WWE Smackdown Blog
May 3, 2013
Report by Michael Cupach, PWTorch contributor

1 - RYBACK vs. DANIEL BRYAN

Ryback came out to what sounded like canned boos. This should be an interesting match to see what Ryback does with a worker like Daniel Bryan. It looks like Ryback has retired “feed me more” and debuted “Ryback rules.” I wonder how long it took him to think that one up!

Bryan countered many of Ryback's power moves with kicks to the hamstring. Bryan was able to knock Ryback out of the ring and take him down with “air goat,” as JBL called it. Bryan took it to Ryback all match with kicks, half Boston crabs, missile dropkicks, and looked like he was Ryback's peer the whole match. Eventually Ryback's power prevailed with a double powerbomb before putting Bryan away with Shellshock. This was a better match than I expected, Bryan got a lot out of Ryback, and Ryback gave back for Bryan.

-Backstage Ricardo is dressed for action, as he is facing Zeb Colter next, and he was overly-excited to be in a match. Rodriguez spoke quickly in Spanglish until Alberto Del Rio walked over and helped Ricardo calm down.

2 - ZACK RYDER vs. FANDANGO

I liked the brunette that came out with Fandango, but I really like the blonde that has been coming out with him! Josh Mathews gave some random Twitter stats about Ryder and named some pretty random celebrities and sports stars that Zack has more followers than. Josh also pointed out that Zack Ryder no longer spikes his hair and doesn’t wear sunglasses. Mathews says that makes him more aggressive and JBL has a field day with that comment! Fandango made pretty short work of Ryder and picked up the win after the top-rope leg drop.

-Kaitlyn received another package from her secret admirer. She runs into Khali and Natalya, then Khali gives her advice on how to deal with the mystery. Khali sounds like Andre “The Giant” after an Andre-sized bender!

-Renee Young (I finally learned her name) is backstage with Zeb Colter and Jack Swagger. Zeb calls her Rhonda because he is old and doesn’t care to commit her name to memory. Zeb, like a true heel, used every excuse in the book to explain his loss to Ricardo and then tried to claim victory because Rodriguez was illegally in the country, therefore not a legal participant.

3 - RICARDO RODRIGUEZ (w/Alberto Del Rio) vs. ZEB COLTER (w/Jack Swagger)

Even though it should be forgotten (like so many other storylines) the announcers kept pointing out that Ricardo also beat Big E. Langston on Monday. Also, it is time for my obligatory Back to the Future reference of the week – “Hey Colter, what’s with the vest? Did you go overboard?” Dolph Ziggler and gang are out at ringside, and Dolph is on commentary. They have a basic comedy match and Dolph kills it on commentary. Swagger then cheapshots Ricardo and causes the DQ.

-Teddy Long does what he does best, it's tag team match time bay-bee!

4 - ALBERTO DEL RIO & RICARDO RODRIGUEZ vs. JACK SWAGGER & ZEB COLTER

The match is joined in progress with Ricardo outsmarting Swagger to make a hot tag to Del Rio. Swagger should destroy Rodriguez and Ricardo should get zero offense on someone like Swagger. Del Rio put the Cross Arm-breaker on Swagger and Ziggler and Langston ran in to cause another DQ.

-Teddy Long is out yet again and he goes all triple threat tag match for the win! Sorry, I’m acting overly excited for your benefit, I hope you are as excited for this as I pretend to be.

5 - ALBERTO DEL RIO & RICARDO RODRIGUEZ vs. JACK SWAGGER & ZEB COLTER vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER & BIG E LANGSTON

Fast-paced match with quick tags all around the horn. Del Rio played the role of “aristocrat turned man of the people in peril” while Langston, Swagger, and Ziggler traded tags and shots on Del Rio. Alberto Del Rio made a Cena-like comeback and cleaned house leaving just himself and Zeb Colter in the ring. Del Rio was about to tear apart Colter when Ziggler made the save. Big E. then got alone time with Rodriguez and Swagger saved him. Swagger suplexed Langston out of the ring, Del Rio dumped Swagger, and then put the Armbreaker on Ziggler to get the submission victory. That match was a cluster you know what. The last few minutes had no tags and zero semblance of who the legal man was. I guess this was a preview of the chaos that will take place at Extreme Rules, but this was still messy.

-Backstage, The Shield talked about how they have taken out Undertaker, broke John Cena, and Taker’s baby brother is next. They dropped the camera and showed Daniel Bryan laid out on the floor, having been taken out by The Shield.

6 - RANDY ORTON vs. DAMIEN SANDOW

Awkward spot in the match where Orton whipped Sandow into the turnbuckle, Sandow put on the brakes, Orton put on the brakes, and they stood there for a second or two before Sandow leaped up and over Orton. That could have been edited better. Outside of that, Sandow looked good in the match and he needs to be featured more and pick up some wins. For the finish, Orton coiled and actually connected with the RKO instead of having his opponent counter, try their finish, and then the RKO comes out of nowhere. That was a nice change of pace!

Mike's Reax: Damien is starting to enter that dreaded Drew McIntyre circa late 2010-2012 when people just stop caring when he comes out because they knew he is losing. Orton on the other hand is resting on his laurels and continues to tread water. Orton looks very disengaged from the product even though the fans still cheer him like he the number two guy in the company.

-Big Show confronted Orton after the match and called him a great one-on-one competitor, but a lousy teammate. Sandow then jumped Orton from behind and gave him the Terminoose as Big Show cackled on the microphone. Big Show then implied a challenge to Orton for a match at Extreme Rules.

-Kane vowed to take The Shield to hell. Little does Kane know that The Chapperone hasn’t been in theaters for well over a year!

-Mark Henry challenged Sheamus to an arm wrestling contest. I wonder if Sheamus kidnapped Henry’s son and the only way to get him back is by beating Sheamus in said competition. Righty versus righty starts things off, Henry stalls a little bit and then beats Sheamus after a little back and forth. Somehow Sheamus is bleeding from his cheek after the match (that’s hardcore!). Sheamus then challenges him to lefty versus lefty, Henry says he has nothing to prove, but Sheamus calls him chicken and them be fightin’ words. Sheamus played some mind games to start just like Henry did and when the match started Sheamus clocked Henry and then delivered the Brogue Kick. Sheamus cheats to lose? Quite the role model for kids!

7 - WWE tag champion KANE vs. DEAN AMBROSE (w/Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns)

Reigns has Bryan's Tag Title be;t with him, as apparently he jacked his property after jumping Bryan. The way that Reigns taunts Kane with the title reminds me a little of Scott Hall. Kane fought off the Shield members on the floor first before actually starting the match. He sent Rollins and Reigns into the crowd and then got in there with Ambrose. Kane dominated the first half of the match up until the commercial.

When Smackdown came back, Ambrose had Kane down and was working over the left leg and had Kane on the ropes. The rest of The Shield were on their feet at ringside jeering Kane and booing him as Ambrose kept attacking The Big Red Monster's leg. Kane made a comeback and chokeslammed Ambrose, then called for the Tombstone. But, Rollins distracted and Kane found himself outside the ring fighting all three men again. Kane fought his way back into the ring with Ambrose, who put Kane away clean after a dropkick to the bad knee and a DDT.

Overall, Ambrose took a beating throughout the match but couldn’t be put away, putting him over strong tonight. Kane also showed that he is still a threat after taking on all three men by himself.

-Post-match, Kane challenged all three members of The Shield and he fought them off for a moment until the numbers game became too much for him to handle. They kept on the bad leg of Kane and were about the Triple Powerbomb him when Kane got a second wind. Kane had Ambrose and Rollins down when Reigns Kane speared Kane and then got the Powerbomb. Ambrose took Kane’s tag title belt and raised it over his head. The Shield then stood over Kane while holding the belts as Smackdown faded out.

Thank you for reading, for more from me, please follow me on Twitter @MJCupach. Also check out my Main Event reports every Wednesday right here on PWTorch.com.

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