– Air Date: March 10, 2016 (Mar 9 in Canada)
– Location: Bradley Center in Milwaukee, WI
– The Big News:
Sami Zayn made his Smackdown debut and Chris Jericho explained why he turned on AJ Styles.
– Show Recap:
They announced The Wyatts vs. Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler and The Usos as the main event.
The Miz came out for MizTV and introduced Sami Zayn. He asked Zayn to tell us about himself, but as Zayn started, Miz yelled “cut!” repeatedly and asked him to get to the good stuff and make it more dramatic.
Zayn was annoyed, but continued, saying he and Kevin Owens started 13 years ago in Montreal. They traveled the world and made it this far by sticking together. They weren’t just friends, it was like a brotherhood, and Zayn was even the best man at Owens’ wedding.
Zayn said Owens debuted the night he won the NXT Title, and the powerbomb on the apron caused a lot of the injuries that led to his shoulder surgery. Zayn said the thing that hurts most is that he doesn’t understand why Owens did it.
Owens came out (but never got in the ring) and said he’s already explained why he turned on Zayn – it was all business, but Zayn made it personal when he eliminated Owens from the Rumble. Zayn said he was going to take the Intercontinental Title from Owens at WrestleMania.
Owens told him that wasn’t happening because this is the Kevin Owens show. Zayn challenged him to a fight right now since they were both there. Owens said Zayn didn’t deserve a fight with him and was about leave, but Neville interrupted. Neville said he and Owens had unfinished business, and the IC Title would look good around his waist.
Miz said Zayn and Neville don’t deserve a title shot, but he does, because he main evented WrestleMania while those two were main eventing bingo halls. Zayn informed Miz that his years main eventing Mania are far behind him. Miz attacked him from behind, but Zayn fought back and Miz bailed. Good segment. Owens and Zayn were both great.
Sami Zayn & Neville beat The Miz & Kevin Owens via pinfall
Zayn and Owens never touched. There was a bit early where Neville tagged in Zayn with Owens in the ring, but Owens quickly scrambled to tag out. The heels got the heat on Neville, but Zayn made the hot tag and hit Miz with a springboard crossbody, ten punches in the corner and tornado DDT. Zayn waited for Miz to tag Owens but Owens bailed. Zayn hit Miz with an Exploder suplex into the turnbuckle and a Helluva Kick for the win. Good match.
Toilet humour segment with Goldust and R-Truth. Goldust still doesn’t want to be his partner. Afterwards, they aired a video package for the Triple H-Dean Ambrose stuff.
Brie Bella beat Summer Rae via submission
Lana joined commentary by sitting on top of the announcer’s table, not in a chair. Saxton wanted to know why she attacked Brie on Raw and Lana told him to shut up. Brie did Yes kicks and won quickly with the Yes Lock and did the Yes chant afterwards. Summer tried to attack her, so Brie knocked her down, yelled “Brie mode!” and hit a running knee. Lana jumped in from behind and gave Brie an X-factor again, and did mocking Yes chants.
They aired the Shane McMahon highlight package from Raw.
Chris Jericho came out wearing dark maroon pants, a black blazer with no shirt, and a black scarf. He carried out a “Y2AJ” t-shirt, and the ring had a garbage can and lighter fluid in it already. Hmm I wonder what he’s planning. The crowd booed Jericho and he explained that he was mad at the fans for chanting for AJ Styles instead of him.
Jericho said they’ve forgotten that he’s the best in the world. He said he can do whatever they want – be the world champion, work the opener, invent a new idea like Money in the Bank. He said they had a classic tag match on Raw but people still chanted for AJ. He’s been told many times that a new guy was coming in and would be a future world champion, only to disappear three months later.
Jericho repeatedly admonished the crowd for chanting “AJ Styles.” He began pouring lighter fluid into the trashcan and said we were about to watch AJ’s career go up in flames. Jericho lit the shirt on the fire and tossed it in the can, which went up in flames. This resulted in a great visual, with Jericho standing the rising flames as he did mocking “AJ Styles” chants.
This was really good. The only problem – every time Jericho got mad at the crowd for chanting “AJ Styles,” they weren’t really doing that. And a few people chanted “Y2J,” which kind of ruined the effect. Still, a good segment.
They showed members of the Milwaukee Bucks at ringside and announced Big Bossman for the Hall of Fame.
King Barrett & Sheamus (w/Rusev) beat Lucha Dragons via pinfall
Barrett & Sheamus vs. New Day for the tag titles was announced for Roadblock in Toronto. Ryback was shown backstage watching the match. Kalisto took out Sheamus with a dive and Sin Cara had Barrett set up for a senton, but Rusev tossed him off the top and Barrett followed with a Bullhammer elbow for the pinfall win. Barrett did a forward roll in celebration. Backstage, Ryback called Lucha Dragons little guys and said size matters or whatever.
They aired a clip of Seth Rollins winning the title at WrestleMania last year. After a break, they plugged The Rock for this year’s Mania and aired a video package for Shane and Vince. Shane’s brawl with security featured at least a dozen camera cuts.
Backstage, Renee Young asked the Usos about the Dudley Boyz. They talked being 10 years old and watching the Dudleys in 1996, and that their recent actions were nothing new. They wanted to be like the Dudleys when they were growing up, but they no longer respect them. Ziggler and Ambrose jumped in and Renee asked if Ziggler was expecting and repercussions from The Authority.
Ziggler said there would be, but he’s going to bring the fight tonight and referred to their team as “Milwaukee’s best.” Ambrose said he would beat Triple H for the title on Saturday, but tonight they were hunting dem Wyatt boys, one of his favourite things to do, and they all ran off together. This was good.
8-Man Tag Match: Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler & The Usos beat Wyatt Family via pinfall
Saxton said the Wyatt family were like clones of Bray, because “They exude the evil that’s flowing through the veins of the eater of worlds,” to which Lawler responded, “They do his bidding alright.”
They had the heat on Ziggler until he hit Harper with a sunset flip powerbomb and jumping DDT. He made the hot tag to Jey Uso who hit Harper with a Samoan drop. Each Uso did running hip attacks to Harper and Rowan, and followed with dives. Jey tried a splash but Harper got his knees up.
Jey made a hot tag to Ambrose who hit Rowan with a running forearm, bulldog and swinging neckbreaker. He did a flying elbow but Harper broke up the cover, so Jimmy took him out with a kick. Bray gave Jimmy a uranage and Ziggler superkicked Bray. Ziggler gave two superkicks to Strowman, but Strowman no-sold it and clotheslined him.
Ambrose tossed Strowman out of the ring, and Rowan tried a school boy near fall. Ambrose ducked a spin knick and hit Dirty Deeds for the win. Bray stared a hole through Ambrose as the good guys celebrated to end the show.
– Final Thoughts:
This was a strong show, and a big improvement over the last two weeks. Zayn, Owens and Jericho were all great, and Ambrose came off like a star in the main event.
