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Tag: smackdown

  • WWE Smackdown results: AJ Styles vs. Kofi Kingston

    – Air Date: June 2, 2016
    – Location: BMO Harris Bank Center in Rockford, IL

    – The Big News:

    AJ Styles is a full-fledged heel and won a match with the Styles Clash. Also, it appears the MITB ladder match will just involve the six guys already announced.

    – Show Recap:

    AJ Styles & The Club confront The New Day

    The New Day came out to a big reaction. They mentioned the Vaudevillains robbing everyone of the opportunity to see Stephanie McMahon dance. Xavier Woods seemed particularly bummed about this.

    What was more notable to New Day though was the attack by Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows. New Day were about to remind us that they are our WWE Tag Team champions, but Anderson and Gallows interrupted. The Club said the New Day didn’t exactly look like champions on Raw, and the Club would be the champs soon.

    Woods wondered what kind of “club” they actually were, and figured they meet in a treehouse. Big E said they definitely weren’t the hair club for men. New Day challenged them to a fight but figured they wouldn’t accept without their papi AJ Styles with them. That brought out Styles.

    Styles was a full-fledged heel. He said this wasn’t a new day, it’s “our day,” and the WWE belonged to the Club. New Day reminded them who the tag champs were. Styles called Kingston a joke for being in an act like New Day after all these years. Kingston reminded Styles that he was a multiple time IC, U.S. and Tag Team champion, and what was really funny was how long it took AJ just to get to WWE.

    Styles reminded them what happened on Raw and challenged Kingston to a match, which he accepted. Good segment. Styles and Kingston both came off well.

    They announced a tag match between Dean Ambrose and Sami Zayn vs. Alberto Del Rio and Kevin Owens. 

    Non-Title: Becky Lynch beat Women’s Champion Charlotte (w/Dana Brooke) via DQ

    Like JBL, Lawler is not a fan of what Charlotte did to Ric Flair, although he doesn’t seem as disgusted by it. Brooke provided a distraction two minutes into the match allowing Charlotte to take over going to commercial.

    They went back and forth after the break leading to Lynch trying an armbar as Mauro Ranallo let us know she trains in Brazilian jiu jitsu. Charlotte powered out, though, and hit a powerbomb. Charlotte went for a moonsault but landed on her feet as Lynch rolled out of the way. Lynch applied the Disarmer but Brooke tried pulling Charlotte out of it so the referee called for a DQ.

    Brooke finally pulled Charlotte out of the ring, but Natalya cut them off on the ramp. Natalya and Lynch tried to apply their submission moves on the heels but they escaped through the crowd. The action was fine but the finish was crap. The crowd liked Becky.

    MITB Interview Segment

    Backstage, Renee Young interviewed Zayn and Ambrose. With Ambrose standing right there, Zayn tipped his hat at Renee. Zayn said he and Ambrose have a good track record as a team despite Ambrose’s comments on Monday.

    Ambrose was skeptical of Canadians because of Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho and the border patrol guy. Zayn told Ambrose he shouldn’t have tried to bring nunchucks into the country. Owens and Del Rio interrupted. Owens tried to convince Ambrose that Zayn was manipulating him. After Del Rio added some insults of his own, Ambrose said they should just fight right now but the heels left.

    The Dudley Boyz beat Golden Truth via pinfall

    Tyler Breeze and Fandango sat in Breeze’s lounge at ringside. Truth rapped a new song on the way out, and they had the lyrics on the screen. Lawler called it terrible, and he’s right.  During the match, Breeze jumped on the apron to take a selfie, so Truth knocked him off. Goldust was distracted, so D-Von pushed him into Truth and used a school boy for the win. Breeze and Fandango made bad jokes afterwards. This was not good.

    They ran a video package for, of all things, Baron Corbin and Dolph Ziggler. Outside of the arena, Renee said Corbin requested for interview time. She asked why they were doing it outside, and Corbin said the crowd doesn’t deserve his presence after they cheered what Ziggler did on Raw. Corbin said the next time he enters an arena it would be to end Ziggler.

    Sami Zayn & Dean Ambrose beat Alberto Del Rio & Kevin Owens via pinfall

    Ranallo plugged Raw in Oklahoma City and Lawler namedropped “J.R.” They showed a graphic for the MITB ladder match and there was no seventh mystery guy, just the six guys who already qualified.

    There were some “Ole” and “Let’s go Ambrose” chants early on. There was a dumb spot during the heat where Del Rio hit a version of his double foot stomp finisher and never went for the cover. They double-teamed Ambrose on the outside so Zayn hit a flip dive to take out the heels.

    Ambrose hit the rebound clothesline and went for the hot tag, but Del Rio knocked Zayn off the apron. Ambrose used a neckbreaker and went for the tag again but Zayn was still down. Del Rio tried a running enziguri on Ambrose, but he ducked and Del Rio nailed Owens instead. Zayn made the hot tag and immediately hit Del Rio with the Helluva kick for the win. Really good finish.

    An enraged Owens grabbed Saxton’s headset and said he was sick of his partners costing him matches and he would show them what will happen at MITB. Owens grabbed a ladder to go after the briefcase, but Cesaro ran out and gave him a springboard uppercut – while wearing in his suit. Cesaro climbed the ladder and grabbed the briefcase, sealing his fate. Ambrose and Zayn appeared nonplussed.

    Non-Title: U.S. Champion Rusev (w/Lana) beat Jack Swagger via submission

    Lana introduced Rusev, and her accent was about 20% as strong as usual. As Swagger made his entrance, Rusev attacked him and tossed him into the steps. The referee asked Swagger if he was ok to start the match and he said yes. I feel like they’ve done this exact angle with these two before.

    Rusev tried a superkick immediately but Swagger caught him for the ankle lock. Rusev escaped to the outside and cut off Swagger with a clothesline and took control. Swagger did get some offense but Rusev won with the Accolade. He refused to break the hold, so Titus O’Neil made the save, and Rusev bailed.

    They actually plugged that after a break they would show the crap angle with Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. And then they did. Also, there was another dumb segment with Darren Young and Bob Backlund. Basically, Backlund wants Darren to walk, not run. Literally.

    AJ Styles (w/The Club) beat Kofi Kingston (w/New Day) via pinfall

    They had a quick back and forth exchange and they both did a kip-up at the same time to face off, because wrestling is fake and choreographed. Just kidding. It’s fine. Styles got the better of Kingston with a couple of arm drags and posed with the Club.

    Kingston got the better of the next exchange, which led to a corner dropkick accompanied by Woods playing the trombone. The Club and New Day all jumped in the ring but they were held back from fighting. This led to a commercial break, which was only two minutes into the match. Keep in mind they had already gone to commercial break after the entrances.

    Anyway, after a while, Woods, Big E, Gallows and Anderson all got in each others faces outside the ring. Kingston was distracted so Styles ran him face first into the steel post. Crowd chanted for Kofi as Styles had control. As the announcers discussed Styles’ attitude, Saxton asked why AJ didn’t just show his hand in the first place, to which Lawler replied, “You’ve obviously never played poker.”

    Kingston came back with a monkey flip, dropkick, clothesline and leg drop. Styles ducked the Trouble in Paradise and hit a fireman’s carry into a neckbreaker. Styles went for the Styles Clash but Kingston (sort of) countered and eventually hit a double knee attack for two. Styles set up for the Phenomenal forearm but Woods distracted him with the trombone, allowing Kingston to use an S.O.S. for a near fall.

    Anderson attacked Woods on the outside, so Big E tossed Gallows into the barricade. Anderson lept at Big E, but Big E caught him and hit a belly-to-belly onto the announce table, which was cool. Gallows booted Big E, so Kingston took out Gallows with a crazy flip dive. As Kingston stepped back into the ring through the ropes, Styles caught him with a Pele kick and nailed the Styles Clash for the win. Fun stuff.

    – Final Thoughts:

    AJ Styles as a heel with The Club is cool and freshens things up. Tonight’s main event was pretty good but this was an otherwise normal Smackdown show.

  • June 6, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: More details on WWE brand split, Jimmy Snuka found incompetent, more

    It is still largely secretive, if things have even been figured out past the top guys, regarding what will happen with WWE talent when they do the brand split in July.

    Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

  • WWE Smackdown spoilers: AJ Styles vs. Kofi Kingston

    From tonight’s Smackdown tapings in Rockford, IL, for the show airing Wednesday in Canada and Thursday in the U.S.:

    – The New Day opened the show with an interview. The Club then came out. The segment set up an A.J. Styles vs. Kofi Kingston main event for the show.

    – Becky Lynch beat WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte via DQ in a non-title match. Dana Brooke interfered. They double-teamed Lynch and Natalya made the save. The faces cleaned house on Charlotte and Brooke.

    – Dean Ambrose and Sami Zayn did a backstage interview. Kevin Owens and Alberto Del Rio came out to interrupt to set up a tag match for later in the show.

    – The Dudleys beat R-Truth & Goldust when Tyler Breeze & Fandango distracted them. This set up another R-Truth & Goldust vs. Breeze & Fandango match.

    – Sami Zayn & Dean Ambrose beat Kevin Owens & Alberto Del Rio. They all brawled after the match. A ladder got in the ring. Owens went to climb up when Cesaro ran in and pulled Owens down and he grabbed the MiTB briefcase.

    – U.S. Champion Rusev beat Jack Swagger via DQ on a reversed decision when Rusev wouldn’t break the Accolade. Titus O’Neil made the save.

    – A.J. Styles pinned Kofi Kingston using the Styles Clash. Anderson, Gallows, Big E and Xavier Woods all brawled at ringside. Roman Reigns got involved (not sure if this was dark or not) and Reigns was strongly cheered when he confronted Styles.

  • WWE Smackdown results: Rusev & Miz defend their titles; MITB qualifer

    The show opened with a recap of the Money in the Bank qualifying matches from RAW on Monday which saw Kevin Owens, Cesaro, Sami Zayn, Chris Jericho and Dean Ambrose earn their spots in that match.

    After the opening credits, Michael Cole was in the ring with the Money in the Bank briefcase and called out Dean Ambrose for an interview. Cole congratulated him for winning the first ever Asylum match at Extreme Rules and asked what he would do in order to earn the MITB contract. Before he could answer, Kevin Owens’ music hit and he interrupted from the ramp.

    He insulted Cole and warned him to leave the ring before he got there, which he did. He vowed to climb the ladder and become Mr Money in the Bank just like he should’ve done at WrestleM…. and Sami Zayn’s music hit. He finished the sentence. “Like you would’ve done at WrestleMania if it weren’t for me, who is the bane of your existence”. Ambrose made a joke about it and Zayn said “Hey Dean, this isn’t a joke”, which was a nice touch. He said that neither Owens nor Zayn would stop him. They were interrupted by Alberto Del Rio.

    He reminded them that he was a former winner and he is going to win again. Zayn announced that Del Rio has to beat Zack Ryder in order to qualify and before he could finish, he was jumped from behind by Owens. Ambrose almost DDT’s him as well but Zayn slipped out. 

    ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. ZACK RYDER (Money in the Bank qualifying match)

    Zack cut an inset promo harkening fans back to his WrestleMania win under similar circumstances. “I’m not supposed to be here but I deserve to be here”. Eden Stiles did the ring announcing in what I’m assuming was her final show for the company. Ryder took the offence early but Del Rio gained control pretty quickly. They went through a commercial break where Del Rio landed the double foot stomp outside the ring from the barriers at ringside onto Ryder. Ryder recovered and got more offence than you’d think, including landing the Broski boot, which Del Rio kicked out of. Del Rio missed the double foot stomp and Ryder hit the Rough Ryder but Del Rio rolled out before Ryder could pin him. Ryder rolled him back in and went for the cover but Del Rio applied the cross arm-breaker to get the win.

    WINNER: ALBERTO DEL RIO by submission. Del Rio makes it 6 in the Money in the Bank match with one more to come.

    Next up was a recap of Seth Rollins returning at Extreme Rules and the announcement from RAW of Rollins getting the next title shot vs Roman Reigns at Money in the Bank. Rollins will make his return to Smackdown later tonight.

    Enzo and Cass are out next.

    Enzo does his sing along speech on the ramp before the guys get in the ring. Before he could get any more words out, The Dudley Boyz interrupted things. Enzo had some smack talk for them and then Cass called them out. D-Von accepted the challenge and they made their way down the ramp. Bubba stopped before they got into the ring and said “Not tonight, we’re going to do this at Monday Night RAW”. Bubba then teased the “Get the Tables” spot but instead asked if they could “leave this stinkin’ town”. Cass called them S-A-W-F-T and that was that.

    Renee Young was backstage with Lana and Rusev. Lana instructed her that she needs to refer to Rusev as the “Greatest United States Heavyweight Champion of all time”. Rusev called Kalisto a baby and a mosquito and after he plucks the wings off the mosquito, he will never be able to fly again. Good promo. A recap of the 4 way IC title match at the PPV and the Miz-Cesaro qualifying match from RAW aired next.

    US CHAMPION RUSEV w/Lana vs. KALISTO

    Lana was in the ring with a mic and took over the ring announcing, asking the fans to put one hand over their heart and welcome the Greatest United States Champion of all time. Much better match than the PPV.  After a brief period of offence from Kalisto, Rusev took over and dominated him. Announcers told the story that Kalisto was coming into this at less than 100% and didn’t stand a chance and that’s pretty much how it played out. At one point Kalisto tried to bodyslam Rusev and of course his back gave out.

    A minute later, he actually hit the bodyslam but then sold his back even more. He did get a two count off a roll-up after Rusey missed a splash in the corner. He then hit the corkscrew off the ropes and a spike rana for a two. Kalisto hit a springboard moonsault on the outside and rolled Rusev back in but only got a two count. Rusev missed a diving headbutt and then Kalisto took forever to climb to the top rope. Kalisto hit a 450 off the top but Rusev got his knees up to block it. Rusev stomped him on the back and then put on the Accolade for the win.

    WINNER: RUSEV by submission

    Rusev was going for a beatdown on Kalisto after the match but Titus O’Neill came down to challenge him to a US title match RIGHT NOW. Fans were into this, chanting USA but Rusev backed off, which got some good heat. Nice little angle to set up the next US title program. Another recap from RAW aired next, this time of Charlotte ditching the Nature Boy. Mauro called it “an emotional night for the dirtiest family in the game”.

    DANA BROOKE VS NATALYA

    Charlotte joined the commentary team for this match. Lawler actually criticized Charlotte for what she did with Flair and Charlotte said that it was something coming from him who spent so much time away from home. Natalya put on the sharpshooter 30 seconds in and Charlotte broke it up for the DQ. 

    WINNER: NATALYA by DQ

    Natalya recovered and put Charlotte in the sharpshooter but Brooke broke it up and then they beat her down for a couple minutes. No one saved and Charlotte and Dana posed with the belt while Charlotte’s music played. We got a recap of AJ’s tough week where he lost to Reigns at the PPV, broke up with the Club and lost to Owens in his qualifying match. Renee Young interviewed him backstage and asked what’s next. AJ said he was “this close” to winning the title but he’s not sure what’s next, he’ll have to think of something. It was better than it reads.

    Golden Truth was out next with Goldust introducing them and then Truth doing an updated version of his song with new lyrics about the tag team. It will take some getting used to. 

    GOLDEN TRUTH (GOLDUST/R-TRUTH) VS BREEZANGO (TYLER BREEZE/FANDANGO)

    Short match with some miscommunication between Goldust and R-Truth leading to the Supermodel kick from Breeze on R-Truth and Fandango getting the pin off of it. Fans were more into this than they had any right to be but were killed off by the finish.

    WINNERS: BREEZANGO by pinfall

    Goldust and R-Truth were talking backstage. Goldust says that just because they lost two out of the chute doesn’t make them two-time losers. He claimed that no one will be able to stop them. Breezango stopped by to mock them. Tyler Breeze said “Looks like Goldylocks fell off the beanstalk and cracked his own eggs” and then “nailed it!” as he and Fandango walked away laughing. Goldust went back to his pep talk, egging on the crowd to cheer from them and they actually did. R-Truth said he’s with him and vowed to give it another shot. 

    Seth Rollins came to the ring for a promo.

    Mauro put over that Rollins and Charlotte cracked SI’s Fittest 50 list. I’m surprised that hasn’t gotten more play, to be honest. Despite his heeling on the crowd at RAW, Rollins got a good reception coming out and was smiling. When the music stopped, you could hear booing but what you could see were fans clapping and chanting WELCOME BACK. He played up to the crowd at first and then heeled on them again without really saying anything. Fans were still chanting THANK YOU SETH when he left.

    IC CHAMPION THE MIZ w/Maryse vs. CESARO

    Cesaro took control early heading into the break but Miz took control during the commercial. Miz worked over Cesaro’s left shoulder for most of the match. Miz got a two count off a backslide and then Cesaro started nailing uppercuts with his good arm. Miz kicked the left shoulder but Cesaro tossed Miz in the air and hit the uppercut for a two. Pretty vocal CE-SAR-O chant from the crowd. Miz hit a short-arm DDT for a two and then tried to undo the top turnbuckle pad. Ref stopped him but Maryse finished the job.

    They teased a spot into it which never paid off and then the ref spent about a minute hooking it back up. Cesaro got what would’ve been a three but the ref took too long to make the count. Miz hit an O’Connor roll for two. Cesaro turned that into a sharpshooter but Miz made the ropes to break it up. Miz tossed him out of the ring but Cesaro hit an uppercut from the outside and then went back in and tried to hit his swing but Miz escaped and bailed from the ring. He teased a walkout but Cesaro followed him out, hit the “Very European Uppercut” (called as such by Mauro) and then rolled him back into the ring. Cross body from the top by Cesaro got a two count.

    Somewhere amidst all of this, Maryse had removed the turnbuckle again and Miz tossed Cesaro into it shoulder first and then hit the Skull Crushing Finale. Really good match, one of the better TV matches of the year.

    WINNER: THE MIZ by pinfall 

  • May 30, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Return of Seth Rollins and the WWE brand split, plus tons of news

    In an attempt to revitalize the ratings on Smackdown in particular, the WWE has announced both a brand split and moving Smackdown live on the USA Network on Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

    Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

  • WWE Smackdown going live on Tuesdays; brand split appears imminent

    Additional notes from Ryan Frederick & Dave Meltzer

    In the DVR era, how to get people to watch shows live (and hence, watch commercials) has almost become more important than what they are actually watching. Pro sports and other live entertainment has flourished with higher rights fees deals, especially in the latter. Many believe there’s a bubble that will eventually burst, but no one is seeing a needle just yet.

    In the latest effort to take advantage of that, WWE announced Wednesday morning that Smackdown will not only air live starting on July 19th, but it will officially move to Tuesday nights at 8 PM. The announcement was made in Variety, but WWE later released a statement and a video indicating that Shane and Stephanie McMahon will each run a show:

    A twist that was buried in the story also indicates a brand split may be coming as well:

    “A draft will be held before the “Smackdown” launch date to determine which wrestlers on the company’s talent roster will be assigned to which program. Each show is expected to feature separate cast, plots and writing teams.”

    The initial brand split happened in 2002 and ran through 2011, long after fans realized that it was pointless considering talents from both show were regularly appearing on the other show on a weekly basis. There was a yearly draft that started in 2004 that always shook up the deck a bit, but over time, the main stars were on both shows anyway.

    The key aspects of the move are that WWE would have five hours of live programming every week, and on PPV weeks, it would be closer to nine hours on three consecutive days.  WWE will also need to expand its main roster talent base, but also leave at least enough talent in NXT to be able to draw on their own.

    In addition, a key aspect of this story is the declines at USA have led to wrestling becoming its strongest ratings programming.

    The move to Tuesdays will also move Smackdown away from the ratings juggernaut that is NFL Thursday Night Football, which returns in September with extra added emphasis over past seasons. Smackdown has seen its ratings drop during the season, and the move to a live Tuesday format should avoid that strong night on television. Moving to Tuesday will also put it head-to-head against TNA, which likely won’t hurt Smackdown ratings, but could have a big impact on the TNA ratings.

    Variety noted that Smackdown has captured an average of nearly 1.06 million viewers between the ages of 18 and 49 on a live-plus-seven-day basis while Raw has a 1.85 million viewership number with the same demo, “season to date”.

    A breaking news audio is up now, in addition to an in-depth feature in this week’s Observer.  Also, check out today’s WOL also on the subject!

  • Smackdown spoilers 5/24: Miz vs. Cesaro I-C title match; more MITB qualifiers

    The show opened with Michael Cole in the ring with a Money in the Bank briefcase. He brought out Dean Ambrose. Then, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Alberto Del Rio all came out. Chris Jericho didn’t come out as he wasn’t booked for Smackdown, and Cesaro didn’t come out since he was on the show later. Del Rio said he would become a two-time Money in the Bank winner.

    – Del Rio then qualified by beating Zack Ryder with the armbar.

    – Big Cass and Enzo came out. They were talking when the Dudleys came out. They challenged each other to a fight, but the Dudleys did the heel back off deal.

    – US Champion Rusev beat Kalisto with the accolade to retain

    – Natalya beat Dana Brooke via DQ when Women’s Champion Charlotte interfered.  They both beat down Natalya.

    – A.J. Styles did an interview.  He was asked what is next for him, but he didn’t know.

    – Fandango & Tyler Breeze beat Goldust & R-Truth.

    – Seth Rollins came out.  Everyone cheered him huge until he turned on the fans once again during his promo.

    – Intercontinental Champion The Miz beat Cesaro to retain due to help from Maryse.

  • WWE Smackdown spoilers: Kevin Owens vs Cesaro; Roman Reigns vs. Luke Gallows

    – Kevin Owens beat Cesaro

    The Miz and Sami Zayn were on commentary. There was a bunch of distraction and it allowed Owens to win with the dreaded distraction schoolboy pin.

    – Dana Brooke beat Paige

    Becky Lynch was on commentary for this match.

    – Dolph Ziggler beat Sheamus

    Baron Corbin came out after the match and cut a promo talking about his match on Sunday against Ziggler.

    – Chris Jericho did an interview. They had the cage lowered. A guy who was dressed like one of the people helping lower the cage revealed himself to be Dean Ambrose.  He attacked Jericho from behind, climbed up and got a Kendo stick and nailed Jericho a few times before Jericho ran out the cage door.

    – The new Bob Backlund and Darren Young video aired.

    – WWE Tag Champions The New Day & Big Cass beat Dudleys & Vaudevillains when Cass pinned Bubba with the East River Crossing.

    – The Club came to the ring for the main event which was Roman Reigns vs. Luke Gallows.  The Family came out.

    – Roman Reigns NC Luke Gallows

    Everyone got involved in the match. It ended up with the Usos brawling with Gallows and Karl Anderson. Styles and Reigns were in the ring with chairs but Styles hit Reigns with a Pele kick and laid him out with a chair shot, so he was the last guy standing as the show ended.

  • WWE Smackdown results: Cesaro & Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens & The Miz

    – Air Date: May 12, 2016
    – Location: Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, IA

    – The Big News:

    Chris Jericho laid out Dean Ambrose, Rusev laid out the Lucha Dragons, Gallows and Anderson laid out The Usos, and Fandango and Tyler Breeze laid out Goldust and R-Truth. Also, the main event ended with some guys getting laid out.

    – Show Recap:

    They announced The Usos vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson for tonight, with Roman Reigns and AJ Styles banned from ringside.

    Dean Ambrose came out to start the show.

    Ambrose said he has owed a lot people money before, but Jericho wanted $15,000 for his jacket and he’s not getting it. They’re even as far as Ambrose is concerned after Jericho destroyed his plant.

    More importantly, Ambrose was pissed about Jericho trying to take his career away. Ambrose’s wrestling career is all he has because he won’t be interviewing Carrot Top on some podcast. Ambrose wondered if he should destroy more of Jericho’s clothes or shave his hair, but instead would destroy his ego. When Ambrose is done with him, Jericho is going to wonder if wrestling is even for him anymore.

    Jericho’s music hit and the lights went out for his entrance, but when they came back on, Ambrose was laid out as Jericho stood over him. Jericho pulled a straight jacket out of a bag and strapped on Ambrose. Ambrose tried struggling out of it as Jericho mocked him for being “crazy.”

    Jericho then beat down a helpless Ambrose as the crowd booed. Ambrose tried fighting back, but Jericho resorted to an eye poke and hit a Codebreaker. Officials finally ran down to assist, but as Ambrose slowly got to his feet, Jericho gave him another Codebreaker.

    Jericho stood on the announce table and gave the crowd the gift of Jericho. Really good angle. My only nitpick was that Ambrose suddenly being laid out when the lights turned on felt pretty fake.

    Backstage, Rusev yelled and pushed stuff over, and Lana yelled too while following behind.

    Rusev (w/Lana) beat Sin Cara via submission

    Lana did Rusev’s introduction, and Kalisto was on commentary. As they showed a replay of Sin Cara defeating Rusev on Raw, Kalisto said Rusev is always relying on Lana and he’s tired of it. Oh really? Kalisto continued about Rusev’s anger and was just awful. It was beyond stupid putting him back on commentary.

    As Sin Cara made his comeback, Lana chucked water in Kalisto’s face, so Kalisto got up to confront her. Rusev (the hero) left the ring, ran up behind Kalisto and kicked him, jumped back in the ring, hit a side kick on Sin Cara, and applied the Accolade for the win. Rusev single-handedly picked apart the Lucha Dragons. The match itself was over in about 2 minutes. Rusev stood over Kalisto with the US title.

    Backstage, Renee Young asked Emma about Dana Brooke, who suddenly showed up. Brooke said Renee obviously doesn’t watch the Network and called herself a bodybuilding champion. Renee wanted to know why she attacked Becky Lynch. Brooke basically said the fans don’t appreciate Emma even though they adore Lynch. Brooke told Renee that after tonight, she wouldn’t be asking who Dana Brooke was, but would be asking “Whatever happened to Becky Lynch?” This was fine.

    Dana Brooke (w/Emma) beat Becky Lynch via pinfall

    Jerry Lawler was happy to hear that Brooke is from Cleveland. With Lynch draped over the bottom rope, Brooke distracted the referee, allowing Emma to poke Lynch right in the eye. Brooke followed with a jackknife cover for the win after about 3-4 minutes. This wasn’t good, and the finish was weak even with Lynch’s eye injury. Still, Emma deliberately poking Lynch in her bad eye was pretty damn funny.

    Backstage, Styles told Gallows and Anderson that he’ll be out there if Reigns decided to show up at ringside. He told them to take care of club business.

    New Day came out for a promo. Kofi Kingston said the Vaudevillains put their noses where they didn’t belong on Monday. Big E was about to say they put their noses up their asses, but Kingston and Woods stopped him from swearing. He tried to swear later and they stopped him again.

    New Day tried to make jokes about Kanye West and the crowd was dead silent. They were interrupted by the Vaudevillains who said they would outsmart their loudmouth opponents, and Aiden English sang that they would be the new champions. This came off really poorly for New Day, and this has to be the least a crowd was into them in a long time.

    Aiden English (w/Simon Gotch) beat Kofi Kingston (w/Big E & Xavier Woods) via pinfall

    As Kingston made a comeback, there were some light “New Day rocks” chants. Big E and Woods stopped Gotch from interfering, so the referee tossed them all out. Moments later, Kingston tried a sunset flip, but English dropped down for the cover while grabbing the rope for the pinfall win. Lame.

    Backstage, Roman Reigns told the Usos to represent the “bloodline” and said he would be there if Styles showed up.

    The Usos beat Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson via DQ

    As they worked over Jimmy Uso, Mauro Ranallo did a terrific job putting over Gallows and Anderson and their accolades. Jey made a hot tag and ran wild, but was cut off by a Gallows big boot outside the ring as Anderson distracted the referee.

    After a break, the Club worked over Jey as some young fans chanted “Let’s go Usos,” which was met with an “Usos suck” chant by a different segment of the audience. Jey caught Gallows with a superkick and made the hot tag.

    Jimmy ran wild on Anderson and hit a superkick and splash. He had the match won but Gallows pulled him out of the ring (just barely on time). Gallows tossed him over the announce table for the DQ, so the Jey hit him with a dive.

    Anderson tossed Jey into the steps and followed with a rocket kick. Jimmy jumped him from behind, but Gallows nailed him with a chair. Anderson followed by hitting Jey with the chair. With both Usos down, the Club posed and Gallows yelled, “This is what the club is all about!”

    There was no explanation for Reigns not coming out here to save his family. It didn’t matter that he was banned because the the match was over. Otherwise, this was good for Gallows and Anderson.

    There was a new vignette with Darren Young and Bob Backlund.

    Backlund asked Young what time it says on his watch. Young pulled out his smartphone to get the time, which Backlund couldn’t comprehend.

    Young said he has everything on his phone (email, alerts, calendar) and nobody wears watches anymore. Oh, come on. Backlund said Young should put his mail in the mailbox and his calendar on the wall. Young reiterated he has it all on his phone, so Backlund made him do squats. This is still really bizarre, but Backlund yelling about the mail was amusing.

    Tyler Breeze & R-Truth beat Goldust & Fandango via pinfall

    A few sad fans still do the Fandango dance during his entrance. Truth tagged in immediately, so Fandango tagged in Goldust. Goldust reluctantly got in the ring as the crowd chanted “Golden Truth.” They faced off but didn’t touch, as Tyler Breeze yelled at Truth to hit Goldust.

    Truth tagged in Breeze, who pushed Truth out of the ring. Breeze was about to go after Goldust, who had his back turned, but Fandango saved him. It was a swerve though, as Fandango blindsided Goldust with a clothesline. Breeze seemed surprised, but smiled and covered Goldust for the pinfall win.

    Afterwards, Fandango and Breeze beat down Goldust. Truth tried to make a save, but they cut him off immediately and beat him down too. Goldust tried to cover Truth to take the brunt of the beating. Fandango and Breeze stood tall as the crowd booed. This was a perfectly acceptable low-card angle.

    They announced “The Shining Stars,” Primo and Epico, would debut on Raw.

    Backstage, Charlotte told Renee that what they did to her father (Ric Flair) on Raw was a travesty. Flair said he’s taught Charlotte everything she knows, that he would be there in spirit (at Extreme Rules), and she would go on to another Flair victory. Flair was perfect here, reminding us this match is to be taken seriously.

    Kevin Owens & IC Champion The Miz (w/Maryse) beat Cesaro & Sami Zayn

    The Miz came out last. Lawler really hates Zayn’s hat. Also, Lawler quipped that Owens hates to lose so much that he doesn’t even want to lose weight. As Miz made his entrance, Owens grabbed Byron Saxton’s headset and said he was giving Miz one last chance to be a good tag partner, but at Extreme Rules, he was taking his title back. He then demanded Saxton talk good about him.

    Cesaro and Zayn both wanted to start the match. Cesaro got his wish and immediately used some impressive offense on Miz. Owens told Miz he could do better, so he tagged in, but Cesaro tagged in Zayn. Owens tried to tag out but Miz jumped down and told him to do better.

    Zayn hit punches in the corner but Miz tagged himself in. Zayn got the better of him too so Miz escaped the ring. Owens and Miz argued, so Cesaro hit Owens with a cannonball off the apron and Zayn nailed Miz with a dive.

    After a break, Zayn went after Miz on the outside but Maryse got in his way, allowing Owens to knock him down from behind. They worked over Zayn until he came back with a big clothesline and blue thunder bomb on Miz.

    Cesaro made the hot tag and hit Owens with uppercuts, uppercuts, a dropkick and crossbody for two. Miz jumped in to attack Cesaro. Zayn tried to hit Miz with the Helluva kick, but Miz moved and Zayn caught Cesaro instead. Miz pulled Zayn out of the ring, and Owens hit Cesaro with a Frog Splash for the win. Good match and I liked the finish.

    Afterwards, Owens gave Zayn the pop-up powerbomb and Miz gave Owens the skull crushing finale. Miz stood tall with the Intercontinental title to end the show.

    – Final Thoughts:

    Not a bad show. It reminded me a bit of Raw in that there was good action but the angles were repetitive, just in a different way.

  • WWE Smackdown results: AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Roman Reigns and The Usos

    – Air Date: May 5, 2016 
    – Location: Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO 

    – The Big News:

    Roman Reigns and the Usos got some revenge over AJ Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. Also, The Vaudevillains vs. The New Day was made official for Extreme Rules. 

    – Show Recap: 

    Chris Jericho came out for the Highlight Reel. He said Dean Ambrose thought he could be funny and zany when tangling with him, but it got serious when Jericho smashed the 20-pound pot over Ambrose. Jericho claimed that Ambrose spent the night in a St. Louis hospital with contusions, whiplash and bulging discs. 

    Jericho said Ambrose wasn’t here tonight, wasn’t going to run out to make a surprise appearance, and he should stay home for good. Jericho said it is a new era in WWE – his era. The crowd chanted “You suck” at Jericho, who introduced his guest Sami Zayn. 

    Jericho said his good friend Kevin Owens beat Zayn fair and square but Zayn continues to attack him, which makes him a sore loser. He also called Zayn a thief for posing with The Miz’s Intercontinental title. Jericho asked Zayn what kind of human being he is, and Zayn responded, “Actually, I think I’m a pretty good human being, honestly.” Zayn thought people would agree, just like they would agree that Jericho’s scarf makes him look stupid. 

    Zayn said he didn’t have a problem with Owens beating him, he had a problem with Owens slapping him in the face after the match and tossing him out of the ring like garbage. He also wasn’t trying to steal the IC Title. Miz interrupted. 

    Miz said he’s the only one who’s earned the right to hold the IC title belt and called Zayn a serial coattail rider. Miz warned Zayn not to lay a finger on the title again, so Zayn repeatedly touched the title with his finger, which was funny. The crowd chanted for Zayn. Jericho said if someone laid a hand on his $15,000 jacket, he would do something about it, and told Miz he should do something about it. 

    Zayn couldn’t believe Jericho spent $15,000 on his jacket. Jericho started raging, tossed his stools down and left. Zayn called them jackasses. Miz said Zayn has no respect and called himself the biggest, baddest shark in WWE. Zayn touched the title again and challenged Miz to a fight, but Maryse got in his face. Zayn challenged him to a fight again but Miz bailed. 

    This segment was good enough. The biggest positive was that Sami Zayn, surprise surprise, came off very likable. 

    Non-title: Sami Zayn beat IC Champion The Miz (w/Maryse) via DQ 

    Miz tried tossing Zayn into the barricade, but Zayn leapt onto the barricade and nailed a moonsault. The highlight of that spot was the reaction of a girl in the front row. Kevin Owens came out (to his music) and joined commentary after a break. 

    Mauro Ranallo asked Owens what brought him to ringside and Jerry Lawler responded, “Obviously his legs brought him down here Mauro, don’t be an idiot!” Owens enjoyed that. Owens then mocked Miz for hitting an axe-handle off the top, calling him a great “athlete.” Zayn hit a dive to Miz on the outside, then got in Owens’ face. 

    Zayn went back after Miz, but Owens jumped Zayn from behind for the DQ. Miz and Owens double teamed him but Cesaro made the save (he stripped off his suit as he ran to the ring). Cesaro did the uppercut parade to both Miz and Owens, while still wearing sunglasses. Cesaro also caught Zayn with one by accident, which knocked him out of the ring. Cesaro tried to swing Miz but both Maryse and Owens got in the way and all the heels bailed. Cesaro posed with the title. 

    They showed a replay of the main event angle from Raw. Backstage, AJ Styles asked Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson if they were ready for round two. Anderson said Styles would have broken the chair over Roman Reigns if this was back in the day. Styles said it wasn’t, and reminded them he beat Reigns twice at Payback before Reigns beat him. 

    Styles said he would become champion, but would do it his way. Gallows and Anderson said Reigns may not see it that way after he put Styles through a table. Styles decided to go have a chat with Reigns. Anderson and Gallows were happy to hear it. 

    Promo for Primo and Epico. They also replayed the footage of Enzo Amore being knocked out, and announced The Vaudevillains vs. The New Day at Extreme Rules for the Tag-Team titles. 

    The Vaudevillains beat Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas via pinfall 

    The Vaudevillains did an inset promo, calling the New Day clowns and called themselves real men. They won in under two minutes with the Whirling Dervish. 

    Afterwards, Big Cass came out to tell the Vaudevillains they look like they came off the set of Sherlock Holmes. He said he was going to give them a whooping and called them soft. He knocked both guys out of the ring, when Axel jumped in and called them soft too. He tried to buddy up to Cass, but Cass hit him with the swinging side slam. Axel was pretty amusing here. 

    Natalya & Becky Lynch beat Emma & Women’s Champion Charlotte (w/Ric Flair) via submission 

    They worked over Natalya until she made the hot tag to Lynch, who ran wild on Emma until she was pulled out of the ring by Charlotte. They double teamed Lynch to gain control and worked her over until she made the hot tag to Natalya, who hit Charlotte with clotheslines, a low dropkick, and discus clothesline. 

    Natalya applied the Sharpshooter but Charlotte crawled to her corner and Emma tagged in. Emma knocked down Natalya and hit a running crossbody. Lynch broke up the cover and knocked Charlotte off the ring. Natalya applied the Sharpshooter to Emma who tapped. Average match that went about 10 minutes. Emma didn’t need to be in this match. 

    Backstage, Reigns and the Usos were chatting when they were interrupted by AJ Styles. Reigns told Styles he had guts coming in there. Styles told Reigns he had him dead to rights on Raw. He took the high road, but he won’t next time. Styles asked if Reigns was going to be in the Usos’ corner in the main event. Reigns called himself the champ, called the Usos family, and he would be wherever he wanted to be. Styles said he would see them out there. 

    There was a really bizarre vignette with Darren Young. Young spoke about searching for a life coach. He said the answer was right in front of him, when the screen split and Bob Backlund appeared. Young asked Backlund if he would be his life coach. 

    Backlund said yes, he would be his “wrestling coach.” Young was glad, but he wanted a life coach, not a wrestling coach. Backlund screamed that the first lesson was “wrestling is life.” The segment ended with the words “Make Darren Young Great Again” on the screen. No idea what to make of this. 

    Rusev (w/Lana) beat Zack Ryder via submission 

    Ryder didn’t get an entrance. Also, Charles Robinson was the referee. Ranallo said Rusev claimed he would eat Kalisto’s big heart, and Rusev beat Ryder in just over a minute with the Accolade. The only thing to note was Rusev developed a hematoma after being sent face-first into the steel post. Lana wasn’t happy about that. 

    Afterwards, Kalisto ran in and attacked Rusev for basically no reason. They claimed it was because Lana was mocking the Lucha chants. He hit Rusev with a few kicks, springboard corkscrew crossbody, and then he left to pose with his title on the stage. Rusev vs. Kalisto should be pretty great. 

    The announcers plugged Camp WWE by reading the same script the announcers did on Raw. 

    Backstage, Fandango taught Goldust some new dance moves. After some “comedy,” Fandango challenged Truth and Tyler Breeze to a tag match next week. This is so dumb. 

    Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (w/AJ Styles) beat The Usos (w/Roman Reigns) via DQ 

    As Gallows and Anderson made their entrance, Ranallo put them over as one of the best teams in Japan and Lawler responded, “Who cares about Japanese wrestling?” After Jey Uso was sent outside a couple minutes into the match, Reigns went to check on him, at which point Anderson used his boot to face-wash Reigns. Reigns jumped in the ring and attacked Anderson for the DQ, which led to a big brawl. 

    A bunch of officials ran down to break it up. Styles grabbed a mic and said, “I thought this was a new era – or his that just for Raw? This is Smackdown, and we’re going to finish what we started, now!” Normally these setups to turn a singles match into a tag match (or a tag match into a six-man in this case) feels really phony, but this was done well and the crowd was into it. It was chaotic and the fans just wanted to see them fight. 

    WWE Champion Roman Reigns & The Usos beat AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson via pinfall 

    Reigns and Styles started as they did on Raw, and there were dueling chants from the crowd. Reigns seemed to be getting the better of it until Styles backed him into the corner for Anderson to make a tag. Reigns and the Usos triple-teamed Anderson but he eventually backed Jey Uso into the corner for Gallows to make a tag. The Usos double teamed him, but Gallows gained control with a big boot on Jimmy Uso. 

    Reigns made a hot tag and hit Anderson with a jumping clothesline and clotheslines in the corner. He knocked Styles off the apron with a right hand as well. Reigns superman punched Gallows off the apron. He tried to hit Styles with one as well, but Styles hung him over the top rope, and Anderson followed with a school boy for a near fall. 

    An Uso hit Gallows with a suicide dive and Reigns hit Anderson with a superman punch. Reigns went for a spear but Styles cut him off with forearm. An Uso dragged Styles out of the ring and Anderson made a cover on Reigns for a close near fall. Anderson followed with a spinebuster for another near fall, but Reigns popped back with a spear for the pinfall win. 

    Styles tried to make the save before the pinfall, but was held back by an Uso. As soon as Reigns got the 3 count, he and Styles stared at each other, perhaps acknowledging how close this was. After they showed a replay of the finish, Styles and Reigns were still in a staredown. Styles pointed at the title saying “That’s mine” and Reigns held it up to end the show. 

    – Final Thoughts: 

    This was a mostly mundane show again until the main event stuff, which I thought was really good. Not a fan of Gallows/Anderson losing already, but at least it was to the champ.