wrestling / TV Reports
Csonka’s WWE Smackdown Review 4.30.15
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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 4.30.15
OFFICIAL RESULTS
~ Roman Reigns defeated Kane @ 9:30 via countout [**¼]
~ Damien Sandow defeated Curtis Axel @ 2:25 via pin [NR]
~ Ryback defeated Luke Harper @ 8:04 via pin [**¾]
~ Tag Team Title Match: Kidd & Cesaro defeated Champions New Day (Kofi & Big E) @ 11:45 via DQ [***¼]
~ Non-Title Match: Champion Nikki Bella defeated Cameron @ 3:58 via pin [*]
~ Non-Title Match: Champion Seth Rollins defeated Dean Ambrose @ 10:55 via pin [***]
Backstage Meeting: Rollins and J&J run into Kane backstage, they argue over the events of Monday Night Raw and Rollins bitches about the triple threat match at Payback. Kane comes back and reminds Rollins that he always said he did it on his own so he can do it again here. Rollins claims that Kane is jealous, so Kane says he will make a man out of him and will have him face Dean Ambrose tonight. Rollins then said he wanted Kane from 20-years ago back because that was best for business and dared Kane to do something relevant. That took 2-minutes and 30-seconds, was short, to the point, brought in the issues from Raw and did the same job that the usual 10-25-minute opening promo would have done.
Kane vs. Roman Reigns: We got highlights of Raw’s main event, and then Reigns cut a short promo about the Ambrose vs. Rollins, wishing Ambrose luck. He discussed the Payback main event and that he planned to win the title, and Citizen Kane appeared with a referee. Kane has decided to try and test himself against Reigns in an impromptu match. Outside of a flash or two, Kane dominated the action early. He actually dominated too much considering the opponent. I get the story and that they wanted to show that if Kane gets angry that he can go out and do damage, but I would have just had him kill a geek like Ryder or Slater to get some heat back. They have been doing well with Reigns since Mania, and I feel they have really recovered from the backlash. But Reigns is challenging for the title at Payback, and I would have had him more dominant and not selling so much for the lead salesman from Pants N’Nat. Kane got pissed when he only got a near fall off of a chokeslam, looked for the tombstone but Reigns escaped and then hit the Superman punch. Kane bailed as Reigns looked for the spear and went to the back, allowing Reigns to win. Rollins and J&J watched on from the back, confused. The actual work wasn’t bad, but I think that Reigns, as a title challenger, should have been booked stronger especially against Kane in 2015. I have no issues with Kane, but when he gets booked to go toe to toe with main event guys these days, I just can’t buy it.
* Rollins stated post match that Kane got in over his head, and ran away. Rollins said he NEVER RUNS AND WILL WIN ON HIS OWN AND DOESN’T NEED ANY HELP. I love when an overconfident heel completely lies because he thinks he’s so great, but the fans all know the truth, it’s one of those fun little things.
Damien Sandow vs. Curtis Axel: So Sandow is not a stunt double anymore; instead he just mimics people like a child would. Hell of a gimmick upgrade here as he mimicked JoJo the announcer. Sandow had some fun at Axel’s expense during his ring announcement. Sandow did things like he would win the Miz, but worked in attacks to Axel. There are some amusing tones to the gimmick, but it feels too close to what he was doing and like a very short-term thing. Sandow won clean with the full nelson slam in a match that was more about the wacky new gimmick. I really think that they can do more with the guy instead of these short-term gimmicks, but that’s just me.
* Renee Young interviewed The Ryback, and THE BIG GUY said he didn’t know why Wyatt attacked him, but now he has bitten off more than he can chew. THE BIG GUY plans to take out Wyatt’s former disciple; this was a short but solid promo. Ryback was composed, didn’t overact and came across completely serious as he looks for revenge from Monday’s attack by Wyatt.
Ryback vs. Luke Harper: They went through the commercial, which I actually didn’t expect, and worked a rock solid power vs. power match. I know Ryback is not everyone’s favorite guy, and I think that they have not exactly booked him well, but he has improved and can have good power matches (like with Rusev). Harper does a ton of good things to really highlight his opponents, and has been doing so for a long time, which I think is the trademark of a smart heel when he calls a match. Ryback won clean with the shell shock. On a personal note, I want to say that hate the booking of Harper and think it is sad that they cannot find a definitive role for a man of his skill. But for as much as I do not like it, this all made sense. Ryback has a feud, Harper doesn’t. Ryback is feuding with Harper’s former leader, so Ryback goes to take him out to send a message. Bray appeared in the ring and attacked THE BIG GUY once again. He then hit Sister Abigail for the second straight show and stood tall. They had a good match, the booking made sense and there was follow up to the Raw angle; and that’s all I ask for. This was a good segment overall.
WWE Tag Team Title Match: Champions New Day vs. Kidd & Cesaro: Kidd went for a bunch of roll ups early, and then they got a near fall on a toss up uppercut by Cesaro. I liked the beginning, showing that the ex-champions were focused on regaining the titles. It sounds simple, but I appreciate the sense of urgency. Cesaro and Kidd are obviously talented, but they have gelled into a really good team in such a short time. New Day got the heat on Kidd, leading to a hot tag to Cesaro, who dominated with uppercuts and some freak strength. It broke down, Kidd hit a dive and then he and Cesaro hit the swing into the dropkick, and Woods ran in for the DQ. New Day then neat down the former champions and bailed. I am not a fan of DQ finishes most of the time because they tend to be lazy, but it works here as New Day is evolving well into their heel role and it shows that they actually cannot win a damn thing (this is a heel compliment) without some form of shenanigans. This was good stuff, a notch below their Extreme Rules match.
* We see Cameron and Summer having a discussion about Naomi’s actions on Raw. Nikki Bella walks in on the conversation, and then challenges Cameron to a match tonight.
Cameron vs. Nikki Bella: Cameron posed a lot, Nikki missed a kick off the ropes and started to favor her knee and Cameron took over. The main issue here is that they worked a spot to set up a knee injury to Nikki, and then Cameron never followed up on it and Nikki didn’t sell it. Nikki hit the forearm shiver and rack attack for the win. This wasn’t very good, don’t set up a spot to work on the knee and then ignore it. I don’t care if some will say it’s “just a divas match;” it’s just common sense.
* The Primetime Players make fun of New Day.
* Rollins meets with Ambrose backstage, and has J&J with him. Rollins discusses their history, and wants Ambrose to back out of the match. Ambrose wants to humiliate Rollins, so he refuses the offer to back out.
* We get highlights from the King of the Ring.
Non-Title Match: Champion Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose: In a way I am not really a fan of the match here tonight, because it feels like a throw away instead of something more, which it should be. The booking of Ambrose following HIAC has been largely atrocious, forgetting his quest to stop Rollins from cashing in and killing all of the momentum he had built up. They went back and forth in the early minutes until Rollins took control and then J&J laid the boots to Ambrose on the floor. That led to Kane coming out, because…
Rollins was not happy that Kane was out there, and then controlled the action until Ambrose made his comeback and then they went back and forth down the stretch. Late in the match Ambrose sent Rollins into Kane twice, and then wiped out J&J and Kane with the elbow off the top and to the floor. Kane looked to attack Rollins, Ambrose got involved and he let them go because the ref threatened to DQ Rollins. Ambrose posted Kane, took out J&J but then got thrown into the steps. Rollins hit his shit new finisher for the win. It was a little chunky at times, but overall they delivered a good main event. I still feel that the booking is still too much about Kane, I get the story, but I feel that Kane is the wrong guy to do it with. Post match Kane attacked Ambrose, and then Rollins and J&J joined in until Reigns made the save. He and Ambrose cleaned house and the former Shield members stood tall. It’s nice to see that Ambrose and Reigns have become friends again in the last few weeks after having Reigns completely forget about him for months. That’s not a criticism of Reigns, that’s on the writing.
* End scene.
* Thanks for reading.
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”
