WWE SmackDown Live Results: Highlights, Analysis, and Grades for August 15

Source: WWE.com (via Twitter)

Jinder Mahal (w/ The Singh Brothers) vs. John Cena

Result: John Cena defeated Jinder Mahal via disqualification

Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars

Well, considering how I expected this to end, I was surprised. But the last five minutes of this episode of SmackDown Live are possibly the worst five minutes of wrestling programming I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen Bayley: This is Your Life, Katie Vick, and Lawrence Taylor main event WrestleMania.

Let’s recap everything before I started blacking out from anger at the stupidity of it all. Surprisingly, Jinder controlled much of the match. Sure, he had some help from the Singh Brothers, but the dude is still the WWE Champion. You know, theoretically the best wrestler in the company. That guy.

But when Mike Chioda tossed the Singhs from ringside, things changed. Cena began his comeback, hit an Attitude Adjustment from the middle rope, and looked like he was about to cleanly pin the WWE Champion. You know, like Randy Orton did last week. But Baron Corbin ran in to break up the pin, giving Cena a win via DQ.

And that’s when things took a turn for the worse…

Baron Corbin vs. Jinder Mahal

Result: Jinder Mahal defeated Baron Corbin via pinfall

Rating: -5 out of 5 stars

After Corbin (thought he) took out Cena, he decided to return to the ring and cash in his Money in the Bank Contract. Jinder was still down from the avalanche AA, so it seemed like a good idea. (It really didn’t seem like a good idea.)

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As Corbin screamed at the referee to get Jinder up, Stevie Wonder himself saw Cena climbing onto the ring apron. The bell rang, and Corbin – who had spent the last ten seconds looking at where Cena was – immediately stopped paying attention to the WWE Champion so he could punch John Cena. Understandable, but come on, man.

The ringing bell was like Popeye’s spinach for Jinder Mahal, who miraculously recovered to catch Corbin with a school boy, pinning him, and wiping out the MITB case in the worst way possible.

Let’s look at all the mistakes Corbin made in his five minutes of screen time:

• Not beating Cena up more than he did
• Leaving the ring before cashing in
• Neglecting to attack Jinder before officially cashing in
• Not attacking Cena before the bell rang
• Turning to hit Cena as the bell rang
• FORGETTING HE HAD A MATCH FOR THE WWE CHAMPIONSHIP THAT HE DEMANDED

That’s more than one egregious error per minute on screen. It’s infuriating that something this stupid can still happen on WWE programming – and that if it did, it somehow didn’t happen on Raw instead.

So now at SummerSlam, there’s no chance of a Corbin cash in if Nakamura wins the title from Jinder. This means either Jinder wins and continues his title reign, or Nakamura becomes champion in the least likely title reign since Jinder Mahal. I don’t even know what to expect anymore.

Next: SummerSlam: Predictions for Nakamura/Mahal

That’s the last episode of WWE programming until SummerSlam, be sure to tune in!