WWE SmackDown Live
Episode 1045
#SDLive
Original Air Date: August 27, 2019
Event Date: August 27, 2019
(aired live)
City: Baton Rouge, LA
Venue: Raising Cane’s River Center Arena
Commentary: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves
Ring Announcer: Greg Hamilton
Video
Last week, someone was revealed as the man who attacked Reigns. Who was it? Well, it wasn’t Rowan, but it was apparently someone who looks kind of like him.
Backstage
Kalya Braxton asks Roman Reigns if he’s going to apologize to Daniel Bryan and Rowan. Reigns is going to save what he has to say for the ring.
Ring Area
Kofi Kingston heads to the ring. Kofi says Orton like to call him “stupid,” but who got beat up last week? Kofi has just wanted to prove how good he is, but Orton made things personal between them. Kofi doesn’t play around when you mess with his family. At Clash of Champions, Kofi gets to prove that he was ready ten years ago, and he’s ready now.
Orton interrupts via the video screen. He says “stupid” a whole lot. Earlier, when Orton was thinking about how to prove how stupid Kofi is, he got a letter from a fan. He reads the letter. It says Kofi is not stupid. Apparently the letter is from one of Kofi’s sons. Orton is touched. He also has realized that he’s staying in the same hotel as Kofi’s family, and he can go pay them a visit right now.
Orton walks off screen, and Kofi runs to the back.
Backstage
Kofi catches Orton and the two men brawl. Kofi is doing well until Orton hits Kofi with a draping DDT off a table. Orton leaves while saying “stupid.”
Backstage
Big E exits the trainer’s room and tells Kayla Braxton that Kofi will be ready to compete at Clash of the Champions. Big E isn’t so sure that Orton will be ready though.
Match 1
King of the Ring First Round Match
Ali vs Buddy Murphy
(referee: Ryan Tran; watching in the back: Elias)
Result: Ali wins via pinfall after a 450 splash
Time: 5:31 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Very good match. Those of us who watch 205 Live already know that these guys are great together, and this was another example. The match wasn’t terribly long, but Ali and Murphy fit in a whole lot of great action. I wasn’t sure who was going to win since both guys are kind of on similar paths on SmackDown right now, and that helped make the match even more interesting. This was a lot of fun.
Backstage
Ember Moon tells Bayley that Charlotte isn’t the face of the women’s division, Bayley is. Moon says she might have lost at SummerSlam, but the best woman won. Lacey Evans walks up and says Charlotte was right when she said that Bayley brings the division down. But Charlotte isn’t the face of the division, Evans is. Bayley and Moon laugh.
Ring Area
The Miz heads to the ring and complains about Sami Zayn. He says Zayn is riding the coattails of Shinsuke Nakamura. He also says that Nakamura won’t use The Miz to make a name for himself. Miz challenges Nakamura to an IC Title match at Clash of Champions.
Sami Zayn comes out to the stage and laughs. Zayn thinks it’s funny that Miz keeps talking like the IC Title is his. Nakamura is the champ, and he’s the king of strong style. Miz is the king of soft style. Maybe Miz needs some respect beaten into him. Miz invites Zayn into the ring to do that, but Zayn isn’t going to do what Miz says. Miz exits the ring to attack Zayn, but Miz gets attacked by Nakamura instead. Nakamura hits Miz with Kinshasa against the LED board on the side of the ring.
In the ring, Zayn holds Miz so Nakamura can deliver another Kinshasa.
Backstage
Kevin Owens interrupts Elias while he plays guitar in Shane McMahon’s office. Owens wants to know where Shane is, but Shane isn’t here. Owens likes that.
Match 2
Bayley (SD Women’s Champ) vs Lacey Evans
(referee: Danilo Anfibio)
Result: Bayley wins via pinfall after a diving elbow drop
Time: 10:40 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Good match. This was more of a fight than I expected it to be, and both women looked good. I’m not really a fan of Evans, but she looked good getting beat up by Bayley.
Backstage
Kayla Braxton welcomes Daniel Bryan and Rowan. Bryan says he and Rowan won’t leave the arena tonight until Roman Reigns apologizes to them.
Match 3
Randy Orton vs Big E (SD Tag Champ)
(referee: Jason Ayers)
Result: Randy Orton wins via pinfall after an RKO (and a distraction from The Revival)
Time: 6:42 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Good match. Big E was angry and fought aggressively. Big E dominated portions of the match, but Orton hit some big moves that slowed Big E down considerably. Big E did look like he was heading in the direction of a victory until The Revival came down to the ring and initiated some shenanigans.
Ring Area
After the match, The Revival and Randy Orton hit Big E with a tandem double flapjack (The Revival) and RKO (Orton).
Backstage
Sarah Schreiber welcomes Chad Gable. Gable says Shelton Benjamin can make all the jokes he wants, but Gable is going to win tonight. Benjamin walks up and says he’s looking for “Shorty” Gable. Gable doesn’t think that’s very funny.
Backstage
Elias carries his guitar as he walks.
Video
Clips from a Fox Sports event where R-Truth, Rob Stone, and Elias became the 24/7 Champ.
Ring Area
Elias sits on the King of the Ring throne and talks about how no former King of the Ring could wear the crown like him. Elias will be a king you can believe in. Then he insults the “swamp people” of Louisiana. Kevin Owens appears behind Elias and attacks.
The brawl makes its way into the ring where Owens hits Elias with a stunner. Curiously, Owens doesn’t pin Elias for the 24/7 Title.
Owens leaves, but Elias remains on his back in the ring. R-Truth sneaks up and tries to pin Elias, but Drake Maverick pulls R-Truth out of the ring. Maverick pins Elias and becomes the new 24/7 Champ. Maverick does a couple of victory laps around the ring before leaving with the title.
Backstage
Chad Gable warms up for his match.
Match 4
King of the Ring First Round Match
Shelton Benjamin vs Chad Gable
(referee: Ryan Tran; watching in the back: Andrade, Zelina Vega)
Result: Chad Gable wins via pinfall after a sunset flip powerbomb
Time: 3:43
Match Thoughts
This was surprisingly short. It could have been a great match, but they just weren’t given much time. For what it was, it was entertaining.
Backstage
Roman Reigns walks with a blank look on his face.
Ring Area
Roman Reigns heads to the ring. Before he can say anything, Daniel Bryan and Rowan appear on the video screen. Bryan just wants to hear Reigns say, “I’m sorry.” reigns asks the crowd if he should apologize. They say “no.” Reigns decides to show a video.
The video shows a man in a black hoodie with a big red beard shoving equipment down beside Roman Reigns after he’ already been safely pinned underneath equipment that been been pushed from the opposite side…
Bryan yells at Rowan. Bryan repeatedly slaps Rowan and says that he hates liars. Bryan yells until Rowan goes away. Bryan heads to the ring. One he’s in the ring, Bryan tells Reigns that he didn’t tell Rowan to attack Reigns. Regardless, Reigns attacks Bryan with a spear.
Show Impressions
The ongoing attempted-murder mystery took a turn for the “huh?” tonight. I’m kind of intrigued by part of it, but all of these reveals are just kind of underwhelming. I think a lot of that has to do with how the original attack was recorded and edited. It just looks completely fake. Also, they’re not even going to talk about the bald guy from last week? It’s very strange.
Other than that, this was a pretty good show. The first two matches were quite entertaining. I was disappointed in the main event just because I know Benjamin and Gable could have put on such a great match, yet they were given less than four minutes. Nevermind that Reigns’s ring entrance and the repeated replays of video footage took way more time than the main event match. But whatever…
Match of the Night
Ali vs Buddy Murphy
As always, these two guys delivered.
Official Results: https://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/2019-08-27