AJ Styles, Baron Corbin, and Kevin Owens Talk Too Much
HERE COMES THE MONEEYYYYYYYY… and some Superstars are more happy about it than others! #SDLive @FightOwensFight @AJStylesOrg @ShaneMcMahon pic.twitter.com/51YwITnKNU
— WWE (@WWE) February 21, 2018
The show began with AJ Styles coming down to the ring to meet Renee Young for a brief interview. Renee reminded us that the championship match at Fastlane is now a fatal 5-way, and asked Styles how he was feeling about the development from last week. AJ said that, although each of his competitors is more than qualified, they are not phenomenal.
As he was about to name Baron Corbin as one of his opponents, Corbin came out to get in Styles’ face. In cocky, but somewhat monotone Corbin fashion, he proclaimed that he will be the new WWE Champion.
Kevin Owens interrupted the smack talk to throw some insults of his own. The three of them proceeded to lob verbal jabs at each other until Shane O’Mac came out to join the party.
Shane told the guys they were talking far too much and set two matches: Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler to occur immediately, and AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin, to occur later in the night.
Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler
This is one way to SHOW OFF against @HEELZiggler… #SDLive @FightOwensFight pic.twitter.com/n5cg7Huzzm
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) February 21, 2018
Kevin Owens was not happy about the new additions to his championship match and made that clear to Ziggler when he quickly began laying in punishment. Dolph was not going to take this lying down, however, and got in plenty of shots of his own.
These two worked hard. After a brutal match with several near falls, just as we thought Ziggler was about to get the victory, Sami Zayn made an abrupt entrance and distracted the show-off, resulting in a nasty kick to the back of the head from Owens.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Mahal / Roode / Orton Pt. II
.@REALBobbyRoode isn’t going to let #TheViper sneak up on him again… #SDLive @RandyOrton pic.twitter.com/Yl6fh4x0CM
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) February 21, 2018
Mahal, accompanied by Samir Singh, came to the ring to drop some knowledge on the WWE Universe. He brought up the Top 10 List (again) and said that not only was he missing from it, but Randy Orton was as well. In a continuation from last week, he still appeared to be attempting to turn Roode and Orton against each other.
Roode came out and said that Mahal couldn’t even make the list, and beyond that, could never beat him in a fair fight. Bobby said they didn’t need to involve Randy, that it should be between himself and Mahal.
Orton came out and immediately got in Roode’s face, but then attacked Mahal. He then attempted to give Roode an RKO outta nowhere, but Roode was prepared for it and brought Orton down. As he was celebrating, Mahal came back from outside of the ring and dropped Roode.
Honestly, this storyline is insanely cheesy and Mean Girls-ish and I’m not a fan.
Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon Backstage Pt. 8,000
.@REALBobbyRoode will take on @RandyOrton at #WWEFastlane! But, @WWEDanielBryan doesn’t seem too happy about it… #SDLive @shanemcmahon pic.twitter.com/ytrK2YTZXJ
— WWE (@WWE) February 21, 2018
At this point, I feel like the tension between the two leaders of SmackDown is kind of redundant. They’ve been building tension for what feels like an eternity with no payoff in sight. Maybe they’ll prove me wrong and Bryan will get back in a WWE ring and the world will lose its collective mind, but I doubt it.
Anyway, they continued to disagree over matches/use of superstars. The interaction closed with DB passive-aggressively agreeing with Shane’s decision to make a match between Bobby Roode and Randy Orton at Fastlane.
Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, & Naomi vs. The Riott Squad
There’s no escaping THE GLOW!!! #SDLive #6WomanTag @NaomiWWE @YaOnlyLivvOnce @sarahloganwwe @RubyRiottWWE pic.twitter.com/v1q3ud3pmS
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) February 21, 2018
Charlotte has now faced two of the members of The Riott Squad solo, and instead of jumping straight to the finale of Charlotte vs. Ruby Riott, she formed a team with her two best friends to take on the entire Squad.
Ruby Riott is right up there with Charlotte and Becky in terms of talent, so watching all three of them mixing it up was a fun time. Naomi was the star of the show with both a dive and a stair spot, but we got a variety of cool spots from the other girls as well.
As has been the trend lately, Becky got the biggest reactions from the crowd, but after an awesome finishing sequence, she was unable to defeat Ruby Riott.
Winner: The Riott Squad
Sami Zayn / Kevin Owens Backstage
“WE will take them out one by one by one… when it comes down to just you and me, I will do the right thing, I will lay down for you in the center of that ring.” @SamiZayn has a “plan” for #WWEFastlane… @FightOwensFight pic.twitter.com/14U4mp7kf1
— WWE (@WWE) February 21, 2018
Sami Zayn approached Kevin Owens backstage, where they emotionally thanked each other for being the other’s best friend and made amends for the tension between them the last few weeks.
Zayn said that he was going to sacrifice himself so that Owens could capture the championship at Fastlane. The segment ended with Sami hugging an apprehensive Kevin.
The New Day vs. Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin
This calls for a celebration! #TheNewDay will challenge @WWEUsos for the #SDLive #TagTeamTitles at #WWEFastlane! @XavierWoodsPhD @WWEBigE @TrueKofi pic.twitter.com/Hx81P7V2eZ
— WWE (@WWE) February 21, 2018
Pancakes and Booty-O’s boxes in hand, The New Day partied their way down to the ring to take on Gable and Benjamin in a rematch after their questionable victory last week.
“Fool me once..” has basically been the theme of the night. Gable and Benjamin viciously went after Xavier Woods the moment the bell rang to start the match. After getting pummeled for several minutes, Big E tagged in and went toe to toe with Chad Gable.
Gable is an absolute freak. Looking at him, you wouldn’t think he was on par with Big E strength-wise, but they went suplex for suplex. I would love to see Gable and E in a singles match.
In a sudden turn of events, Woods won the match with a Shining Wizard. The New Day will go on to face The Usos at Fastlane.
Before either team had a chance to leave the ring, The Bludgeon Brothers silently made their ominous entrance.
Winner: The New Day
The Bludgeon Brothers vs. Sun Tights & Blue Shorts
From the sound of the opening bell, the #BludgeonBrothers do NOT hold back…#SDLive pic.twitter.com/qhsDCC1jdE
— WWE (@WWE) February 21, 2018
Yet another squash match for The Bludgeon Brothers. Silently threatening the other members of the tag division before brutally beating indie wrestlers is the perfect way to build them up though. When they finally do lock up with another SmackDown team, I think it will be worth the wait.
Winner: The Bludgeon Brothers
Ruby Riott Promo
If a championship match is what @RubyRiottWWE wants, a championship match is what she’ll get… WOOOOO! #SDLive @MsCharlotteWWE pic.twitter.com/zh6nUnbjdJ
— WWE (@WWE) February 21, 2018
The selfie promos are still going strong. Ruby Riott was shown backstage with her Squad, where she challenged Charlotte to a singles match at Fastlane. What a killer matchup. I have no doubt these women are going to tear the house down.
AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin
.@AJStylesOrg is in for A RIDE!!!!! #DeepSix @BaronCorbinWWE #SDLive pic.twitter.com/gJiIl8xoxn
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) February 21, 2018
As expected, this match started off hot. Corbin had something to prove and got in a good bit of offense in the opening moments. Styles cannot be taken down so easily, however, and came back with a vengeance.
Every single time Styles steps into the ring, you can expect something awesome. And even though Baron isn’t quite top tier talent, Styles lifted him up to his level, as he does with everyone he goes up against.
This match was short and sweet, with Styles getting the pin via the Phenomenal Forearm.
The final bell had barely rung and Owens and Zayn were running to the ring to beat down Styles. Before they could turn their attention to Baron Corbin, The Lone Wolf got the last laugh, hitting an End of Days on each of Styles’ attackers.
Winner: AJ Styles
What letter grade would you give tonight’s show? #SDLive
— Rumble Ramble (@TheRumbleRamble) February 21, 2018
