SmackDown LIVE General Manager Paige kicked things off on the blue brand and quickly looked back to the events of WWE Backlash, then began to look forward to the upcoming WWE Money in the Bank event and its two Money in the Bank Ladder Matches. Tonight, several bouts would feature male and female Superstars attempting to qualify for the clashes, including the match that was about to begin — United States Champion Jeff Hardy vs. The Miz.
Miz and Hardy both came out firing, with The Charismatic Enigma looking to build off his win this past Sunday against Randy Orton, and The A-Lister was attempting to bounce back after his nail-biting defeat to Seth Rollins in the Intercontinental Title Match at WWE Backlash. In the pivotal moments, Miz was in dire straits when Hardy hit the Twist of Fate and Swanton Bomb. However, incredibly, Miz used Hardy’s momentum against him, countering the pin attempt into one of his own to get a surprising three-count for the win, becoming SmackDown LIVE’s first entry into the Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match.
Credit: WWE.com
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Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas officially cast The Miz aside last night, meaning the former Miztourage are finally their own leading men. Unfortunately, they still have a few things to work out. Despite their confidence, they were relatively easy pickings for “Woken” Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt, competing for the first time as Raw Tag Team Champions.
The titleholders were brimming with confidence from the jump — Wyatt turned his back on Axel to give the former Intercontinental Champion a free swing — and it turned out their faith in themselves was more than justified. Wyatt stopped an early run cold, and after dispatching a meddling Bo Dallas, he tagged in The Woken One to drop Axel with a double Sister Abigail. Wonderful.
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NEWARK, N.J. — The Jeff Hardy comeback tour rolls on, as The Charismatic Enigma dispatched Randy Orton to retain his United States Title at WWE Backlash, capping a rivalry that has been tenser than anticipated, even though Hardy and Orton have only been on each other’s radars for a short period of time.
Jeff Hardy drops Randy Orton with a vicious flying kick: WWE Backlash 2018 (WWE Network Exclusive)
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United States Champion Jeff Hardy stops The Viper in his tracks with a brutal kick: Courtesy of the award-winning WWE Network.
Ever since Hardy supplanted Jinder Mahal as U.S. Champion, Orton — who had already invoked his rematch clause after losing the title to Mahal at WrestleMania — has been seemingly overlooked by The Charismatic Enigma. Having reminded Hardy of his skills with an RKO after a tag team match on SmackDown LIVE, The Viper opened the WWE Backlash contest with another display of ruthless efficiency, targeting the champion’s lumbar with a trifecta of backdrops onto the barricade. The veteran Orton was clearly hoping to slow Hardy down and turn the match into the kind of drawn-out beatdown that typically precedes the RKO.
Hardy vs. Orton
Jeff Hardy puts the star-spangled championship on the line in a melee against WWE’s Apex Predator.
Even when Hardy fought to quicken the pace, the threat of the RKO loomed large. The Charismatic Enigma had to stop cold to avoid the maneuver at one point, allowing The Apex Predator to reclaim the advantage, though the champion was more familiar with Orton’s playbook than he let on. Hardy took a page out of his challenger’s repertoire, surprising Orton with a Twist of Fate and following up with an immediate Swanton Bomb to retain his title.
Even for Randy Orton, it seems, defeat can come from out of nowhere.
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Jeff Hardy on MIZ TV
With his sights set on his Intercontinental Championship Rematch against Raw’s Seth Rollins this Sunday night at WWE Backlash, The Miz first had to put on his interviewer hat and chat with United States Champion Jeff Hardy on SmackDown LIVE.
A frosty conversation ensued between The A-Lister and The Charismatic Enigma, and they were quickly joined by a surprise guest in Randy Orton. Miz implied that Hardy had disrespected The Viper by taking his place in a match against Shelton Benjamin during the Superstar Shake-up. Orton refuted Miz’s claim, saying that Jeff simply took hold of an opportunity and that he wasn’t upset.
Ever the antagonist though, The A-Lister seemed determined to cause a rift between Hardy and Orton. And, although it didn’t appear to be working, Randy did make it clear to Jeff that he intended to win back the U.S. Title at WWE Backlash after losing it at WrestleMania to Jinder Mahal, who was unseated as champion by Jeff.
Shelton Benjamin then hit the scene, with his ears red hot at the notion that The Viper would be in line for a title opportunity before him, considering he had defeated Orton in one-on-one competition last week. Not thrilled with what he was hearing, Randy then knocked Benjamin down as he attempted to enter the ring, and after The A-Lister tried to blindside Orton, The Charismatic Enigma jumped in and dropped The Miz with Whisper in the Wind in a raucous scene to kick things off on the blue brand.
Randy Orton & Jeff Hardy def. The Miz & Shelton Benjamin
After the flurry of activity that occurred on “Miz TV,” SmackDown LIVE General Manager Paige declared that Randy Orton would team up with Jeff Hardy to square off against The Miz & Shelton Benjamin right then and there.
Despite the slight bit of uneasiness between the two earlier in the night, Orton & Hardy gelled well, working in unison to overcome the offensive onslaught that Miz and Benjamin brought their way. In the match’s pivotal moment, Randy Orton went on an absolute tear, hitting both Shelton and Miz with everything in his arsenal (including a ring-rattling RKO to Shelton), leading to Jeff Hardy defeating Shelton with the Swanton Bomb.
However, the good vibes did not last long, as The Apex Predator dropped The Charismatic Enigma with an RKO after the contest, sending a message that he still had Jeff’s championship in his crosshairs.
Credit: WWE.com
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