Smackdown
Date: April 9, 2015
Location: American
Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Jerry
Lawler, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
For the second week in
a row, the advertised big match is Sheamus/Bad News Barrett vs. Dolph
Ziggler/Daniel Bryan and that's really all there is to talk about
here. Raw ended with Orton becoming #1 contender to Rollins' title
after beating Ryback and Reigns in a triple threat. Tonight we might
see the Extreme Rules card take more shape as Smackdown gets to
announce a match every now and then. Let's get to it.
Opening sequence.
Here's Daniel Bryan to
open things up. He says it was one of the highlights of his career
to climb that ladder and win the Intercontinental Title at
Wrestlemania. However, the actions of the man make the title (which
says Intercontinental Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. I bet Vince is
FURIOUS at the belt over that), so Bryan wants to defend this title
against anyone who wants a shot.
That's what he did
after Wrestlemania against Dolph Ziggler, but Sheamus come out
looking all stupid with a Brogue Kick to the face. So last week he
fought Sheamus, but somewhere in the match he saw Wade (first time
hearing that name in a while) Barrett....and now we all see Barrett
on the ramp. He says he ended Bryan's magical week with a Bull
Hammer, and the fiendish gleam on Barrett's face during that line is
great. This brings out Sheamus to say he followed it up with a
Brogue Kick.
Sheamus tolerates
Barrett because he isn't a munchkin like Bryan, so the two of them
should come down there and give Bryan a beating because they can.
They get in the ring but Ziggler comes out to call Sheamus the
offspring of Captain Jack Sparrow and Carrot Top. The fight is about
to be on but here's Big Show because ruining main events just isn't
enough for him anymore. Big Show wants in on this beatdown but
here's Roman Reigns to even things up. A quick fight likely makes
the tag match a six man. I'll take that over a spontaneous match.
They've got something with this tag team feud with the title thrown
in.
Tyson
Kidd/Cesaro vs. New Day
Non-title with the New
Day getting booed out of the building on the entrances. It's a good
sign that WWE has quickly caught onto the reality that no one likes
them and is already starting to turn them. There's an idea to the
team but it's just working as presented. Big E. wants everyone to
get up and clap along with them so that's exactly what they do, but
with the SUCKS part added in. That makes Big E. think something has
to change and that the fans have to love them. Woods is the odd man
out here.
Kofi and Kidd get
things going with Tyson taking him into the corner for some forearms
before it's off to Cesaro. He mocks the clapping and gets the crowd
going again as the champions are the default good guys here. Kofi
low bridges Cesaro to the floor and Big E. launches Kofi to the floor
to take out the champs as we take a break. Back with Big E.
suplexing Kidd but needing a tag. Cesaro breaks up a tag though and
rag dolls Big E. into a gutwrench suplex. That's scary strength.
Back to Tyson for some
knees to the back as Lawler is talking more than I've heard him do in
months. Big E. finally shoves Cesaro off but misses a charge into
the post for two. There's the Cesaro Swing into the dropkick from
Tyson for two more with Kofi making the save. E. knocks Cesaro out
of the air and makes the hot tag so Kofi can clean house with
dropkicks and shots to the head. The Boom Drop sets up more clapping
and sucking as everything breaks down. Kidd grabs a fisherman's
neckbreaker for the pin on Kofi at 10:00.
Rating:
C. Not much to see here but it
could have been far worse. They need to turn New Day soon and
thankfully we seem well on the way to that point. Cesaro and Kidd
are starting to establish themselves as a really good heel team,
which is something we haven't seen in a long time.
Recap
of Monday's triple threat and the events that led up to it.
Free
Network month shill. Remember when you had to pay for that?
Curtis
Axel vs. Neville
In
case you didn't get enough of it the first time ten days ago. Axel
wants to know what Neville is going to do when Axelmania runs wild on
him. Neville flips around
to start and grabs an armdrag but gets caught with a knee to the
ribs. Neville's front flips
lead to Axel charging into a boot in the corner, followed by a
running forearm. The spinning dive over the ropes takes Axel out
again and it's a slam followed by the Red Arrow for the pin at 2:17.
That's the same match they had on Raw after Wrestlemania.
Natalya,
Cameron and Alicia Fox insist they didn't try to con Kane into the
Divas battle royal on Raw. Naomi deserves the shot and all but
Cameron says she's going to win. Alicia asks how long Cameron has
been here and it's been THREE YEARS??? She's this bad after THREE
YEARS??? Alicia and Natalya get in a fight.
Alicia
Fox vs. Natalya
Cameron
is guest referee so we can see her be horrible at something besides
wrestling. To her credit,
she found a referee's cut off top and changed in the span of a
commercial. It's a catfight to start and they trade slaps until
Cameron breaks up a fight next to the ropes. Natalya
does her step over into the dropkick spot for two but Fox hits
something like the Helluva Kick to take over. Fox's
northern lights suplex gets the same and we hit the chinlock. Back
up and a cross body gets two for Natalya and
the Sharpshooter gets the win at 3:41.
Rating:
D+. As you may have noticed,
there was a lot of play by play here. Here's the reason why: these
people have no characters. Cameron is close with the stuck up chick
who only cares about herself, but Alicia is just Alicia and Natalya
is just a veteran and serious wrestler. There's nowhere to go with
those characters as there's nothing that stands out about them. The
same is true for most of the Divas. Even Summer is just there as the
dancing stuff is gone. I'm
not saying we need to go back to the days of GLOW, but something
would be nice.
Cameron
lays both of them out with DDTs post match.
Bray Wyatt narrates a
video about Erick Rowan, who was a child in a man's world. How could
society do what they've done to him? They took away Rowan's
innocence and we're all guilty, even though we don't know it. Bray
has fixed him and now Rowan is free. We might have seen this video
when the Family split up last year. If nothing else it's cool to see
a video like this to set up the matches later. What happened to the
days of promos to set stuff up? It doesn't have to have high
production values. Just a quick promo from backstage would be fine.
Here's Bray in the ring
for his match but first he talks about remembering the days when
Erick Rowan was lost. Society saw all of Rowan's flaws but Bray saw
possibilities. “Yes Erick, you too can job to Big Show.” The
fans give Bray the WHAT treatment as he talks about being Rowan's
brother. He fixed Erick like you fix a broken toy and then set him
free. Society has returned Rowan to Bray and he's broken all over
again. Tonight Bray is going to teach Rowan one last lesson: no
matter what, trust no one because evil is inside of us all. If he'll
destroy someone he called his brother, imagine what he'll do to you.
Bray
Wyatt vs. Erick Rowan
Bray tells him to bring
it on to start so Erick runs over him to knock Wyatt outside. Back
in and Bray grabs him by the beard but you don't do that to a former
genius. What you do instead is send Rowan into the post and then
knock him off the apron and into the barricade as we take a break.
Back with Rowan
fighting out of a chinlock but the backsplash hits knees. Rowan hits
some running splashes in the corner for two but Bray rolls outside
when Erick goes up top. That works better for Bray as he takes
Rowan's head off with a clothesline and follows up with the
backsplash. The Rock Bottom doesn't work but Wyatt takes him down
with the flying body block. Sister Abigail ends Erick at 9:34.
Rating:
D+. Just a squash here for the
most part but I like that they're giving the Wyatts what seems to be
some closure. Either that or they're repackaging Rowan into
something else. I was interested in the genius gimmick but that was
sacrificed on the alter of Big Show, next to Hideo Itami. Bray needs
something to do now that the Undertaker match is over. I'd love to
see him actually win a feud against a top name for a change too.
Bray
cradles Rowan's head post match.
It's time for a special
movie edition of MizTV. We see the trailer for Marine 4 but before
Miz can get anywhere else, his co-star Summer Rae cuts him off. They
get in an argument over who was the real star of the movie with
Summer calling him a co-star and Miz calling her a featured extra.
Summer brings up Mizdow eliminating him from the battle royal and the
fans chant his name.
Miz asks if the fans
know the backstory of Damien Sandow. He was fired twice until Miz
saved his career and gave him a purpose. Cue Mizdow but Miz cuts him
off and says Mizdow is going to go on a steep decline. These people
can't get him on track but Miz is capable and willing to because he's
a charitable person. He'll do it for an apology and everything can
go back to the way it was.
All Mizdow has to do to
get everything back is shake Miz's hand and apologize. Hey now, quit
adding things to the rules. Miz asks whose hands Mizdow wants his
career in, because the people will drop him in a heartbeat. Damien
apologizes.....for not doing this earlier and the beating is on. Miz
leaves so Mizdow kisses Summer, who seems to like it.
Video on WWE taking
over the Bay Area for Wrestlemania weekend.
Daniel
Bryan/Roman Reigns/Dolph Ziggler vs. Big Show/Sheamus/Bad News
Barrett
I guess because the
original four needed star power to carry them? Sheamus and Ziggler
get things going with the Irishman taking Dolph into the corner for a
right hand to the ribs from Big Show. A big chop puts Ziggler down
as Dolph is firmly into his standard style. Dolph dropkicks the knee
out and gets two off the running DDT, only to get chopped out of the
corner. Barrett comes in for the first time and slaps on a chinlock
but the fans are already cheering for Dolph to get out.
Winds of Change gets
two but Ziggler flips over Sheamus and dives into the tag to Bryan.
The YES Kicks have Sheamus in trouble and Daniel backdrops him to the
floor for the Flying Goat. They're moving in this one so far. As
Bryan throws Sheamus back in, Barrett gets up and kicks Daniel in the
head as we take a break. Back with Bryan getting slammed by Big Show
and a huge elbow getting two. Barrett comes in for another chinlock
as the fans sound like they want Roman.
Show breaks up a hot
tag attempt but his chokeslam is countered into the YES Lock. This
time it's Sheamus making the save and trying a superplex, only to get
knocked off by Bryan. Daniel's cross body is caught but he spins
into a DDT and makes the hot tag to Reigns. Roman cleans house with
Superman Punches as everything breaks down. Ziggler and Sheamus go
to the floor and Bryan hits Show with the running knee. The spear
out of the corner gives Reigns the pin on Barrett at 15:18.
Rating:
B-. Pretty
good match here with everyone moving quickly and putting in some
efforts. It's interesting to see that Reigns is back to his old
style and looking cool after not having the Wrestlemania main event
looming over him. I think people are going to like him better when
he's not out there against the most popular guy in the company and
now that he's been able to give us something to connect to. Now if
only they could get him completely away from Big Show.
Overall
Rating: C+. This
was a pretty basic but well done show with decent wrestling and some
midcard storyline development. That's about all you can ask for from
Smackdown these days as the illusion of the move back to Thursdays
making the show matter is long gone. I do like that tag feud
revolving around the Intercontinental Title though as it's something
that could go somewhere if they let it get interesting. Not bad this
week but nothing great.
Results
Cesaro/Tyson Kidd b.
New Day – Fisherman's neckbreaker to Kingston
Neville b. Curtis Axel
– Red Arrow
Natalya b. Alicia Fox –
Sharpshooter
Bray Wyatt b. Erick
Rowan – Sister Abigail
Roman Reigns/Daniel
Bryan/Dolph Ziggler b. Sheamus/Big Show/Bad News Barrett – Spear to
Barrett
Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:
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