WWE SmackDown live results: Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens

Date: May 2, 2017
Location: Save Mart Center in Fresno, CA

The Big Takeaway —

Kevin Owens is once again the U.S. Champion after defeating Chris Jericho. He violently attacked Jericho to end the show in a heated angle.

Becky Lynch, Charlotte and Naomi are all on the same side but were laid out by Natalya, Carmella and Tamina.

Jinder Mahal defeated Sami Zayn with help from the Singh Brothers. Shinsuke Nakamura, Randy Orton and The Usos were not on the show.

Show Recap — 

Footage aired from earlier today of Jinder Mahal posing for professional pictures with the WWE title belt. Shane McMahon showed up behind him and said titles need to be earned. Mahal said he would win the title at Backlash. Shane put him in a match against Sami Zayn and took the belt away.

Chris Jericho joins SmackDown Live 

Shane McMahon came out to the ring to officially start the show. He thanked the fans for the strong reaction and introduced their newest superstar, U.S. Champion Chris Jericho. Jericho got a big reaction and the announcers put this over as a great acquisition.

Jericho called this a special night because it was the “Show of Jericho, smack it down, man!” Shane said there were a lot of guys in the back who wanted a dream match with Jericho, but first, he would have to defend the title against Kevin Owens.

AJ Styles interrupted. He acknowledged their feud but was momentarily stopped by a big “AJ Styles” chant. Styles reminded Jericho this was the house he built. He also reminded us of their Y2AJ shirts and said he would love to take the title from Jericho at Backlash, assuming he wins tonight.

Jericho told Styles he made Owens tap out and now there was a new face of America, “and Chris Jericho be thy name.” Jericho was about to put him on the List but Owens interrupted. The crowd chanted “you tapped out” at Owens, who had his hand/fingers taped up.

Owens said he would win the title back and told Styles he shouldn’t even be out there. Owens was about to continue but Styles left the ring and attacked him. Some officials ran down to break it up. This was fine. I liked Styles simply leaving the ring to attack Owens instead of just standing there and taking it like usual.

They aired the Backlash commercial featuring Shinsuke Nakamura. The announcers said AJ Styles has been banned from ringside for the U.S. Title match tonight.

Jinder Mahal (w/The Singh Brothers) defeated Sami Zayn

They showed Baron Corbin attacking Zayn on Talking Smack last week, as well as Mahal costing Randy Orton his match against Bray Wyatt at Payback. JBL let us know that nobody likes Sami Zayn.

The babyface was in control early on but after a break, the heel had the heat. During commercial, the Singh brothers distracted Zayn allowing Mahal to take over. JBL compared Mahal to himself because he was able to elevate his career after defeating Eddie Guerrero. He admitted that if he hadn’t, he may never have reached those heights.

Zayn kicked out of a knee lift and came back with a clothesline and crossbody for two. Zayn was distracted again by the Singh brothers allowing Mahal to apply a small package but Zayn rolled through into his own small package for a nearfall.

Zayn (barely) nailed a tornado DDT and went for a Helluva kick but one of the Singh brothers pulled Mahal out of the ring. With the referee distracted, the other brother grabbed Zayn by the leg, allowing Mahal to nail him with the full nelson slam for the win. Average match.

Backstage, Becky Lynch ran into her “four favourite ladies,” Natalya, Carmella, James Ellsworth and Tamina. They told Lynch that she’s the one who should be getting title shots as SmackDown’s number one women’s draft pick, not Charlotte. They want her on their side and said they’d have her back. Lynch said she’d think about it and seemed sincere. 

A great Nakamura video package aired. Dolph Ziggler was backstage complaining to three random people about Nakamura. He mentioned that Nakamura wasn’t even here tonight, which the crowd booed. Ziggler said he hasn’t even proven himself on SmackDown yet. Shane showed up and reminded Ziggler who he was talking about. Ziggler mocked Nakamura, suggesting he’s only got a cool entrance. Ziggler said he would prove himself against Sin Cara tonight. The crowd seemed genuinely upset that Nakamura would not be here tonight.

Tye Dillinger defeated Aiden English

Dillinger won quickly with a fireman’s carry into a facebuster. He now has two straight wins over Aiden English on TV. English got a chance to sing before the match but was interrupted by Dillinger. He also threw a tantrum after losing.

Renee Young was about to interview Chris Jericho backstage, but he saw Aiden English who was crying. He put English on the list, as well as “Ronnie” (Renee). English was still crying after they left.

Charlotte told Dasha Fuentes that the SmackDown women’s title was her destiny. She was interrupted by the “welcoming committee.” She attacked Carmella but they ganged up on her and left her laying.

Natalya & Carmella (w/Tamina & James Ellsworth) defeated Women’s Champion Naomi & Charlotte

Naomi started on her own after the attack on Charlotte. Carmella attempting to sell Naomi’s quick kick strikes was quite a visual. With Naomi and Natalya down, Charlotte’s music hit and she slowly walked to the ring, selling the beat down.

Charlotte got there just in time for the hot tag but the heels cut her off before a commercial break. Crowd chanted for Charlotte after the break. Naomi made the hot tag and hit Carmella with kicks, jawbreaker and Rear View, but Natalya distracted the referee. Naomi kicked her off the apron but Ellsworth distracted her, which allowed Carmella to roll her up for the win.

The heels beat down Charlotte and Naomi after the match until Lynch ran down. The crowd chanted for Lynch who seemed conflicted. She shook hands with each member of the welcoming committee as the crowd booed. She then grabbed Ellsworth and tossed him into the heels. She attacked all three women but was overwhelmed. Tamina, Natalya, Carmella and Ellsworth stood tall. This got over pretty well.

Dolph Ziggler defeated Sin Cara

Sin Cara messed up a few spots as you can imagine but he did hit a nice one-armed deadlift powerbomb for a nearfall. Ziggler caught him with a superkick out of nowhere for the win.

Lana video package. Still dancing on that chair.

The Fashion Files

They did a Law & Order spoof with Breezango. They went over the case files on The Uggos (Usos). Breezango ran down a list of their crimes and announced the big bust would go down on May 21 at Backlash. This has potential if they do more of these.

U.S. Championship match: Kevin Owens defeated Chris Jericho

Jericho applied the Walls for a second time but Owens got to the ropes. Jericho missed a baseball slide and Owens caught him with a superkick on the outside, followed by a DDT near the ramp. Owens nailed another superkick in the ring but Jericho kicked out. Crowd chanted “Y2J.”

Jericho caught him in a small package but Owens kicked out, kicked him in the head and nailed a pop-up powerbomb for the win. Owens is the new champ. Good match that went about 12-13 minutes. The finish was a little abrupt but it was a definitive win for Owens.

Afterwards, some medical personnel checked on Jericho. The announcers said he must’ve been hurt on the DDT outside. Owens jumped back in the ring and gave Jericho another powerbomb. He yelled, “You were never my best friend!” and tried throwing Jericho into the ropes but Jericho just collapsed. More officials ran down and Owens posed with the title.

Some referees helped Jericho up when Owens ran back down and attacked him again. He grabbed a chair from out of the crowd, wrapped it around Jericho’s head and tossed him into the ring post. Good angle to end the show.