Smackdown Discussion Thread

[HarmonicGenerator]

I'm sure Miz and Cena beat The Corre for the tag titles at some point. Was it not one of those screwy title reigns where they won them then lost them again straight away?

[METAL ON METAL]

You're right. Cena & Miz won the titles but The Corre invoked their rematch straight away and won them back.

[King Pitcos]

Fucksake.

 

 

Barrett vs R-Truth, Ambrose on commentary. Before the bell even rings, Ambrose has already gone through names of old wrestlers who won the Intercontinental title and talked about historical prestige. Same old shit as every other Intercontinental "feud" for years. Exact same toss that Cody Rhodes and Curtis Axel and their opponents used to talk about, Ambrose and Barrett should be shooting for something above Generic Intercontinental Dialogue #1.

 

[Sheffbag]

 

if the Mountie gets a mention then its all good

 

[tiger_rick]

Fucksake.

 

Barrett vs R-Truth, Ambrose on commentary. Before the bell even rings, Ambrose has already gone through names of old wrestlers who won the Intercontinental title and talked about historical prestige. Same old shit as every other Intercontinental "feud" for years. Exact same toss that Cody Rhodes and Curtis Axel and their opponents used to talk about, Ambrose and Barrett should be shooting for something above Generic Intercontinental Dialogue #1.

Agree that it's the same old shit. Funny how it sounds OK coming from Ambrose though. He has an ability to turn absolute shit into something watchable which is why I still fancy him to break through the mid-card dross. That hokey shit on Raw was a good example. Both he and Barrett made the best out of something really fucking braindead.

 

Notice Reigns made The Miz look really competitive a couple of weeks ago. Bryan squashed him this week. Fucking Bryan, always holding mid-card talent down.

[King Pitcos]

I noticed Bryan didn't give Miz anything as well there. Seems like a wasted opportunity, as there's a bit of mileage in Bryan/Miz because of their history (which the pre-match even referenced a lot), but I'll happily take a quick squash when we can get one. Too many matches go long. That said, I enjoyed Reigns vs Harper. Might have been my favourite spot/bump using the steps. 

 

It's mad how Miz has one of the strongest storylines in the company now, considering where he's often been positioned the last few years. He's very underrated, too good for the rematch robot role that they've wasted him in for a lot of 2012-2014. Mizdow as well, but I still can't see the breakup sending either of them upwards.

[Linus]

Hey, it's WWE Smackdown! Nothing important ever happens on this show!

 

The show started with Daniel Bryan coming down to the ring for a match with the Miz. As Miz & Mizdow were coming out, they showed a strategy meeting between the pair, where Miz reminisced about his days mentoring Bryan on NXT. Miz compared Mizdow now to Bryan then, and said that he may not like all the things he makes him do but he's teaching him so he can become better.

 

So, yeah, they had a match. Or, rather, Daniel Bryan hit all of his signature moves on Miz, who made a brief comeback, before Bryan made him tap with the Yes! Lock. Miz had sent Mizdow to the back, and when he returned he couldn't help but look pleased at his boss's loss.

 

Hey, it's The Ryback! I wonder what he's out here for? Oh. He's fighting Kane. Fuck this show already.

 

This went less than four minutes and was the third longest match on the show. It was not good. The Ryback won with the Shell Shock. Pointless.

 

The announcers discussed that time on Raw when Dean Ambrose forced Bad News Barrett to sign a contract for an Intercontinental title match that would not stand up in any court in the land. Or any land.

 

Dean Ambrose came down to ringside and sat in with the announcers. Then R-Truth came out, doing his rap-rap-rapping thing. Barrett, weirdly, was already in the ring.

 

So Barrett and Truth had a match, with Barrett having the best of it, all the while trying to trash-talk Ambrose, who was doing such a great job of ignoring him that it was kinda sad.

 

Barrett was about to hit the Bullhammer for the finish when he realised that Ambrose wasn't paying attention and Truth rolled him up while he was shouting at Ambrose. Which surely gives R-Truth a shot down the line?

 

Ambrose walked to the back, still ignoring Barrett, who was ranting like a madman. Like I said, kinda sad.

 

Bray Wyatt cut a talky from wherever he cuts his talkies from. He said he'd find whoever he was talking to if they didn't find him. PULL THE TRIGGER ALREADY.

 

I don't usually tell you the bits where they re-cap Raw, because why would I? But they re-capped the bit on Raw where Goldust and Stardust broke up and I didn't realise it was a re-cap. I was marvelling at the wonders that Dusty Rhodes had worked with his two sons when I finally realised. that's what this show can do to you sometimes.

 

Anyway, back to Smackdown. A New Day were down in the ring, awaiting their opponents. It's was The Ascension. The Ascension cut an inset promo on Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes for being old. *Sigh*.

 

So Xavier Woods & Big E fought Konnor & Viktor and The Ascension won. That's really all you need to know. These guys are all dead in the water, even if The Ascension are unbeaten.

 

Hey, it's Luke Harper! He didn't get an entrance again so we didn't get to hear his Skynyrd-esque music. Booooooooo! He's fighting Roman Reigns because I don't know.

 

They had a match, and it was okay. One of Reigns's better singles outings for a while, anyway, if a bit Reigns-by-numbers. He won after no-selling Harper's superkick (which has killed lesser, puny men) and hitting the spear for the win.

 

Wasn't it nice to see Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns not take on Kane and the Big Show? Maybe the Big Show will even be off this show altogether?

 

Oh, it's the Big Show. He came down to the ring to fight Erick Rowan. Because we must be punished.

 

Show attacked Rowan before the match started and beat him up good on the outside. He threw him inside and the ref asked Rowan if he wanted to start the match and the dumb bastard said he did. Show won with a chokeslam. Poor Erick Rowan.

 

All these short matches make for a long fucking show.

 

Crap, it's Cameron. Remember when Cameron tried to pin someone who was lying on their front? If I were the ref in that match I'd have just walked out. Anyway, she's fighting Paige, and the Bellas are on commentary. They're wearing sunglasses because Paige's skin is so pale. There is so much wrong with this angle that I don't even know where to start.

 

So Cameron and Paige had a match and it was bad. Not really bad, but bad. Paige won with a ghost superkick and the PTO. Blah blah blah.

 

Backstage Renee spoke to Goldust. He did a really good talky about how Stardust is a cancer who is eating his brother alive. He said he'll have to do the most difficult thing he's ever done - beat his brother at Fastlane.

 

Stardust then popped up on a TV behind Goldust and Backstage Renee. He said that, after Fastlane, Cody won't be the only one to cease to exist - the world will also forget the name... Goldust. This was good.

 

Hey, it's the Usos! And Mrs Uso! Jimmy is fighting Tyson Kidd, who is here with Cesaro and Mrs Kidd. Lather, rinse, repeat.

 

I would say they had a match but after less than a minute Rusev ran down and destroyed the Usos and Kidd. Cesaro, wisely, stayed out of his way. Three quarters of Sunday's tag-team title match beaten by a mid-carder (admittedly, a high mid-carder). Russo-esque.

 

Rusev ranted about Cena while Lana looked on from the top of the ramp. I guess with Cena not working these shows they have to sacrifice someone...

 

It's (finally) time for our main event! It's Dolph Ziggler versus Seth Rollins, and J&J Security are banned from ringside. They keep interfering in his matches, you see.

 

The match began slowly and they threw to a commercial break early, with Rollins on top. When they came back after the break, the first thing we saw was The Ryback & Erick Rowan at ringside. Then the announcers told us they were there because Kane & the Big Show had come to ringside.

 

So let me get this straight: J&J Security are banned from ringside but two bigger dudes are allowed in their place? I guess it's because Kane & the Big Show have never interfered on Rollins's behalf. Ever. Fuck this fucking show.

 

So, yeah, Rollins won when Kane distracted Ziggler, and by "distracted" I mean got up on the apron in a match he wasn't part of. Yeah.

 

After the match, they all brawled and all three good guys got kerb stomped for their trouble and the heels stood tall at the end of the show, like anyone could possibly care.

 

This was a Bad Show. It had lots of short, crappy matches, and nothing much else to compensate for that. I am not excited for the PPV on Sunday because they've done a terrible job of getting there. Yay for Wrestlemania season, am I right?

[King Pitcos]

I think they've done a fine job with Reigns vs Bryan and Cena vs Rusev. The Sting/Triple H thing should be good, too. Where I think they've missed a few tricks, aka my horrible fantasy booking:

 

-Ziggler & Ryback vs Kane & Big Show on the PPV, with a quick win for the faces, could have been a good launchpad for a Ziggler/Ryback team.

-They should have had Rollins issue an open challenge for the PPV, answered by Jericho, who later gets a big injury-causing curb stomp to write him out. Rollins could then do more bragging on Raw, only to be rendered speechless by an Orton return.

-Miz & Mizdow vs Gold & Stardust should be on the PPV. When you're doing two dissension angles at once, mix them for a week.

 

This should be in the Fast Lane thread really.

[Mr_Danger]

I thought Reigns' selling was much better this week and a lot more appropriate for the opponent he was facing, bar the way he just kind of snapped back to normal as soon as the ref counted three which spoilt what was a good finish a little bit.

 

To be fair to Reigns he's looked better each week since the Rumble and I think his character is getting back to where it should be. His in ring stuff will be a work in progress anyway but once he's got the transitional stuff down I think he's got a pretty dynamic working style. I quite liked his wild man Samoan facials as well, need more of that.

[King Pitcos]

I thought Reigns' selling was much better this week and a lot more appropriate for the opponent he was facing, bar the way he just kind of snapped back to normal as soon as the ref counted three which spoilt what was a good finish a little bit.

 

That might be a WWE style thing. Daniel Bryan's an absolute bastard when it comes to no-selling injuries post-match (or from when he starts firing up, really), and Cena and Ambrose are guilty of it too.

[wooly]

for a while i have been wondering why the WWE are pissing on curtis axel every chance they get but now i know why from this. which made me laugh

 

 

he turns around and looks at the big screen which clearly says 32 days 7 mins and says still fucks up by saying been in the royal rumble match for 32 hrs 7 mins

[Linus]

Proper review later, of course, but I mostly dug Smackdown this week. Mostly around the IC-title shenanigans. And Wade Barrett's sad, sad face when he had his belt nicked. Poor Wade

[FUM]

for a while i have been wondering why the WWE are pissing on curtis axel every chance they get but now i know why from this. which made me laugh

 

 

he turns around and looks at the big screen which clearly says 32 days 7 mins and says still fucks up by saying been in the royal rumble match for 32 hrs 7 mins

 

Didn't even bother to edit it out - poor cunt.

[The Dart]

Barrett constantly saying "give me my bloody title" or "where's my bloody title" had me cracking up.  Bloody is such a funny word to hear on an American show even if it's an English person saying it.

[The King of Old School]

Is Fandango trying to be a face now?