WWE SmackDown live results: Vince McMahon returns

Date: September 12, 2017
Location: Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada

The Big Takeaway —

There was a big-time heat segment involving Kevin Owens and Vince McMahon. After Vince made a match between Owens and Shane McMahon inside Hell in a Cell at the next SmackDown PPV, Owens attacked Vince with a headbutt, superkick and frog splash. See more details below.

The New Day are once again tag team champions after defeating the Usos in a street fight. Natalya and AJ Styles retained their respective titles. Baron Corbin laid out Styles after his match and will get a US title shot next week.

Ronda Rousey made an appearance in the crowd ahead of the Mae Young Classic final. Bobby Roode was not on the show for the second straight week.

Show Recap — 

They welcomed us to the show here in Las Vegas with tights shots of the crowd. They did one long shot but only showed one side of the arena, and if you haven’t seen pictures of the crowd, you can guess why. Some cast members from “GLOW” are behind the announce table, although they weren’t acknowledged here.

Kevin Owens starts things off. Owens said he never retaliated against Shane McMahon after his attack last week because he actually respects authority. He planned on suing everyone involved until SmackDown was no more. He wanted to turn this into the Kevin Owens Show, starring Kevin Owens.

Owens said there would be some changes and some people fired, the first of which would be Sami Zayn. Owens wasn’t going to fire Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton but would instead make them wear the same suit. As in, just one suit between them, because they sound the same anyway. He also threatened to cancel the Fashion Files because he doesn’t get it.

Owens called out Mr. McMahon. Shane’s music hit instead and Owens screamed. Turns out, it was Dolph Ziggler, which cracked up Owens. After Ziggler left, Owens was about to continue, but Daniel Bryan interrupted to a huge pop.

Bryan said he’s the one running the show tonight and Owens’ fun and games were ending soon. Owens was happy that Bryan was happy, and let Bryan know he would become the janitor on the Kevin Owens Show. Bryan wasn’t opposed to hard work and manual labour and suggested Owens try it for himself.

Bryan said Vince would be here soon and Owens wasn’t going to like what he has to say. Owens told Bryan that Vince wouldn’t like what he had to say.

They plugged the three title matches for tonight. After a break, the announcers let us know how to help with hurricane relief.

U.S. Championship Match: AJ Styles defeated Tye Dillinger (7:19)

Big pop for Styles. Dillinger wore black and pink gear. They fought to the apron and Dillinger pushed Styles into the ring post. They went to commercial about 70 seconds into this title match.

After a break, Dillinger was in the middle of ten punches in the corner but Styles caught him with a powerbomb. Styles followed with strikes and set up for Phenomenal forearm when Baron Corbin ran down for some reason. Styles nailed Corbin with the forearm but the distraction allowed Dillinger to apply a schoolboy for a nearfall.

They traded counters leading to Dillinger hitting the Tye Breaker for a close nearfall. Dillinger went after Styles but Styles caught him in a Calf Crusher and Dillinger tapped.

Styles and Dillinger shook hands afterwards. Corbin grabbed Styles from behind and tossed him into the barricade. He also laid out Dillinger and gave Styles an End of Days. Corbin announced he was accepting the US Open Challenge next week.

Dasha Fuentes interviewed Rusev, asking what it was like to return home to Bulgaria. Rusev needed the time to recharge after losing in 10 seconds to Randy Orton, but his family looked at him with shame and embarrassment for returning as a loser. Rusev said he is no loser and knew how to regain his killer instinct — he must break a legend. Fuentes was as robotic as ever here. So much so that it had to be deliberate.

Jinder Mahal came out with the Singh brothers. Mahal wore a forest green suit with a brown shirt. Some fans chanted “Maharaja” while others booed. Mahal said his preparation for Shinsuke Nakamura was physical and mental and would get inside his head. Mahal put up a picture of Nakamura on the screen. Mahal and the Singhs laughed uproariously at the picture, even though there was nothing funny about it.

Mahal made jokes about Nakamura looking constipated as the Singhs rolled on the floor laughing. They showed another picture as the Singhs mocked Nakamura’s entrance. With another picture on the screen, Mahal made a joke about Nakamura being afraid of Godzilla. This brought boos from the crowd.

Turns out, Mahal was playing the crowd. He knew that would laugh and warned Nakamura what was to come if he ever won the title. He alerted Nakamura about the fans being racist while also comparing him to Pikachu. Speaking Punjabi, Mahal warned Nakamura what he would do to him at Hell in a Cell. This was a horrible segment.

Backstage, Owens gave some guy notes on what he wanted for his new show. It was amusing how serious he was. Owens then approached Sami Zayn. He recalled a story from many years ago, where they wrestled in front of 42 people, and they promised each other that they would make it to WWE so they would never have to do that again (because there are at least 42 people on one side of the arena). Owens let Zayn know he was about to be in charge and Zayn would be out of a job. Zayn told Owens he would rather wrestle in armories than work for him.

Sin City Street Fight: Kofi Kingston & Big E defeated The Usos to become WWE Tag Team Champions

Usos had full control for a while, mainly using steel chairs to their benefit. They tried tying Big E’s arms in between the ropes, but his arms are too damn big. Kingston made the save and went crazy with a Kendo stick, which broke over an Uso’s back. Kingston followed with a double foot stomp into a chair for a two count.

Kingston tried a trust fall dive but the Usos caught him and tossed him into the barricade (I think he was supposed to go over it, but they messed up and he kind of just fell into it). Big E then suplexed an Uso and smashed the other’s head into the announce table. Big E followed with an STO in the ring followed by a belly-to-belly and a splash on both Usos.

Big E hit a Big Ending but the cover was broken up. The Usos hit a double superkick and went up for a double splash, but Kingston pushed Jey off the top and through a table on the floor. Kingston caught Jimmy with a Trouble in Paradise and they followed with Midnight Hour for the pinfall win. New Day are the new champs (again).

Xavier Woods, who was not at ringside, came out immediately after to celebrate. Not the best street fight ever, but this was fun.

They aired clips from the Mae Young Classic red carpet. Ronda Rousey was shown here in the live crowd and she got a big pop. “Youtube Influencer” Inanna Sarkis was also there.

Natalya and Naomi were already in the ring for their match. It feels like the previous match just ended. Carmella was on commentary and James Ellsworth was with her. She had him on a literal leash.

Women’s Championship match: Natalya defeated Naomi (7:21)

Natalya won with a Sharpshooter. Naomi hit a big dive to Carmella and Ellsworth after they confronted Natalya. Natalya responded by posting Naomi and applying the Sharpshooter for the win. Between the fact that neither woman got an entrance and that this was a nothing match, this was not a good presentation on a night where they’re trying to push the Mae Young Classic.

Aiden English was singing backstage when Owens approached him. Owens liked English’s voice and needed someone to sing the intro for the Kevin Owens Show. English made up a song for him on the spot and the crowd cheered. Owens was delighted.

Dolph Ziggler is back. He ranted, left, then came out doing Bayley’s entrance, including the inflatable wavy men. He ranted some more, then did Ultimate Warrior’s entrance. Ziggler asked if this is what it came to now. (Ultimate Warrior was a star 25 years ago.) Ziggler said nobody could do what he does in the ring while a few fans chanted for Bobby Roode. Ziggler said the fans don’t care about him and he doesn’t care about them. Then why is he yelling at them? This was dumb. Saxton wondered if Ziggler was losing his mind, and I hope that ends up being the case.

Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable defeated The Hype Bros (2:25)

Benjamin and Gable won quickly with a powerbomb/lariat combo. Afterwards, Mojo Rawley shook hands with Benjamin and Gable, but Zack Ryder just left.

Vince McMahon and Daniel Bryan were shown talking backstage.

Mr. McMahon returns

Owens came out first and McMahon followed. Vince received a good pop. Owens claimed Vince looked intimidated but Vince was actually nauseated. Vince said Owens didn’t fight back against Shane, not because he respected authority, but because Shane was beating his ass. Vince wondered how Owens can look himself in the mirror and even respect how he looks.

Vince said he would fire Owens the moment he filed a lawsuit and the crowd chanted “Yes.” Vince claimed he has never lost a lawsuit and the rules of the land were written for people like him. Vince called himself a billionaire and threatened to bankrupt Owens.

Owens complained that Shane put his hands on him. Vince said he suspended Shane, not because he attacked Owens, but because he didn’t finish the job. Vince said he would reinstate Shane because there was going to be a match, not a lawsuit. He announced Owens vs. Shane inside Hell in a Cell.

Owens was fine with this but wanted Vince to promise that he wouldn’t be fired if he beat Shane senseless. He also wanted to be able to retaliate against “a McMahon” if he touched him again. Vince agreed and they shook hands. Owens headbutted Vince who collapsed and came up bleeding from the forehead.

Owens reminded us that Vince just gave him the okay to beat a McMahon senseless. Vince tried to attack but Owens knocked him down. A referee ran down but Owens punted Vince in the stomach. More officials ran down and it appeared Owens would leave, but he instead gave Vince a superkick. Owens then pushed the refs out of the ring and went to the top rope.

An agent (Adam Pearce) ran down to plead with Owens, but Owens hit the frog splash anyway. The crowd chanted “holy shit.” As Owens left the ring, it seemed to dawn on him what he had just done.

Steph marched down and stared down Owens before attending to Vince. They brought a stretcher out for Vince but he just barely managed to get to his feet, with some help. Vince tried to walk it off but he couldn’t get far without falling to his knees as he was being held up by officials. Owens had his hands over his face as he backed off.

Final Thoughts —

The main event angle was excellent and it was nice to see them do a big angle on SmackDown for a change.