SmackDown!: June 22, 2040
It's the go home show before Night of Champions! NOBODY BETTER SCREW ANYTHING UP!
Opening Match: WWE Cruiserweight Champion, Former Cruiserweight Champion-Elect Michael Hotbody vs. Josh Turmell
Hotbody comes out alone looking quite distressed. He talks about how unfair it's going to be thsi Sunday and that he will be at the event UNDER SEVERE PROTEST!!! The only thing more sickening than going through with it is the fact that Jordan Demiras feels that he needs to stoop to this level just to have a chance at getting back the title. What kind of a man is that? He'll show Demiras how a real man handles things. Thus the match commences and it's hot opener thanks to Hotbody's heat-drawing skills. Turmell is out here on the wrong night however as Hotbody uses his resourcefulness to set up and nail the Hot Ticket for the win.
Afterwards, Hotbody brags about maybe he has nothing to worry about after all! He doesn't need Zed Jones at his side and he doesn't need to feel guilty about anything. HE'S MICHAEL HOTBODY GOD DAMMIT AND HE LOVES HIMSELF!!! Jordan Demiras should be the one begging to call things off. In fact, if he were out here right now, Hotbody would give him a preview of things to come!
Cue Jordan Demiras himself who takes Hotbody up on that offer. Hotbody tries escaping to the sanctuary of underneath the ring but Demiras pulls him out. WHACK! Hotbody had a pipe in his hand! He proceeds to punish Demiras some more before officials come down to break things up. Hotbody looks like he's regained his confidence. ****1/2, 93% overall.
Backstage, Ryan Pattillo is being asked about his recent woes with Salvatore Scabbia. Pattillo is loyal to those he calls friends so their business is his business. He always knew at some point he would be crossing paths with Scabbia because it was only a matter of time before the path of bodies led to the upper echelons of the WWE. But Pattillo is in that upper level for a reason and it's not because he backed down from challenges no matter how daunting. Scabbia thinks losing the Intercontinental Title was the worst night of his life? He hasn't seen anything yet.
Second Match: Gavin Jones vs. Rick Hilton
A preview of this Sunday's tag team title match as it's challenger vs. champion here. These teams mesh well against each other and it's no different here as the smaller Jones keeps up with the big baddie in Hilton. Hilton's partner Julian Merrick senses trouble afoot and offers interference in the form of a chair to Gavin's back allowing Hilton to score a roll-up pin for the victory. Michael Haywood comes into object to this tomfoolery and the heels get driven off. *****, 95% overall.
Backstage, Faith Connors and Jenna Kyle are talking about how Jenna wasn't on Raw due to some vital soul searching that needed to be done. She wasn't sure how things were going to play out after what went down after the Iron Woman match. But the handshake she shared with Faith and the fact that Hannah McCormick won't shut her damn mouth and that Nathan Quinn thinks he's owed something put a lot of things into perspective. Lisa Benton walks into the picture and thinks it's great that the two of them hashed things out and that it's given her an idea. She wants the two of them to team up with Caleb Greene to face Lonny Richards, Leah, and Hannah McCormick at Night of Champions. To work out the kinks, though, tonight she wants the two of them to team up and face C.J. and Arianna.
Third Match: Xavier Cross vs. Cameron Harper
Sorry, Harper. I know things haven't been going your way these last few months but Cross has an important match in his future. Cross cheats his way to a victory here to BUILD MOMENTUM as Kerry Cemenko watches from backstage. Cross declares that we're all looking at the next number one contender. ****1/2, 93% overall.
Backstage, Aphrodite is with Caleb Greene giving their thoughts on Lisa Benton's announcement earlier. He's heading into a volatile situation for sure but he has all the confidence in the world in Jenna and Faith. The only person that needs to watch themselves is Lonny Richards.
Fourth Match: Seth Von Kamp vs. Ronnie Costello
Salvatore Scabbia is at ringside in support of his stablemate in the absence of Carmella. Von Kamp continues to look good. Something special is sure to be in store for him in the future (
). Certainly not right now as Scabbia sees fit to attack him for the DQ after the Collapse of Society connects. Scabbia looks to do some more damage but Ryan Pattillo runs down to check his privilege. It's all for naught as Scabbia gets the upper hand on him and locks in the Omerta to leave Pattillo laid out. ****1/2, 90% overall.
In-Ring Super Special Talky Time with the Queen of Queens, Naomi Bailey. She has her whole royal get up with her and offers it up to the audience as a reminder of who the hell she is. Never forget it and never forget how close she came to becoming Women's Champion at WrestleMania because Sonya Braddock's luck is running out. Enjoy these last few days and remember this moment in time because she's going to rub it in the faces of all the doubters when she ends Braddock at Night of Champions. Braddock isn't in the mood to be listening to this royal decree and she sneaks up behind Naomi divests her of her royal garments. Naomi bails in humiliation and anger and yells back some threats towards the champion.
Fifth Match: Faith Connors and Jenna Kyle vs. C.J. and Arianna
All eyes are on the face team to see how well they're going to get along here. I believe the rating at the end will speak for itself as far as that's concerned. Jenna hits Arianna with the Kyle Driver to pick up the pin. Afterwards, Hannah McCormick and Leah cut the reunion short and attack the faces leaving them laid out. *****, 96% overall.
Sixth Match: WWE Intercontinental Champion Brandon Reigns and Orlando Kincaid vs. Kyle Jacobs and Alexander Piero
Reigns has ZERO interest in participating in this match and lets Kincaid do all of the work. He declares he has more important things to be worried about. He does, however, nail Jacobs with his title belt when it looks like Kincaid might suffer a Legacy Bomb and that's enough for a DQ. We get a big brawl to close things out. ****1/2, 93% overall.
Final Segment: Quentin McDaniels and the WWE Unified World Champion Butch Fleming are out to talk about how much they don't like each other but they dislike the idea of either Haven and Carmichael becoming champion even more. Despite these rough past few weeks there is an understanding that working together to crush the opposition is for the greater good. McDaniels claims it's necessary to get Carmichael and Haven out of the way so that there will be a clear path to him winning the Unified World Title. Fleming takes exception to this and points out that McDaniels is just the last man Fleming has to deal with in order to retain his title. If McDaniels couldn't take care of Carmichael at WrestleMania THERE'S NO WAY he can handle Fleming. McDaniels looks like he's ready to drop Fleming right here and now but Haven interrupts to offer his take. Seeing the two jackals in the ring right now shows how there is no honor among thieves. Even the most craven of all animals will turn and eat each other when desperation sets in and Fleming and McDaniels are dripping with desperation.
Carmichael joins Haven out on the stage and questions how much desperation Haven has. Haven has come oh so close on several occasions but that title keeps getting yanked away. Well Carmichael is willing to be up front about things and he's letting Haven know that Carmichael will be the one to yank it away this time around.
Fleming demands everyone pays attention to him because as the champion he's the only one that matters around here. He didn't come back from exile just to be put on the backburner. He's come this far and he's at the top of the mountain and he's nowhere near ready to get shoved off so all three of his opponents can kiss his ass. "If you guys don't like it you can do something about it right now!"
Haven and Carmichael ponder this over and eventually decide to head to the ring and confront McDaniels and Fleming. Fleming, of course, leaves McDaniels high and dry and we have a brawl on our hands as poor McDaniels gets knocked around. Fleming eventually finds his courage when the faces pause to glare at each other. The whole party ends with Fleming laying out Carmichael with a Slaughterhouse Special, McDaniels laying out Fleming with the Great Depression and finally Haven standing tall over everyone after laying out McDaniels with the Sting of Solace. End of show!
Overall show rating: 89%