Smackdown
Date: May 2, 2014
Location: Sprint
Center, Kansas City, Missouri
Commentators: Michael
Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
We're two days away
from Extreme Rules and everything is set up. WWE has been doing a
good job of getting things ready for the show and making me care
about the matches, which is something they should have been doing for
years when the shows weren't ten bucks a month but that's a different
story. Anyway, the main event tonight is Ambrose defending in a 3-1
handicap match against Del Rio, Ryback and Axel so let's get to it.
The opening video talks
shows HHH taking credit for Shield's rise to the top but maybe he
gave them a bit too much power. This transitions into a clip of
their brawl that ended the show with Shield standing tall. The match
on Sunday should rock.
The handicap match is
now a fourway.
Sheamus/Usos vs.
Wyatt Family
This has potential.
Sheamus is here after losing to Bray on Main Event thanks to the
Family. The Usos made the save so here's a six man to continue the
story. Jey starts with Harper and gets two off a quick shoulder
before it's off to Sheamus for power vs. power. They slug it out
with Sheamus taking over until it's off to Rowan who rams Sheamus
into the corner. Back to Luke for another slugout with Sheamus
taking over via the rolling fireman's carry. A knee drop gets two on
Harper but Harper comes back with a hard shot to the jaw.
Rowan comes in but
misses a charge, allowing Sheamus to nail a knee lift. A cross body
of all things puts Rowan and Sheamus on the floor and a staredown
takes us to a break. Back with Bray getting the tag to work over
Sheamus in the corner. Wyatt runs Sheamus over and crawls along the
mat in the eerie way that only he can. Back to Erick for a knee drop
followed by a good looking superkick from Luke for two.
Harper knocks an Uso
off the apron but walks into the Irish Curse to put both big guys
down. A hot tag brings in Jimmy to speed things up and Harper takes
a Samoan drop. Jimmy nails an enziguri to Harper and some shots to
the face put Rowan and Wyatt on the floor. The Whisper in the Wind
misses though and Harper nails a Michinoku Driver for two.
Everything breaks down and Sheamus lays out Rowan with the Brogue
Kick. In all the confusion, Bray makes a blind tag and plants Jimmy
with Sister Abigail for the pin at 7:44 shown of 11:14.
Rating: C.
Nothing wrong with this as the Family gets a win and the Usos are
pinned in a six man rather than the usual tag match. I'd assume this
sets up Harper/Rowan vs. Usos, potentially at Extreme Rules, which
would be an acceptable title match given how weak the division is for
the most part anymore. Nice opener here.
Post
match the Usos dive on the Family but Bray lays them out. Sheamus
tries to fight all three monsters but the numbers catch up with him.
The Irishman is thrown into the steps and taken down by Luke's discus
lariat.
Adam
Rose is coming on Monday. “Next stop, Monday Night Raw! Come
along! I HAVE BUNNIES!”
It's
time for the contract signing for Torito vs. Hornswoggle with Vickie
running things. 3MB and Los Matadores are here as well and Slater
says Horny has some demands. First off, he wants 300 mini green M&Ms
and 3MB's greatest hits playing for his training sessions plus 10
copies of Rudy on Blu-Ray. Torito interrupts him and yells in
Spanish with Diego translating: “If you mess with the bull, you get
the horns.” Vickie says she wants to keep this night and short and
cackles at her joke. Horny signs but Torito doesn't have hands.
Instead
they put ink on his hoof and slam it down onto the contract. Horny
says he'll prove he's the bigger man and moves his chair up a bit.
Torito cranks his even higher so Hornswoggle gets a booster seat.
They both get on the table and shove each other before a pose off
begins. The brawl is
finally on and Horny gets gored down onto Mahal. Los Matadores clear
the ring and Torito uses the table as a launch pad to dive onto the
Band. Yeah this went long, but at least they're playing it as
totally goofy which helps a ton.
Jack
Swagger vs. Rob Van Dam
The
triple threat on Sunday is now an elimination match. Before
the match Cesaro comes out with his new music that sounds like the
start of Attitude Era Raw. Swagger uses the distraction to go after
Van Dam as Heyman jumps in on commentary. An early Vader Bomb gets
two for Jack and a belly to belly gets the same. Van Dam is sent to
the floor and gets kicked in the face by Swagger but Cesaro grabs
Jack's foot, allowing Rob to hit a quick kick and the Five Star for
the pin at 1:52.
Post
match Cesaro Neutralizes Van Dam.
Bolieve!
Alexander
Rusev vs. R-Truth
Lana
has her hair down for a change as she rants about America invoking
sanctions against Mother Russia. Rusev takes Truth into the corner
and fires off a series of kicks to the ribs before getting caught
with a side kick to the face. Rusev falls to the floor but is able
to punch Woods out. Truth dives over the top but gets caught in the
air and thrown back inside. Woods
comes in for the DQ at 1:04. This was the second time the match took
place for what was likely a reshoot.
Truth
and Woods clear out Rusev a few times post match.
Here's
Daniel Bryan in the neck brace with something to say. Thankfully
he's brought the titles with him this week. Daniel says he's the
same as all the fans right here in Kansas City. They come together
and overcome obstacles every day. They also take care of their
families and that's everyone's number one priority. This Sunday,
with a lot of faith, determination and heart, he's going to walk into
the Extreme Rules as champion and he's going to walk out as Champion.
Kane
put him in this neck brace and put him in pain but none of that
matters because Kane put his hands on Daniel's wife. This is more
than personal now because it's a war. On Sunday Bryan will send Kane
home by any means necessary and if that means Bryan goes out with him
then so be it.
Kane
comes on screen in the mask and says Daniel is making that sounds
like a bad thing. When he and Bryan arrive in the devil's home
together, he'll give Bryan a tour. We get a preview of it in the
form of a Kane highlight video, showing him injuring Bryan over the
last few weeks. Kane promises to show Daniel the depths of his
depravity and gives an evil laugh.
Bolieve!
Dolph
Ziggler vs. Damien Sandow
Damien
is still dressed like Magneto. Cole asks JBL to tell us about
Magneto and we get a somewhat in depth character biography. Sandow
even has the helmet (hood) on as Ziggler takes him down with an
armdrag. A Stinger Splash in the corner sets up a neckbreaker on
Sandow followed by an elbow drop for two. Damien comes back with a
flipping neckbreaker for two and an armbar that Cole calls the
Magnet. The Wind-Up elbow connects but Ziggler hammers away. We
stop for Magneto to use powers but since there's no metal on Ziggler,
he nails a dropkick and Zig Zag for the pin at 3:23.
Rating: D+.
Sandow was destined to become a comedy character so I can live with
this for the most part. Thankfully Dolph didn't sell the magnetic
powers stuff, putting him one step ahead of anyone who ever solid
Little Jimmy. It's almost hard to believe that Sandow was Mr. Money
in the Bank less than a year ago.
Video
on Paige vs. Tamina.
Big
E. vs. Titus O'Neal
Non-title.
Big E. muscles him to the
mat before leapfrogging over Titus. He runs O'Neal over with ease
and kicks him to the floor with one foot. Titus LAUNCHES Big E. over
the announce table and then throws him on top of it for good measure.
Back in and Titus hammers away in the corner before putting Big E.
over his shoulder for a kneeling backbreaker. O'Neal chokes away and
that's a DQ at 2:16. Great way to make me believe in Big E. going
into Sunday.
Post
match Big E. destroys Titus and whips him into the announce table a
few times. He stands over Titus in the ring which I think is
supposed to make us think he's ready for Sunday.
Video
on Wyatt vs. Cena, including clips of the Wrestlemania match and the
segment on Monday.
A
record is playing the children singing on Monday and Bray calls it
beautiful music. Those children pulls Cena's soul out of his body
and handed it over to Bray. He believes that the children are the
future and they trust him more than Cena. When Bray climbs out of
the cage on Sunday, he's taking the children with him. That's going
to leave him an old bitter man all alone. Follow the buzzards.
US
Title: Dean Ambrose vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Ryback vs. Curtis Axel
One
fall to a finish with Dean defending and Shield banned from ringside.
The challengers all go
after Dean to start but he jumps on Axel with no reservations. A 3-1
beatdown puts Dean on the mat with ease though and Curtis asks where
Dean's buddies are. Dean's comeback is easily stopped and he's
thrown to the floor, allowing Axel to grab a rollup on Alberto for
two. Ryback and Axel get in an argument and Dean comes back in to
hammer on Axel. Ambrose is
thrown back to the floor and we take a break.
Back with Ryback and
Axel hammering on Alberto in the corner. Del Rio's Backstabber gets
two on Ryback but Axel makes a quick save. The fans are behind
Ambrose as he saves a cover by Axel on Del Rio. Ryback and Dean go
to the floor so Axel can dropkick Alberto down for two. A bad
looking tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets two on Curtis but Dean is back
in to break it up and go after Ryback. Ambrose hammers on Del Rio
and BLASTS Ryback in the face before low bridging him out to the
floor.
The running dropkick
puts Alberto down but Axel gets in a cheap shot to take the champion
down. A Perfectplex is countered and Dean comes back with a hard
clothesline for two of his own. Ambrose is sent to the floor and the
Perfectplex gets two on Del Rio. Del Rio ties Axel up in the ropes
for a top rope double stomp for a VERY close two and Ryback takes
Curtis down with the Meat Hook by mistake. The armbreaker goes onto
Ryback but he lifts Alberto into the air for the Shell Shock. Axel
saves that pin but Dean slides in for a cradle on Curtis for the
retaining pin at 10:04 shown of 13:34.
Rating: B.
Take four guys and let them go for a lot of fast pins for a good
while. This is one of the formulas that is hard to screw up and it
worked well here too. Making it a fourway was a good call as it's
really hard to buy that Ambrose could win in a handicap match here.
I can't imagine he keeps the belt much longer though as he's already
got the WWE record with the thing.
It's
a triple team post match but Reigns and Rollins come in for the save
and stand tall to end the show.
Overall Rating: C+.
There were some issues in there but this was a good Smackdown for the
most part. We got focus on
everything with Evolution vs. Shield getting the least focus, which
is the right idea after it was the top story on Monday. Bryan vs.
Kane is looking better and better every week and some of the false
finishes could be very good. Solid show this week and Extreme Rules
is looking solid.
Results
Wyatt Family b.
Usos/Sheamus – Sister Abigail to Jimmy Uso
Rob Van Dam b. Jack
Swagger – Five Star Frog Splash
Alexander Rusev b.
R-Truth via DQ when Xavier Woods interfered
Dolph Ziggler b. Damien
Sandow – Zig Zag
Big E. b. Titus O'Neal
via DQ when Titus wouldn't stop choking
Dean Ambrose b. Alberto
Del Rio, Curtis Axel and Ryback – Cradle to Axel
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
"Video on Paige vs. Tamina."
ReplyDeleteWhere do you view Smackdown, Tommy? On SyFy, this video didn't air.
I watch the international version that airs earlier in the day. It saves me a lot of time.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review. Excellent work as usual.
ReplyDeleteMuch appreciated.
ReplyDeleteWow, that has to be one of only like three US title defenses in 2014 for Dean.
ReplyDeleteUsos vs. Wyatts would make sense for the PPV, I agree. WWE has done well in the past with the big brawling heel team. Hopefully they can manage that with Harper/Rowan. It's a thin division, but I think there is potential there for a dominant heel team. The Usos are a good face team. The Rhodes have lost all direction, but make a good team. I think Sandow needs a long-term partner, if only to give him something legitimate to do. Teaming up Fandango & Adam Rose would be a natural, if they can avoid turning them into just another 3MB comedy team.
I know you want to keep The Shield strong going into Extreme Rules, but I still think they should have had Ambrose drop the belt to Del Rio. Have Orton and/or Batista cost Ambrose the match and nobody will think it makes Ambrose or The Shield look weak, plus it gives their match Sunday another layer.
ReplyDelete