WWE Smackdown review
May 23, 2014
Taped 5/20/14 in London, England
Aired on SyFy
By Greg Parks, PWTorch Columnist (Twitter: @gregmparks)


- WWE Open.

- Smackdown Open. It was new music for the open, but a song they’ve used in bumpers on Smackdown the past several months.

- Jimmy Hart was in the ring in London. He brought out, for the first time in 20 years in a WWE ring, Hulk Hogan. Michael Cole and JBL gave him a standing ovation at the announce desk. Hogan talked about how great it was to be back in England, then drew attention to Jimmy Hart and Legends House on the WWE Network. But, Hogan said, it’s time to look to the future. And he said it looks bright for his U.K. Hulkamaniacs. Uh-oh, he said the same thing about TNA. He finished with his “run wild on you” flourish for a relatively brief in-ring appearance.

- Coming up tonight, The Usos (with John Cena in their corner) against Luke Harper and Erick Rowan.

- Also tonight, Dolph Ziggler vs. Batista in a no-disqualification match. And it’s next.

[Commercial Break]

- A graphic showed the top 10 shows last week on the WWE Network.

- Some shots of London, including the tallest building in the EU (according to JBL).

1 – DOLPH ZIGGLER vs. BATITSA – NO DISQUALIFICATION MATCH

Tony Chimel was handling ring announcing duties this week. As Ziggler came to the ring, they showed Batista giving Ziggler a low-blow, then destroying him, last week. When Batista made his way to the ring, the latest brawl between Evolution and The Shield, from Raw, was shown. The announcers talked about Evolution vs. The Shield being a No Holds Barred match at Payback. Once the match began, Ziggler hit a high dropkick for the first cover of the match, only a one-count. Batista caught Ziggler and gave him a spinebuster. Batista tried to bring a chair into the ring, but Ziggler took it from Batista. Batista pulled Ziggler out of the ring and sent him head-first into the announce table. Ziggler then went back-first into the apron. A spear attempt went awry, as Ziggler side-stepped The Animal causing him to go into the barricade. Clothesline by Ziggler sent both men into the timekeeper’s area. Good flurry before a break at 2:46 of the match.

[Commercial Break]

Smackdown returned at 6:40. The up-tempo pace continued, with Ziggler bending a chair across the back of Batista a number of times. Batista tried to avoid Ziggler in order to get some breathing room. Ziggler caught up with him and whipped him into the steel steps. Ziggler punched Batista ten times in the corner, hooking The Animal’s arms under the top rope to avoid a repeat of last week’s finish. A near-fall by Ziggler was registered at 9:17. Fameasser by Ziggler for two at 9:56. Both men struggled to get to their feet after that. Ziggler gave Batista a baseball slide, with Batista bumping over the announce table. Is there a human magnet under that thing these days? It seems to happen every week now. Ziggler took hold of Batista, but a reversal led to Ziggler being sent into the steel steps. JBL was on his own announcing as Cole was knocked down in the melee. JBL chided Cole for laying down on the job. “I had 500 pounds of men on top of me.” JBL probably had to stifle a few non-PG responses to that. Ziggler went for a running Fameasser onto Batista on the stairs, but Batista moved and ZIggler’s foot skidded across the stairs as he fell down. Back in the ring, a spear by Batista ended things.

WINNER: Batista, at 13:29. I enjoyed this match, but Ziggler did take somewhat of an unnecessary bump in sliding his foot off the stairs at the end.

After the match, Batista gave Ziggler a Batista Bomb. That was replayed for the fans at home.

- The Usos take on The Wyatt Family tonight.

- A Bo Dallas vignette aired. He debuts tonight.

[Commercial Break]

2 – NIKKI BELLA & EVA MARIE vs. THE FUNKADACTYLS – SUMMER RAE AS SPECIAL REFEREE

Chimel stumbled over Eva’s name and they didn’t edit it out, likely because Cole and JBL joked about it on-air. Before the match came out, Summer Rae came out as the special guest referee. They showed Summer’s return on Raw. Nikki worked an arm-bar on Naomi early on. Nikki brought Naomi’s head down across her knee and made a cover. Summer didn’t bother to count the pin. Double-team suplex on Nikki by the Funkadactyls. Codebreaker by Cameron. Dropkick by Cameron. Eva tagged in and went for a pin, but Summer didn’t count. Eva confronted Summer, but an inside cradle by Cameron led to a quick three-count. JBL said Summer was better than Marc Harris as a ref.

WINNERS: Funkadactyls, at 1:59. This was your blatant “Total Divas advertisement” segment of the show.

- We’ll see what happened during the State of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship segment from Raw, later on tonight.

- Bo Dallas debuts (or, returns, depending on your definition of those terms) next.

[Commercial Break]

- They showed WWE’s part in the Susan G. Komen Race for the cure 5K event in Rome last Sunday.

- Bo Dallas came to the ring for his match. Bo posed with a spotlight on him in the ring, kneeling down with his head resting on his fist in a sort-of “Thinker” position. He got the mic and said the most beautiful things in the world can’t be seen or heard, but felt with your heart. He said the people only need to Bolieve.

3 – BO DALLAS vs. SIN CARA

Some light “Bo” chants early on. Bo celebrated a quick take-down. Cole said people have described Dallas as “delusional” and “whiny.” Cara went for a dive, but Dallas elbowed him in the chest. Dallas dropped a few knees across the face of Cara. Cara surprised Dallas with a jackknife cover and another roll-up, neither of which got him even a one-count. Hard whip into the buckle managed to take Bo down. Springboard dive by Cara that resulted in a headbutt. He followed that up with a handspring back-elbow. Dallas hit Cara hard with a clothesline. He finished Cara with a bulldog, propelling himself off the ropes with his feet.

WINNER: Dallas, at 3:33. Fine debut for Dallas. I’m still not sure why they abandoned the deal where he was the underdog challenging Wade Barrett for the IC Title a few years ago.

Dallas ran around the ring to celebrate. Then he reentered the ring and shook Cara’s hand, saying he did a good job and one day, Cara may be like him. “Never stop Bolieving.” They replayed some key moments, and part of Bo’s victory lap, in slow-motion.

- Next, Bray Wyatt’s latest rant against John Cena from Raw. Interesting placement of this graphic right after Bo Dallas.

[Commercial Break]

- Back from break, The Wyatts were already in the ring, with Bray in his rocking chair. Wyatt said most of us don’t have to see the terrible stuff that happens in our world up-close. He said evil is a very real thing. Bray said that we live in a bubble and think we’re safe. People like John Cena are our rays of hope sent in to make us believe things will be alright. Bray said we’ve let “this monster” lie to our children long enough. He kicked it to a video package from Raw in which Bray cut a promo that was followed by a physical altercation. Back on Smackdown, Wyatt said the Cenation has infected the world. He called The Usos “pawns” for Cena. He previewed the big tag match still to come and promised to be standing when John Cena and the Cenation crumbles. He ended by speaking in tongues or something like that, then singing “He’s got the whole world in his hands.”

- A graphic was shown for The Usos vs. Rowan & Harper.

- Next, Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio.

[Commercial Break]

- More exterior shots of London, specifically, the O2 Arena.

- Paul Heyman and Cesaro joined the commentators for the next match.

4 – ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. SHEAMUS

When Sheamus came to the ring, they showed the end and post-match of Sheamus vs. Cesaro from Raw Monday night. Cesaro tried to distract Sheamus right at the bell, but it didn’t work over the long-term. Sheamus came off the second-rope with a knee-drop, but Del Rio kicked out at one. Rolling senton by Sheamus, then a clothesline that sent Del Rio over the top rope. Outside the ring, Del Rio hit an enziguiri on Sheamus. They went to break at 2:29 of the match.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 5:30 of the match. Sheamus tried to knock Del Rio off the apron, but Del Rio brought him throat-first across the top rope. Backstabber by Del Rio for two at 6:17. Sheamus missed a Brogue Kick, getting hung up in the ropes in the process. Del Rio caught him with a superkick coming in, but only for two. Del Rio applied a cross arm-breaker in the middle of the ring. Sheamus wriggled close to the ropes and extended his leg to get to the ropes for a break. Cesaro tried to interfere at that point, but Sheamus punched him. Cesaro pulled Sheamus out of the ring as Sheamus set up for the Brogue Kick. He whipped Sheamus into the steps for the disqualification.

WINNER: Sheamus, via DQ, at 9:26. Worth a view just to hear Heyman play lawyer on commentary.

Cesaro hit the Neutralizer on Sheamus at ringside after the match. Cesaro shook the hand of the unconscious Sheamus. A replay of what led to the DQ, as well as the Neutralizer, aired.

- The announcers talked on-camera about Daniel Bryan’s neck surgery and his condition. They threw it to the Raw Rebound, addressing the WWE World Title situation.

- A graphic aired asking the question, will Daniel Bryan relinquish the WWE World Title on Monday night?

- Vickie Guerrero was walking backstage. She’s out next.

[Commercial Break]

- Triple H is on the cover of the latest Muscle & Fitness magazine.

- Vickie Guerrero was in the ring. Vickie bragged about herself and said we might not know that she’s a big partier. She called out Adam Rose, saying he’s making his “debut.” I’m pretty sure that’s factually incorrect. Smackdown, in-arena debut maybe. So Adam Rose and the Exotic Express came out. JBL said what everyone is thinking, telling Cole to stop dancing because he looks stupid. Vickie welcomed Rose to Smackdown, then handed him the mic. The crowd played along as they finished Rose’s catchphrases. He asked Vickie if she was a lemon or a rosebud. The crowd seemed of the opinion that she was a lemon. She disagreed. Vickie then told Rose to get out of her ring. Rose offered Vickie his sucker, but she relented. the crowd began to sing Rose’s theme song. Rose threatened Vickie with the lollipop, sending Vickie (who was on the apron) falling backward and into the arms of the Exotic Express, who carried her around ringside and to the back, along with Rose.

- Renee Young was backstage with The Usos. She asked them about facing the Wyatts. One of the Usos put over Adam Rose. The other Uso said they may be facing the Wyatt Family, but if there are two people in WWE who know about family, it’s him and his brother. John Cena walked into the picture and opened his promo like he was Hulk Hogan. He cut an intense promo, talking up The Usos. All three did the beating of the chest chant.

- Next is the main event featuring the aforementioned Usos against The Wyatt Family.

[Commercial Break]

5 – THE USOS vs. ERICK ROWAN & LUKE HARPER

John Cena made a separate entrance, following The Usos. When he did so, they again showed Wyatt giving Cena Sister Abigail atop the ramp. Jey and Jimmy worked together to get the better of Harper early on, but that didn’t last long. Rowan tagged in and one of the Usos chopped away on him. It didn’t have much effect however. Rowan was knocked to ringside and helped up by Bray as they went to break 2:25 into the match.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 5:20 of the match, with The Usos in control. Harper missed two superkicks, then found himself on the business-end of a kick to the gut. Harper sent Uso into the ropes, where one of Rikishi’s sons went throat first into the middle rope, causing a nasty-looking whiplash effect. The heels took over at that point. A Whisper-in-the-Wind-like maneuver from Jimmy Uso led to a tag to Jey. Rowan tagged in as well, but Jey got the upper-hand. Butt splash in the corner, but he then ran into a big boot from Harper. Jimmy superkicked Harper out of the ring then hit a suicide dive onto him. Jey dove over the top rope onto Rowan, knocking Jimmy down in the process. Jey rolled Rowan back into the ring as Cena cheered on from ringside. Jey was pushed off the top rope by Bray Wyatt for a DQ.

WINNERS: The Usos, via DQ, at 10:42.

Cena entered the ring and gave the Attitude Adjustment to Rowan after the match. He challenged Bray to get into the ring. Bray stepped up onto the apron, but predictably, that’s as far as he’d go. He backed down and away from the ring. Cena’s music played to end things.


Did you watch Friday's Smackdown episode? Send your 0-10 score & Reax to pwtorch@gmail.com for our TV Reax feature.

Greg Parks has been covering WWE Smackdown for PWTorch.com since January of 2007. He is the host of “Moonlighting with Greg Parks,” a PWTorch VIP-exclusive audio show posted each weekend. Follow him on Twitter @gregmparks for live Tweeting during Raw, Impact, and PPVs, as well as other bits of wisdom. Comments, questions and feedback are welcome, and can be sent to g_man9784@yahoo.com.

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