Smackdown
Date:
February 19, 2015
Location:
BB&T Center, Sunrise, Florida
Attendance:
8,000
Commentators:
Byron Saxton, Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
It's
the final show before Fast Lane and thankfully the ending to Monday's
show was a bit more interesting than trying to figure out exactly
when Bryan turned into a whiny loser who is using his contractual
obligations to get back in the title picture instead of just winning
matches like he did last year. Other than that we have Rollins vs.
Ziggler again tonight because what else could they air? Let's get to
it.
We
open with a recap of the Reigns vs. Bryan story from Monday with both
of them messing with the others match and a big brawl to end the
show.
Opening
sequence.
Miz
vs. Daniel Bryan
Before
the match, we see Miz ripping on Mizdow earlier in the night, but he
insists it's just trying to help Mizdow from being a loser. Mizdow
of course out pops Miz, earning him a severe tongue lashing. Miz
orders him to go get an Egyptian cotton towel for after his match.
Apparently Bryan wants Miz to only use American goods and kicks some
patriotism into his former mentor.
The
running clothesline and corner dropkick set up a top rope
hurricanrana but Miz bails to the floor to avoid the running knee.
Back in and Miz kicks out the knee before driving knees into the
hamstring. You don't try to match submissions with Bryan though and
the YES Lock is good for the submission at 2:54.
Ryback
vs. Kane
Ryback
hammers him into the corner to start and hits a decent belly to
belly. A threat of the Meat Hook sends Kane outside in the same
sequence from the first match with the running knee. Back in and
Kane hits a running DDT followed by a big boot to send Ryback into
the corner. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Ryback fights up
with a Thesz Press and the Warrior Splash. Ryback gets knocked off
the top rope to the floor, which means absolutely nothing as he hits
the Shell Shock immediately after getting back in for the pin at
3:51.
Rating:
D. This was a ten minute power
match packed into less than four minutes. Ryback and Kane could have
a decent match if they were given a few more minutes but they had to
fly through this instead, likely so we can see a bunch of videos from
Raw. Also, Ryback can pin Kane but Reigns can only beat him by
countout? These are the kind of things that just make no sense and
make you wonder if anyone is actually thinking backstage.
We
recap Ambrose making Barrett sign the contract on Monday.
R-Truth
vs. Bad News Barrett
Non-title
so just raise Truth's hand now. Ambrose is on commentary and
wants to know why Truth is shouting WHOMP THERE IT IS, even though
it's on his iPod. Barrett
stomps away in the corner as Dean talks about the title being the
backbone of the company. Truth gives Barrett a pelvic thrust,
earning him a beating in the corner.
Cole
asks how that contract signing can stand. Dean: “Well there's a
graphic for the match on WWE.com and the internet is always true.”
We hit the chinlock on Truth
as Barrett talks trash to Dean. Truth
fights up with ease and a side kick gets two. Ambrose
ignores more trash talk, even as Barrett takes Truth to the floor and
beats him up right in front of Dean. Back
in and Dean turns his back on Barrett, allowing Truth to grab a
rollup for the pin at 3:09.
Rating:
D. Egads man I was kidding
about Truth winning. Remember the good old days when champions
ACTUALLY WON MATCHES??? On top of that, history shows us that Truth
isn't going anywhere after this win because pinning the champion is a
plot device instead of a way to elevate someone. I don't know what
Barrett did to deserve this treatment, but he'd have a better future
as a shark dentist than as Intercontinental Champion.
Vince
is on the cover of Muscle and Fitness.
We
look back at Cena and Rusev fighting on Monday. If nothing else,
that segment proved that American healthcare is better than Russian,
as Cena's eye went from the focal point of the match to ignored in
the span of a week.
Bray
Wyatt says find him before he finds you.
Sheamus
return video.
New
Day vs. Ascension
Kofi
is the odd man out here. Viktor
and Woods get things going with Xavier planting a knee into the ribs
for two. Ascension drags
Woods into the corner for a double teaming, featuring a lot of
choking in the corner. Back
to Viktor for a kick to the ribs but Woods rolls over for an ice cold
tag to E. Viktor gets
thrown around but gets a reprieve as Big E. wipes away the sweat. A
cheap shot from Konnor allows Viktor to send Big E. into the post,
setting up Fall of Man for the pin at 2:52. I'm
not surprised they've already pulled the plug on New Day, even though
I like at least two of the members of the team.
Luke
Harper vs. Roman Reigns
My
goodness Harper has cooled down since winning that Intercontinental
Title. It really has become a death knell in the last few years.
Reigns throws him into the
corner and stomps Luke down with ease. More
stomping sends Harper outside and Roman nails him with a running
clothesline. If Reigns can do one thing as well as anyone, it's
explode with running moves.
Back
in and something like the ProtoBomb gets two but they head right back
outside where Luke sends him into the steps. Back
in and a slingshot hilo of all things gets two for Harper but Reigns
fights out of a headlock. A
big Samoan drop sends Harper flying but he escapes
another and hits a swinging Boss Man Slam for two. Reigns
pops back up, no sells a superkick and spears Harper down for the pin
at 4:49.
Rating:
C. As much as I can't stand the
no selling of hard shots to the face, this is the kind of win that
makes Reigns look better. Have him get in there for a hard hitting
match and then spear someone in half for the pin. It's a really
basic way of getting him over and to show off his physical abilities
instead of whatever the heck the story with Bryan is supposed to be.
I've watched the entire thing so far and I still don't get it. What
I do get however is Reigns spearing people and pinning them because
it looks cool.
Recap
of Flair and HHH from Raw for the response to the acceptance for the
challenge to talk.
Big
Show vs. Erick Rowan
I
don't see this going well. Show kicks Rowan to the floor before the
bell and throws him into the steps. He picks Rowan up by the beard
and throws him inside where the referee is fine with opening the
match despite Rowan taking a horrible beating which should be a DQ
but that might make Big Show look weak and this is a Big Show tribute
company after all.
Show
stomps him down in the corner and plants him with a slam. More
stomping sets up the chokeslam for the pin at 2:26. Why in the world
did we need a Big Show squash? He beat Daniel Bryan on Raw and now
he needs to win a squash? Oh wait, it's more Survivor Series
fallout. Why didn't I see that coming?
Cameron
vs. Paige
The
Bellas are on commentary and wearing sunglasses, which actually fit
them quite well. Cameron flips her hair at Paige to start and gets
the revolving elbows in the corner for her efforts. Paige drives
knees into the chest and does her shout on the apron to no reaction
from the Bellas. Apparently Nikki is fierce. Good to know. Cameron
comes back with her horrible offense and slaps Paige in the face,
earning her a series of clotheslines. A kick to the face sets up the
PTO for the submission at 2:09.
Paige
shouts at the Bellas post match. They were actually far easier to
sit through here as they've turned up the obnoxious levels to make it
more of a character than just half doing everything and coming off
like catty teenagers at summer camp. Naturally Nikki is going to
retain the title Sunday though, because Paige has won every match
leading up to the showdown and the Bellas are evil, meaning they have
to get the upper hand.
We
recap Goldust and Stardust's issues with Dusty on Monday.
Stardust
knows what it's like to be considered a freak, so he embraced
Stardust. They were on fire as a team and won the Tag Team Titles,
but then darkness crept in. He saw it coming because it happened to
him, and it took Cody away from him. Now Stardust is a cancer eating
Cody alive and he wants his brother back. That means he has to face
his brother and beat him at Fast Lane. Stardust appears on the
screen behind him and asks to be spared from Goldust's sentiments.
After Sunday, Cody won't be the only one who has ceased to exist.
The universe will forget the name of Goldust.
Jimmy
Uso vs. Tyson Kidd
Before
the match, Kidd says his decision to team with Cesaro is the best
move he's ever made. Natalya's face is rather amusing to say the
least. Also of note here: Kidd is about a foot shorter than Cesaro.
I've never noticed that kind of a height difference before. Kidd
fires off ROH style forearms to the head to start but Jimmy comes
back with right hands in the corner. Not that it matters though as
Rusev comes in to beat up both guys at 0:57.
Rusev
destroys everyone and rants in Russian about Cena. No Lana here.
Seth
Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler
The
Stooges are barred from ringside. Feeling out process to start with
both guys going for arm holds and Rollins bailing to the ropes. They
hit the mat with Ziggler caught in a headlock but he comes back with
a nice dropkick. Rollins avoids a Stinger Splash though and we take
a break. Back with Ziggler fighting out of a chinlock (as is almost
always the case) but charging into a hot shot for two.
Big
Show, Kane, Ryback and Rowan are all at ringside. After what
happened earlier, why would you want Rowan out there? Isn't there an
elderly music teacher somewhere that could give you a better fighting
chance? Rollins yells at Ryback and Rowan, allowing Dolph to come
back with a running forearm to put both guys down.
Now
the Stinger Splash connects and Ziggler follows it up with a
neckbreaker. Rollins tries the buckle bomb but gets countered into a
sunset flip, followed by the Fameasser for two more. Dolph dropkicks
him out to the floor where Seth slaps Ryback and Rowan. Back in and
Ziggler has to fight off Kane, allowing Rollins to hit the buckle
bomb, followed by the Curb Stomp for the pin at 10:23.
Rating:
B-. Solid
enough match here but it's nothing we haven't seen them do far better
before. Rollins getting a big win is a good sign and I'd assume
there's going to be a six man tag set up for Sunday. If nothing else
it would fill out the card a bit and get us beyond six matches for
the show. Oh and a big talk, because that's what I want to pay for:
a preview for the next show.
The
Stooges come out and it's time for the big beatdown. Given that
Ziggler is done and Rowan is Rowan, it's basically Ryback getting
destroyed, making a decent
comeback and then getting destroyed again
for the last three minutes of the show, because the
Stooges were able to subdue Rowan and we're still doing the same
things we did around Survivor Series time. So
much for Kane and Big Show having issues I guess, unless something
happens Sunday.
Overall
Rating: C-. Now this felt like
an alternative to Raw. Monday night tends to be about packing as
much stuff as you can into a show, but at the same time it feels like
they're stalling for time. This show flies by with some decent
wrestling and VERY few stories. Smackdown is much more streamlined
and makes it an easier show to sit through.
However,
that doesn't make it an interesting show. Nothing happens on this
show and it was pure false hope when it moved back to Thursdays.
This is right back to the same stuff they did for years and there's
no real reason to watch it. Yeah there was some mild storyline
development here, but it's more like the downloadable content for a
video game: it might be fun to kill some time, but if you never saw
it, you wouldn't lose anything from the game itself.
Results
Daniel
Bryan b. Miz – YES Lock
Ryback
b. Kane – Shell Shock
R-Truth
b. Bad News Barrett – Rollup
Ascension
b. New Day – Fall of Man to Big E.
Roman
Reigns b. Luke Harper – Spear
Big
Show b. Erick Rowan – Chokeslam
Paige
b. Cameron – PTO
Jimmy
Uso vs. Tyson Kidd went to a no contest when Rusev interfered
Seth
Rollins b. Dolph Ziggler – Curb Stomp
Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6
Imagine him yelling for samantha
ReplyDeleteReally? Butch Reed is winning? Why the fuck why?
ReplyDelete>Ryback and Kane could have a decent match if they were given a few more minutes
ReplyDeleteDid you see TLC?
"If nothing else, that segment proved that American healthcare is better than Russian"
ReplyDeleteUSA! USA! USA!
Indeed. I've seen far worse.
ReplyDeleteThe time it took for New Day to go from 0 to -60 has to be record time, even for Creative.
ReplyDeleteTJ: Why did Two and a Half Men end with a giant bird? As in, the one Chuck Lorre flipped at everyone who criticized the show for overstaying its welcome without a certain Carlos Estevez.
ReplyDeleteVoted for New Jack. I'm figuring/hoping that it's just a glorious, offensive trainwreck.
ReplyDeleteNo, this new jack one has nothing to do with that will not talk about it because it took place after it was shot and isn't his best.
ReplyDeleteNo Akeem?
ReplyDeleteBrickhouse Brown's shoot is the best from those listed, but I guess it's not getting votes because most people don't know who he is.
ReplyDelete