WWE SmackDown Results: June 2, 2016

Detailed Results

For the first time since they were assaulted by Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson on RAW, the WWE Tag Team Champions were on SmackDown as The New Day makes their way to the ring. Kofi Kingston says that The Club “dropped a few bodies” on RAW but they will never be the WWE Tag Team Champions. This brings out Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson as Anderson says that when they were finished with The New Day on RAW, they didn’t look like the WWE Tag Team Champions. Gallows then says that, one of these nights, when The New Day are playing their trombone or coming up with another catchphrase, the WWE Tag Team Titles will be coming to The Club. The New Day make light up The Club, asking what kind of club they are and saying that they’re obviously not in the “Hair Club for Men”. Kofi then dares Gallows & Anderson to come down to the ring and “collect” on their club “dues”. Big E then says that, without their “pappy” AJ Styles, it’s just a three-on-two fight.

This statement brings out the third member of The Club as “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles joins Gallows & Anderson on the stage. Styles says that the whole world is talking about The Club and what they did to John Cena on RAW before saying that WWE belongs to The Club. Styles then says that, after ten years in WWE, Kofi Kingston is still joking around before saying that Kofi is a “joke”. Kofi scoffs at Styles, pointing out his many title reigns over the last ten years before firing back at “The Phenomenal One”, saying that it took AJ ten years just to make it to WWE! AJ then challenges Kofi to face him one-on-one tonight and Kingston is quick to accept the challenge!

After rescuing Natalya from a two-on-one attack at the hands of Charlotte and Dana Brooke on RAW, the opening match of the night would see “The Irish Lass Kicker” Becky Lynch square off with Women’s Champion Charlotte, with Dana Brooke in her corner, in a non-title match. During the match, Becky Lynch would counter Charlotte’s attempt at the Figure-Eight into the Dis-Arm-Her, but this is when Dana Brooke would get involved, entering the ring and trying to pull Charlotte out of harm’s way with the referee spotting Dana Brooke and ending the match by disqualification. Dana then pulls the Women’s Champion out of the ring before Natalya comes out, sparking a brawl between the four women that spills back into the ring. Natalya then looks for the Sharpshooter on Dana Brooke while Becky Lynch looks for the Dis-Arm-Her on Charlotte, but Charlotte & Dana are able to escape the ring, walking away from the fight.

With Breezango at ringside, their rivals The Golden Truth would face The Dudley Boyz on SmackDown. During the match, Tyler Breeze would get on the ring apron and R-Truth would knock Breeze off of the ring apron onto Fandango before D-Von Dudley would shove Goldust into R-Truth, knocking Truth out of the ring before D-Von rolls Goldust up to pick up the win for The Dudley Boyz, continuing The Golden Truth’s losing streak.

Requesting an interview outside of the arena, Baron Corbin would explain that the fans in the arena don’t deserve to see him after they cheered Dolph Ziggler for utilizing a low blow on RAW. Baron says that he will pummel Dolph into a pile of “broken bones and broken dreams”, stating that the next time he enters an arena, it will be to “end” Dolph Ziggler.

Just over two weeks before the four of them, along with Cesaro and Chris Jericho, compete in the Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match at WWE Money-in-the-Bank, “The Lunatic Fringe” Dean Ambrose would team with Sami Zayn to face the team of Kevin Owens and Alberto Del Rio. During the wild match, Alberto Del Rio would inadvertently knock Kevin Owens off of the ring apron with an enziguiri and Sami Zayn would capitalize on the confusion, scoring with the Helluva Kick and pinning Del Rio to pick up the win for himself and Dean Ambrose. After the match, a furious Kevin Owens would glare at Dean Ambrose and Sami Zayn before Owens would pull a ladder out from under the ring, sliding the ladder into the ring.

Before Owens can set the ladder up, another participant in the Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match would emerge as Cesaro would rush to the ring and, with Dean Ambrose and Sami Zayn still watching from the entrance ramp, “The Swiss Superman” would take out Kevin Owens with one of his signature corkscrew European uppercuts. Cesaro then sets up the ladder in the middle of the ring, climbing the ladder and symbolically unhooking the Money-in-the-Bank briefcase hanging above the ring, leaving “The Swiss Superman” standing tall atop the ladder with briefcase in hand in what could be a sign of things to come at WWE Money-in-the-Bank.

Following a confrontation with Titus O’Neil on RAW where Rusev referred to himself as a “great American hero”, the United States Champion, with Lana in his corner, was set to face a familiar rival in “The Real American” Jack Swagger. However, Rusev would not let the match begin, knocking Swagger off of the ring apron before sending Swagger shoulder-first into the steel ring steps. The United States Champion then rolls Swagger into the ring and, despite the injured shoulder, Swagger would insist that the match be started! The referee would then ring the bell and Swagger would do his best to combat Rusev, even sacrificing himself to take Rusev down with a clothesline outside of the ring. Back in the ring, Rusev would take over, continuing to work on the injured shoulder of “The Real American”, but Swagger would refuse to give up, continuing to fight back against the United States Champion.

At one point in the match, Rusev would send Swagger up and over the top rope with Swagger bouncing face-first off of the steel steps on the outside! However, “The Real American” would barely make it back into the ring before the referee’s ten-count and, while Swagger was able to lock in the Patriot Lock, Rusev would fight out of the submission before blasting Swagger in the back of the head with a super kick. The United States Champion then locks in the Accolade on Swagger and, despite the best efforts of “The Real American”, Swagger could not fight out of the hold and would have no choice but to tap out as Rusev picks up the win. Rusev would then refuse to release the hold until Titus O’Neil comes out to make the save and Rusev is quick to exit the ring, again avoiding a fight with Titus O’Neil.

Then it was time for the main event as, after a confrontation earlier in the night, “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles, with Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson in his corner, would go one-on-one with WWE Tag Team Champion Kofi Kingston, with Big E & Xavier Woods in his corner. During the match, a confrontation between Big E & Xavier Woods and Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson on the outside would draw the attention of Kofi Kingston and AJ Styles would take advantage, sending Kofi face-first into the steel ring post. Later on in the match, AJ Styles would look for the Phenomenal Forearm, but a distraction from Xavier Woods would distract “The Phenomenal One” long enough so that Kofi Kingston could avoid the forearm.

This leads to Karl Anderson sending Xavier Woods into the steel steps on the outside and Luke Gallows would try to take out Big E, but Big E would fight back, tossing Gallows into the barricade. Big E then grabs Karl Anderson and delivers a belly-to-belly suplex to Anderson on the announce table before Gallows takes Big E out with a big boot and Kofi takes his focus off of the match to dive to the outside to take Gallows out. This would allow AJ Styles to catch Kofi coming back into the ring with the Pele Kick, following it up with the Styles Clash as Styles pins Kofi to pick up the win. This leaves The Club standing tall on the stage as The New Day does their best to collect themselves in the ring.

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