NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The SMACKVILLE special event, which streamed live on the award-winning WWE Network from the heart of Music City, saw WWE Champion Kofi Kingston survive Dolph Ziggler and Samoa Joe in a turbulent Triple Threat Match, Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura best surprise opponent Ali, and Elias give a special musical performance which descended into defeat in an impromptu match against Kevin Owens.

Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura def. Ali
Less than one hour before the start of SMACKVILLE, WWE Twitter revealed Finn Bálor was battling an undisclosed injury throughout the week, and WWE medical staff determined he wasn’t eligible to compete against Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. While The Artist proclaimed he'd won the match by forfeit, Ali appeared and boldly challenged him for the workhorse title.

While Ali put up a valiant fight in his impromptu championship fight, evading Nakamura's Kinshasa and striking with a tornado DDT, The Artist kicked out at the last second. Moments later, he made good on his second Kinshasa attempt, sidestepping the hard-charging Ali to send him head-first into the middle turnbuckle and clobbering his foe for the 1-2-3.

Shinsuke Nakamura puts the Intercontinental Championship on the line against impromptu opponent Ali at SMACKVILLE, courtesy of WWE Network.

Kevin Owens def. Elias 
Elias opened his scheduled special musical performance at SMACKVILLE on a sour note, insulting the WWE Universe – and the local football team – while giving a skewed preview of the upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view. But when his insults turned to Kevin Owens, KO emerged to shut him down and brought a referee to make an impromptu match.

Owens outplayed his musical opponent in their subsequent contest when he hit Elias with a Senton. Then, Elias' dreams of a win were dashed when KO evaded an elbow drop and hit him with a picture-perfect Stunner for the victory.

WWE Champion Kofi Kingston def. Dolph Ziggler and Samoa Joe in a Triple Threat Match
WWE Champion Kofi Kingston overcame the odds yet again, this time beating not one, but two deadly opponents in a main event title match with no count-outs and no disqualifications at SMACKVILLE.

The WWE Champion nearly lost his title without being involved in the pinfall when Dolph Ziggler landed a vicious Superkick on Samoa Joe, but the titleholder broke up the pin attempt just in the nick of time. After withstanding a beating during a brief alliance between Ziggler and Joe at the match's onset, Kingston channeled The Power of Positivity and tattooed Joe with Trouble in Paradise for the win, capping off the thrill-a-minute SMACKVILLE WWE Network special.