7/22 WWE in Ft. Myers, Florida: Five Titles on the line, Ziggler vs. Kingston vs. Orton main event

WWE LIVE EVENT REPORT – SMACKDOWN BRAND
JULY 22, 2019
FT. MYERS, FLORIDA AT HERTZ ARENA
REPORT BY GREG PARKS, TORCH COLUMNIST

Crowd was thin. I don’t do estimates, but you can see the pics of the crowd five minutes before bell time on my Twitter @gregmparks.

(1) Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Ali and Matt Hardy at 11:!0 in a Triple-Threat Match to retain the WWE Intercontinental Title

Nakamura pinned Hardy after a Kinshasa. Lots of stalling by Nakamura. Hardy got a good reaction and Ali received a polite pop.

Ember Moon made her way out for the next match, but was attacked on the stage by Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville.

(2) Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable defeated The B-Team at 6:36

B-Team actually got decent heel heat when they did get a reaction. Benjamin pinned Curtis Axel with Paydirt. Bo Dallas pitched a fit post-match, claiming Benjamin and Gable aren’t even a “real” tag team. So he demanded another team come out. Heavy Machinery answered the call.

(3) Heavy Machinery defeated The B-Team at 1:40

Crowd popped huge for Otis performing the Worm. Their double-team finish on Dallas earned Machinery the win.

(4) The IIconics retained the Women’s Tag Team Titles at 8:20 over The Kabuki Warriors

The heels did some pre-match mic work. This wasn’t too bad. There was some silliness in the match to keep the crowd into it. Kairi Sane was pinned by Peyton Royce while Billie Kay held Sane’s leg from outside the ring.

(5) Ember Moon defeated Mandy Rose at 5:22

Ember won with the Eclipse. She was still selling the attack from earlier. Sonya Deville accompanied Rose to the ring.

Elias did a performance that was cut short by Kevin Owens. Owens delivered a stunner to Elias then strummed a little on the guitar.

(6) New Day defeated AOP in 8:39 to retain the Smackdown Tag Team Titles

Big E. is fun to watch. AOP’s power doesn’t translate live. Xavier Woods pinned one of the AOP with the Midnight Hour to retain.

(7) Apollo Crews defeated Andrade at 5:39

This was the first match out of intermission. Andrade cut a promo first in Spanish, then in English. The crowd reacted positively to a few moves by Crews.

(8) Bayley defeated Charlotte Flair to retain the Smackdown Women’s Title at 16:17

The best match on the show. Charlotte did a lot of stalling early on. Bayley won with a Bayley-to-Belly.

(9) Kofi Kingston defeated Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler in a Triple-Threat Match to retain the WWE Title at 10:15

Orton and Ziggler worked together for the first eight minutes of the match. Kofi pinned Dolph with the Trouble in Paradise.

BIGGEST POPS:
1. Otis’s Worm
2. New Day
3. Matt Hardy
4. Randy Orton’s RKO to Kofi

MOST HEAT:
1. Elias
2. Ziggler
3. Nakamura

For more in-depth thoughts and analysis of this show, check out my column in the upcoming edition of the Torch newsletter.