Good evening Fight Fans and welcome to our coverage for tonight's edition of WWE Smackdown on FOX headlined by an Intercontinental Championship match between AJ Styles and Matt Riddle!
- We open the show with promos by Intercontinental champion AJ Styles and the challenger for his title Matt Riddle before various other Superstars talk about the rest of tonight's show, including, but not limited to Alexa Bliss and Braun Strowman.
New Day vs Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura
E and Cesaro start things off for their respective teams, the action quickly ending up at ringside where E spears Cesaro into the steps and E hits the post once they're back in the ring. Cesaro hits a powerslam for two and climbs to the top before E catches him and hits several overhead belly to belly suplexes and a jumping splash before dragging Cesaro out onto the apron and hitting him with clubbing blows. E then hits a splash on to the apron and talks trash to Shin at ringside as we go to commercial.
E hits a uranage as we come back to the action before Cesaro boots him from the apron when he goes for a spear and Cesaro hits a springboard uppercut for two. E locks in a stretch muffler that Cesaro counters into a swing and a sharpshooter before transitioning to cross face. Shin then kicks E when Cesaro distracts the referee before Cesaro finishes E with a Neutralizer for the pin and the win.
Winner: Cesaro defeats Big-E via pinfall.
- Kofi attacks Cesaro and Shin after the match before New Day send Cesaro and Shinsuke up the ramp.
- We go backstage to an interview with Baron Corbin where he talks Matt Riddle's challenging AJ for the Intercontinental title and casts his doubts about the new Smackdown Superstar winning the title.
- We then see the production crew getting the ring ready for A Moment of Bliss up next as we go to commercial.
- We come back to Shin and Cesaro backstage where they try to decide what match they're going to want to have when they challenge New Day for the tag belts at Extreme Rules before they decide on a tables match.
- We go to the ring for tonight's edition of A Moment of Bliss where Alexa makes several predictions about tonight's show and the show Sunday night before Nikki interrupts Alexa and thinks that she's Alexa's special guest. Nikki says that she's going to become the next Women's champion before Alexa interrupts her and starts to announce the guest before they're interrupted by Sasha Banks and Bayley. Bayley and Sasha make their way down to the ring, Bayley telling Nikki to get used to being disappointed and Sasha telling her that she'll be in Alexa's shadow after she fails to become the champion. Bayley and Sasha say that they are the only reason the Women's Evolution is even a thing before they get into the ring and Bayley says that they'll both be victorious in their matches. The four square off before Alexa introduces her special mystery guest, RAW Women's champion Asuka.
The four then brawl before Asuka runs down and helps Bliss and Cross clear the ring as we go to commercial.
- We go backstage to Drew Gulak sparring with Matt Riddle before we go to Daniel Bryan in the woods where he talks about how Matt could be a great champion or he could fizzle up and burn out.
Asuka & Nikki Cross vs Bayley & Sasha Banks
Nikki and Bayley start the match off with Nikki taking Bayley down repeatedly before sending her face first into the top turnbuckle and stomping her before Bayley sends Nikki into the corner. Nikki sends Bayley out onto the apron before Sasha distracts the referee and Bayley drops Nikki from behind when she's focused on Sasha trying to enter the match. Sasha comes in legally and suplexes Nikki for two before Bayley comes back in and kicks Nikki before choking her in the ropes. Sasha sends Nikki neck first into the middle rope when Bayley distracts the referee before Sasha and Bayley start chaining together tags and offense. Bayley and Sasha isolate Nikki and keep her from Asuka before she slides through Bayley's legs and tags in the RAW Women's champion.
Asuka takes out both Sasha and Bayley when Sasha tags herself in before Sasha hits a head scissors that sends Asuka out of the ring and Asuka traps her in the tarp of the apron. Nikki then comes in and she and Asuka take turns beating on Sasha trapped in the tarp before climbing onto the announce table and dancing as we go to commercial.
We come back to the action in the ring to Asuka rolling Sasha up for two before Sasha comes back and stomps Asuka in the corner before Bayley comes in and Asuka gets two off of a back slide. Sasha locks in a straight armbar with a chin bar and drives Asuka into the corner when she gets to her feet and Bayley tags herself in before Asuka rolls her up for two. Nikki gets the hot tag and clotheslines Sasha repeatedly before dropkicking her and hitting a monkey flip into a running splash and bulldog for two. Nikki misses a diving cross body before Sasha hits a basement dropkick for two and drags Nikki to the corner before Nikki jumps up and hits Bayley when she climbs up top. They end up at ringside before Nikki hits a tornado DDT off of the announce table and rolls Bayley back inside for a near fall that Sasha breaks up.
Asuka then takes out Sasha at ringside before Bayley counters another tornado DDT and pins Bayley with a leverage pin using the ropes for the win.
Winner: Bayley defeats Nikki Cross via pinfall.
- We get a graphic for a new Firefly Fun House later tonight before we go backstage where The Miz and John Morrison talk about horror movie cliches and Morrison's match against Braun up next as we go to commercial.
- We come back to a segment of the Firefly Fun House in which Bray is in his cult leader outfit and talks about his challenging Braun for the Universal Championship this Sunday night at Extreme Rules.
John Morrison w/ The Miz vs Braun Strowman
Braun nearly throws John out of the ring before beating him down and chokeslamming him with both hands before Braun starts laughing. Braun then locks in a standing arm triangle choke before hitting a running powerslam for the pin and the win.
Winner: Braun Strowman defeats John Morrison via pinfall.
- Braun gets on the mic after the match and says that he hopes Bray was watching and that he's going to go home before he leaves and medics come out and help him out of the ring. Miz then helps John leave up the ramp as Lacey Evans comes out to the ramp as we go to commercial.
Lacey Evans vs Naomi
Naomi counters a drop toe hold and sends Lacey out onto the apron before sweeping her legs and hitting a slingshot elbow drop for two before countering a moonsault by Evans. Naomi then ducks The Woman's Right before hitting a head scissors and a roundhouse kick before Lacey uses Naomi's hair to tie her up and hits her with The Woman's Right once she gets free for the pin and the win.
Winner: Lacey Evans defeats Naomi via pinfall.
- Jeff Hardy is interviewed backstage where he says that he can't run from Sheamus and that he has to face him like he has his demons before Sheamus lays him out from behind and says he'll see him next week as we go to commercial.
- We come back to Alexa and Nikki talking before Nikki attacks Sasha and Bayley when she seems them laughing off camera before Alexa drags her off as we go back to commercial.
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
AJ Styles (c) vs Matt Riddle
Matt backs AJ into the ropes for a clean break before Matt goes to take AJ down and AJ backs Matt into the corner before hitting him with shoulder thrusts in the midsection. Matt then hits several gut wrench suplexes before AJ rolls out of the ring and Matt hits a baseball slide before dropping AJ with a boot at ringside as we go to commercial.
Matt takes AJ down and goes for a Fujiwara armbar before AJ gets free and Matt slams him back down to the mat when AJ gets to his feet. Matt hits a northern lights suplex for two before AJ drops him throat first across the top rope and hits a sit-out reverse facebuster. AJ beats Matt down and stomps him before focusing on his legs to set up the Calf Crusher before locking in a rear headlock before Matt gets to his feet and hits AJ with several running forearms in the corner. Matt then hits a running senton into a PK before hitting a BTS and a Final Flash knee for two as we go to commercial.
We come back to Matt suplexing AJ before hitting him with a flurry of strikes in the corner before AJ drops him with a superkick and drops him with a stiff forearm in the corner. AJ hits a jumping clothesline in the corner and goes for a suplex before Matt hits a ripcord knee and climbs to the top before missing a corkscrew senton when AJ gets out of the way. Matt grabs the ropes when AJ goes for a Styles Clash and gets hit with a brainbuster for a near fall by AJ before hitting a Styles Clash for another near fall and Matt counters The Phenomenal Forearm. AJ then locks in the Calf Crusher before Matt turns it into a Twister that AJ counters into a jack knife cover for the win.
Winner: AJ Styles retains his Intercontinental Championship by defeating Matt Riddle via pinfall.
- AJ and Matt shake hands after the match before Matt is attacked from behind by Baron Corbin who nearly beats him unconscious before hitting The End of Days and leaving before we go to a replay of the beat down as we go off the air.
