The following live report was sent in by WZ reader Christian Dodd who was in attendance for tonight’s Smackdown Live event in Sheffield, England at the Sheffield Arena.
I was in attendance for tonight’s WWE Live event in Sheffield. A good turnout for the event, with part of the top tier curtained off.
Here were the matches in order and some notable happenings.
1. Shinsuke Nakamura vs Dolph Ziggler
Huge pop for Nakamura when he came out. His name was chanted all the way through from the moment the bell rang until he left. Very slow start to the match, but picked up as it went. Dolph Ziggler is a natural heel. Some great false finishes, with Nakamura kicking out of the Famouser and ZigZag. Nakamura wins the match with the Kinshasa. Spoiler for Backlash perhaps?
2. Breezango & Tye Dillinger vs. The Ascension & Aiden English.
10 chants as Tye came to the ring. Aiden English came out and sang, calling himself the “Shakespeare of Sheffield”. Good comedy to start with all 6 participants running around the ring and then the faces stomping on the heels hands so that they were mimicking the Dillinger 10 hands. Breeze being dominated by the heels before setting up the hot tag to Fandango. Funny moment before that where Konnor was trying to go to the top rope but Breeze kept moving, then went to the other side and kept moving. After the hit tag and momentum from the faces, Breeze pins English with the Unprettier. Perfect 10 crowd reaction for Dillinger. Crowd sings Fandango’s theme after the match.
Side note: The Ascension’s entrance theme sounds almost exactly the same as Seth Rollins’.
3. Luke Harper vs. Erick Rowan
One spot had Harper pushed off of the top rope to the outside and knocked over the ringside photographer. Rowan spent a fair bit of time trying to getting heat from the crowd. Too much showboating. After back and forth false finishes, Harper wins with the discus clothesline. After the match, Harper gets the sheep mask, places it in the middle of the ring, and does the Flair Strut and elbow! Brilliant!
4. Six Woman’s Tag Team Match: Naomi, Becky Lynch & Charlotte vs Natalya, Tamina Snuka & Carmella w/James Ellsworth.
Huge pop for the faces, who has the early advantage at the start until Ellsworth distracted Lynch, allowing Carmella to take advantage. After offence from the heels, Lynch gets the hot tag to Naomi who cleans house and gets the pin fall on Carmella following the Rear View.
5. United States Championship – Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn.
Crowd sang along with Zayn’s theme music and booed Owens as he made the ring announcer reiterate that he was the UNITED STATES Champion in front of a United Kingdom crowd. After Owens went to the outside, he got on the mic and yelled for the fans to “shut their disgusting mouths, because it was a title match and he couldn’t concentrate”. Brilliant stuff by KO. He did the DX crotch chop later on as well! Great match which ended with Owens hitting the Pop Up Powerbomb to retain. High spot was when Zayn countered an earlier Pop Up Powerbomb with the Blue Thunder Bomb. After the match, Owens got on the mic and told the crowd they could boo him all they want and said the crowd should bow to his greatness. The face of America, Kevin Owens Show, the usual KO spiel… Zayn had got up and then hit the Helluva Kick to shut up KO and send the fans into intermission happy. Owens is the best heel the WWE has right now in my opinion.
6. Tyler Bate, Trent Seven and Sam Gradwell vs Pete Dunne, Joseph Connor & James Drake.
Six participants from the United Kingdom Championship tournament. Faces came out to a knockoff version of Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer”. Not much of a reaction from the crowd until midway through, probably because they didn’t know who was in the ring! UK Champion Tyler Bate gets the pinfall for his team with a sit out tiger bomb.
7. Mojo Rawley vs. Baron Corbin.
If Mojo had face paint, he’d be the Ultimate Warrior. He had orange trunks and knee pads, with bright green boots. Just needs the tassels and big hair… Anyways, Mojo does his ‘get hyped/Hulk Up’ routine to no reaction from the crowd. Crowd does chant for Corbin however… Corbin hits the End of Days for the win, in a bit of a sloppy match between both men.
8. Smackdown Tag Team Championship Triple Threat Match: The Usos vs The Colóns vs American Alpha.
The Colóns & American Alpha start off the match, with The Usos joining forces with Primo & Epico later on. Gable gets dominated by both teams before he gets the hot tag to Jason Jordan, who cleans house. American Alpha hit Grand Amplitude on Primo before the Usos sneak in and grab the victory to retain the Tag Team Titles.
9. WWE Championship Triple Threat Match: Jinder Mahal vs AJ Styles vs Randy Orton. Mahal has the Singh Brothers with him, and starts to cut a promo in his own language, but AJ interrupts him to a HUGE pop! Orton comes out and before he gets in, Mahal takes out Styles. Mahal gets taken out by Orton before he and Styles are one on one to a huge “Let’s Go Orton/AJ Styles” duel chant. Styles and Orton go at it, trying for the Styles Clash and the RKO, until Jinder comes back in (don’t hinder Jinder!). Bit of what to expect at Backlash as Jinder and Orton are in the ring and AJ spends most of the time outside the ring. Styles comes back in just as Mahal goes for the Cobra Clutch Slam on Orton. Then Orton spends time outside as AJ and Jinder go at it. Orton comes back in and hits the scoop slam and IEDDT on Mahal. Then hits the IEDDT on both Singh Brothers! Goes for the RKO but Jinder escapes and Orton rolls into the Calf Killer (I know it’s the Calf Crusher, but Calf Killer sounds better ok!) which Jinder breaks up. Back and forth offence from all, including a tower of doom in the corner, until Orton gets the win with an RKO (out of nowhere!) on Mahal to retain!
All in all, a great showing from the Smackdown Live crew, with biggest pops going to Nakamura, Dillinger, Styles & Orton and biggest boos going to Ziggler, Owens & Mahal. Although some of the matches did feel like Backlash spoilers, but still a great night.
Also props to the ring announcer Greg Hamilton for hyping up the crowd, and for responding when I shouted “you rock Greg!” With a huge thumbs up and a smile! What a legend!
