WWE SmackDown live results: John Cena vs. Randy Orton

Date: February 7, 2017
Location: KeyArena in Seattle, WA

The Big Takeaway —

Baron Corbin pinned AJ Styles in a fatal four way match that also included Dean Ambrose and The Miz. The match was made by Daniel Bryan, who had a nice homecoming in Seattle.

John Cena defeated Randy Orton in the non-title main event, with help from Luke Harper. Orton will have to contend with Harper at Elimination Chamber. Alexa Bliss vs. Naomi for the Women’s title was made official, as well as Becky Lynch vs. Mickie James. That means three women’s matches at the PPV, as Natalya will also take on Nikki Bella. Dolph Ziggler against Apollo Crews and Kalisto in a 2-on-1 handicap match was also added to the show.

Show Recap — 

The show started with a big hype video for John Cena vs. Randy Orton tonight. Tom Phillips, not Mauro Ranallo, welcomed us to SmackDown Live.

Daniel Bryan entered to start here in Seattle. Huge reaction. Bryan said he was glad to be home. The last time he was there, he had to make the hardest announcement of his career (one year ago). Bryan had a difficult year, but he was grateful to be the GM of SmackDown and to give the fans the best show possible. The crowd chanted “Yes.” Bryan also said he would be a dad very soon.

The Miz and Maryse interrupted and were heavily booed. Miz acted sad and suggested Bryan become a stay-at-home dad. Miz couldn’t understand why Bryan was still around considering he can’t wrestle. Bryan said not being able to wrestle never stopped Miz from getting in the ring. “Yes” chant. Miz told the crowd to shut up, which led to a big Daniel Bryan chant.

Miz tried to move on and talk about the Elimination Chamber but the crowd rolled right over him with the Bryan chant. Miz asked Bryan if he thought this was funny and the crowd chanted “Yes.” Baron Corbin came out next and told Miz he talks too much. Miz said he and Corbin should work together at the Chamber, but Corbin wanted to take him out now. Miz wanted Bryan to do something about Corbin, so Bryan very sarcastically asked Corbin not to punch Miz in the face.

Dean Ambrose came out next and told Miz he looks like a shoe in that outfit. Ambrose told Corbin he has a long way to go before he’s gone even half the road Ambrose has, and suggested doing some violent things in the Chamber. Miz and Corbin just stood there as Ambrose threatened them.

AJ Styles was out next and said the fact was that he’s beaten Corbin, Miz and Ambrose already. The crowd chanted for Styles. He told them to shut up but they kept chanting. Styles only cared about being champion and would get his title back on Sunday. Miz started yelling so Bryan cut him off and made a fatal four way match up next. It was nice seeing Bryan out there with his home crowd.

Non-title Fatal 4 Way: Baron Corbin defeated AJ Styles, IC Champion Dean Ambrose and The Miz

With Ambrose and Styles on their knees, Miz gave them each Yes kicks. Ambrose didn’t even bother selling these awful-looking kicks. He ducked the last one, which led to a series of roll-up attempts by Ambrose, Styles and Miz. After a break, they did a tower of doom spot with Corbin powerbombing the other three out of the corner.

Miz hit Styles with a running knee for a near fall. Ambrose nailed Miz and Styles with a bulldog/clothesline combo, then took out Corbin with a suicide dive. He followed with a diving elbow drop but Styles broke up the cover. Styles nailed Miz with the Phenomenal forearm but Maryse pulled him out of the ring. The distraction allowed Corbin to hit Styles with End of Days for the win.

The announcers plugged Elimination Chamber and Fastlane. JBL referenced the “new” Chamber match but didn’t say what was new about it. They also announced a dual contract signing tonight for Alexa Bliss vs. Naomi and Becky Lynch vs. Mickie James.

Tom Phillips interviewed Nikki Bella and Natalya, who were shown on the screen in different rooms. Nikki said the Natalya she knew and considered a friend was dead to her. Natalya said Nikki has no friends, she has followers and people who work for her. Natalya said there was no amount of makeup that will cover up the damage that she does to Nikki and she would expose her as a bad wrestler.

Nikki told her to stop lying and called Natalya a “legit” crazy cat lady. They bickered some more, including Natalya saying Nikki will never have her own kids. She also said Cena would leave her for someone else, and if Natalya wasn’t married, it would probably be with her. Nikki was upset by this and left. Natalya seemed content. This was not good. Nikki comes off so poorly in these segment.

Apollo Crews defeated Dolph Ziggler

Crews won in one minute with a school boy. Ziggler attacked him afterwards, which the crowd booed. Then, Ziggler grabbed a chair and the crowd cheered. He hit Crews with the chair and they chanted “one more time.” Kalisto came out to make the save, but Ziggler crotched him on the top rope and hit him with the chair too. The crowd wanted another but Ziggler left. Around and around they go.

David Otunga cut to the Black History Month tribute video honouring Rosa Parks, with words from Mark Henry, Apollo Crews, Darren Young, Alicia Fox, Rich Swann, Naomi, Jason Jordan and Titus O’Neil.

Daniel Bryan confronted Ziggler backstage and asked if he’s going to throw a tantrum every time he loses a match. Ziggler said it was fun attacking them with chairs. Bryan put Ziggler in a 2-on-1 handicap match with Crews and Kalisto on Sunday and told him to have fun.

Dual Contract Signing

Renee Young introduced the four competitors. James and Bliss came out together, Lynch and Naomi came out separately. Renee called them the four premier female competitors but James cut her off and said the only premier women were her and Bliss. James claimed to have more experience than everyone else combined and kicked Renee out of the ring.

James said this division was built on her back and claimed Lynch was trying to erase her accomplishments. James has been waiting to return to get the credit she deserves. She created this division and there would be no Becky Lynch without her. She said the reinvention of Mickie James would start with the destruction of Lynch. James signed the contract.

Lynch said nobody was trying to erase James’ accomplishments. She respected James until she returned to team up with Bliss, who she called a troll, and claimed James left WWE when things got too tough. Lynch said she would plow through James on Sunday and signed the contract.

Bliss said Lynch had no class as the crowd chanted “troll” at her. Bliss didn’t care when the revolution started, but this was her division as long as the title was hers. She was about to sign the contract when she realized she forgot to acknowledge Naomi. Bliss blew her off and signed the contract.

Naomi reminded Bliss that she has two wins over her and wanted to slide into WrestleMania in her hometown of Orlando as Women’s champion. She signed the contract then kicked Bliss in the face. This led a brawl, ending with Naomi taking out the heels with a big dive.

12-Man Tag Match: The Ascension, The Usos and The Vaudevillains defeated Heath Slater & Rhyno, American Alpha and Breezango

Ranallo said American Alpha were huge fans of Kurt Angle and mentioned Angle going into the Hall of Fame. Someone pulled the string on Otunga, who said the winner of this match would have extra confidence going into Sunday, which is exactly the line he used in the fatal four way earlier. The crowd seemed to like AA, but there was also a huge “We want Rhyno” chant.

The heel team could not get along, allowing Slater to make the hot tag to Rhyno who ran wild on Viktor. Rhyno hit a spinebuster and went for the cover, but the pin was broken up leading to a big brawl. Jordan and Gable cleared the ring, then Jordan launched Gable over the top onto a pile of bodies. Rhyno gored Konnor, seemingly to set up the win, but Viktor caught Rhyno with a missile dropkick for the win. That was weird.

The announcers congratulated Otunga on making a guest appearance on Criminal Minds. They also plugged the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express going into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Cena will be the guest on ESPN this week. Harper vs. Orton was made official for Sunday. 

Cena, Nikki Bella and Baron Corbin will be on Talking Smack tonight with Bryan and Renee.

Non-title: WWE Champion John Cena defeated Randy Orton (w/Bray Wyatt)

Loud dueling chants for Cena. The announcers are reminding us that this could be the main event at WrestleMania. Cena went for an AA early on, but Orton kicked his leg out of his leg and took control. Orton launched Cena into the steel steps and they went to commercial.

After the break, Cena went for the five knuckle shuffle, but Orton countered and nailed a full nelson slam, his OVW finisher–which was a nice touch. Cena carried Orton on his shoulders outside the ring, but Orton slipped out and backdropped him onto the announce table. They traded punches in the ring, leading to Cena hitting the five knuckle shuffle and an AA for an extremely close near fall.

Cena went to the top but Orton grabbed him and hit a draping DDT. Orton posed and nailed an RKO, but Cena kicked out. Cena rammed Orton into the referee by mistake and applied an STF. Orton tapped, but the ref was still down. Bray jumped in and they double teamed Cena. Cena managed to clothesline Orton but Bray gave him a Sister Abigail.

Orton and Cena rolled out of the ring and Luke Harper ran down to confront Bray, which led to “Yes” chants. Bray told Harper to leave, but Harper killed him with a discus clothesline. Harper then pushed Orton into Cena who hit an AA for the win. Fun match and the crowd was super into it.