WWE SmackDown live results: Number one contender’s battle royal

Date: February 21, 2017
Location: Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, CA

The Big Takeaway —

There was no winner in the number one contender’s battle royal. AJ Styles and Luke Harper were the final two and eliminated each other at the same time (except that Styles fell out first). Daniel Bryan announced that the number one contender would be determined next week.

Alexa Bliss is once again the Women’s champion after defeating Becky Lynch for the vacant title. The title was vacated by Naomi, who will not be able to defend the belt within 30 days.

Natalya beat Nikki Bella in a falls count anywhere match with help from Maryse. Also, John Cena and Miz eliminated each other from the battle royal, so this mixed tag match does appear to be the direction for WrestleMania.

Show Recap — 

They aired a recap of Bray Wyatt successfully defending the WWE championship last week despite interference from Luke Harper, as well as Randy Orton announcing he would not face Bray at WrestleMania. They plugged the 10-man battle royal for tonight with Baron Corbin, Apollo Crews, Dolph Ziggler, The Miz, Luke Harper, Kalisto, AJ Styles, John Cena, Dean Ambrose and Mojo Rawley.

Daniel Bryan came out to a big reaction. He said the road to WrestleMania has a lot of twists and turns and brought out Women’s champion Naomi, who was still in a knee brace. Crowd chanted “You deserve it.” Bryan said the fans knew she deserved it because of how hard she worked for years while other women got opportunities she didn’t. Bryan said they were all proud of her, which was what made this so difficult.

Bryan got emotional comparing her situation to his after winning the championship at WrestleMania. He and Shane McMahon went over her medical records and revealed that Naomi will not he able to defend the title within 30 days. He asked her to relinquish the title as the crowd loudly chanted “No.”

Naomi thanked Bryan for the kind words and spoke about how quickly things can change. She was on top of the world last week but now it’s all coming down. She felt like she let down the fans, and knew that if she handed over the title, she could be losing her WrestleMania moment too.

The crowd booed as Naomi handed the title over. Bryan looked annoyed that they were booing, so he got them to give her a round of applause. Naomi said he would be back and everyone would feel the glow. Bryan led the crowd in another round of applause.

As Naomi left, Alexa Bliss marched to the ring, barely acknowledging Naomi as they crossed paths. Bliss mocked the whole thing. The crowd booed and a “We can’t hear you” chant started. She told them to shut up and asked Bryan to give the title to her. The crowd booed.

Bryan teased giving her the belt, but of course, he didn’t and instead announced a women’s championship match between Bliss and Becky Lynch up next.  

Women’s Championship: Alexa Bliss defeated Becky Lynch

Alexa Bliss won in 9 minutes after a shot to the throat (with the referee distracted) and a roll up holding the tights. Lynch dominated most of the match until the finish, which came out of nowhere. Mickie James tried to attack Lynch afterwards but Lynch sent her packing.

This was pretty underwhelming. It felt like they wanted to get the title back on Bliss as quickly as possible, and so they did. It should also be noted that Lynch went well over 30 days without defending this title last fall, also because of an injury, and also with Bliss awaiting the shot.

Backstage, Dean Ambrose cut a promo for tonight’s main event. He tried to play off the Corbin thing like it didn’t bother him, but it clearly did and he threatened to maybe break Corbin’s leg. They cut to Kalisto who the crowd booed initially. He said it would be a dream come true to main event WrestleMania. Next was The Miz, with Maryse, who was getting his makeup done. He ran down his accomplishments and kissed Maryse.

Renee Young asked Natalya about the “overwhelming support” Nikki Bella receives from the fans. Natalya said she needs supporters because she was created in a lab to gain Instagram followers. She insulted Nikki’s wrestling ability and called her a Natalya knockoff.

Non-title: Tag Team Champions American Alpha defeated Breezango

Jordan and Gable won quickly with a Steinerizer. Afterwards, the Usos came out through the crowd and mockingly congratulating the soon-to-be ex-champions. The cut a wild (and loud) promo. I can’t do it justice, but basically, uh, American Alpha should be afraid.

They paid tribute to Jackie Robinson.

Talking Smack tonight will feature Lynch, Styles and the Usos. Styles ran up to some guy backstage and happily announced that he was going to WrestleMania. They cut to Ziggler who said the new era was cancelled and he “superkicked” the “screen” behind him, which looked real dumb. Rawley said he already won a battle royal recently but tonight was for WrestleMania. Luke Harper, who was cheered, told everyone to run.

Nikki told Renee that she was Nikki Bella and she was the longest reigning Diva’s champion for a reason. She said Nattie would be known as the Broken Hart after tonight.

Falls Count Anywhere: Natalya defeated Nikki Bella 

This is the top-of-the-hour segment. Nikki did well early on until Natalya tossed her over the barricade. Natalya tried to suplex her off a platform onto the concrete but Nikki pushed her off and hit a Disaster kick for two. Natalya regained control by tossing Nikki into the barricade and steel steps. She teased using a kendo stick but cleared the announce table instead. Natalya attempted a Last Ride through the table but Nikki punched her way out of it. Nikki followed with a light Alabama Slam on the table, which didn’t break, for a near fall. Crowd chanted “one more time” as they went to commercial.

Back from break, Natalya had on a sharpshooter but let go after Nikki got to the ropes. The announcers pointed out that there are no rope breaks in this match. Natalya followed with a vertical suplex onto the ramp. The brawl continued into the back where Natalya pushed Nikki into Maryse. Nikki then smashed Natalya through a mirror and pinned her for a nearfall. Nikki then speared her on the stage for a two count.

Natalya tried a sharpshooter on the edge of the ramp (the metal part) but Nikki countered into an STF. Maryse ran down and lightly attacked Nikki with a “pipe” until Miz ran down to pull her away. The damage was done, though, and Natalya covered her for the pinfall win at 14 minutes. The crowd seemed into it, but this wasn’t good. A falls count anywhere match with Nikki Bella probably wasn’t the best idea.

They announced Diamond Dallas Page going in the Hall of Fame. Alexa Bliss will be the SportsCenter guest this week.

Backstage, Baron Corbin said he likes destruction, causing pain, and the spotlight, and the spotlight would be on him tonight. Apollo Crews said everyone would get rolled over if they stepped in his way.

Bray said Orton showed great sacrifice and whoever wins tonight would be nothing more than his sacrificial lamb at WrestleMania. He welcomed us to the Era of Wyatt.

Tom Phillips plugged 205 Live calling it the most exciting hour on television. I know that’s just the tagline, but why would the SmackDown announcer say that about a Raw show? Jack Gallagher plugged the show as well.

Number One Contender’s Battle Royal

The announcers are emphasizing that the WrestleMania main event is on the line. John Cena came out first. Dean Ambrose came out last. He went right after Corbin and the match is underway with almost 25 minutes left in the show. Loud dueling chants for Styles and Cena.

Baron Corbin eliminated Mojo Rawley just over 7 minutes into the match, which actually got some boos.

Kalisto briefly ran wild but was eliminated by Ziggler who superkicked him out of the ring.  

Crews then eliminated Ziggler with a roundhouse kick as Ziggler was on the apron. Ziggler attacked Kalisto with a chair, which distracted Crews long enough for him to get eliminated by Corbin.

Cena, Styles, Harper, Ambrose and Corbin traded moves and were all laid out. This allowed Miz to hit corner dropkick, as well was Yes kicks to Cena. Cena ducked the last one and eliminated Miz.

Cena gave Styles and Ambrose a German suplex. Cena went for the five knuckle shuffle, but Corbin cut him off with End of Days. Ambrose then eliminated Corbin. Corbin pulled Ambrose out of the ring and gave him End of Days.

Miz jumped back in the ring and eliminated Cena. Cena tried to go back in the ring but a bunch of referee ran down to escort him out. He was displeased.

Styles, Harper and Ambrose are the final three. Styles tried to eliminate Harper when Ambrose ran up behind them but failed to toss them out. With all three on the apron, Ambrose had Styles on his shoulders but Harper kicked Ambrose, who fell out for the elimination.

Styles and Harper are the final two. With Styles on the top rope, Harper tried yanking him out from the apron. They eventually both fell out, seemingly at the same time. It seemed like Styles landed first and they never showed a replay. The referees argued over who won as the crowd chanted “Luke.”

Daniel Bryan ran out and announced a draw after talking with the referees. He said there was no winner, but they would determine one next week. The crowd booed. Styles pointed at Harper’s chest so Harper clotheslined him to death.

They cut to Bray on the big screen and he laughed and laughed. Orton stood behind him, briefly glimpsed at the belt on his shoulder, took a quick look at Bray, then stared into the screen.

Final Thoughts —

This wasn’t a good week for team blue. While it’s nice they treated Naomi’s injury seriously, I didn’t like the way the handled the rest of it, as noted above. The main event was enjoyable enough, but the finish was lame and designed to just drag this thing along. On the bright side, the crowd was really behind Luke Harper by the end, probably because they just saw him win the match. The crowd can tell when a guy gets screwed, so they could turn this into a positive for Harper. I’m also baffled by the handling of John Cena.