The following was taped on Tuesday night in Buffalo, New York.
Todd Vincent passed along this live report.
WWE Smackdown tapings for June 18, 2015:
Sheamus came out and cut a promo stating nobody will stop him as he beats all of his competition. Mentioned the “You look stupid” chants he got for his updated look (I think the WWE is really missing a niche merch opportunity by not selling Sheamus Beard Beads — “For the distinguised man who thinks Johnny Depp was understated in Pirates of the Carribean”). Raised his MITB Briefcase and asked “Who looks stupid now?” Cue Dean Ambrose!, The Lunatic Fringe (don’t you need more than one person to count as a “Fringe?”) said Roman Reigns would have won MITB if Bray Wyatt had not interfered. Sheamus mentioned that Ambrose was a loser who always had to steal things since he could never “win The Big One.” Sheamus laid down the briefcase and told Ambrose to come in and get it as he stood over it. Before Ambrose could get in the ring, Kane interrupted and made a handicap match teaming with Sheamus vs. Ambrose…
1. Kane and Sheamus defeated Dean Ambrose via DQ when Roman Reigns interfered and made the save as Ambrose was getting beat down.
A graphic showed Ambrose & Reigns vs Kane & Sheamus later tonight..
2. Brie Bella pinned Paige after interference by Alicia Fox…
Stills from the MITB PPV was shown…
Kevin Owens backstage interview with Renee Young. Owens blamed John Cena for not being at RAW to prevent him from beating up Machine Gun Kelly. Also stated that MGK started it by touching him first. (Not sure if this will come through but the crowd applauded the hell out of Owens powerbombing Kelly. Pretty sure that move made Owens a semi-face everywhere outside of Cleveland). Owens stated there would be no NXT Championship open challenge match on Smackdown. Enter Cesaro who challenged Owens to a match later in the show. And to show Owens he was serious, Cesaro touched Owens and dared him to do something about it.
3. Dolph Ziggler (w/Lana) defeated Bo Dallas. They showed Rusev watching the match on a backstage monitor. He looked like he was about to go all Chernobyl after Lana kissed Ziggler after his win.
The Roman Reigns fatherhood PSA played. Foreshadowing???
4. Neville defeated Xavier Woods (with Big E & Kofi Kingston). During the match, The Prime Time Players came out to defend Neville from interference by Kofi and Big E. After an outside-the-ring shmozz, Neville hit the Red Arrow for the win. Kids, don’t try that at home. Or anywhere for that matter.
Seth Rollins came out and cut his becoming-usual promo about being the best the WWE has to offer. Stated how he never gets a thank you or a pat on the back but disrespect instead. Discussed his shock at Brock Lesnar’s return and pointed out that once Brock got in the ring, he did NOTHING! Said he needs to beat Brock to cement his legacy and at Battleground, he will become the diamond Triple H challenged him to be.
5. Kevin Owens beat Cesaro with his Pop-Up Powerbomb. Owens in another Match of the Night. Side note: I couldn’t find an Owens shirt in Large or Extra Large (was buying one for a co-worker. Not telling you which shirt was for him.) until I hit the 4th merchandise stand I could find. Was sold out in those sizes at the first 3. The person manning the merch stand said that the Owens merch is the hottest seller they’ve had recently.
The Dusty Rhodes tribute aired. Crowd chanted Dusty’s name.
An announcement for WWE’s return on September 28th (Get your tickets now! Now! Niw!!! NOW!!!!!)
6. Kane & Sheamus defeated Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns after a Bray Wyatt Titantron distraction led to Sheamus pinning Reigns. Post-match, the lights went out and when they came back on, the PSA picture of Reigns with his daughter was laying next to Reigns. Reigns looked at it with concern.
Post-Broadcast Dark Match
1. Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose defeated Seth Rollins and Bray Wyatt. The faces performed their finishers to send the crowd home happy…
Biggest Crowd Reactions
1.) Kevin Owens (People love or hate him. There seems to be no in-between)
2.) Dean Ambrose (I asked a guy near me what he dug about Ambrose and he said “He reminds me of a cross between my two favorite wrestlers, Roddy Piper and Mick Foley.” Good thing for Ambrose that guy’s faves weren’t Alex Wright and Cliff Compton. Not that there’s anything wrong with that!)
3.) Roman Reigns (for tonight at least, the crowd seems to be warming up more to Reigns)