WWE SmackDown Live Results & Discussion (7/17)

The July 17th, 2018 edition of WWE SmackDown took place at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

 


 

– Jeff Hardy’s music hits to kick off this week’s show and the former U.S. Champion makes his way down to the ring. Jeff gets on the mic an says he may look and seem like Jeff Hardy, but he doesn’t feel like Jeff Hardy. Hardy says he’s missing something and feels broken because of how he lost the U.S. Title on Sunday. Jeff says Nakamura is a jackass who could only beat him by cheating. Jeff says he’s going to punish Nakamura and make him obsolete, and take back his U.S. Title. Hardy heads to the back and high-fives fans on the way.

– Shinsuke Nakamura is backstage for an interview. He calls Hardy a sad clown and makes fun of his face paint. Nakamura says the U.S. Title is his now so he’s all smiles. He says he’ll make the clown cry again tonight.

– Still to come: The Miz’s eulogy for Team Hell No

AJ Styles vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas: Zelina Vega is at ringside for this one. AJ’s Title is not on the line. The opening bell sounds and AJ and Andrade trade holds on the mat in the opening moments. They run the ropes and AJ looks for a dropkick, but Andrade holds onto the ropes and AJ falls flat on his face. They fight out to ringside where AJ whips Cien into the fan barricade. Back in the ring, Almas fires back with an elbow to the face and then a running knee. AJ fights back and they trade strikes back and forth in the ring. Almas hits a backbreaker for a two count. Almas continues the offense until AJ pulls off a fireman’s carry neckbreaker out of nowhere for a two count of his own. AJ looks for the Phenomenal Forearm, but Almas knocks him off the rope. Almas follows up with a moonsault for a two count. Almas looks for a suplex, but AJ escapes and hits an enziguri. They fight in the corner and AJ hits the Pele kick. They fight up to the top rope where Almas trips AJ up in the ropes and hits a double foot stomp. Almas charges and hits AJ in the corner for a two count. Almas goes for the hammerlock DDT, but AJ escapes and locks in the Calf Crusher. Almas taps out and AJ gets the win.

Winner: AJ Styles

– We go to replays as AJ grabs his WWE Title belt and recovers in the ring. AJ and Almas get to their feet, and Almas walks away looking upset about the loss.

– Aiden English is backstage telling Lana he has to apologize for Extreme Rules. English talks about his mistake costing Rusev the WWE Title, and he asks Lana to talk to him for him. Lana says Rusev needs his space, and she questions if Aiden is good enough for Rusev. English asks for a second chance and Lana says it’ll be taken into consideration.

Mandy Rose vs. Becky Lynch: Sonya Deville is at ringside for this one. Becky starts off strong, but Mandy is able to drop her off the middle rope and take control. Mandy stomps a mud hole in Becky in the corner and slows down the pace with a shoulder hold on Becky. Mandy misses wildly with a clothesline and Becky capitlizes with a kick and a roll-up for a two count. Becky follows up with some kicks and then a t-bone suplex. Becky applies the Disarm-her and wins via submission.

Winner: Becky Lynch

– After the match, Becky gets on the mic and says winning feels great. She says she’s been working as hard as possible and she’s just getting started. She says she’s coming for Carmella and her Women’s Championship.

– Carmella runs into Paige backstage and mocks her accent. Carmella says she’s due for another celebration after all her success lately. Paige says before she celebrates, Carmella has to win her match against Becky Lynch next week in a non-title match. If Becky wins, Carmella has to defend the Title at SummerSlam.

– Tye Dillinger and R-Truth are backstage warming up. They have an interaction, but as Tye walks away it’s revealed R-Truth was on his Bluetooth the whole time. Tye vs. Samoa Joe is coming up.

Samoa Joe vs. Tye Dillinger: Before the match, we see footage of Samoa Joe attacking Tye off-air last week. The opening bell sounds and the fight spills out to ringside early on. Tye throws Joe into the announce table and lays into him. Joe turns it around and throws Tye into the ring post. Back in the ring, Joe locks in the Coquina Clutch for the win after a very short match.

Winner: Samoa Joe

– After the match, Joe stands over Tye and stares into the camera. Still to come: Nakamura defends his U.S. Title in a rematch against Jeff Hardy.

– The Miz comes out for a eulogy for Team Hell No. Some people behind Miz wheel down what appears to be a casket with a Kane mask on top of it. The Miz picks up the dummy head with the Kane mask on it and takes it in the ring with him and sets it on a table. Miz first talks about his new USA Network reality show, and then moves on to “two of the worst friends ever,” Daniel Bryan and Kane. Miz asks for a moment of silence for Team Hell No, and tells the crowd that it’s time for their mouths to go shut. The Miz says he has one last thing to say: I told you so. The Miz says he was right about Kane being broken down, and Bryan being nothing more than a glory hound. The Miz continues to trash Bryan until Bryan’s music hits. Bryan hits the ring from behind to attack Miz. Bryan fights off the guys who wheeled out the casket as they hit the ring, and the Miz retreats up the ramp.

– The New Day is backstage in their locker room getting pumped up to come out to the ring.

Kofi Kingston vs. Eric Young: The rest of The New Day and Sanity are at ringside for this one. Young starts off strong and elbows Kofi down to the mat. Kofi comes back with a flying clothesline, then he dumps Young down to the ringside floor. Back in the ring, Young turns it around and drops Kofi with a knee to the body. EY lays into Kofi with strikes in the corner, then chokes him from the second rope with a dragon sleeper until the ref calls for the break. Young goes leaping off the turnbuckle, but Kofi kicks him out of mid-air. Kofi follows up with more kicks and then the boom drop. Kofi misses the Trouble In Paradise and Young rolls him up for a two count. Kofi hits a suplex off the top turnbuckle for a two count, then Young rolls outside for a breather. Kofi goes flying and hits a suicide dive over top of the referee and down onto Sanity at ringside. Back in the ring, Kofi hits he SOS for a two count. Kofi kicks Young down again and then climbs up top. Wolfe causes a distraction until Big E drops him, and Dain causes a distraction until Woods drops him. Kofi goes flying at Young but Young ducks. Dain causes Woods and Kofi to knock heads on the apron, and Young capitalizes and hits a big neckbreaker for the three count.

Winner: Eric Young

– The New Day recovers in the ring as Sanity celebrates on the ramp.

– We see Shinsuke Nakamura backstage admiring his U.S. Title belt. Elsewhere, Jeff Hardy stares into the camera as he gets ready for his match.

Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Jeff Hardy: The U.S. Title is on the line in this one. Jeff starts off fired up right out of the gate and he beats down Nakamura at ringside. Back in the ring, Jeff goes up top, but Nakamura rolls back outside for a breather. Back in the ring, Nakamura turns things around and repeatedly pins Hardy for one counts and two counts. Nakamura continues to beat down Hardy until he misses a knee drop, and Hardy starts slamming Nakamura’s head against the turnbuckles. Jeff hits a jawbreaker and a splash, then he escapes a suplex attempt by Nakamura. Hardy drops Nakamura and pins for a two count. Nakamura comes back with a kick to the back of the head, then he drags Hardy off the apron outside and knees him in the face. Back in the ring, Jeff comes back and hits the Whisper In The Wind for a two count. Hardy lays into Nakamura with strikes, then hits the inverted atomic drop, leg drop and dropkick. Hardy looks for the Twist of Fate, but Nakamura escapes. Jeff kicks him down, but Nakamura comes back with a kick of his own. Nakamura hits the running knee in the corner for a two count. Nakamura looks for the Kinshasa, but Jeff dodges it and drops him. Jeff goes up top but Nakamura kicks him down. Nakamura goes for the Kinshasa again, but Jeff side-steps it and hits the Twist of Fate. Jeff goes up top and connects with the Swanton Bomb. Jeff pins, but Orton yanks Jeff out of the ring to break it up. The ref calls for the bell.

Winner via DQ: Jeff Hardy

– After the bell, Orton beats down Hardy at ringside. Orton pummels on Hardy on the floor, and then he pulls the ring steps apart. Jeff gets up and fights back, but Orton whips Jeff into the ring steps. Orton puts Jeff’s head on the ring steps and stomps on it as Nakamura looks on. Orton grabs Jeff by the hair and talks trash to him. Orton sticks his finger inside the piercing in Jeffs ear and yanks on it, which makes for a shocking visual. WWE staffers come out to try and break it up, but Orton throws Jeff onto the announce table and continues the beat down. Orton finally walks off, as Jeff sells his ear and SmackDown goes off the air.

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