March 3, 2016
Episode 863
(taped March 1, 2016)
City: Atlanta, GA
Venue: Philips Arena
Commentary: Mauro Ranallo, Jerry Lawler, Byron Saxton
Ring Announcer: Eden Stiles
Video
From RAW, a recap of Triple H beating up Ambrose and agreeing to his challenge for a title match.
Ring Area
Ambrose takes a seat in the middle ring. He talks about living the life that’s in front of his face and how sometimes it sucks, but sometimes it works. Like when he got Triple H to agree to a title shot. He wonders about what he’ll do at Wrestlemania if he wins the title. Reigns? Lesnar? Triple H? He continues until Kevin Owens interrupts.
Owens asks Ambrose what gives him the right to start Smackdown by spewing crap. Ambrose makes Owens sick. He takes a swing at Ambrose, but Ambrose dodges and hits Owens with a chair. As Owens backs away, Ambrose wants a fight.
** Dean Ambrose seems to be the only guy who is in one of the big matches and Wrestlemania and is also consistently on TV. He seems to be carrying a large amount of the story from week to week. **
Match 1
The Usos vs Sheamus & Rusev w/ King Barrett, Alberto Del Rio
(referee: Charles Robinson)
Result: Sheamus pins Jimmy Uso after a Brogue Kick
Time: 5:10 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Good match. It started off pretty average, but one the pace picked up it didn’t really stop. It looked realistic how the Usos were able to deal with the superior numbers of the League of Nations for an extended, exciting period of time in the match.
Ring Area
After the match, the Dudley Boyz head to the ring with a table. They set it up, but they don’t use it as they attack the Usos.
Match 2
Dolph Ziggler vs The Miz
(referee: Rod Zapata)
Result: Dolph Ziggler wins via pinfall with a backslide
Time: 0:49
Match Thoughts
Another quick match like the one they had on RAW on Monday. This was actually an answer to that match and it looks like a start to minor feud. Hopefully the matches will start to get longer rather than shorter.
Backstage
R-Truth gets some food in catering and sees Goldust eating alone. Truth sits down and tries to sort of apologize. He tells Goldust they should be partners. Goldust doesn’t buy it. Expecting Truth to shove Goldust’s food in his face, Goldust does it to himself first. Who’s the idiot now?
Match 3
Divas Title Number One Contender Match
Becky Lynch vs Sasha Banks
(referee: Dan Engler)
Result: The match ends in a double DQ when Charlotte attacks Becky and Sasha at the same time
Time: 8:43
Match Thoughts
Another very good match between these two, but the ending to this one wasn’t as good. The end result wasn’t unexpected, but I don’t really like how they did it. Flair just started getting in Becky and Sasha’s faces for no reason which led to Charlotte getting involved. I guess it makes sense, but I’m tired of the Flair/Charlotte thing. I never really liked it much to begin with.
Backstage
Renee Young asks Charlotte about her game plan. She says neither Becky nor Sasha deserves a title shot. Renee Young informs Charlotte that her actions have led to a triple threat match at Wrestlemania. Charlotte has no comment.
** Yeah, this seemed pretty obvious. A double DQ can either mean that neither won or both won depending on how you look at it. It makes Charlotte and Flair look really dumb to not realize that. And what was her end goal anyway? She was going to face someone at Wrestlemania, why not try to influence the match to get the person you think you have a better chance of beating? Anything else just delays the decision or leads to something like what happened. But whatever, I got the triple threat I wanted to see, so I should stop nitpicking I guess. **
Ring Area
New Day wonders how Y2AJ managed to get a title shot. Kofi says the world is a magical place. Just look at Jell-o. Or the fact that Xavier Woods became a success despite being from Hot-Garbage-Lanta.
Match 4
Kofi Kingston (Tag Champ) w/ Xavier Woods, Big E vs AJ Styles
(referee: Jason Ayers)
Result: AJ Styles wins via pinfall after a springboard forearm smash
Time: 6:25 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Good match. Kofi dominated a lot of the match due to distractions by New Day, but AJ held his own. The match had a lot of shenanigans that influenced its outcome, but it was still good.
Backstage
Bray Wyatt saw a beast with seven heads and ten horns. The beast will soon bow to him.
** Bray will face Lesnar at Roadblock. I like it. Lesnar sounds more like one of the “titans” he was talking about a few weeks ago. **
Match 5
Kevin Owens (IC Champ) vs Dean Ambrose
(referee: John Cone)
Result: Dean Ambrose wins via pinfall after Dirty Deeds
Time: 11:13 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Very good underdog/injured guy match. Great exchanges, great build, believable comebacks, good stuff. Definitely one of their better TV matches, and that’s saying something. It was a well-called match by Ranallo too.
Show Impressions
Despite the announcement of the Divas Title match being triple threat, this show seemed kind of like it didn’t matter in the long run, but it was still a very entertaining show.
Match of the Night
Kevin Owens vs Dean Ambrose
Easily the best match tonight for all the reasons stated above.