Smackdown
Date:
July 4, 2014
Location:
Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey
Commentators:
Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
It's
a holiday show this week which means tonight could be anywhere on a
wide scale. We're coming off Money in the Bank and the main story
seems to be Dean Ambrose promising to ruin Seth Rollins trying to
cash in his Money in the Bank contract. This sets up an even better
story between the two which could go on for months and get better
every week. Let's get to it.
Opening
sequence.
We
open with a recap of the Authority vs. Cena starting on Raw. Why
Cena is shocked at being on the cover of a video game that he must
have posed for isn't made clear. The video also shows the main event
and its aftermath with the failed cash-in attempt and Reigns staring
HHH down to close the show.
Here's
Rollins to get things going. He talks about Cena getting lucky on
Monday, but luck can't last forever. Eventually everyone's survival
rate drops to zero, so at some point he's going to be the new WWE
Champion. This brings out Ambrose to call Seth delusional. There's
no way he's getting his hands on those titles because Ambrose is
going to be there to stop every plan that Rollins and his sugar daddy
cook up.
We
look at Ambrose breaking up the cash in on Raw (again) and Ambrose
says that the briefcase will be Rollins' curse for the next year.
Rollins knows Ambrose can't keep it up for a year and he can't stop
Rollins from winning the title. Dean says he'll start right now and
the fight is on but Orton comes in for the save. Reigns runs in to
clean house and the heels flee. HHH pops up and makes Ambrose vs.
Orton. If Reigns interferes, he's out of the title match at
Battleground.
Cole
and JBL plug Saturday Night's Main Event coming to the Network.
US
Title: Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio
Sheamus
is defending. They trade kicks to the ribs to start until Del Rio
snapmares Sheamus down and kicks him in the back. Sheamus comes
right back with the rolling fireman's carry and some right hands.
The announcers chuckle over Sheamus stealing Del Rio's car a few
years ago. There's nothing funny about a feud that boring. Del Rio
sends him to the floor but gets whipped into the barricade, only to
be sent hard into the steps. A Backstabber on the apron puts Sheamus
on the floor and sends us to a break.
Back
with Sheamus hitting a running cross body to put both guys down on
the floor. They get back inside for an Irish Curse as the announcers
talk about Howard Finkel being born in this town. Del Rio counters
the powerslam into a DDT. He goes up top but Sheamus is up there
with him, setting up the ten forearms on the top rope in a nice twist
on the move. They don't have the same impact but Sheamus was
probably afraid of falling and breaking his leg.
The
Brogue Kick misses and Del Rio hooks the armbreaker but Sheamus is
next to the ropes. The Cloverleaf gets the same result and there's
the armbreaker again. Sheamus powers up to his feet and slams Del
Rio into the corner. Del Rio's low superkick gets two but he misses
a moonsault, allowing Sheamus to Brogue Kick him for the pin at 8:20
shown of 11:50.
Rating:
C. I don't mind the Brogue Kick
nearly as much as a way to end a back and forth match than when
Sheamus has been destroyed and the hits it out of nowhere. The match
was fine and Sheamus continues to be good for the title. He's
defended it once a month since winning it and that's a lot better
than most recent champions have done.
Stardust
talks about children and asks what's in a name. Goldust comes in and
says he doesn't know but it must be pretty important. Whatever it
is, itt's written in the stars (a million miles away?). Stardust
leaves but comes back in to breathe deeply.
Roman
Reigns says HHH is protecting his baby boy, but Reigns knows Ambrose
doesn't need his help tonight. He's winning the title at
Battleground.
We
see the same video from Raw of the Money in the Bank pre-show with
Bryan's speech and Bo Dallas' cameo.
Bo
Dallas vs. Diego
Before
the match, Bo says that we all know Daniel is still a special little
fellow. He's entering the battle royal at Battleground and winning
the title for little Daniel. Bo does OLE before the match and gets
dropkicked in the face. He stomps Diego down in the corner and drops
a knee. The Bodog gets the pin at 1:43.
Post
match Bo tells Torito to Bolieve and gets gored. Torito dances at
him so Bo slams him.
We
look back at Miz and Jericho returning on Raw, including Jericho
laying Miz out before getting beaten up by the Wyatts. Miz as the
Hollywood star works well enough as a character.
Here's
Jericho with something to say. It's been a year since he's been on
Smackdown and it's a great feeling to be back in front of all these
Jericholics. Coming back last Monday felt good too, but then along
came a spider. A big, dark, venomous spider with his family. The
Wyatts are one of the things that have changed since he's been gone.
He
thanks the Wyatts for remind him that the WWE isn't just all about
surprises and music and light up jackets. The WWE is about survival
and he can be dangerous just like the Wyatts. He doesn't look like
anyone else, he doesn't act like anyone else and he doesn't think
like anyone else. The Wyatts can sit in a chair and sing a song but
if you want to get crazy, he can go right there with them.
The
Wyatts pop up on screen and Bray says the world doesn't have a voice
of its own. It can't tell you what it wants and needs, but it's
begging for something to point it in the right direction. A savior
perhaps. Bray introduces himself to Chris but says he has a thousand
faces and a million names. He is the color red in a world of black
and white. Save us Chris? Save yourself.
Jericho
tells Bray to come out here but gets cut off by a movie trailer.
It's Miz's new entrance video and only lasts a few seconds before
going into his usual entrance. Nice touch. Miz comes out in
sunglasses and asks Jericho how it feels to be interrupted. The fans
were deprived of something special on Monday when Jericho broke the
Golden Rule. He tried to hurt Miz's face, the moneymaker. If that
ever happened it would cost.....something we'll find out later as
Jericho lays him out with another Codebreaker. Jericho puts the
sunglasses on because that's the kind of guy he is.
Big
E. vs. Cesaro
Both
of these guys are in the battle royal for the Intercontinental Title.
Big E., in the preacher voice, says he's standing up for his friend
Kofi Kingston tonight. Before the match we see a clip of Cesaro
destroying Kofi on Raw. Cesaro jumps Big E. before the bell and
takes him out to the floor for a brawl. Big E. sends him into the
barricade but gets nailed with a chair. Cesaro throws him over the
announcers' table but Big E. comes back with a belly to bell. The
straps come down but Heyman gets Cesaro out of there. The bell never
rang.
Eva
Marie vs. AJ Lee
Non-title
and Paige is sitting with JBL and Cole but isn't on commentary. Eva
kicks her in the ribs to start and rams AJ into the buckle. AJ
counters a side slam into the Black Widow for the submission at 1:20.
Eva was basically standing still for most of the match while AJ ran
into her.
Paige
applauds AJ on her win.
Damien
Sandow is Bruce Springsteen this week and the fans are into it. Lana
and Rusev cut him off before he can get anywhere or cause a copyright
lawsuit. Sandow is quickly dispatched and the fans chant USA.
Lana's response: shut up. Lana goes into a rant about how stupid the
Fourth of July is because it's about stupid songs and making people
fatter.
Colter
and Rusev cut them off and rips on them for being illegal immigrants.
Russians didn't invent cars or put people on the moon, but they did
invent vodka. Lana tells him to shut up. Colter's response: why
don't YOU shut up? Colter wants the fight right now but stops for WE
THE PEOPLE. Rusev backs down and leaves. Swagger is going to get
broken in half by the Accolade but it's a cool ride to get there.
Jericho
vs. Miz on Monday.
Randy
Orton vs. Dean Ambrose
Rollins
is on commentary and Reigns isn't allowed to be at ringside. Dean,
with a heavily bandaged shoulder, hammers away in the corner to start
so Orton bails to the floor. Back in and Dean stays on him with
headbutts but Orton nails a nice dropkick for two. Ambrose gets sent
into the middle buckle and Randy cranks on the bad shoulder. Orton
kicks him into the ropes and is the first person smart enough to
follow him over when Ambrose starts bouncing off the ropes. Another
kick sends Dean outside and we take a break.
Back
with Orton sidestepping a missile dropkick for two. He stays on the
bad shoulder and sends it into the post. They head outside where the
shoulder gets posted again and a belly to back suplex drops Ambrose
onto the barricade. Back in and it's time to crank on the arm even
more. Cole brings up the free replays on the Network while asking
Rollins if he needs to study Ambrose.
Dean
reverses a whip and sends Orton shoulder first into the post. He
drives his own shoulder into the mat to try and pop it back into
place. Dean hammers away and drops him with a running forearm. A
middle rope elbow to the jaw puts Orton down again and a clothesline
puts him on the floor.
The
suicide dive connects and both guys are down outside. Ambrose throws
Randy back inside and of course goes after Rollins. He sends him
into the barricade before running in to roll Randy up for two. Dirty
Deeds is countered and Orton nails the powerslam but Dean backdrops
out of the Elevated DDT. Another suicide dive is countered by a
Rollins briefcase shot to the bad shoulder though and that's a DQ at
9:27 shown of 12:57.
Rating:
C+. The match was ok but
nothing all that great. They made it pretty clear that Rollins was
going to interfere and it makes sense given the story. The shoulder
stuff was exactly what should have been done and the match was
entertaining enough for the main event of a TV show that no one is
going to watch.
Orton
lays Ambrose out with an RKO and rips the bandages off the shoulder.
Rollins goes up top but
Reigns runs down to shove him off and nail Orton with a Superman
Punch.
Overall
Rating: C. This was a
placeholder show with far more talking than wrestling. Like I said
though, why would you waste anything important on a show airing on
the Fourth of July? What we got wasn't bad but it's nothing you need
to see. It did however show how many good things are coming for WWE
as a lot of these stories sound good in theory. That's a good sign.
Results
Sheamus
b. Alberto Del Rio – Brogue Kick
Bo
Dallas b. Diego – Bodog
AJ
Lee b. Eva Marie – Black Widow
Dean
Ambrose b. Randy Orton via DQ when Seth Rollins interfered
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
There's a way to do things and a way not to do things. As a manager of people myself if there's one thing I hate it's when someone can't have enough respect for me to come up and say "I don't like this or that" or "I think this or that should be done". Going on any social media to do that is unprofessional in so many ways.
ReplyDeleteI could have sworn I read or heard once that one of the reasons Vince liked Punk so much is because Punk always had the stones to stand up to him. Maybe Vince see's it as a big slap in the face that Ziggler can't do the same.
Not everyone is meant to be a main eventer though.
ReplyDeleteWell Bob Holly is a piece of shit so there is that working against him.
ReplyDeleteWhat's different about Ambrose?
ReplyDeleteYou mean aside from the gear, the mannerisms, the way he's cutting clear intense promos, the way he's attacking bad guys without using the Shield music, the way he's got a clear cut goal, the way he's wrestling.
Not much.
The problem is that guys like Ziggler GIVE the executives reasons not to push them.
ReplyDeleteThey didn't want to push Punk or Bryan, both got so over they had to AND at the same time were so good that they ran out of 'uh, he's not good enough' comments. Same with Jericho; HHH hated him at first, and then when they wrestled and Jericho HAD a moment to show how good he was, he took advantage and saved his WWF career.
Because the plan was HHH vs Austin for the title later in the year, AND showing Austin was struggling/needed to cheat to beat Rock.
ReplyDeleteDat storytelling.
Swagger threw Barrett into the barrier once, recklessly hard. Barrett slapped his leg in a 'you fucking idiot' way. Swagger threw him into the barrier again.
ReplyDeleteHe's beyond awful.
If Jericho is going to be feuding with the Wyatts, it could be a good opportunity to bring a new tag team into the frey as his backup (not the Usos again, please!). Could he introduce the Ascension as a secret weapon?
ReplyDeleteYou mean aside from the mannerisms, the way he's cutting clear intense promos, the way he's attacking bad guys without using the Shield music, the way he's got a clear cut goal, the way he's wrestling.
ReplyDeleteNot much.
Enlighten me then. Because the only guy I can think of is Edge.
ReplyDeleteI can see why they put the strap on Sheamus.
ReplyDeleteTag team playa!
ReplyDeleteHey WWE remembered part of the Shield still exists!
ReplyDeleteIs there ANOTHER McMahon we don't about Barrett can marry? :P
ReplyDeleteThen that alone discredits your comment. He also put DB over strong.
ReplyDeleteFor me he was sooo close to the main event during the first Nexus story. They just had to pull the trigger or if not giving him the title immediately then give him the Undertaker match at Wrestlemania like they did with Randy Orton in 2005 and try keep pushing him.
ReplyDelete