The June 26th edition of WWE SmackDown took place at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, CA.
– The Miz is in the ring to kick off this week’s SmackDown Live broadcast with a Miz TV segment. The Miz welcomes his guests – The Bludgeon Brothers, Luke Harper and Eric Rowan. They slowly make their way down to the ring and stand in front of Miz. The Miz says they have something in common, they both dismantled Daniel Bryan. The crowd chants for Daniel Bryan, and The Miz tells them to shut it and stop disrespecting SmackDown’s tag team champions. The Miz says since The Bludgeon Brothers are the strong silent type, he’s going to roll some video footage showing last week. The Miz continues trashing Bryan, saying Bryan always tries to steal their thunder and he’s the true villain here. The Miz jokes that The Bludgeon Brothers were auditioning to be new members of The Miztourage, and Harper slaps the mic out of Miz’s hand. They start walking towards The Miz, but then Daniel Bryan’s music hits and he comes out to interrupt. Bryan says he takes issue with The Bludgeon Brothers attacking him, and he’s not afraid of them or The Miz. Bryan wants to fight all of them, and asks which of them will fight him first. Harper takes the mic from Miz and says Daniel never learns his lesson, but he’s gonna tonight. It sounds like Harper has accepted the challenger. Bryan heads to the back.
– The New Day is shown backstage with their assistant making milkshakes. Xavier Woods takes on Rusev in singles action next in a match sponsored by Sonic.
– Xavier Woods vs. Rusev: The New Day and Aiden English are all at ringside for this one. The opening bell sounds and Woods starts off with a headlock. Rusev comes back with a shoulder block and works on keeping Xavier grounded. Woods comes back with some strikes and a headscissor takedown, then dropkicks Rusev from behind. Rusev comes back with a spinerbuster for a two count. Woods fights back and hits a tornado DDT for a two count of his own. Rusev dodges a shot and shuts Woods down again with a Samoan drop. They fight in the corner and Woods dodges a few shots, but Rusev catches him with a kick to the head. Rusev follows up with the big boot and the Accolade for the three count.
Winner: Rusev
– After the match, Aiden English joins Rusev in the ring to celebrate. Rusev gets on the mic and cuts a brief promo warning AJ Styles that he’s going to take his WWE Title at Extreme Rules on July 15th.
– We see a pre-taped promo from Jeff Hardy in facepaint and white contact lenses talking about his threshold for pain being higher. We go to the broadcast table where Tom Phillips tells us about Shinsuke Nakamura’s injury, and that Jeff Hardy will be fighting in an open challenge tonight instead of facing Nakamura as originally scheduled.
– WWE U.S. Champion Jeff Hardy makes his way down to the ring to find out who will be facing him in tonight’s open challenge for the belt.
– Naomi and Lana are backstage arguing about their dance-off. The cast of GLOW walks in an they briefly talk to Naomi and Lana and say that they should be working together instead of arguing. Naomi and Lana seem to come to an agreement.
– Jeff Hardy (c) vs. Eric Young: Sanity is at ringside, and Jeff’s U.S. Title is on the line. The opening bell sounds and Young immediately rushes hardy and beats him down in the corner. Hardy fights back and looks for the Twist of Fate, but he doesn’t quite execute it and Young rolls outside for a breather. Back in the ring, Young fires up and drops Hardy with a shot to the face. Young takes Hardy into the corner and puts him a dragon sleeper on the turnbuckle until the ref reaches his 5 count. Young wrenches Hardy’s neck and works on keeping the Champion grounded. Young stomps on Hardy, but Hardy gets to his feet and fights back in the corner. Hardy rolls up Young for a two count, then Young fires back with a lariat for a two count of his own. Young picks up Hardy and Hardy stuns him with a jawbreaker. Hardy blocks a shot and fires back with right hands, then drops Young with a forearm shot and an atomic drop. Jeff dropkicks Young down as the crowd chants “Delete.” Hardy looks for the Twist of Fate, but Young escapes and they both clothesline each other down. While both men are down, The Usos walk in from the crowd and they confront the other two Sanity members at ringside. Young rolls out o the ring to join the brawl at ringside, and he starts fighting with Jey Uso. The ref calls for the bell as this one falls apart. Young wins by DQ, so Hardy keeps the belt. The Usos/Sanity brawl spills into the ring as Hardy and Young brawl again. Hardy and The Usos clear out the ring as we go to commercial.
Winner via DQ: Eric Young
– The Usos & Jeff Hardy vs. Sanity: This one got made into a six-man tag during the commercial break. Kilian starts off with Jey Uso and drops him with a shot off the ropes. Wolfe tags in and continues the offense on Jey, then Young tags in for the double team for a two count on Uso. Uso tries to fight back, but Young drops him with an elbow to the face then stomps on him. Killian tags back in and puts the boots to Uso. Jimmy finally gets the hot tag and Wolfe tags in as well. Jimmy comes in and cleans house and hits a Samoan drop on Wolfe. Jimmy follows up with a cross body off the top for a two count. Jimmy connects with some kicks and pins, but Young breaks it up. The aprons clear now as everyone brawls through the ring. Jimmy hits superkicks on Killian and Young, but Killian doesn’t go down. The Usos hit two double superkicks on Killian until he falls out to ringside. Jey hits a suicide dive on Killian and Young, while Wolfe and Jimmy go at it in the ring. Jimmy hits a superkick, then Jeff tags in and hits the Swanton Bomb on Wolfe for the three count.
Winners: The Usos & Jeff Hardy
– The broadcast team informs us that Daniel Bryan vs. Luke Harper has been made official for tonight.
– Becky Lynch is backstage warming up. She’s up next against Sonya Deville.
– Becky Lynch vs. Sonya Deville: Sonya misses some kicks early on and Becky tackles her. Sonya starts to mount a comeback, but Becky stuns her with a kick. They trade arm holds until Becky sends Sonya through the ropes down to the ringside floor. Sonya pulls Becky outside and they fight at ringside over the announce table. Back in the ring, Sonya comes back and takes Becky down for a two count. Sonya works on keeping Becky grounded with a head lock. Becky fights up to her feet and comes back with a t-bone suplex for a two count. Sonya comes back with a knee strike out of the corner for a two count of her own. Mandy Rose causes a distraction from ringside and Sonya continues the offense. Becky grabs Sonya and knocks her into Mandy on the apron, then locks Sonya in the Disarm-her for the win via submission.
Winner: Becky Lynch
– Becky celebrates in the ring as Mandy recovers on the floor from having her partner slammed into her.
– James Ellsworth is backstage wearing an Asuka mask and he exchanges small talk with Tye Dillinger in the hallway.
– We see a pre-taped promo from Zelina Vega, who is next to “Cien” Almas. She says SmackDown has no challenges for Almas, and everyone should stay out of his way.
– James Ellsworth skips down to the ring as we see a replay of his interaction with Asuka last week. Ellsworth gets on the mic and says there are two types of men in this world: Men who graduated high school and talk about their feelings, and then real men like him who stand up for what they believe in. He says Asuka attacked him for no reason last week, and he knows she’s here tonight. Ellsworth tells Asuka it’s a man’s world, and when you mess with the bull you get the horns. Ellsworth says he loves and respects women, and he has a love life so hot you can fry an egg on it, and women love him too. He says when it comes to Asuka, there’s no love or respect, and he takes his hoodie off and slams it down. Ellsworth says he wasn’t ready last week, but he’s ready this week, and he dares Asuka to come down and face him tonight. Instead, SmackDown GM Paige comes out. Paige comes down to the ring and says Ellsworth knows that Asuka isn’t here this week. Paige books Carmella to defend her Women’s Title against Asuka at Extreme Rules. Ellsworth says Asuka doesn’t deserve a rematch, and he thinks Paige really came out to ask him out on a date. Paige says Ellsworth is right, and says they have a date next Tuesday. Ellsworth says yes, but Paige corrects herself and says it’s not a date with her, it’s a date with Asuka, and it will be a one on one match. Ellsworth doesn’t look so happy anymore, and Paige heads to the back.
– The Bludgeon Brothers are shown backstage, with Harper staring into the camera. Daniel Bryan is elsewhere backstage with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson helping him warm up for his match tonight.
– Daniel Bryan vs. Luke Harper: The opening bell sounds and Harper immediately backs Bryan into the corner and connects with an uppercut. Bryan dodges a shot and fires back with some kicks to Harper. Harper stuns him with a right hand and then takes Bryan out to ringside where he throws him into the fan barricade. Back in the ring, Bryan starts to fight back, but Harper shuts him down with a big clothesline. Harper rakes the eyes of Bryan and then works on keeping him grounded. Bryan sends Harper through the ropes out to ringside and he looks for a suicide dive, but Harper catches him and slams him down onto the announce table. Harper hits a running big boot on Bryan on the floor and Bryan falls into the timekeeper’s area. Back in the ring, Harper continues the offense with strikes in the corner. Bryan dodges a shot and runs the ropes, but Harper catches him with a spinning side slam for a two count. Bryan starts coming back with some kicks and he hits a series of dropkicks in the corner. Harper stops one and hits a Michinoku Driver on Bryan for a two count. Bryan tries to come back with some right hands, but Harper connects with a dropkick and both men are down. Harper lays into Bryan with chops and punches in the corner now, and he sits Bryan on the top turnbuckle. Bryan punches Harper down and hits a tornado DDT. Bryan hits the Yes Kicks until Harper stops one and hits a kick of his own. Harper misses a clothesline and Bryan looks for the Yes Lock. Harper struggles but Bryan locks it in, and then Eric Rowan runs in and breaks it up for the DQ.
Winner via DQ: Daniel Bryan
– Harper and Rowan beat down Bryan in the ring after the bell. Harper and Rowan slap each other across the face and then double team Bryan. Harper and Rowan look for the powerbomb Doomsday Device, but then Kane’s music hits and the Big Red Machine slowly walks down to the ring. Kane steps in the ring and goes at it with the Bludgeon Brothers. Harper and Rowan look to double team him, but Bryan makes the save. Kane and Bryan lay out the Bludgeon Brothers and clear the ring. Bryan has a look of disbelief on his face that Kane just returned out of nowhere to save him. Kane and Bryan have a stare-down and then hug in the ring. Bryan and Kane lead the crowd in a “yes” chant, and then Paige comes out. Paige books a match between The Bludgeon Brothers and Bryan/Kane for the Tag Team Titles at Extreme Rules. Paige heads backstage as Team Hell No celebrates in the ring and SmackDown goes off the air.
