The May 2nd edition of WWE SmackDown is airing live on the USA Network from the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California featuring all the latest build to the upcoming Backlash pay-per-view (PPV) scheduled for later this month in Chicago.
Show starts off with Jinder Mahal being photographed with the WWE Championship belt when Shane McMahon rolls up to tell him that around here titles are earned and this doesn’t belong to him.
Jinder then says that he’ll take it from Randy Orton and bring glory to his show, and then he’ll thank him. Shane tells him he’ll wrestle Sami Zayn later and takes the belt to return to its rightful owner, and we go to the intro video.
Shane McMahon comes out to kick off SmackDown and introduce recent SmackDown signee and new U.S. Champion Chris Jericho. Jericho enters and says that he is gonna give us what we want and we need, because this is the new Show of Jericho, smack it down, man. McMahon says he’s happy to have him on SmackDown and there’s a bevy of guys in the back that want to face him, but tonight he’ll be defending the United States Championship against his nemesis, Kevin Owens. AJ Styles comes out to interrupt. AJ greets his old friend turned bitter enemy, Chris Jericho. A lot has changed since they were on the same show together, and he informs Chris of where he’s standing right now. He’s standing in the House That AJ Styles Built! And if you remember, they had Y2AJ shirts, and to be honest with him, nothing would please AJ more than to take that title away from him at Backlash.
That is, if he’s still champion at the end of the night. Jericho asks him if he saw what happened to that stupid idiot, and he made KO TO, he was tapping out, man. And on top of that, there’s a new Face of America, and Chris Jericho be thy name. AJ has doubts that Jericho will retain his U.S. Title tonight, so Jericho informs Styles of what happens when you don’t think he’ll retain his Title. Before Jericho can add Styles to The List, Kevin Owens interrupts. Owens says Shane, AJ and Jericho arguing about things that don’t matter is the most pathetic thing he’s seen in his career. Owens says the only thing that matters tonight is he takes back what’s rightfully his tonight: The U.S. Title. And if Jericho thought the Festival of Friendship was bad, tonight will be even worse. For AJ, he has nothing to do with this and he tells Styles to get out of his ring. He shifts to address Shane but before he can finish AJ obliges and leaves the ring to hand him a beat-down.
Referees start to pull AJ off of him but AJ keeps stomping on him. Shane runs down and gets in the middle of them, then we cut to a graphic promoting the Women’s match later tonight.
Jinder Mahal is walking backstage flanked by the Singh Brothers, his match against Sami Zayn will be after the break.
Back from commercial, we get a recap of the brawl we just saw and are told that AJ Styles is banned from ringside for tonight’s United States Championship match.
Jinder Mahal def. Sami Zayn: The Bollywood Boys come out with Jinder to be in his corner for this one. Zayn gets in lots of offense early on and sends Mahal out to ringside. Zayn follows outside and the Singh Brothers drop him when the ref’s not looking. Back in the ring, Jinder takes control with some elbows to the head and knee drops. Jinder takes Sami up to the top turnbuckle but Sami fights him off. Zayn misses a splash and Mahal drops him with a flying knee to the face for a two count. Jinder slaps Sami across the had a few times, and Sami comes back with some clotheslines. Zayn follows up with some kicks to the head and a cross body off the top for a two count. One of the Singh Brothers gets on the apron and distracts Sami, allowing Jinder to roll him up from behind for two. Sami goes for a Blue Thunder Bomb but Jinder elbows his way out of it. Zayn hits a (botched) tornado DDT on Jinder and Jinder rolls outside. Sami Zayn fires up for the Helluva Kick but one Singh brother yanks Jinder Mahal. The other Singh Brother trips Zayn when he goes for a suicide dive, and Jinder capitalizes with a Million Dollar Dream slam for the win. Jinder’s mouth is bleeding after the match.
We go backstage where Becky Lynch is walking when she runs into the group of Carmella, Natalya, Tamina, and James Ellsworth. Natalya says they’re trying to protect her and how many times has Charlotte Flair stabbed her in the back? And if anybody should be getting title matches, it’s Becky, not Charlotte.
Carmella says Flair doesn’t have anybody’s back, but they decided they’d keep an eye out on Lynch. Natalya says they need her, SmackDown needs her, and together they can make it their division. Becky says she didn’t think about it like that before and she’ll think on it.
Tye Dillinger is shown backstage getting ready to head out for his match up next.
Back from commercial, we get a Shinsuke Nakamura vignette and cut backstage where Dolph Ziggler complains about how it’s a big surprise Nakamura’s not here tonight and hasn’t proven himself in a match. Ziggler continues complaining about Daniel Bryan and Shane building the entire pay-per-view around a guy who hasn’t proven himself.
Shane comes up from behind him and reminds Dolph of Nakamura’s name and about last week’s segment. Dolph says he remembers and that was a real impressive entrance, but if you want to impress people, you’ll watch what he does to Sin Cara.
We go to Aiden English who is in the ring to sing. He calls himself the Picasso of Pain, the Rembrant of Rage, and the Drama King, when he’s interrupted by Tye’s music.
Tye Dillinger def. Aiden English: Aiden starts off with right hands on Tye as soon as the bell sounds. Tye comes back with a flying forearm and a knee to the face. Dillinger stomps a mudhole on English in the corner then finishes with a Modified Tye Breaker for the win. After the match Tye celebrates as he walks up the ramp and English appears very upset and crying.
We go backstage where Chris Jericho is ready to do an interview, but before he could start a very upset Aiden English walks by. Jericho tells English to stop crying because he’s on SmackDown and that he is talented and can sing and he’s got a hairy chest, and so on and besides, do you know what happens when you cry on Chris Jericho’s SmackDown? You make The List! The interviewer makes the list too, and Jericho leaves.
The group of Natalya, Carmella and Tamina all attack Charlotte backstage and leave her laying on the floor.
Naomi makes her entrance, and the match is after the break
Naomi & Charlotte def. Natalya & Carmella: Charlotte’s music hits but she doesn’t come out, so it looks like Naomi will be alone in this one and the match doesn’t get cancelled. Naomi gets in some offense on Carmella to start off, including her jumping alternating kicks. Natalya comes in and hits a suplex, but Naomi comes back with a flying headscissors takedown that sends Natalya outside. Natalya takes control of the match after slamming Naomi’s head into the ring steps. Charlotte finally comes out to the ring but she’s selling her ribs and walking slowly. Charlotte gets the hot tag from Naomi and she cleans house. Charlotte knocks Carmella off the apron then tees off on Natalya with chops and punches. Charlotte turns her attention to Carmella again with a kick, then Charlotte turns around and walks into a clothesline from Natalya.
Back from commercial and Carmella has Charlotte trapped in a body-scissors. Flair gets to her feet and backs her into the corner to break but Carmella stays on her with stomps. Bronco Buster comes up empty, Charlotte crawling for the tag. Naomi in with a springboard cross-body, she knocks Nattie off the apron and lands a springboard kick.
Rear View connects but Natalya distract referee Mike Chioda. Naomi kicks her off the apron, but Carmella is ready and with a little help from Ellsworth, Carmella has a handful of tights on Naomi and pins her with a schoolboy pin.
After the match the Welcoming Committee hits the ring and puts the beat-down on Charlotte and Naomi when Becky Lynch comes down. She slides in the ring and squares off against the Committee before turning to Flair and considering her situation for a minute. She turns back to Tamina and says she’s in, offering a handshake to each member in turn.
But not Ellsworth, who she offers a hug to before shoving him to Tamina. It was a plan all along. Becky then lays a beat-down on Carmella and Nattie until tamina drops her with a superkick.
The Committee then dumps Naomi and Charlotte, and Carmella fires a superkick to the chest before they stand tall.
Back from commercial we get a vignette to remind us that the New Day are coming soon.
Dolph Ziggler def. Sin Cara: Ziggler controls things early on but Sin Cara fires up with a couple springboard elbows then a springboard cross body. Sin Cara throws Dolph to the apron then kicks him the face down to the ringside floor. Sin Cara follows up with a suicide dive onto Ziggler on the floor before taking him back in the squared circle. In the ring, Ziggler grabs Sin Cara across the ropes and hits a neck-breaker into the ring. Ziggler controls the next couple moments, but Sin Cara comes back with a big one-armed powerbomb that pops the crowd. Sin Cara goes for a springboard moonsault but Ziggler blocks it with his knees. Ziggler follows u with a superkick for the win.
Speaking of the athleticism, @SinCaraWWE is NOT hesitant to display his sheer STRENGTH as well! #SDLive pic.twitter.com/8yVGhMWy3Q
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) May 3, 2017
We see a video promoting Lana’s debut on SmackDown.
We then see a Breezango vignette of their life as fashion cops. Tyler Breeze is hunting and pecking at some Ascension paperwork, the part of the job that he hates, when Fandango rolls up. They closed the case on the Ascension, but the Uggos are on the books.
They run down all of the Usos’ various crimes, fashion and otherwise, including Jey-walking and Jimmy-walking. The big bust goes down on May 21st in Chicago, the Windy Apple, their kind of town. They get paged about somebody wearing socks and flip-flops and they go to work.
Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens: Jericho’s United States Championship is on the line in this one, and AJ Styles is banned from ringside. Jericho controls the match early on and goes back to working on Owens’ hand that he injured at Payback on Sunday. Jericho comes off the top rope but Owens catches him with a punch. Jericho drops Owens with an elbow but Owens blocks it with his knees. Jericho falls into the corner and Owens goes for a cannonball splash, but Jericho rolls out of the way and Owens hits the turnbuckle by himself. Jericho successfully hits a Lion-sault this time for a two count. Jericho puts Owens in the Walls of Jericho but Owens reaches the ropes to break the hold. Owens reverses a super-board dropkick attempt by Jericho and drops Y2J with a superkick. Owens goes for a Pop Up Powerbomb but Jericho reverses with a Frankensteiner. Jericho locks in the Walls again but Owens once again reaches the ropes. Owens rolls outside and Jericho misses a baseball slide attempt. Owens follows up with a superkick, then DDTs Jericho onto the entrance ramp. Owens rolls Jericho back in the ring for another superkick, but Jericho kicks out at 2. Owens stomps on Jericho then hits the Pop Up Powerbomb for the three count to win the U.S. Title. Owens heads back up the ramp with the U.S. Title belt, while medics check on Jericho in the ring. The referee calls for more help and the announcers say the DDT on the ramp is what hurt Jericho. Owens comes back in the ring and pushes off the medics to hit another Pop Up Powerbomb on Jericho after the match. Owens goes for another one but Jericho goes limp and Owens leaves with the U.S. Title again. The medics back off and some referees including “Little Naitch” Charles Robinson help walk Jericho to the back. Owens comes running back down the ramp and drops Jericho again. Owens unfolds a chair and puts Jericho’s head inside of it, then slams Jericho head-first into the ring post. Jericho sells the beat-down at ringside as Owens heads backstage and SmackDown goes off the air.
Sickening. #SDLive pic.twitter.com/A6e5pbYDb0
— WWE (@WWE) May 3, 2017