WWE SmackDown LIVE Results (02/05): Daniel Bryan vs. Jeff Hardy
Tonight’s episode of SmackDown LIVE opens up from The Angel Of The Winds Arena in Everett, Washington as Tom Phillips welcomes us to the show. He is joined by Corey Graves & Byron Saxton.
Charlotte Flair’s music hits and The Queen makes her way down to the ring. We see a replay of WWE CBO Stephanie McMahon suspending Becky Lynch last night on RAW. Charlotte Flair then gets on the mic and cuts a promo about how Becky Lynch’s arrogance got the better of her last night on RAW and she hopes that she is thinking more clearly today and goes and sees the doctor and does her rehab so that she can be healthy for WrestleMania. Flair then says that she knows someone who is 100% healthy and would love to face Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania. Charlotte Flair then points at The WrestleMania Sign now.
Becky Lynch is here. She makes her way through the crowd while Flair yells for security to make sure that Lynch has a ticket and accuses her of stealing both Roman Reigns’ entrance and The Queen’s own spotlight. Lynch then tells her to stop boring people to death and hops in the ring to declare her return to SmackDown LIVE as referees and five-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion Adam Pearce come down to keep order.
WWE COO Triple H comes down to the ring and tells Becky Lynch that she is suspended and needs to go home before turning to tell Charlotte Flair that this doesn’t concern her and to get out. Flair leaves and HHH addresses Lynch again, telling her to go home and to go see the doctor and get cleared if she wants to be unsuspended. Lynch then says that she doesn’t trust that any of this is in good faith and HHH tells her trust doesn’t matter, this is what it is and it’s her only option.
HHH goes to leave and Lynch asks him how Stephanie McMahon is doing, if she is cleared after she got punched in the face last night and that stops The Game dead in his tracks. He says that he sees it now and he bought into all of the “The Man” crap, but the truth is she is not The Man at all, that is a lie and she is just a self-destructor afraid of failure. HHH then says that she is just looking to be a martyr, to find a way out of the whole thing.
HHH then says that when she scratched and clawed her way to The Survivor Series Match against Ronda Rousey, she came to RAW looking for a way out and she got it, didn’t she? HHH then says that she knew that was a suicide mission, but she did it anyway and then she complained about being in medical prison. And then she scratched and clawed her way to WrestleMania and here we are again, with a convenient excuse looking for a way out when the truth is she is just afraid.
HHH then says that she is scared of what the doctor might say and to be honest, HHH doesn’t think she is even injured right now. He thinks it is just an act to find a way out and she is scared of what the doctor will say. HHH then says that Lynch will say she is scared she won’t be cleared, but no, he thinks she is scared she will be told she can go fight Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania and if she does, Ronda will expose her as the fraud that she is.
HHH then says that she is afraid that on the grandest stage of them all, she will prove to everyone that she fears Rousey. He then asks her to tell him he is wrong and Lynch slaps HHH across the face. They square up nose to nose and Lynch doesn’t give an inch. She lets the “One more time!” chants sink in before smirking and dropping the mic, leaving HHH standing in the middle of the ring.
Commentary hypes up Jeff Hardy vs. Daniel Bryan & Mustafa Ali vs. Randy Orton for later tonight, plus a Tag Team Match between Rusev & Nakamura vs. The Good Brothers before sending us to a commercial break.
Back from the commercial break and we are just in time for the entrances of The Tag Team Match between Rusev & Nakamura vs. The Good Brothers.
The Good Brothers (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) vs. Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura: Lana is at ringside for this match. Rusev and Nakamura appear to have some communication issues early on, which leads to The Good Brothers dumping them out to ringside and Anderson hitting a suicide dive on them. Back in the ring, Nakamura and Anderson trade strikes now. Nakamura hits a suplex and Anderson comes back with a spinebuster. Gallows and Rusev tag in and Gallows dominates with a series of kicks. Nakamura gets involved and Gallows dumps him outside, then Gallows and Rusev collide and go down. Lana yells at Nakamura outside to get back in the ring. Anderson and Gallows go for the Magic Killer on Rusev, but Nakamura breaks it up and knees Gallows in the face. Anderson then hits a flying kick to the face on Nakamura and Rusev hits the big boot on Anderson for the three count. Winners: Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura
After the match, Rusev helps Nakamura to his feet and they raise each others arms in celebration.
We then toss to a Mustafa Ali promo backstage. He talks about how no one expects him to beat Randy Orton or survive The Elimination Chamber Match, but what if he defies expectations and becomes WWE Champion.
Paige is backstage to send us to a trailer for the movie about her family and wrestling career, Fighting With My Family, to send us to a commercial break.
Back from the commercial break and we are informed that McMizTV will have The Usos as their guest next week on SmackDown LIVE.
The Usos get a backstage promo where they question the notion that Shane McMahon & The Miz are the best tag team in the world. They run their bonafides down and vow to lock McMizTV down in The Uso Penitentiary.
Randy Orton then gets a picture-in-picture promo where he says that he is not even going to bother to learn Mustafa Ali’s name because he is like all the other opponents he has beaten.
Mustafa Ali vs. Randy Orton: Orton backs Ali into the corner early on, but Ali fires back with punches and chops to the chest. Ali continues the offense until Orton stuns him with a suplex on to the top rope, which sends Ali falling down to ringside. Orton follows and suplexes Ali on to the announce table, then takes him back in the ring. Orton hits a spinning powerslam now for a two count. They fight up to the top turnbuckle and Orton hits a superplex for another two count. They fight back out to ringside and Ali slams Orton onto the announce table now. Ali leaps over the announce table to tackle Orton back down and pummel on him. Back in the ring, Ali connects with a series of kicks. Ali hits another kick to the head, then he hits a version of the X Factor for a two count. Ali climbs the turnbuckle and Orton looks for an RKO, but Ali fakes him out and hits a tornado DDT. Ali goes back up top, but Orton pulls his legs out from under him and hits the RKO for the three count. Winner: Randy Orton
After the match, Joe hits the ring and attacks Randy Orton. He chokes out Orton, then dumps him and Ali both outside. As Joe starts walking up the ramp, WWE Champion “The New” Daniel Bryan comes out. Joe starts waking towards him, then Rowan steps out in front of Bryan. Joe decides against fighting Rowan and heads to the back.
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WWE Champion “The New” Daniel Bryan makes his way down to the ring to send us to a commercial break.
Back from the commercial break and Samoa Joe cuts a promo backstage about how physics work a little different for him, with each action having an equal and overwhelming reaction and the end will justify the means, when he raises The WWE Championship in the air.
In the ring, Daniel Bryan gets on the mic and says that he finally gets to talk to people who understand what he is trying to do here. Bryan then says that the people of the great state of Washington are intelligent and realise that we need change. Unfortunately, as WWE Champion he speaks to a global audience and these people don’t understand that their crass, selfish behaviors just destroy their minds, fatten their bodies, just trying to get that dopamine rush to get to the next hump.
Bryan then says that he is fighting an uphill battle and that is why he has created the new title, a symbol for people to rally behind. Bryan then says that the old title was a symbol of excellence and of excess and this title is not only a symbol of excellence, but for change as well. Bryan then says that people are threatened by that change and Rowan explains by way of the life of Galileo that great thinkers are considered dangerous.
And they consider Bryan dangerous because of his title and as long as he holds it, they will try to silence him. A lone dissenting voice calls out “What?!” and Bryan puts them in their place before saying that he serves a greater power than greed, money, or fame, he is the planet’s champion. Bryan then says that the suits back there don’t like it and that is why he is stuck in The Elimination Chamber defending his title.
Bryan then says that he has been there before and that only serves to reinforce how dangerous it is and Bryan tosses to a video package breaking The Chamber down. When that closes, Bryan names his five opponents one by one and says that they want to take the title backwards, put it back on leather and so we, the ignorant masses need him as WWE Champion.
Jeff Hardy is interviewed backstage and says that what Bryan said made him sick and no one has disrespected the title like he has. Hardy then says that he considered intervening, but he knows that Bryan isn’t interested in a debate, so he is going to go out and make him shut up. AJ Styles storms down and says that he can’t agree more, but Jeff’s been around for a long time and with his recent history is he really the guy to represent that legacy.
Jeff then says that AJ can’t beat Bryan so maybe he is not the guy either and says that if he would have finished the job at Royal Rumble they wouldn’t be having this conversation and they will settle it in the chamber.
Carmella & Naomi make their entrance and get a promo where Naomi runs Mandy Rose down for telling stories about Tough Enough and Carmella explains the origin of their team to send us to a commercial break.
Back from the commercial break and we get a video clip from WWE.com from earlier today of The IIconics explaining what winning the tag titles would mean to them.
Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville get a promo about how they are an established team and some of the only women who have been inside The Elimination Chamber.
Fabulous Glow (Carmella & Naomi) vs. Fire & Desire (Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville) vs. The IIconics (Billie Kay & Peyton Royce): Mandy avoids Naomi in the opening moments and tags in Billie to escape. Carmella tags in for a double team on Billie, then Many tags in and she puts the boots to Carmella. Naomi and Sonya tag in and Mandy runs away from Naomi. Naomi hits some kicks on Sonya, then Peyton tags in. Naomi takes out both Iiconics, then Naomi pulls Mandy in the ring and pummels on her. Peyton comes in and Naomi drops her, but the distraction leads to Mandy hitting a butterfly suplex on Naomi for the three count. Winners: Fire & Desire (Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville)
After the match, Rose & Deville celebrate as Naomi is left frustrated and defeated in the ring.
Andrade gets a promo talking about the legend of Rey Mysterio and Zelina Vega joins him to say that Rey is a folktale, a fable best left to history books and Andrade stomped his legend out last week. Zelina Vega then says that The legend of Andrade starts with Rey Mysterio’s end.
Commentary then hypes up The Daniel Bryan vs. Jeff Hardy Match for later tonight, then tosses us to a Black History Month video package about WWE’s visit to The National Civil Rights Museum to send us to a commercial break.
Back from the commercial break and we get a recap of our opening segment between WWE COO Triple H & Becky Lynch.
Commentary then asks if anyone is ready for Asuka and we get a video package about the reigning SmackDown Women’s Champion.
Jeff Hardy then makes his entrance as his match will begin after the commercial break.
Back from the commercial break and the main event is underway.
WWE Champion “The New” Daniel Bryan vs. Jeff Hardy: This one is a non-title match and Eric Rowan is at ringside. Hardy starts off strong and hits a sling blade and a splash for a two count. Hardy misses a shot in the corner and Bryan capitalizes with a running kick to the face. Bryan follows up with more boots to the face, then he puts Hardy in a surfboard submission. Hardy comes back with a dropkick and he knocks Bryan out to ringside. Hardy goes to leap off the ring steps at Bryan, but Rowan gets in the way, so Hardy stops short. Bryan takes advantage of the distraction and slams Hardy down to the ringside floor. Back in the ring, Bryan stomps on Hardy and applies an arm hold. Bryan misses a shot off the top and Jeff hits an inverted atomic drop, then a leg drop and dropkick for a two count. Hardy knocks Bryan outside and hits a flying clothesline off the apron on him. Jeff rolls Bryan back in the ring then climbs up top, but Bryan rolls across the ring so Hardy can’t reach him. Bryan trips up Hardy into the middle turnbuckle then kicks him in the throat for a two count. Bryan hits the Yes Kicks on Jeff until Jeff ducks one and comes back with the Twist of Fate. Jeff goes up top and he connects with the Swanton Bomb on Bryan. Jeff covers, but Rowan pulls Jeff outside to break the pin and the referee calls for the DQ. Winner via DQ: Jeff Hardy
After the match, Rowan beats down Jeff Hardy at ringside, then throws him back in the ring where Daniel Bryan puts him in the Label Lock. Samoa Joe then comes out from the crowd and drops Rowan at ringside, then he gets in the ring and puts Bryan in the Coquina Clutch. Orton hits the ring and starts brawling with Joe now. Mustafa Ali runs in and comes flying off the top with a kick on Joe and Orton. Ali hits a suicide dive on Joe at ringside and then he goes for one on Rowan, but Rowan catches him. Rowan grabs Ali by the head and slams him onto the announce table. AJ Styles hits the ring next and kicks Orton in the head. AJ kicks Joe down to the floor next, then he hits the Phenomenal Forearm on Hardy. Bryan and Rowan retreat up the ramp with the eco-friendly Title belt in hand. They have a brief stare down from the ramp with AJ in the ring, then Bryan and Rowan head to the back.
The camera cuts backstage and Bryan is freaking out at an interviewer for being in his face right after a match. Bryan says Rowan is his friend and intellectual peer, not his bodyguard and Bryan says that he held his own out there. Bryan blames the other wrestlers who ran out for ruining his match and says that he will be The WWE Champion forever because it is what the planet needs.
AJ Styles stands tall in the ring as commentary promotes The Elimination Chamber match and SmackDown LIVE goes off the air.