WWE Smackdown review
June 27, 2014
Taped 6/24/14 in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Aired on SyFy
By Greg Parks, PWTorch Columnist (Twitter: @gregmparks)


- A video package aired profiling how the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Ladder Match at MITB came to be. Each participant in the match was spotlighted as well.

- Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, and Triple H were in the ring as the show opened. Ladders surrounded the ring. Triple H talked about the various eras in WWE, saying he hears people today calling it “The Reality Era.” Wasn’t he the one who came up with that? He said he’d rather it be called “The Authority Era.” Hunter previewed the WWE World Title match, and the traditional MITB contract Ladder Match. He said he’d bet that Orton would win the WWE World Title match and Rollins would be the briefcase holder coming out of the show. Orton agreed that those results would be best for business, and that he’d become the face of WWE. Rollins stepped up and voiced confidence in winning his upcoming PPV match. He did say they have a Plan B in case anything goes wrong. Orton seemed offended and asked what he meant. Rollins said it’s not unthinkable that Orton can’t get the job done. Orton threatened to whip his ass. Hunter got between them to ease the tension. He said they need to trust each other, because he trusts them. He said he is the constant and they need to heed his plan.

Hunter moved on to address Dean Ambrose. He said in a moment, Ambrose will be in action against Bad News Barrett, once again doing the Barrett impression. That’s three or four episodes of Raw or Smackdown in a row that he’s done that. I’m beginning to think they’re booking Barrett around Hunter’s impression of him now. Anyway, Barrett came out and his match against Ambrose is next.

[Commercial Break]

- We’ll hear from Daniel Bryan on the MITB pre-show this Sunday night.

- They showed Bad News Barrett knocking out Jack Swagger with the Bull Hammer elbow on Main Event.

- A graphic aired showing the MTIB Contract Ladder Match participants.

1 – BAD NEWS BARRETT vs. DEAN AMBROSE

After Ambrose came out, they showed the end of Rollins vs. Rob Van Dam when Ambrose attacked Rollins. Thesz Press knocked Barrett down and Ambrose went to work on him. Barrett began his offense with a big boot. He continued the offense until they went to break at 2:24 of the match.

[Commercial Break]

The show returned with more of the same: Barrett in control. Ambrose fought out of a rear chin-lock and proceeded to knock Barrett down a few times. Barrett shrugged off a Tornado DDT attempt. Ambrose avoided a pump-handle slam and came back with a clothesline. He planted Barrett with his finisher, Dirty Deeds, for the win.

WINNER: Ambrose, at 7:36. The finish came somewhat out of nowhere. A solid match to preview the MITB Contract Ladder Match.

Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter walked out after the match. Swagger stood outside the ring staring at Ambrose, but he instead went after Barrett, who had come outside the ring. Barrett was thrown into the barricade twice, the second of which appears to be where he separated his shoulder. Swagger went for the Patriot Lock and Barrett tapped Swagger on his ankle a few times, as if to tell him to ease up because he was hurt. Ambrose dove onto Swagger and you could see the referee give the “X” sign with his arms. After a few exchanges with Ambrose, Swagger stood tall in the ring.

Ambrose wasn’t done though, as he reappeared and unloaded on Swagger. The fight spilled back to ringside, where Swagger was sent into the timekeeper’s area. Rollins surprised Ambrose, attacking him from behind and throwing him into the ringside stairs. Into the ring Ambrose was sent, where Rollins trash-talked him a bit, then gave him the curb stomp. If Swagger and Ambrose had to improvise with Barrett out of commission (and it appeared they may have, as referee Rod Zapata said something to the guys before they headed back into the ring), they did so seamlessly.

- Roman Reigns takes on Kane in the main event tonight.

- Also tonight, we’ll see what happened with Vickie Guerrero on Raw.

- WWE Divas champion Paige was walking backstage. She faces Cameron, next.

[Commercial Break]

- Cameron and Naomi were making their entrance out of break. That segued into a plug for Season One of Total Divas, which is now available on the WWE Network. Naomi joined the commentary team for the match. When Paige came to the ring, they showed Cameron slapping Paige in the face on the WWE App two weeks ago. A graphic also aired plugging Naomi vs. Paige at MITB.

2 – CAMERON vs. PAIGE

The ladies traded some hair pulling, then Cameron gave Paige a Codebreaker. She caught Paige in a headscissors, but Paige came back with the Paige Turner for the win.

WINNER: Paige, at 1:12. Watching Cameron wrestle was slightly less painful than listening to her on commentary. Naomi didn’t offer much in that role tonight, either.

In the ring, Naomi tried to separate Cameron and Paige. With Paige’s back turned, Cameron shoved Naomi into Paige. Paige took offense and went after Naomi. Referee John Cone actually did his job, getting in between the two before further physicality could take place.

- Luke Harper cut a Wyatt-style promo backstage. He said they’ve become pariahs, and they’ve never had nice things. He addressed The Usos, saying they (presumably he and Erick Rowan) want what The Usos have. The camera pulled back to show Rowan standing next to Harper. Bray Wyatt paced into the picture and talked about his match at MITB. He pondered the possibilities of having the world in the palm of his hand. “A nation of sheep, led by a lone wolf,” he said. Then he laughed.

- Sheamus vs. Bray Wyatt is up next.

[Commercial Break]

3 – SHEAMUS vs. BRAY WYATT

Bray was part of a long-form Wyatt entrance on this night. A crawler appeared on the bottom of the screen described as “Breaking News” that WWE Network is now available on Amazon Fire TV. Shoulder tackle off the top rope by Sheamus was the first high-impact move of the match. The other Wyatt Family members distracted Sheamus, allowing Wyatt to trip up Sheamus on the apron and send him into the ring post. They went to break exactly two minutes into the match.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 5:07. Wyatt collided with Sheamus and went for a pin, getting a two-count. The Usos were at ringside, having come out during the break to even the odds. Sheamus was perched on the top rope, but ended up being knocked off the turnbuckle to ringside. Wyatt’s onslaught continued inside the ring. Wyatt prepared to charge at Sheamus in the corner, but Sheamus exploded out with a clothesline. He clubbed Wyatt over the chest with a dozen forearm shots. He missed a running knee-lift, but Wyatt ran into a powerslam for two at 9:42. Back splash by Wyatt for a near-fall. Sheamus caught Wyatt for an Irish Curse back-breaker, but held him in the air too long, resulting in the moving looking somewhat sloppy. Cloverleaf was applied, which drew Luke Harper in for a boot to the face and a disqualification.

WINNER: Sheamus, via DQ, at 11:38. Wyatt has done a nice job adapting to a variety of offenses he’s faced thus far.

The Usos took out Harper and Rowan, leaving Sheamus and Wyatt. Wyatt avoided a Brogue Kick, escaping the ring and any other damage.

- Reigns vs. Kane takes place tonight in the main event.

- Next: Dolph Ziggler & Rob Van Dam vs. Cesaro & Alberto Del Rio.

[Commercial Break]

- The exterior of the Consol Energy Center was shown.

- Byron Saxton was with Goldust backstage. Saxton asked about Rybaxel challenging Goldust and Stardust to a match at the PPV. Stardust appeared and said Rybaxel has called them “Painted *bleeps*.” After a rambling, Wyatt-like promo, Goldust said they accept the challenge.

4 – ALBERTO DEL RIO & CESARO vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER & ROB VAN DAM

No entrances, but Paul Heyman was on commentary. RVD monkey-flipped Del Rio out of the corner. Del Rio, after RVD tagged out, tossed Ziggler into the air and let him fall. Enziguiri in the corner, but Del Rio only caught Ziggler in the shoulder. Ziggler fired back and landed a fameasser on Cesaro. Del Rio made a blind tag and took out the knee of Ziggler. Ziggler went to ringside to try to recover as they went to break at 3:56 of the match.

[Commercial Break]

Ziggler was back in the ring after the break, but Del Rio gave him a tilt-a-whirl back-breaker. Following a tag to Cesaro, Ziggler applied a sleeper. It didn’t last, however. Cesaro was back-dropped to ringside as Ziggler needed to tag out. Van Dam tagged in at 9:27. He ran roughshod on both Del Rio and Cesaro. Rolling Thunder to Del Rio for two. Del Rio missed a corner enziguiri and RVD connected on a split-legged moonsault. Cesaro and Ziggler also got involved at this point. Del Rio got his knees up on a frog splash, applied his cross arm-breaker, and picked up the submission win for his team.

WINNERS: Del Rio and Cesaro, at 10:36. Not a banner week for RVD thus far: A DQ loss to Rollins on Monday, a loss to Adrian Neville on NXT, and tapping out to Del Rio here. That said, the match was action-packed and entertaining.

After the match, Cesaro turned on ADR and gave him the Neutralizer. The tap-out and Cesaro’s attack were replayed.

- Renee Young was backstage with The Usos. They both seemed confident in their ability to retain the tag titles over Harper and Rowan at MITB. They seem to be finding their voice during these interviews, too.

- Kane vs. Roman Reigns is still to come.

- Up next, taking a look at what happened to Vickie Guerrero on Raw.

[Commercial Break]

- Rusev and Lana were in the ring out of break. Lana put down the fans themselves and said Russians are inspired by Vladimir Putin to work hard. Rusev took the mic and spoke in Russian, then said “America Rusev crush.”

5 – SIN CARA vs. RUSEV

A few kicks to Rusev’s legs had no effect. Cara missed a moonsault but rolled back onto his feet. A side-kick by Rusev took Cara back off his feet, though. Cara tapped to the Accolade.

WINNER: Rusev, via submission, at :46. I thought maybe with someone more trustworthy under the mask, WWE would put more oomph behind Sin Cara given his merchandise sales. I guess not.

The Russian flag unfurled from the ceiling after the match. It brought out Big E. Big E talked up America in the same way he cut his promo on Raw. He said a real man doesn’t attack his opponent from the back – he looks them dead in the eye. Big E entered the ring and got face-to-face with Rusev while Lana tried to hold Rusev back. After an intense stare-down, Rusev exited the ring. At the last minute, Rusev tried to ambush Big E, but Big E caught him with a clothesline. Rusev seethed at ringside.

- JBL and Michael Cole spoke on-camera about what happened on Raw with Vickie Guerrero. They showed what happened when Stephanie McMahon confronted Vickie, and the subsequent “match” that followed.

- The main event of Roman Reigns vs. Kane is up next. They’re leaving an awful lot of time for that match.

[Commercial Break]

- Cole and JBL plugged the MITB PPV with breaking news on two matches added to the card: Big E vs. Rusev, and Layla vs. Summer Rae, with Fandango was special guest referee.

6 – KANE vs. ROMAN REIGNS

As Kane came to the ring, they showed the finish of the four-on-three match from Raw, with Kane coming out and then Reigns spearing him. Reigns knocked Kane off his feet early on. Kane took control and even got a two-count on Reigns before they went to break at 1:21 of the match.

[Commercial Break]

They returned 5:15 into the match. Reigns headbutted Kane, then gave him a Samoan drop.
Kick to the face by Kane for a two-count at 6:04. A side slam registered a two-count as well. Kane began to take apart the announce desk at ringside. He didn’t get to use it, however, as Reigns recovered. Reigns took the fight to Kane back in the ring. He also connected on his jumping kick from ringside to Kane’s head. Superman punch found the mark. As Reigns set up for the Spear, Randy Orton ran out and brought Reigns throat-first across the top rope for the DQ.

WINNER: Reigns, via DQ, at 8:42.

Kane chokeslammed Reigns after he retaliated against Orton. Kane grabbed a ladder and brought it into the ring. He held it for a while, then set it up in the middle of the ring, eyeing the two championship belts hanging down from the top of the arena. Kane stared at Orton, then backed away. It appeared he set the ladder up for Orton to climb. Orton began to do so, and Kane put his hands on the ladder. Orton seemed to hesitate, thinking Kane might tip it over. In the end, Orton climbed to the top and unhooked the titles. Actually the titles were still attached to a steel triangle, which could make it more difficult for those predicting two men each grabbing a title on Sunday. Orton posed with the titles while Kane looked on. We found Roman’s kryptonite: After all this time, he was still selling Kane’s chokeslam. Kane readied for another chokeslam, but Orton ordered him to stand down. He set up for the punt, but Reigns popped up and speared him, and did the same to Kane. He took the titles and posed with them as the crowd roared their approval.


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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