Last night’s Smackdown tried to bring something special to us for the Independence Day. Every year, United States of America celebrates the 4th of July keeping their freedom in mind. WWE also honors this special day with numerous arrangements. Smackdown took place one day earlier of the day and came up with the reincarnation of the United States Open Challenge.
Jeff Hardy is the current US Champion who won the title from Jinder Mahal in April. He lived up to his legacy by being a strong champion on the Smackdown brand. Hence he dared to throw a challenge to anybody present in the locker room. This challenge happened for two consecutive weeks in the absence of his original challenger.
Shinsuke Nakamura is the original contender for the US title at this point. The GM gave him an opportunity, last week following a heated backstage confrontation. But an unfortunate leg injury did not allow him to appear on the show, all of a sudden. So the creative team had no choice but to cancel the match and replace it with an open challenge.
The same tradition continued on Smackdown, last night. Jeff Hardy appeared inside the ring with his face-paint on. The Miz was the one to answer the open challenge. These two already had a couple of matches in the recent past. So it was basically a rematch on the show.
The Miz tried to gain upper-hand throwing knee on Jeff. But he came back with a jawbreaker on his opponent. Jeff pushed Miz’s head hard into the turnbuckle and set up for the Swanton Bomb early in the match. The challenger took a wise move by rolling off the ring.
Jeff was in control of the match on Smackdown until the Miz sent him straight into the steel steps. Miz connected with a quick DDT for a near fall. Jeff was able to come back into the match hitting a Whisper in Wind. But Miz reversed his body for a roll-up. The referee stopped the count as Miz put his legs on the rope.
As the argument was continuing, Jeff caught Miz with a Twist of Fate. He went to the top rope and delivered a picture-perfect Swanton Bomb to get the pinfall win. He will now head on towards Extreme Rules with the title around the waist.
