Orton will step into the Punjabi Prison this Sunday
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Fans who have yet to experience the sheer presence of a Punjabi Prison got a sneak peek on last night’s SmackDown Live as Randy Orton sent a direct message to his Battleground opponent.
WWE Champion Jinder Mahal opened the show to re-introduce the WWE Universe to the frightening structure and proclaim he would destroy the Viper inside the reinforced steel bamboo on Sunday. Not one to take a verbal bashing lightly, Orton joined in proceedings and stated his own intentions. Scaling the top of the cage, he vowed to end Mahal’s title reign and reminded the champion that he has the weight of 1.3 billion on his shoulders, while Orton has nothing to lose.
See me twist Orton up with steel and bamboo in Philadelphia at #WWEBattleground on Sunday in The #PunjabiPrisonMatchhttps://t.co/s9y7RFDVyH
— The Maharaja (@JinderMahal) July 19, 2017
At the other end of the show, AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura main evented the show, teaming-up to take on their Battleground opponents Kevin Owens and Baron Corbin. And it was Owens and Mr. Money In The Bank Corbin who head into Sunday with some momentum as a blind tag, unbeknown to Styles saw Owens hit the Pop-up Powerbomb on the Phenomenal One and give his team the victory.
John Cena is someone else looking for momentum as he heads into Battleground, and although he gave an impassioned promo championing the good old U S of A ahead of his Flag Match with Rusev, it was the Bulgarian who got the upper hand. Attacking the sixteen-time World Champ from behind and locking him in the Accolade.
Man down Flag down NATION FINISHED. #WWEBattleground
— Rusev (@RusevBUL) July 19, 2017
Elsewhere Becky Lynch notched an impressive win over Charlotte Flair before the rest of Sunday’s Elimination match competitors were taken out by Tamina. Mike Kanellis marked his WWE in-ring debut with a victory over Sami Zayn and Chad Gable gave his reaction to Monday Night Raw’s revalation about his former tag-team partner Jason Jordan.
Full results for SmackDown Live’s 18th July show;
Jimmy Uso defeated Kofi Kingston
Mike Kanellis defeated Sami Zayn
Becky Lynch defeated Charlotte Flair
Kevin Owens defeated US Champion AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura