WWE Smackdown Live: Dean Ambrose heads to No Mercy for title shot with upperhand after leaving John Cena and champ AJ Styles floored
Cena is chasing his 16th world title while Styles will be desperate to cling on to the strap the ex-Shield star wants back in his grip
DEAN AMBROSE heads into Sunday's No Mercy PPV with ther upperhand after leaving opponents John Cena and champion AJ Styles floored on Tuesday night's Smackdown Live.
The three-way fight for the title got previewed by the trio of top talents but it kicked-off into a brawl that only the former Shield member walked away from after he nailed champion Styles with Dirty Deeds on the steel ramp.
John Cena's bid for a 16th heavyweight title took a hit as he was floored
First up, Bray Wyatt slithered down the ramp for a warm-up for No Mercy where he will take on The Viper, Randy Orton.
The ‘Eater of Worlds’ is still the most menacing competitor in the company – even with his Milli Vanilli dreadlocks - and he took on one of the old guard in veteran Kane who once terrified kids in the WWE crowd.
Early on in the match Kane was busted open – his mouth trickling with blood beneath his mask – Wyatt looked perfectly placed to finish the match before Orton came on the giant screen to interrupt.
Kane snapped upright and battered Wyatt out of the ring before he walked away and lost the match on a count-out. As expected, the ticket-buying fans were unhappy with the match ending so limply and booed to let the bosses know.
Alexa Bliss – the No1 contender for the Smackdown Women’s title – then took on Nikki Bella in a warm-up for her title challenge on Sunday. Bliss has been gaining heat but her match was ended as Carmella burst in from ringside.
Champion Becky Lynch ran down to even up the numbers with the Irish star and Bella cleaning house, turning the match into a tag encounter.
The four women exchanged impressive strikes – none more so than Carmella’s super-kick which is always a fitting tribute to Shawn Michaels - but Bliss got the win with her underwhelming Twisted Bliss finish from the top turnbuckle.
The in-ring action was then spliced with Orton locking Wyatt in the sort of aluminium storage container you would usually hold your rusty bicycle, garden furniture and broken lawnmower. Even the dense smoke could not make this segment sinister.
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A tragic tag spectacle took place next – The Vaudvillains wrestled the Hype Brothers, a sibling team that cannot possibly ever be beaten up enough. The only thing that could have made the match any less credible would have been an appearance from The Ascension, so of course they weaselled swiftly into shot.
Luckily a Hype Rider finisher ended the Vaudvillains and the agony of watching such a pointless match.
Dolph Ziggler and The Miz then compared their David Dickinson tans in a meaningless chinwag in the ring. Seeing the Spirit Squad back in action probably makes Ziggler wonder if he really wants to win his career match on Sunday and prolong his largely fruitless stay in the WWE.
Better wrestlers on the roster and in NXT must look at the white Intercontinental belt draped over Miz’s shoulder and also wonder if their hard work is really all worth it.
Dolph got a pasting in the end. Miz wore a red three-piece suit. Dolph battled back. It really was that bad.
It looked like the new-look Usos would some class to proceedings when they emerged but Jay was beaten by Jason Jordan with a quick roll-up.
The Usos look to have slimmed down and firmed up under their new image and they dominated the American Alpha team in the all-too-brief scrap that followed.
While all this was happening, Wyatt remained stuck in the tin shed chatting to himself and singing eerie lullabies.
And when Orton went to check on him he had mysteriously broken free of the Homebase-looking hut.
Back in the ring, Jack Swagger made his in-ring debut on Smackdown Live for his feud with Baron Corbin.
Corbin’s giant frame and brooding intensity will take him a long way and his bald-head-long-hair combo has not been carried off as well since Jack the Snake Roberts and artist Terry Nutkin.
Anyway, Swagger got the tap with an ankle lock but it looked like a bad call from the ref setting up at least one more clash.
That left just world champions AJ Styles to come out to rescue the show and - while his mic work is not as accomplished as his grappling – he saved the day.
Master mic-man Dean Ambrose interrupted the champ and ran his mouth with all the delivery skills that carried him to the top of the mountain.
John Cena followed them both out – dividing the crowd as always – but when the talk was done it was the former Shield man left standing after a brutal Dirty Deeds.