. Hopefully things pick up heading toward SummerSlam.
By the way, the last Punjabi Prison match occurred at No Mercy in October 2007, nearly 10 years ago, a show main evented by Randy Orton.
www.f4wonline.com/wwe-results/wwe-205-live-results-mustafa-ali-vs-drew-gulak-239496
WWE 205 LIVE RESULTS: MUSTAFA ALI VS. DREW GULAK
BY JEREMY PEEPLES | @jeremy_PEEPLES | JUL 18, 2017 9:02 PM
The Big Takeaway --
The issues between Brian Kendrick and Jack Gallagher continued as Kendrick destroyed a British upstart, Drew Gulak and Mustafa Ali stole the show with a must-see two-out-of-three falls match, and Akira Tozawa and Ariya Daivari closed the episode with a very good main event that didn't quite reach the heights of the opener.
Show Recap --
The show began with a video showing off a ton of flying, leading to a rundown of Drew Gulak's issues with Mustafa Ali. Gulak was shown beating Ali but falling to both mat holds and his own attempt at high-flying.
Vic Joseph and Corey Graves hyped up tonight's two-out-of-three falls match as the first one on 205 Live. Also on the show, Akira Tozawa will face Ariya Daivari.
Gulak's annoying siren bullhorn is actually perfect for this show since it will at least annoy people enough to make them do something.
Mustafa Ali defeated Drew Gulak in a two-out-of-three falls match
Gulak worked on the arm to start things off, but Ali flipped out of the hold. Gulak then got a long headlock until he ate a tackle. Ali got two off a crucifix and then used a weird victory roll cradle for another near fall. After that, Ali scored a fall off of a wacky cradle -- so he went up one fall to zero.
Gulak was enraged and pulled the top off the announce table. It's amazing how much he looks like Simon Dean facially doing this kind of gimmick.
Ali got two off a dropkick and landed a big forearm to the jaw on the apron. Gulak tossed him over the top to the floor. Gulak got a chinlock before stomping him in the corner. He began verbally abusing Ali, with this greatly angering him.
Ali grabbed Gulak's foot and spun him around for a dragon whip. A corner high kick sent Gulak mid-ring and Ali landed a rolling neckbreaker and a baseball slide on the floor.
Gulak tossed Ali into the timekeeper's area. Ali dove off the dasher boards and hit a rana before landing on his head and shoulder awkwardly. Well, that could have ended quite badly. Gulak threw him in and pulled him off the ropes before earning a fall with a dragon sleeper.
Ali got a small package for two. Gulak took him down for another chinlock, but Ali grabbed his arm and went for a run-up rana before eating a powerbomb for two. That was the nastiest powerbomb on WWE TV since Eddie Guerrero powerbombed Lita on the floor.
Ali followed with a nasty reverse rana. Gulak went to the floor to heal up, but he ate a flying somersault dive off the top. Ali went for a crossbody off the top and, like before, Gulak tried to get the win, but it only got two.
Gulak suplexed Ali into the buckle for a close near fall. He landed a series of forearms and then got a headbutt to the gut. Ali spiked him with a jumping tornado DDT for a near fall. Gulak locked in the dragon sleeper, but Ali turned it into a cradle for two.
Ali took a big lariat that almost ended the match. Gulak went up top again, but he took too long and Ali landed a big rana and won it with the inverted 450. This was easily Gulak's best showing in the company, and this division really can shine when it's given time.
We got a recap of Titus O'Neil throwing in the towel for Tozawa last night. WWE.com footage was shown of Apollo Crews and Tozawa having an incredibly organic conversation with Crews talking about how O'Neil cares about them and how Crews and Tozawa are long-time friends.
Brian Kendrick came down to face a British jobber before insulting him, Jack Gallagher, and Manchester. He called his opponent "kid" constantly, and it's funny to see Kendrick go from being the young upstart in WWE to now being the bitter veteran.
Brian Kendrick defeated Devin Bennett
Kendrick beat him up and asked him if he's a clown or a fighter. He then hit a big boot and locked on the Captain's Hook to win it. Kendrick stood atop Bennett and put his flag high. There's a lot to like with Kendrick's overall act, but he just isn't clicking.
A Noam Dar vs. Cedric Alexander recap video showcased last week's events with Dar losing and then breaking up with Alicia Fox.
Dasha Fuentes recapped that issue before asking TJP about his motives against Rich Swann last week. TJP said that he wants real competition between them -- and they'll pick partners next week for a tag match.
Drew McIntyre vs. Killian Dain was hyped up for tomorrow's NXT show. Ariya Daivari came down to battle Tozawa next, but he hyped up Iranian heroes first.
Akira Tozawa defeated Ariya Daivari
Tozawa chopped away with his good arm and landed a big dropkick before hitting a senton for two. Daivari tried to hide behind the ref, but he took a big right hook anyway. Daivari went to the floor and pumphandled Tozawa's injured arm. He pushed the elbow into the ring post connector before locking on an armbar.
Tozawa went for a sunset flip, but couldn't pull him down due to the bad arm, which got stomped. I like that -- haven't seen it before. Daivari pinned the arm between the steps and the post, but Tozawa kicked him to avoid further damage.
Graves talked about O'Neil not being here, but he didn't offer a reason why O'Neil would miss this giant match that is risking his client's health. Tozawa hit a snap rana and the suicide headbutt. He went for a Saito suplex but wasn't able to hoist him up. Tozawa landed a shining wizard that only got two.
The crowd started doing the "Ha!" stuff, but Daivari used a codebreaker on the arm. He dove onto Tozawa off the top, but it only got two while holding the tights. Tozawa rolled through and picked up the win by holding the trunks.
Daivari attacked him after the match and Graves talked about how Tozawa may have gotten the winner's share of the purse, but now he can't use his left arm.