The day has finally arrived! Tonight Smackdown! Live premiers with the WWE Draft! I'm Ryan Cook and I'll be here keeping you updated with the all of tonight's show coverage. Tonight history will be made as the entire WWE roster have the potential to be drafted to WWE RAW or Smackdown!. There will also be six superstars drafted from NXT! Could we finally see Finn Balor? Shinsuke Nakamura? American Alpha? If that weren't enough we have a rematch for the WWE World title between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins in our main event! Who will be going into WWE Battleground this Sunday with the belt? So many questions and it will all be answered tonight so be sure to come back here at 8:00 PM EST!
-We open with Daniel Bryan, Shane McMahon and Mic Foley on the ramp, really playing to the crowd, oh Stephanie is there too. Wow, they're immediately going to the first pick. Raw unsurprisingly picked Seth Rollins and Smackdown went with Dean Ambrose to go in line with the main event tonight. Raw picks WWE Women's champion Charlotte. Shane and Daniel don't sweat it though as they pick the Phenomenal One; AJ Styles. Mic and Stephanie just blew the doors off the arena picking the former NXT champion and fan favorite Finn Balor.
John Cena w/Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs Luke Gallows w/AJ Styles & Karl Anderson
Gallows is in control early as we go to commercial...with the match still going on. They've opted for a way to show you the match and give you commercials, you get the bigger video and the audio of commercials and the show off to the corner with no sound. I can't say I like it, but I'm not surprised. We're back from commercial as Gallows slams Cena down hard onto the mat and gets a two count out of it. Cena is finally getting some momentum. Cena hits the five knuckle shuffle then goes for the Attitude Adjustment, but Gallows counters it. Enzo & Cass and AJ and Karl get into the ring only for Enzo and Cass to launch them out of the ring. Cena uses the opportunity to hit the AA on Gallows for the pin and the win.
Winner: John Cena via pinfall with the Attitude Adjustment.
-We get a plug for the main event tonight where Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins face off for the WWE Heavyweight belt and then a tag match between Rusev and The Miz vs Zack Ryder and Darren Young.
-As we come back from commercial Mic and Stephanie draft Roman Reigns to an absolute deafening chorus of boos. Smackdown picks John Cena, I expected that. AJ and John on the same brand will be great. Stephanie next picks Brock Lesnar...so much for wellness policies meaning anything. The crowd reacton for Brock wasn't what I thought it'd be. Daniel then counters with Randy Orton. Stephanie counters with The New Day, the announce team mentioning that they will take over the record for longest title reign Monday night.
Zack Ryder & Darren Young vs Rusev & The Miz
They start this match off quickly, a lot of tagging back and forth between The Miz & Rusev. The Miz goes for a 2 count then tags in Rusev who is doing his best to ground Ryder. Rusev tags in The Miz as Darren Young comes in and is really feeling it. Young goes for a 2 count off of the Gut Check, but Rusev breaks it up. Rusev comes in, but Young knocks him over the ropes to the outside. Outside Bob Backlund instructs Young to apply the Crossface Chickenwing which he does for the tap and the win.
Winner: Darren Young via submission with the Crossface Chickenwing
-After the match they plug Sasha Banks in a handicap match against Charlotte and Dana Brook later tonight. They then mention The New Day vs The Wyatt Family in their f irst ever match together up next as we go to commercial.
Xavier Woods vs Bray Wyatt
I thought it'd be a 6 man tag, but apparently not. Xavier is doing really well selling the supernatural abilities of Bray Wyatt who is in the center of the ring on his knees with his arms out. Bray then puts a hand on Woods shoulder who snaps out of it only to have Bray lay into him in the corner. Bray is in complete control and after an absolutely insane uranagi, doesn't even go for the pin, just goes over and talks to Kofi and Big-E. Bray is really enjoying toying with the two New Day members at ringside. Xavier manages to land some offense, knocking Bray down, but it's short lived as Bray hits Sister Abigail for the pin and the win. This was a good match for what it was, loved how they talked up Bray, saying he had creepy charisma, compared him to something demonic, shades of Undertaker and Kane.
Winner: Bray Wyatt via pinfall with Sister Abigail
Speaking of Kane...
Kevin Owens vs Kane
-Kevin Owens comes out for his match with Kane only for Sami Zayn to attack him. Owens gets the upper hand in the ring and throws him to Kane who in turn chokeslams both Zayn and Owens.
Winner: No Contest
-We're back to the picks and RAW picks....Sami Zayn who just got killed by Kane not 5 minutes ago. Smackdown counters with Bray Wyatt...just Bray and not the family. RAW next picks Sasha Banks only for Smackdown to counter with Becky Lynch. Raw finishes round 3 with Chris Jericho.
Charlotte & Dana Brooke vs Sasha Banks
-Apparently Sasha won't be revealing her partner for her tag match against the two until Sunday.
Sasha starts with Dana and is control until she focuses on Charlotte on the outside, hitting a flying double knee that lays Charlotte out on the floor. Dana uses it to her advantage and turns Sasha inside out with a stiff lariat. Dana tags in Charlotte right before Sasha puts her in the Banks Statement and before she can realize what's going on Charlotte hits the Natural Selection for the pin and the win.
Winner:Charlotte via pinfall with Natural Selection
-More picks, RAW taking Rusev w/Lana and Smackdown picking The Miz w/Maryse. Raw next pick Kevin Owens and Smackdown counters with Baron Corbin. Mick then throws a curveball and picks Enzo & Big Cass.They plug Cesaro vs Chris Jericho as we go to commercial.
Chris Jericho vs Cesaro
Cesaro takes control early on the outside, but it quickly turns around when they get back into the ring. Cesaro hits multiple uppercuts as the announcers mention how they could be drafted then Jericho goes for a lionsault only to be countered into a big swing. Cesaro then goes for the Equalizer, but it's countered into a Code Breaker for the pin and the win.
Winner: Chris Jericho via pinfall with the Code Breaker
Becky Lynch and Natalya brawl as we come back from commercial. I think Natalya had a match, but they never got that far.
-The Club just got split up as they will be going to RAW, but that opens up Balor Club. Smackdown counters with a huge one, American Alpha. RAW then counters with...Big Show then Smackdown picks Dolph Ziggler. RAW then pick Nia Jax from NXT...the crowd doesn't seem to care, but the commentators are trying their hardest to get her over. They then interview Seth backstage then they say the main event will come after the final five picks as we go to commercial.
-We're back from commercial and RAW picks Neville, Smackdown picking Natalya. RAW then counters and picks Cesaro. Smackdown takes Alberto del Rio next. Raw ends it with Sheamus. They mention 30 more picks will be on the WWE Network after Smackdown! goes off. There are at least 3 more NXT available.
WWE Heavyweight Title Match
Seth Rollins vs Dean Ambrose
Seth attacks Dean during the introductions and they go outside before the referee can even start the match as we go to commercial. We come back and Seth is in control as soon as the bell rings to start the match. Every time Dean tries to get to his feet Seth just grounds him again. The crowd gets behind Dean, but Seth hits a backbreaker for a 2 count. Seth smartly locks Dean in a side headlock, trying his best to keep Dean grounded, going for a pin for a 2 count. Dean finally lands some offense when Seth throws hi out of the ring with soe chops, then launches Seth into the crowd. Dean then decides to run across the announce tables, but misses. Seth gets Dean back in the ring and hits a superkick for a 2 count as we go to commercial.
We're back from commercial and Dean is finally mounting some offense after taking the brunt of the punishment for majority of the match. Dean goes for the pin, but gets a quick 2 count. Dean went for a move off the top rope, but Seth turned it into a buckle bomb. Seth then goes for a frogsplash and hits nothing, but canvas. Dean goes for a cradle pin, but once again only gets 2.
Dean goes for Dirty Deeds, but Rollins counters it and pokes Dean in the eye then goes for The Pedigree, but Dean counters and sends him over the top rope and to the floor. Dean hits and elbow off the top rope to the outside then tosses Seth back into the ring. Dean goes up top yet again, only for Seth to catch him with a brutal superplex. Dean hits the Dirty Deeds out of no where and gets the pin and the win. The end of that came out of no where.
Winner: Dean Ambrose via pinfall with Dirty Deeds
