As WrestleMania 31 approaches, tension between feuding superstars continues to rise and it will went up a notch in the upcoming episode of SmackDown on Thursday.
According to Wrestling Inc, the upcoming episode of SmackDown was taped on Tuesday at the Verizon Center in Washington with Michael Cole, Byron Saxton and John Bradshaw Layfield as host.
Dolph Ziggler kicked off the episode as he talked about how important the WWE Intercontinental Title is to him. He lamented that he never got the chance to reclaim the title, but he is glad that he will finally get the chance to do so as he announced that he will participate in the Ladder Match at WrestleMania 31.
Ziggler then called out Daniel Bryan to join the ladder match, but Bad News Barrett appeared instead of the "Yes!" superstar. Barrett insisted that the intercontinental title and the WrestleMania 31 Ladder Match are his to take before Ziggler interrupted and laid Ziggler out.
Dean Ambrose got into the scene and a brawl involving Ziggler, Barrett and Harper escalated. R-Truth then sneaked in and stole the intercontinental title belt, while the four superstars were engaged in the brawl.
At the backstage, Truth tried to give the intercontinental title belt to Renee Young, but the latter said that it should be returned to Ambrose.
It was then announced that Ambrose and Ziggler will collide with Barrett and Harper in the main event of the match. Ziggler and Ambrose emerged victorious in the main event as Ziggler managed to unleash a super kick and Zig Zag on Harper.
Following the match, Barrett took down Ziggler and Ambrose before trying to reclaim his belt from R-Truth, who then ran into Bryan to give the belt, which led to a loud "Yes!" chant. However, before Bryan could leave with the title, Stardust appeared and attacked Bryan to get the belt, posing with the title before the episode ended.
In other matches, WWE Tag Team champions Tyson Kidd and Cesaro successfully defended their title against Los Matadores. Kidd cheated in the match when the referee was not looking into what was happening in the match.
Ryback then defeated Kane with a Meathook clothesline. However, Ryback's night did not end after that win as Kane said that Ryback should stay in the ring and face Big Show, who then escaped with a win after Kane interfered.
Bray Wyatt then cuts another Undertaker promo before AJ Lee defeated Brie Bella. The Newday also defeated The Miz and Damien Sandow, while Rusev won against Jack Swagger with The Accolade.
