WWE SmackDown Spoilers For USA Network Debut
Several championships were on the line as SmackDown officially moves to USA.
WWE held their SmackDown television tapings on Tuesday night in Laredo, TX. This was a historic show, as it will mark the official move of SmackDown to the USA Network when it airs this Thursday night, January 7th. Here's what went down... SmackDown featured the debut of play by play announcer Mauro Ranallo in WWE. Ranallo has formerly announced in several combat sports, including most notably of late announcing for the NJPW television series on AXS. Ranallo was joined at the announce position by Jerry Lawler and Byron Saxton. The show opened with John Cena coming out and challenging Alberto Del Rio to a rematch for the U.S. Championship. Del Rio responded and told Cena there would be no rematch, despite the controversial finish to their recent RAW match. The first bout of the evening then featured Kalisto pinning Del Rio in a non-title match. According to a report at F4WOnline.com, this was a very good match. An eight man tag team match was set up next during an edition of MizTV. The New Day were originally in the segment, complaining about the return of Chris Jericho. Dolph Ziggler came out, along with Neville, R-Truth and Goldust. This lead to the eight man, with these four taking on the New Day and Miz. Ziggler's team was victorious by pinfall. Charlotte defended her Divas Championship against Becky Lynch. As you would expect, Charlotte retained following outside interference from Ric Flair. In the main event, Dean Ambrose defended his Intercontinental Championship against Kevin Owens. The match ended in a double count out, so Ambrose retained his championship belt.