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WWE SmackDown Live Results – July 4 2017

Welcome to the 4th of July edition of SmackDown Live, in which an American hero returns to WWE: John Cena!

The 16-time WWE World Champion makes his grand return to WWE for the first time since WrestleMania, the big difference now is that Cena is a free agent. Which is essentially an excuse for him to work both Raw and SmackDown, which I would have been mad about a few years ago, but now Cena’s career is winding down I have no complaints with him working programs with as many people as possible! Who does Cena jump into a feud with in the near future? It seems inevitable that he will work with Jinder Mahal but he’s tied-up with Orton until after Battleground, so that leaves the window open for big match John to have a quick win to give him some momentum and an excuse to challenge for the title. So maybe the likes of Dolph Ziggler will step-up for a month. We should know by the end of tonight!

Elsewhere on tonight’s show, we will get a huge 4th of July Battle Royale to determine the number one contender to Kevin Owens’ US Championship. It’s unclear who will partake in the match but we do know AJ Styles is a participant and the most likely to win since he’s been gunning for a rematch with Owens after losing at WWE Backlash. I would also expect Sami Zayn, Luke Harper and Baron Corbin to take part in the multi-man match, with Owens watching from ringside. Heck, maybe even Cena will throw his hat in the ring!

Naomi and Lana seem set to lock horns again, probably at Battleground, as Lana made the legitimate claim that her shoulder wasn’t on the mat. So I would expect Lana to come out tonight and make that claim to the entire WWE Universe, as well as her request for a third shot at the title. Meanwhile The New Day and The Uso’s will partake in a rap battle tonight, with famous rapper Wale set to host the contest.  The Uso’s have been fantastic since turning heel and winning the titles, particularly in all of their Talking Smack promo’s, so tonight’s segment should be entertaining if nothing else!

All that and more to come on tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live! Let us know your thoughts in the comments or on our awesome Ringside Talk app, as well as the Ringside News app, where you can find all this wrasslin’ goodness on the go! Enjoy the show!

Featured NEWS Other ROH TNA WWE

Main Event of Tonight’s Slammiversary Spoiled

The main event of tonight’s Slammiversary event has been spoiled by the cable guide listing for Thursday’s episode of Impact. The listing reveals the following:

“It’s all about the fallout from Slammiversary. Alberto El Patron will hold a celebration in the ring with a guest of honor, but an unwelcomed visitor makes their way to the IMPACT Zone. LAX announces their newest member, and things go south for Sonjay Dutt. Also: the Super X Cup ’17 will make a return.”

The listing above indicates that Alberto El Patron will leave the event as both Impact and GFW World Champion.

Featured NEWS Other ROH TNA WWE

Two Possible Matches for WWE Battleground

Dave Meltzer discussed the upcoming WWE Backlash event on today’s installment of Wrestling Observer Radio. As of this writing there are only two matches confirmed for the show. Those matches are Jinder Mahal defending his WWE World Title against Randy Orton in a Punjabi Prison match and The Usos defending their tag team championships against The New Day.

Meltzer revealed that two other matches that will take place on the card. Those matches are:

Sami Zayn vs. Mike Kanellis
Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin

WWE Battleground takes place on July 23rd from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. As always, we will be providing live play-by-play coverage of the event.

Featured NEWS Other ROH TNA WWE

Bellator Fighter Appearing at Sunday’s Slammiversary Event

It was revealed in a 30-minute preview video for Sunday’s Slammiversary event that Bellator’s Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal will be in Lashley’s corner at the event. As noted, Lashley will take on Alberto El Patron for the unified World Championship on the show.

Featured NEWS Other ROH TNA WWE WWE NXT

Multiple Wrestling Personalities React to Cody Rhodes’s ROH World Title Win

As we reported earlier, Cody Rhodes was successful in procuring the ROH Championship by defeating Christopher Daniels at Ring of Honour’s Best in The World Pay-per-view.

Here’s what Cody had to say after his surprising victory last night:

Here are some reactions from Cody’s friends, family and other wrestling and non-wrestling personalities on his huge victory:

Featured NEWS Other ROH TNA WWE

Bully Ray Talks About the Scope of the BROKEN Universe in the WWE

Bully Ray was recently interviewed by USA Today’s “For The Win”. The former 9-time WWE Tag Team Champion talked about a number of topics in the session. Bully Ray had some really interesting comments about the scope of the infamous BROKEN Gimmick in the WWE.

Here’s what he said: (quote credits: USA Today)

“I think that they will get the best of both worlds. They can milk this Hardy run for every dime it’s worth and then they can evolve into a version of the Broken Universe that the WWE sees fits. WWE is not going to allow creations that got over someplace else to come in and rule their world. It’s not going to happen. It didn’t happen with the Bullet Club and it’s not going to happen with Matt Hardy’s Broken Universe. They are going to have to put their stamp of approval on it and have their creative input.”

Bully Ray is set to appear at Ring of Honour’s  Best In The World Pay-per-view in the 6-Man Tag Team Championship match alongside the Briscoes against Dalton Castle and the Boys.

Featured NEWS Other ROH TNA WWE

Daniel Bryan Claims that Luke Harper’s Capabilities are Being Wasted on SmackDown Live

Daniel Bryan spoke to Fox Sports very recently. There he gave his two cents on the state of Luke Harper on SmackDown Live right now. Bryan admitted that the former Wyatt Family member is indeed being “wasted” on the blue brand.

Here are Bryan’s thoughts on Harper:

“I think that he is somebody that we can utilize better. When he left the Wyatt Family, I thought the fans were really starting to get behind him. And his match with Randy Orton, gosh, I loved his match with Randy Orton.”

The former 3-time World Champion didn’t stop singing Harper’s praise here, as he continued:

“Every time you see him, he’s dynamic. The crowd gets behind him, and then you just kind of lose him on TV, where we don’t really see him much. I think we’re really losing out on that.”

Featured NEWS Other ROH TNA WWE

How Each Money in the Bank Contestant Should Cash In

There are different types of cash-ins when it comes to the Money in the Bank briefcase. Some people do it like Edge and pick up the pieces after a grueling match. There’s also the RVD method, where you announce when and where you will be cashing in. If you’re truly a mad lad, you can do what Seth Rollins did and insert yourself into a match that’s already happening. There’s a decent amount of variety.

Each contestant in the match is different. They have different agendas, different ways of doing their thing. Not everyone will do it the same way. I hope to show the potentially best way for each man to cash in their contract.

6. Dolph Ziggler

I have a higher chance of meeting pretty much anyone on the WWE roster than Dolph Ziggler does of winning Money in the Bank again. Bear in mind, I live on a completely different side of the globe from pretty much everyone in the WWE. What I’m trying to say is this: Dolph Ziggler is not winning.

However, for the purpose of this article, let’s assume he does. It would be hard to top his original cash-in in 2013. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should. For the newer fans who wonder why so many people still love him, check out when he won the World Heavyweight Championship.

Right now, Dolph is lacking in the heat department. Lots of people simply don’t care. So if he should win (he won’t, though), he needs to cash in on a beloved babyface. Cashing in on a wounded AJ Styles or Sami Zayn could be the spark to rejuvenate Ziggler’s heel turn.

5. AJ Styles

Honestly, AJ Styles doesn’t need Money in the Bank. He’s done so much for Smackdown that he could just say “Hey Shane, could I have a title match?” and we’d all buy it. We’d eat it up. So in my honest opinion, I do not want AJ Styles to win. And I say this as a fan of the guy.

If Styles does win, I wouldn’t be mad. Not at all. However with Styles now acting as a face, that does limit his options somewhat. However, he is still an arrogant guy, so it makes total sense for him to announce when and where he is going to cash in his Money in the Bank contract.

There are so many great opponents for Styles, because he’s had great matches with almost everyone. Styles v. Orton would be must-see. So would Styles v. Zayn. Hell, imagine the anticipation for Styles v. Nakamura. Even something a bit more out-there like Styles v. Rusev or Styles v. Corbin would be a treat to watch.

If Styles wins, expect him to announce when he’ll have his match, and expect a lot of hype and anticipation.

4. Kevin Owens

Kevin Owens is one of the most fleshed-out characters on the roster today. He’s a heartless psychopath who only wants to do what is best for his family. He will destroy anyone and everyone who gets in the way of that. There are a lot of ways that his cash-in could go down, but there’s one idea in particular that I really love, and I found it on Reddit.

Imagine this. Kevin Owens wins Money in the Bank. A few months later, Sami Zayn becomes the number one contender. Come the pay-per-view, Zayn has the champion pinned. 1, 2, 3! Before Sami Zayn’s music can play, Kevin Owens’ music hits, and he strolls to the ring, laughing like a maniac because he once again gets to dick Sami Zayn over.

Of course, this idea isn’t perfect, as it would require Owens to drop the title back to Zayn in a few months, or Zayn losing to Owens again. Still, the heat from that would be like a thousand suns. It’s such an evil thing to do, which is why Kevin Owens would do it.

Featured NEWS Other ROH TNA WWE

Samoa Joe Should Be The Next Universal Champion

Mr. Brock “The ‘Conqueror’ Beast” Lesnar will finally defend his Universal Championship at the aptly named Great Balls of Fire. His opponent is none other than Mr. Samoa “Samoan Submission ‘Destroyer’ Specialist” Joe. This has all the potential in the world to be a great match if WWE actually decides to book a proper match. It should be a hard-fought battle, but many feel that he is a placeholder contender until the proper Samoan can win the title. We still don’t know what WWE’s plans are, but hopefully, they crown the Destroyer in July. The Samoan Submission Specialist would be a great Universal Champion, and here’s why.

He’d Actually Be There Most of the Time

We can’t really fault Lesnar for wanting to work 10 times a year and get paid millions for it. He took Mr. Perfect’s advice to refrain from making wrestling his whole life. Good for him. I can respect that.

However, when Lesnar has the championship and disappears for months on end to go kill a wolf with his bare hands, it can leave Raw feeling a bit barren. Obviously, when he does show up, it’s a big deal, which adds to his star power (and to an extent, the star power of the belt).

If Samoa Joe had the title, we’d be seeing it a bit more often, what with the fact that Joe is actually a full-time Superstar. There are two groups of people when it comes to top championships. Some people prefer frequent defenses, while others want to save those for big occasions. Both are right, but there’s a fine line in between them. It’s been 69 days since the title was defended, and it hasn’t been successfully defended at all in almost 100 days. That’s kind of bad.

With the Destroyer holding the championship, we’d see it defended a bit more frequently, which could help boost the stock of the belt.

He Could Have Great Matches With the Rest of the Roster

Brock is an incredible wrestler, there’s no doubt about that. So is Joe. The problem is that ever since Lesnar defeated John Cena at Summerslam, his matches have since devolved into suplex spam. It’s like when you first learn to play Mortal Kombat and all you do is press one button and try to win. The difference is, Brock Lesnar actually wins. So there’s that.

Joe’ first/last feud with Seth Rollins sucked a whole lot, but that was because of the story. The matches were fine. There was just no real reason for the Destroyer to fight the Kingslayer other than “hurr durr Stephanie fell through a table, I’m gonna kick your ass”. Rollins defeated Triple H; that should have been the end of his story with Joe.

If the Samoan Submission Specialist got his hands on the Universal Championship, then he could put on great matches with the other big names on Raw. I wouldn’t mind seeing Rollins v. Joe again. I wouldn’t even mind seeing Balor v. Joe again. Heck, let’s put the two Samoans in one match and have them beat the hell out of each other for the Universal Championship.

It Will Boost the Championship’s Image

We are all aware of the Universal Championship’s lineage. Finn Balor was the inaugural champion and vacated the title the very next day. Kevin Owens held the title after and sucked more than a black hole during his reign. Goldberg won the belt in 30 seconds and dropped it in 28 days, and now Lesnar has the title. How many truly great Universal Championship matches can you count? Maybe 4 or 5. How many truly great WWE Championship matches can you count? Way more. Heck, even the World Heavyweight Championship (RIP) had more great matches. Randy Orton v. Christian at Over the Limit, Randy Orton v. Christian at Capitol Punishment, Randy Orton v. Christian at Money in the Bank, Randy Orton v. Christian at Summerslam, etc.

The Universal Championship hasn’t even been around for a year, so obviously, there have been less memorable matches. With Samoa Joe as champion, those matches can start happening. The Destroyer locking horns with the Demon, the Big Dog, or even the Eater of Worlds over the Universal Championship would be a sight to see.

Of course, none of this will come to pass because Lesnar is keeping the belt warm for the Big Dog. Beleedat.

Featured Independent NEWS Other ROH TNA WWE WWE NXT

Drew McIntyre Says He Can Be The Top Guy

Drew McIntyre recently spoke with The UK Mirror. Here are some highlights from the interview:

WWE Return: It’s been a crazy couple of months. I was basically the busiest independent wrestler in the world, travelling the world back and forth. I was under contract at the time [with IMPACT Wrestling] and I elected not to sign my new contract. I had to make the best decision for my future and my family’s future. I was very, very lucky after so many people believing in me and working my arse off that I was able to take a pick of where I was going to go. But my mind was made up, if I got the opportunity… William Regal is one of my mentors and I had been talking with him the whole time I have been away from WWE. He has been giving me advice, watching my matches, so that’s pretty much where it came up. I had a good conversation with Triple H on the phone and as I say, my mind was made up where I wanted to go. NXT is the top roster in the world as far as I’m concerned, the work ethic and fans. Once I had that conversation my mind was beyond made up. That day when I showed up at the show was one of the wildest days of my life. I had a very busy day! I started at 8am, I had a signing, then a show in the afternoon, then a radio appearance, I had an additional signing, then showed up at the Evolve show at 8pm it started, I was out in the first segment, I believe I left the building at 8.20pm, drove straight to the Amway Center in Orlando, my wife was waiting with a suit at the back door. We ran in the back, I put the suit on, this was about 9pm, Orlando traffic so it took a while to get there, and I was sitting in my seat in front of 15,000 fans, and at not one point did I think to myself ‘I wonder how they’re going to react?’ until I sat in that seat, got my head down and thought ‘oh my God, I hope they remember me and have been following what I’ve been doing!’ When I showed up on camera and I saw and heard that reaction it was one of the best feelings in my life and I knew I had made the right decision.

Competing For The WWE UK Title: Absolutely. An opportunity to wrestle those guys would be a privilege. They are so talented and so young, it’s amazing the difference in the scene now, that people have so much talent to work with and get so advanced, those guys like Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne are just so unbelievably advanced for their age. I just had a match we taped for television just before the TakeOver, I was getting my gear off and watching it on my phone on the Network, and I stopped in my tracks as I was watching the match, sat in my underpants! I could not get changed, I just had to watch the entire match. I was blown away, I tweeted right away, ‘NXT UK TakeOver’ because I was shaking my head like ‘wow, when we first came over, there was nobody, just Sheamus, myself and Wade Barrett, there was nothing like this going on’. To watch the level of talent and that show-stealing performance just made me very proud of the lads and the UK scene in general.

The Rise of Jinder Mahal: I made the loudest noise in the world backstage when he won that title! I think I almost punched the roof I jumped and punched the air so much. Just to watch his turnaround is the biggest thing for me. I remember about a year and a half ago having a conversation with him. The second I was gone from the WWE, as you know, I started to write my mission statement, I just kept going, there was nothing else I was going to do. I had a clear vision and thankfully it just came out. With Jinder he went out, he wasn’t too sure what he wanted to do, and he talked about this on Chris Jericho’s podcast so I’m not speaking out of turn. He got himself out of shape, not wrestling so much. He wasn’t really sure what to do and we had a conversation when he wasn’t too sure about his future and was talking about opening I think it was a Subway franchise he was leaning towards and he’s got a couple of houses and real estate. Wrestling was pretty much off the table. Then one day he made a decision, ‘no, I’m going to get back in shape’. He started taking it seriously again, got back in shape, got the call from WWE, continued his path, worked hard, gave up alcohol, made these positive changes in his life and just started working his arse off. To watch him go from that conversation when he was out of shape to where he is today, the most in-shape guy on the roster and one of the hardest working guys, I’m very proud of my brother for earning that. That was a big moment for him and I couldn’t be prouder of him.

Being The Top Guy: I always have, 100%, I’ve never changed my opinion since I said that. He didn’t say the things he said for his health, he has done a lot with this business because of his eye for it. I wasn’t necessarily the guy he was looking for back then in a few different ways, but he certainly saw that raw talent and potential. I’ve been lucky that I’ve got myself through various opportunities and platforms and people believing in me, my wife helping in a lot of different areas, and growing up a lot, I’ve shown I am ready now to be a top guy, to hold that position for the company and show what it is to represent a giant, publicly traded company like WWE. There is so much more than just what you do in the ring and what you do on the microphone. As a kid I didn’t quite comprehend that, but now that’s something 100% I’m ready for. I’ve represented many people as the face of the company, proudly and I do it with joy and I do it with respect and make sure I elevate everywhere I go. I came to NXT to elevate it and I came back to WWE to fulfill the prophecy.