First Look at The WarGames Structure
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Welcome to SmackDown Live, only 48 hours removed from the Battleground PPV!
Jinder Mahal retained the WWE Championship against Randy Orton in the Punjabi Prison match. However, to nobody’s surprise, Orton wasn’t beaten one-on-one. In fact, it took FOUR guys for Mahal to retain, including himself, The Singh Brothers, and the return of The Great Khali. Look, I don’t like the fact that Mahal is being booked so weak, nor does the return of Khali excite me, but I do like the concept of Mahal having an impressive entourage. Mahal is a beatable Champion but he has two lackeys who will go through hell for him, and a giant to be the muscle. It’s a great sight and I’m excited to see where WWE go next with the Punjabi Posse.
Kevin Owens won the United States Championship from AJ Styles at WWE Battleground. The match itself was fine but the finish left almost everyone scratching their heads. There was a seemingly unnecessary ref bump, a series of submissions in which nobody tapped, and then a weak roll-up to finish an anti-climatic match. It definitely was a blemish on a match that was only starting to get good. However, it’s likely we’ll get the rubber match between the two at SummerSlam and so the feud will continue tonight. That being said, there are rumours that last-minute plan changes were made to allow AJ to leap into a feud with Jinder Mahal. Either way, we’ll find out soon!
The New Day won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship’s on Sunday night, following the best match on the entire card. The match was fantastic and it felt like the right time to put the titles on The New Day. It’s unclear if we’re going to get a third showdown between the two teams at SummerSlam, but seeing as SmackDown’s tag division is pretty lacking, it seems likely. I’m fine with another month of these two teams going at it but in the meantime WWE really has to build a credible contender to New Day. Speaking of other teams, The Fashion Police were once again attacked on Sunday night and we’re no closer to figuring out who perpetrated the attacks. Rumour has it that Luke Harper and Erick Rowan are behind it, and I really hope that’s the case because they could be credible contender’s to the New Day should they beat The Fashion Police.
Natalya won the Five-Way Elimination Match at WWE Battleground on Sunday night, which means she will face Naomi at SummerSlam for the Women’s Championship. These two could have a good match but I worry about the feud when it comes to the microphone. That being said, WWE would do well to include Carmella in the feud and she could easily make it more interesting in the promo department, as well as give Naomi another thing to worry about.
That’s the preview for tonight’s show, which is likely to feature the continued feuds between Corbin and Nakamura, as well as Sami Zayn and Mike Kanellis. Don’t forget to check out the Ringside News app and get talking on the Ringside Talk app! Enjoy the show!
Ross says that while this past Sunday’s Battleground PPV has been widely criticized by fans and critics alike, he doesn’t believe any of that should be placed at the feet of the talent who he thought worked very hard on Sunday night. He believes we’re living in a society where the glass is always half empty, when in reality it could be half full as well.
He says that sometimes WWE has the tendency to book themselves into a corner, and that might have been the case this past Sunday. With a Flag Match and a Punjabi Prison match, WWE removed the drama of false finishes and this might have been a negative to the show’s overall presentation.
He thought Kevin Owens and A.J. Styles had a very good match, but there was an intangible missing and that prevented it from being great. He says that if he was booking a territory today two of the first individuals he’d want to sign are Owens and Styles. Ross also thought Cena & Rusev worked hard in their match despite the live crowd being somewhat uninterested.
Ross thought all the women worked hard in their match as well and while Natalya winning was a surprise, Ross thinks this was a great booking decision by WWE. Charlotte is obviously the alpha female in WWE right now but she needs opponents, so Ross thinks it’s only a matter of time before this Natalya win results in a positive situation for Charlotte.
Shane McMahon announced on tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live that the winner of a 5-Way Elimination Match at WWE Battleground will earn a shot at the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Here is the updated card:
WWE Title: Punjabi Prison match
Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal
SmackDown Tag Team Championship
The New Day vs. The Usos
#1 Contendership for the SmackDown Women’s Championship: Fatal 5-Way
Charlotte vs. Natalya vs. Tamina vs. Becky Lynch vs. Lana
Flag match
Rusev vs. John Cena
Battleground takes place on July 23rd from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
AJ Styles won the Independence Day Battle Royal on tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live to earn a shot at Kevin Owen’s United States Championship title at the upcoming WWE Battleground event. Here is the updated card:
WWE Title: Punjabi Prison match
Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal
WWE United States Championship
AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens
SmackDown Tag Team Championship
The New Day vs. The Usos
Flag match
Rusev vs. John Cena
Battleground takes place on July 23rd from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
PWInsider has confirmed speculation that WWE is planning on bringing back the Punjabi Prison match for the upcoming WWE Battleground pay-per-view event.
PWI claims that their sources have informed them that the match will indeed taking place on the card. The match is expected to see Jinder Mahal defend his WWE Title against Randy Orton. This will be the 3rd Punjabi Prison match in WWE history.
It looks like the Punjabi Prison match may be making a return to WWE very soon.
There has been speculation that the upcoming match that is rumored to take place at July 29th WWE Battleground event between Randy Orton and Jinder Mahal will be a Punjabi Prison match. It’s being said that staff workers at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia did measurements in the arena to fit a large bamboo structure. Word also going around is that employees of WWE have been instructed to take the Punjabi Prison structure out of storage.
Pro Wrestling Sheet’s Ryan Satin mentioned on Twitter that Orton is expected to take time off but he will still be around for the Punjabi match at Battleground: