Spoilers follow for the August 8th episode of Smackdown.
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Dean Ambrose kicks off Smackdown. A flashback to Raw reminds us that Dean Ambrose won the Beat the Clock challenge and gets to pick the stipulation between himself and Seth Rollins at SummerSlam. What's it going to be? A hardcore match? An inferno match? None of those. A lumberjack match. No, seriously. Of all the things. This is what WWE is picking. Ambrose is funny on the microphone as he lists a bunch of choices. Seth Rollins comes out at one point. He tells Ambrose that a match between Ambrose and Randy Orton will happen later on tonight.
RybAxel (Ryback and Curtis Axel) vs. Mark Henry and Big Show
Is this Big Show's return? I think it is. It's his first match back, anyway. Mark Henry came back on Raw, while Big Show is back on Smackdown. Okay. Whatever. RybAxel doesn't win very much, and there's not much chance that they'll win this. Surprising absolutely nobody, they lose this bout, too. They dominate a good chunk of the match, building to a Big Show hot tag. Then the two large men hit their finishers and pick up the win. It's a boring match, but it's kind of good to see these two back in the ring, just as long as they stay away from the main event scene.
Match Rating: **
A backstage segment has Dolph Ziggler laughing and chatting up Adam Rose and some Divas -- including Eva Marie! -- before he's interrupted by Seth Rollins, the man at whom he was laughing. Ziggler continues to taunt him. These two men will square off later tonight.
Sin Cara vs. Damien Sandow
Sandow comes out dressed as a border patrol guard. Because WWE is in Texas, I guess. Sandow gets in some early offense, but Sin Cara eventually takes control, does the few moves he can do (safely), and picks up the win after a senton (swanton?) bomb.
Match Rating: *1/2
That Brock Lesnar/John Cena promo we saw twice on Raw airs prior to our next match.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins
You know, we've had this match more than a couple of times already. It's happened on Raw, Smackdown, and Main Event, all in the last couple of months. Now it's happening on Smackdown again. Ziggler has lost every time. Guess what happens here.
The two always put on good matches together. They're not great, most likely because there's nothing on the line between them and no story being told, but their styles mesh well together and both men are very talented. This match is much like the other ones. Counting house shows, they've probably put on a match similar to this a dozen times. It's polished and it's entertaining. Rollins wins, as he always does when these two square off, but Ziggler looked good and the match was fun.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Renee Young interviews Randy Orton backstage. Orton hypes up tonight's main event. Orton has unleashed "the viper" again, and plays up his unpredictability.
Natalya vs. Paige
Two of the best in-ring Divas in WWE? This should be a good matchup. It's not great, as it's far too short for much to come of it. It was essentially just signature moves followed by a quick win for Paige, as she got Natalya to pass out to the PTO. Give these women 7 minutes instead of 2 and you've got a good match.
Match Rating: **
Big E vs. Rusev (with Lana)
Hey, remember when these two were in a big feud? Yeah, that happened. It wasn't good then, and it's not good now. It's kind of physical, but it doesn't let Rusev show off his athleticism and Big E just isn't good. Big E loses after a short match. Rusev makes him tap to The Accolade.
Match Rating: *1/2
Chris Jericho is interviewed backstage. He does a brief interview describing the feud against Bray Wyatt, and reminds us that he's totally going to win and stuff.
Dean Ambrose vs. Randy Orton
I didn't expect Ambrose and Orton to get a true finish. I expected a physical match with a solid amount of technical wrestling and a couple of big spots. Oh, and Seth Rollins to come out and ruin the match. All of these things happened. These two put on a good match with all of the things I just mentioned. Orton and Ambrose are both really good at this wrestling thing, and they show why even on Smackdown.
Unfortunately, if all of what I mentioned happens, it means that Seth Rollins comes out and means the match doesn't get the true finish it deserves. Rollins eventually gets Orton disqualified, which gives Ambrose the win. After the match, Orton leaves and Rollins beats down Ambrose for what he did on Raw. Remember, he desecrated the sacred MITB briefcase and contract. The show ends with Rollins standing tall.
Match Rating: ***
The Good: Ambrose vs. Orton. Ziggler vs. Rollins.
The Bad: Big E vs. Rusev. Sin Cara vs. Sandow.
Match of the Night: Dean Ambrose vs. Randy Orton.
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http://i55.servimg.com/u/f55/16/09/70/40/smackd10.png
Dean Ambrose kicks off Smackdown. A flashback to Raw reminds us that Dean Ambrose won the Beat the Clock challenge and gets to pick the stipulation between himself and Seth Rollins at SummerSlam. What's it going to be? A hardcore match? An inferno match? None of those. A lumberjack match. No, seriously. Of all the things. This is what WWE is picking. Ambrose is funny on the microphone as he lists a bunch of choices. Seth Rollins comes out at one point. He tells Ambrose that a match between Ambrose and Randy Orton will happen later on tonight.
RybAxel (Ryback and Curtis Axel) vs. Mark Henry and Big Show
Is this Big Show's return? I think it is. It's his first match back, anyway. Mark Henry came back on Raw, while Big Show is back on Smackdown. Okay. Whatever. RybAxel doesn't win very much, and there's not much chance that they'll win this. Surprising absolutely nobody, they lose this bout, too. They dominate a good chunk of the match, building to a Big Show hot tag. Then the two large men hit their finishers and pick up the win. It's a boring match, but it's kind of good to see these two back in the ring, just as long as they stay away from the main event scene.
Match Rating: **
A backstage segment has Dolph Ziggler laughing and chatting up Adam Rose and some Divas -- including Eva Marie! -- before he's interrupted by Seth Rollins, the man at whom he was laughing. Ziggler continues to taunt him. These two men will square off later tonight.
Sin Cara vs. Damien Sandow
Sandow comes out dressed as a border patrol guard. Because WWE is in Texas, I guess. Sandow gets in some early offense, but Sin Cara eventually takes control, does the few moves he can do (safely), and picks up the win after a senton (swanton?) bomb.
Match Rating: *1/2
That Brock Lesnar/John Cena promo we saw twice on Raw airs prior to our next match.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins
You know, we've had this match more than a couple of times already. It's happened on Raw, Smackdown, and Main Event, all in the last couple of months. Now it's happening on Smackdown again. Ziggler has lost every time. Guess what happens here.
The two always put on good matches together. They're not great, most likely because there's nothing on the line between them and no story being told, but their styles mesh well together and both men are very talented. This match is much like the other ones. Counting house shows, they've probably put on a match similar to this a dozen times. It's polished and it's entertaining. Rollins wins, as he always does when these two square off, but Ziggler looked good and the match was fun.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Renee Young interviews Randy Orton backstage. Orton hypes up tonight's main event. Orton has unleashed "the viper" again, and plays up his unpredictability.
Natalya vs. Paige
Two of the best in-ring Divas in WWE? This should be a good matchup. It's not great, as it's far too short for much to come of it. It was essentially just signature moves followed by a quick win for Paige, as she got Natalya to pass out to the PTO. Give these women 7 minutes instead of 2 and you've got a good match.
Match Rating: **
Big E vs. Rusev (with Lana)
Hey, remember when these two were in a big feud? Yeah, that happened. It wasn't good then, and it's not good now. It's kind of physical, but it doesn't let Rusev show off his athleticism and Big E just isn't good. Big E loses after a short match. Rusev makes him tap to The Accolade.
Match Rating: *1/2
Chris Jericho is interviewed backstage. He does a brief interview describing the feud against Bray Wyatt, and reminds us that he's totally going to win and stuff.
Dean Ambrose vs. Randy Orton
I didn't expect Ambrose and Orton to get a true finish. I expected a physical match with a solid amount of technical wrestling and a couple of big spots. Oh, and Seth Rollins to come out and ruin the match. All of these things happened. These two put on a good match with all of the things I just mentioned. Orton and Ambrose are both really good at this wrestling thing, and they show why even on Smackdown.
Unfortunately, if all of what I mentioned happens, it means that Seth Rollins comes out and means the match doesn't get the true finish it deserves. Rollins eventually gets Orton disqualified, which gives Ambrose the win. After the match, Orton leaves and Rollins beats down Ambrose for what he did on Raw. Remember, he desecrated the sacred MITB briefcase and contract. The show ends with Rollins standing tall.
Match Rating: ***
The Good: Ambrose vs. Orton. Ziggler vs. Rollins.
The Bad: Big E vs. Rusev. Sin Cara vs. Sandow.
Match of the Night: Dean Ambrose vs. Randy Orton.
<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.
