WWE SmackDown live results: More build to Hell in a Cell

Date: September 26, 2017
Location: Gila River Arena in Glendale, AZ

The Big Takeaway —

Kevin Owens destroyed Sami Zayn with a powerbomb onto the apron and was about to do worse when Shane McMahon, who was very late to the building, made the save. Owens managed to escape and ran away.

At Hell in a Cell, New Day will defend their tag titles against the Usos in a Hell in a Cell match, AJ Styles will defend the US Title against Baron Corbin, and Bobby Roode will face Dolph Ziggler.

Also, September 26th is officially “Rusev Day.”

Show Recap — 

After a recap of the Kevin Owens/Shane McMahon storyline, Owens came out to start the show. Owens said he’s been called a coward for not showing up last week but wondered where Shane was now that he was there in the ring. Owens didn’t think Shane was a coward, he was smart. Owens respected Vince McMahon, so imagine what he would do to someone he doesn’t.

That brought out Sami Zayn, who accused Owens of losing complete control. Zayn figured Owens had snapped but wanted to talk some sense into him. Zayn told Owens he didn’t to think about his family and snap out of it. Owens said he was just fine and claimed Zayn was really out there because Owens has outshined him yet again.

Owens said he’s been Intercontinental champion twice, Universal champion, and won the US Title at WrestleMania while Zayn watched in the back. Owens said he would main event Hell in a Cell and make Shane regret ever bringing him to SmackDown.

Owens wondered what Zayn had ever done in his life, not just his career, that had the impact his head had with Vince’s skull. Zayn said Owens has taken every cheap shot and cut every corner to accomplish what he has. Zayn fired up and said his day will come and he will do things the right way. Zayn called Owens a “giant piece of trash.”

Both guys dropped their mics and Daniel Bryan interrupted. Bryan didn’t know if Shane was going to be here tonight or not and made Owens vs. Zayn for tonight.

They announced a Pride of Bulgaria Celebration featuring Rusev tonight.

Baron Corbin defeated Tye Dillinger via countout

They’ve added lyrics to Corbin’s new theme. AJ Styles came out after the two competitors to join commentary. Corbin was distracted by Styles so Dillinger dumped him out of the ring before the match actually started, then they went to commercial. Besides the entrances and that one spot, nothing else happened since the previous commercial break.

Corbin won by countout in about 3 minutes. There was a dumb spot where Corbin ran at Dillinger, who was leaning against the role post, but Dillinger moved and Corbin crashed into the steel steps. Except, Corbin would’ve missed even if Dillinger hadn’t moved.

Dillinger was in control when Corbin smacked water in Styles’ face at the desk. Styles was about to go after him but Corbin managed to shove Dillinger into Styles and they fell over the announce table. Corbin jumped back in the ring and Dillinger couldn’t beat the ten count.

Afterwards, Corbin challenged Styles to a US title match at HIAC and said he would win without taking any shortcuts. The match was made official after a break. This was a lame match/segment.

Jinder Mahal promo

Mahal said he might have gone too far with his comments last week as the crowd chanted for Nakamura. Mahal said Nakamura was a worthy contender, so he wanted to compliment him this week. This led to more of the same from the last two weeks, with Mahal posting photos of Nakamura as he and the Singhs laughed.

Turns out, the last shot was not a photo. Nakamura was standing in front of the camera and started moving and the crowd cheered. Nakamura let Mahal know he was here, the lights dimmed, and he made his entrance.

The Singhs attacked Nakamura as he made his entrance but he fought them off. Mahal tried to catch him off guard but Nakamura fought back. The Singhs attacked again, but he fought them off once more and gave Mahal a Kinshasa. The heels bailed as Nakamura posed. Nakamura probably received the biggest crowd reaction so far, but that’s saying much with this crowd.

Tom Phillips plugged Zayn vs. Owens tonight by saying it was happening for the first time ever… on SmackDown Live.

The Usos defeated The Hype Bros (2:19)

Last week, the Hype Bros said they had to do something drastic, so challenging the Usos to a match was apparently it. The New Day watched the match from the front row, popcorn in hand.

Mojo Rawley blind-tagged himself in which led to an argument with Zack Ryder. An Uso pushed Rawley into Ryder, who was sitting on the top rope, and Ryder practically fell head-first onto the ring apron, which looked pretty scary.

Usos told New Day they belonged in the crowd with the rest of the chumps and said they would become 5-time champs at HIAC. Big E pulled a microphone out of his popcorn bucket, which was funny. New Day said they didn’t just want to defend the belts at Hell in a Cell, they wanted to do it inside Hell in a Cell. Byron Saxton happened to be on camera when they said this and his reaction was amusing.

Pride of Bulgaria Celebration 

Aiden English, wearing a tux, was the master of ceremonies. English introduced Rusev and sang what he claimed was the national anthem of Bulgaria. The mayor of Rusev’s hometown of Plovdiv was in the ring and honoured Rusev by declaring September 26th “Rusev Day” and presented him with a key to the city. He called Rusev their great hero and protector.

Rusev replayed the clip of him beating Randy Orton last week and said he tore the fangs out of the viper. Rusev said Orton was a predator and “legend killer,” but now Rusev is the new predator, and he destroyed the legend of the legend killer. Smackdown was his jungle now.

English sang a song in honour of Rusev Day when Orton suddenly appeared and gave English and Rusev each RKOs. Orton ruined Rusev Day. Rusev actually protected the mayor before taking the RKO.

Here are the lyrics to “Rusev Day” by Aiden English:

Out of nowhere, Rusev struck
Hitting Randy like a truck
It’s Rusev Day, it’s Rusev Day
And with Randy’s nine-second fail
Rusev became the alpha male
It’s Rusev Day, it’s Rusev Day

Backstage, Bryan told Zayn that Shane just landed and was on his way. Bryan figured Shane was going after Owens. Zayn pleaded with Bryan to convince Shane otherwise. Zayn would love to have Owens inside Hell in a Cell and asked Bryan to at least let him have his match with Owens tonight. Bryan said he would talk to Shane.  

Orton bumped into Renee Young backstage and asked her to tell Rusev he would see him at Hell in a Cell. He wished Renee a happy Rusev Day.

Charlotte Flair defeated Carmella (w/James Ellsworth) (6:53)

Carmella took most of the match after getting the heat on a distraction, but Charlotte won suddenly with a big boot. Afterwards, Natalya came out and told Charlotte she was happy that Ric Flair was recovering, because now he could watch Charlotte fail.

Tonight’s [corporate sponsor] flashback moment was John Cena’s debut against Kurt Angle. Weird they didn’t save this one for Raw.

The Fashion Files returns next week.

The Undertaker’s dong went off, the lights turned off, and his music played. Dolph Ziggler came out dressed as Taker and a few fans were fooled, at least for a moment. Tom Phillips was fooled as well until Corey Graves told him who it was. Phillips was disappointed. Ziggler mocked the fans for thinking we might actually see Taker twice in one year.

Bobby Roode interrupted. (The crowd cheered before Roode’s music hit because he took his place on the stage before they played his entrance.) Roode called Ziggler an incredible competitor but also a hypocrite. Roode wanted Ziggler to back up his claim as the greatest in-ring performer in history and challenged him to a match at HIAC. The crowd chanted “Yes.”

Ziggler told them to shut up and ran down Roode, saying he was everything that is wrong with WWE. Ziggler accepted the match. Ziggler was about to say Roode would, “rest in peace” but Roode stopped him and said HIAC would be glorious.

Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn via referee stoppage (9:04)

They started by punching each other wildly and Owens got the better of the exchange. Owens drove Zayn’s head into the barricade repeatedly but Zayn managed to come back with a couple of clotheslines. With both men down (conveniently), they cut to a door backstage and Shane walked through it. Shane marched through the backstage area and they went to commercial.

During the break, Zayn hit a vertical suplex on the damn ring apron. After the break, Owens nailed a superkick for a nearfall. Zayn came back with a tornado DDT but Owens countered the Helluva kick with another superkick. Zayn then countered a pop-up powerbomb into a blue thunder bomb for a nearfall. Crowd chanted, “This is awesome.”

Zayn hit a flip dive and tried a jumping DDT through the ropes, but Owens nailed yet another superkick. Owens then powerbombed Zayn on the edge of the ring. The referee checked on Zayn and called for the bell.

Medics ran down to help Zayn as Owens took a seat on the announce table to watch. Zayn tried to refuse help, but after he couldn’t walk away, the medics helped him to his feet. As they carried him off, Owens sprang off the table and knocked down Zayn (and the medics).

Owens grabbed a steel chair and wrapped it around Zayn’s head as even more officials tried to stop him. Shane’s music hit and he ran down, but Owens tossed Zayn (still with the chair wrapped around his head) into him. Owens fled through the crowd as Shane dared him to come back. Owens blew Shane a kiss from the crowd.

Final Thoughts —

This wasn’t much of a show, but the main event was really good and Rusev Day is an exciting new holiday.