The 2019 Super ShowDown was the second annual
Super ShowDown professional wrestling
Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...
pay-per-view
Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast.
Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...
(PPV) and
livestreaming
Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming of video or audio in real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature of livestreaming differentiates it from other non- liv ...
event
Event may refer to:
Gatherings of people
* Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion
* Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest
* Event management, the organization of eve ...
produced by the American company
WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...
. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's
Raw,
SmackDown, and
205 Live brand divisions. The event took place on June 7, 2019, at the
King Abdullah Sports City
King Abdullah Sports City Stadium (), known as Alinma Bank, Alinma Stadium due to sponsorship reasons, also nicknamed The Shining Jewel () or simply The Jewel, is a Multi-purpose stadium and the main stadium of the sports city located 30 kilome ...
's King Abdullah International Stadium in
Jeddah
Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...
,
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
. It was the third event that
WWE held in Saudi Arabia under a 10-year partnership in support of
Saudi Vision 2030
Saudi Vision 2030 (, sometimes called Project 2030) is a government program launched by Saudi Arabia which aims to achieve the goal of increased diversification economically, socially, and culturally, in line with the vision of Saudi crown pri ...
.
Ten matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event,
The Undertaker
Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by his ring name the Undertaker, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway ...
defeated
Goldberg in what was their first and only match against each other. Other prominent matches saw
Seth Rollins
Colby Daniel Lopez (born May 28, 1986), better known by the ring name Seth Rollins, is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand extension, brand and ...
defeat
Baron Corbin
Thomas Pestock (born September 14, 1984) is an American professional wrestler, Brazilian jiu jitsu practitioner, former professional football player and former amateur boxer. He is wrestling as a freelancer under the ring name Bishop Dyer, appea ...
to retain Raw's
Universal Championship in the opening bout,
Shane McMahon
Shane Brandon McMahon ( ; born January 15, 1970) is an American businessman and retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler best known for his tenures in WWE.
The son of Vince McMahon, he is a fourth-generation wrestling promoter as a ...
defeated
Roman Reigns
Leati Joseph Anoaʻi ( ; born May 25, 1985), better known by his ring name Roman Reigns, is an American professional wrestler and former gridiron football, football player. As a wrestler, he has been signed to WWE , where he performs on the Sm ...
,
Kofi Kingston
Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah (born August 14, 1981) is a Ghanaian-born American professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Kofi ...
defeated
Dolph Ziggler
Nicholas Theodore Nemeth (born July 27, 1980) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he performs under his real name, stylized as Nic Nemeth, where he is one-half of the TNA World Tag ...
to retain SmackDown's
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship, also referred to as the Undisputed WWE Championship since April 2024, is a men's professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the SmackDown bran ...
, and
Randy Orton
Randal Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He has been signed to WWE since 2000, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand. Orton is widely regarded as one of t ...
defeated
Triple H
Paul Michael Levesque (; born July 27, 1969), also known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive and former professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he serves as its chief content officer.
Levesque began his wres ...
; this was Triple H's final match to take place on a PPV and in front of a live crowd before having to retire in 2022 due to a cardiac event. The event was also notable for having WWE's largest standard
battle royal
Battle royal (, also battle royale) traditionally refers to a fight involving many combatants, usually conducted under either boxing or wrestling rules, where the winner is the one who registers the most wins. In recent times, the term has been ...
with a total of 51 participants, though originally scheduled for 50. It was won by
Mansoor
Mansour (, Manṣūr); also spelled Mounsor, Monsur (Bengali), Mansoor, Manser, Mansur, Mansyur (Indonesian) or Mensur (Turkish), is a male Arabic name that means "He who is victorious", from the Arabic root '' naṣr'' (نصر), meaning "victory ...
, a WWE rookie from Saudi Arabia who signed with the company following 2018's
Greatest Royal Rumble event and had appeared on ''
NXT'' and ''
NXT UK
''NXT UK'' was a professional wrestling television programme that was produced exclusively in the United Kingdom by the American promotion WWE. It aired on BT Sport and 5Action (previously known as Paramount Network). In the United States, the ...
''.
The event received generally negative reviews by critics, with the main event being particularly criticized as one of the worst wrestling matches of all time. It later won the
''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' Award for
Worst Major Wrestling Show of 2019.
Production
Background

In early 2018, the American
professional wrestling promotion
A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event. Within ...
WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...
began a 10-year strategic multiplatform partnership with the
General Sports Authority in support of
Saudi Vision 2030
Saudi Vision 2030 (, sometimes called Project 2030) is a government program launched by Saudi Arabia which aims to achieve the goal of increased diversification economically, socially, and culturally, in line with the vision of Saudi crown pri ...
,
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
's social and economic reform program. After holding the
Greatest Royal Rumble and
Crown Jewel events in 2018, the third
pay-per-view
Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast.
Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...
(PPV) and
WWE Network
WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television network owned by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, a division of TKO Group Holdings.
The service relied on technology develo ...
event under this partnership was announced as Super ShowDown. It was scheduled to be held on June 7, 2019, at the
King Abdullah Sports City
King Abdullah Sports City Stadium (), known as Alinma Bank, Alinma Stadium due to sponsorship reasons, also nicknamed The Shining Jewel () or simply The Jewel, is a Multi-purpose stadium and the main stadium of the sports city located 30 kilome ...
's King Abdullah International Stadium in
Jeddah
Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...
and feature wrestlers from the
Raw,
SmackDown, and
205 Live brands
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...
.
This also marked the second event under the
Super ShowDown chronology, the first of which was held on October 6, 2018, in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
,
Victoria,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. That original event had stylized the title as "
Super Show-Down" while the second event changed the stylization and removed the dash.
Wrestlers absent from the event
Similarly to the two previous
WWE in Saudi Arabia events—Greatest Royal Rumble and Crown Jewel (both the previous year)—several WWE wrestlers were not authorized or refused to participate at Super ShowDown due to it taking place in Saudi Arabia.
John Cena
John Felix Anthony Cena ( ; born April 23, 1977) is an American actor and professional wrestler. As a wrestler, he has been signed to WWE , where he is the current WWE Championship, Undisputed WWE Champion in his record 14th reign, which is ...
and
Daniel Bryan, both of whom had previously refused to participate for the Crown Jewel event in the wake of the
assassination of Jamal Khashoggi
On 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist, was killed by agents of the Saudi government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Khashoggi was ambushed and strangled by a 15-member squad of Saudi operatives. His body w ...
, also refused to participate at Super ShowDown. Bryan's reasons to refuse to appear at Crown Jewel had also reportedly included the
treatment of LGBT people by the country and because of
Sami Zayn
Rami Sebei (born July 12, 1984) is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Sami Zayn.
Sebei made his professional wrestling debut in 2002 under the ring name Stevie McFly. Pr ...
's ban from the Greatest Royal Rumble event.
WWE chose not to put
Aleister Black on the show, reportedly because of fears the religious symbolism on some of his tattoos would be offensive to their Saudi hosts.
Sami Zayn, who had previously not been authorized to compete at the Greatest Royal Rumble due to being of
Syrian
Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...
descent, as Saudi Arabia has
strained relations with Syria, also declined participating at Super ShowDown.
Kevin Owens
Kevin Yanick Steen (born May 7, 1984) is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Kevin Owens. As of April 2025, he is on hiatus due to a neck injury.
Steen began his ...
also refused to participate at Super ShowDown in support of Zayn, his friend. Owens was reportedly slated to face
Kofi Kingston
Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah (born August 14, 1981) is a Ghanaian-born American professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Kofi ...
for the
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship, also referred to as the Undisputed WWE Championship since April 2024, is a men's professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the SmackDown bran ...
, leading WWE to schedule
Dolph Ziggler
Nicholas Theodore Nemeth (born July 27, 1980) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he performs under his real name, stylized as Nic Nemeth, where he is one-half of the TNA World Tag ...
, who had been inactive since January to focus on his
stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...
career, to replace him.
Due to the
limited rights women have in Saudi Arabia, all
WWE female wrestlers were banned from participating in WWE events in the country.
Just hours before Super ShowDown, however, reports emerged that WWE were attempting to add a women's match to the card, which would have seen
Alexa Bliss
Alexis Cabrera ( Kaufman; born August 9, 1991) is an American professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Alexa Bliss.
In 2013, Bliss signed a contract with WWE and was assigne ...
face
Natalya. The two women joined WWE personnel for the trip, but the match was ultimately rejected by the
Saudi Arabian government
The politics of Saudi Arabia takes place in the context of a unitary absolute monarchy, along traditional Islamist lines, where the King is both the head of state and government. Decisions are, to a large extent, made on the basis of consulta ...
.
Storylines
The event comprised ten matches, including one on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, ''
Monday Night Raw
''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Netflix. The show features character ...
'' and ''
SmackDown Live''.
On May 13, 2019, a match between
Goldberg and
The Undertaker
Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by his ring name the Undertaker, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway ...
was scheduled for Super ShowDown, marking the first one-on-one match between each other. Goldberg's last match occurred at
WrestleMania 33
WrestleMania 33 was a 2017 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming List of WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming supercards, event produced by WWE. It was the 33rd annual WrestleMania and took place on April 2, 2017, at Camping Wo ...
in April 2017.
A match between
Triple H
Paul Michael Levesque (; born July 27, 1969), also known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive and former professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he serves as its chief content officer.
Levesque began his wres ...
and
Randy Orton
Randal Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He has been signed to WWE since 2000, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand. Orton is widely regarded as one of t ...
was also scheduled on May 13.
A promo aired during the May 21 episode of ''SmackDown'', recapping the two's various rivalries that originally began in 2004 when Orton won the (now retired)
World Heavyweight Championship, resulting in Triple H turning on him and kicking him out of their stable,
Evolution
Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...
.
Also on May 13, a 50-man
battle royal
Battle royal (, also battle royale) traditionally refers to a fight involving many combatants, usually conducted under either boxing or wrestling rules, where the winner is the one who registers the most wins. In recent times, the term has been ...
was scheduled, marking the largest standard battle royal in WWE history.
A match between
Braun Strowman
Adam Joseph Scherr (born September 6, 1983) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and Strongman (strength athlete), strongman. As a wrestler, he is best known for his tenure in WWE from 2013 to 2025, where he performed un ...
and
Bobby Lashley
Franklin Roberto Lashley (born July 16, 1976) is an American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The Hurt Syndicate and is one-half of the AEW World Tag Team C ...
was scheduled on May 18. On the June 3 episode of ''Raw'', Strowman and Lashley competed in an arm wrestling match which Strowman won, afterwards, Lashley attacked Strowman with a Running Powerslam.
On the April 15 episode of ''Raw'',
Andrade
Andrade (/ɐ̃ˈdɾa.d͡ʒi/ (Brazil), �̃ˈdɾa.ðɨ(Portugal), or �n̪ˈd̪ɾa.ð̞e(Spanish)) is a surname of Kingdom of Galicia, Galician origin, which emerged in the 12th century as the family name of the knights and lords of the sma ...
defeated
Intercontinental Champion Finn Bálor
Fergal Devitt (born 25 July 1981) is an Irish professional wrestler. As of May 2014, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Finn Bálor (). He is a member of The Judgment Day stable.
Devitt began his car ...
in a non-title match.
Bálor was subsequently moved to SmackDown the following night during the
Superstar Shake-up.
Andrade, along with his manager
Zelina Vega
Thea Megan Trinidad Büdgen (born December 27, 1990) is an American professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Zelina Vega and is the current Women's United States Champion in he ...
, were then moved back to SmackDown the following week,
and both Bálor and Andrade took part in the men's
Money in the Bank ladder match
The Money in the Bank ladder match is a multi-person ladder match held by the professional wrestling promotion WWE. First performed at WWE's annual WrestleMania event beginning in 2005, a separate WWE Money in the Bank, Money in the Bank event w ...
at the
namesake event, where both fought each other, though ultimately lost the match.
Earlier that day, Bálor was scheduled to defend the Intercontinental Championship against Andrade at Super ShowDown.
On the April 16 episode of ''SmackDown'', after WWE Chairman and CEO
Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy McMahon ( ; born August 24, 1945) is an American businessman and former professional wrestling promoter. McMahon, along with his later-estranged wife Linda McMahon, Linda, is a co-founder of the modern WWE, the world's largest ...
had introduced
Elias
Elias ( ; ) is the hellenized version for the name of Elijah (; ; , or ), a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 9th century BC, mentioned in several holy books. Due to Elias' role in the scriptures and to many later associated tradit ...
as "the biggest acquisition in SmackDown history", they were interrupted by fellow new draftee
Roman Reigns
Leati Joseph Anoaʻi ( ; born May 25, 1985), better known by his ring name Roman Reigns, is an American professional wrestler and former gridiron football, football player. As a wrestler, he has been signed to WWE , where he performs on the Sm ...
, who attacked Elias and performed a
superman punch on Mr. McMahon.
The following week,
Shane McMahon
Shane Brandon McMahon ( ; born January 15, 1970) is an American businessman and retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler best known for his tenures in WWE.
The son of Vince McMahon, he is a fourth-generation wrestling promoter as a ...
challenged Reigns to a fight for attacking his father. As Reigns came out, he was attacked from behind by Elias, who was then assisted by Shane in attacking Reigns.
On the May 20 episode of ''Raw'', Reigns, who appeared via the
wild card rule, was interrupted by Shane, who was still bothered by Reigns' attack on his father. Reigns then challenged Shane to a match which Shane accepted for Super ShowDown.
On the May 21 episode of ''SmackDown'', Dolph Ziggler, who had been inactive since the
Royal Rumble
The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after, and centered on, the Royal Rumble match, a modified Battle royal (professional wre ...
event in January, made a surprise return and attacked Kofi Kingston. Ziggler, appearing via the wild card rule, later explained that it should have been him who got the opportunity to go to
WrestleMania 35
WrestleMania 35 was a 2019 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming List of WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming supercards, event produced by WWE. It was the 35th annual WrestleMania and took place on April 7, 2019, at MetLife ...
and win the WWE Championship instead of Kingston. He then stated he would defeat Kingston for the title at Super ShowDown, which was made official.
At Money in the Bank,
Seth Rollins
Colby Daniel Lopez (born May 28, 1986), better known by the ring name Seth Rollins, is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand extension, brand and ...
retained the
Universal Championship against
AJ Styles
Allen Neal Jones (born June 2, 1977), better known by his ring name AJ Styles (or A.J. Styles), is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand extension, ...
.
On ''Raw'' the next night, Baron Corbin took offense that Styles earned that title shot even though Corbin had previously pinned Rollins in a tag team match.
The following week, Styles was scheduled to take part in a four-way match for another opportunity against Rollins at Super ShowDown, but was still ailing from injuries sustained from his match at Money in the Bank, and was replaced by Corbin, who attacked Styles while the latter was in a trainer's room. Corbin then defeated Braun Strowman, Bobby Lashley, and
The Miz
Michael Gregory Mizanin (born October 8, 1980) is an American professional wrestler, actor, and television personality. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name The Miz.
Mizanin first gained fame a ...
in a
fatal four-way elimination match to earn the title match.
At Money in the Bank, as Lucha House Party (
Kalisto,
Gran Metalik, and
Lince Dorado
José Rafael Cordero (born May 11, 1987), better known by the ring name Lince Dorado (Spanish for Golden Lynx), is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as a wrestler and a trainer at the WWE Performance Center.
Cordero began h ...
) came out for a match, they were randomly attacked by
Lars Sullivan
Dylan Miley (born July 6, 1988) is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his time in WWE under the ring name Lars Sullivan. He joined WWE in 2013 and spent several years training at the WWE Performance Center before making his ...
and the match never occurred.
The following night on ''Raw'', as Sullivan was about to be interviewed in regard to the incident, Lucha House Party interrupted and attacked Sullivan, who fended them off.
A 3-on-1
handicap match
Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick m ...
pitting Sullivan against Lucha House Party was then scheduled for Super ShowDown.
After being drafted to Raw in the Superstar Shake-up,
The Usos
The Usos were a Samoan-American professional wrestling tag team which consisted of twin brothers Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso. They are signed to WWE, where Jey performs on the WWE Raw, Raw brand while Jimmy performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), Sma ...
(
Jey Uso
Joshua Samuel Fatu (born August 22, 1985) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Jey Uso. He is a member of the Anoa'i family of professional wrestlers.
Trained since ...
and
Jimmy Uso
Jonathan Solofa Fatu (born August 22, 1985), better known by his ring name Jimmy Uso, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown WWE brand extension, brand. He is a member ...
) began a rivalry with
The Revival (
Scott Dawson and
Dash Wilder
Daniel Marshall Wheeler (born May 17, 1987) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Cash Wheeler, where he is a former two-time AEW World Tag Team Champions with Dax Harwood together ...
) where The Usos repeatedly embarrassed Revival on numerous occasions.
The two teams faced off on the May 20 episode of ''Raw'', where The Revival were victorious.
Another match was then scheduled for the Super ShowDown Kickoff pre-show.
Event
Pre-show
During the Super ShowDown Kickoff pre-show, The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) faced The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder). In the end, Jimmy and Jey performed a ''
Superkick'' on Dawson and Wilder, respectively, followed by a double ''Superkick'' on Dawson to win the match.
Preliminary matches
The actual pay-per-view opened with Seth Rollins defending the Universal Championship against Baron Corbin. Corbin focused on Rollins' injured ribs for the majority of the match. During the match, Corbin continuously argued with referee
John Cone whenever Rollins kicked out of a pin. The end came when Corbin attempted to use a chair, only for Cone to intervene, leading to another argument between Corbin and Cone. Rollins took advantage of the situation and rolled-up Corbin to retain the title. After the match, Corbin attacked Rollins with the ''End of Days''. A chair wielding
Brock Lesnar
Brock Edward Lesnar ( ; born July 12, 1977) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, Amateur wrestling, amateur wrestler and professional American football player. As a ...
then came out, alongside
Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman (born September 11, 1965) is an American professional wrestling manager, former executive, promoter, and commentator. He is signed to WWE as the on-screen manager of Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, and Bronson Reed, and is widely regard ...
, to cash in his
Money in the Bank contract on Rollins. As Heyman was getting in the ring to hand the contract to the referee, Heyman tripped on the ring rope, which distracted Lesnar. Rollins performed a
low blow on Lesnar, attacked him with the steel chair, and performed ''The Stomp'' on him on top of the briefcase. Due to Heyman's accident, the contract was never cashed in, thus Lesnar kept the contract.
Next, "The Demon" Finn Bálor defended the Intercontinental Championship against Andrade. In the end, Bálor performed the ''1916'' on Andrade off the top rope followed by the ''Coup de Grâce'' to retain the title.
After that, Roman Reigns faced Shane McMahon (who was accompanied by
Drew McIntyre
Andrew McLean Galloway IV (born 6 June, 1985) is a Scottish Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand under the ring name Drew McIntyre.
Galloway began ...
). As Reigns attempted a ''Superman Punch'', Shane performed a chop block on Reigns mid-air. Shane applied a ''Triangle Choke'' on Reigns, only for Reigns to lift Shane up for a ''Powerbomb''. Shane performed a ''Spear'' on Reigns for a nearfall. In the end, Reigns punched Shane, causing Shane to bump into the referee. With the referee down, McIntyre performed a ''
Claymore Kick'' on Reigns, allowing Shane to pin Reigns to win the match.
After that, Lars Sullivan faced Lucha House Party (Kalisto, Gran Metalik, and Lince Dorado) in a 3-on-1 handicap match. Sullivan dominated most of the match until Lucha House Party ganged up on Sullivan, causing them to be disqualified. After the match, Sullivan ran up the ramp and attacked the trio.
Next, Triple H faced Randy Orton in their first one-on-one match since 2010. It would also be Triple H's final match to take place on a pay-per-view and in front of a live crowd before his cardiac event in late 2021 which caused him to retire the following year. Orton performed an ''
RKO
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Kei ...
'' on Triple H for a nearfall. As Orton then went for the ''Punt Kick'', Triple H caught Orton's foot and performed a ''Pedigree'' on Orton for a nearfall. Triple H applied the ''Crossface'' on Orton, only for Orton to reach the ropes to force the break. Outside the ring, Triple H dropped Orton on an announce table several times. In the end, Orton performed a second ''RKO'' on Triple H to win the match.
In the next match, Braun Strowman faced Bobby Lashley. Lashley performed a ''Running Powerslam'' on Strowman for a nearfall. Strowman performed a ''Running Powerslam'' of his own on Lashley for a nearfall. In the end, Strowman performed two ''Running Powerslams'' on Lashley to win the match.
Next, Kofi Kingston (accompanied by
Xavier Woods
Austin Watson (born September 4, 1986) is an American professional wrestler and YouTuber. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Xavier Woods and is part of The New Day and is one-half of the current World ...
) defended the WWE Championship against Dolph Ziggler. Kingston performed an ''S.O.S.'' on Ziggler for a nearfall. In the end, Ziggler performed a ''Superkick'' on Woods outside the ring and while the referee was distracted, Woods kicked Ziggler, which allowed Kingston to perform ''Trouble in Paradise'' on Ziggler to retain the title.
The penultimate match was the originally scheduled 50-man over the top rope battle royal, but had 51 participants.
Mansoor
Mansour (, Manṣūr); also spelled Mounsor, Monsur (Bengali), Mansoor, Manser, Mansur, Mansyur (Indonesian) or Mensur (Turkish), is a male Arabic name that means "He who is victorious", from the Arabic root '' naṣr'' (نصر), meaning "victory ...
, an
NXT wrestler from Saudi Arabia, last eliminated Elias to win the match.
Main event
The main event was the first time ever match between The Undertaker and Goldberg. Goldberg started by executing two ''Spears'' on The Undertaker for a near-fall. After this, The Undertaker performed his signature sit-up. As The Undertaker attempted a ''Chokeslam'', Goldberg countered into a Leg-Lock Submission Hold, however, The Undertaker was able to reach the ropes. As Goldberg went for a third ''Spear'', The Undertaker dodged and caused Goldberg to collide with the ring post, busting his head open and receiving a concussion. This gave The Undertaker the advantage for the rest of the match and was able to perform an ''Old School'', a ''Chokeslam'', and a ''Tombstone Piledriver'' for a nearfall. Goldberg countered a ''Big Boot'' and performed another ''Spear''. Goldberg then followed up with a ''Jackhammer'' for a nearfall. As Goldberg attempted a Tombstone Piledriver, both men fell (the last of several
botches that occurred during the match mainly due to Goldberg's accident). The Undertaker then performed a second ''Chokeslam'' on Goldberg to win the match.
Reception
The event received negative reviews by critics, with the main event and its ending being particularly criticized.
Dave Meltzer
David Allen Meltzer (born October 24, 1959) is an American journalist, author, and historian who reports on professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Since 1983, he has been the publisher and editor of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter' ...
of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' wrote that Super Showdown "wasn't much of a show. It got among the worst poll results in our history", with 99.5% of the newsletter's 192 respondents giving a "thumbs down" to the show (only one voter gave the show a "thumbs up" rating). Meltzer declared that the crowd of 21,000 was "nowhere close to full" just like
last year's show, and that the show was highly likely to be the least-watched WWE main-roster pay-per-view of 2019. The only positive for Meltzer was the great crowd reception to Mansoor's win, but "that ended up meaning nothing" when Mansoor failed to appear on WWE's next shows. Meltzer concluded that in doing the show, WWE "came for $40 million in cash, and overlooked their espoused public views on women, diversity and bigotry to collect the cash. They cloaked it with their own propaganda, the idea they were there to put smiles on kids faces".
Wade Keller
Wade Keller (born May 22, 1971) is an American professional wrestling journalist who runs the ''Pro Wrestling Torch'' newsletter. Keller has hosted ''The Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast'' on PodcastOne since 2017.
''Pro Wrestling Torch''
Kel ...
of ''Pro Wrestling Torch'' declared that the event was "absolutely nothing worth going out of your way to watch", with no matches even reaching 3 out of 5 stars, attributing this to "the heat", which would affect the wrestlers' workrate, "and perhaps general karma". The highest rated match was Orton-HHH at 2.75, which was well received by the live crowd and had "the right finish", but was "needlessly long". Keller rated Balor-Andrade 2: "utterly uninspired and forgettable", while Kingston-Ziggler received 1.5: "Decent, but entirely skippable." Keller rated Goldberg-Undertaker 0.75, as too "ambitious".
Justin Barrasso of ''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
'' described that the event's "entire card was nowhere near the level set at the Money in the Bank pay per view in May", and that WWE's continued partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia "is not a good look." Barasso felt that Shane McMahon's victory "was the right call"; that the main event saw "two legends struggle to deliver", and that the house show "formula is now a bit antiquated", resulting in such shows like Super Showdown failing to "meet the hype". Also, the "booking didn't help" as "another promised Brock Lesnar "Money in the Bank" cash-in failed to take place", while two babyface champions in Seth Rollins and Kofi Kingston failed to win solely on their own merits.
Jason Powell of ''Pro Wrestling Dot Net'' wrote that "the show was uneventful and felt longer than it actually was." The first six minutes of the main event "was the only portion of the show that lived up to the billing of this event being on par with WrestleMania", but then the main event ended in a "really bad" manner. Powell remarked that it was "strange" how the Lucha House Party were protected by the disqualification match finish, but were steamrolled by Sullivan after the match. Powell described Balor-Andrade as "decent and yet unmemorable".
Meanwhile, the Usos-Revival tag match on the pre-show was "quick and solid".
Mike Tedesco of ''WrestleView'' stated that Super Showdown was "just a show with a bad main event" that featured an "awful" ending. For the other matches, Tedesco felt the battle royale "absolutely stunk" due to the overcrowded ring; Strowman-Lashley was "nothing special", Rollins-Corbin was "basic", but Balor-Andrade was "awesome". HHH-Orton was "a little too long", and would have been better if it had "been cut in half".
The main event was heavily criticized. NXT superstar
Matt Riddle
Matthew Fredrick Riddle (born January 14, 1986) is an American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is signed to Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he is the reigning MLW World Heavyweight Champion in his first reign. He ...
criticized Goldberg, calling him "the worst wrestler in the business" and "unsafe, dangerous and a liability to everyone else". However, pro wrestlers
Mark Henry
Mark Jerrold Henry (born June 12, 1971) is an American former powerlifter, Olympic weightlifter, strongman, and retired professional wrestler currently signed to WWE under a Legends contract.
Henry is a two-time Olympian (1992 and 19 ...
and
Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Flair's career spanned 50 years.
He is ...
defended the participants. Flair said both of them had a bad match due to not being regular wrestlers and Goldberg came out of retirement. Henry said "both deserve better than that", since Goldberg ended the match despite his concussion. Goldberg called his match against Undertaker "the perfect storm of crappiness", while Undertaker himself called it "a disaster". Dave Meltzer, during the Wrestling Observer Radio, said that "Most of the people knew they shouldn't have gone" and some of them knew the booking would be "horrible".
Samoa Joe
Nuufolau Joel Seanoa (born March 17, 1979), better known by the ring name Samoa Joe, is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of the Opps, and is one-third of the AEW Worl ...
, who wrestled in the battle royal, called the match "a chaotic scene" and said of the temperature, "It was quite the inferno in that ring".
The event was named "Worst Major Wrestling show" at the 2019
Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
This is a list of both active and inactive ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' awards created by professional wrestling and mixed martial arts (MMA) journalist Dave Meltzer. The first fourteen awards were created in 1980 as an informal poll betwee ...
.
Aftermath
Following the 50-man battle royal at Super ShowDown, several matches were confirmed for WWE's next event,
Stomping Grounds
Stomping Grounds was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brand divisions. The event took place on June 23, 2019, at t ...
. These included a rematch between Universal Champion Seth Rollins and Baron Corbin, a rematch between WWE Champion Kofi Kingston and Dolph Ziggler in a
Steel Cage match
Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick m ...
, a match between Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre, and a rematch from Money in the Bank between
Raw Women's Champion
The WWE Women's Championship is a women's professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world championship created and promoted by the United States, American professional wrestling promotion, promotion WWE, defe ...
Becky Lynch
Rebecca Quin (born 30 January 1987), better known by the ring name Becky Lynch, is an Irish professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand and is the current WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion in her ...
and
Lacey Evans
Macey Estrella-Kadlec ( Evans; born March 24, 1990) is an American professional wrestler and former U.S. Marine. She is best known for her tenure in WWE, where she performed under the ring name Lacey Evans.
Originally introduced to wrestling wh ...
.
Ali
Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib an ...
, who participated in the battle royal, donated the money he earned from Super ShowDown to
Charity: Water.
Raw
On the following ''Raw'', Baron Corbin was granted permission from WWE officials to choose a special guest referee for his rematch with Seth Rollins.
The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) and The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) both competed in a triple threat match against
Raw Tag Team Champions Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder
The Major Players are a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Brian Myers and Matt Cardona. They are best known for their time in WWE as Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder, where they are former two-time WWE Raw Tag Team Champions. Myers and Card ...
which The Revival won to become the new champions.
Lars Sullivan and Lucha House Party had a rematch that was a 3-on-1 handicap elimination match that Sullivan won.
Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley competed in a six-man tag team match in which Strowman teamed with The Miz and
Ricochet
A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...
to defeat the team of Lashley, Samoa Joe, and
Cesaro. All of them also claimed their stakes for the
United States Championship.
The following week, during the
fatal five-way elimination match to determine the new number one contender for the title, after Strowman eliminated Cesaro and Lashley, they aided in eventual winner Ricochet eliminating him.
On the June 24 episode, Lashley and Strowman took part in a tug-of-war. Strowman was victorious, but afterwards, Lashley blinded him with the rope.
They faced each other in a
Falls Count Anywhere match
Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline. ...
on the July 1 episode, which ended in a no-contest when Strowman drove himself and Lashley through the LED board.
This led to a
Last Man Standing match
Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick m ...
between the two being scheduled for
Extreme Rules.
Due to the incident at Super ShowDown, Paul Heyman stated that they would not reveal when Brock Lesnar decides to cash in his Money in the Bank contract.
Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre held a celebration for Shane's victory over Roman Reigns, and McIntyre stated that he would destroy Reigns at Stomping Grounds.
SmackDown
On ''SmackDown'',
The New Day (WWE Champion Kofi Kingston,
Big E, and Xavier Woods) defeated the team of Dolph Ziggler (now part of SmackDown), Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn – Zayn appearing via the wildcard rule.
Results
References
External links
*
{{WWEPPV, WWE in Saudi Arabia, Super ShowDown
2019 WWE Network events
2019 WWE pay-per-view events
Professional wrestling shows in Saudi Arabia
2019 in Saudi Arabia
June 2019 in Asia
WWE in Saudi Arabia
Wrestling Observer Newsletter award winners