WWE SmackDown LIVE Results: May 23, 2017By Cassidy| May 24, 2017 WWE SmackDown Previous Page Detailed Results After new WWE Champion Jinder Mahal arrives via motorcade with The Singh Brothers, SmackDown LIVE kicks off with SmackDown LIVE Commissioner Shane McMahon, who makes his way to the ring with the Money-in-the-Bank briefcase hanging symbolically above the ring. Shane starts off with a major announcement as the Commissioner reveals that, in four weeks at the SmackDown LIVE exclusive pay-per-view WWE Money-in-the-Bank, Randy Orton will get his rematch for the WWE Title when he challenges new champion Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship in Orton’s hometown of St. Louis! Shane then says that WWE Money-in-the-Bank will also feature one of his favorite matches in WWE, the Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match. The Commissioner explains that whoever wins the Money-in-the-Bank briefcase earns themselves a guaranteed shot at the WWE Championship whenever and wherever they want. Shane then wastes no time in revealing who will be competing in this year’s Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match. The first Superstar revealed for the Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match is a former WWE Champion in “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles followed by “The Lone Wolf” Baron Corbin and the man who defeated Corbin at Backlash, Sami Zayn. The fourth participant in the Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match is then revealed to be “The Show Off” Dolph Ziggler followed by the fifth and final participant, United States Champion Kevin Owens! However, Kevin Owens’ presence perplexes Shane McMahon as the Commissioner reveals that Kevin Owens is not one of the five participants in the Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match! Shane then reveals that the actual fifth participant in the Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match is none other than “The Artist” Shinsuke Nakamura! Kevin Owens takes issue with the lineup for the Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match, telling Shane that he gets why Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura are in the match seeing as they won their respective matches at Backlash. Owens then says that he has a problem with AJ Styles being in the match seeing as he beat Styles at Backlash yet AJ is in the match while he is not. The United States Champion then says that SmackDown LIVE is the “land of opportunity” but only when Shane dictates the opportunities. Owens continues, saying that Shane is “upset” because he did what Shane could not do at WrestleMania and that’s beat AJ Styles. The Commissioner agrees with Owens and announces that Kevin Owens will be the sixth participant in the Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match! Baron Corbin then confronts Kevin Owens, saying that Owens “whined and cried” to get into the match. Corbin then tells Shane McMahon to lower the briefcase and just hand it to him right now. AJ Styles takes exception to this, saying that this is the house that “AJ Styles built” and it was built on him being “phenomenal” night after night. AJ then says that he doesn’t care who else is in the match because he is going to get the Money-in-the-Bank briefcase and get his WWE Championship back. Sami Zayn then says that he didn’t come to SmackDown LIVE to watch AJ Styles run “victory laps” before Baron Corbin calls Sami Zayn’s win at Backlash a “fluke”. Sami responds by saying that they don’t have to wait until WWE Money-in-the-Bank to face each other again. Dolph Ziggler then chimes in, saying that he’s the only one in the ring who knows what it’s like to win the Money-in-the-Bank briefcase and he’s going to do it again. Shinsuke Nakamura then speaks up, saying that his name is Shinsuke Nakamura but they can call him “Mr. Money-in-the-Bank”. Shane then announces that tonight will feature a rematch from Backlash when Sami Zayn goes one-on-one with Baron Corbin and, in the main event, Dolph Ziggler will team with Kevin Owens to face the team of AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura! After Naomi, Charlotte Flair, & Becky Lynch were defeated by the Welcoming Committee of Natalya, Carmella, & Tamina at Backlash, the opening match of the night would see Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch, with SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi in their corner, face Natalya & Carmella, with Tamina & James Ellsworth in their corner. With Naomi ensuring that Tamina and James Ellsworth would not get involved, Becky Lynch would lock in the Dis-Arm-Her on Carmella, making Carmella tap out to pick up the win for her team. Before they are a part of the Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match in four weeks, “The Underdog from the Underground” Sami Zayn would go one-on-one with “The Lone Wolf” Baron Corbin in a rematch from Backlash. However, the match would last just over twenty seconds as Sami Zayn was quick to surprise Baron Corbin with a roll-up, securing the three-count to pick up his second straight win over “The Lone Wolf”! However, a humiliated Baron Corbin would attack Sami Zayn from behind, bringing Sami to the outside and tossing Zayn over the barricade. Corbin then grabs a steel chair, delivering a chair shot to the back of Zayn. Baron then beats Sami down on the floor before sending Sami face-first into the barricade. Corbin then picks Sami up and drops Zayn on the barricade before dragging Sami across the floor before beating down a helpless Sami Zayn. Referees are then finally able to break it up as Baron Corbin storms off to the backstage area with referees calling for a stretcher and EMT’s. Following his unlikely rise to the top of SmackDown LIVE at Backlash where he defeated Randy Orton to become the brand new WWE Champion, Jinder Mahal would hold a special Punjabi Celebration on SmackDown LIVE to usher in the era of “The Modern Day Maharaja”. With Punjabi dancers dancing around the ring, new WWE Champion Jinder Mahal would make his way to the ring with The Singh Brothers by his side. The new champion states that the fans can shower him in their hatred all they want but that doesn’t change the fact that he is the WWE Champion. Jinder then says that they hate him because he “exposed” them for who they truly are but he “enlightened” them at Backlash by winning the WWE Title. Jinder continues, saying that he is already “the greatest WWE Champion of all-time” and he celebrates for his people and he celebrates for India. The WWE Champion then speaks in Punjabi before celebrating with the WWE Title belt as pyro erupts in the arena. After coming up short in their quest to win the SmackDown Tag Team Titles at Backlash, Breezango would be looking to get back on track in singles competition as Tyler Breeze, with Fandango in his corner, would go one-on-one with SmackDown Tag Team Champion Jey Uso, with Jimmy Uso in his corner. During the match, Fandango would distract Jey Uso by squirting Jey with a water gun and Tyler Breeze would take advantage, rolling Jey up for the win. Immediately after his brother was caught off-guard by the antics of Breezango, Jimmy Uso would be looking to score a win for The Usos as Jimmy went one-on-one with Fandango. However, in similar fashion to the previous match, the shenanigans of Breezango would pay dividends as Tyler Breeze would put on his old lady wig. Jey Uso would then chase Breeze around the ring before Breeze tries to escape into the ring and The Usos would catch Tyler Breeze. Jimmy then rips the wig off of Breeze before Tyler takes Jey down with a right hand. Jimmy Uso then decides to toss the wig at Breeze and this brief distraction would cost Jimmy as Fandango rolls up Jimmy Uso to pick up the win, making it a clean sweep for Breezango over the SmackDown Tag Team Champions! Following their respective singles victories over The Usos, Breezango would challenge The Usos to a rematch for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles and The Usos would accept the challenge, demanding that they do the rematch right now! The referee would then confer with SmackDown LIVE Commissioner Shane McMahon who would make the impromptu title match official as Breezango would challenge The Usos for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles! During the match, Fandango would manage to hit his Last Dance leg drop on Jey Uso, but unbeknownst to Fandango, Jimmy Uso had tagged into the match and, as soon as Fandango hits the Last Dance, Jimmy hits the Uso Splash on Fandango, pinning Fandango as The Usos successfully retain the SmackDown Tag Team Titles for the second time this week. Then it was time for the main event as four of the six participants in the Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match would face off as “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles would team with “The Artist” Shinsuke Nakamura to face United States Champion Kevin Owens and “The Show Off” Dolph Ziggler. During a wild match, AJ Styles would go for the Styles Clash to Kevin Owens but Dolph Ziggler would take AJ out with a super kick. Shinsuke Nakamura would then take out Dolph Ziggler before connecting with the Kinshasa to Kevin Owens, pinning the United States Champion to pick up the win for his team. After the match, AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura would come face-to-face in the middle of the ring, letting the other competitor know that the mutual respect they have for each other will not get in the way of them becoming “Mr. Money-in-the-Bank”. What did you think of this week’s SmackDown LIVE? Post your comments in the box below.
