The October 3rd, 2017 edition of WWE SmackDown Live took place at the Pepsi Center in Denver, CO.
– This week’s SmackDown broadcast opens up with the entire roster on the stage for a moment of silence for the victims of the shooting in Las Vegas, NV.
– Renee Young is in the ring to welcome everyone to SmackDown, then she introduces her guest Shinsuke Nakamura, who will be challenging for Jinder Mahal’s WWE Championship at Hell In A Cell on Sunday. Renee asks Nakamura what he thinks of Jinder Mahal making fun of him, and he says sticks and stones will break his bones but words will never hurt him. Renee says they’ve never seen anyone in WWE like him, and Nakamura adds that he’ll take the WWE Title from Jinder Mahal on Sunday. The Singh Brothers come out to the stage and say they’re sorry for interrupting Shinsuke’s thrilling interview, but they have to introduce Jinder Mahal. They do their usual introduction, but instead of coming out from behind the curtain, Jinder Mahal hits the ring out of nowhere and attacks Nakamura from behind. Nakamura starts to fight back, but the Singh Brothers hit the ring too and the numbers are too much for him. Jinder boots Nakamura in the face, then gives him the cobra clutch slam. Jinder holds his WWE Title belt in the air while Nakamura is down in the ring.
– Tom Phillips and Corey Graves tell us that Shane McMahon will stand face to face with Kevin Owens later tonight.
– We see footage from earlier today of Women’s Champion Natalya confronting Carmella & James Ellsworth and warning her not to try cashing in her Money In The Bank contract tonight.
– Natalya & Carmella def. Charlotte & Becky Lynch: Ellsworth is chained up at ringside in Carmella and Natalya’s corner. Charlotte and Becky dump Natalya and Carmella out to ringside early on, and they follow up with baseball slide kicks to the outside. Back in the ring, Natalya squares off against Becky and drops her with a clothesline. Nattie takes Becky back into her corner and stomps a mudhole in her. Natalya keeps Becky grounded with some elbow shows and then a snap suplex. Becky breaks free from Natalya and gets the hot tag to Charlotte. Charlotte cleans house then lays into Natalya with a series of chops to the chest. Charlotte hits a T-bone suplex on Natalya for a two count. Carmella and Becky both run in and then brawl out to ringside. Charlotte spears down Natalya and goes for the Figure Four, but Natalya escapes. Meanwhile at ringside, Carmella nails Becky with the Money In The Bank briefcase. Charlotte sees the briefcase shot, and Natalya takes advantage of the distraction by dropping Charlotte from behind. Natalya follows up with a Sharpshooter for the win via submission.
– We see a special look back at the history between Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon, including Owens’ attack on Vince.
– Bobby Roode is shown backstage heading towards the gorilla position.
– Bobby Roode def. Mike Kanellis: Roode backs up Mike into the corner to start off, but Kanellis fires back with kicks and right hands. Roode ducks a punch and answers with a spinebuster. Roode waits for Kanellis to get to his feet, then he hits the Glorious DDT for the win via pinfall after a very short match.
– After the match, Dolph Ziggler comes out to the stage and says Roode’s entrance is quite a production. Ziggler says he’s been working on ideas for his entrance for their match at Hell In A Cell on Sunday. First Ziggler plays a siren, then he goes behind the curtain and comes out with a big drum. He drops the drum and sets off some noisemakers and an air horn. Ziggler uses the air horn all the way down to the ring, then he steps in. He asks if he fans all like him now, and tells Roode that he thinks his entrance is everything. Ziggler says Roode finally weaseled his way into WWE after all these years, but on Sunday Ziggler will show us an entrance like we’ve never seen before. Ziggler says when the bell rings on Sunday he’ll expose Roode for what he is – nothing more than a fancy entrance. Ziggler drops the mic and walks off, but Roode picks up the mic and stops him. Roode says he thinks Ziggler’s entrances are horrible, then leads the crowd in a “glorious” chant before his music starts.
– The Usos come out to the ring next to cut a promo on The New Day. They say on Sunday they’ll take the New Day to the Uso Penitentiary, and they make comparisons between the Hell In A Cell cage and a jail. Before they can finish, Tag Team Champions the New Day come down the ramp to interrupt. The New Day promotes their new underwear on WWEShop, then they get into talking about Hell In A Cell. They say that on Sunday, The Usos will find themselves face first in a pile of their own “day one ish.” The New Day steps into the ring, and The Usos back off. The Usos head up the ramp to the back while the Tag Champs taunt them from the ring.
– WWE Champ Jinder Mahal is backstage cutting a promo in his language for his people. He then switches to English and shows us a clip of him beating down Nakamura earlier. Jinder says that he’s going to do the same thing to Nakamura on Sunday at Hell In A Cell, and is confident that he’ll be standing tall with his WWE Title at the end of the night.
– It’s announced that The Hype Bros will take on Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin on the Hell In a Cell Kickoff Show on Sunday.
– Tye Dillinger def. Baron Corbin: Corbin backs Dillinger into the corner with strikes right off the opening bell. Corbin throws Dillinger outside, but Dillinger runs right back in the ring and starts laying into Corbin with punches. Dillinger fires up and hits a superkick on Corbin that sends Corbin rolling out to ringside to recover. AJ Styles is shown watching on a monitor backstage as Corbin comes back with an elbow. Corbin pushes Dillinger off the apron into the ring steps, then he follows him outside. Corbin hangs Tye upside down on the ropes outside the ring, then punches him in the midsection. Corbin throws Tye back in the ring and struts over to him like he knows he’s got this match in the bag. Corbin goes to pick up Tye, but Tye snatches Corbin and rolls him up in a small package pin for the win out of nowhere. Tye rolls out of the ring and retreats up the ramp as Corbin freaks out in the ring.
– As Tye makes his way backstage, AJ Styles appears on the big screen and cuts a promo on Corbin. Styles taunts Corbin for his recent losses, and says Corbin needs to stop throwing temper tantrums all the time. Styles says Corbin keeps getting in the way of his U.S. Title reign, so on Sunday he’s taking him out.
– Aiden English and Rusev are in the ring. Rusev gets on the mic, and points out that Randy Orton ruined “Rusev Day” last week. Rusev begins talking about his plans for Orton at Hell In a Cell on Sunday, but then Orton’s music hits and we have a match.
– Randy Orton def. Aiden English: English gets some offense in early on and takes control of the match with a dropkick to the face. Orton ducks a clothesline and English runs off the ropes. Orton throws English up into the air and hits an RKO on him on the way down. Orton rolls up English for the win after a short match.
– Rusev looks like he’s about to hop in the ring, but Orton sees him and gets right in his face. Rusev backs down and slowly retreats up the ramp, talking trash to Orton who is still in the ring.
– Sami Zayn approaches Shane McMahon backstage with a warning about Owens. Zayn says that Shane has only gotten a glimpse of what Owens can do when he snaps, and that Owens is in a very bad state of mind. Shane brushes off Zayn and tells him to worry about himself, and Shane will worry about Shane.
– SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon makes his way out to the ring next. Shane calls out Owens, and also announces that their Hell In A Cell match on Sunday will be under Falls Count Anywhere rules. We hear Owens on a mic somewhere, but he’s not on the stage. Owens emerges from the crowd, and says that he’s really the money in WWE. Owens walks towards the ring, but then says that he’s spent enough time in Denver as-is and he’s going to leave. As Owens starts walking away, Shane calls him out from the ring and calls him a coward. Shane says that since Owens won’t come to him, he’s going to go to Owens. Shane hops the fan barricade and runs up the steps through the crowd. Shane steps into the arena hallways and gets ambushed by Owens. There are some fans in the hallway cheering on the fight. Owens and Shane brawl all over the arena’s concession stand area until Owens grabs hold of Shane and powerbombs him through a WWE merch table. Owens leaves Shane laying and he starts walking back towards the ring. Owens walks back through the crowd and steps into the ring with a mic. He says if Shane thinks this is bad, he hasn’t seen anything yet. Owens says he’s glad their match will be a falls count anywhere match, because he wants to be able to beat Shane inside or outside the cell. He says he’ll grind Shane’s face across the cage until the flesh is ripped off, and he’ll powerbomb him over and over until he forgets his kids’ names. Owens says Shane can forget about jumping off the cell, because on Sunday he’s throwing Shane off the cell, and there’s no getting up this time. As Owens is talking, Shane stumbles back down the steps through the crowd towards the ring. Owens gets out of the ring and hops the guard rail to meet Shane in the crowd and they start brawling again. Shane throws Owens over the fan barricade then hops up on it for a flying clothesline on Owens. They continue to brawl at ringside until Owens throws Shane over the announce table. Owens gets back in the ring, then Shane slowly follows him in. Owens and Shane start fighting in the ring back and forth now. Owens drops Shane with a superkick then steps outside the ring. Owens sees Shane getting up, so Owens gets back in the ring and grabs him. Shane starts fighting back, but Owens drops him again, this time with a head butt. As referees check on Shane, Owens grabs him again and this time he hits the Pop Up Powerbomb. Owens’ theme music hits and he walks to the back as referees check on Shane in the ring.
