Jonathan Dehn
WWE Smackdown
06/13/2014
Green Bay, Wisconsin
-Ambrose and Reigns come out to the ring to start off the show. Ambrose doubts that HHH has actually stacked the deck against him, and says that they’ll just flip the entire table over. Dean, meanwhile, has plans to shut down the Seth Rollins business. Reigns then takes the microphone and calls him the ass of WWE. Roman calls him a spoiled child and they want spots in the championship ladder match. HHH pops up on the tron and flips a coin for Dean Ambrose to qualify for the ladder match against Bray Wyatt. Parties are banned from ringside for that match, as is Dean for Roman’s match right now. “I got some bad news for ya!” exclaims HHH in a cockney accent.
Roman Reigns vs. Bad News Barrett
Barrett doesn’t get a promo to start off, which is too bad. So, Wade gets over just to get the belt and job to main eventers again. Great. Reigns takes control and hits a slam for two. In the corner, Reigns batters away. Barrett gets the knees up in the corner and pounds away. Reigns answers with a suplex for two. BNB battles back, but comes out of the corner and takes a clothesline. Roman follows with ten punches in the corner and clotheslines BNB from the ring. It’s break time, of course.
We return with Barrett in control, naturally. Reigns misses a corner splash and winds up hanging on the top turnbuckle. BNB hits the big kick and gets two from it. Barrett slugs at Reigns and jaws at Chioda. He hits a neckbreaker for another count. BNB stomps and drops a knee for two. Reigns fights back with a Samoan drop following a chinlock. Reigns hits a flying clothesline and clothesline in the corner. Roman follows with the dropkick on the apron and hits the Superman punch. Before Reigns can hit the spear, 3MB come out to the ring for their last appearance (I’m really pissed off about an entertaining unit like 3MB being dismantled). They maul Roman Reigns, but he fights back and sends them outside. Out there, Mahal goes flying over the announce table and Drew eats a spear. Slater flies in, but gets cut in half with a spear.
Final Thoughts: **. Heath took a hell of a spear to make Reigns look golden. Protecting Barrett from the loss was a good idea, as well. With the bloodletting that WWE went through yesterday, we lost Mahal and McIntyre, among others. These guys did great work with their gimmicks and made the dreadful Hornswoggle/El Torito feud watchable and made the WeeLC match borderline great. This was a terrible call. Now we have to hope that creative gives Heath something to do before he is let go in a couple of years when they don’t come up with anything for him. It’s just a damned shame.
Erick Rowan vs. Jey Uso
Erick Rowan misses a charge and tumbles from the ring. Jey follows with a dive and puts Rowan back in. “USO crazy!” yells Cole. I cringe. Back inside, Jey eats the buckle and gets run over. Rowan misses a splash and takes a flying clothesline. Jey hits an enzuigiri, but Rowan fights out of the Samoan drop and tosses Jey off of the top. Rowan hits a slam and…it gets the win.
Final Thoughts: What the hell was that? This was built by Jimmy defeating Harper in what seemed to be a hard fought match, and they couldn’t give this a couple more minutes? This isn’t a live show. Still, this comes off as a squash.
Bo Dallas vs. R-Truth
Truth comes out rapping, and Bo is digging it. He even dances along. Truth remembers it right this time and tells Green Bay to make some noise. Bo wants in on the fun, and takes the microphone and asks what is going on. He gets jeered. Bo tries to show some soul with Truth to start the match. They lockup, and Truth gets a shoulderblock. Bo is suddenly not a fan of Truth, and takes a hiptoss. Dallas eats a few right hands before he hits a big tackle and delivers a kneedrop for a short count. We go to the chinlock. Dallas cuts off the momentum, but eats a leg lariat. Truth hits some clotheslines and hits the falcon arrow for two. Bo counters and it’s seven and BO after he hits the Bo-dog.
Final Thoughts: *. This was pretty funny, as Dallas successfully took a few pages from Kurt Angle’s book at the start.
-Paul Heyman and Cesaro are in the ring before Cesaro’s match with Sheamus. Paul is just here to translate for Cesaro. We list off some accomplishments, before noting that he is taping up his fists tonight, as he is prepared for a fight. Cesaro then claims that he will risk DQ to win this fight by technical knockout. Then, it’s time for Sheamus.
Cesaro vs. Sheamus
Cesaro begins to club away to begin, but Sheamus clubs right back. This official is going to lose control. Cesaro kicks Sheamus right in the face and punches him down. Sheamus counters a hiptoss into a short-armed clothesline. Sheamus begs Cesaro in to slug him. Cesaro obliges, but Sheamus reverses his suplex attempt for one of his own. Sheamus delivers super stiff forearms to the back and hits a slam for two. Cesaro returns fire in the corner, and chokes away with a knee. Cesaro follows this with an impressive suplex. Sheamus gets the boot up on the run and then clotheslines them both over the top and to the floor. It’s commercial time.
We’re back with Cesaro delivering heavy knees. Sheamus fights back and gets Cesaro in the ropes. Cesaro fights out, but gets punched in the face. Cesaro pulls Sheamus from the apron and to the floor. Back inside, Cesaro hits a double stomp. He follows with another and goes to the chinlock. Cesaro cuts off the comeback with a clothesline and gets two. Cesaro gets Sheamus in the corner and slugs away. He charges forward with a kick to the middle of the chest. Sheamus comes forward, but gets slugged down and hits with mounted hook punches. Cesaro gets two and continues to club away. Sheamus gets really, really mad.
Cesaro goes to the top, but Sheamus rushes forward and knocks him down to the floor. Cesaro favors the leg, but comes back into the ring to get knocked over. Sheamus hits the knee lift and the flying knee into the corner. Sheamus gets him in the ropes and beats the chest. The Irish Curse gets two. Sheamus winces through some fresh bruising on his face. Cesaro gets out of White Noise and nails him with the MDK uppercut for two. Cesaro continues to club away at Sheamus’ begging. Sheamus keeps coming forward with the rolling senton. Cesaro uses a distraction from Heyman to grab an inside cradle and a grab of the tights to win the match.
Final Thoughts: ***1/2. This needed five more minutes, but was great none the less. The finish worked, as Heyman and Cesaro have been claiming Sheamus to be less of a man for using that cradle to win at Payback. As for the match as a whole, it was fun to have the psychology built up beforehand with Cesaro making sure to let everyone know of his taped fists. And those fists were used. They’re getting back to booking Sheamus the correct way. He doesn’t talk and just wants to fight and dish out punishment. We all know that he’s going to gain momentum and then be turned.
-Bray has words. He dreamed of glory as a child. Or maybe he dreamed of happiness. But then, he realized that life sucks. And then his benefactor told him that he was going to be a God anyway, so he’ll be cool. He says that the belts that hang out will give him his power. It’s a shame that Dean is going to burn for being in his way. …This isn’t a good way for Bray to be unless he gets the belts. He’s just Del Rio talking about his destiny, in a sense. It’s a difficult leap to make. He really shouldn’t want the belts.
Fandango vs. Adam Rose
They lock up to start, but then slowly break. Fandango dances, and Rose prances. Fandango gets slapped in the ass, and he slugs away in response. Fandango hits a clothesline for two. Fandango floats over on a suplex for two. Fandango goes up, Rose pops up. Fandango comes back down again and gets hit with a Party Foul for the finish. After the match, one of Rose’s entourage looks like the Gooker. It’s Summer in disguise. Summer and Layla then brawl a bit, before Fandango pulls Layla from the ring. I don’t believe that Summer used TV-MA language this time.
Final Thoughts: This was a squash, I guess. I don’t have much to say about this. I can tell you that Cole and JBL were entirely obnoxious and people behind them don’t understand that less is more when it comes to the commentary. Presenting these wacky events in a legitimate way makes them more wacky and fun. Jim Ross isn’t hip, and we liked it that way.
Jack Swagger vs. Big E
Big E is done being patriotic, as he has been humbled by the superior Rusev. This is what I’ve learned. Swagger batters away to begin and puts Big E into the post. Outside, Big E goes into the barricade. Swagger charges and takes Big E’s head off with a clothesline. Swagger gets two after rolling him back in. Big E tosses Swagger out of the ring as Jack goes into the corner. Big E hits a belly to belly and follows with the big splash. THE STRAPS ARE DOWN…but Lana interrupts. They keep the camera behind Lana and…I’m not paying much attention to what she is saying. Swagger hits a big boot and Zeb tells Lana to get out of here! Back inside, Big E catches Jack on the Swaggerbomb and catches Zeb’s ire as he hits The Big Ending for the win.
Final Thoughts: I was worried that Zeb wouldn’t mind Lana because of WWE’s insistence that all heels are friends. This wasn’t much of a match, really. Big E is pretty much dead in the water, however. He needs another heel turn and maybe just a stay in NXT to recharge his batteries.
Aksana vs. Alicia Fox
These two aren’t friends anymore. Also, so long Aksana. Word has it that Kevin Dunn loves Fox’s act. So, this is going to go on for a while. Aksana slaps Alicia in the face and hits a hip toss and a couple of clotheslines. Aksana follows with a snap suplex for two. Aksana drops a couple of elbows and goes for the cover. Alicia misses a scissors kick and Aksana hits a nice Ron Simmons style spinebuster for two. Fox fights back, however. Fox hits the northern lights for two and goes to the chinlock. Aksana gets a jawbreaker, but gets kicked in the back of the head. Fox chops the leg and hits a leg-assisted facebuster for the win. It was more like a DDT. After the match, Alicia celebrates with a cartwheel. We seem to have her antics edited out. Kevin Dunn MAD!
Final Thoughts: *. This was just fine, really. Aksana wasn’t very bad in the ring, really. Things were snug and she was coming along nicely over time. She was active on TV. She seemed to have made connections, as well. I’ll guess that the knee she delivered to Naomi might have sealed her fate, though.
Bray Wyatt vs. Dean Ambrose
The winner gets into that ladder match. They brawl to begin, and Bray hits a big clothesline. Wyatt drags Dean’s eyes along the ropes, but Ambrose fights back. Dean hits a crossbody and slugs away. Ambrose stomps a mudhole in the corner, but Bray charges out with a right hand. Dean hits a neckbreaker for two and returns the favor by dragging Bray’s eyes against the rope. Ambrose is on fire with a dropkick that puts Wyatt outside. Dean tries to follow up with a crossbody over the top, but Bray catches him and drives him into the apron with the uranage! That was a brutal way to go to break.
We return with Wyatt dropping Dean’s arm into the apron. Back inside, Dean fights back with a DDT. Dean tries to get feeling back into the shoulder by ramming it into the canvas and into the corner. Still, Wyatt puts him into the post. Wyatt headbutts Dean’s head into the post. Dean makes sure to block some of the blows with his hand between his skull and the steel. Back inside, Bray squeezes the shoulders. Ambrose fights back by grasping his beard. Bray hits a scoop slam, but misses on the senton splash. On the apron, Dean puts Bray into the buckle and goes to the top. Wyatt follows him to the top. Ambrose fights back with some headbutts and comes off. Bray catches him, but Dean fights out and rebounds from the ropes with the big clothesline for two. The two fight from their knees, with Bray grabbing Dean by the hair and Ambrose begging for him to punch him. They trade back to their feet before Bray pulls the rug out. Ambrose meets Bray in the corner and knocks him out of the ring.
Dean takes flight with a big dive. Back into the ring, Ambrose blocks a big boot and gets a roll up for two. Dean gets the boot up in the corner, and hits a dropkick from the top. He clutches the shoulder, but rolls over to get a two count. Bray counters Dirty Deeds and gets two from his big tackle. Dean reverses a suplex into a two count, and then hits Dirty Deeds. However, his arm has had enough and he can’t get the three. Seth Rollins winds up on the announce table to distract him. Dean chases him, and winds up running right into Sister Abigail. Bray wins.
Final Thoughts: ***1/2. This was a damned good wrestling match and outside of Bryan at the Rumble, I’d argue that this was Bray’s best match. I feel like this was Dean’s big chance having time and the main event. He and Bray worked well in this fresh matchup. Seth’s distraction works for two reasons. One, he looked damned good in his gray suit. And, two, his theme music didn’t hit first. That would have made it very lame.
–This was a Smackdown worth watching. You had two good, long matches. WWE was forced into actually moving storylines forward on this show due to MITB coming up and slots having to be filled. Also, do watch this to see Cesaro and Sheamus beating the sports entertainment out of each other. In fact, just watch this show for that and enjoy the bonuses.
