WWE Dublin, IRL, live results: Styles vs. Mahal; Bludgeon Brothers debut
Submitted by reader Ian Byrne
SmackDown’s first show on WWE’s European tour took place in Dublin last night. It was headlined by AJ Styles vs. Jinder Mahal in a non-title match, plus Luke Harper & Erick Rowan wrestled for the first time since being repackaged as the Bludgeon Brothers and Becky Lynch and Jordan Devlin returned to their home country.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defeated Rusev & Aiden English and The New Day to retain their titles
Big E and Xavier Woods were the two New Day members in the match. The crowd was massively behind them but were more than willing to cheer The Usos as well, who played face here.
Rusev and English got the heat on Woods for most of the match. They knocked Big E off the apron at one point, forcing Woods to tag in an Uso. Jimmy and Jey superkicked everyone before pinning English with a top rope splash.
– Bobby Roode defeated Dolph Ziggler
To mock Roode’s entrance, Ziggler came out to silence. Roode got a huge response from the crowd.
During the match, Ziggler got the heat on Roode after throwing him to the outside. Ziggler got a near fall after hitting the Zig-Zag, but he spent too much time setting up for the superkick and allowed Roode to hit the Glorious DDT for the win.
– Jordan Devlin & Tucker defeated Tyler Bate & Trent Seven
They started off with a lot of technical wrestling as Tucker and Bate went hold for hold. Tucker was cut off from making the tag to Devlin, who’s from Ireland and someone the crowd sees as a hometown hero.
Devlin eventually got the hot tag and ran wild, using a uranage and moonsault combination. He pinned Seven after connecting with a top rope moonsault. The crowd started off cold but were really into it by the end.
After the match, the Bludgeon Brothers came out and attacked Devlin and Tucker to huge heat.
– The Bludgeon Brothers (Luke Harper & Erick Rowan) defeated The Shining Stars, Breezango, and The Ascension
Breezango and The Ascension came down to make the save, but Konnor and Viktor turned on Breezango. The Shining Stars then saved them from a beatdown.
The match was slow paced, with Rowan and The Ascension working over Breezango for most of it. Tyler Breeze tagged in Fandango, who got the advantage for a while, but the Bludgeon Brothers won after pinning one of the Shining Stars with a double chokeslam.
– Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Kevin Owens
The chants were pretty even here, but Owens probably had the slight edge. Nakamura’s reactions were nothing compared to when he came with NXT before. Owens got a mic at one point, heckling the crowd and telling them not to tell him what to do after a “Fight Owens Fight” chant broke out. Nakamura won after hitting the Kinshasa.
– Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair & Naomi defeated SmackDown Women’s Champion Natalya, Carmella, Tamina & Lana
With her returning home to Ireland, Lynch was the most over person on the show so far. Naomi started with Lana after teasing the tag to Lynch, but she was cut off before she could make it.
The story of the match was that the crowd wanted Lynch in, but the faces were cut off every time they tried to make the tag. Charlotte eventually got the hot tag to Lynch, which the crowd went nuts for. She ran wild and made Lana tap out to get the victory.
– United States Champion Baron Corbin defeated Sin Cara and Sami Zayn to retain his title
Zayn cut a promo before this started, saying that he was going to see the sights but realized he was in Dublin so he took a nap instead. Corbin and Zayn worked over Sin Cara, with Zayn being the cowardly heel who wanted to get on Corbin’s good side.
He eventually went too far and was attacked by Corbin. That gave Sin Cara the chance to take control until Corbin and Zayn took their turns on offense. Sin Cara hit a swanton on Zayn, but he stood up into the End of Days for the finish. This was a good, fun match that the crowd was really into.
– AJ Styles defeated WWE Champion Jinder Mahal (w/ the Singh Brothers) in a non-title match
Mahal cut a promo prior to the match. He said he would beat Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series and prove he’s the true champion.
Styles worked over Mahal for a while before he was attacked by the Singh Brothers while the referee was distracted. Whenever Styles tried to make a comeback, the Singhs would get involved. Styles was finally able to get the better of them and pinned Mahal after the Phenomenal Forearm.
Post-match, Styles got on the mic and said he would beat Mahal for the title on SmackDown next week and then beat Lesnar.
– A return date was announced for May 11th, 2018.