Jinder Mahal wins Punjabi Prison Match over Randy Orton at WWE Battleground
Thanks to a surprise appearance by The Great Khali, Jinder Mahal retained the WWE championship in a Punjabi Prison Match on Sunday at Battleground in Philadelphia.
Mahal beat Randy Orton in only the third Punjabi Prison Match in WWE history and first in 11 years. Khali, who helped innovate the match, had not been seen in WWE since November 2014.
The Punjabi Prison is a double steel cage encased in bamboo. To win, a wrestler had to escape the inside cage through one of the four doors or go over the top and then scale the outer cage and land on the floor.
As Orton attempted to climb out of the cage, Khali came down and shook the cage. Orton lost his balance. Khali then climbed up and grabbed Orton by the throat. Mahal then climbed up and over to win the bout.
Mahal also got help from the Singh brothers, despite one of them eventually falling from the outside cage and smashing through the announce table.
Mahal has noted that some WWE fans don’t see him as championship material, given his surprising and meteoric rise over the last few months. Getting help from the Great Khali and the Singh Brothers to win a match that he asked for might not help increase his legitimacy as champion in the fans’ eyes.
Mahal told For The Win earlier this week that he saw John Cena as a potential opponent for Summer Slam — the WWE’s second-biggest show of the year — on Aug. 20.
While Mahal retained the title, two titles changed hands.
The New Day won the Smackdown tag tag team titles by beating the Usos, making the New Day the first team to have won both the Smackdown and RAW tag team titles since the brand split last summer.
Kevin Owens took part the United States championship from A.J. Styles to win the belt for the third time. Styles had won the title from Owens at Madison Square Garden a few weeks ago.
Neither of these rivalries is over with return matches upcoming.
New Day def. The Usos to win the Smackdown tag team titles: That the New Day would win the Smackdown tag team title was a given as soon as they moved from RAW. An injury to Kofi Kingston delayed their debut and then The Usos took a countout in a title defense against the New Day at Backlash.
While the New Day’s biggest matches have typically featured the pairing of Kingston and Big E, Xavier Woods got the call Sunday night. With Kingston knocked to the floor, Woods carried a substantial part of the second half of the match for his team, including escaping after he was kicked in mid-air by Jimmy Uso. Woods had soared across the ring from the top turnbuckle in hopes of landing on Jey Uso but was intercepted.
Amid chants of “This is awesome,” the Usos scaled opposite turnbuckles, but Woods knocks off Jay and Kingston escapes. Kofi hits Trouble in Paradise and then Woods nailed the elbow drop for the win and the championship.
Kevin Owens def. A.J. Styles to win the United States championship: This match was expected to be the match of the night and the expectations were off the charts. Owens has the belt, but this feud has another act at SummerSlam in what figures to be an even better bout.
After a strong early part of the match, Owens threw Styles into the referee. Styles turned a Pop-Up Powerbomb attempt into a Calf Crusher. Owens was able to roll into a crossface and Styles countered with his own crossface.
The referee continued to struggle but slowly moved into position. Owens turned Styles onto his back, but Style was able to maintain the crossface. Both men had their shoulders down but Owens bridged at the last minute and Style lost the match and the title.
Oddly, WWE never showed a replay of the final sequence.
John Cena def. Rusev in a Flag Match: In the most predictable result of the night, Cena won the flag match after executing the Attitude Adjustment on Rusev and putting him through two tables. Cena then inserted the flag into its stand to end the match.
This was unlike past flag matches in which the winner was determined by one man being the first to grab his flag from the corner. Now, a man had to grab the flag from the corner and then bring it up the ramp and insert it into the flag stand on a podium. Each man grabbed his flag and the fight continued as they made their way up the ramp. Unfortunately, that led to the American flag and the Bulgarian flag both being dragged on the ground, used as weapons and otherwise mistreated.
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Natalya wins Fatal Five Way Elimination Match to become No. 1 contender for SmackDown women’s title: The most experienced member of the SmackDown women’s roster will face champion Naomi at SummerSlam thanks to the victory.
Natalya won the WWE Divas championship in the fall of 2010. While she has had championship opportunities since, this bout at SummerSlam is long overdue and well-deserved.
In the match, WWE tied together the story lines from SmackDown Live over the last few weeks as Lana and Tamina continued to work together and Becky Lynch, who seemed like she had the momentum after beating Charlotte Flair, eliminated both Lana and Tamina with the Disarm Her. However, Natalya quickly beats Lynch. Natalya put the cross arm breaker on Flair, but Flair would not submit. Flair went up to the top turnbuckle for the moonsault, but lands on Natalya’s knees. Natalya slammed Flair’s neck into the corner and got the pin. Naomi, who was doing ringside commentary, came into the ring to congratulate Natalya, but Natayla declined a handshake.
Shinsuke Nakamura def. Baron Corbin via disqualification: The end result was not what the fans were hoping for as Corbin hit a low blow with a back kick as Nakamura attempted an exploder suplex. Corbin was disqualified. With Nakamura laying in the ring, Corbin headed up the ramp. He then returned, hit Nakamura in the stomach with the Money In The Bank briefcase and nailed the End of Days. Look for these to continue their feud at SummerSlam.
Sami Zayn def. Mike Kanellis: Kanellis made his WWE pay-per-view and was on the losing end despite the interference from his wife, Maria. The situation seemed to be a repeat of SmackDown Live when Maria interfered to help her husband get the win. Instead after Maria was ushered from the ring, Zayn hit the Exploder and his Helluva Kick to get the victory.
Breezango is still searching: After Tuesday’s SmackDown Live, Breezango thought it would learn who had trashed their office. The Ascension came out and said it was them, but that was the story in the last pay-per-view. The lights went out and Tyler Breeze had been laid out. Then it Fandango was laid out. Fandago was dragged away as the segment ended. Could Luke Harper and Erick Rowan be behind this?
KICKOFF SHOW
Aiden English def. Tye Dillinger: In a rematch of the Kickoff Show match from Backlash, English gets the victory with the Director’s Cut after twice avoiding Dillinger’s Tye Breaker finisher. The next question: Will either of these men ever get off the Kickoff Show match?
Follow Josh Barnett on Twitter @ByJoshBarnett.
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