WWE SmackDown Live recap: We can go home again

WWE SmackDown Live continues the two-out-of-three falls trend, brings us a new champion and reminds us that the Women’s Tag Titles are still worth fighting for.

This week’s episode of SmackDown Live serves as the go-home show ahead of Sunday’s Stomping Grounds pay-per-view. After Monday’s successful Raw, hopefully WWE’s blue brand can throw together an entertaining two hours that helps build to Sunday’s event and to bigger, better things to take us through the summer.

The New Day open the show. Kofi Kingston, as we know, is defending his WWE Championship against Dolph Ziggler in a steel cage, while Xavier Woods and Big E will be taking on Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens at Stomping Grounds. But they are also here to “keep the show fresh for the people,” and Big E would like hour two of the show to be the “freaky hour.” It apparently involves a Slip-n-Slide, but before we could hear anything else about … this … Ziggler emerges.

Ziggler claims The New Day are just here to distract the fans from the fact that Kingston doesn’t deserve to be champion and that he’s nothing without Woods and E. This is one of Ziggler’s standard talking points in this feud (and it works with the whole steel cage match thing). Ziggler believes in a one-on-one situation, Kingston isn’t capable of winning. This time, instead of “it should have been me,” Ziggler has pivoted to “it will be me.”

Kingston isn’t concerned about a steel cage, considering what he went through at Elimination Chamber, in said Chamber. Kingston is a rightfully confident champion — dude’s not lost in a long, long time. Ziggler doesn’t scare him. Oh, and Ziggler went back to the “should have been me,” well to close out his promo.

Tonight, though, Ziggler has a one-on-one battle with Woods.

Match No. 1: Xavier Woods vs. Dolph Ziggler

Ziggler and Woods face off with the rest of The New Day at ringside. Commentary makes a good point about Ziggler and whether a loss on Sunday will send him on another sabbatical. It’s been speculated that Ziggler was thrown into this feud as a workaround for Kevin Owens not appearing at that show in June.

Speaking of Owens (and Sami Zayn), the two arrive at ringside to cause trouble. The referee throws Owens, Zayn, Kingston and Big E out of the ringside area and Woods dives to the outside onto Zayn and Owens for good measure. The distraction led to a Ziggler hitting Woods with a DDT; the result, however, was a two-count.

Ziggler maintained control during the picture-in-picture commercial break. Post-commercial, the momentum shifted to Woods. The pair have solid chemistry and the crowd seems to also be into it (“this is awesome” chants), aided by a huge gutbuster by Woods onto Ziggler.

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Ziggler hits Woods with a Zig-Zag, ties him up into the ropes and applies an arm bar and then connects with a superkick for the win.

We’re then treated to the story of Seth Rollins, his buddy, the steel chair and the whole Baron Corbin business. Corbin is at SmackDown auditioning potential special-guest referees, including The B-Team, Shelton Benjamin and Matt Hardy (who calls Benjamin “Senor Benjamin,” a nod to the Broken era).

A Moment of Bliss with Bayley

Alexa Bliss (with Nikki Cross in her corner) will be taking on Bayley for Bayley’s SmackDown Women’s Championship and has thus invited Bayley to join her and Bliss on “A Moment of Bliss.” Bliss still hasn’t gotten her coffee, while Bayley comes out with a coffee of her own (apparently Bliss’ coffee).

Bayley maintains she’s never said anything bad about Bliss in person or on social media and tells Cross that Bliss is just using her, that Bliss is not a true friend. Bayley is fed up with Bliss’ behind-the-scenes machinations; yes, it’s “say it to my face” time!

Bliss claims to have always seen through Bayley and that Bayley has long made her feel worthless. Bliss says that Bayley’s friendliness is just a persona, while Bayley calls Bliss the true liar, bringing up her failed friendships with Nia Jax and Mickie James. Bliss is “entitled,” a common refrain among feuds in the women’s division anymore.

Anyway. Bliss takes the “I’m better than you,” path while Bayley takes the “oh really, because I am champion,” tack. Bliss claims Bayley “peaked in NXT,” while Bliss has the main-roster spot Bayley has coveted. Bayley attacks Bliss then yells at Cross, leading to Bliss attacking Bayley. See y’all Sunday.

Apollo Crews wanders up to Zelina Vega and says that he’s looking for Andrade. Vega tries to imply that Crews is flirting with her — he isn’t — and Andrade ambushes Crews. Meanwhile, Chad Gable and his new G.A.B.L.E gimmick looks on. Looks like new mid-card storylines are afoot, which means something fresh post-Stomping Grounds.

Match No. 2: B-Team vs. Heavy Machinery

It’s announced before the match that Heavy Machinery will face SmackDown Tag Team Champions Daniel Bryan and Rowan for the titles at Stomping Grounds. Bryan and Rowan are also guests on commentary as Heavy Machinery face the B-Team.

Bryan, in particular, focuses on the tag team division being a joke and uses the antics of both Heavy Machinery and B-Team as examples. They are both absurd teams by design, so Bryan isn’t exactly wrong.

Otis does some of his signature hip thrusting and a Caterpillar on Bo Dallas (which Bryan astutely says he’d just get out of the way of, given how much time it takes to execute). He and Tucker hit Dallas with a Compactor and the match is over.

Seth “I love chairs and keeping promises” Rollins then takes out the B-Team with the steel chair, as the B-Team were among those lined up for the special guest referee job in Rollins’ match with Baron Corbin on Sunday.

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A limo arrives: It’s … Shane McMahon. We will never escape him. Zayn and Owens rush up to him concerned about Rollins (and Kingston) and requests that “something needs to be done.” McMahon puts Zayn and Owens in a two-out-of-three-falls match against Rollins and Kingston later in the night. They’re not exactly pleased. Two-out-of-three falls seems to be the stipulation of the week; Owens and Corbin took on Big E and Kingston in the same such match on Monday.

Aleister Black is … still looking for a fight

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Shane McMahon time

Shane McMahon makes his way to the ring with his two cronies, Elias and Drew McIntyre, who — again — deserve so, so much better than this. McMahon talks up McIntyre, who faces Roman Reigns at Stomping Grounds. McIntyre then addresses Reigns directly.

Mid-promo, The Miz interrupts thanks to his unfinished business with McMahon. He’s got a video package of Reigns attacking McMahon and his crew in the VIP suite on Raw the previous night to show us, for some reason. The crowd, at least, enjoys it. He rolls a second video, a slow-motion depiction of McMahon running away from and then being beaten up by Reigns.

Daddy issues are brought up again — McMahon’s dad is a billionaire, The Miz’s dad is a potato, and so on — but The Miz changes the conversation to note that McMahon and his buddies have taken over both Raw and SmackDown and we’re all quite sick of it.

The Miz blames himself for the whole “World Cup/Best in the World” situation that spawned this McMahon overload. But as the one who triggered McMahon’s “ego trip,” The Miz plans on also ending it. As a result, McMahon sets up Elias and McIntyre versus The Miz and any partner of his choice, as long as he makes the pick in 10 seconds.

Conveniently, 24/7 Champion R-Truth (who was again hiding under the ring) pops up behind McMahon et al., and voila, Awesome Truth has been reunited

FINALLY

After the break, we are finally revisiting the IIconics-Kabuki Warriors feud that stalled out weeks ago. Paige suggests they have their championship match and the IIconics beg off; but all five of them will be in Tokyo next week, so the match has been made. Should Asuka and Kairi Sane win that match, they’ll get a shot at the IIconic’s WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships. It’s about time, my lord.

Match No. 3: The Miz and R-Truth vs. Drew McIntyre and Elias

McMahon has decided to make this an elimination match. No one is out here trying to challenge for R-Truth’s 24/7 Championship until after he’s been eliminated, which is all kinds of confusing.

But now Miz is one-on-two with Elias and McIntyre; the match goes to another picture-in-picture commercial break. During the break, Miz takes a lot of punishment on the outside of the ring, with McMahon looking on (and getting in a sneak attack of his own).

Elias falls right into Miz’s boot from the top rope — not good, because Elias is still reeling (and taped up) from Rollins’ chair attack the night before. Miz continues to work the ribs with It Kicks and running knees into the corner. The Miz bangs into the ropes, and McIntyre hits him with a head butt and then tags in. One Claymore Kick later and Elias and McIntyre are the winners.

McIntyre gets a final shot in on The Miz as a way to send a message to Reigns. Get McMahon out of this storyline and it’s gold; with him in it, it’s just this:

Ember Moon stalks her prey

Ember Moon is backstage searching for Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville and destroys their donuts. A brawl breaks out between Deville and Moon. Women of the midcard are finally getting programs of their own.

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Carmella also noted to Moon she too has “unfinished business” with Deville and Moon; perhaps the four will meet in tag team action next Tuesday.

ICYMI, It’s Fun House time

We’ll just leave this here for any of you who may have missed it:

And new … !

Drake Maverick disguised as Carmella meets Truth at his Uber, which is being driven by a referee. Maverick pins Truth, becoming the new 24/7 Champion, which Maverick has been doggedly pursuing for weeks (while planning his wedding).

Match No. 4: Seth Rollins and Kofi Kingston vs. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens

In SmackDown Live‘s main event for this week, we have Seth Rollins and Kofi Kingston taking on Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens in a two-out-of-three falls match that has approximately 12 minutes to get to the endpoint.

Thus, the first fall comes immediately, with Kingston hitting Trouble in Paradise on Zayn and getting the pin. We’re then shipped directly to a commercial break. Luckily we had all that Shane McMahon content earlier in the night that couldn’t get cut for time for any reason, like for example, a main event featuring the top two champions in the company. We digress.

After the break, it’s revealed that Paul Heyman is watching along in the back, leading to speculation about the whereabouts of Brock Lesnar and his Money in the Bank contract (he’s probably not there). In the ring, meanwhile, both teams trade control. Rollins hits a Blockbuster on Owens and tags in Kingston, while Owens tags in Zayn. With Kingston the more fresh man, he hits a flurry of quick offense stymied by a big boot and a Blue Thunder Bomb, the latter netting a two count.

Rollins tags in and hits both Zayn and Owens with a pair of dives. Ultimately, Rollins gets the final pinfall after hitting his stomp on Owens in a quality back-and-forth match that rightfully leaves the two champions victorious while also keeping Zayn and Owens at the top of the card.

While not as dynamic as Monday’s Raw, SmackDown Live achieved the same goal of building more intrigue for Sunday’s Stomping Grounds event while hinting at future rivalries. All told, the five hours of WWE main-roster programming this week were watchable and even enjoyable. It bodes well for Stomping Grounds, despite the not-so-fresh matchups the card features.