Spoilers follow for the April 25th episode of Smackdown.
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I find it astonishing how much the WWE Universe seems to hate a woman in power. Vickie Guerrero and Stephanie McMahon are two of the top heels in the business, and they don't even wrestle. It's great just how much heat each of them is able to draw. I mention this because this week's Smackdown opened up with Vickie Guerrero on the microphone, which is always a good way to have the boos rain down. She announces two things. The first is that the main event will be another Shield vs. 11 Superstars handicap match. The second is that we're going to get a "debate" between Paul Heyman and Zeb Colter. That's something we were all asking for, I'm sure.
Colter and Heyman are both good on the mic, but this debate went nowhere and became uninteresting as a result. Heyman is apparently not allowed to do much more than remind us that Brock Lesnar conquered The Streak, and without any back-and-forth, Colter is wasted. Eventually, the two tease getting physical before being restrained by their respective client. This sets up our opening match.
Cesaro vs Jack Swagger
The first thing I had to wonder was why this was happening on Smackdown instead of at Extreme Rules. I have to wonder if, perhaps, both managers are going to be involved in the Extreme Rules match in a wrestling capacity. A tag team match, perhaps? I sincerely hope not, but I can see it being something that the WWE does. The match itself was pretty good, almost as if it should have been saved for a PPV. The two men know each other well, and this translated into a strong outing. Cesaro got the clean pin, which I hope doesn't serve as the feud's end. The Shield come down afterward and beat up on Swagger, signaling that they're going to preemptively eliminate the people they're to fight in the main event handicap match.
Natalya vs Tamina Snuka
Natalya and Tamina are both "power" divas. In this match, Natalya was forced to play the part of the "agile" diva, and it didn't work at all. I'm guessing WWE wanted Tamina to look tough by doing this, but wouldn't overpowering someone work better? The match was sloppy and the two seemed to have no chemistry. It makes sense, given that one of them was playing a role to which she is not accustomed. The ending came with a botched superkick, allowing Tamina to pick up the win.
After the match, a Hornswoggle-less 3MB are seen talking backstage. They're assaulted by The Shield. Four down, seven to go. This is followed by another backstage segment in which Vickie is told to take the night off, and she is replaced with Brad Maddox. Remember him? I didn't. The Raw GM is going to do the general managing of Smackdown tonight, but this will only factor in a single time.
Curtis Axel vs. Jey Uso
Okay. Jey Uso is the one with the face paint on the left side. Remember that. I won't, and I might wind up asking someone at a future date. The plan here is to make RybAxel seem like a really menacing team, so they're going to get lots of wins heading into Extreme Rules. Curtis Axel is the better in-ring worker of the pair, and he and Jey put on a decent match. Axel gets the win, of course, because he has to.
A steel cage is lowered, but not for a match. The Wyatt Family's entrance starts, and we know we're going to be treated to a Bray Wyatt promo. Many subjects are touched upon, and Wyatt continues to be the master of ultimately saying nothing memorable even though he's enthralling to listen to. He had better wind up beating Cena at Extreme Rules.
Cody Rhodes and Goldust vs. Erick Rowan and Luke Harper
The impending breakup of the Rhodes brothers continues here. If and when they feud, it should be a good one. Neither man is being used to his full potential while they're a team. The match was mostly uneventful, save for Bray Wyatt taunting, well, everyone but his "family" while the match was going on. Goldust and Cody get their signals crossed, and the Wyatt Family goes on to win. A breakup could happen at Extreme Rules, assuming they even get a match at the PPV.
Backstage again with Brad Maddox, who gets his phone taken away from him by an appearing Shield. They then throw him into a wall, which looked incredibly nasty, and proceed to beat him up behind a couch. Well, I'm glad Maddox was there. Otherwise ... nothing would have changed at all.
Emma and Santino Marella vs. Layla and Fandango
This is the best moment of the night. And not because of the match. In fact, the match never happens. While Lyala and Fandango are making their entrance, The Shield comes out and powerbombs Fandango off the stage and through a couple of tables. No, really. It was amazing. Hopefully Fandango gets off television for a while and this allows Emma and Santino to do something else. Like break up and let Emma have a career.
The Shield (Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and Seth Rollins) vs. Alberto Del Rio, Bad News Barrett, Damien Sandow, Ryback and Titus O'Neil
We're told that Curtis Axel was beaten up backstage by JBL and Michael Cole. I wonder if the live crowd got to see it, but it was cut for time on TV. Only five of the 11 scheduled men made it to the match. The match starts out just fine but eventually degenerates into bodies flying everywhere, too many people being in the ring at one time, and countless points at which both teams should have been disqualified. On Raw, The Wyatt Family was disqualified for breaking up a pinfall; here, a non-legal Ryback can stay in the ring for 10 seconds. Whatever.
An interesting point near the end had Del Rio and Barrett leave the ring and head up the ramp. Del Rio gets punched by Reigns, and Barrett manages to escape. Good. I said during the first time this match happened that those two were too good to be in this slot.
The Shield winds up winning, surprising absolutely nobody. They have to look strong going into Extreme Rules, and beating five midcarders -- if you can still consider O'Neil and Sandow midcarders -- kind of does that, I guess.
The Good: Fandango being destroyed. Learning which Uso is which. Bray Wyatt's promo.
The Bad: The Divas match. The main event. The opening "debate." Paul Heyman continuing to say little more than "[HIS] CLIENT, BROCK LESNAR, CONQUERED THE STREAK."
Match of the Night: Cesaro vs Jack Swagger. No other contender.
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http://i55.servimg.com/u/f55/16/09/70/40/smackd10.png
I find it astonishing how much the WWE Universe seems to hate a woman in power. Vickie Guerrero and Stephanie McMahon are two of the top heels in the business, and they don't even wrestle. It's great just how much heat each of them is able to draw. I mention this because this week's Smackdown opened up with Vickie Guerrero on the microphone, which is always a good way to have the boos rain down. She announces two things. The first is that the main event will be another Shield vs. 11 Superstars handicap match. The second is that we're going to get a "debate" between Paul Heyman and Zeb Colter. That's something we were all asking for, I'm sure.
Colter and Heyman are both good on the mic, but this debate went nowhere and became uninteresting as a result. Heyman is apparently not allowed to do much more than remind us that Brock Lesnar conquered The Streak, and without any back-and-forth, Colter is wasted. Eventually, the two tease getting physical before being restrained by their respective client. This sets up our opening match.
Cesaro vs Jack Swagger
The first thing I had to wonder was why this was happening on Smackdown instead of at Extreme Rules. I have to wonder if, perhaps, both managers are going to be involved in the Extreme Rules match in a wrestling capacity. A tag team match, perhaps? I sincerely hope not, but I can see it being something that the WWE does. The match itself was pretty good, almost as if it should have been saved for a PPV. The two men know each other well, and this translated into a strong outing. Cesaro got the clean pin, which I hope doesn't serve as the feud's end. The Shield come down afterward and beat up on Swagger, signaling that they're going to preemptively eliminate the people they're to fight in the main event handicap match.
Natalya vs Tamina Snuka
Natalya and Tamina are both "power" divas. In this match, Natalya was forced to play the part of the "agile" diva, and it didn't work at all. I'm guessing WWE wanted Tamina to look tough by doing this, but wouldn't overpowering someone work better? The match was sloppy and the two seemed to have no chemistry. It makes sense, given that one of them was playing a role to which she is not accustomed. The ending came with a botched superkick, allowing Tamina to pick up the win.
After the match, a Hornswoggle-less 3MB are seen talking backstage. They're assaulted by The Shield. Four down, seven to go. This is followed by another backstage segment in which Vickie is told to take the night off, and she is replaced with Brad Maddox. Remember him? I didn't. The Raw GM is going to do the general managing of Smackdown tonight, but this will only factor in a single time.
Curtis Axel vs. Jey Uso
Okay. Jey Uso is the one with the face paint on the left side. Remember that. I won't, and I might wind up asking someone at a future date. The plan here is to make RybAxel seem like a really menacing team, so they're going to get lots of wins heading into Extreme Rules. Curtis Axel is the better in-ring worker of the pair, and he and Jey put on a decent match. Axel gets the win, of course, because he has to.
A steel cage is lowered, but not for a match. The Wyatt Family's entrance starts, and we know we're going to be treated to a Bray Wyatt promo. Many subjects are touched upon, and Wyatt continues to be the master of ultimately saying nothing memorable even though he's enthralling to listen to. He had better wind up beating Cena at Extreme Rules.
Cody Rhodes and Goldust vs. Erick Rowan and Luke Harper
The impending breakup of the Rhodes brothers continues here. If and when they feud, it should be a good one. Neither man is being used to his full potential while they're a team. The match was mostly uneventful, save for Bray Wyatt taunting, well, everyone but his "family" while the match was going on. Goldust and Cody get their signals crossed, and the Wyatt Family goes on to win. A breakup could happen at Extreme Rules, assuming they even get a match at the PPV.
Backstage again with Brad Maddox, who gets his phone taken away from him by an appearing Shield. They then throw him into a wall, which looked incredibly nasty, and proceed to beat him up behind a couch. Well, I'm glad Maddox was there. Otherwise ... nothing would have changed at all.
Emma and Santino Marella vs. Layla and Fandango
This is the best moment of the night. And not because of the match. In fact, the match never happens. While Lyala and Fandango are making their entrance, The Shield comes out and powerbombs Fandango off the stage and through a couple of tables. No, really. It was amazing. Hopefully Fandango gets off television for a while and this allows Emma and Santino to do something else. Like break up and let Emma have a career.
The Shield (Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and Seth Rollins) vs. Alberto Del Rio, Bad News Barrett, Damien Sandow, Ryback and Titus O'Neil
We're told that Curtis Axel was beaten up backstage by JBL and Michael Cole. I wonder if the live crowd got to see it, but it was cut for time on TV. Only five of the 11 scheduled men made it to the match. The match starts out just fine but eventually degenerates into bodies flying everywhere, too many people being in the ring at one time, and countless points at which both teams should have been disqualified. On Raw, The Wyatt Family was disqualified for breaking up a pinfall; here, a non-legal Ryback can stay in the ring for 10 seconds. Whatever.
An interesting point near the end had Del Rio and Barrett leave the ring and head up the ramp. Del Rio gets punched by Reigns, and Barrett manages to escape. Good. I said during the first time this match happened that those two were too good to be in this slot.
The Shield winds up winning, surprising absolutely nobody. They have to look strong going into Extreme Rules, and beating five midcarders -- if you can still consider O'Neil and Sandow midcarders -- kind of does that, I guess.
The Good: Fandango being destroyed. Learning which Uso is which. Bray Wyatt's promo.
The Bad: The Divas match. The main event. The opening "debate." Paul Heyman continuing to say little more than "[HIS] CLIENT, BROCK LESNAR, CONQUERED THE STREAK."
Match of the Night: Cesaro vs Jack Swagger. No other contender.
<color=D6D9DA>_________________________________________________________________________________
If you wish to be notified whenever I post something new, please join this <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/2-50-Reviews>user group.
For an archive of all my previous WWE reviews, please go <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.846764-Marters-WWE-Reviews-Archive>here.
Talk to me on the Twitter, <url=https://twitter.com/martertweet>@martertweet.
