– Air Date: October 22, 2015
– Location: Frank Erwin Center in Austin, TX
The Big News:
Tyler Breeze made a strong debut.
Show Recap:
Smackdown started with a cold open – Seth Rollins walked around backstage wearing a smile, until he ran into a gleeful Kane and stopped smiling. Rollins and asked why he’s here if he’s been suspended and Kane said his suspension was just for Raw.
Rollins told Kane he should enjoy his last night as director on Smackdown. Kane told him the fans will get one last chance to see Rollins as champion and he will open the show against a mystery opponent. Kane told Rollins not to feign another injury because you never know who will show up to stop him.
Kane kept walking and greeted Kofi Kingston and Big E, who looked very upset. Kane loved New Day’s positivity but they were both upset over their precious Xavier Woods going through a table on Raw. They both wore poorly made “XW” armbands in Woods’ honour. Kingston said they were supposed to be three unicorns spreading magic throughout WWE, but now they’re only two unicorns.
Kane faked playing a sad trombone (Xavier Woods must be spinning in his grave) and put them in a match against Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns. New Day didn’t like this idea so Kane did the sad trombone noise again and left. Kane did this poorly and Kingston made sure to point that out. Kingston and Big E were great. Somewhere in here, Big E said Kane wasn’t the D.O.O. (Director of Operations), he was “B.O.O… T.Y. Booty!”
Seth Rollins beat Cesaro via pinfall
Rollins escaped a crossface early and bailed. He grabbed his title and they showed Stardust and The Ascension watching the match from the first row. Rollins began walking out, but as the referee’s count got to eight, he jumped back in the ring. Cesaro hit him with uppercuts and a dropkick and Rollins bailed again. Cesaro went after Rollins but Rollins tossed him into the barricade and steel steps.
Rollins had the heat after the break and hit a flying knee. Rollins went to the top but Cesaro dropkicked him to the outside and followed with a running uppercut. Cesaro posed in the crowd and they cheered loudly, including Stardust whose reaction was great. Cesaro caught him with a flying crossbody in the ring for a nearfall. Rollins connected with an enzuigiri and superkick for two.
Cesaro came back with a pop-up uppercut and followed with a crossface but Rollins squirmed to the ropes. Cesaro tried a superplex but Rollins slid out, wiped out Cesaro by the feet, and hit a pedigree for the win. This was really good. The finish was a little abrupt but the champ winning clean with his finisher is not a bad thing.
Backstage, Renee Young interviewed The Miz about interviewing Summer Rae and Dolph Ziggler. Miz said Summer had a huge announcement that would be trending everywhere. He asked Renee who does her hair and, before she could answer, told her to call his people.
They aired a video for their [corporate sponsor] cancer awareness month. It was actually a nice video and people cheered.
In the ring, Paige said she’s been accused of attacking Natalya but nobody believes that she didn’t do it. Paige said she only cares about the opinion of two people, Charlotte and Becky Lynch, and called them out. Paige started to ramble so Becky told her to hurry up and finish her empty speech.
Paige claimed to be sincere when she said she was happy that Charlotte and Becky got called up. Becky reminded Paige that she said Charlotte only won the title because of her father and called Becky irrelevant. Paige admitted she said some mean things but they’re a family.
Charlotte stopped her there and said she couldn’t understand where Paige was coming from. She said Paige should understand what it’s like winning your first [women’s] title but Paige was making it about herself again.
Team Bella interrupted. Nikki said nothing got in her way when she was champion and Brie asked if this was Smackdown or an episode of Pretty Little Liars. They cut to the ring and Paige mouthed “I don’t even know what that is.” Nikki called Charlotte “little miss Flair” and Paige “baby Beetlejuice.”
Nikki said she would win her title back, and Charlotte reminded her who the champion was. Charlotte offered to put the title on the line right now, but Paige stepped in and said Nikki would have to face her instead. Nikki accepted. Paige, Charlotte and Lynch were good here. The Bellas were the Bellas. Fox said nothing.
Nikki Bella (w/Brie Bella & Alicia Fox) beat Paige (w/Charlotte & Becky Lynch) via pinfall
Nikki had the heat for a while but Paige came back with knees in the corner and a superkick. Nikki used the tights to toss Paige into the ropes and tried a cover holding the tights for a two count. Nikki hit a spinebuster and went for the rack attack but Paige tried a roll up with the tights for two. Paige followed with a fallaway slam for two.
Nikki came back with an Alabama Slam for two. Booker called it a sidewalk slam. Nikki tried an elbow smash, Paige ducked and tried another superkick, but Nikki countered into the elbow and nailed the rack attack for the win. Good match. Aside: Nikki’s pants are impossibly small and she looked down at her own boobs about five times.
The Miz was out for MizTV. He called out Ziggler and asked what it’s like to be tossed aside. Ziggler said Lana can do whatever she wants, but Summer was using him and he didn’t want any part of it. Miz called her out. Summer said it’s clear she proposed to the wrong man. Ziggler stopped her and said “I’m just not that into you, bro.” Summer laughed and said she was over Ziggler and she found a real man, which brought out the debuting Tyler Breeze.
Breeze came out in purple with his full entrance and selfie stick. He didn’t get a big reaction but people were chanting NXT. Breeze accused Ziggler of being stuck in 1985 because of his outfit and called himself the Gorgeous One, the King of Cuteville and the Sultan of Selfies, but introduced himself to Ziggler as Tyler Breeze.
Breeze said when he heard his Summer was being mistreated by some uggo (ugly person), he had no choice but to fly in from Monte Carlo to be with her. People chanted “Tyler’s gorgeous.” Breeze said he and Summer would give WWE a facelift and they took a selfie, which showed up on the big screen. “Prince Pretty has arrived.”
Ziggler said he’s seen guys like Breeze come and go and called him a lazy millennial. Breeze attacked him with a forearm for saying something so stupid and they brawled. Breeze got the better of it when he put Ziggler’s throat against the selfie stick and smashed it into a turnbuckle. He beat down Ziggler some more until referee broke it up. Breeze hit a spinning heel kick and took another picture with Summer. This was a good debut and it seems like the WWE crowd will get into Breeze as a heel if they keep him strong.
Sheamus & King Barrett (w/Rusev) beat The Lucha Dragons via pinfall
In an inset promo, Barrett said he and Sheamus have shared plenty of pints and have had many scraps, but they always emerge victorious when fighting back-to-back. Sheamus said they’ve decided to take their arse-kicking stills off the street and into the ring. Rusev screamed about crushing their opponents on Sunday. Barrett and Sheamus were amused.
Heels worked over Sin Cara until he tagged Kalisto who did his usual impressive-looking offense on Sheamus. The highlight of the match came next. Sin Cara went for a dive on Barrett to the outside, but Rusev ran and aggressively pushed Barrett out of the way, and Sin Cara splatted onto the mats. Kalito then hit a dive on Rusev as he argued with the referee.
Kalisto avoided an attack by Barrett but Sheamus caught him with a Brogue kick for the win. The finishing sequence was great and I like this heel trio. Kalisto was impressive too.
The announcers pushed the WWE Network and explained why you’re stupid if you order Hell in a Cell on pay per view.
Ryback beat Bo Dallas via pinfall
Bo cut a dumb promo about nothing before the match until Ryback interrupted. I was hoping Ryback would just kill him but they actually had a match scheduled. Bo got some offense, which is too much offense, but Ryback beat him with a clothesline and shell shocked.
Backstage, Kevin Owens told Renee that Ryback is a freak of nature and shows respect for previous champions. Owens said he’s not like that, but he’s the champion and asked Renee what that says about him. Renee said arrogance can be a dangerous tool. Owens said she can call it arrogance, but it actually means he’s better than Ryback. Owens said, as far as he’s concerned, the Intercontinental Title didn’t exist before he had it. HIAC would be the Kevin Owens Show and he will walk out as champion. Good promo.
They aired a video for Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker
Non-Title: Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose beat WWE Tag-Team Champions Kofi Kingston & Big E via pinfall
Kingston touched his “XW” armband and pointed to the sky. Ambrose chopped Kingston and Big E yelled, “Protect yourself, Kofi!” Reigns tagged in and got a nice reaction and hit Kingston with a clothesline. Kingston immediately tagged out and Big E did his little dance at Reigns.
They went back and forth but Big E got the heat after pushing Reigns off the ring into the barricade. Reigns waited until after a commercial break to battle back and tag in Ambrose, who nailed a dive on Big E outside the ring. Kingston used a referee distraction to take out Ambrose and New Day regained control.
Kingston played hopscotch before doing his jumping leg drop. He tried a crossbody but Ambrose ducked and tagged in Reigns. Reigns used clotheslines in the corner and took out Big E with an apron dropkick. He gave Kingston one too, but used the announce table.
Ambrose hit a missile dropkick on Big E and both New Day members were sent to the outside. They bailed and went backstage, but The Dudleys backed them towards the ring. Ambrose and Reigns used a doomsday device on Big E, Reigns hit Kingston with a superman punch and spear for the win. This was fun.
Reigns and Ambrose posed and it seemed like the show was about to go off the air, but Bray Wyatt appeared on the screen. Bray said Reigns can’t outrun his fear and would see him in hell.
Final Thoughts:
Thumbs up for this show. Good wrestling up and down, and Tyler Breeze’s debut was well done. I’m also glad they did it on Smackdown instead of Raw.
