WWE SmackDown LIVE results, Sept. 6, 2016: Styles stoops to new lows on Ambrose ahead of Backlash
With Backlash imminent, AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose both aimed to gain the mental (and physical) advantage ahead of their WWE World Championship showdown, the final two teams for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship Tournament were decided and the six women vying for the first SmackDown Women’s Championship all looked to make a statement.
SmackDown Results : Quick Hits
- SmackDown LIVE met the Slaters
- A melee broke out during Daniel Bryan’s SmackDown Women’s Championship forum
- The Miz def. Apollo Crews
- Carmella, Natalya & Alexa Bliss def. Nikki Bella, Becky Lynch & Naomi
- American Alpha def. The Usos in the SmackDown Tag Team Championship Tournament
- Kane makes the music stop for Fandango
- Heath Slater & Rhyno def. The Hype Bros in the SmackDown Tag Team Championship Tournament
- WWE World Champion Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles face off 5 days before Backlash
SmackDown Results : Full Details
SmackDown LIVE met the Slaters
In a WWE.com exclusive prior to the start of the show, SmackDown Tag Team Championship Tournament semifinalists Heath Slater and Rhyno addressed the WWE Universe, with the entire Slater squadron in attendance, including his wife Beulah and his slew of children. Maybe the family and team bonding time is all the Cinderella story of the tournament needed to get in the zone as they prepared for their huge matchup against The Hype Bros later in the show.
A melee broke out during Daniel Bryan’s SmackDown Women’s Championship forum
SmackDown LIVE General Manager Daniel Bryan held a forum ahead of Sunday’s Six-Pack Elimination Challenge for the first-ever SmackDown Women’s Championship.
Every competitor was on edge with the huge matchup now firmly looming over all of their heads. Eventually and inevitably, chaos broke out between the six trailblazers when Carmella, Natalya and Alexa Bliss surrounded Becky Lynch in the ring, drawing Naomi and Nikki Bella to come to her aid.
Backlash had come early — both figuratively and literally — and the women doubled-down on their outburst, with a Six-Women Tag Team Match looming later in the evening.
The Miz def. Apollo Crews
In a huge rematch from SummerSlam, The Miz squared off with Apollo Crews of two Superstars with something to prove in a classic exhibition marred by interference. That’s a common occurrence, right?
Miz and Crews picked up right where they left off at SummerSlam, with both not only competing tactically, but also looking for high-impact maneuvers that could help them pull ahead the other.
Issues were complicated, however, when Dolph Ziggler, Miz’s No. 1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship at Backlash, got up from the announcer’s table — where he had been stationed during the contest — after The A-Lister incited him with a shove.
Ultimately, though, all Ziggler did was hand the titleholder some momentum, as Miz turned the tables and used Ziggler as a distraction for Crews, helping him secure the victory with the Skull-Crushing Finale.
After the match, Ziggler was fuming in the ring and standing over Miz’s Intercontinental Championship. The Showoff prompted the champion to come in the ring and take it, but Miz declined and instead had his lovely wife Maryse go in the ring and retrieve, prompting the ire of Ziggler.
Cowardly? Nah, smart.
Carmella, Natalya & Alexa Bliss def. Nikki Bella, Becky Lynch & Naomi
Throughout history there have been many unlikely pairs — Floyd Mayweather and Justin Bieber, Hamilton and Broadway, and now, especially with the SmackDown Women’s Championship Six-Pack Challenge looming, these two teams of three comprised of the SmackDown LIVE Women’s division.
The action was just as manic as it was earlier in the night with all six women wanting to both secure the win for their team and gain any possible advantage they could over the other five heading into the championship opportunity on Sunday.
In the end, Carmella yet again dropped Nikki Bella, taking advantage of the frenzy to defeat Bella with the Code of Silence.
American Alpha def. The Usos in the SmackDown Tag Team Championship Tournament
There is a longstanding logic in the NBA that a young team, no matter how talented, simply cannot win a championship before facing some real adversity. Keep that in mind.
American Alpha and The Usos went at it in this semifinals match of the SmackDown Tag Team Championship Tournament. Jimmy and Jey Uso were clearly looking to prove why they were the standard-bearers of the tag team division for years now, while Jason Jordan and Chad Gable were aiming to show why they were straight up ready to snatch that flag and run with it like they were the Team USA Basketball team on a fast break.
Why did The Usos attack American Alpha? : SmackDown LIVE, Sept. 6, 2016
After a sudden attack by The Usos right as the bell rang, Jordan and Gable ultimately prevailed by hitting Grand Amplitude within the first minute or so of the match for the victory.
Much like the late ’80s Chicago Bulls and the mid-90s Orlando Magic, however, possible adversity struck. The Usos, typically the face-painted symbols of valor in the division, uncharacteristically (and savagely) ambushed American Alpha after the match when extending their hands for a handshake, specifically targeting Gable’s knee. The Usos held Gable in a submission hold and then connected with a Samoan Splash on his prone leg.
Kane makes the music stop for Fandango
Fandango was simply dancing in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Being his usual Fandango-ey (it’s an adjective) self, Fandango found a WWE Universe member to “tango with Fandango.” Much to the delight of the SmackDown LIVE crowd, Kane came out and demonized Fandango, taking him out with a vicious Chokeslam, leaving him laying before stoically leaving.
Heath Slater & Rhyno def. The Hype Bros in the SmackDown Tag Team Championship Tournament
If you didn’t know any better, you'd hear the story of Heath Slater & Rhyno and believe it to be the plot of the next great family dramedy on USA Network … except this is as real as it gets, baby!
Slater and Rhyno looked to keep their Cinderella run in the SmackDown Tag Team Championship Tournament going, as they tangled with the always rambunctious Hype Bros.
Action was at a premium and Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley certainly didn’t back down, but in the end, a Gore from Rhyno sealed the victory and a trip to the final for Slater & Rhyno, who was now only one win away from an official SmackDown LIVE contract and a Tag Team Championship.
Will the celebration party be in the above ground pool?
WWE World Champion Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles face off 5 days before Backlash
WWE World Champion Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles went face-to-face one final time before their Backlash main event and the situation was as tense as could be.
No words were minced as the two sparred verbally as each tried to gain the mental advantage. Styles was quick (as usual) to rattle off his accomplishments, though Ambrose simply retorted by giving him an old bowling participation trophy to “celebrate” all of Styles’ accomplishments.
Ambrose also was quick to poke fun at the precarious position Styles found himself on the ropes during SmackDown LIVE last week. It was a decision he would ultimately regret when, after some more verbal warfare, Styles kicked Ambrose low, leaving the WWE World Champion in a heap of pain ahead of their clash on Sunday.