Ambrose, Ellsworth, Styles and The Miz
The night started with Dean Ambrose hitting a Dirty Deeds on James Ellsworth, who tried to talk himself up to the champion. AJ Styles stood there and watched him get dropped. Later, The Miz welcomed Dean Ambrose to MizTV, which ended with Daniel Bryan making an Intercontinental Championship match between the two for later tonight.
Miz dropkicks the knee of Ambrose in the corner. Miz continues to work on the knee of Ambrose. Miz goes for the Figure Four Leg Lock, but Ambrose blocks it. Miz connects with the Shin Breaker.
Miz goes for another Shin Breaker, but Ambrose rolls him up for a two count. Ambrose goes for the flying dropkick off the second rope, but Miz counters with the Figure Four Leg Lock, but Ambrose reaches the bottom rope. Ambrose lowers the top rope and Miz is sent crashing to the outside. Ambrose connects with the suicide dive. Ambrose goes for the Lunatic Lariat, but Miz blocks it. Miz goes for the Skull Crushing Finale, but Ambrose counters with a roll through. Miz plants Ambrose with a DDT for a two count. Miz with a series of YES kicks to Ambrose.
Ambrose with another rollup for a two count. Ambrose connects with the Lunatic Lariat. Ambrose goes back to the top rope. Miz and Ambrose are battling for position on the top rope. Ambrose headbutt’s Miz. Miz is sent crashing to the canvas. Maryse behind the referee’s back sends Ambrose crashing on the steel ring post. Miz drops Ambrose with the running knee for a two count. James Ellsworth comes down to the ring to argue with Maryse. Ellsworth hops on the ring apron which causes the referee to be distracted while Ambrose has Miz already defeated. The ref turns around, but Miz kicks out at the count of two. Miz drops Ambrose with the Skull Crushing Finale to pickup the victory.
Smackdown revolved around tag teams and these group of men. James Ellsworth did just enough wrong to make it right. The Miz, moving on from Dolph Ziggler, picked up a heel victory to retain his Intercontinental Championship. I would have loved to see more AJ Styles tonight. I feel like the lack of main event talent is beginning to show the weaknesses on Smackdown. Adding Randy Orton to Bray’s team is intriguing, but it has left a gap in that one additional feud that puts the show completely together.
I enjoyed the match between Ambrose/Miz. They work well together and both men are great executors in the ring. The speed they possess is similar and their offense is relatively low risk, but effective.
Tonight was a cry for me, pleading WWE RAW and Smackdown to make a trade. We need Sami and/or Cesaro on Smackdown. Plain and simple, there needs to be depth. They have none right now.
@JoshIsenberg4 on Twitter. WWE Smackdown Live Rating:
