May 19, 2016
Episode 874
(taped May 17, 2016)
#SmackDown
City: Greenville, SC
Venue: Bon Secours Wellness Arena
Commentary: Mauro Ranallo, Jerry Lawler, Byron Saxton
Ring Announcer: Eden Stiles
Video
Recap of of the IC feud tag match from RAW featuring The Miz, Cesaro, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn.
Intro Video
“Black and Blue” by CFO$
Match 1
Kevin Owens vs Cesaro
(referee: Charles Robinson; guest commentary: Sami Zayn, The Miz, Maryse)
#CesarovsOwens
Result: Kevin Owens wins via pinfall with a schoolboy
Time: 11:02 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
This match is apparently in place of the episode of Miz TV that was announced on RAW. Which is a good thing. The match itself was good. It was in and out of the ring a lot early in the match, and Zayn and Miz were a bit distracting on commentary (mostly Miz). After a while Cesaro and Owens stayed in the ring and it was a solid bout. Eventually Owens and Cesaro attacked their respective rivals on the outside, and the resulting interference led to the finish. Also, Owens still seems the most dominant in this (sort of) four-way feud.
** This still feels a lot like two separate feuds squashed together, but that’s probably good for keeping the feuds going separately after Extreme Rules. **
Match 2
Paige vs Dana Brooke
(referee: Jason Ayers; guest commentary: Becky Lynch)
Result: Dana Brooke wins via pinfall with a Samoan Driver
Time: 3:15
Match Thoughts
Pretty good match. Dana showed off her athleticism, though some of her moves seem unnecessarily complicated (like her handstand foot choke). She looked good though. It wasn’t really a squash, but the part of Paige could’ve really been anyone. She didn’t do a lot and was barely even mentioned by the commentators. Becky’s commentary was decent though.
** It’s strange to me that Paige has become enhancement talent in a way. She kind of fills whatever role they need at the moment, though she hasn’t really had her own story in a while. **
Backstage
Renee Young welcomes Rusev and Lana. Renee shows Rusev footage of Rusev applying The Accolade to Kalisto on RAW. Rusev laughs. He “turned a Mexican churro into a pretzel.”
Match 3
Dolph Ziggler vs Sheamus
(referee: Mike Chioda)
Result: Dolph Ziggler wins via pinfall after a superkick
Time: 6:28 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Pretty good match. They’ve had better, but it wasn’t bad. Sheamus completely dominated the entire match until the very last part. It was a kind of warm-up for his match against Corbin since I expect that match will go much the same way.
Ring Area
After the match Baron Corbin comes out and tells Ziggler that he’s going to hurt him at Extreme Rules, and no DQ means no one can stop it.
Ring Area
Chris Jericho comes out and stands under the Asylum cage. He says he’s been in every match the WWE has, but neither he nor Ambrose have ever been in an Asylum Match. He’ll do better though, because he’s smarter than Ambrose. He’s also more crazy, or so he says. He has the cage lowered and counts how many days Ambrose will be in the hospital after the match due to the weapons he’ll use. It’ll be 40 days.
As Jericho allows everyone to drink him in, Ambrose enters the ring disguised as a member of the ring crew. He attacks Jericho from behind and uses a kendo stick from the cage. After a short beating, Jericho escapes and backs away.
Life Lessons with Coach Backlund
Bob Backlund tells Darren Young that he expects Young to remember everything he teaches him. No notes. He then starts to recite every president in order. Backlund also disapproves of Young’s language.
Match 4
New Day (Tag Champs) & Big Cass vs The Vaudevillains & The Dudley Boyz
(referee: Darrick Moore)
#8ManTag
Result: Big Cass pins Bubba Ray Dudley after an Empire Elbow
Time: 7:21 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Very good match. The first segment had New Day dominating, then the bad guys took over. Big Cass’ hot tag leg to a fun breakdown and the finish. I liked a lot of different parts of this match including Big E tossing Kofi over the ropes onto Aiden English, some nice back and forth, and the irony of Bubba Ray screaming at The Vaudevillains about talking in the ring and fighting on the outside. Good stuff.
Video
John Cena is coming back on Memorial Day.
Video
A recap of the Natalya/Charlotte feud.
Match 5
Luke Gallows w/ Karl Anderson, AJ Styles vs Roman Reigns (WWE World Heavyweight Champ) w/ The Usos
(referee: John Cone)
Result: Roman Reigns wins via DQ when Karl Anderson interferes
Time: 8:13 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
A decent match, but still a fairly average Reigns-style bout. Gallows showed his power early on with a shoulder block that sent Reigns to the floor, and I almost bought a near fall from Gallows when he got Reigns in the Gallow’s Pole off a distraction. The distraction was caused by The Usos attacking Styles and Anderson after Styles grabbed Reign’s foot while he was setting up for a move in the corner. This match devolved into a brawl, but I don’t think anyone expected anything other than that.
Ring Area
The fight continues after the match as The Club and The Bloodline go at it. Styles seems to be fed up with Reigns and his family. He goes to use the announce table, but Reigns drops Styles on it instead. All six men continue to fight as the show ends.
Show Impressions
Not a bad show. It did a good job of keeping the momentum of the big matches going into Extreme Rules (except for the Women’s Title match which only had a video announcement). The matches were mostly entertaining as well.
Match of the Night
New Day & Big Cass vs The Vaudevillains & The Dudley Boyz
I think the breakdown at the end and Bubba Ray’s constant chatter helped this match a lot, and it was already a lot of fun without those things.