Csonka’s WWE Smackdown Review 4.02.15

Introduction
As a reminder, this will not be another traditional recap, but instead it will be a mash up of the Rs, Instant Analysis and my usual Twitter ramblings I would do during the shows; completely uncensored and as the ideas flow unfiltered to the old keyboard. Remember, this is a review; and I am here to review the show. As always, I encourage discussion and even disagreement, just do so in a respectful manner. I will be doing the review for Raw and most PPVs and iPPVs going forward.

Thursday Night Smackdown 4.02.15

OFFICIAL RESULTS
~ Randy Orton defeated The Big Show @ 1:15 via DQ [NR]
~ Naomi defeated Natalya @ 3:36 via pin [NR]
~ The Miz defeated R-Truth @ 1:20 via pin [NR]
~ Dean Ambrose defeated Luke Harper @ 6:30 via DQ [**½]
~ Non-Title Match: Sheamus defeated Champion Daniel Bryan @ 14:20 via countout [***]

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THE SHOW OPENS WITH TALKING: New WWE Champion Seth Rollins headed to the ring, with Kane, Show and J&J to start off Smackdown. As expected, Rollins bragged; explaining how his plan worked perfectly at Mania, and that he is officially the face of the WWE. He then did story time, recapping the rampage of Brock Lesnar from Raw. Randy Orton then appeared, and he did story time recapping their history over the last half of year. Orton then said he never got his one on one rematch from last year’s Mania, and since Brock is suspended, he should get the first crack at Rollins. Sound theory. Rollins tried to explain that he alone calls the shots, but Orton disagreed and even laid the mind fuck on Kane and Show noting that they used to be monsters, but are now lap dogs. This led to Orton vs. Show being made. This was your typical opening talking segment. It wasn’t bad; it made sense to get Rollins his time to speak and set up the Orton match but I try not to call it a promo for a specific reason. It is story time, WWE talent have gotten so in the habit of “re-telling the story” that it is almost all that they do. I have no issue with explaining things, connecting things and it making sense, but we’re to the point that very week, on both Raw and Smackdown, we’re telling stories and not really cutting a promo to advance things. Promos can be stories, but when all we do is recap evens and not go anywhere most of the time, that’s not a promo. We seem to tell the story, we do wacky banter and then we get Orton vs. Big Show. It’s fine, but it’s the same almost every Raw and Smackdown; I just want some variety.

Big Show vs. Randy Orton: They worked for just over a minute, and then J&J and Kane attacked and beat down Orton. They were working over Orton when Ryback ran out to make the save. Rollins ran, Orton and Ryback hit their finishes on J&J and Kane as Rollins looked on from the ramp. I won’t cry about a Big Show match being cut short, and I also appreciate that they didn’t do the 10-mnute match and then the DQ. It was a set up from the start, the bad guys thought they were smart but then the BIG GUY ran out to ruin their plans. This was a good follow up to the opening segment, and we move on.

* Highlights from Raw when Sheamus returned and attacked Bryan and Ziggler. Ziggler reportedly cannot compete tonight, so we get Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus.

Naomi vs. Natalya: The Bellas were out for commentary. I really like that Naomi is working with Natalya a lot. Naomi is a great athlete and does some great things in the ring, but doesn’t always put stuff together with a smooth flow. Working with Natalya should help. This was an overall fine effort from the ladies, although they really could have used some more time to make things better. Naomi won with a head scissors driver. Think seated head scissors, and slamming the opponent’s head into the mat. They have done better lately about giving them more time, but 2:20 just doesn’t cut it for me. This was logical follow up from Raw, where Naomi pinned the divas champion (Nikki). Naomi now has momentum and a win over the champion, just like AJ Lee, which gives us some choices moving forward.

* Rollins apologized to Kane, since he had to eat an RKO. Rollins thought that Orton getting a title shot was a joke, but Kane thinks that it sounds like a tremendous idea for Extreme Rules. They then realized that the office was stinky, and Dean Ambrose walked out of Kane’s shitty with a newspaper. SHIT JOKES. IT’S FUNNY BECAUSE FUCK YOU THAT’S WHY! Ambrose now has to face Harper later tonight.

* Reigns did a sit down interview with Byron Saxton. It was actually a really good interview, putting over Lesnar and the brutality of the match; but also the fact that he survived and that Lesnar couldn’t stop him.

The Miz vs. R-Truth: Miz attacked Mizdow on Raw and beta him down following their official split at WrestleMania. They worked a perfectly acceptable TV match; Truth always works hard, the crowds love him and he always makes his opponents look good. Miz won with the skull crushing finale, because he needs wins badly. Mizdow then hit the sneak attack on Miz and laid him out and put on the glasses.

JOHN CENA TALKS: Cena had the contract for his Mania match, noting that he called it their declaration of independence and that he would bring honor back to the title. He did well putting over Rusev and his run over the last year, but hated him being the US Champion and representing the country. I really did appreciate Cena putting over that Rusev was undefeated as something important. Cena vowed to defend the title against all comers and will give opportunity. He will continue to offer open challenges every week to prove he is a fighting champion. Lana and Rusev appeared, and Lana even had her ankle taped, which I appreciated. She said Cena was undeserving, but as she continued Rusev stopped her making it clear that “I DID NOT LOSE”. I liked him claiming that he was still the champion and deflecting to Lana, and then gave Cena a chance to surrender the title. Rusev said he would beat Cena at Extreme Rules and said Cena would see this and pointed, but the Russian flag did not drop. Cena then cued the flag and a giant US flag dropped, and Rusev was pissed. I love Rusev on promos, he is so raw and animalistic; he’s not supposed to be a well spoken individual the classic sense. He is an emotional monster that wants to kill you and it comes across well. Cena sold the importance of winning and defending the title very well, and they set up the Extreme Rules match so this was well done and I liked it.

* We get a Neville video package.

Luke Harper vs. Dean Ambrose: So Kane ended up booking this match because Ambrose dropped a stinky deuce in his shitter. I don’t know, how about JUST going with the fact that Harper almost killed Ambrose at mania and cost him his chance at the IC Title (yes Kane said it, but we HAD to have the shit joke to get there). The story telling is either juvenile or often times way too over cooked; keep it simple guys. I liked the match (what we got); these two always work hard and work well together, so I appreciated that. But wasn’t a fan of the DQ finish. I really feel Ambrose should have won here. He had the great showing on Raw with Cena and should have gotten his revenge for Mania. They cannot seem to ever keep momentum going for Ambrose. Instead we get our second non-finish of the show, so this feud must continue.

* Ambrose gets helped to the back.

* The Primetime Players cut a promo mocking the New Day.

* Sheamus has new theme music to reflect the character change. I appreciate the change. Sheamus cut a pre-match promo, explaining that he attacked Bryan and Ziggler on Raw because he could. He then called Bryan and Ziggler great little fellas, and that they disappoint the fans all the time. Sheamus is here to crush the hopes and dreams of the fans because he’s a real man.

Non-Title Match: Champion Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus: Barrett joins us on commentary. Barrett is good on commentary, and explained that Bryan wasn’t a real champion because he did not beat the champion. He also reminded us that he has a rematch coming. While Barrett didn’t like how Bryan won the title, he also made sure to respect him for the great effort at Mania, his match on Raw and taking this match. Seriously, fire the other goofs and put Barrett on commentary all the time. Sheamus controlled early, showing off his new aggressive streak. After the commercial break Bryan made his comeback and they had an enjoyable, back and forth match. Bryan got sent to the floor late and was busted open, leading to Barrett connecting with the bull hammer to lay him out. Sheamus teased pulling Bryan into the ring, but then rolled back in to take the count out for the anticlimactic win. The booking wasn’t bad, Sheamus shouldn’t lose and neither should Bryan at this stage. The bull hammer and countout works, and would have been good if they hadn’t already done two DQs on the show.

* End scene.

* Thanks for reading.

* You can read my Evolve 39 Review at this link.
* You can read my Evolve 40 Review at this link.
* You can read my King of the Indies (Night One) Review at this link.
* You can read my SHIMMER 71 Review at this link.
* You can read my WWN Supershow – Mercury Rising Review at this link.
* You can read my King of the Indies (Night Two) Review at this link.
* You can read my NJPW Road to Invasion Attack Review at this link.
* You can read my WrestleMania 31 Review at this link.
* You can check out my complete WrestleMania week match ratings at this link.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

Tonight’s show had some good ideas that could have led to a better quality show, but I felt that the booking really held things back. The two non-finishes (and countout) not only felt lazy, but also make it difficult to get invested into the show. A non-finish/countout isn’t necessarily a bad finish, but three of them on the same two-hour show ended up being complete overkill. The Sheamus vs. Bryan finish means so much more and makes sense without the other garbage earlier in the show. Continuing Miz vs. Mizdow was simple and effective and I really liked the Cena-Rusev promo as it added a nice feel of importance to the title and set up the rematch. They also set the Extreme Rules main event, which was appreciated. Naomi’s win also made sense, and adds depth to the divas division. Overall I didn’t think that the show was bad, but found it to be a very average effort following a strong two days (Mania and Raw).