James Ellsworth's interference costs Ambrose dear
Wednesday 26 October 2016 13:04, UK
Dean Ambrose missed out on becoming number one contender to AJ Styles’ WWE World Title after James Ellsworth made a costly mistake on Smackdown.
Ambrose went one-on-one with Styles on Tuesday night, knowing that if he defeated The Phenomenal One he would be granted a shot at his opponent's championship.
The Lunatic Fringe took control of the match when he threw Styles to the outside but Ellsworth, watching from ringside, Superkicked the champion causing Ambrose to lose via disqualification.
Ellsworth - who has faced Styles in singles clashes on the previous two editions of Smackdown - had been riled by Styles throwing his T-shirt at him and also planting him with a dropkick.
But his intervention has now denied Ambrose the chance, for the time being at least, to win back the belt he shipped to Styles at Smackdown's Backlash pay-per-view in September.
Kane was also scuppered by outside interference as he lost to Bray Wyatt in a No Disqualification Match - with Randy Orton shockingly flooring him with an RKO.
Kane and Orton had united in recent weeks to battle Wyatt and Luke Harper but Orton may now have joined The Wyatt Family, uttering "If you can't beat the, join them" in a backstage interview.
Elsewhere on Smackdown, Survivor Series continued to hot up, with Nikki Bella and The Hype Bros securing spots on blue-brand teams at the November 20 pay-per-view.
Bella became the captain of Smackdown's five-woman squad to take on Raw when she beat Natalya with an STF - the loser now banned from taking a spot on the team.
Plus, Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley overcame The Ascension to cement their places in a 10-on-10 tag team elimination scrap against Raw, joining the already-announced Heath Slater and Rhyno.
Slater and Rhyno were also in action on Tuesday night, successfully defending their Smackdown Tag Team Titles against The Spirit Squad's Kenny and Mikey in an impromptu match.
Becky Lynch, meanwhile, suffered a painful return to Smackdown as she was attacked by the No 1 contender to her Women's Title, Alexa Bliss.
Bliss slammed Lynch for the medical issues that stopped her defending her belt at No Mercy before spraying a yellow streak on the redhead's back to gain the upper hand ahead of their title scrap in Glasgow on November 8.