7/9 WWE Smackdown in Hidaldo, Tex.: Styles defends against Owens and Corbin, Mahal vs. Sami, Nakamura, American Alpha

WWE LIVE EVENT – SMACKDOWN
JULY 9, 2017
HIDALGO, TEX. AT STATE FARM ARENA
REPORT BY CHRIS, C, PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT

Good size crowd considering it’s a PPV weekend.

(1) Shinsuke Nakamura beat Dolph Ziggler. Nakamura was over with the crowd. Closely fought back. When Ziggler hit his finisher, Nakamura kicked out. Ziggler stomped the mat to signal for a superkick, but Nakamura countered with a Kinsasha Kick.

(2) Rusev beat Sin Cara. Not much reaction for Rusev. The mostly Hispanic crowd liked Sin Cara. Sin Cara tapped out to a modfified Acolade where he choked Sin Cara while lying on his back.

(3) American Alpha beat Aiden English & Epico. Aiden came out and bragged about being 1-0 against Randy Orton. He told fans to shut up and started signing. Not a ton of heat. American Alpha comes out to a good pop. In the end, Jason Jordan got the hot tag and made the heels look like fools. American Alpha hit their finisher for the win.

(4) Jinder Mahal (w/The Singh Brothers) beat Sami Zayn. The Singh brothers came out to some boos. Champ came out to not much of a reaction at all, but the crowd heated up once the match got going. People seemed to like Zayn. Zayn set up his finisher when one of the Singh pulled Jinder out to save him. Sami set up for a diver, but the other brother tripped him.  Jinder hopped in and hit him with his finisher for the three count to retain. Sami beat up the Singh brothers as Jinder ran off.

Intermission

(5) Naomi & Becky Lynch & Charlotte beat Natalya & Tamina & Carmella. Good match. The crowd was into cheering the babyface threesome and booing the heels. Fun match. The crowd popped for the babyfaces when Naomi did the hip attack at Natalya for the pin.

(6) The Usos beat The Hype Bros. and The New Day. One of the Usos tripped Ryder leading to the pin.

(7) A.J. Styles beat Kevin Owens and Baron Corbin to retain the U.S. Title. The heels ganged up on Styles, who tried to fight back. Eventually the heels turned on one another when Owens tried to steal pain. Corbin and Owens took turns beating up Styles, then beat each other up as Styles recovered a bit. Styles began a comeback against both heels and hit the Phenomenal Forearm on Owens for the 1-2-3. From the booking, it’s clear they gave Styles the belt to be the babyfaces to close the show and send the fans home happy.

NOW CHECK OUT THIS RECENT ARENA REPORT: 7/7 WWE in New York City, NY at MSG: Styles captures the U.S. Title from Kevin Owens in rare house show title change, Reigns booed