The show opens up with a video package recapping the main event of Hell in a Cell, but mostly focusing on the shocking ending where Sami Zayn pulled Kevin Owens out from under Shane McMahon’s twenty foot elbow drop from the top of the cell.
We are welcomed to the show by Tom Phillips and commentary hypes up the rematch between Baron Corbin and AJ Styles for The United States Championship for later.
The New WWE SmackDown Live Tag Team Champions The Usos makes their way down to the ring. The Usos tell The WWE Universe that they told us so and that they got this whole division on lock. The Usos continue by saying that when you walk in Hell in a Cell, you come out a changed man, so they want The New Day to come out, as they have something to tell them, face to face.
The New Day makes their way down to the ring. Big E and Xavier Woods is moving a little stiff and selling their injuries thanks to the war they had on Sunday. Jey says that on Sunday night, two of the best tag teams in WWE went to war, and they made history that night. Compared to them, the other teams in the back suck. Big E says that he wouldn’t say “suck”, but Woods agrees that they’re the best. Jey says Hell in a Cell was hell, in a cell.
Jimmy continues by talking about how nasty it got and all the plunder they brought into the match as Jey points out that Woods gonged him and that every time they wrestle each other it’s a clash of the titans, Ali vs. Frazier, and they make it hard to follow, but what the WWE Universe doesn’t know is that after the show, they didn’t see them driving to the next town, ice pack over an eye, one-armed, checking in and having the receptionist asking if they are okay.
The WWE Universe didn’t see them telling their kids and family that everything is okay, and then they laid down and closed their eyes and it hit them that nobody can understand what The Usos are going through other than The New Day. After all they have put each other through, after beating the hell out of each other, they belong here. They are the tag division, they run the tag division.
Big E asks if they knocked a screw loose and Xavier asks if they are asking for a truce. Kofi Kingston points out that it will be an Uce Truce, and The Usos say that they are trying to say respect. They go to shake hands and they get interrupted by The Hype Bros.
The Hype Bros makes their way down to the ring. Mojo Rawley says that he isn’t having it, he says that that’s the problem right there, the same two teams taking the credit every week and leaving the division out in the cold. Jimmy asks if they are mad because they’re the starters and Jey tells him to sit on the sidelines like he did in his NFL career.
Before The Hype Bros can respond, Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin comes out. Chad says that they’re not here to complain, but The Hype Boys are out here to pick a fight. But they should be at the back of the line, way behind the guys that just broke them at Hell in a Cell. The Usos agree, and tells Gable that he is smart, going out and getting a Shelton Benjamin to team with. Former IC, US, tag team champion, back of the line.
Breezango makes their way down to the ring. The New Day are Fandangoing. Before Breezango can say anything, The Ascension interrupts and makes their way down to the ring. Tyler Breeze asks them to stop following them, but Konnor says that they are tired of being stuck in the wasteland, and tonight. The Usos stops them from talking and tells them that they are in The Uso Penitentiary and that means that they are all locked up. Well, The New Day go to bat for Breezango and The Usos admit they like Fashion Files.
Anyway, The Usos tell them that if they want a shot at the titles, come up in this ring and make one.
This brings Daniel Bryan out. He says that tonight isn’t a good night for this, and he thanks The Usos and The New Day for their incredible match at Hell in a Cell, but asks they leave the ring. The crowd chants “No!” but Bryan reiterates, when he says get out, he means get out, and they’re gonna determine The Usos’ new challengers, with the other teams in a four-way match right now.
This sends us to a commercial break.
Back from the commercial break, the four way match starts.
Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin vs. The Fashion Police vs. The Hype Bros vs. The Ascension: The winner of this one gets a shot at The Usos’ Tag Team Titles. Mojo and Konnor start off, but Ryder quickly tags in and drops Konnor with a missile dropkick. Viktor tags in and drops Ryder with a corkscrew uppercut. Viktor lays in some chops to the chest, then Gable tags in and takes down Viktor. Gable and Shelton use frequent tags to work over Viktor. Konnor tags in and he and Viktor double team Gable. Konnor hits a splash in the corner on Gable, then Viktor hits a flying knee to the face. Mojo tags in and cleans house, then hits a backbreaker on Breeze. All the teams comes in from the aprons and start brawling. The Ascension shoves Ryder into Mojo and they start arguing again. Gable and Breeze start handing out suplexes to everyone in the ring, then they go for their double powerbomb on Breeze but Fandango breaks it up. Fandango goes for the Last Dance but misses, and Gable hits a moonsault on him. Gable and Benjamin hit their double powerbomb on Breeze for the win. Winners and New Number One Contenders for The Usos’ Tag Team Titles: Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable
We head backstage where an interviewer is waiting outside of a locker room shared by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, but they will be taking their sweet time before commenting on what transpired at Hell in a Cell.
Commentary hypes up a tag match for later tonight and we go to a commercial break.
Back from the commercial break, we get a video package about The Unleash Your Warrior Campaign.
Commentary then talks their way through a still picture recapping The SmackDown Women’s Championship match from Sunday. We head backstage where we see Natalya hanging out with her title belt and she starts talking about how good it feels. Lana shows up with Tamina and tells her how much better it will look on her buddy. Natalya tells them that she used to fantasize too, but now it’s real and it’s hers.
This brings Carmella out to talk about her briefcase, and Natalya says that they all deserve to be champion more than Charlotte Flair. Charlotte enters and Natalya asks if she broke her pathetic father’s heart again and they brawl. Becky Lynch and Naomi shows up to support Flair until a few referees come in to break it up.
We head to another area backstage where Baron Corbin is being interviewed, and he says that it feels good to shove the title in the face of all the keyboard warriors as well as Tye Dillinger and AJ Styles. AJ says that he likes to use shortcuts, well, he didn’t need to use any to win the title at Hell in a Cell, and tonight he’s gonna win.
Carmella is said to be in action after the commercial break.
Back from the commercial break, we see James Ellsworth chained to the turnbuckles.
Carmella vs. Becky Lynch: Becky starts off with a double leg takedown and takes control of the first moments. Becky hits a T-bone suplex that sends Carmella rolling out to ringside to recover. Ellsworth acts as a human shield in front of Carmella, and Carmella swings around Ellsworth to cheap shot Becky. Carmella beats down Becky at ringside before taking her back in the ring for some elbow drops. Carmella tries to keep Becky grounded, but Becky grabs her and locks her in the Dis-Arm-Her for the win via submission. Winner: Becky Lynch
After the match, Becky celebrates in the ring, and Carmella rolls outside to recover with Ellsworth and her briefcase.
Commentary promises us that Sami Zayn will explain his actions from Hell in a Cell after the commercial break.
Back from the commercial break, Kevin Owens makes his way down to ring as he is introduced as “the victorious” Kevin Owens. Owens is limping and has his arm taped up, but walking under his own power.
He gets on the mic and says that at Hell in a Cell he did exactly what he said he was going to do, he sent Shane McMahon to hell. And now Shane is gone and he is never coming back, and we should be counting our blessings. Not just for that, but because on Sunday night we almost lost him, too. At one point during the match, he saw it, he was blinded by the white light you hear so much about.
Owens says that he felt his soul start to separate from his body and he began to ascend, it was such a bizarre feeling, like he was looking down at himself, and all of a sudden he was standing in a long, long line at the pearly gates, and he doesn’t like standing in line, so he was aggravated, trying to find a way to cut in line when he was waved to the front by St. Peter himself.
St. Peter looked at him and said as much as they’d like to have him up here, they need Kevin Owens down on earth, and he provided him with his very guardian angel, Sami Zayn. And as he returned down and re-entered his body, he realized his new purpose, to turn SmackDown Live into his very own personal paradise. Here we are, gathered tonight in Kevin’s Heaven, or as he likes to call it, The Kevin Owens Show.
So he introduces his best friend and guardian angel, Sami Zayn. Sami makes his way down to the ring with a smile on his face and he gets in, grinning at Owens. He lets the moment play out for a second and goes to start when Owens interrupts, asking him to explain to everyone that he had no idea he was going to come out at Hell in a Cell and didn’t know why he chose to pull him away, but first he wants to thank him, from the bottom of his heart.
Zayn says that the powerbomb on the apron a few weeks ago opened his eyes. His whole career has been about pleasing these people, being the good guy and doing things the right way and putting all these ideals and values on his shoulder and it brought him all the way to mediocrity. Meanwhile, Kevin Owens, his counterpart, became Intercontinental Champion, Universal Champion, United States Champion, but that’s okay because he gets to sleep at night.
And maybe in four or five years his time would come. And he genuinely thought his time would come when Shane McMahon invited him to SmackDown. Sami said that Shane told him everything he wanted to hear about Raw mistreating him, which was true, and how SmackDown would give him the opportunity and respect he deserves. Well, that was the last meeting he ever had with Shane McMahon.
But hey, people get busy with birthdays and the helicopter thing, so he kept coming with a smile on his face, week-in, week-out, until he saw Shane and tried to warn him of what Kevin Owens was capable of and he brushed him off, ignored him. And that’s when he realized McMahon never really cared about him or wanted him to get an opportunity.
So cut to Hell in a Cell, Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens, he’s watching the match with bated breath like all of us, and honestly he wanted Shane to win. And when Shane knocked Owens off the Cell to the announce table, he had the match won. He’s sorry, he had Owens beat. But then he turned around and climbed back up top, and Zayn’ll tell you, Owens has been a lot of things to him, best friend and bitter rival, and everything between.
But the one thing he will always be is a brother, and when he saw McMahon up there, he know he didn’t care about Owens either, he didn’t care about anything but himself. Not the McMahon name, just ending Owens’ career or worse, and so he saved his brother, because it was the right thing to do. He saved his brother because Shane became an absolute psychopath.
For the longest time he thought he despised Owens, but now he realizes he despised the fact that he was right, and he doesn’t think there’s much else to say but thank you. They hug, and friendship rules the land. Owens raises Sami’s hand and Sami returns the favor, and they do it a couple more times to really cement how great of pals they are.
Commentary hypes up the remaining matches for tonight and we go to a commercial break.
Back from the commercial break, we get the entrances for the next match.
Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Rusev & Aiden English: Rusev starts off fired up and backs up Orton against the ropes. The fight spills outside where Orton and Rusev brawl on the floor. Orton back suplexes Rusev onto the announce table, then on the way back in the ring English cheap-shots Orton. The cheap-shot leads to Rusev kicking Orton in the side of the head and Orton falling back out to ringside. English throws Orton back in the ring then he tags in. English continues beating on Orton in the ring and levels him with a dropkick. Rusev tags in and he takes Orton out to ringside again, where this time Rusev back suplexes Orton onto the announce table. Back in the ring, Rusev and English continue to take turns beating on The Viper. Orton breaks free from English and finally tags in Nakamura. Nakamura comes in and cleans house, then delivers a series of kicks to English. Nakamura hits a couple running knee strikes on English in the corner. Rusev runs in and Nakamura stuns him with a kick, then Orton runs in and hits the RKO on Rusev. Nakamura hits the Kinshasa on English for the three count. Winners: Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura
After the match, Orton and Nakamura celebrate on the turnbuckles together.
We head backstage where AJ Styles is being interviewed and he says that at Hell in a Cell Corbin didn’t pin him, but that’s the nature of the beast in a triple threat, he gets that. He says that Baron is one of the sickest dudes to come up the pipe, but when he failed to cash Money in the Bank in successfully, he showed he’s prone to mistakes. He doesn’t know if the Lone Wolf has something up his sleeve, but this is the House That AJ Styles Built, and he’ll be damned if he’s gonna steal his title and walk out with his head held high.
AJ says that he knows The WWE Universe is thinking that he is overconfident, but that’s the reality of it, and this is the End of Days for Baron Corbin’s title reign.
We get a video package for Breast Cancer Awareness Month and then we go to a commercial break.
Back from the commercial break, we get an ominous video package of two cloaked gentlemen wielding hammers. They turn around and reveal themselves to be Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. Harper says that there is no conscience, Rowan says there’s no moral compass. The virtuous will fall, the wicked rise, broken bones, severed spines. Harper. Rowan. Then they reveal that their new tag team name is The Bludgeon Brothers.
Bobby Roode makes his way down to the ring. He says that he is happy to say that his very first WWE PPV match was absolutely Glorious until Dolph Ziggler attacked him just seconds after he won. So if Dolph wants to fight, let’s fight.
Dolph Ziggler makes his way down to the ring. He congratulates Roode on getting his first PPV match and talks about how the WWE Universe sang along and he stepped through the ropes and then the bell rang, and he exposed him for what he is, a fraud. From the moment the bell rang, he was the better man, the better wrestler, and Roode panicked because his elaborately constructed lie was unraveling, his whole world crumbling.
So he panicked and did the only thing he could to beat him. Don’t believe him, take a look and he puts an image of Bobby with a handful of tights up on the tron. He was wrong, he’s not just a flashy entrance, he’s a cheater. Roode fires back by saying that the only thing he has proved is that he is smarter.
Dolph says no really he’s smart, and he’s the best wrestler ever, and he wants a rematch any time, any place. Bobby says it’s obvious he doesn’t accept losing very well, and if he wants his rematch, he has it, but it’s gonna go exactly the way the first match went. Ziggler says that’s perfect, he won’t have a chance then, and Roode says he’s sick and tired of Dolph talking.
Bobby wants the match right now, Dolph asks if he wants it right now and he takes his jacket off and tells him he can’t always get what he wants. He’ll have his rematch when and where he wants, but it sure as hell won’t be tonight.
Baron Corbin is shown walking backstage and literally shoving The United States Title in everyone’s face and that sends us to a commercial break.
Back from the commercial break, we are informed that Dolph Ziggler will in fact be taking on Bobby Roode in a rematch next week on SmackDown Live.
Baron Corbin (c) vs. AJ Styles: The United States Title is on the line in this one. AJ ducks a clothesline from Corbin off the opening bell and hits Corbin with two kicks that send him falling out to ringside. Corbin paces at ringside to recover before sliding back in the ring. Corbin charges at Styles, but Styles ducks and pulls down the top rope and Corbin falls to the outside once again. Back in the ring, Corbin immediately takes the fight to Styles and beats him down in the corner. Corbin rolls outside once again to recover, and the crowd boos him. Styles follows Corbin outside and Corbin throws Styles into the ring steps. Back in the ring, Corbin drops AJ with a lariat, then starts hitting him with knees. Corbin misses a kick and AJ starts firing back with right hands. Styles hits a flying clothesline and then a series of more punches and elbows. Styles kicks out Corbin’s knee then hits a running forearm shot.
Styles goes for a fireman’s carry but Corbin escapes and rolls outside. AJ hits a running dropkick through the ropes on Corbin outside, and Corbin goes flying back over the announce table. Back in the ring, Styles springboards in the ring and hits a forearm shot. AJ hits a fireman’s carry into a backbreaker for a two count. Styles charges at Corbin, but Corbin catches him and hits the Deep Six. Corbin starts choking AJ in the corner, but AJ gets out and rams Corbin into the ring post for a two count. Styles goes right into the Calf Crusher on Corbin in the middle of the ring. Corbin fights out but he’s still selling the leg. Corbin fires off some elbow shots on AJ, and AJ strikes back with the Pele kick. Corbin rolls outside and AJ gets on the apron and charges. Corbin grabs AJ off the apron and throws him down to the ringside floor. Corbin immediately throws Styles back in the ring and hits the End of Days for the three count. Corbin has retained The United States Title. Winner and Still The United States Champion: Baron Corbin
After the match, Renee Young gets in the ring while AJ is still laying, and she asks if Corbin has any words for the fans after his win. Corbin says that he is the champ and all of the fans have to eat it, and he loves seeing their tears, because he enjoys every second of it and this ends the broadcast of SmackDown Live for tonight.