WWE SmackDown Live
Episode 992
#SDLive
Original Air Date: August 21, 2018
Event Date: August 21, 2018 (aired live)
City: Brooklyn, New York, NY
Venue: Barclays Center
Commentary: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves
Ring Announcer: Greg Hamilton
Ring Area
The Miz and Maryse head to the ring. Miz pretends to be emotional as he struggles to speak. He eventually gets out that he is officially announcing his retirement… of ever facing Daniel Bryan again. The eight year saga is over. His old life is over, and in his new life he’s going to watch the latest episode of Miz & Mrs. Daniel Bryan comes out to the stage.
As Bryan heads down the ramp towards the ring, he repeatedly says “coward.” Bryan says he is going to expose Miz for what he is, a wannabe Hollywood star cosplaying as a professional wrestler. Maryse interrupts and tells Bryan to go home and change his name to Daniel Bella. Brie Bella runs down to the ring and punches Miz in the face as Maryse flees. Bryan joins in and knocks Miz out to the floor.
Bryan informs Miz and Maryse that he has just spoken with Paige, and she set up a match for Hell in a Cell. It will be Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella versus The Miz and Maryse.
Backstage
Jeff Hardy opens his mouth.
Backstage
Miz complains to Paige about the mixed tag match set for Hell in a Cell. Paige listens politely, then says the match stays.
Match 1
Jeff hardy vs Randy Orton
(referee: Mike Chioda)
Result: Randy Orton wins via DQ when Jeff Hardy stomps Orton’s crotch
Time: 7:07
Match Thoughts
This was okay. It didn’t really get interesting until it devolved into a brawl when the match ended.
Ring Area
Jeff Hardy beat up Orton through the crowd. They make their way to the tech area where Hardy hits Orton repeatedly with a chair. The brawl ends with Hardy hitting a swanton onto Orton through a table.
Backstage
Renee Young welcomes The Bar. Cesaro and Sheamus want to challenge the winners of tonight’s tag title match. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows walk up and says they want to challenge for the titles, so they challenge The Bar to a match to decide who gets a title shot. The Bar agrees to a match next week.
Match 2
Naomi vs Peyton Royce w/ Billie Kay
(referee: Charles Robinson)
Result: Peyton Royce wins via pinfall with a bridging fisherman suplex
Time: 3:34 (joined in progress)
Match Thoughts
Good match. There were a couple of minor moments where the timing was slightly off, but that’s a tiny nitpick. I liked what they did here, and I’d like to see the IIconics build some momentum starting with this match. They were completely entertaining before, during, and after the match.
Backstage
Big E eats ribs. Also, his actual ribs are hurt after New Day’s match with the Bludgeon Brothers. Even with Big E hurt, Woods and Kingston are confident that they will become five time tag champs tonight.
Video
At Summer Slam, Charlotte won the SmackDown Women’s Title, but she lost Becky Lynch as a friend.
Ring Area
Becky Lynch heads to the ring. Lynch says she deserves to be champ right now, but since Charlotte took that from her, Charlotte deserved the beating she got at Summer Slam. Lynch worked for months to get a singles match for the title, but Charlotte took that away. Lynch also wonders if the fans are really supporting her despite their cheers in the arena tonight. Lynch feels like an afterthought. At Summer Slam, her moment was stolen for the last time. Not because the fans want Becky to succeed, but because Lynch says she deserves to succeed. No one will tell her differently.
Charlotte comes out to the stage. Becky invites Charlotte to the ring, so Charlotte runs down and attacks Lynch. Referees attempt to stop the brawl but fail. Paige comes out and ushers most of the SmackDown women’s division out to break things up. Regardless, Lynch and Charlotte continue to brawl as the show goes to a commercial break.
Match 3
Zelina Vega & Andrade “Cien” Almas vs Lana & Rusev
(referee: Danilo Anfibio)
Result: Rusev forces Almas to submit to The Accolade
Time: 7:27
Match Thoughts
Good match. Rusev and Lana got the majority of the offense in this match which is probably a good thing considering the domination of Almas and Vega in this feud. The match tonight felt like an end to the feud so both teams can go their separate ways. It also seemed to put a finishing touch on the ongoing issues Rusev and Lana have had with Aiden English. I liked it.
Selfie Promo
Shinsuke Nakamura welcomes everyone to the United States of Nakamerica.
Backstage
AJ Styles looks at himself holding the WWE Title in a mirror.
Video
Clips from the Styles/Joe title match at Summer Slam where Styles got himself disqualified.
Ring Area
On the stage, Renee Young welcomes AJ Styles. Styles says Samoa Joe crossed the line at Summer Slam. Styles isn’t proud of what he did, but he couldn’t help himself. Styles begins to make a promise to everyone when Samoa Joe attacks Styles from behind. Joe puts Styles down with the Coquina Clutch, then he addresses Wendy Styles on the mic.
Backstage
Paige tells Drake Wuertz to make sure Styles gets medical attention. After Wuertz leaves, Carmella walks up. Carmella says the triple threat match was unfair. She wants a rematch for the title, but R-Truth has other ideas. R-Truth wants a title match, and he still plans to pin Carmella in order to get it. R-Truth is excused. Paige tells Carmella that she will get her title rematch one on one against Charlotte next week. That pleases Carmella.
Match 4
No DQ SmackDown Tag Title Match
Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods w/ Big E vs The Bludgeon Brothers (SD Tag Champs)
(referee: Mike Chioda)
Result: Woods and Kingston pin Harper after a rope-walk diving elbow through a table from Woods
Time: 11:48 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Very good match. This was a lot of fun. There wasn’t too much in the way of setting stuff up to break, so the action never really dipped too much. New Day continued what they started at Summer Slam, displaying their resilience against the powerful onslaught from Harper and Rowan. I liked the finish and how they got to it. It made sense, and it made this immediate rematch worth happening.
Show Impressions
Good show. I didn’t care about the Hardy and Orton segment, but I liked everything else. There were a lot of nice moments on tonight’s show. Highlights for me were the Becky/Charlotte brawl, The IIconics, and of course the tag title match.
Match of the Night
SmackDown Tag Title Match
These were a good couple of days for these two teams. I liked how it took a whole lot for New Day to finally start showing that the Bludgeon Brothers aren’t unstoppable.
Official Results: https://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/2018-08-21#full-detail-40047585