WWE Smackdown LIVE Coverage - July 9th, 2019

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Owens and Ziggler clash after brief partnership implodes

After bickering over who deserved a WWE Championship opportunity more, Kevin Owens and Dolph Ziggler were given the chance to earn a chance at a title, though not the one they were looking for. Shane McMahon made them join forces to battle Heavy Machinery, with the winner being placed into the SmackDown Tag Team Title Match at WWE Extreme Rules. Unfortunately for them, KO & The Showoff could not get on the same page, leading to Otis & Tucker’s victory. After another argument, Owens dropped Ziggler with a Stunner, declaring that SmackDown LIVE was his show. The two will get a chance to settle the score when they go one-on-one on the blue brand. Who will emerge victorious from this heated battle?



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- Tonight's WWE SmackDown opens with video from earlier today, showing Dolph Ziggler arriving in the back parking lot. Kayla Braxton stops him to ask about Kevin Owens and tonight's match. Ziggler rants about carrying Owens like he's carried WWE for the past decade. Owens comes pulling up in a car, honking the horn. They argue and this leads to blows as Owens strikes first. They brawl until Superstars come and break it up. Shane McMahon also appears as they are separated. Shane orders Owens to leave the building.

- Shane McMahon is backstage with Sarah Schreiber now. She asks why he canceled the Owens vs. Ziggler match and he talks about how we can't have that kind of behavior in WWE. Shane says he has other ideas for tonight's main event and will go work on that now. Shane walks off.

- We're live from the SNHU Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire as Tom Phillips welcomes us. He's joined by Corey Graves and Byron Saxton. They go over tonight's show.

- Kevin Owens suddenly appears at ringside with a mic, cutting the announcers off. Owens talks about how he watched the McMahon Family show up weeks ago and promise change, but the only thing that's happened is Shane getting more power, and no one wanted to see that. Fans cheer Owens on as he continues yelling about Shane. Owens says this is the biggest load of crap he's ever seen in WWE. Shane comes walking down the ramp and has Owens' mic cut as fans boo. Owens calls him an idiot and grabs another mic. Owens talks about how Shane disrespects every performer, past and present, when he calls himself the best in the world. Owens says it makes everyone sick. Owens says everyone in the back thinks "Shane can kiss my ass" when he calls himself the best. Shane wants Owens stopped. Owens goes on about how Shane takes TV time from people like Ali, Buddy Murphy, Apollo Crews, Asuka, Kairi Sane and others. Owens leaves through the crowd as a "thank you Owens" chant breaks out. We go back to the announcers and they discuss tonight's show.

- We see Finn Balor backstage walking. We go to commercial.

Finn Balor vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Back from the break and out comes WWE Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor for this non-title match. Shinsuke Nakamura is out next as we get a sidebar video recorded earlier today. We also get pre-recorded backstage comments from Balor, who praises Nakamura but says that's not the man he's facing tonight, tonight he's facing a man who is desperate to get his career back on track.

The bell rings and they go at it. Nakamura with elbow strikes. Balor counters a pin attempt with a kick to the face. Nakamura stomps away in the corner now, keeping control. We go to commercial with a split screen.

Back from the break and Nakamura keeps control until Balor turns it around with a kick. Balor with a big chop in the corner. Balor blocks a kick and drops an elbow over the throat for a 2 count. Balor waits for Nakamura to get back up now. Nakamura blocks a Slingblade. Nakamura with more offense and a sliding German suplex at the apron.

Nakamura waits for Balor to get up now. Nakamura charges for a Kinshasa but Balor counters and hits a Slingblade. Balor goes to the top but Nakamura cuts him off. Nakamura brings Balor down with a knee to the ribs. Nakamura goes to the top while Balor is recovering on the apron. Nakamura with a big knee strike, knocking Balor from the apron to the floor. Nakamura sends Balor into the ring post and the barrier a few times as the referee counts. They both make it back in at the 9 count.

Nakamura tosses Balor back out to the floor. Nakamura delivers a Kinshasa on the floor as the referee counts again. Balor makes it back in just in time. Nakamura continues the beatdown on the floor, sending Balor into the barrier and the steel ring steps. Nakamura leaves Balor laying as the referee counts. Balor once again makes it back in at the 9 count. Nakamura immediately delivers a Kinshasa for the pin to get the non-title win.

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura

- After the match, Nakamura stands tall over Balor as his music hits. Nakamura delivers a quick kick to the back as we go to replays.

- Shane McMahon, Elias and Drew McIntyre are backstage. Shane and Drew promise to make Cedric Alexander pay for what happened on last night's RAW. Drew and Shane are also confident about beating Roman Reigns and The Undertaker at WWE Extreme Rules on Sunday. Elias says he's been working on the perfect funeral song for Taker. Shane hopes it's spooky. Dolph Ziggler walks up and he's not happy with Shane taking away his chance to end Kevin Owens. Shane says Ziggler can take care of another issue for them tonight. He books Ziggler vs. Reigns for tonight. Shane says they will all be out there at ringside to support Ziggler.

- Still to come, a Tag Team Title Summit.

- We see Bayley backstage walking to the ring. Back to commercial.

- Back from the break and we get a video package for Samoa Joe vs. WWE Champion Kofi Kingston at Extreme Rules. We go to pre-recorded backstage comments from Joe now. Joe promises to tear away every last shred of the lie that Kofi is on Sunday. Joe goes on and says he will put Kofi to sleep, then take the WWE Title.

- Kayla Braxton is in the ring with a mic. She introduces Nikki Cross, and says she is here to represent herself and Alexa Bliss. Cross is out for the Extreme Rules contract signing for the 2-on-1 Handicap Match for the SmackDown Women's Title.

Kayla introduces SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley next and out she comes to the table. We see what happened on last night's RAW with the Beat The Clock Challenge, Cross picking the Handicap Match stipulation for Extreme Rules, and Bayley's attack. Bayley points to Bliss not being here tonight and goes on about how she was just like Cross when she first came to WWE. Cross is upset about last night's attack. They have more words as Bayley tries to convince Cross that Bliss is using her. Bayley asks Cross if she's really OK with this, with helping someone else win a title. Bayley says she understands the odds are against her, but she's bringing her A-game and will do whatever it takes to win.

Bayley asks what will happen when Bliss loses on Sunday and then blames Cross. Bayley signs the contract. Cross says she will help h er friends but Bayley wouldn't understand that because her friends have abandoned her. Cross says Bliss isn't using her and Bliss has promised that when she wins the title on Sunday, they will be the first-ever co-champions on the blue brand. Cross signs the contract and tells Bayley to stick around for her match with Carmella, so she can show that when it's time to play, Nikki has all the fun. Carmella's music hits and out she comes.

Carmella vs. Nikki Cross

Carmella makes her way into the ring as Nikki Cross and Bayley look on. Back to commercial.

Back from the break and the bell rings as Bayley watches from a chair in front of the announcers. Cross attacks Carmella and unloads, beating her down and stopping to look at Bayley.

Cross takes it to the corner and keeps control. Cross with a dropkick. Cross keeps Carmella grounded and keeps looking out at Bayley. Carmella finally tries to make the comeback but Cross shuts her down. Cross yells out at Bayley, saying this is on her, before going back to work on Carmella. Carmella ducks a crossbody attempt and they both go down.

Carmella mounts momentum off the ropes now. Carmella runs Cross face-first into her boot in the corner. Fans pop for Carmella as she keeps control and hits the Bronco Buster in the corner. More back and forth as they tangle. Carmella with a close roll-up out of nowhere. Cross blocks another shot and hits her swinging neckbreaker, The Purge, in the middle of the ring for the pin to win.

Winner: Nikki Cross

- After the match, Cross stands tall as her music hits. She stares out at Bayley.

- The announcers discuss the feud between The Kabuki Warriors and The IIconics. We see how Asuka and Kairi Sane recently won a non-title match over Peyton Royce and Billie Kay in Tokyo, Japan, to earn a future title shot. We go backstage to Paige, Asuka and Sane confronting The IIconics now. Paige says they want to schedule their title shot for tonight. The champs say Billie is sick and they play it up. Paige says they accidentally won the titles at WrestleMania 35 and they've done nothing since but run and make excuses. Paige calls them names and slaps something to the floor. The IIconics go to stand up to them but Paige reminds them they claimed Kay is sick. Paige threatens them with the title shot to happen soon, and The IIconics walk off.

- We see Dolph Ziggler backstage preparing for his main event with Roman Reigns. Daniel Bryan and Rowan are shown walking to the ring backstage. We go to commercial.

- Back from the break and Tom shows us RAW Women's Champion Becky Lynch on the cover of the new issue of ESPN The Magazine with Alison Brie of Netflix's GLOW series.

- Kayla Braxton is backstage with Roman Reigns. She asks about the craziness of tonight and his match with Dolph Ziggler. Reigns welcomes the craziness and says Ziggler is not ready for him tonight. He also says he and The Undertaker will do their thing on Sunday, which means Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre will rest in peace.

- We go to the ring for tonight's Tag Team Title Summit as The New Day's Big E and Xavier Woods come out first. They talk about tonight's Triple Threat and the Triple Threat on Sunday. They go on and say for the first time, the members of The New Day will be able to touch their championship tips together after Extreme Rules. The music interrupts and out comes SmackDown Tag Team Champions Daniel Bryan and Rowan.

Bryan says fans are booing him but they should be booing The New Day. Bryan knocks them for gyrating and making jokes about three-ways and tips, for not taking the title shot seriously. Bryan says they're not taking it serious because when they have won titles in the past, no one takes them serious either. Woods says Bryan talks too much without ever saying anything. Woods wants to hear what Rowan has to say. Woods says Rowan confuses them because first he was taking orders from Bray Wyatt, then Luke Harper and now Bryan. Woods says they can't figure out who Rowan's daddy is. Rowan gets upset as a "who's your daddy?" chant breaks out. Bryan goes on knocking The New Day, saying they can't escape the mid-card and are just a bad comedy act, bad for the tag team division. Bryan says the only thing worst would be for Heavy Machinery to win the titles. Bryan goes on ranting about Heavy Machinery until the music interrupts. Out comes Tucker and Otis.

Tucker brags on how they took Bryan and Rowan to the limit at Stomping Grounds, and the win over Dolph Ziggler and Kevin Owens last week. Tucker says they earned this opportunity. Otis says they are blue collar solid, and Tucker says that means they overcome any obstacle. Tucker goes on and says Heavy Machinery will be the new SmackDown Tag Team Champions on Sunday, mocking Big E. Tucker says they will show everyone that there's no party like a blue collar party. Otis says tonight, Woods and Bryan have a match with him and he's coming. He heads to the ring as the music hits. Back to commercial.

Otis vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Xavier Woods

Back from the break and the match begins as the bell rings. Daniel Bryan goes to the floor as Xavier Woods and Otis face off, locking up to start.

Bryan runs in and jumps on the back of Otis after he tosses Woods. Bryan gets dropped and goes back to the floor for a breather as Woods tries to overpower Otis. Bryan runs in and joins Woods for a double suplex attempt on Otis. Otis counters and hits a double suplex on Woods and Bryan at the same time. Otis with a 2 count on Bryan. Otis whips Woods into the corner a few times. Bryan runs in but Otis plants him face-first into the mat.

Rowan interferes at one point and then drops Tucker on the floor. Rowan rocks Tucker until Big E runs over and gets involved. Tucker and Big E have words at ringside after tossing Rowan over the announce table to block a double Iron Claw attempt. The referee orders Tucker, Big E and Rowan to the back. Tom says the match has to be reset. We go to commercial as the screen splits.

Back from the break and Woods work over Bryan on the outside, sending him into the barrier. Woods brings it back into the ring and goes to the top. Woods with a missile dropkick to Bryan for a 2 count. Woods scoops Bryan but he slides out. More back and forth. Bryan blocks the Honor Roll and applies the LeBell Lock in the middle of the ring.

Otis runs in and breaks the submission. Bryan with kicks to the gut of Otis now, bringing him to his knees. Bryan with more kicks. Otis catches the roundhouse and scoops Bryan for a big slam. Woods with a kick to the face of Otis. Otis catches a move by Woods and drops him. Otis with running splashes to Woods and Bryan in the corner. Otis gets ready for The Caterpillar and hits it on Bryan, dropping the elbow. Bryan rolls to the apron to avoid the pin. Bryan superkicks Otis down. Bryan charges Woods with a running knee but Woods turns it into a Gutbuster. Bryan rolls to the floor.

Woods and Otis trade shots now. Otis with a big slam in the middle of the ring for the pin to win.

Winner: Otis

- After the match, Otis stands tall as the Heavy Machinery music hits.

- We get a video package showing what has led to the Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler feud, including today's brawl in the parking lot and tonight's opening segment with Owens and Shane McMahon.

- Ember Moon has words with Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose backstage in catering. They tell Moon to find a tag team partner for next week's show, if she can. Moon says she will do it on her own if she can't find a partner. Deville and Rose walk off.

- We see Aleister Black backstage getting mic'd up. Back to commercial.

- Back from the break and we get a new vignette from Ali, who says evil only wins when you don't show up to fight.

- The announcers go over the WWE Extreme Rules card for Sunday.

- Aleister Black joins Tom from backstage. The screen is split, one side for Black and one side for his mystery opponent. Tom says Black and his opponent have signed their contracts for a match at Extreme Rules on Sunday, but Black's opponent is choosing to remain anonymous for now. Black laughs and applauds the mystery man for staying hidden, saying it's smart and something he would've done. Black says at this point he doesn't care who the mystery man is because on Sunday, he will just walk out and... someone appears in the other split of the screen. They take a seat and it's Cesaro. Cesaro says he's the one who knocked at Black's door because he's here to pick that fight. Black says this is oh so very good, Mr. Cesaro, because this Sunday he is going to fight. Black gets up and walks away as Cesaro puts his mouthpiece back in.

- We go backstage to Shelton Benjamin. Sarah Schreiber asks him about Roman Reigns vs. Dolph Ziggler. Shelton goes to speak but just looks around and walks off.

- We see Roman Reigns and Dolph Ziggler walking backstage. We go to commercial.

- Back from the break and Kayla is backstage. Paul Heyman briefly appears and randomly walks past her. Kayla introduces her guest, WWE Champion Kofi Kingston. She brings up last week's middle finger to Samoa Joe and asks if Joe's comments from tonight have him worried about Sunday's match at Extreme Rules. Kofi dismisses Joe's mind games and says he got in Joe's head last week, which led to Trouble In Paradise upside his head. Kofi gives props to Joe as one of his most dangerous opponents yet, but he welcomes that and will be one of the greatest WWE Champions of all time.

Roman Reigns vs. Dolph Ziggler

We go to the ring for tonight's main event and out first comes Roman Reigns as Greg Hamilton does the introductions. Dolph Ziggler is out next.

They enter the ring and get ready to go but Shane McMahon's music interrupts. Out comes Shane with Elias and Drew McIntyre. They're going to watch the main event from ringside. They go over to the announcers and Shane shakes Graves' hand, but that's it. Shane then has Hamilton give him a grand introduction. Reigns looks on from the ring as we go to commercial.

Back from the break and the bell rings as they get a feel for each other. Shane is on commentary as Elias and Drew stand next to him. Shane tells them they can get a closer look at Reigns if they want. Reigns takes Ziggler to the corner and breaks as the referee warns him. Drew and Elias have moved closer to the ring for a better look at the action, to taunt Reigns. Reigns works Ziggler around the ring, from corner to corner. Reigns drops Ziggler with a big shot off the ropes. Reigns goes for a Samoan Drop but Ziggler slides out and connects with a dropkick.

Ziggler drops a big elbow on Reigns for a 2 count. Ziggler with more offense in the corner now. Ziggler with a big running splash. He goes for another but Reigns rocks him in mid-air with a right hand. Reigns comes out after Ziggler and hits a Drive By after having words for Elias, who is near Shane. Reigns and Drew have words at ringside now. Ziggler tries to take advantage from the ring. This leads to Reigns getting dropped on the floor after Elias comes from behind to distract him, and Drew shoves him into the ring post. The referee was distracted by Ziggler.

Reigns takes a big shot to the back on the outside. Ziggler brings him back in for a close 2 count. Ziggler with another elbow drop for another close 2 count. Ziggler keeps Reigns grounded in the middle of the ring now as fans try to rally for Reigns.

Ziggler with more offense and another close 2 count in the middle of the ring. Reigns finally catches Ziggler with a Samoan Drop and they both are down in the middle of the ring now. The referee counts. Reigns blocks a DDT and levels Ziggler with a clothesline. Reigns with more offense to drop Ziggler into the corner. Reigns looks out at Shane and has words for him before unloading on Ziggler with shots in the corner as fans count along. Reigns with a big boot now. Reigns calls for the Superman Punch as fans pop. Elias tries to interfere but Reigns hits him with the Superman Punch. Ziggler takes advantage and hits the Zig Zag for a close 2 count. Ziggler can't believe it.

Ziggler cranks up for the superkick now. Reigns gets up and lands a Superman Punch for another close 2 count as Ziggler kicks out just in time. Reigns readies for a Spear but Drew pulls Ziggler out of the ring to safety. Reigns runs the ropes and leaps over the top rope, taking Elias and Drew down on the floor at the same time. Ziggler comes over and drops Reigns with a superkick at ringside. Shane is in the ring now. Kevin Owens hits the ring from the crowd and drops Shane with a big Stunner for a pop.

Fans go wild as Owens escapes back through the crowd. Reigns and Ziggler come back in the ring now. Reigns blocks a Zig Zag attempt. Reigns immediately follows up with a Spear for the pin to win.

Winner: Roman Reigns

- After the match, Reigns stands tall as his music hits. They finished the match just in time as the final SmackDown before Extreme Rules quickly goes off the air after Reigns stands back up from the pin.