WWE SmackDown live results: Cena vs. Ambrose; I-C title match

Date: September 20, 2016
Location: Legacy Arena in Birmingham, AL

The Big Takeaway —

Dean Ambrose beat John Cena clean in the main event. Ambrose will get a title rematch against AJ Styles next week on SmackDown.

The Miz successfully defended his Intercontinental Title once again over Dolph Ziggler.

Finally, The Usos defeated American Alpha to become number one contenders and will face Slater & Rhyno at No Mercy.

Show Recap — 

Right off the top, they plugged Dean Ambrose vs. John Cena, as well as Miz defending the IC title against Dolph Ziggler as two big main events for tonight.

SmackDown Women’s Championship Contract Signing

Daniel Bryan led “Yes” chants in the ring to start things off. Bryan acknowledged how contract signings usually go, but said he wanted to keep this one civil. The crowd booed, and Bryan responded, “Don’t boo that,” which was funny.

He brought out Becky Lynch first and asked that she keep things civil, and the crowd booed again. Lynch said she would have on her thick skin. Alexa Bliss came out next and made cracks about Lynch’s appearance. Lynch said that while Bliss is preparing for pageants, Lynch was getting ready to fight.

Bliss claimed Lynch didn’t fit the role of champion, her role was someone who never quite gets to the top. She said Lynch would lose her title, because she was born to be a loser. The crowd chanted for Lynch, who said she watched too much TV and believed when they said she could do what she wanted.

Lynch said she poured her heart and soul into everything. She wasn’t born to be champion, she fought to be champion, and would rip off Bliss’ head if she thought otherwise. Bliss mocked her and said would win the title and expose Lynch as a one-hit wonder.

Bliss smacked Lynch with the clipboard, which knocked Lynch down somehow. Bliss signed the contract and tossed the table over on Lynch. Bliss left, but Lynch got up and attacked Bliss, who managed to run away. Bryan gave Lynch the contract and she signed it.

They announced The Usos vs. American Alpha in a number one contender’s match.

Miz and Maryse confronted Bryan backstage. Miz was pissed he had to defend the title tonight, even though he was content with his new contract. Bryan offered to cancel the match, but that would mean his contract gets cancelled too. Bryan let Miz know this little detail was in his contract, which Miz didn’t read. Bryan asked if Miz still had a problem and he begrudgingly said no.

Number One Contender’s Match: The Usos defeated American Alpha

Backstage, Jordan and Gable did a good little promo saying the Usos made things personal. Gable started out hot as soon as the bell rang, but the Usos eventually attacked his injured leg and took control. Jordan made the hot tag and hit each Uso with suplexes and running shoulder tackles.

Jordan tried a belly-to-belly off the middle rope, but the Usos knocked him down. Jey hit a superkick and Jimmy followed with a splash, but Gable just barely broke up the cover.

Jordan was about to tag Gable, but Gable’s leg gave out on the apron. Gable still wanted a tag, but Jordan decided to save his teammate and fight on alone. Bad idea. The Usos took out Gable, hit Jordan with superkicks, and a splash for the win after about 12 minutes. It’ll be Heath Slater & Rhyno vs. The Usos at No Mercy.

Backstage, Slater and Rhyno weren’t worried about the Usos. Rhyno was still eating crackers with cheese. Slater wanted to start a “Rhy-no” chant, in the vein of “Us-o.” Rhyno wasn’t into it. Usos interrupted and threatened to take out Slater’s leg. They also threatened Rhyno’s crackers, but he told them not to dare touch his crackers. Usos insulted Slater’s 26 raggedy-ass kids, so Rhyno smashed his own crackers and stood up for Slater. The Usos backed off.  

They aired a Hispanic Heritage video, honouring Roberto Clemente.

Baron Corbin defeated Apollo Crews

Crews didn’t smile on his way to the ring. He lost in 3 minutes via End of Days. Jack Swagger was on commentary and said he joined SmackDown because he wanted to be champion. He had a brief staredown with Corbin after the match.

They showed Dean Ambrose getting ready for his match, behind a cage in a dark room.

They congratulated Rami Malek for winning an Emmy and aired another stupid Curt Hawkins video.

Charly Caruso interviewed Naomi and Nikki Bella. Naomi told Caruso that “the glow” was about confidence. She said Nikki had the glow, but Natalya lost it a long time ago and claimed Natalya would feel the glow tonight. Nikki said Carmella wanted to make a name for herself, but Nikki was in the fight of her life. She feels rebooted, and Carmella was nothing but a bootleg. Holy hell, this was dumb.

Elsewhere, a downtrodden Dolph Ziggler told Renee Young that he has to give it his all tonight. After running down the Miz, Ziggler talked about being a World Champion and now a Kent State hall of famer. Ziggler fired up and said he would take it all tonight.

They aired a commercial for WWE 2K17 using actual game footage, including Brock Lesnar and Goldberg fighting backstage. Chris Jericho wasn’t with them.

Intercontinental Championship: The Miz (w/Maryse) defeated Dolph Ziggler

Mauro Ranallo said that two of Ziggler’s four previous IC Title reigns started with wins over Miz. Miz again used Yes Kicks and running dropkicks as part of his offense. Crowd chanted “coward” at him. After a break, Miz tried a sunset flip powerbomb but couldn’t land it — so he actually did a springboard sitout powerbomb for a near fall. Ziggler followed with a fameasser for a near fall.

Maryse was about to pepper-spray Ziggler in the face, but the referee caught her and tossed her out. They traded rollups when Ziggler hit a Zig-Zag for a very close near fall. Miz crawled out of the ring, grabbed his title and began walking out, but Ziggler cut him off and tossed him into the steel steps.

Miz had the title on him when Ziggler tossed him back in the ring, so the referee and to put it away. As he did this, Miz sprayed Ziggler in the face and followed with the Skull Crushing Finale for the win.

The first half of the match was not good, but it picked up after commercial and the finish was pretty clever. This didn’t do Ziggler any favours, though. He hit his big move and Miz kicked out.

Otunga said Cena and Ambrose would be facing off for the first time. It’s not.

Randy Orton defeated Erick Rowan

The crowd chanted “Randy Orton.” He won in 2 minutes after a draping DDT and RKO.

Afterwards, Bray’s video went off and when they came back to the ring, Rowan had disappeared, but his mask was still there. Bray showed up on the screen and said Gods never die, I think.

Naomi & Nikki Bella defeated Natalya & Carmella via DQ 

Only Naomi got an entrance. The match was shorter than her entrance. Natalya applied the Sharpshooter on Nikki right away, but Carmella–Natalya’s partner–pulled Nikki out of the ring to attack her and the ref called for the bell. Naomi kicked Natalya and checked on Nikki afterwards. This sucked.

Caruso asked AJ Styles about his rivalry with Cena and Ambrose. Styles correctly noted that he has no rivalry with them, because he’s beaten them both. He called himself the champ that runs the camp and superior in every way. He claimed they booked a triple threat because the only way he can lose the title is if he doesn’t get beat.

Dean Ambrose defeated John Cena 

Ranallo clarified that this was the first match between these two on SmackDown. Ambrose didn’t get a notably different reaction than usual on the way out. Dueling chants for Cena to start the match.

After a break, Ambrose was all over Cena. Cena caught him in an STF but Ambrose crawled to the rope. Ambrose nailed a suicide dive and tried a diving elbow, but Cena caught him, rolled through and hit an AA for a near fall. 

Cena hiked him up again for an AA, but Ambrose slipped out and hit Dirty Deeds for a near fall. They traded punches until Ambrose went for the rebound clothesline. Cena countered and tried for another AA, but Ambrose reversed into a rollup for the win. Match was only about 10 minutes. 

Afterwards, AJ Styles laid out Cena with a flying forearm, then gave Ambrose a Pele kick in the ring. Daniel Bryan came out and informed Styles that Ambrose will get his one-on-one title rematch–next week on SmackDown. Crowd booed because they weren’t getting it now. 

Styles tried to attack Ambrose again, but Ambrose nailed him with Dirty Deeds. 

Final Thoughts —

This show was alright. The IC Title match was good, and Ambrose defeating Cena is pretty eventful. I didn’t really care for anything else on the show.

When they announced the main event, I wondered why it wasn’t just a number one contender’s match. Now that Cena lost, I’m not even sure why he’s getting a title match. He lost to Styles at SummerSlam, and Ambrose tonight.