You don’t typically see a lot of blood on WWE programming, but there was quite a bit shown tonight on SmackDown.
This evening on WWE SmackDown, Tommaso Ciampa got his long-awaited United States Championship match against Ilja Dragunov.
At some point in the match, it appeared that Ciampa caught Dragunov with a shot to his nose. This resulted in a lot of blood, taking their title match to another level of intensity.
In the closing moments of the match, both Johnny Gargano and Candice LaRae got involved, trying to nudge things in Ciampa’s favor. Despite their best effort, Dragunov overcame the odds and managed to retain his championship.
DIY would attack Dragunov after the match. However, he was saved by Carmelo Hayes. The man who arguably had him beat last week before Ciampa cost him the match. It seems a rematch between these two men is inevitable.
Here is a recap of tonight’s match, courtesy of our live coverage page:
United States Championship Match: Ilja Dragunov (c) vs. Tomasso Ciampa
As soon as the bell rings, Ciampa lights Dragunov up with chops. Dragunov fires back, leading to a slap fight. Dragunov drops Ciampa with a thrust kick. The fight spills out of the ring. Dragunov crashes into the ring steps. Ciampa suplexes Dragunov’s knees into the steps and gives himself a round of applause. After the break, Ciampa is working over Dragunov’s knee. Dragunov fires up and hits a series of suplexes. Ciampa kicks out. Dragunov goes up top. Ciampa cuts Dragunov off by kicking his injured knee out from under him. Dragunov falls to the apron. Ciampa blasts Dragunov with an air raid crash on the apron.
Dragunov responds with a dropkick off the top. Dragunov’s nose is busted as he trades slaps with Ciampa. Dragunov tries a kick and gets a dragon screw for his trouble. Suplex by Ciampa. Dragunov bounces back with a Torpedo Moskau. Johnny Gargano appears and hops on the apron. While the referee is distracted, Candice LeRae stuns Dragunov on the top rope. Ciampa lands a running knee. Dragunov kicks out! Ciampa is livid. Dragunov rolls Ciampa up for a quick three count!
Winner and STILL United States Champion, Ilja Dragunov!
After the match, Gargano and Ciampa attack Dragunov. Carmelo Hayes hits the ring and makes the save.
This was Dragunov’s seventh successful United States Title defense after winning the title from Sami Zayn back in October.
