{"id":82759,"date":"2019-07-09T14:02:20","date_gmt":"2019-07-09T19:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=82759"},"modified":"2019-07-09T14:02:20","modified_gmt":"2019-07-09T19:02:20","slug":"wwe-smackdown-primer-7-9-owens-vs-ziggler-balor-vs-nakamura-knock-knock-whos-there-tag-team-championship-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2019\/07\/09\/wwe-smackdown-primer-7-9-owens-vs-ziggler-balor-vs-nakamura-knock-knock-whos-there-tag-team-championship-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER 7\/9: Owens vs. Ziggler, Balor vs. Nakamura, Knock Knock Who\u2019s There, Tag Team Championship Summit"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-4148062406\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><h3>WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER<br \/>\nJULY 9, 2019<br \/>\nMANCHESTER, N.H. AT THE SNHU ARENA<br \/>\nAIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EDT<br \/>\nBY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR<\/h3>\n<p><em>Announcers: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Smackdown Viewership Last Week:<\/strong> 1.39 (.01 Decrease from previous week)<\/p>\n<h3>Arena, Items Advertised by WWE, and Show Start Time<\/h3>\n<p>WWE heads northeast to Manchester, N.H. for Smackdown tonight as they return to the Southern New Hampshire University arena. The facility, once known as the Verizon Wireless Arena, opened in 2001 and has been an on-again\/off-again host to WWE television events. Ironically Smackdown appeared here last year this very week (July 10, 2018). Similar to that night, we get ready for Extreme Rules which comes to us this Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>The arena website shows Here\u2019s what WWE.com is advertising for the show:<\/p>\n<h3>Matches &amp; Segments:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Kevin Owens and Dolph Ziggler\u2019s shortly tenured partnership implodes this Tuesday<\/li>\n<li>Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura battle on the blue brand<\/li>\n<li>Smackdown Tag Team Championship Summit to take place<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Storyline Follow-Up:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Aleister Black\u2019s opponent for Extreme Rules to be revealed<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The SNHU arena website shows a start time of 7:45 p.m. local for the house with doors opening at 6:15 p.m. They show Kofi Kingston vs. Kevin Owens for the WWE Championship and Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton. Both are candidates for dark matches. I don\u2019t think any of these websites are accurate in what they advertise but can\u2019t get a read on who \u201cowns\u201d that.<\/p>\n<h3>Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler<\/h3>\n<p>Kevin Owens seems to have brief alliances these days.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after WrestleMania, Owens was aligned with New Day for a couple of weeks as an honorary member, taking the place of Big E as spent time on the injured list. He turned on WWE Champion Kofi Kingston at the end of a non-title match on Smackdown against Shinsuke Nakamura. He would unsuccessfully challenge Kofi for the title in a series of matches shortly thereafter.<\/p>\n<p>Last week on Smackdown, Owens and Dolph Ziggler were reluctantly paired together by Shane McMahon after Dolph interrupted Shane &amp; Drew McIntyre on the Kevin Owens show. Owens and Dolph got into it when Owens made fun of Dolph\u2019s \u201cit should have been me.\u201d In the main event, they would take on Heavy Machinery (Otis &amp; Tucker) for a right to enter the Smackdown Tag Team Championship match at Extreme Rules between champions Daniel Bryan &amp; Rowan and New Day (Big E &amp; Xavier Woods). Owens &amp; Dolph lost when Dolph inadvertently super-kicked Owens, and Owens was pinned following Heavy Machinery hitting the Compactor. After the match, Owens gave Dolph a stunner.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2557534082\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Over the weekend, WWE announced that Owens and Dolph would go one-on-one on tonight\u2019s Smackdown. Here\u2019s Dolph on Twitter:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I know my message is often the same, a constant struggle to be the best. I know I don\u2019t win much. But I was asked how I felt and on the fly, I went with my gut. comments muted, (bc I don\u2019t care what you think of my unequaled skills, just what I know) <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1hAfGUAHrE\">https:\/\/t.co\/1hAfGUAHrE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Nic Nemeth (@NicTNemeth) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NicTNemeth\/status\/1147909444703084549?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 7, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: Owens comes back from injury and he replaces Kofi, then he\u2019s a babyface, then he turns heel, and now he turns babyface again we think. To be honest I had wished we had gotten a babyface run out of Owens, so if that\u2019s where we are going it\u2019s fine. Owens and Dolph can have good dialogue and decent matches if they decide to go into a feud here for the next little while. It\u2019s something to do for both of them.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Non-Title Match: Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor vs. Shinsuke Nakamura<\/h3>\n<p>Two weeks ago, on Smackdown, we got a taste of a feud we\u2019ve likely all been thinking about for a long time:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Shinsuke Nakamura confronts Finn B\u00e1lor: SmackDown LIVE, June 25, 2019\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fcw7AqgVP_o?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>After spending time in New Japan Pro Wrestling and in particular the famous Bullet Club, Finn Balor signed with WWE in 2014. Two years later, Shinsuke Nakamura would himself join WWE. They wrestled on NXT TV just prior to Balor joining Raw as the #3 pick when the roster split returned in 2016:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Finn B\u00e1lor vs. Shinsuke Nakamura: WWE NXT, July 13, 2016\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/t730aeqd_gE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>They surprisingly never matched up during an NXT Takeover. Tonight, Balor takes on Nakamura one-on-one in a non-title match.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: I\u2019m not going to lie. I\u2019m excited for this feud. I\u2019ve wanted to see it for quite some time. I just didn\u2019t want to see this match right away. Let\u2019s have a build. I figured we\u2019d get it for SummerSlam. The title isn\u2019t on the line though, and thus it\u2019s likely chapter one of a longer story. I just worry about this being watered down with hokey finishes and silly comedy that we got during the A.J. Styles-Nakamura feud. I\u2019m sure this will eventually lead to \u201cDemon\u201d Balor vs. Nakamura at SummerSlam.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Smackdown Tag Team Championship Summit: Champions Daniel Bryan &amp; Rowan, New Day (Big E &amp; Xavier Woods), and Heavy Machinery (Otis &amp; Tucker)<\/h3>\n<p>This Sunday at Extreme Rules, the Smackdown Tag Team Championship is on the line as Daniel Bryan &amp; Rowan will defend their titles against New Day and Heavy Machinery. Prior to last week\u2019s Smackdown, WWE announced that Bryan &amp; Rowan would take on New Day. Heavy Machinery was of course added when they defeated Kevin Owens &amp; Dolph Ziggler.<\/p>\n<p>Heavy Machinery was interviewed in a WWE.com exclusive following their win last week:<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1473390345\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Heavy Machinery are ready to grill and overcome: SmackDown Exclusive, July 2, 2019\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/U6Fa5julPXw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In advance of the triple threat championship match this Sunday, all three teams will meet in a summit tonight.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: I do have to say I like how the tag team championship appears to mean something to Heavy Machinery. There\u2019s definitely something there and while I\u2019m normally hard on comedy, it works with Otis. As far as tonight, given the way things have gone recently, I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll get some kind of match or brawl and Otis will likely yell \u201cTucky!\u201d There\u2019s a lot of interesting personalities in this mix. While I normally cringe at contract signings or summits, I\u2019m actually looking forward to this one.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Aleister Black\u2019s Extreme Rules Opponent to be Revealed<\/h3>\n<p>I wonder if Aleister Black scared all the kids in the schoolyard. Perhaps that\u2019s what\u2019s taken so long for somebody to pick a fight with him. They must know his history.<\/p>\n<p>Two weeks ago, on Smackdown, somebody \u201cknocked on the door\u201d to answer Aleister Black\u2019s challenge but didn\u2019t reveal himself. Last week, Aleister expressed a sinister pleasure in whomever it was, noting that now they were fighting on a spiritual level and he looks forward to them fighting at Extreme Rules. To get the full flavor of what\u2019s going on here, here are the clips from two weeks ago and last week respectively as well as a clip from when Aleister was in Binghamton, N.Y.:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Who\u2019s knocking on Aleister Black\u2019s door?: SmackDown LIVE, June 25, 2019\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uw98covUbts?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Aleister Black will be waiting at Extreme Rules: SmackDown LIVE, July 2, 2019\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CLOj3lcM9TU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This Tuesday on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SDLive?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SDLive<\/a> we will all find out together! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WWEBinghamton?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#WWEBinghamton<\/a><\/p>\n<p>@WWEAleister <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/dx3drzahS4\">pic.twitter.com\/dx3drzahS4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWE\/status\/1148054657455009792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 8, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: It actually dawned on me writing this primer that Kane is a possibility and would be a cool opponent. It hit me when Aleister talked about layers of hell in the video last week. I think it was around this time last year that he showed up to rejoin Daniel Bryan in Team Hell No. I don\u2019t know if he\u2019s available now or even interested, but that could work as a short-term program. A lot of people think and want to see Bray Wyatt which would be interesting as well. That could be the battle of who could cut the wackiest promo!<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Not Advertised for Follow-Up:<\/h3>\n<p>Drake Maverick is still 24\/7 Champion after avoiding the cavalry last night and R-Truth running in the opposite direction. Drake sadly still hasn\u2019t consummated his marriage:<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWEMaverick\/status\/1148583959917465601?s=20<\/p>\n<p>Nikki Cross will now join Alexa Bliss in a two-on-one handicap match at Extreme Rules as a result of Nikki defeating Bayley in a Beat the Clock challenge last night. Here\u2019s Bayley in a WWE.com exclusive last night:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Why Bayley has the advantage against two opponents at WWE Extreme Rules: Raw Exclusive, July 8, 2019\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3sUYmaPoysA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Andrade defeated Apollo Crews after an extensive build on social media and WWE.com exclusives.<\/p>\n<p>Ember Moon defeated Mandy Rose after weeks of back and forth backstage shenanigans. Here\u2019s Ember in a WWE.com exclusive:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ember Moon is ready to push back: SmackDown Exclusive, July 2, 2019\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wMrRCMH239g?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Overall Thoughts on Tonight\u2019s Show<\/h3>\n<p>I suppose you could say there may have been a little Eric Bischoff influence with Kofi Kingston flipping off Samoa Joe, but other than that I didn\u2019t see much change. I will say I\u2019m starting to feel better about tag team wrestling on both shows, but I don\u2019t know if Heyman and\/or Bischoff have anything to do with that. It is what it is, as everything still goes through Vince anyway. The show was fine overall, and I expect tonight to be the same. There are some feuds that have my interest, especially Nakamura-Balor and whomever they have in mind for Aleister. Heavy Machinery has been enjoyable. Let\u2019s hope tonight is better than what we got on Raw last night.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Questions and discussion are welcome. Thank you for reading!<\/p>\n<p><strong>RECOMMENDED:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2019\/07\/02\/leclairs-wwe-smackdown-report-7-2-alt-perspective-on-going-coverage-of-first-night-of-bischoff-era-big-e-vs-bryan-more\/\">LECLAIR\u2019S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 7\/2: Alt perspective, detailed coverage of the start of the Bischoff Era, Kofi-Joe promo, heavy focus on Tag Team division, more<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-2978207932\"><div id=\"pwtor-3608063554\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER JULY 9, 2019 MANCHESTER, N.H. AT THE SNHU ARENA AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EDT BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR Announcers: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton Smackdown Viewership Last <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2019\/07\/09\/wwe-smackdown-primer-7-9-owens-vs-ziggler-balor-vs-nakamura-knock-knock-whos-there-tag-team-championship-summit\/\" title=\"WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER 7\/9: Owens vs. Ziggler, Balor vs. Nakamura, Knock Knock Who\u2019s There, Tag Team Championship Summit\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,52,4403,27,5893,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prowrestlingnews","category-opnionandanalysis","category-smackdown-primer","category-specialists","category-tvprimers","category-news_wwe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2017\/10\/BlackAleisterTeschJoel3x2_600.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82759"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82770,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82759\/revisions\/82770"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}