SHOWN IN CLUB 69 FLIRTS

19 JULY 2020

FROM 11pm

CONFIRMED MATCHES

Braun Strowman (c) vs. Bray Wyatt (Wyatt Swamp Fight; non-title match): Wyatt recently reappeared on SmackDown, and while doing so, revealed that he had reverted back to his original persona while targeting the universal champ once again. Strowman then responded the following week by offering up a unique challenge to his nemesis, and the Wyatt Swamp Fight was made official shortly thereafter. So, it appears the next chapter in WWE cinematic matches is on the horizon upcoming at Extreme Rules: The Horror Show. This match, however, will not be contested for the universal title, meaning the possibility of Wyatt as "The Fiend" taking the championship back at SummerSlam is very much in the cards.

WWE Championship -- Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler (Stipulation TBD): While it seemed like the feud between McIntyre and Bobby Lashley was far from over, on the June 22 edition of Raw, Ziggler returned to Monday nights stating he had been part of the trade that sent AJ Styles to SmackDown. He interrupted a McIntyre promo and threw down a challenge to McIntyre for the championship, taking credit for his being champion after their previous time together as a team. It wasn't much of a build, but McIntyre immediately accepted and the match was on. This being Extreme Rules, twists are expected in the coming weeks that set up some sort of gimmick match stipulation between the two.

Raw Women's Championship -- Asuka (c) vs. Sasha Banks: Asuka has been dealing with the challenges of Nia Jax and Charlotte Flair in recent weeks, but it's Banks getting the title shot. After Banks and Bayley successfully defended their women's tag titles on June 22, Banks appeared ready to challenge Bayley for the SmackDown title before pulling the quick swerve and throwing down the challenge to Asuka instead, a challenge which Asuka accepted before the best friends beat her down.

SmackDown Women's Championship -- Bayley (c) vs. Nikki Cross: While Banks will be vying for a singles title, Bayley will be aiming to hold onto hers on the same night. Cross, who has been stellar on television as of late, earned the opportunity to challenge Bayley when she emerged victorious from a fatal 4-way on SmackDown that also included Alexa Bliss, Dana Brooke and Lacey Evans.

Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins (Eye for an Eye): These two will finally mix it up in singles action, with a unique and somewhat undefined stipulation. After Mysterio and Kevin Owens won a tag match with Rollins and Murphy to determine the stipulation, Mysterio chose the Eye For An Eye Match, saying he would rip Rollins' eye out with his bare hands. The specifics of if "taking" your opponent's eye is the only path to victory are unclear, but Rollins did take one of Mysterio's eyes when he drove it into the corner of the ring steps.

United States Championship -- Apollo Crews (c) vs. MVP: When Crews turned down MVP's guidance, it set MVP on a course to ruin Crews' life. It didn't hurt MVP had Bobby Lashley in his corner. MVP beat Crews in non-title action and the following week introduced a new championship belt, with Lashley saying things were official when he declared them official, making MVP the official, unofficial United States champion heading into the title clash at Extreme Rules.

SmackDown Tag Team Championship -- The New Day (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro (Tables Match): The tag divisions in Raw and SmackDown have been a mess in recent months, with neither brand seeing their titles defended in serious competition with any regularity. On June 12, Nakamura and Cesaro picked up a win over New Day on SmackDown. After a title match on the July 10 SmackDown ended in a no contest, the challengers put the champions through a table, which led to Cesaro choosing the Tables Match stipulation over a steel cage bout after picking up a victory over Big E in singles competition.

Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus (Bar Fight): Hardy and Sheamus have split their matches so far, with Sheamus getting a big victory in their showdown at Backlash and Hardy knocking Sheamus from the intercontinental title tournament. There's still a lot of bad blood here after Sheamus attempted to frame Hardy for drunk driving and Hardy retaliated by throwing urine in his face. The Miz and John Morrison delivered the Bar Fight challenge to Hardy on the July 10 edition of Smackdown, a challenge Hardy accepted as a chance to battle his demons, both physically and metaphorically.

HIGHLIGHTS

RESULTS

Kevin Owens vs. Murphy (Kickoff Show): Owens went for a stunner moments after the match began, but Murphy was able to avoid it. After some striking exchanges, Owens went for a stunner again, but this time Murphy countered with a jumping knee. Murphy hit a late meteora for a two count after more brutal striking exchanges. Owens also kicked out of a big brainbuster from Murphy. Owens countered a superplex attempt by Murphy and hit a big top-rope moonsault for his own near fall. Owens followed up by ducking a meteora, hitting a superkick and then a stunner for the win in what was a very entertaining scrap between two men who are great at the hard-hitting style. Owens def. Murphy via pinfall

SmackDown Tag Team Championship -- The New Day (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro (Tables Match): Early action saw the teams brawling at ringside with Big E launching Kofi Kingston into dropkicks while Nakamura was pinned to the plexiglass and Cesaro was against the ring steps. New Day then tried to put Cesaro through a table before Nakamura made the save and put the champions on the defensive. Big E hit a spear through the ropes on Cesaro, driving him to the floor and just missing a table that was positioned at ringside. With Cesaro positioned on a table, Big E attempted to launch Kingston out of the ring and onto the challenger, but Cesaro and Nakamura countered by throwing the table into Kingston's face. New Day stacked tables at ringside, but Nakamura again made the save, leaving Big E in danger of going through the stacked tables before he was launched back into the ring. Kingston tried to use a huricanrana to put Cesaro through the stacked tables at ringside, but the plan backfired with Nakamura and Cesaro working together for a diving powerbomb through two tables for the win. This wasn't a legendary match, but it was a fun, chaotic opening to the show before the somewhat surprising title change. Nakamura & Cesaro def. The New Day (c) to win the titles

SmackDown Women's Championship -- Bayley (c) vs. Nikki Cross: Both women landed early slaps to set the tone for the match before Cross got off to a hot start, scoring several near falls early before hitting a crossbody off the apron onto Bayley on the outside. Bayley trapped Cross in the ring apron but Cross ducked under the ring and popped out the other side, trapping Bayley in the same position and administering a beating. Bayley scored a near fall after hitting a Bayley-to-Belly. Cross hit a reverse DDT and a bulldog before a series of back suplexes for another near fall as the match became more competitive and intense, frustrating the champion into running face-first into the middle turnbuckle. Banks slipped her "BOSS" four-finger ring to Bayley as the referee was distracted, allowing Bayley to drive a punch to the ribs of Cross and score the pin for the cheap win after an entertaining challenge from Cross. Bayley (c) def. Cross to retain the title

Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins (Eye for an Eye): After Rollins brought pliers to the ring, Mysterio was able to sneak into the ring and jump him before the start of the match. Mysterio grabbed a piece of rebar, but Rollins was able to hit him with a kendo stick. Rollins hit a falcon arrow on the ring apron and made the first true attempt of the match to pull out Mysterio's eye. Rollins continued to dominate, repeatedly laying Mysterio out and trying to shove various objects into his eye, including a pen, kendo stick, screwdriver and chair leg. Mysterio dropped Rollins on the corner of the announce table to take over briefly, but Rollins used the chair to lay him out. Rollins then use rope to tie Mysterio's arm to the ropes before trying to pull out Mysterio's eye. Rollins stuck the kendo stick in the turnbuckle and tried to drive Mysterio eye-first into it, but Mysterio was able to avoid it. Mysterio put down Rollins with a slide to the outside into a high-speed sunset flip powerbomb against the ringside barricade.

Mysterio almost won the fight after shoving pieces of the broken kendo stick into Rollins' eye and hitting a 619. Rollins tried to shove Mysterio's eye into the ring steps, but Mysterio slipped out and hit Rollins with a Stomp before trying to drive Rollins' eye into the steps. Rollins countered with a low blow and then superkicked Mysterio as he was trapped against the barricade. Rollins then hit Mysterio with the Stomp and drove his eye into the ring steps, popping his "eyeball" out in the process. Rollins then backed off and began vomiting as Mysterio rolled around in pain and was treated by the doctors. This match was high-octane and entertaining, but the underlying "when is someone's eye coming out?" narrative set a very strange tone. The ending was, as expected, a bit hokey. But there's no way around that when you introduce such a strange stipulation. Rollins def. Mysterio

Apollo Crews vs MVP -- U.S Championship: Apollo was deemed medically unfit to fight earlier in the day resulting in a no-match

Raw Women's Championship -- Asuka (c) vs. Sasha Banks: Banks worked some knees early and used a bit of a hair pull to toss Asuka to the canvas and go for a Banks Statement early, but Asuka was able to get to the ropes. Asuka made a comeback and drilled Banks with a sliding knee to the face as Banks was outside the ring. Banks was able to counter the Asuka Lock attempt that followed, taking control of the match again. Banks worked a lot of interesting submissions early, including some illegal small joint manipulation, wrenching on the fingers of the champion. Banks avoided an Asuka hip attack and tried to hit a German suplex from the apron to the floor. Asuka reversed the position, but Banks slid between her legs and powerbombed her into the ringside Plexiglas. Moments later, Banks locked in the Banks Statement again, but Asuka managed to grab the bottom rope again. Asuka hit some big suplexes before unloading with a series of kicks for a two count.

Banks avoided a diving dropkick from Asuka and hit her with a running knee for her own near fall. Banks went up top and Asuka tried to counter into a German suplex from the top rope, but Banks was able to flip and land on her knees. She then fell as she tried to hit a springboard and was checked on by the ref to make sure her knee was OK. Banks was able to continue, seemingly not suffering a major injury. After Bayley got involved in the match, bringing various titles into the ring, Asuka attempted to mist her but blew the mist into the eyes of the referee. Bayley then hit Asuka with the title belt and took the shirt off the referee and counted 1-2-3, demanding the timekeeper ring the bell. Banks and Bayley left the ring with all the gold. This was an outstanding match, but the finish makes no sense and feels like a cheap way to drag this situation to SummerSlam. Asuka (c) vs. Banks ended in a no contest

WWE Championship -- Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler (Extreme Rules for the Challenger): Before the match, Ziggler revealed that the match would be under extreme rules for himself, but not for McIntyre, who could also lose the title via count out or disqualification. McIntyre dominated early, tossing Ziggler around while Ziggler attempted to bait him into using a chair to get disqualified. Ziggler briefly got things going his way, setting up a table, but McIntyre came roaring back. McIntyre almost suplexed Ziggler through the table but spun and suplexed him onto the floor instead, avoiding the DQ. Ziggler used a low blow and several shots with a steel chair, including one that drove McIntyre's throat into another chair, but only managed to get a two count. Ziggler locked in a sleeper on McIntyre, who could not use the ropes to break the hold, but McIntyre slammed him to the mat anyway. McIntyre hit the reverse Alabama slam and went for the Claymore, but Ziggler hit him in the leg with the chair and hit the Zig Zag for a near fall.

Ziggler then hit a huge elbow drop from the ring post to McIntyre as the champ was laid out on a table. McIntyre was able to beat the 10 count and save his title as Ziggler screamed in frustration. After a headbutt from McIntyre, Ziggler landed a kick to the injured knee of the champ and hit a uranage on a steel chair for another two count. Increasingly frustrated, Ziggler stood in a corner, stomping his foot in preparation for a superkick, but McIntyre exploded with a Claymore to score the pin. The stipulations really worked in this match to set up a lot of drama in a match with little doubt over who would leave with the title. McIntyre having to overcome a really bad situation was great for his character and his run as champion. McIntyre (c) def. Ziggler via pinfall to retain the title

Braun Strowman (c) vs. Bray Wyatt (Wyatt Swamp Fight; non-title match): Wyatt was sitting in a rocking chair when Strowman arrived in a truck. The screen went black after Strowman announced, "I'm home," and Wyatt disappeared. Masked men attacked Strowman as he walked through the woods, but Strowman was hit from behind by a shovel wielded by ... the old version of himself. Strowman was knocked out by a second hit with the shovel and woke up chained to a chair in a shack. Wyatt entered the shack and told Strowman that he can't hurt him because Wyatt is already dead. Wyatt then told Strowman that, while he is proud of what he has accomplished, his success would only be temporary and everyone would abandon him. Wyatt also said that together, they could be gods, ruling while society and governments fall. A woman eventually brought a snake into the shack and it bit Strowman before another fade to black before he woke by a fire and was again attacked by random people, eventually leading one of them to catch fire.

A woman then appeared to tell Strowman he "didn't have to do this" and telling him to follow her home, lifting a veil to reveal herself as a vision of Alexa Bliss, the object of his affection. Wyatt attacked Strowman after Strowman walked into the swamp in pursuit of an empty boat, holding his head under the water before disappearing. Wyatt reappeared and beat Strowman with a boat oar for a few moments before Strowman kicked him into the swamp. Strowman then nodded at the black swamp water and said, "it's over," and it looked like the PPV was ending as the logo came up in the bottom of the screen. Suddenly, Wyatt shot out of the water and locked him in a mandible claw, pulling him in. The show ended on a shot of the water, which turned red before Wyatt emerged as The Fiend. The match lacked the magic of the Boneyard or Firefly FunHouse matches from WrestleMania or even the wacky antics of Money in the Bank. Instead, the match was a bit of a disjointed, rambling mess. It was fun in some spots, and Strowman seeing Sister Abigail as Alexa Bliss was a neat bit of psychological twisting. And The Fiend emerging from the swamp to close the show was a nice, chilling moment. On the whole, however, it's hard not to view the match as a letdown after much better cinematic efforts. Wyatt def. Strowman (c) in a non-title match