TBHND

TBHND
Well that's what I heard,,,

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Smackdown 4/11/14

-The show opens with an "In Memory of WARRIOR" graphic and a voice over from Michael Cole stating that Raw will be a tribute show to him.

-From Lafayette, LA

-John Cena kicks us off and the sound sweetening is REALLY happy about that. He recaps WrestleMania and then Raw, saying it's an exciting time to be in WWE. Cena calls himself the "measuring stick" and that anyone who wants to be someone in WWE has to go through him. The Wyatts interrupt, with Harper stating that Cena has given the family more time to hurt him. Bray is next, and he's happy because he sees everything, including what is inside Cena. Bray is ready to go to new "extremes" to pull the monster out of Cena.

-TONIGHT: Daniel Bryan & The Usos VS Randy Orton, Batista, & Kane

-Cesaro (w/Paul Heyman) is heading towards the ring for his match with Big Show.

-The Streak is over, in case you didn't know.

-Match 1: Big Show VS Cesaro (w/Paul Heyman)

-No music for Cesaro, but he does get Heyman hyping him up during his entrance. Heyman says when you are the advocate for Brock Lesnar, your next client must be "a sure thing, the next big thing, the King of Swing". Cesaro and Show shake hands. Cesaro hits an uppercut, but in turn gets knocked through the ropes. Show hits an overhand chop, but Cesaro fires back and tries a suplex from the apron into the ring. Show blocks, so Cesaro tries a sunset bomb to the floor, which Show also blocks before sitting on Cesaro's chest. Show gets two off that and calls for the WMD, but Cesaro takes a powder, and confers with Heyman, who is sitting in on commentary. Heyman advises Cesaro to take Show's air as we go to break.

Back from break Cesaro is on Show's back hanging onto a sleeper. Cesaro apparently injured his leg on a backdrop during commercial. Show gets out of the sleeper, but misses an avalanche, and Cesaro reapplies it. Show looks almost out of it, but he manages to throw Cesaro off and start his comeback. He bowls Cesaro over and goes for a chokeslam, which Cesaro counters into another sleeper. Show escapes again and goes for a second rope elbow, but Cesaro moves. The crowd chants for the swing and Cesaro looks to ablige, but Jack Swagger runs in with an anklelock for a DQ.

** Psychologically sound, but not particularly exciting.

-Show takes Swagger out, and Cesaro shows his appreciation by attack Show, and hitting him with the Neutralizer. Should have saved that for the inevitable rematch.

-Hulk Hogan is here.

-BOLIEVE

-Match 2: Los Matadores (w/El Torito) VS Rybaxel

-Diego catches Ryback with a dropkick, but gets caught leaping off the second turnbuckle and muscled into a powerslam before Ryback tags Axel. Diego hits a nice punch to the face, but Axel comes back with a clothesline to the back of the head, followed by a running knee to the top of the head. Diego gets caught in Rybaxel's corner and double teamed, then Ryback gets two off that before slapping on a chinlock. Ryback tags Axel who allows the "hot" tag that the crowd couldn't care less about. Fernando does some stuff, ending with a hammerlock DDT on Axel. Ryback breaks up the pin and gets send outside. Torito tries a dive on Ryback but gets caught. Fernando saves him, but the distraction allows Axel to hit the Axel Neckbreaker for the first time since he lost the IC title and get the pin.

*1/2 I can appreciate the tag formula work, but this wasn't good, and the crowd wasn't into it at all.

-Rene Young welcomes RVD back, and RVD talks a bit about how everything has changed since he left again last October, but everything's still cool when you're RVD.

-Match 3: Damien Sandow VS RVD

-I don't see this going well for Sandow. RVD gets a quick schoolboy for two, then scores with a thrust kick. Sandow rolls RVD up while RVD plays to the crowd, but RVD quickly escapes, then hits another big kick followed by Rolling Thunder. RVD hits a low dropkick, but misses a moonsault off the apron. Sandow takes advantage by aggressively sending RVD into the barricade, and gets two off that. Sandow pounds away and goes for the chinlock, but hitting an exposed knee drop followed by the Elbow of Disdain for two. Sandow keeps the pressure on, but takes a couple more ig kicks to the face. RVD goes up top, but gets caught and crotched. RVD fights off a superplex attempt (getting really tired of seeing that after this week), and finishes with the Five Star Frog Splash.

**1/2 This was solid enough, but Sandow is in full-on jobber mode, and thus had zero chance against RVD.

-Hulk Hogan is next.

-Adam Rose's Exotic Express is still rolling along.

-Hulk Hogan comes out, and talks about getting chills seeing Daniel Bryan win the title at WrestleMania before introducing the man himself. There is no way Hogan knew who Bryan was a month ago. Bryan is happy to be back on Smackdown, getting married, main eventing WrestleMania, and sharing a ring with Hogan. Bryan talks about being a lifetime Hulkamaniac, and taking his advice, even if he didn't quite make it to having the 24' pythons. Bryan wants to top off his dream week, and asks for Hogan's music to be played, then joins him in doing the pose routine.

-BAD NEWS BARRETT is up next.

-Match 4: Kofi Kingston VS Bad News Barrett

-Barrett catches Kofi trying to prevent his delivering of some bad news, and slugs him down. Kofi comes back with a kick, then hits a springboard cross-body for two. Barrett tosses Kofi outside,  but Kofi skins the cat. Kofi avoids the Bull Hammer, and hits a flying clothesline followed by the Boom Drop. Kofi looks to finish, but Barrett takes a powder. Back in Kofi blocks a kick and takes Barrett down, but the TiP is countered with the Bull Hammer, and Barrett wins.

-*1/2 Not much to this one. Slick finish though.

-Match 5: Santino Marella (w/Emma) VS Fandango (w/Layla)

-So Fandango has a new manager and his light silhouette back. Santino takes Fandango down, but Fandango fights out. Santino power walks away from a punch, but keeps walking right into a chop. Fandango hits another chop then avoids one from Santino. Santino fights back with a hiptoss and looks to finish, but Layla steals the Cobra, and Fandango wins it with a school boy.

1/2* Yup, that was a short TV match.

-JBL & Cole recap Paige's Divas title win. A short profile video of Paige follows, then a video showing Paige winning the title follows that.

-A video recaps the ending to RAW. I am quite pleased that The Shield are still together. The group promo from Main Event is then shown.

-Kane, Batista, & Randy Orton talk their match over, barely able to not fight each other over who gets to murder Daniel Bryan.

-Match 6: WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan & WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos VS Randy Orton, Batista, & Kane

-Batista starts with one of the Usos, who lands several kicks and slaps on an armlock before tagging his brother. Batista catches that Uso (the injured one) with a spinebuster, then tags Orton, who stomps on the bad ribs before striking his pose. Orton pounds away, then tags Kane before adding a headbutt as we go to break.

Back from break, Kane and Batista work over the injured Uso, then it's Orton's turn, and he hits a decapitator for two. Uso tries to fight back, but Orton drops him ribs-first on the ropes for two, then squeezes on the bad ribs. Uso fights out of that, but runs right into a dropkick. Kane comes in, and hits a sidewalk slam for two before applying a rear bearhug. Orton comes back in and hits a snap powerslam, but stops to cheapshot the other Uso, distracting himself and allowing the legal Uso to hit a Samoan Drop.

Orton tags Kane, who takes an enziguiri to the shoulder and allows the hot tag to Bryan. Bryan flies in with a missile dropkick, then knocks Batista off the apron before going to work on Kane. Bryan hits a flying clothesline, followed by some Yes Kicks. Kane ducks the buzzsaw kick, but Bryan then low-bridges him, and follows with a suicide dive. Orton & Batista go after Bryan, but the Usos dive over the top onto them to break that up, and everyone brawls outside for a double count-out.

*** Solid enough tag formula match, but in a world where The Shield are setting new standards almost every time, this will be forgotten by Monday, especially with the non-finish.

-Orton & Batista destroy the Usos in the ring, while Kane sets Bryan up for a chokeslam through the announce table. The Shield make the save, then chase Orton & Batista away. Kane tries to sneak attack them with a chair, but Bryan cuts that off with a running knee, and The Shield, at the behest of Bryan, give Kane a triple powerbomb. A stare down closes the show.

-FINAL THOUGHTS: This was pretty much an extension of RAW, with nothing really standing out or on its own. Anything important that happened here will be shown again on Raw, so if you're a Smackdown non-viewer, you didn't miss much this week.

No comments:

Post a Comment