Friday Night Smackdown goes live on the air as Stephanie McMahon makes her way out to the ring, with a mixed reaction of cheers and boos surrounding her. Stephanie enters the ring and is immediately given a mic. Stephanie would say that this is a new era of Smackdown, and that the show would be better than it had been in a long time. She would then go on to say that tonight, all of Smackdown's championships will be on the line in some sort, referring to the two United States Championship Contender Matches, and the Battle Royal for the World Heavyweight Championship. Stephanie would tell the crowd that big names are being hyped for the battle royal, such as AJ Styles, Finn Balor, and The Undertaker, all of whom would get a huge pop when each name was announced. Stephanie finally says that this will be a Smackdown to remember for the ages. Stephanie leaves the ring, with Cesaro's music coming on as she does. Cesaro would walk down the ring, stopping next to Stephanie as he does. Cesaro quickly thanks her for the opportunity, with Stephanie nodding her head and making her way back to the back as Cesaro rips off his pants, heading into the ring for his match.
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United States Championship Triple Threat Contendership Match
Cesaro vs Apollo Crews vs. R-Truth
The three men circle the ring as the bell sounds with each man stopping in a separate corner. R-Truth and Crews look at each other before staring at Cesaro, immediately going after him. Truth and Cesaro would lock up first, with Cesaro smacking Truth with a European Uppercut. Crews hooks up with Cesaro next, forcing him back into the corner, landing cheap shots to Cesaro’s gut. Cesaro stands up and rests against the turnbuckles, yelling at Crews to hit him harder. Crews continues to go at him as Truth runs back up, throwing Crews out of the way and tries his attempt to hurt Cesaro, to no avail. Truth backs up and stares at Cesaro, who beats on his chest and smacks Truth with another European Uppercut, cutting the man down to his knees. Crews grabs Cesaro and rolls him up, going for a cheeky pin. Cesaro kicks out and stands up, grabbing Crews and hitting him with a knee to the cut. Cesaro throws Crews into the ropes, bouncing Crews off of them and hitting Crews with a dropkick. Cesaro goes for the pin but only gets a two count as Truth breaks up the pin. Truth picks Cesaro up and throws a few quick jabs to Cesaro’s face, doing his signature dance and split, going for the final punch, but getting clotheslined by Crews as Truth attempts to do so. Crews throws Truth out of the ring and goes back to duel with Cesaro, who throws a few quick jabs of his own before knocking Crews down to the ground with a final one. Cesaro grabs the feet of Crews and panders to the ground before starting up his swing, the crowd counting along as he goes around. “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10” As Cesaro swings him around ten times, Truth slides back into the ring, getting smacked with the large body of Crews as he does. Cesaro then grabs Crews and picks him up, setting up for the Neutralizer. Cesaro cracks his neck and picks Crews up, landing the Neutralizer on him, rolling him over for the pin and getting the three count right as Truth rolls over to try to break up the pinfall.
Lilian Garcia: "Here is your winner of this match by pinfall, Cesaro!"
Cesaro slides of the ring and smiles as he walks into the crowd and begins to celebrate with the Cesaro section as he is one step closer to gaining the United States Championship.
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Cameras pan backstage where Stephanie McMahon is shown inside of her General Manager's office, texting on her phone before being interrupted by the #1 Pick of the 2016 WWE Draft, AJ Styles. The crowd pops for AJ as he approaches Stephanie, who puts away her phone. AJ would thank Stephanie for letting him be in the main event, and that he would not let her down for picking him with the first draft choice. Stephanie would laugh and nod her head, telling AJ she knows he won't, or else. Stephanie warns AJ not to take the Main Event lightly, and that people like The Undertaker, who hasn't been seen since Wrestlemania may be looking for one last ride at the top. She then goes on to say that there are also people like Finn Balor who are young and hungry, willing to do anything to get his shot at the top. AJ would laugh and say he isn't worried about either man, as he knows Finn inside and out and he's faced scarier men then The Undertaker. AJ would leave Stephanie's office with Stephanie shaking her head, saying that AJ is acting very cocky, but he has a right to be. The show would then go to a commercial break.
===========As the show comes back from commercial break, The Ascension is already in the ring, waiting on their opponents, The Club to come out. The Club's music hits, and The Club comes out from the back, microphones in hand as they proclaim that they are the future of the WWE Tag Team division, and that the Champions, The New Day, should be on notice, because The Club is here, and they are here to stay. The Club drops their microphones and jackets on the entrance ramp as they charge the ring and begin to brawl with their opponents.
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Tag Team Match
The Club vs. The Ascension
The match starts as Luke Gallows is quickly on top of Viktor, bruising the man with heavy punches left and right to his face. Viktor retaliates with a few shots of his own, bringing the pressure to his large opponent. The two trade shots over and over until Gallows hits him with a huge knee into the gut of Viktor, dragging him over to his corner, where he tags in Karl Anderson. Gallows holds Viktor against the ropes, letting Anderson get in many shots against Viktor before the ref steps in and breaks up the actions, warning The Club that they will be disqualified. Anderson throws Viktor against the ropes, not letting him get a chance to move as Anderson follows through with clothesline, throwing Viktor over the top rope. Anderson climbs out of the ring and gets on top of Viktor, raining down a heavy amount of elbows onto Viktor, with Konnor finally coming down to break up the brawl, but was met by Gallows, who drops a big boot on him as he gets on top of him, copying his partner as they both rain down on their opponents, while the ref starts to count the teams out. Anderson stands up and rolls into the ring, just to roll directly out to get on top of Viktor once again. The Club continues to beat down on their opponents before picking Viktor up and throwing him into the ring. Gallows grabs Konnor and Chokeslams on him onto the floor, grinning at him and climbing back up onto the apron, getting tagged in from Anderson. Gallows picks Viktor up onto his shoulders and The Club hits Magic Killer onto Viktor, with Gallows pinning Viktor for the three count.
Lilian Garcia: "Here are your winners of this match by pinfall, The Club!"
Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows stand in the middle of the ring over the lifeless body of Viktor, pointing out to the crowd and motioning that their sights are set on The New Day. The Club put their fists together as the celebrate their victory.
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The cameras stay panned to the ring as Natalya enters the ring first, a large pop for her as she jumps onto the top turnbuckle and panders to the crowd before hopping down and waiting for her opponents. Paige enters from the back next, the pop for her louder as she makes her way down the ramp towards the ring. Paige enters the ring and smiles at her friend as she throws her jacket off and waits for the final opponent to enter the ring. Alicia's music plays over the intercom but she does not come out, her music would play again but she would still not come out as Jerry Lawler would call to Lillian, and tell her something. Lillian would announce that Alicia would not compete tonight, as she had been found attacked backstage and was being attended to. Therefore, this match would be a Singles Match.
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Singles MatchPaige vs. Natalya
Paige and Natalya look at each other in the ring as the bell sounds, wondering who could have taken out Alicia. Natalya shrugs her shoulders and immediately clotheslines Paige, knocking her to the ground. Paige quickly stands up hooks up with Natalya, where Natalya grabs Paige by the hair and throws her to the ground, which illicits a huge boo from the crowd for the dirty tactic. Natalya climbs on top of Paige and starts to throw fist after fists at her, causing more boos to come from the crowd. Paige rolls the two over and regains control, standing herself up as Natalya looks up at her. Natalya stands up and is met with a kick to the head from Paige, knocking Natalya back down. Paige climbs to the top rope and hits an elbow on Natalya, pinning her afterwards, but only getting a two count. Paige stands up, yanking Natalya up as well as she holds her still before hitting her with a clothesline. Paige goes for the pin again but only gets a two count, as she looks at the ref with an insane look on her like. Paige yells at the ref to come on and that was three. Paige stands up and looks down at Natalya, before dragging her over to the corner and propping her up. Paige backs up and smirks as Paige shouts into the air and runs at Natalya, going for a knee to the face but misses as Natalya moves out of the way. Paige hobbles backwards, holding her knee as Natalya stands up, waiting for Paige to face her. Paiges turns to face Natalya, who catches Paige with a small package, holding onto the tights as Natalya pins Paige, but only gets a two count. Natalya stands up, furious, and grabs Paige's head and begins to bash it into the mat over and over. The ref shouts at Natalya to cut it out, but Natalya refuses to do so, making the ref begin to count to five to disqualify her. The ref reaches five and yells to ring the bell, and disqualifies Natalya.
Lilian Garcia: "Here is your winner of this match by disqualification, Paige!"
Natalya stands up off of Paige and looks at her in disgust as she throws a couple kicks into her gut before being stopped by the referee. Paige is laying on the ground in obvious pain, staring at her friend who has left the ring without no remorse.
===========Cameras catch Natalya backstage, where she is met by Renee Young, who asks her what just happened out there. Natalya grabs the mic and begins to shout that she is tired of being bullied around in this company, being forced to wrestle in matches that she is better than, such as the supposed triple threat match. Renee then asks Natalya if she was the one who took out Alicia and Natalya quickly replies that yes, she was the one who took out Alicia. Natalya goes on saying that Alicia doesn't deserve to be in WWE, and Alicia is nothing more then a glorified model. Natalya continues to say that she is out to prove that she deserves to be the Women's Champion, and that she will no longer be screwed over, and that she will do whatever it takes to get the championship. Natalya begins to walk away, but turns around and grabs the mic from Renee once again, telling Paige that she went easy on her tonight, next time she won't be so nice. The camera goes to a commercial break as Natalya walks away.
===========As Smackdown comes back from commercial, we see the group of AJ Styles, Finn Balor, and The Club standing together, rehashing over old times. Karl Anderson congrats Finn and AJ on being in the battle royal tonight and wishes them the best of luck, hoping that one of them comes out on top as the champion. AJ agrees with Karl and looks at Finn, who nods and smiles quietly. Finn quickly says to AJ that they should work together until they are the final two, which AJ quickly nods to say he's in. Gallows wraps his large arms around the three men and tells them to all look towards the future, a future where the four of them can rule Smackdown, just like they did to NJPW back in the day. The Club then wishes the two of them luck and walk away, leaving AJ and Finn on their own. AJ looks at Finn and wishes him good luck tonight, adding that no matter what happens they're still boys. Finn agrees with AJ and the two share a bro hug before AJ walks away, leaving Finn all alone. Finn shrugs his shoulders and heads towards the locker room to finish getting prepared for the match. The camera then pans to the ring, where the next three competitors, Baron Corbin, Fandango, and Neville are standing, prepared for their match.
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United States Championship Contendership Triple Threat Match
Baron Corbin vs Fandango vs Neville
The bells sounds as Baron immediately plants a big boot onto the face of Neville, knocking him to the ground as Fandango tries to chop away at the 6'8" Corbin, throwing many kicks to Corbin's legs, crippling Corbin slightly as he drops to one knee. Fandango immediately goes on the attack, grabbing Corbin's head, viciously driving his knee into Corbin's face, causing some blood to drip from Corbin's nose. Fandango throws Corbin to the mat and pins him, getting broken up by Neville dropping an elbow onto Fandango's chest. Neville picks Fandango up and slingshots him into the ropes, getting a good bounce off of them as he drop kicks Fandango. Neville climbs to the top rope and waits a second before jumping off and connecting with a 450 Splash onto Fandango. Neville goes for the pin but only gets a two count as Fandango gets his shoulder up. Corbin is again up on his feet, touching his nose and feeling the blood dripping from his nostrils, grabs Fandango and tosses him out over the top rope, but Neville lands on the apron. Corbin grabs Fandango and begins to drop vicious elbows into Fandango's face, trying to cause him to bleed. Neville jumps off the top rope and connects with a huge cross body onto both men, knocking both men down to the ground. Neville jumps up in excitement and climbs to the top rope again, not waiting a second as he jumps off and attempts the Red Arrow onto Fandango, connecting and immediately going for the pin, which is broken up by Corbin kicking Neville in the gut. Corbin picks Neville up by the neck and smiles at him before hitting with the a Deep Six! Neville's body lays limp on the mat as Corbin looks down at him before grabbing Fandango and holding him down to the mat, screaming into Fandangos face that you don't make Baron Corbin bleed and get away with it. Corbin stands Fandango's wobbly body up and hits him with the End of Days, knocking Fandango out and allowing Baron to pin him for the three count.
Lilian Garcia: "Here is your winner of this match by pinfall, Baron Corbin!"
Baron looks down at his wreckage and smiles before pointing at the US Title over on the announcer desk, and pointing to his waist, signaling he will be the next champion. Baron leaves the ring, his carnage being attended to by officials.
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The cameras pan backstage where we see the giant figure of The Phenom, The Undertaker standing in the Gorilla Position, waiting ever so patiently for the main event to begin in a few minutes. Renee Young cautiously approaches The Undertaker and asks him how it feels to be wrestling on Smackdown for the first time in years. The Undertaker looks at Renee, a blank look on his face, causing Renee to shutter in fear, but Taker responds slowly, saying that his presence is one that one must earn, it is not given. Taker continues to say that Smackdown's new era has earned his presence on Smackdown, to show the new era, as Stephanie as called them before, that they still have to beat The Phenom to be something in the WWE, and that as long as he is there, no one can take his spot as Top Dog. Renee then asks what does he think about the other competitors in the match, causing Taker to slightly laugh and say there is no real competition in this match, minus a few he thinks could potentially be the future if he ever retires. Renee, still scared, thanks Taker for his time and retreats, leaving Taker alone as he stands there, his time waiting for him. The camera pans to the ring, where the other participants in the match are already waiting for Taker to make his way to the ring. The Undertaker's music hits, and Taker enters the arena to a loud cheer from the crowd, their favorite making his way to the Smackdown ring for the first time in a long time. Taker enters into the ring, taking off his jacket and hat, setting them down on the mat, where they are taken away.
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World Heavyweight Championship Match
Battle Royal
The beginning the battle royal is a hectic one, as combatants are thrown out left and right, most notably the first elimination being Goldust. The action inside of the ring continues, with many near eliminations and amazing moments, such as Sin Cara pulling a Kofi Kingston and landing on the announcer's table after being thrown over the top rope. Sin Cara stands on the table and with an amazing jump, makes his way back onto the apron, where he is swiftly eliminated by a left hook from The Undertaker. The pace of the match is very quick, with the eliminations non-stop until there are six men left in the ring; The Undertaker, Randy Orton, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, AJ Styles, and Finn Balor. The six men each take up a spot in the ring, staring each other down. Sami and Kevin begin to brawl in one portion of the ring, leaving the other four to stare each other down. AJ immediately goes after The Undertaker, trying to make a statement, leaving Finn Balor to go after Randy Orton. Finn backs Randy into the corner, throwing chop after chop into Randy's chest, beating down the multi-time world champion, as The Undertaker is working over AJ Styles on the other side of the ring, delivering stiff jabs that only the purest striker in all of the WWE can do. Sami and Kevin are hooked up, throwing wild lefts and rights at the other, trying to wear them down to get them over the top rope. Kevin easily picks Sami up and body slams him down onto the mat, wearing down his former friend and current foe. As Kevin stands up, he drives his boot into the cheek of Sami, smirking and laughing as he does. Kevin then picks Sami up and attempts to throw him over the top rope. AJ manages to slip out of Taker's grasp and goes over to help Kevin, finally getting the smaller man thrown out and eliminated. Kevin stares at AJ and nods before going to blow to blow with him as well, Kevin determined to win the match. As they got to blows, Taker is over at Finn and Randy, taking over for Finn as he works over Randy as well. Finn stands motionless in the ring for a second before making the swift action to run towards AJ and Kevin, drop kicking both men, the momentum causing AJ to go over the top rope! Finn picks himself up and waits for Kevin to turn around, staring the man down. As Kevin turns around, Finn hits him with a modified Enzuigiri, knocking Kevin over the top rope and eliminating him as well. AJ sits on the floor, staring up at Finn with a look of disbelief as his friend has just eliminated him. Finn just shrugs his shoulders at AJ, who seems furious at being betrayed. Taker has Randy in a bad position, his hand wrapped around Randy's throat as he motions his a throat slice to Randy before chokeslamming him over the top rope, leaving Finn and Taker as the last two in the ring! The two turn around to face each other, both tired but fired up. The body paint on Finn has started to come off from his sweat, and Taker's forehead is covered in the sweat as well. Finn smiles at the Phenom, who stares at the young man before Finn runs at the ropes and bounces off of them, attempting to take Taker down with a clothesline, to no avail. Finn tries this again and again, failing each time as he can't take down the legend. Taker rolls his eyes into the back of his head before bouncing off the ropes and taking Finn down with a clothesline, showing the younger man how its down. Finn quickly bounces back up but is met by a Big Boot from Taker, who has become the favorite begin the two. Taker looks down at Finn, and motions to him as he did to Randy, the slicing of the neck. Taker picks Finn up and grabs him by the throat, looking to chokeslam him over the top rope. Taker chokeslams Finn over the rope, but Finn manages to land on the ring apron with only one foot hitting the ground. Taker notices this and begins to try to force Finn out of the ring. Taker keeps attempting to force him out, but Finn is able to use the length of his legs and kick Taker in the head multiple times, releasing Taker's grasp. Finn then stands up and looks at Taker leaning against the turnbuckles. Finn stands up on the apron, and with a last ditch effort, springboards himself into Taker, knocking Taker with a huge forearm and knocking The Deadman over the top rope, eliminating Taker and leaving the crowd in shock as Finn as won this match!
Lilian Garcia: "Here is your winner of this match and NEW World Heavyweight Champion, Finn Balor!"
Finn stands in the middle of the ring, the World Title being handed to him by a referee as confetti falls from the ceiling; Finn drops backs himself into a corner and stares at the title, tears of joy coming from his face as the show fades to black on the celebration.
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