With Smackdown pre-empted in less markets this week than last week due to the NFL playoffs, the show had an increase in viewership, getting 2,084,000 viewers, up 157,000 viewers over last week. Smackdown topped all network and cable television with a 0.47 rating in the 18-49 demo, up 0.03 from last week. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Edge hints at retirement match in Toronto in 2023
Following the conclusion of Monday Night Raw, Edge addressed the hometown crowd and hinted at a retirement, again, in 2023.
The WWE Hall of Famer mentioned that 30 years ago, he had his first wrestling match and knew that one day, he’d be standing there in the middle of the ring in front of thousands of people.
“What I didn’t dream of is that I would have to retire for nine years and fight…fight with every fiber of my being to get this back,” Edge said, crediting the fans for helping him return to the ring.
“I can’t wait to come back, hopefully, one last time, one last time here in Toronto,” he continued.
Edge said that WWE usually comes to Canada in August, so he plans on seeing everyone again in a year’s time.
“And in a perfect world, we all say goodbye to each other that night. Hey, but that’s okay man, this is the place for me to do it, okay?” he continued.
Edge said he loves all the fans and loves being a Canadian and then started a “Go Leafs Go” chant.
After #WWERAW went of the air Edge revealed that he wants to have his final match next August in 2023 in Toronto Canada.
Omg… pic.twitter.com/J8IQMLtY8t
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) August 23, 2022
Monday Night Raw TV report for 08/22/2022
Arena: Scotiabank Arena
City: Toronto, ON Canada
Raw opens with Riddle and Seth Rollins fighting in the backstage area. The fight continues out into the crowd. Officials finally get the two separated.
Trish Stratus comes out and she says it feels good to be home and she isn’t talking about Toronto she is talking about this ring. She said she has been doing a lot of thinking lately and she is interrupted by Bayley, Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai.
Bayley says she is the past so who do you think you are? Bianca Belair comes out, Bianca says Trish is a trailblazer and Bayley needs to stop being disrespectful. Trish takes her jacket off and says she can go from being retired to being unretired real quick if she doesn’t stop running her mouth.
Bayley says Trish is stupid because there is 3 of them and only 2 of them. Alexa Bliss and Asuka come out and Trish says that is 4. Trish’s music starts to play and both groups stay in the ring and talk.
Dakota Kai & Iyo Sky VS. Alexa Bliss & Asuka in a Women’s Tag Team Title Tournament Match
Iyo Sky hit the blind tag on Dakota as Asuka locked in the Asuka Lock on Dakota and tapped. As Asuka started to celebrate, Iyo comes in and rolls up Asuka for the win.
Winners: Dakota Kai & Iyo Sky
Dolph Ziggler is interviewed and is asked how he plans to overcome his loss to Theory last week. Ziggler said he just wanted to help him and Finn Balor comes in and says he makes him sick. Finn says you can’t teach him nothing and Dolph says there is one thing he can teach him and smacks Finn in the face. His music starts to play, he looks back and asks if he’s just going to lay there or come to the ring?
Dolph Ziggler VS. Finn Balor
Rhea Ripley gets involved letting Finn slam Dolph and hit the Coup de Grace for the win.
Winner: Finn Balor
Bayley tells Aliyah that she is stupid for being there alone and Trish walks in and says who says she is alone. Aliyah challenges Bayley for a match tonight.
Adam Pearce walks by looking worried with two other guys holding a picture with a big Red X over someone.
Alpha Academy come out for their open challenge
Chad Gable VS. Kevin Owens
Owens hits a pop up powerbomb for the win.
Winner: Kevin Owens
After the match, Otis attacks Kevin Owens, they fight outside and get back in the ring and finally hit Otis with a Stunner and then powerbombed Gable onto Otis.
Bayley VS. Aliyah
Bayley slams Aliyah face first in the ring for the win.
Winner: Bayley
Ciampa & The Miz VS. A.J. Styles & Bobby Lashley
After the Miz is knocked outside, Dexter Lumis appears in the crowd and grabs the Miz and drags him up the steps to the back, ending the match in a DQ.
Winners by DQ: The Miz & Ciampa
After the match, Ciampa attacked Bobby Lashley, but Styles stops the attack with a phenomenal forearm and then a spear from Lashley.
Johnny Gargano makes his return. The crowd chants “Johnny Wrestling”. After a few minutes Gargano lays the microphone down and stirs the crowd up. He says surprise everyone! You will never lose if you bet on yourself and that is what he is doing in Toronto, betting on himself because Johnny Wrestling is back in WWE.
Theory comes out and asks if this is real right now? The fans start chanting “Who’s your Daddy?” Theory says everything Johnny dreamed of, he already done it. He offers Johnny to carry the Money in the Bank briefcase and he could show him the way. If not, Johnny should just go away. He said for old time’s sake, they can do the high five and held out his hand and started yelling give it to me and Gargano superkicked him in the face.
They announce WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle will be live next week on Raw.
Damian Priest VS. Edge
Edge hits a Canadian Destroyer and then the spear for the win.
Winner: Edge
After the match, Edge went to go for the conchairto on Priest but Rhea Ripley comes out and gives Edge a low blow. Finn Balor is out and hits a Coup de Grace on Edge. As they are attempting to bring more chairs in the ring, Beth Phoenix grabs on of the chairs and holds the Judgment Day off as they back out of the ring.
Johnny Gargano returns to WWE on Raw
Former NXT champion Johnny Gargano has retuned to WWE and made a surprise appearance last night on Monday Night Raw live from Toronto.
Gargano’s arrival was met with a big pop from the sold out crowd and he explained where he has been for the past several months, taking care of his baby, who he called Baby Wrestling.
But Gargano still had dreams of becoming a WWE champion and even headlining WrestleMania one day and said he had to teach his son that dreams could come true. He then announced that Johnny Wrestling is back in WWE.
That prompted the arrival of Theory, a former member of Gargano’s faction in NXT. Theory offered to show Gargano “the way” on the main roster and said he would mentor him just like Johnny mentored him in NXT.
Theory went to high-five Gargano at the end but was met with a superkick to the face for his trouble.
This was Gargano’s first time on WWE television since the December 7, 2021 episode of NXT where he had his farewell speech.
Over 13,000 fans to jam pack Scotiabank Arena in Toronto for Raw tonight
Monday Night Raw is live from Toronto, Canada and over 13,000 fans are expected at the Scotiabank Arena to welcome WWE back for the first time since the pandemic started. The show will be close to a complete sell out and might be sold out by the time 8PM hits.
Tonight’s show will feature Edge’s first match in Toronto in 12 years as the Rated-R Superstar will go against Damian Priest of Judgment Day.
Speaking of Toronto, another WWE Hall of Famer, Trish Stratus, will be appearing live on the broadcast as well. The seven-time WWE Women’s champion was also at the two non-televised live events in Kingston and London, Ontario over the weekend. It has not been announced what Trish will be doing.
The only other match announced for tonight is the semi final in the WWE Women’s Tag Team title tournament with Asuka and Alexa Bliss taking on Dakota Kai and IO SKY.
WWE referee Shawn Bennett wins 24/7 title for a few seconds at house show
WWE referee Shawn Bennett won the 24/7 title last night in London, Ontario, but the celebration only lasted around 10 seconds.
Nikki A.S.H. was the first one to win the title in a triple threat match involving champion Dana Brooke and Tamina. Then Nikki was pinned by the referee, who was pinned by Tamina, who was pinned by Dana Brooke to regain the title.
Bennett uploaded a photo holding up the 24/7 title on his Instagram, writing, “Proof that ANYTHING can happen at #WWELive!”
Since this happened at a non-televised live event, WWE does not list 24/7 title changes as an official title change. Nikki A.S.H., Tamina, and Brooke exchanged the titles a couple of times this past weekend in Kingston and London.
WWE Superstore to open in Cardiff city center for Clash at the Castle event
WWE will be putting up a superstore in Cardiff for Clash at the Castle where fans can purchase their merchandise prior to the show and avoid the long lines at the stadium.
The store, located on the lower level of St David’s Dewi Sant, will open on Thursday, September 1 and will be open till Sunday, September 4.
Opening times will be from 9:30AM till 8PM on Thursday and Friday, from 9:30AM till 7PM on Saturday, and from 11AM till 5PM on Sunday.
St David’s is one of the principal shopping centers in the city and features over 150 shops, restaurants, and cafes with brands like Apple, Breitling, Ecco, Foot Locker, Fossil, H&M, Lego, Levi’s, and many others.
The mall is conveniently located just half a mile by walk from the Principality Stadium.
Tenille Dashwood confirmes departure from Impact Wrestling
Tenille Dashwood has indeed left Impact Wrestling and the 33-year-old confirmed the news on Twitter yesterday, posting an image of the definition of free agent.
Dashwood signed with Impact Wrestling in the Summer of 2019 following a stint with Ring of Honor and was lately part of a tag team with Madison Rayne called The Influence.
Rayne also left Impact and is now part of AEW where she serves as a coach for the women’s division as well as an on-screen talent.
The two are former Impact Knockouts Tag Team champions and lost the titles to Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie at Slammiversary this past June.
Dashwood’s final match for the promotion aired on the July 14 episode of Impact Wrestling, losing to Marsha Slamovich.
Jeff Jarrett gone from WWE…again!
Jeff Jarrett, who up until last week held the title of WWE Senior Vice President of Live Events, has left the company once again. The news was originally reported by PWInsider.com.
It is unclear if Jeff’s departure was his decision or if he was let go.
He returned to WWE in May of this year to assume that position after working as a producer the previous year. Jeff’s relationship with WWE has been that of a revolving door as he’s been in and out several times over the past couple of years.
The WWE Hall of Famer had an on-screen role at SummerSlam where he was the special guest referee for The Usos vs The Street Profits and the next day he was busy tag teaming himself with Jay Lethal vs Ric Flair and Andrade in Flair’s last match.
Is Tenille Dashwood gone from Impact Wrestling?
It appears that Tenille Dashwood has departed Impact Wrestling and her profile is no longer part of the current roster website.
The 33-year-old Australian has not appeared on Impact TV for nearly a month, wrestling her latest match for the promotion against Masha Slamovich.
Dashwood went back home and wrestled for WSW in Australia in July and her last match was on July 11 against Chelsea Green as part of the WSW Phoenix Rising show.
There has been no confirmation from Impact Wrestling on her status.
The former Emma in WWE revealed earlier this month that she is now dating WWE Superstar Madcap Moss.
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn reunite after Smackdown goes off the air in Montreal
Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens shared a wholesome moment after Smackdown went off the air in Montreal on Friday.
With Zayn in the ring following the conclusion of the main event face to face, Kevin Owens came out to another thunderous hometown pop. Owens said that if it wasn’t for Zayn the he would not be in the WWE today and Zayn was too good to be The Tribal Chief’s bitch!
Zayn was not happy that Owens was trying to ruin the moment they were having or the relationship he has with The Bloodline and that prompted the arrival of Riddle, who came out to smooth things over between the two friends and rivals.
Riddle was trying his best to get Owens and Zayn to hug and after some effort, the two finally hugged as fans popped big. Riddle tried to make it a three-way affair by joining in on the hug but Zayn hilariously pushed him out.
https://twitter.com/AmandaCaliber/status/1560826358015705088
https://twitter.com/AmandaCaliber/status/1560827314988093441
Amidst AEW backstage turmoil, CM Punk reflects on return one year on
It’s been one whole year since CM Punk returned to the crazy, whacky world of professional wrestling with All Elite Wrestling during a highly-anticipated broadcast of Rampage from the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
Marketed as the “First Dance,” a take on the Chicago Bulls’ “Last Dance” documentary, CM Punk’s Cult of Personality theme kicked off the show to a monstrous pop, only for the decibels to get higher once the words “CM Punk” and the man himself showed up on the screen and from under the tunnel.
It marked Punk’s first time in front of a wrestling audience in seven long years and the 15,000-plus AEW crowd showed their love and then some.
“One year ago began the best year of my professional career. Too many great moments, not enough space to post all the great pics,” CM Punk wrote in a post on Instagram to mark the occasion.
“Rekindled passion, made new friends, reunited with old ones. Can’t stop smiling, won’t stop until the wheels fall off,” he said.
Coincidentally enough, one year on, AEW top talent are said to be on the brink of despair as lack of leadership at the top and backstage drama is complicating the once calm, happy workplace.
Punk, the current AEW World champion, is still living like a king and the very public adulation from AEW President Tony Khan and of course, the fans, ensures that his place remains intact.
“Thank you most of all to all the fans who made it possible. I’m having the time of my life, as there’s a drive into deep left field by Castellanos and that’ll be a home run. And so that’ll make it a 4-0 ballgame,” he concluded.
Clash at the Castle to air live on BT Sport 2 in the UK
The Clash at the Castle premium live event will be airing live on BT Sport 2 in the United Kingdom on Saturday, September 3.
Originally, the show was scheduled to air on BT Sport Box Office, the pay-per-view channel for BT, but it was announced today by BT Sport that the event will now be free for all BT Sport subscribers. BT Sport has around 4 million subscribers in the UK.
This will be the first WWE stadium show in the United Kingdom in 30 years, with the last one being SummerSlam 1992 in Wembley Stadium.
As you can probably guess, their is major hype for Clash at the Castle in the UK with nearly 70,000 fans expected to descent upon Cardiff to see the show headlined by Drew McIntyre vs Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal title.
Tickets still remain but it is expected that Clash at the Castle will be close to a sell-out come September 2.
Semi final matches for the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles tournament set
The two semi final matches in the WWE Women’s Tag Team title tournament are now set and will take place next week.
Toxic Attraction, who were not even supposed to be part of the tournament, advanced yesterday on Smackdown after Gigi Dolin and Jayc Jayne beat Natalya and Sonya Deville. They will now face Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah on Smackdown.
Meanwhile over at Raw, it will be former NXT Women’s champion IO SKY teaming up with Dakota Kai to take on former Raw Women’s champions Alexa Bliss and Asuka.
It was not announced when the final match will take place and it is highly unlikely that it will happen at Clash at the Castle as all four women part of the Raw semi final are involved in a six-woman tag match in Cardiff.
Impact rating for 08/18/2022
Impact Wrestling drew just 92,000 viewers this week, the second least-watched Impact episode of 2022 so far. That was down 39,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. The show did a 0.02 rating in the 18-49 demo, down 0.01 from last week. It failed to make it in the top 150 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Sheamus gets Intercontinental title shot at Clash at the Castle
Sheamus is looking to be a grand slam champion at Clash at the Castle as the Celtic Warrior won a fatal-five way match on Smackdown to become the new number one contender for Gunther’s Intercontinental title.
The IC title is the missing piece of the puzzle for Sheamus to join an elite group of Superstars who have held all major titles in the company. He’s a former three-time WWE champion, former one-time World Heavyweight champion, former three-time United States champion, former four-time Raw Tag Team champion, former one-time Smackdown Tag Team champion, King of the Ring winner, Money in the Bank winner, and Royal Rumble winner.
Sheamus was involved in a match against hometown hero Sami Zayn, Happy Corbin, Ricochet, and Madcap Moss and pinned Corbin following a Brogue Kick for the win.
Clash at the Castle will now pit the two European stars against each other and becomes the fifth match on the card.
Other matches include Roman Reigns vs Drew McIntyre for the Undisputed WWE Universal title, Liv Morgan vs Shayna Baszler for the Smackdown Women’s title, Seth Rollins vs Riddle, and a six-woman tag match with Bayley, Dakota Kai, and IO SKY vs Bianca Belair, Asuka, and Alexa Bliss.
Casino ladder match added to All Out 2022
A Casino Ladder match has been announced for the upcoming All Out pay-per-view.
But the announcement had no other details and made no mention if it’s going to be a men’s or a women’s match.
The rules of the Casino Ladder match are simple: two competitors begin and then they are joined by a new addition every 90 seconds. Whoever retrieves the poker chip is declared the winner. There’s also usually a Joker in the match and the last entrant is a surprise.
The winner of the match gets a future title shot in AEW and the rules are pretty the same for both the men and women’s matches.
With two weeks out, All Out has just four matches announced so far including this one, with the others being Thunder Rosa vs Toni Storm for the AEW Women’s title, Wardlow and FTR vs Jay Lethal, Satnam Singh, and Sonjay Dutt, and the finals of the AEW World Trios title tournament.
Trish Stratus to appear on Raw from Toronto
WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus will be appearing on Monday Night Raw live from her hometown of Toronto as the show rolls into the Scotiabank Arena.
This weekend, Stratus will also be appearing at two non-televised live events in Kingston and London, Ontario.
This will be Stratus’ first appearance on Raw since 2019 where she also wrestled ahead of her match against Charlotte Flair that Summer.
The seven-time women’s champion has been going back and forth with Bayley on social media with Bayley eventually saying she always liked Lita better. Stratus responded by telling her that she always liked Sasha better.
Rampage TV report for 08/19/2022
Arena: Charleston Coliseum
City: Charleston, WV
Last Week’s Rating: 528,000 overall; 0.17 in 18-49 demo
Holier-than-thou CM Punk made his return Wednesday. Doing ‘champ shit’ by burying a guy, knowing he’s unable to respond, rather than talking to him man-to-man. Hell, punching him in the face would’ve been better. He completely undercut Hangman in a way which could potentially damage his livelihood. Seems like all of his excuses about being a jerk because he was burnt-out & miserable at work were just that.
And if Meltzer’s to be believed, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
And now…
It’s Saturday morning, and you know what that means… it’s time for our Rampage Review!
Kicking-off with Claudio, the Swiss made his way to the ring, stopping for a moment with Ricky Steamboat, calling him a ‘legend’. Made an open challenge for next week, accepted by Dustin Rhodes, who was excellent on the mic as usual. But this makes yet another match with no build and an obvious outcome. For the ROH title, because of course.
BTW, can we change the name of the company to Open Challenge Wrestling? Because that’s all anyone ever does. It’s boring. Two of tonight’s five matches were the result of open challenges. How ‘bout using them ranking thingies and challenging the highest-ranked guy?
Ruby Soho & Ortiz were with Lexy, seems there’s a match coming with Sammy & Tay for next week. A bit over the top.
Swerve in our Glory vs Private Party, AEW tag titles
Backstory: PP challenged the champs last week
The champions grudgingly accepted this challenge, completely dismissing their opponents as worthy contenders. Didn’t seem like they were wrong as they played off the biel Lee gave Kassidy on his debut, double-chopping the little guy, tagging in Swerve for a sloppy exchange with Isiah, leading to a beautiful tornillo by Kassidy as the ads arrived.
Running through both Partiers single-handedly, Lee absolutely annihilated Quen with a pounce, tagging-in Swerve who hit a kick to the head for 2, then dismissed him with a ‘JML Driver’. PP did an excellent job making Lee look a monster. Evidently the big man agreed, offering fist-bumps and handshakes to the duo post-match.
The tag titles have been in steady decline this year. Challengers of this caliber don’t help. Title matches should mean something, i.e. I shouldn’t be able to confidently fill-in the ‘WINNER’ section before they happen.
WINNER: Swerve in our Glory
Powerhouse Hobbs interrupted the Factory backstage. After threatening them, the group promised to take care of Starks.
Hook vs Zack Clayton, FTW title
Backstory: Clayton challenged Hook last week
I’d like to believe that Hook was picturing anyone who’s ever participated in reality television while doing what he did to Clayton here. Redrum in under 30 seconds.
Switchblade (not that one) & Shouty appeared. Seems Angelo Parker is next. Yawn.
WINNER: Hook
Billy Gunn promised to ‘spank’ his kids next week and is bringing the Acclaimed with him.
A replay was shown of La Faccion de-masking Dragon Lee on Wednesday, since we barely saw it as they rushed (no pun intended) off the air. If you want it to mean something, maybe don’t squeeze an unmasking on top of a former champion’s return.
Buddy Matthews vs Serpentico
Backstory: None
This was a standby match. The folks in charge seemingly expecting Zack Clayton to go the distance with Hook. The show will now have more matches in one hour than Dynamite had in two.
The graphic told us Matthews has been here since February!!?
Matthews won quickly with a pump-handle variation. Explosive athlete, would love to see more of him.
Post-match, Miro attacked, bringing Malakai’s mask with him. Another staredown with Julia Hart in amongst battering Buddy, who barely got a lick in. God’s Champion was very over, methinks he’ll help the Dark Order win in the trios tournament, then team with Sting & Darby at the PPV.
WINNER: Buddy Matthews
Britt Baker et al. were with Lexy, said the ‘shitstorm’ that is ThunderStorm is about to implode. Meanwhile, the most recent female title-contender said and did almost nothing.
Athena vs Penelope Ford
Backstory: Ford’s return to TV after several months
Nice pop for Penelope as she came out. Jericho talked about Athena’s ring gear, telling us it was self-made.
Athena taunted Ford by exposing her face then darting out the way, snapping into a tight armdrag and a step-up knee strike before Ford responded by crushing her against the ropes with a dropkick to the back. Kip Sabian was shown in the crowd just as Ford landed a beautiful flip attack to the outside with Athena stranded on the apron.
Break time.
We came back just in time to see Athena land a running dropkick into the railings, then hit the O-Face for the inevitable victory. It’s a shame we didn’t see more of this: both ladies are very athletic and it showed.
Afterward, Athena was attacked by Leila Gray & Kiera Hogan, leaving JaHHHde to smash her gear (sort of, it didn’t really work) with a sledgehammer before attacking Athena herself.
If they’re actually planning to have Athena defeat Cargill, they probably should have been preparing her, rather than forgetting she existed. And if they’re not, who the hell’s going to?
It’s as if the entire women’s division is glitching and they can’t stop it playing Britt vs Thunder/Jade vs next victim over & over & over.
WINNER: Athena
Best Friends & Orange Cassidy vs Trustbusters, R1: Trios Tourn
Backstory: Daivari’s trying to recruit Cassidy, who beat him last week but was then attacked by Boudreaux
When the ratings’ down, on your second show, who ya gonna call…? TRUSTBUSTERS!
In an otherwise awesome-looking tournament, this is the only letdown. Even the Dark Order at least have a storyline reason to be in it. But what about Wardlow & FTR? Danielson, Cesaro & Yuta? To really establish a new title, it’d be great if all the top guys wanted in.
No reaction whatsoever to the ‘Busters entrance.
Slim J, who’s like a caricature of a caricature, squared off with Trent but was dropped via combination crucifix bomb by the Friends. After breaking up the fall, Daivari ate a dropkick from Trent as Boudreaux broke-in, knocking all three faces to the outside.
JR was basically having Athena’s finish over Boudreaux.
Back from the break, J was dropped via half-&-half as Cassidy came in with the kicks, diving cross body from the top, swinging ddt on Daivari before calling-in Boudreaux. The Friends were in too; Boudreaux again ran through all three until a triple dropkick sent him outside.
A frogsplash from Daivari grabbed a 2 in just the second pin attempt in a tournament match with championships on the line. Boudreaux was dropped on the outside with an Orange Punch. Sonny interfered, allowing Daivari to tag-in J. Danhausen then appeared with the Curse – this guy makes a one-trick-pony seem versatile – leaving J to be crushed by Cassidy as he dropped from the Friends’ shoulders, onto Slim as they held him in place.
At least the ending was good, establishing a unique triple-team finish as the tournament continues. I’ve seen all I care to of the Trustbusters.
WINNER: Best Friends
Next Dynamite:
- Death Triangle vs Will Ospreay & Aussie Open, R1: Trios Tourn.
- Dax vs Lethal
- Punk vs Moxley, AEW World Title
- Ricky Starks promo
- Billy Gunn vs Colten Gunn (pushed as a 1st ever dad vs son match, is that a good thing?)
- Britt Baker vs KiLynn King
Next Rampage:
- Dark Order vs House of Black, R1: Trios Tourn.
- Dustin Rhodes vs Claudio Castagnoli, ROH World Title
Added to All Out:
- Casino Ladder Match (MJF wins, you heard it here first)
Overall impressions
On Wednesday, I talked about leaving viewers with questions they wanted answers to. Tonight’s questions had easier replies: Are there any matches you have to see? No. Any unpredictable outcomes? No. Could you miss this show and still be good for Dynamite? Yes.
Check Out…
- Smackdown
Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend!
Smackdown TV report for 08/19/2022
Arena: Bell Center
City: Montreal, QB Canada
Ronda Rousey comes out and demands that her suspension gets lifted and calls out Adam Pearce. Pearce comes out with four security guards and says her suspension is above his pay grade and she needs to leave the arena peacefully.
Two of the guards get in the ring to try and get Ronda to leave but she attacks them and puts one in the armbar. Pearce waves his arm to get more help out there. Two police officers come out and handcuff Ronda and escort her out of the ring area.
They escort Ronda to a police car and leave. After they left, we are shown Roman Reigns arriving.
Natalya & Sonya Deville VS. Gigi Dolan & Jayce Jayne in a Women’s Tag Team Title Tournament Match
Bayley, Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky had front row seats.
End saw Natalya go for the sharpshooter and get rolled up for the pin by Dolan.
Winners: Gigi Dolan & Jayce Jayne (Toxic Attraction)
Sami Zayn is shown walking in the back and knocks on Roman Reigns door. Sami complains a bit about how Jey is so ungrateful and Roman hilariously agrees. Roman says he shouldn’t be talking to him, he should be talking to Jimmy. Roman’s phone rung and Sami answers it. After talking to Jey, he says he will tell him and to stop screaming. Sami leaves and Roman sits back with a disgusted look on his face.
Maximum Male Models began talking about the 1200 episode of Smackdown and Hit Row comes out. Hit Row throw the Maximum Male Models out of the ring and started singing. Maxine was shown dancing to Hit Row and Max pulls her to the back.
Sheamus VS. Ricochet VS. Madcap Moss Vs. Happy Corbin VS. Sami Zayn
The winner gets a shot at the Intercontinental Championship at Clash at the Castle
Sami Zayn comes out after leaving with a shoulder injury. Corbin pulls him out as he attempted to pin Ricochet and slams him against the ring post. Corbin then goes to get Ricochet who is in the ring and Sheamus gets back in the ring hits Corbin with a Brogue Kick right to the face of Corbin for the win.
Winner: Sheamus
We are shown a ritual of the Viking Raiders
They show the contract signing with Liv Morgan and Shayna Baszler.
Liv Morgan is interviewed and says she knows she has a huge target on her back.
Shotzi is interviewed and says Liv is going to need a robot arm.
Liv Morgan VS. Shotzi
Liv hits oblivion on Shotzi for the win.
Winner: Liv Morgan
After the match, Shayna Baszler attacks Liv.
Drew McIntyre is shown in the back with an hourglass sitting on the ledge.
Drew McIntyre goes face to face with Roman Reigns before their match at Clash at the Castle.
Drew tells Roman he doesn’t deserve to be the champion. And they begin to argue.
Drew rips his shirt off and Roman starts punching him and they begin to fight and Drew tosses Roman over his head. Drew sets up for the Claymore but nails Sami Zayn who came in out of nowhere. Roman then gives Drew a superman punch and goes for a spear but Drew hits Roman with a Claymore instead. Drew then holds both titles up over a fallen Reigns.