The August 20, 2019 edition of WWE SmackDown Live took place at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, SD.
– David Otunga is filling in for Corey Graves at the commentary table tonight. We’re told Graves is on vacation.
– Randy Orton comes out to the ring to kick off this week’s episode of SmackDown. Orton talks trash about Kofi, saying he is stupid and he keeps failing every time he faces Orton. The New Day’s music hits, and Orton looks up to the stage. Kofi hits the ring from behind and gives Orton the Trouble In Paradise kick. Kofi grabs a steel chair and brings it in the ring, then sticks Orton’s leg in it. Kofi wants to break Orton’s leg, but The Revival comes out for the save. Kofi fights off The Revival with the steel chair, and Kofi clears the ring. Orton and The Revival retreat up the ramp.
– We see a video package looking at the mysterious backstage attacks on Roman Reigns, and Daniel Bryan saying that he will reveal Reigns’ attacker tonight.
– We see Shane McMahon backstage polishing the screen on his TV in his office. Kevin Owens walks in after Shane summoned him. Shane asks Kevin not to rip up his office and display the same abhorrent behavior he did last week. Owens says he’s not here to make things worse, he wants to focus on his King Of The Ring tournament match. Shane says Owens looks like he has a lot on his mind, and tells him to spit it out. Owens says last week Shane fined him $100,000, and Kevin flipped out. Owens says $100,000 might be nothing to Shane, but it’s a lot to Kevin and his family. Owens asks Shane as a father to reconsider his fine. Shane says he’ll consider it, and sends Owens on his way.
– Andrade vs. Apollo Crews: This one is a King Of The Ring tournament match. Zelina Vega is at ringside. Apollo starts off swinging right out of the gate with a clothesline on Andrade immediately after the bell. Andrade fights back and the opening moments of the match are very competitive. Andrade looks for a cross body off the top, but Crews knocks him out of mid-air with a dropkick. They fight out to ringside, and Andrade sends Crews into the ring steps with a hurricanrana. Back in the ring, Andrade goes for another cross body off the top, but Crews catches him and slams him. Crews and Andrade trade blows in the middle of the ring, and Andrade stuns Crews with a big boot. Apollo climbs the turnbuckle, but Crews stuns him with an enziguri. They continue to brawl back and forth until Andrade, but then Zelina gets involved from ringside and distracts Apollo. This leads to Andrade hitting a spinning back elbow on Crews, followed up by the hammerlock DDT. Andrade wins and advances in the King Of The Ring Tournament. Andrade will now face the winner of Chad Gable vs. Shelton Benjamin.
Winner: Andrade
– Daniel Bryan and Rowan walk into their locker room. They have someone covered in a black sheet sitting in a chair in their room. Bryan warns the person not to move from that chair, or he will be very sorry.
– 24/7 Champion Elias is backstage warming up his guitar. He notices a referee standing by, and he makes the person tell him where the hopeful challenger to his 24/7 Title is. The ref points to a road box, and Elias opens it up and grabs Drake Maverick. Elias hands Drake a note from Shane McMahon, saying that the 24/7 Title rules are suspended tonight so Elias can focus on his match, no exceptions. Elias shoves Drake back in the box and walks off. Drake sticks his head out and the box lid falls on him. Drake says he just wants to consummate his marriage.
– Women’s Tag Team Champions Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross come out to the stage to host A Moment Of Bliss. First they pose with their Tag Title belts, then they introduce their guest Charlotte. Charlotte starts talking trash about Bayley and running down a list of her flaws. Charlotte says she is the face of SmackDown, and Bayley is just an afterthought, and Bayley is bringing down the value of the SmackDown Women’s Title. SmackDown Women’s Champ Bayley comes out and tells Charlotte she keeps saying the same stuff over and over. Bayley tells Charlotte to shut her mouth and she pushes Charlotte off her chair.
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– We see Buddy Murphy backstage getting ready in his locker room. Roman Reigns walks in and they come face to face. Reigns wants to know if Buddy lied to him, or he lied to Rowan and Bryan. Murphy says he’s pretty sure he saw Rowan. Reigns says “pretty sure” isn’t good enough. Murphy says he’s sick of dealing with this, and he was only trying to help Reigns. Reigns says if he finds out Murphy is lying again, he’s going to come back and whoop Murphy’s ass again.
– Daniel Bryan and Rowan come out to the ring, then Buddy Murphy comes out for their match. Bryan gets on the mic and confronts Buddy, and calls him a cowardly liar. Bryan says tonight they’re going to reveal who has been committing these tragedies against Roman Reigns, and they’re going to reveal that Buddy had something to do with it too.
– Daniel Bryan vs. Buddy Murphy: Murphy starts off with a boot to Bryan’s face right off the opening bell. Murphy continues bringing the fight to Bryan, until Bryan uses his speed to get away from Murphy and fire back with some kicks. Bryan drops Murphy and puts the boots to him, yelling that Buddy is a liar. Murphy fights back and climbs the turnbuckle, then hits a flying knee strike on Bryan. Bryan fights back and wrestles Murphy down to the mat, then he applies the Yes Lock. Murphy breaks the hold. Bryan nails Murphy with some kicks now. They fight into the corner, where Bryan hangs Murphy upside down and dropkicks him. Bryan hits a back suplex off the top rope for a two count. They fight into the opposite corner, but this time Murphy fights back and powerbombs Bryan off the turnbuckle for a two count. Murphy hits a brainbuster for another two count. Rowan gets on the apron to argue with the ref. Bryan accidentally runs into Rowan, which leads to Murphy kicking Rowan off the apron and then hitting the Murphy’s Law on Bryan. Murphy pins for the three count.
Winner: Buddy Murphy
– We see a shot of the man in Bryan & Rowan’s locker room covered by a black sheet. He is still sitting there.
– Back from the commercial break, Buddy Murphy is backstage for an interview. Before he can get a word out, Bryan and Rowan attack him. Bryan shouts at Buddy that he is a cowardly liar, and he doesn’t deserve to be here. Referees and agents finally run over and break up the beat-down on Murphy.
– The Revival comes out to the ring and gets on the mic. They trash The New Day and say they aren’t Championship material – they’re cowards. They crack some jokes about injuring Xavier Woods’ knee. Heavy Machinery comes out to interrupt, and we have a match.
– Heavy Machinery vs. The Revival: It’s all Heavy Machinery in the opening moments of this one, and Tucker and Otis clear the ring. Back in the ring, Wilder fires up and starts working over Tucker. Otis gets the tag and drops both members of The Revival. Otis starts working over Dash, but Dawson gets involved, and this leads to Dash rolling up Otis from behind. Dash scores the three count after a short but competitive match.
Winners: The Revival
– Chad Gable does an interview backstage where he says he may be an underdog in the King Of The Ring Tournament, but that was the case his whole life in amateur wrestling. While he’s speaking, Shelton Benjamin comes out of the men’s locker room and he puts a sign on the door behind Gable. Gable goes to walk in the locker room, and sees that the sign says “you must be this tall to enter the locker room.” Gable says “funny” and walks in.
– The mystery man is still sitting in Bryan and Rowan’s locker room.
– The Miz comes out to the ring to host Miz TV. he introduces his guest, Sami Zayn. Zayn and Miz trade jabs about Sami losing a lot lately, and then Sami introduces his new associate Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura comes out to the ring and stands next to Sami. Miz asks why Shinsuke would need to associate with Sami, when Shinsuke is the Intercontinental Champion. Sami asks Miz what language he wants Shinsuke Nakamura to answer in – English or Japanese? Sami says that English isn’t Shinsuke’s native language, and it’s hard for an artist to express himself in a foreign language. Sami says he is also an artist so he understands Shinsuke, and he’s going to be Shinsuke’s mouthpiece from now on. Sami says they can speak a language even Miz can understand, and then Shinsuke kicks Miz in the back of the head and hits him with the Kinshasa from behind. Nakamura hits another Kinshasa in the corner, and Sami has to hold Nakamura back. Sami stops holding him back, and Shinsuke then hits the Kinshasa on The Miz once again. Nakamura and Zayn leave together.
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– Bryan and Rowan return to their locker room, and they tell the guy under the black sheet that his night is about to get a lot worse, because they just called Roman Reigns over.
– Shane McMahon calls Kevin Owens into this office again. Shane says Kevin never apologized for what he did. Owens says Shane is right, and Owens apologizes for putting his hands on a WWE official. Shane says he is considering lifting the fine, but if Kevin ever touches a WWE official again, he will be immediately fired. Kevin says he agrees, and he goes to shake Shane’s hand, but Shane says he’s not quite there yet. Owens walks off.
– Kevin Owens vs. Elias: This one is a King Of The Ring tournament match. Elias starts off strong in this one, and he takes Owens outside and slams him into the fan barricade. Back in the ring, Owens fights back and drops Elias in the corner, then follows up with a cannonball splash for a two count. Shane McMahon’s music hits, and “The Best In The World” comes out to the ringside area for a closer look at the match. The fight between Owens and Elias spills out to ringside, and Owens hits a frogsplash off the apron on Elias on the ringside floor. Back in the ring, Elias starts fighting back, and he tries to keep Owens grounded with a side headlock. Owens fights back with a DDT and a missile dropkick off the turnbuckle. Owens looks for a Swanton bomb, but Elias gets the knees up to block it. The fight spills out to ringside, and Owens hits a cannonball splash off the apron on to Elias at ringside. Shane gets out of his seat and tells Owens to give Elias some space and let him back in the ring. Shane takes off his jacket to reveal he is wearing a referee shirt. Shane gets in the ring and tells the other referee to get out. Owens gets back in the ring and trades shots with Elias. Elias tries to shove Owens into Shane, but Owens stops. This leads to Elias rolling up Owens from behind, and Shane counts the fast three. Elias advances in the King Of The Ring tournament.
Winner: Elias
– Elias and Shane celebrate on the ramp after the match.
– Roman Reigns walks in to Daniel Bryan and Rowan’s locker room, where they have a guy sitting under the black sheet. Bryan says they found the guy who nearly ended Roman’s career. Bryan pulls the sheet off of him, to reveal a guy with a shaved head and red beard, who looks kind of like Rowan. Rowan and the mystery guy both look at Roman, and Roman looks confused as SmackDown goes off the air.
