Spoilers follow for the October 17th episode of Smackdown.
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I feel like WWE should just replace Smackdown's intro theme with Raw flashbacks. Oh, wait, that's already happened.
After the obligatory flashback, Seth Rollins comes down to the ring. He talks about selling out, and how it pays the bills better than honor does. Then he hypes up his match at Hell in a Cell. Dolph Ziggler comes out, tells Rollins, how (self-)respect is important and we're going to get a match. We've seen this a couple of times, and it's always been good.
Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler
You know, I hate it when we start a match, immediately throw someone out of the ring, and then cut to commercial break. We miss the opening portion as a result. Regardless, Ziggler and Rollins once again put on a good match. There's at least a little bit of motivation behind it this time, which always helps. Rollins attacked Ziggler after his match on Raw, so Ziggler's mad. Rollins tweaks his knee during the match, which meant there was a target for Ziggler, too. But, despite the back-and-forth bout, Rollins winds up winning, because he's a main eventer, and Ziggler is not. It was exciting, I'll admit, and I'm glad it happened.
Match Rating: ***
Dean Ambrose comes out after the match. He hypes the Hell in a Cell match, and says a whole lot about taking down Rollins at the PPV. Kane comes out to the stage. He's mad he doesn't have a match at Hell in a Cell, so he's booking a match tonight. Dean Ambrose vs. Kane is out main event. Given Kane's, what, two victories this entire calendar year, I think you guys can guess how that'll go.
An Erick Rowan-centric vignette is aired. We've seen this one before, I believe, but it's still creepy.
Layla vs. AJ Lee
Both Paige and Alicia Fox are at ringside, with Paige on commentary, since Alicia Fox isn't important at all in this feud.
This match has a bit of a reason to exist, too. Layla abandoned AJ on Raw, although AJ was still able to win the match. AJ wins in a couple of minutes with the Black Widow.
Match Rating: *1/2
Alicia Fox rushes the ring after the match, but AJ takes her down. Then Paige comes in and knocks AJ down with a kick, and then knocks her out with a DDT. Paige and Alicia then skip around with the Divas Championship.
Seth Rollins goes and talks to Kane backstage. Kane hypes Hell in a Cell, making it seem far more dangerous than it has seemed in years.
Sheamus and The Usos are interviewed backstage. Why? I have no idea, and I really don't care. None of them really need to be on the mic.
Another Wyatt Family vignette airs. It's also focused on Erick Rowan. I'm pretty sure we did see this one before; perhaps the one earlier was new.
Sheamus and The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso) vs. The Miz (with Damien Sandow), Goldust, and Stardust
Damien Sandow continues to be just the most fun at ringside. I think I'd rather have a camera on Sandow for the entire match than have to see another six-man tag team match involving The Usos and Goldust/Stardust. Just watching Sandow oversell Miz's injuries in a match is hilarious.
The actual match is less interesting. Very standard affair. It's perfectly serviceable, but nothing special and I've completely lost interest in the "feud" between the two brother tag teams. All of these meaningless six-man matches have done that -- not to mention how The Usos basically haven't lost since losing the tag team titles.
Sheamus wins with a Brogue Kick.
Match Rating: **
Big Show is out after the commercial break. He talks about how he's going to destroy Rusev at Hell in a Cell. Mark Henry comes down after Big Show calls him down. Show doesn't want Henry to interfere at the PPV, and Henry says that he won't. But he probably will, cementing that heel turn we've been teasing for a while.
Rusev and Lana eventually come out, cut a promo that also hypes Hell in a Cell, and that's all.
Naomi vs. Nikki Bella
Hmm. An irrelevant Diva vs. one who's in the middle of the biggest Diva storyline in years. I wonder who is going to win.
Naomi is perhaps the one Diva in the locker room whom Nikki can't overpower. Naomi can also do things in the ring that no other Diva can currently do. Should that lead to a good match? It would if the match was given more than a couple of minutes, but it's not. Nikki gets the early offense in, Naomi hits a few moves, a counter, a finisher, and Nikki wins.
Match Rating: *1/2
A third Wyatt vignette airs. This time it's actually focused on Bray Wyatt, which is swell.
Dean Ambrose is interviewed backstage. Ambrose hypes Hell in a Cell and then tonight's main event. Which is happening right now.
Kane (with Seth Rollins) vs. Dean Ambrose
Ambrose starts on the offensive, Kane gets a bit of momentum, and then Ambrose dominates again. Ambrose builds to a finish, and then Seth Rollins gets involved and causes a disqualification. Boring match.
Match Rating: **
Rollins and Kane beat down Ambrose after the match. Rollins tries to hit a curb stomp on Ambrose onto a steel chair, but Ambrose counters. Kane gets hit with the chair while Rollins manages to escape. Okay.
The Good: Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler.
The Bad: Both Diva matches.
Match of the Night: Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler.
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http://i55.servimg.com/u/f55/16/09/70/40/smackd10.png
I feel like WWE should just replace Smackdown's intro theme with Raw flashbacks. Oh, wait, that's already happened.
After the obligatory flashback, Seth Rollins comes down to the ring. He talks about selling out, and how it pays the bills better than honor does. Then he hypes up his match at Hell in a Cell. Dolph Ziggler comes out, tells Rollins, how (self-)respect is important and we're going to get a match. We've seen this a couple of times, and it's always been good.
Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler
You know, I hate it when we start a match, immediately throw someone out of the ring, and then cut to commercial break. We miss the opening portion as a result. Regardless, Ziggler and Rollins once again put on a good match. There's at least a little bit of motivation behind it this time, which always helps. Rollins attacked Ziggler after his match on Raw, so Ziggler's mad. Rollins tweaks his knee during the match, which meant there was a target for Ziggler, too. But, despite the back-and-forth bout, Rollins winds up winning, because he's a main eventer, and Ziggler is not. It was exciting, I'll admit, and I'm glad it happened.
Match Rating: ***
Dean Ambrose comes out after the match. He hypes the Hell in a Cell match, and says a whole lot about taking down Rollins at the PPV. Kane comes out to the stage. He's mad he doesn't have a match at Hell in a Cell, so he's booking a match tonight. Dean Ambrose vs. Kane is out main event. Given Kane's, what, two victories this entire calendar year, I think you guys can guess how that'll go.
An Erick Rowan-centric vignette is aired. We've seen this one before, I believe, but it's still creepy.
Layla vs. AJ Lee
Both Paige and Alicia Fox are at ringside, with Paige on commentary, since Alicia Fox isn't important at all in this feud.
This match has a bit of a reason to exist, too. Layla abandoned AJ on Raw, although AJ was still able to win the match. AJ wins in a couple of minutes with the Black Widow.
Match Rating: *1/2
Alicia Fox rushes the ring after the match, but AJ takes her down. Then Paige comes in and knocks AJ down with a kick, and then knocks her out with a DDT. Paige and Alicia then skip around with the Divas Championship.
Seth Rollins goes and talks to Kane backstage. Kane hypes Hell in a Cell, making it seem far more dangerous than it has seemed in years.
Sheamus and The Usos are interviewed backstage. Why? I have no idea, and I really don't care. None of them really need to be on the mic.
Another Wyatt Family vignette airs. It's also focused on Erick Rowan. I'm pretty sure we did see this one before; perhaps the one earlier was new.
Sheamus and The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso) vs. The Miz (with Damien Sandow), Goldust, and Stardust
Damien Sandow continues to be just the most fun at ringside. I think I'd rather have a camera on Sandow for the entire match than have to see another six-man tag team match involving The Usos and Goldust/Stardust. Just watching Sandow oversell Miz's injuries in a match is hilarious.
The actual match is less interesting. Very standard affair. It's perfectly serviceable, but nothing special and I've completely lost interest in the "feud" between the two brother tag teams. All of these meaningless six-man matches have done that -- not to mention how The Usos basically haven't lost since losing the tag team titles.
Sheamus wins with a Brogue Kick.
Match Rating: **
Big Show is out after the commercial break. He talks about how he's going to destroy Rusev at Hell in a Cell. Mark Henry comes down after Big Show calls him down. Show doesn't want Henry to interfere at the PPV, and Henry says that he won't. But he probably will, cementing that heel turn we've been teasing for a while.
Rusev and Lana eventually come out, cut a promo that also hypes Hell in a Cell, and that's all.
Naomi vs. Nikki Bella
Hmm. An irrelevant Diva vs. one who's in the middle of the biggest Diva storyline in years. I wonder who is going to win.
Naomi is perhaps the one Diva in the locker room whom Nikki can't overpower. Naomi can also do things in the ring that no other Diva can currently do. Should that lead to a good match? It would if the match was given more than a couple of minutes, but it's not. Nikki gets the early offense in, Naomi hits a few moves, a counter, a finisher, and Nikki wins.
Match Rating: *1/2
A third Wyatt vignette airs. This time it's actually focused on Bray Wyatt, which is swell.
Dean Ambrose is interviewed backstage. Ambrose hypes Hell in a Cell and then tonight's main event. Which is happening right now.
Kane (with Seth Rollins) vs. Dean Ambrose
Ambrose starts on the offensive, Kane gets a bit of momentum, and then Ambrose dominates again. Ambrose builds to a finish, and then Seth Rollins gets involved and causes a disqualification. Boring match.
Match Rating: **
Rollins and Kane beat down Ambrose after the match. Rollins tries to hit a curb stomp on Ambrose onto a steel chair, but Ambrose counters. Kane gets hit with the chair while Rollins manages to escape. Okay.
The Good: Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler.
The Bad: Both Diva matches.
Match of the Night: Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler.
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Talk to me on the Twitter, <url=https://twitter.com/martertweet>@martertweet.
