This week’s Smackdown kicked off with Michael Cole interviewing Dean Ambrose about his Asylum match at Extreme Rules. Kevin Owens interrupts and orders Michael Cole to leave the ring. Sami Zayn and Alberto Del Rio also interrupt, which leads to a brawl with Del Rio watching from the ramp. Sami Zayn was trying to kick Kevin Owens with the Helluva Kick but Owens ducked out of the way and Zayn almost hit Dean Ambrose. Zayn went to attack Owens but he rolled out of the ring. Ambrose grabbed Zayn from behind and went to hit him with the Dirty Deeds but Zayn avoided it. The entire point of this segment was to show that at Money in the Bank, it will be every man for himself.
Poor Michael cole
— ROYAL (@RoyalEmpoleon) May 27, 2016
Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Zack Ryder vs Alberto Del Rio
Alberto Del Rio submitted Zack Ryder in a quick match. Alberto Del Rio now joins Jericho, Zayn, Ambrose, Owens, and Cesaro in the Money in the Bank ladder match. Alberto Del Rio won the Money in the Bank in 2011 in Chicago. He tried to cash in the briefcase in the same night but CM Punk kicked him in the head before the bell rung and left the arena through the crowd with the title. Del Rio then cashed it in on Punk at Summer Slam in 2011. However, back then Del Rio was more of a prominent figure in the WWE. Del Rio was stuck in the League of Nations and he hasn’t been a part of the main-event scene for awhile. However, Rusev has already become the United States Champion since the League of Nations disbanded, so Del Rio winning the Money in the Bank ladder match this year isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
Enzo & Big Cass are interrupted right when they get to the ring by the Dudley Boyz. Enzo and Cass challenge the Dudley Boyz to a match and the challenge is accepted. However, just before the Dudley Boyz enter the ring they turn around and say they don’t want to fight tonight and that the match will take place on Monday Night Raw.
https://twitter.com/Faceyourfear25/status/735994217630162944
United States Championship Match: Kalisto vs Rusev (c)
Lana is now forcing everyone to refer to Rusev as the greatest United States Champion of all time. Rusev absolutely destroyed Kalisto for most of this match. There was a pretty cool moment for Kalisto when he hit a body slam on Rusev, whom is much larger than him. This led to Kalisto finally getting in some offense of his own for a brief period of time. Eventually, Rusev wore Kalisto down and retained his United States Championship. After the match, Rusev starts to attack Kalisto but Titus O’Neil sprinted down to the ring and confronted Rusev. Titus challenged Rusev to a fight but Rusev retreated. This is an interesting development, will Titus O’Neil finally get his long-awaited singles push? Is it finally his time? Time will tell, there might be someone else returning on Monday Night Raw this week that may want to challenge Rusev as well.
https://vine.co/v/etOZuXhq11P
https://twitter.com/JoeyPesoli/status/736000563863642114
Dana Brooke vs Natalya w/ Charlotte on Commentary
Jerry the King Lawler was expressing how disappointed he was in Charlotte for embarrassing Ric Flair on Monday Night Raw. Charlotte essentially just ignored Lawler. This match was incredibly short as Natalya got the Sharp Shooter locked in almost immediately and Charlotte interfered in the match and attacked Natalya. After the disqualification, Natalya and Dana Brooke beatdown Natalya and celebrated in the ring.
Golden Truth vs Breezango
Amazingly, this match is happening again and stunningly this match was also incredibly short. Breezango got a quick victory over the Golden Truth. After the match, the Golden Truth were arguing about their loss. Goldust claimed that the WWE Universe needs the Golden Truth and R-Truth agreed.
Oh Boy #goldentruth vs #breezango i been waiting for this! I can hardly contain myself with excitement
— Mpressive (@TheMpressed) May 27, 2016
Seth Rollins comes down to the ring and asks the crowd if they missed him. The crowd cheered loudly. Rollins then said that he wished he could say he missed the crowd too and laughed. Rollins then tossed the microphone aside and left the ring. I’m guessing that the WWE is hoping that this convinced a couple of fans to start booing Rollins again. The reaction from the crowd for Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins will be quite interesting at Money in the Bank.
Seth Rollins hasn't missed a beat. #WelcomeBack #WWE #SmackDown
— Scott Fishman (@smFISHMAN) May 27, 2016
Intercontinental Championship Match: Cesaro vs The Miz (c)
Cesaro had the match won a few times but the referee was distracted. The match ended with Cesaro running at the Miz for an upper-cut but the Miz getting out of the way at the last moment. The corner that the Miz was standing in had an exposed turnbuckle, which Cesaro ran into with his injured shoulder. The Miz then hit the Skull Crushing Finale on Cesaro and escaped with a victory and retained his Intercontinental Championship. Odds are that this wasn’t the last match between these two, as Cesaro is bound to get another chance at the Miz down the road.
For an MTV reality star, @mikethemiz has really been one hell of a heel.
— Krazy Prick (@WWEUnivoice) May 27, 2016
I know it's for story reasons, I know it. But Miz beating Cesaro in any fashion will never make sense to me.
— Tobi 'Pax & Nine' Ogunyemi (paxtobi.bsky.social) (@PaxTobiPax) May 27, 2016
What did you think of tonight’s Smackdown? Let us know in the comments below.