The July 19, 2016 Edition of Smackdown is a Professional wrestling television show of the WWE's Smackdown brand, which took place live on July 19, 2016 at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts. This was the first episode of SmackDown on its new night, Tuesday nights, and aired live on USA Network. The show was aired as WWE SmackDown Live.
Summary[]
In the first round of the 2016 WWE Brand Extension Draft, Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon and her General Manager Mick Foley picked Seth Rollins, Women's Champion Charlotte and NXT’s Finn Bálor, while SmackDown Live Commissioner Shane McMahon and his General Manager Daniel Bryan picked WWE Champion Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles.
John Cena then battled Luke Gallows, looking to pick up speed toward WWE Battleground with Enzo & Big Cass and AJ Styles & Karl Anderson watching at ringside. But, when each side's respective partners got involved, Gallows was momentarily distracted. This paved the way for Cena to hit the Attitude Adjustment for the victory.
In the second round of the WWE Draft, Raw chose Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar and WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day, while SmackDown selected John Cena and Randy Orton.
WWE Battleground preview: Intercontinental Title Match | United States Title Match
In a subsequent war for WWE Battleground momentum, Darren Young joined forces with Zack Ryder against United States Champion Rusev and Intercontinental Champion The Miz. In the height of the action, Young made a definitive statement when he made The A-Lister tap out to the Crossface Chicken Wing – a maneuver made famous by his life coach, WWE Hall of Famer Bob Backlund!
Before The New Day and The Wyatt Family go head-to-head in an explosive Six-Man Tag Team Match at WWE Battleground, Xavier Woods was forced to face his fear of The New Face of Fear. While Woods fought bravely, in the end, Wyatt would bury him in a shroud of darkness and overcome his opponent with Sister Abigail.
Demon Kane was scheduled to go one-on-one against Kevin Owens on the premiere episode of SmackDown Live. But, when KO started brawling with Sami Zayn before the contest could even get underway, The Devil's Favorite Demon took them both out with a double Chokeslam.
The WWE Draft then picked up right where it left off with Raw choosing Zayn, Sasha Banks and Chris Jericho, and SmackDown picking Bray Wyatt and Becky Lynch.
On the first episode of SmackDown Live, Sasha Banks was forced to take on the Women's Champion and her powerful protégé Dana Brooke all by herself – a daunting reminder that The Boss still doesn't have a tag team partner to face her adversaries at this Sunday's WWE Battleground. And when Sasha failed to see Charlotte tag into the match, the titleholder took full advantage and finished her opponent off with Natural Selection.
Then, in the fourth round of the WWE Draft, Raw selected United States Champion Rusev with Lana, Kevin Owens and Enzo & Big Cass, while SmackDown Live selected Intercontinental Champion The Miz with Maryse and Baron Corbin.
In a hard-fought showdown, Chris Jericho proved to be the kryptonite to The Swiss Superman when, in the final moments of their showdown, the six-time World Champion hit Cesaro with the Codebreaker as his opponent was propelling himself off the top rope.
While Natalya was supposed to face Alicia Fox, a sudden attack by Becky Lynch ended that before it started and quickly threw things into chaos!
The 2016 Brand Extension Draft then continued as Raw broke up The Club by selecting Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, Big Show and NXT's Nia Jax while SmackDown Live picked NXT's American Alpha and Dolph Ziggler.
The WWE Draft continued on SmackDown Live, as Raw selected Neville, Cesaro and Sheamus, while the blue brand picked Natalya and Alberto Del Rio.
Then, following a controversial WWE Title Match on Raw, The Lunatic Fringe and his one-time Shield cohort engaged in an absolute knockdown, drag-out free-for-all WWE Championship rematch on the premiere episode of SmackDown Live.
In the height of the action, when Seth Rollins attempted to follow up a Superplex off the top rope, Ambrose broke loose and hit Dirty Deeds to score for the first SmackDown Live main event victory! As SmackDown went off the air, Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan joined The Lunatic Fringe in the ring in celebration of this monumental occasion.
Results[]
- Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.
- (c) refers to the champion(s) heading into the match.
- John Cena (w/ Big Cass & Enzo Amore) defeated Luke Gallows (w/ Karl Anderson & AJ Styles) (5:25)
- Zack Ryder & Darren Young (w/ Bob Backlund) defeated Rusev & The Miz (w/ Lana & Maryse) by submission (4:05)
- Kevin Owens vs. Kane No Contest
- Bray Wyatt (w/ Braun Strowman & Erick Rowan) defeated Xavier Woods (w/ Kofi Kingston & Big E) (4:45)
- Charlotte & Dana Brooke defeated Sasha Banks in a Two on One Handicap match (2:18)
- Chris Jericho defeated Cesaro (4:52)
- Dean Ambrose (c) defeated Seth Rollins to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (12:17)
Selection[]
SmackDown Live[]
| Rnd. | Pick # | Brand | Brand Pick # | Employee (Real name) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Raw | 1 | Seth Rollins (Colby Lopez) |
|
| 1 | 2 | SmackDown | 1 | Dean Ambrose (Jonathan Good) |
WWE Champion |
| 1 | 3 | Raw | 2 | Charlotte (Ashley Fliehr) |
WWE Women's Champion |
| 1 | 4 | SmackDown | 2 | AJ Styles (Allen Jones) |
|
| 1 | 5 | Raw | 3 | Finn Bálor (Fergal Devitt) |
Drafted from NXT |
| 2 | 6 | Raw | 4 | Roman Reigns (Leati Anoa'i) |
|
| 2 | 7 | SmackDown | 3 | John Cena | |
| 2 | 8 | Raw | 5 | Brock Lesnar | |
| 2 | 9 | SmackDown | 4 | Randy Orton | |
| 2 | 10 | Raw | 6 | The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) (Ettore Ewen, Kofi Sarkodie-Mensah and Austin Watson) |
WWE Tag Team Champions |
| 3 | 11 | Raw | 7 | Sami Zayn (Rami Sebei) |
|
| 3 | 12 | SmackDown | 5 | Bray Wyatt (Windham Rotunda) |
|
| 3 | 13 | Raw | 8 | Sasha Banks (Mercedes Kaestner-Varnado) |
|
| 3 | 14 | SmackDown | 6 | Becky Lynch (Rebecca Quin) |
|
| 3 | 15 | Raw | 9 | Chris Jericho (Christopher Irvine) |
|
| 4 | 16 | Raw | 10 | Rusev with Lana (Miroslav Barnyashev with Catherine Perry) |
WWE United States Champion |
| 4 | 17 | SmackDown | 7 | The Miz with Maryse (Mike Mizanin with Maryse Mizanin) |
WWE Intercontinental Champion |
| 4 | 18 | Raw | 11 | Kevin Owens (Kevin Steen) |
|
| 4 | 19 | SmackDown | 8 | Baron Corbin (Thomas Pestock) |
|
| 4 | 20 | Raw | 12 | Enzo & Cass (Enzo Amore and Big Cass) (Eric Ardnt and William Morrissey) |
|
| 5 | 21 | Raw | 13 | Gallows and Anderson (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson) (Andrew Hankinson and Chad Allegra) |
|
| 5 | 22 | SmackDown | 9 | American Alpha (Chad Gable and Jason Jordan) (Charles Betts and Nathan Everhart) |
Drafted from NXT |
| 5 | 23 | Raw | 14 | Big Show (Paul Wight, Jr.) |
|
| 5 | 24 | SmackDown | 10 | Dolph Ziggler (Nicholas Nemeth) |
|
| 5 | 25 | Raw | 15 | Nia Jax (Savelina Fanene) |
Drafted from NXT |
| 6 | 26 | Raw | 16 | Neville (Benjamin Satterley) |
|
| 6 | 27 | SmackDown | 11 | Natalya (Natalie Neidhart) |
|
| 6 | 28 | Raw | 17 | Cesaro (Claudio Castagnoli) |
|
| 6 | 29 | SmackDown | 12 | Alberto Del Rio (José Rodriguez) |
|
| 6 | 30 | Raw | 18 | Sheamus (Stephen Farrelly) |
Final televised draft pick; later drafts to be aired on the WWE Network |
WWE Network[]
| Rnd. | Pick # | Brand | Brand Pick # | Employee (Real name) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 31 | Raw | 19 | Golden Truth (Goldust and R-Truth) (Dustin Runnels and Ron Killings) |
|
| 7 | 32 | SmackDown | 13 | The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso) (Jonathan Fatu and Joshua Fatu) |
|
| 7 | 33 | Raw | 20 | Titus O'Neil (Thaddeus Bullard Sr.) |
|
| 7 | 34 | SmackDown | 14 | Kane (Glen Jacobs) |
|
| 7 | 35 | Raw | 21 | Paige (Saraya-Jade Bevis) |
|
| 8 | 36 | Raw | 22 | Darren Young with Bob Backlund (Frederick Rosser III with Robert Backlund) |
|
| 8 | 37 | SmackDown | 15 | Kalisto (Emanuel Rodriguez) |
|
| 8 | 38 | Raw | 23 | Sin Cara (Jorge Arias) |
|
| 8 | 39 | SmackDown | 16 | Naomi (Trinity Fatu) |
|
| 8 | 40 | Raw | 24 | Jack Swagger (Donald Hager Jr.) |
|
| 8 | 41 | SmackDown | 17 | The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) (Ryan Parmeter and Eric Thompson) |
|
| 9 | 42 | Raw | 25 | The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) (Mark LoMonaco and Devon Hughes) |
|
| 9 | 43 | SmackDown | 18 | Zack Ryder (Matthew Cardona) |
|
| 9 | 44 | Raw | 26 | Summer Rae (Danielle Moinet) |
|
| 9 | 45 | SmackDown | 19 | Apollo Crews (Sesugh Uhaa) |
|
| 9 | 46 | Raw | 27 | Mark Henry | |
| 9 | 47 | SmackDown | 20 | Alexa Bliss (Alexis Kaufman) |
Drafted from NXT |
| 10 | 48 | Raw | 28 | Braun Strowman (Adam Scherr) |
|
| 10 | 49 | SmackDown | 21 | Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango) (Matt Clement and Curtis Hussey) |
|
| 10 | 50 | Raw | 29 | Bo Dallas (Taylor Rotunda) |
|
| 10 | 51 | SmackDown | 22 | Eva Marie (Natalie Coyle) |
|
| 10 | 52 | Raw | 30 | The Shining Stars (Primo and Epico) (Eddie Colón and Orlando Colón) |
|
| 10 | 53 | SmackDown | 23 | The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch) (Matt Rehwoldt and Seth Lesser) |
|
| 11 | 54 | Raw | 31 | Alicia Fox (Victoria Crawford) |
|
| 11 | 55 | SmackDown | 24 | Erick Rowan (Joseph Ruud) |
|
| 11 | 56 | Raw | 32 | Dana Brooke (Ashley Sebera) |
|
| 11 | 57 | SmackDown | 25 | Mojo Rawley (Dean Muhtadi) |
Drafted from NXT |
| 11 | 58 | Raw | 33 | Curtis Axel (Joe Hennig) |
|
| 11 | 59 | SmackDown | 26 | Carmella (Leah Van Dale) |
Drafted from NXT |
- Heath Slater was the only active talent listed by WWE as eligible for the draft who was not picked by either brand.
Other on-screen talent[]
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Image Gallery[]
John Cena v Luke Gallows[]
Darren Young & Zack Ryder v Rusev & The Miz[]
Bray Wyatt v Xavier Woods[]
Demon Kane v Kevin Owens[]
Charlotte & Dana Brooke v Sasha Banks[]
Chris Jericho v Cesaro[]
Alicia Fox vs. Natalya[]
Dean Ambrose v Seth Rollins[]
