TV Review: WWE Smackdown Live #887 - Alberto Del Rio v John Cena 12

The last Smackdown Live before SummerSlam and we've got matches with John Cena, Randy Orton and World Champion Dean Ambrose, this was gonna be a great episode...right?

Yes siree, the main event of the evening was the TWELFTH collision between John Cena and Alberto Del Rio in everyone's favourite match-type the "forgone conclusion" match. ADR and Cena put on a decent contest, that had some nice near falls for ADR, especially off the same superkick that beat Cena back in October on ADR's return match, but the whole thing lacked any urgency, threat or most all importance. The hook of Cena facing the man that put him out of action in October, wasn't strong enough, and ADR's booking over the last few months meant it was very difficult to get invested in the action. This was not helped by the early portion of the match being more than a little sloppy, especially when it came to strikes, on behalf of both men. Cena would pick up the victory with an Attitude Adjustment, after surviving ADR's Cross Armbreaker. 

The significant moment would come after the match, with AJ Styles rising from the commentary table to launch an attack on Cena. Styles cut a fierce promo on Cena that added that extra bit of spice that their SummerSlam clash needed. The conclusion of the segment and indeed the show was an intriguing one, as Cena would overcome The Phenomenal One hitting him with two Attitude Adjustments, one of which was through the announce table. Cena looked dominant after comeback from a sustained beatdown from Styles and a lengthy match with ADR and again this added an extra layer of drama to the 21st August clash between the two. After having Cena look so strong at the end of Smackdown Live, I'm wondering if Styles has to win at the supercard.

Randy Orton's contest was opposite Heath Slater, with The One Man Band picking up his first victory over The Viper at the fourth time of asking. Okay, so that win was by disqualification after about a minute, because Orton got carried away beating the shit into Slater, but a win is a win, right? As we build to Orton's match with Brock Lesnar on Sunday, it was a unique case of "Everything you can do, I can do better" as Orton tried to out Lesnar Lesnar's destruction of Slater on this week's RAW. For me, The Legend Killer was much better when he was doing his own thing, brawling on the outside and aggressively throwing Slater in the ring posts, as opposed to when he was hitting German suplexes, which both looked a little odd. The "15 Years in the Making" hype video for Orton v Lesnar at SummerSlam aired once again as well

Dolph Ziggler's rivalry with Dean Ambrose over the World Championship continued to try to find it's groove with an appearance from the pair on the show-opening Miz TV. Like the majority of this feud, the first six or seven minutes kind of plodded along and lacked any real direction with The Miz randomly getting involved at various points to compare Ziggler to Ghostbusters re-boot and Ambrose still looking to find what his role with this whole thing is, talking about Ziggler starring shit films or something. Where things did finally seem to click was when Ambrose put a point on his promo with the line "You've never wanted it bad enough and you're never going to get it" as the reply from Ziggler was superb, drawing the crowd in and making the upcoming match feel can't miss as he talked about Ambrose having to dig deep and scrap for everything on Sunday night. The Show Off brought the passion that made him so entertaining to watch when he initially fought his way to the top and the exclamation point of a superkick to Ambrose, finishing off his storytelling, should hopefully lead in a brilliant match on 21st August.  

The World Champion was also in action on the episode, facing off with The Wyatt Family's Erick Rowan in a well-crafted TV bout. This contest was much better than I had expected it to be and I ended up getting quite into it, thanks to the psychology that the pair brought to it. After initially going straight for Dirty Deeds, Ambrose would use the bigger man's power against him, causing him to fall out of the ring and miss a big boot in the corner, it was simple but the two guys made it extremely watchable. The wacky line spot where Ambrose escaped a powerbomb from Rowan was perhaps the best use of Ambrose's pendulum clothesline I've seen. The finish could have been a bit slicker, but it gave The Lunatic Fringe his heat back after the superkick from Ziggler earlier in the night and allowed him to head into SummerSlam with some strong momentum. The angle that followed with Bray Wyatt appearing to walk out on Rowan was a thought-provoking development, that we'll most likely produce a strong upper mid-card bout from Smackdown Live's first solo PPV, Backlash on 11th September.

A twelve man tag team bout, with American Alpha (Chad Gable & Jason Jordan), The Usos (Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso) and The Hype Bros (Mojo Rawley & Zack Ryder) going over The Vaudevillains (Aiden English & Simon Gotch), The Ascension (Konnor & Viktor) and Breezango (Tyler Breeze & Fandango), was a fun showcase of Smackdown Live's tag division, that seemed to plant the seeds for a couple of future tag feuds. The interaction between The Usos and American Alpha has to be the most captivating of any of those, as those two teams could steal a show some day, especially if Jimmy & Jey were turned heel. The conflict came thick and fast with a couple of sequences that saw everyone get involved, en route to Gable getting the pin on Gotch after he and Jordan had nailed Grand Amplitude. 

Just like the tag team scene, Smackdown Live's Women's division seems to be having to squeeze an awful lot into a minimal amount of time. That might be a negative in some aspects, but it does mean that every woman on the roster is getting the chance to showcase themselves in some way or another and once things settle no one can argue that they haven't had the opportunity. This week's women's bout had a number of storylines to play with as Natalya teamed with Alexa Bliss in a losing effort to Becky Lynch and Carmella. The wrestling content was fine from the four, but the clash was all about the finish, as Eva Marie finally arrived in the building, got chased around the ring by Naomi, causing the distraction that would eventually lead to Lynch out-wrestling Natalya and gaining a submission victory with the Disarmer. There's six women fighting for time on the brand at the moment, I feel like the week's following SummerSlam and heading towards Backlash we'll get to see who deserves that time most.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.29/10

A slight victory for Smackdown Live this week over Monday Night RAW (2-2, if you're keeping track) although that's mainly down to not having much deadweight (maybe down to having an hour less time to fill) than having anything that was especially good. Just like the World title feud, the show is still attempting to find it's feet and to work out the best way to showcase it's wrestlers and build towards multiple PPVs. The match booking could do with a bit more excitement and tension, Alberto Del Rio coming out of nowhere to main event two week's in a row meant that those matches were difficult to buy into, especially against top guys like John Cena and Randy Orton, despite being mostly solid bouts. The Women's and Tag Team divisions continue to feature interesting characters, but lack direction, whilst the Intercontinental title feud was relegated to happening in the commercial break, which screams a lack of time management. 

Once again WWE's main programming continues to be watchable, but with very little to get excited about.

All content - James Marston

TV Review: WWE Monday Night RAW #1195 (Ambrose Asylum with Shane McMahon + Jericho vs. Zayn)

On 18th April 2016, WWE aired the 1195th episode of Monday Night RAW, having taped the show earlier that same day at The O2 in North Greenwich, London, England. With 13 days until Payback 2016, Shane McMahon was a guest on Dean Ambrose's talk show segment The Ambrose Asylum which would eventually lead to Chris Jericho facing off with Sami Zayn, Cesaro and Maryse guested on WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz's talk show segment Miz TV leading to Cesaro teaming with WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day to take on Miz and The League of Nations and Kevin Owens squared off against Dean Ambrose...but was it any good? Let's take a look!

monday night raw #1195 match card

Match 1 - Singles - Sami Zayn vs. Chris Jericho

Match 2 - WWE Tag Team Championship #1 Contender's Tournament Semi-Final - Big Cass & Enzo Amore vs. The Dudley Boyz: Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley

Match 3 - Singles - Fandango vs. Baron Corbin

Match 4 - Eight Man Tag Team - WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz & The League of Nations: Rusev, Sheamus & Alberto Del Rio with Maryse vs. Cesaro & The New Day: Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods 

Match 5 - Eight Woman Tag Team - Natalya, Becky Lynch, Paige & Sasha Banks vs. Naomi, Tamina, Summer Rae & WWE Women's Champion Charlotte with Ric Flair 

Match 6 - WWE Tag Team Championship #1 Contender's Tournament Semi-Final - The Vaudevillains: Aiden English & Simon Gotch vs. The Usos: Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso

Match 7 - Singles - Heath Slater with The Social Outcasts: Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel vs. Apollo Crews (If Slater wins then Crews must join the Social Outcasts)

Match 8 - Singles - Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose

owens, zayn and jericho interrupt the ambrose asylum with shane mcmahon, jericho defeats zayn

I get a big kick out of opening segments like this one, for some reason. I think it's because they're the promo equivalent of a spot fest, that keeps the good times coming. Things were helped by the fact that everyone involved is popular and more than capable on the microphone, with a red hot O2 giving the segment the extra drive that it needed. The opening was essentially there to confirm two matches for Payback 2016, as well as make two matches for later in the show, but was padded out nicely by the work of all five men who each bought their different styles to the table and created an entertaining talking segment. Chris Jericho and Dean Ambrose stood out in particular for me, as Jericho's salty old vet gimmick is coming together nicely, whilst Ambrose used his off beat humour to work as the glue of the whole opening. A weird moment where The Lunatic Fringe pointed out James Corden's parents in the audience was probably the only thing that let this down, as it showed just how desperate WWE is to have anyone remotely notable in the front row of it's shows.

Chris Jericho and Sami Zayn could have a good match with their eyes closed and their hands tied behind their backs, if that was what they so wished. That's exactly what this was a good TV match with Jericho and Zayn running through a series of nice sequences and creating a solid narrative that meant there wasn't a dull moment to be had. It was very well put together, to get the most out of the twelve allocated minutes. The two characters slotted together nicely and this propelled the narrative of the bout, with the more experienced Jericho making sure that Zayn couldn't hit a lot of his high-flying offence, only for Zayn to be able to pull something else out of his sleeve. Y2J moving out of the way of a potential outside dive from Zayn, only for The Underdog from the Underground to nail Jericho with a Tornado DDT after soaring through the turnbuckle.

Another defeat for Sami Zayn on television leaves him without a singles win since his 18th March victory over Stardust on Main Event #130. However, the manner of Zayn's defeat probably means that this isn't the end of the world, as Y2J poked him in eye before delivering a Codebreaker for the victory in a satisfying ending. As I said last week regarding Zayn's loss to AJ Styles, I feel that Zayn's popularity actually increases with every loss, he is after all branded as "The Underdog from the Underground", and it really wouldn't work if he was winning left, right and centre. Jericho's character was enhanced by the victory and his cheating ways should continue to increase his heat as he heads into a match with Dean Ambrose in 13 days time. 

fast-forward...Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows interrupt an interview with AJ Styles, oooh Bullet Club friends...

amore and cass defeat dudley boyz to advance to the final of the wwe tag team championship number one contender's tournament 

A fairly simple, but non the less captivating slice of tag team action here, as Enzo Amore & Big Cass won their first match on Monday Night RAW and advance in the WWE Tag Team Championship Tournament. The high-energy duo had the crowd rocking with a charismatic promo, before both put in a strong performances, opposite the veteran tandem. It wasn't particularly flashy and stuck to the basic tag team format that pretty much everyone knows, with Amore playing the Certified G in peril, before Cass was able to make a wonderful comeback. Cass and Amore's big man, small man act works very well on WWE's main show, perhaps more so than I'd imagined it would and the commentary made a point of bringing up the dynamic of the team. Bubba Ray and D-Von allowed their opponents to look great throughout, and when Amore pinned Bubba Ray following some heel miscommunication and a Rocket Launcher, the new kids on the block seemed like genuine stars. 

reigns and styles meet face to face, gallows and anderson attack reigns

A very interesting segment here for sure, as WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns cut his most heely promo to date in front of a fairly hostile North Greenwich audience. After repeating his "I'm not a good guy" speech for the third week in a row, Reigns addressed his match with AJ Styles at Payback 2016 and threatened to hit anyone who got in the way of victory. Reigns character has been getting closer and closer to the sweet spot over the last few weeks and keeping his television time fairly limited (the entire segment went just over 8 minutes) took away the "forced down our throats" element that many fans like to bring up and has meant that his appearance have begun to feel special. Styles was on form also and had some nice back and forth on the microphone after interrupting Reigns that managed to push their bout on 1st May, but of course, that wasn't it. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows jumped Reigns and left him laying, whilst Styles walked away, adding an extra layer to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship bout and leaving things wide open heading into Monday Night RAW #1196 next week.

fast-forward...Styles tells Reigns he didn't have anything to do with the attack...Baron Corbin destroys Fandango and takes out Dolph Ziggler who was on commentary, more banter for The Big Breakfast...

miz tv with cesaro, cesaro & new day defeat miz & the l.o.n.

The Miz and Maryse's act at the moment is spot on, they easily get on the crowds tits and that's exactly what they are supposed to do. Miz bringing up a picture of Prince George on the big screen was a little bit corny and perhaps a misunderstanding on WWE's part of how attached a lot of Britons are to the Royal Family, but the WWE Intercontinental Champion did come across as a massive jebbend when he began insulting a small child. Cesaro's suit game was strong as he interrupted The A-Lister and things got heated between the pair. Miz quoted Taken which got "boring" chants, before Cesaro put the exclamation mark on things by quoting Roddy Piper and claiming he was all out of bubblegum. After a few teased match-ups, we'd eventually get a Eight Man Tag bout, introduced by Cesaro ripping away his suit to reveal The New Day as his partners.

A lively eight man tag bout, that kept the action coming and continued to have the London crowd on board. Another straight-forward structure here, but one that was done well with all eight participants in the match working hard to put on an entertaining contest. The initial face-shine made the most of the exciting offence that the New Day and Cesaro could come up with as a unit, whilst Xavier Woods worked particularly well in the face in peril role with some strong selling as he took an extended beatdown from the heel side. The closing stretch of the contest was thrilling spot-fest with Big E in particular standing out as he managing to hit a Belly to Booty suplex on Alberto Del Rio, before evading the Miz's Skull Crushing Finale attempt to hit a Big Ending. The excitement came to a head when Cesaro transitioned beautifully into a Neutraliser to get the win for his team by pinning Sheamus. A fun match, that gave Cesaro some momentum heading into his Intercontinental Championship match at Payback 2016, although it was pretty much a case of treading water for everyone else.

fast-forward...Mauro Ranallo interviews WWE Women's Champion Charlotte and Ric Flair, Natalya interrupts and reveals that she a rematch at Payback and says she'll have Bret Hart in her corner...

natalya, lynch, paige and banks defeat naomi, tamina, rae and charlotte

Who booked two eight person tag team matches right next to one another? I was genuinely surprised that the O2 didn't turn on this one, as it was a real piece of filler, that never felt like it truly got going. The only storyline that was involved was Natalya and Charlotte's family feud thingy and whilst the other women have had numerous ins and outs with each other before it didn't feel like this was even thought about being explored and left things feeling just a little bit flat for me. Natalya locking the Sharpshooter on Charlotte and making her tap out for the second week in a row, strengthened her position as Number One Contender, but beyond this I can't help thinking that the time could have been better spent. Allowing two women to shine bright would have been a much better option than having eight of them get lost in the mix.

fast-forward...Recap of Gallows and Anderson attacking Reigns and Styles and Reigns backstage confrontation...

the vaudevillains defeat the usos to advance to the final of the wwe tag team championship number one contender's tournament

Considering this clash went under four minutes, I thought the Vaudevillains and The Usos managed to create an quality tag bout, that crammed a lot into the time. The finishing sequence especially was done well and showcased Aiden English and Simon Gotch, while also protecting the Usos. The story played out with Jey Uso diving to the outside onto Gotch, and then grasping his taped up shoulder in pain, with English taking advantage and sending Uso into the ringpost before a Whirling Dervish gave the Vaudevillains a victory on their Monday Night RAW debut. Having Big Cass and Enzo Amore and The Vaudevillains go over The Dudley Boyz and The Usos on the same show, sent out a big message about WWE's plans for the tag team division over the coming months, with the division looking the healthiest it has done for a very long time. 

crews defeats slater

It was nice to see Apollo Crews involved in a little bit of storyline this week, as he picked up his eight TV win in a row. It wasn't exactly the biggest chunk of story and featured a stipulation that seemingly came out of nowhere, but none the less it gave Crews' weekly squash just a little bit extra. Basically, had Crews suffered his first loss since early February to Heath Slater he would have been forced to join The Social Outcasts, after the stiplation was made on the RAW Pre-Show. Two moments from the contest made this one stand out from Crews' previous matches on Monday Night RAW, the first being a beautiful moonsault off the apron onto Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel and the second being a decent near fall for Slater as he rolled through on a Crews crossbody for a two count. The Spin-Out powerbomb would get the win for Crews. 

ambrose defeats owens, jericho lays out ambrose

The seventh televised bout between Kevin Owens and Dean Ambrose since November closed the show, with the pair stringing together a decent television contest. Similar to Zayn and Jericho earlier, these two are always going to deliver some very watchable action and that's exactly what this was, even if it lacked a little bit of substance that you'd really want from the final match on the show. Perhaps that's why the crowd began to chant for commentator John "Bradshaw" Layfield at one point during the match? All in all, this was a good wrestling match, that suffered from an over familiarity and a lack of purpose. Very easy to watch, but almost completely missable at the same time. 

The finish was perhaps the freshest part of the bout, as Ambrose dodged an Owens cannonball attempt, and used a school boy roll up to get Owens in position for a Dirty Deeds that would give The Lunatic Fringe a clean victory in his first match on Monday Night RAW since WrestleMania 32. Ambrose is still undefeated against Owens in WWE, with five clear victories over his rival. The show would close with Chris Jericho attacking Ambrose and nailing him with a Codebreaker as their feud became even more physical. With both picking victories up on this show, their rivalry has been elevated above that of Owens and Sami Zayn, as WWE sets the pair up for what should be a must-see clash at Payback 2016.

finally...

atpw scale rating - 5.54/10

Perhaps a slight step down in quality from the two weeks that proceeded it, but this week's Monday Night RAW was still a watchable slice of wrestling television pretty much throughout it's three hour running time. A hyped crowd drove things along from the exciting opening segment, with the three marquee bouts all providing something different. Chris Jericho and Sami Zayn flowed through a well-crafted, if a little brief main event, the eight man tag was a thrilling clash that showcase both sides well and Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens closed the show by adding another chapter to their storied rivalry. The undercard was highlighted by Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows attacking Roman Reigns following a solid segment with AJ Styles, whilst both WWE Tag Team Championship #1 Contender's matches managed to set up the winners nicely for a fresh clash in 13 days time. The show was let down by a pointless eight woman tag clash and a lack of urgency at times, but WWE is still in fine shape for the most part as they head to their next milestone event on 1st May.

TV Review: WWE Monday Night RAW #1184 (Ambrose/Reigns vs. New Day)

The 1184th episode of Monday Night RAW featured Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns teaming up to take on WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day, Dolph Ziggler clashing with Kevin Owens and AJ Styles appearing on Miz TV...but was it any good?

dean ambrose confronts brock lesnar

You can't really go wrong with a Paul Heyman sermon to open up Monday Night Raw, can you? Heyman was on stellar form as he ripped into Brock Lesnar's opponents at Fastlane, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns. The promo walked a fine line between comedy and seriousness, especially when Heyman began listing various nicknames for Ambrose based around his "Unstable" gimmick. Luckily, this part went just long enough to lead into a Dean Ambrose interruption, getting a decent pop out of the crowd. Ambrose getting in Lesnar's face and declaring he wanted a trip to "Suplex City" added a new dimension to the triple threat at Fastlane and allowed Ambrose to at least seem like a viable challenger to Lesnar and Reigns. The Lunatic Fringe did seem a little nervous here and stumbled over a couple of his lines, but when opposite The Beast Incarnate it did add a touch of realism to the whole segment. I mean, who would shit themselves when looking at Brock Lesnar? This was a nice change of pace for the regular Authority segments that have kicked off RAW recently, but I was surprised to see nothing built for the rest the show. 

kalisto defeats rusev via countout

After a couple of weeks trying to find his feet as United States Champion this bout provided Kalisto with a solid foundation on which to build upon. He has a surprising amount of chemistry with Rusev in the ring and the two worked well together throughout to produce a decent opening match. The storytelling was simple, taking the obvious power vs. speed route, but was done well enough that it held my attention throughout. Rusev managing to keep the King of Flight grounded, including answering a slingshot attempt to the outside with a well-timed superkick and the Bulgarian Brute's ongoing frustration at not being able to put the Champ away were both played well in-ring, with Rusev in particular putting on a impressive facial display. The finish was a mild disappointment with Kalisto hitting a hurricanrana that sent Rusev into the barricade to claim a countout victory, but it still allowed the smaller man to maintain some momentum heading into a Fastlane rematch with Alberto Del Rio. 

fast-forward...A backstage segment introduced our main event, as Stephanie McMahon told Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose that they would be facing WWE Tag Team Champions, The New Day later on tonight...A Renee Young interview with Brie Bella, concerning her sister Nikki's injuries, was interrupted by Charlotte & Ric Flair... 

the usos defeat the social outcasts

A basic tag team encounter here, as The Usos took a leaf out of The Young Bucks book and provided a superkick party for The Social Outcasts' Adam Rose and Curtis Axel. Beyond the finish this was a paint-by-numbers tag team action supposedly designed to get The Usos back on a roll after they lost to The New Day a few weeks ago at the Royal Rumble. The twins looked great in the closing stages of the match, putting on an exciting display managing to take out Rose and Axel, as well as Heath Slater at ringside, before closing the deal with a Not Superfly splash for the W. Perhaps the biggest talking point of the bout however was Lilian Garcia referring to the Usos as "Grammy award winning" rather than "Slammy award winning" and the fact that WWE decided to replay it on TV. It's pretty much common knowledge that Lilian is not the greatest ring announcer in the world and it seems that WWE only keeps her on the books so that they can take the piss out her on a regular basis. Bless her. 

miz tv with aj Styles

Could there be a more WWE segment to put AJ Styles into than Miz TV? Interestingly what we got was the Miz talking for AGES before Styles twatted him a few times. I quite liked the idea of having Miz explain who Styles is, as firstly it would clearly piss off a certain section of fans, but also allowed those who didn't have a clue who Styles is a chance to have a recognisable face basically put him over for five minutes. Having Miz compare Styles to his former NXT rookie Daniel Bryan was also an interesting development, that will surely get fans wet with anticipation of a WrestleMania dream match, but more likely that not was just clever way of using Bryan to boost Styles' popularity amongst the WWE die-hard fanbase. With a match set for Thursday Night Smackdown, it looks like the two will be having a bit of a mini-feud. 

fast-forward...Highlights from the opening segment with Brock Lesnar, Dean Ambrose and Paul Heyman...

brie bella defeats charlotte

Brie Bella picked up a surprise victory of Charlotte, marking her first TV victory of 2016 and her first win on Monday Night RAW since the end of October! The bout was scrappy at best with the two failing to connect during the match that was mainly focused on the antics of Ric Flair at ringside. It would seem that Flair and Charlotte are being positioned for a break-up feud heading into WrestleMania with a babyface Nature Boy being used to make Charlotte and even bigger heel heading out of the event. Having Brie sneak a victory following Flair doing some random shit on the apron, provides a little mini-feud for Charlotte over the next few weeks, that keeps her away from Becky Lynch and more importantly Sasha Banks allowing that feud to be bought to the boil just in time for an epic WrestleMania encounter. 

fast-forward...Highlights from last week's Thursday Night Smackdown main event, between The Wyatt Family and Roman Reigns, Chris Jericho & Dean Ambrose, including The Big Show making the surprise save for the babyface team...

the big show defeats erick rowan

A memories from their epic "Stairs" match from the tail end of 2014 came flooding back, Erick Rowan and Big Show put on a five star clinic, that had the crowd going apeshit from start to finish. I'm sure in some alternate universe that is exactly what happened. However, in our universe, Show squashed Rowan in minutes, winning with a Chokeslam. The Wyatt Family's Bray-less beat down of the giant post-match was mildly entertaining, even if them slamming Show onto some steel steps didn't quite have the visual effectevisness required. This is not a feud that anyone has been asking for. 

titus o'neil defeats tyler breeze 

Poor old Tyler Breeze hasn't been having a great time since being called up the main roster, has he? Still, he made Titus O'Neil look like a beast here bumping around for the bigger man before succumbing to the Clash of Titus. There seems to be a big push on O'Neil at the moment, with the idea being that he's a bloody good guy and you should like him. Also, it's Black history month and we've got no one else to push that is black at the moment. O'Neil is a talented big guy, but without a real storyline and with such transparent reasoning behind this latest push, I can't see him getting over with the regular WWE audience anytime soon. 

fast-forward...WWE World Heavyweight Champion Triple H and Brock Lesnar had a confrontation backstage...

dolph ziggler defeats kevin owens 

I wasn't too impressed by Dolph Ziggler and Kevin Owens outing last week, but this was a much improved effort that saw both men working hard throughout. The Prizefighter dominated for the most part, with some entertaining ad-libs as he tried to put the 2 time World Heavyweight Champion away. Ziggler's babyface selling and ability to believably fight from underneath was showcased well, as the Show Off pulled out a few tricks in order to keep himself in the match, a Fameasser on the outside stands out in particular. The commentary team actually did a pretty good job of putting over how much the bout could mean heading towards WrestleMania whilst also steadily building the in-ring rivalry that the two seem to have. I was surprised to see Ziggler pick up the victory here, his first on RAW since the end of November, but after losing on multiple occasions to Owens over the last few months, it at least provided something different as a finish for the two guys as Ziggler escaped a Pop-Up Powerbomb to hit a Zig Zag. It's a shame that these two guys will almost certainly end up lost in the mix in a few months time at WrestleMania.

fast-forward... A short package on Mark Henry to celebrate Black History Month (Mark Henry didn't appear on the show though)...

sasha banks vs. becky lynch ends in no contest 

Things all kicked off with an awkward as fuck segment between Sasha Banks and her Team B.A.D. compadres, as they all agreed that they'd all stay pals but that Sasha would leave the group. For some unknown reason Tamina and Naomi decided that stick about at ringside for Sasha's match with Becky Lynch. Even Stevie Wonder saw the finish of this one coming. At least, Team B.A.D. turning on Sasha means that we now have no confusion on which side of the fence The Bo$$ is on, I suppose.  Similar to what's going on with Charlotte and Brie Bella, this story seems to be happening as a way of keeping the two away from each other for the time being. A tag bout with Becky & Sasha against Team B.A.D. is surely just around the corner. 

fast-forward...Renee Young interviewed Chris Jericho, with Y2J hyping AJ Styles' match with The Miz on this week's Smackdown...R-Truth found Goldust in the toilets in a bizarre segment...

roman reigns and dean ambrose defeat the new day

The New Day owned it with their pre-match promo, bringing a tonne of energy to the final segment. Managing to take as much as they could from last week's confrontation with The Rock and feeding it back into this week's main event, it was a shame that the trio weren't provided with an opportunity to do this earlier on in the show. This promo had me more excited for the main event than anything that had gone before it, as the group claimed the wanted revenge on The Rock, so would go after "The Rock's cousin and the Rock's cousins' friend". Incredibly entertaining but also adding a little extra spice to the action to come. Referncing Kanye West in terms of their catchphrase "booty" all earned a little referential chuckle from me. Having Paul Heyman on commentary for the action not only made use of Brock Lesnar's advocates many skills, but also offered a constant reminder that Brock Lesnar was only just around the corner. 

The main event was a pleasing watch that saw Dean Ambrose take the lunatic in peril role, as The New Day pulled out a series of heel tactics to remain in control of the bout. Xavier Woods continued to give the New Day the edge at ringside, keeping things entertaining with ad-libs at ringside, whilst his boys did some ground and pound work on Ambrose. The finish to the bout saw a superb flurry of action with both teams looking great after a Reigns hot tag, before Ambrose was able to finish of Big E with Dirty Deeds. Personally, I think a New Day win here, would have produced a more interesting dynamic for Reigns and Ambrose heading into Fastlane, whilst also allowing the Tag Team Champions to brag about their big victory and drive the tag team division forward. It would seem however that WWE will use Reigns being unable to help Ambrose when Brock Lesnar attacked to push the issue between the friends and drive storylines over the next two weeks into Fastlane. 

finally...

atpw scale rating - 4.97 (average)

A decent effort from WWE here, but nothing that pulls up any trees that line the road to WrestleMania. The main event provided us with some decent action, whilst the New Day continued to prove why they are the most entertaining act on the WWE roster, Kevin Owens and Dolph Ziggler put on a pleasing, yet pretty meaningless outing, and AJ Styles' silent appearance on Miz TV was an intriguing way of presenting the 2 time IWGP Heavyweight Champion. A weak section at the top of the 2nd hour as Big Show's feud with the Wyatt Family and Titus O'Neil squashing Tyler Breeze were joined by an awkward bout between Charlotte and Brie Bella, as WWE struggles to fill the 3 hour time slot with enough meaningful content. 

WWE Smackdown 30th August 2013 Review

This week's Smackdown was dominated by the McMahon-Helmsley regime, with WWE COO Triple H punishing a number of wrestlers throughout the show. Seeing the main storyline in WWE carry over on Smackdown, something we didn't get when John Cena was WWE Champion, allows the show to feel much more important, although it does reduce the worth of the World Heavyweight Championship to the brand and the company as a whole as Alberto Del Rio's reign continues to be an afterthought on television.

The Miz vs. WWE Champion Randy Orton

The show kicked off with Miz TV, as The Miz welcomed Big Show and Dolph Ziggler to the show. Over recent weeks, we've seen both Show and Ziggler become victims of Triple H's group, with both forced to watch The Shield and Randy Orton destroy Daniel Bryan on Raw. With The Miz asking the questions, it was clear that he going to get nothing out of Show or Ziggler who were both scared of losing there jobs, with a really awkward atmosphere created because of this. With The Miz about to have his say, WWE COO Triple H's music hit (he's fittingly using Motorhead's King of Kings again) and The Game headed down to the ring. With Triple H began ripping into Miz, Show and Ziggler, with more “Best for Business” schtick that is sure to wind up a lot of the fans. I have to say I actually found Miz fairly likeable in this segment when he stood up to Triple H, for me it was the first time that The Miz has looked comfortable as a face, I thought I would hate seeing him opposite Triple H, but he actually plays the underdog role quiet well. With Triple H throwing his weight around he place Ziggler in a Handicap match against The Shield later on (more on that later), forced Big Show to sit at ringside for the entire show and placed The Miz in a match against WWE Champion Randy Orton. I thought this was pretty strong opening segment, that set up the premise of the show well and put together two big matches, you can't do much more than that.

The match between Miz and Orton was actually a lot better than I imagined it would be. Orton looked great when in control of the match, and knows the little things he can do that will get the crowd to react against him. Whilst The Miz's selling is still questionable as a face, his comeback in the early part of the bout was decent, with a reversal of Orton's Rope Hung DDT into a back body drop over the top rope being well worked. With Miz now in control, The Shield headed down to ringside and we went to commercial break. With The Shield now standing guard, Orton was back in control of the bout, with his regular headlock wearing Miz down. Orton is still over reliant on that rest hold, especially during televised bouts, it would be nice to see him use a few different holds in his matches.

By far the best section of the match, was Miz's last comeback attempt, which was pacy and featured a number of nice reversals and near falls, the best of these seeing Miz reverse an RKO attempt into a backslide for a two count. The ending of the bout, saw Miz begin to focus his attack on Orton's legs before placing him the Figure Four Leg Lock, with Orton spending some time in the hold before finally making it to the ropes. With Orton hanging Miz on the top rope, The Viper slithered back into the ring to hitting an RKO for a pinfall victory. Pretty decent finish, Orton had to win to keep him looking strong, whilst The Miz was elevated by being in the ring in a competitive contest against the WWE Champion, certainly one of The Miz's best performances since turning face. Hopefully we'll see The Miz continue this way, although I feel that without a strong heel to go up against, he'll return to his unlikeable smarmy ways, unfortunately.

After the match, The Shield entered the ring and with Orton looking on gleefully, began to put the boots to Miz. Big Show's reaction at ringside was great, really selling that he couldn't get into the ring to fight off The Shield. Someone who could help The Miz though, was Daniel Bryan, who came running down to the ring with a steel chair in hand, with Orton and The Shield fleeing the ring quickly. The crowd loved it, joining Bryan in a thunderous “YES!” chant. Bryan continues to be ridiculously over with WWE fans at the moment, and his struggle against Triple H, is only helping the fans get further behind, which is great to see. This whole section for me worked really well, with a good competitive wrestling match, as well as the continuation of the main story the company is running at the moment. But this wouldn't be all we'd see from Bryan and Orton on Smackdown...

Daniel Bryan vs. Ryback

Straight after Bryan made the save for The Miz, we headed backstage to fuming Smackdown General Manager Vickie Guerrero, who called Bryan a bully, and placed him in a match with Ryback later in the show. It's good to see Guerrero back as a full blown heel, as that is definitely where she does her best work, she's easy to hate, even if she has less power than we've seen her with before on Smackdown. Ryback also turned up, to further wind up Bryan, with a bizarre promo about how he didn't like bullies. It wasn't particularly the content of Ryback's speech, it was the fact he wasn't looking at Bryan, and was staring in the distance, I don't know, as if someone was holding up his lines for someone to read. It made the segment difficult to watch, and instantly I was out of the storyline wondering what the hell Ryback was doing.

Luckily for Ryback, he redeemed himself with a good match against Bryan. We've seen these two go at on television a handful of times before, their last encounter coming on 22^nd July as part of Bryan's famous Gauntlet Match, and each time they've locked up they've put on an entertaining match. Bryan's size allow Ryback to look completely dominate in the opening stages, with a sick tilt a whirl slam really showing this off, whilst Bryan's selling also allows the fans to easily get behind him as an underdog, as he builds to a comeback. With Bryan mid comeback, following a suicide dive that sent Ryback into the announce table, Randy Orton headed back into the arena but keep his distance on the ramp, for now. This allowed for another ncie momentum shift, with Ryback back to bullying Bryan around the ring, Ryback works pretty well in this role, with him laughing in Bryan's face and taking him lightly, making the fans get even further behind The Submission Specialist.

The finish saw Bryan regain control, delivering a number of signature moves to Ryback, with the crowd behind him every step of the way. After Bryan's Yes Kicks gained him a near fall, he locked Ryback in the Yes Lock, but with The Human Wrecking Ball close to submission, Orton finally made his presence known attacking Bryan to give Bryan the disqualification victory. However, Orton quickly ended up in the Yes Lock himself, showing the fans a quick glimpse of what could happen when Bryan had Orton to himself, only for The Shield to re-enter the fray, breaking the hold and putting the boots to Bryan. Big Show had finally seen enough and entered the ring to state down with Orton and The Shield. Of course, Big Show knew he couldn't do anything, and Triple H made it even more clear. The Game headed down to the ring and forced Big Show to leave, with another great performance from Big Show, holding back tears and emotions to keep his job.

This was incredibly uncomfortable viewing with The Shield and Orton berating Bryan, with The Shield holding Bryan up for Orton to deliver a series of punches and kick to, before The Shield finished him off with a Triple Powerbomb. The deck was so heavily stacked against Bryan once again, so this beating will only help him get even further over with the fans, as we build towards an inevitable triumph for the new ultimate underdog. The humiliation continued for Bryan, when Orton spray painted the words “NO” on his chest to close the show, with Orton holding the WWE Championship above his head. Overall, this was strong closing segment to the show, which was uncomfortable in an uncomfortable way, it's not often in WWE that I'll find myself fully into the kayfabe like this, but who doesn't want to see Bryan kick Orton's arse and get his revenge on Triple H?  

Best of the Rest (In The World)

Elsewhere on Smackdown, Rob Van Dam, accompanied to the ring by Ricardo Rodriguez was back on form as he took on World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank Winner Damien Sandow in a short bout. Van Dam was much better in this contest, than he was against World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio on Raw this week, looking alert and nailing all his moves. Sandow got in limited offence, with the Cubito Aequet his closest chance for victory. The finish saw Van Dam reverse Sandow's attempt to send him into the top turnbuckle, with a stiff kick to the head, before he managed to perform the spot he botched against Del Rio on Raw, with Van Dam placing Sandow on the top rope, for a good looking diving thrust kick. Van Dam picked up the pinfall victory following a Five Star Frog Splash. Sandow is yet to win a match on Raw or Smackdown since winning the Money in the Bank briefcase, in fact, you have to go back to 10th June episode of Raw, where Sandow defeated Sin Cara for a victory from the Money in the Bank holder. WWE has a tendency to give the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank winner a losing streak after winning the briefcase, we've seen it with Jack Swagger, Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler in the past and none of those had a particularly healthy World Heavyweight Championship reign, WWE need to be careful the same doesn't happen to the Intellectual Saviour of the Masses. 

After the match, Alberto Del Rio came out on the ramp, to cut a promo on his Night of Champions opponent. Del Rio's effort was a solid heel promo, but was certainly more concerned with his former associate Rodriguez than he was with Van Dam, who risks becoming a side show for Del Rio and Rodriguez to play out their rivalry. Without giving the Van Dam or Rodriguez the chance to reply to Del Rio, bar the two getting an RVD chant going, it left me wanting more interaction between the three, which is a good thing, I guess. At least this match has had more build up than Del Rio vs. Christian at SummerSlam, but with two week's of WWE television to go, I'm not quite sure where they are going to take this story. 


Paul Heyman and Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel also turned up on Smackdown to talk about the beating they delivered to CM Punk on Raw. After Axel had delivered a decent short promo, we got into the real meat of the segment with Heyman allowed to really stretch his promo muscles. Firstly, aiming the promo at the WWE fan, blaming them for the attack on Punk due to the WWE App vote, giving him no other choice, getting a ton of heat from the Las Vegas crowd. Then Heyman turned his attention to Punk, revealing he was scared of what could happen in the Handicap Elimination match at Night of Champions, because he could receive the beating of his life. Heyman finished off by saying all his previous action against Punk were merely out of fatherly love, so imagine what he could do when faced with the beating of his life. It's now simply a formality that when Paul Heyman get's a microphone in his hand, that he will produce an excellent promo. Everything here, from the content to his tone of voice, his facial expressions to his delivery was spot on.

The Wyatt Family were back in action this week, as Erick Rowan and Luke Harper took on Tons of Funk. We've seen this match twice before on television, and this was the most competitive bout for Brodus Clay and Tensai who looked to be on a role, before Erick Rowan pulled Clay out of the ring. This allowed Harper and Rowan to take advantage and after a Discus Clothesline from Harper, Rowan picked up the victory with a big splash for the pinfall. Bray Wyatt then entered the ring and hit Sister Abigail on Tensai to close the segment. The Wyatt Family seem to be treading water as of late, with no real direction heading into Night of Champions, I'd expect that WWE creative are waiting for Kane to finish filming See No Evil 2, so the Family can pick up their feud with the Big Red Monster.

In a match made by Triple H earlier in the show, Dolph Ziggler had a rematch against The Shield in a One-on-Three handicap match. It was another top notch contest, that was more entertaining than it should have been. Ziggler works as a great underdog character, because his selling so good, but everytime Ziggler got some momentum it would quickly be cut short by The Shield. Some nice wrestling action throughout, with a section between Ziggler and United States Champion Dean Ambrose being especially good, the idea of seeing those two in one on one action is surely something most wrestling fans are dying to see already, with Ambrose taking a sick bump off a back body drop over the top rope from Ziggler. The finish saw Ziggler attempt a Fame-Asser on Tag Team Champion Seth Rollins, which was reversed into a Buckle Bomb, before Tag Team Champion Roman Reigns hit a thunderous spear to pick up the pinfall victory for The Shield. The only drawback of this match, was the number of times the camera would cut to Big Show at ringside, I know Big Show is there, you don't need to keep showing me! Plus judging by his reaction and the number of Ziggler T-Shirts in the crowd, Ziggler doesn't need Big Show's reaction to help get him over with the fans. After taunting Show, The Shield hit Ziggler with a Triple Powerbomb to close the segment. 


We also got more vignettes for Los Matadores. I say more, it was the exact same promo they've been showing the last two weeks, twice. I'm more hyped up for the repackaged Epico and Primo, than I was the first time they showed the vignettes. Give me some different please, more information on the tag team, when they're going to debut, or why being bull fighter will help them in WWE...anything! 

Finally....

My final thoughts on this week's Smackdown.

1. The Miz can be a likeable face when positioned against the right people.

2. WWE television has been incredibly uncomfortable at time in the last few weeks, but in a good way.

3. We still need to hear more about the Rob Van Dam/Ricardo Rodriguez partnership.