WWE Smackdown review
June 4, 2015
Taped 6/2/15 in Houston, Texas
Aired on SyFy
By Greg Parks, PWTorch Columnist (Twitter: @gregmparks)


- WWE Open.

- Stills from the main event of Elimination Chamber aired, along with slow-motion footage of the post-match fallout from the Dusty Finish.

- The camera panned the crowd inside the arena in Houston. First out was Seth Rollins, alone. He retrieved a steel chair from ringside, then headed into the ring. Rollins talked about his heel turn, using a chair, almost a year ago to the day. He proceeded to sit in the chair to cut his promo. Wow, he really is a protégé of Triple H. Rollins talked about his goal of being the best in the industry and how he was tired of sharing the spotlight with those beneath him. He recapped his time joining the Authority as well as his Money in the Bank contract win. “You suck” chants from the fans. Rollins continued his recap of the last year, talking about his Wrestlemania win over Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar. Rollins had some harsh words for Reigns, then anointed himself “the greatest World champion of all time,” while also noting his lack of a physical title. This brought him to Dean Ambrose.

Rollins said everyone knows who the rightful champion is. He said he doesn’t need a “championship belt” to validate who he is. He said he appreciates what The Authority has done for him, but he doesn’t need any of them to destroy Ambrose. Rollins got heated talking about his title match at MITB when Ambrose appeared on the TitanTron (with the WWE World Title). Ambrose asked if Rollins has a bad memory or a liar, because he needs help from everyone. Ambrose said he isn’t the scumbag that Rollins is. Ambrose said the lie he hates the most is Rollins calling himself the World Champion when everyone saw him beat Rollins at the Chamber. Ambrose was surrounded by ladders as he was cutting this promo. He said the support Rollins gets from The Authority has made him weak. In the last year, Ambrose said, he’s only gotten stronger. He said he’s never been afraid to fall, which is why he likes the idea of their ladder match. Ambrose said he’s the rightful WWE World Champion - he’ll walk into MITB with the title and walk out with it…or die trying. Usually the yelling promos don’t do much for me, but when Rollins got hot and raised his voice during his portion, it worked. He did a really nice job, as did Ambrose of course.

- Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, and Jerry Lawler were show at the announce desk.

- Roman Reigns takes on Sheamus tonight.

- Tonight, the first-ever Kevin Owens NXT Championship Open Challenge.

- The Prime Time Players were out for a triple-threat tag match to determine the #1 contenders to the tag titles. The match takes place next.

[Commercial Break]

1 – THE PRIME TIME PLAYERS vs. THE ASCENSION vs. THE LUCHA DRAGONS – TRIPLE-THREAT MATCH TO DETERMINE THE #1 CONTENDERS TO THE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

Some early back-and-forth from Sin Cara and Darren Young. Some crowd-pleasing double-teaming from the Lucha Dragons didn’t keep Young down for long. The New Day was shown looking on via a monitor backstage. Konnor and Viktor ended up outside the ring, allowing the Lucha Dragons to fly through the ropes and onto their foes. They led the crowd in a “Lucha” chant as the show went to break at 2:05 of the match.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 6:02 with Viktor in control of Kalisto. Konnor came in as the showed New Day watching backstage. The three of them seemed to have a contest to see who could make the most ridiculous hand gestures while they were on camera. Kalisto managed to take Viktor down. Konnor took out Cara, preventing a Kalisto tag. Young broke up a pin by Konnor. Titus made the tag at 8:11 and cleaned house on The Ascension. He slammed Viktor but Cara came off the top with a senton to break up the pin. Everybody began hitting their moves at this point. Titus tossed Kalisto into Konnor, sending them both over the top and to the floor. Titus set up Viktor for the pump-handle slam and connected. That was enough for the victory.

WINNERS: The Prime Time Players, at 9:22. I had no problem with this. PTP arguably were booked the best of the losing teams at the Chamber, staying in there until the end with New Day. So the win here made sense.

- The New Day was backstage as Renee Young walked in for their reaction to the PTP getting the win. Apparently, the two teams will face off at Money in the Bank. Xavier Woods said the Players are morally corrupt and greedy because all they want is money. Kofi Kingston for some reason thought the fans would chant “New Day Rocks” at MITB. Woods mentioned Kingston being in the MITB Ladder Match and predicted he would walk out with the contract. Kane interrupted and informed Kofi that he’ll face Neville later on. Kane wished them a pleasant day as New Day appeared upset with this development.

[Commercial Break]

- The announcers talked about Sonic Shake audition footage from the wrestlers. They showed the Prime Time Players, The Miz, and The Big Show. I don’t think they even attempted to make it look like there’s a drink in those cups.

2 – STARDUST vs. RYBACK

No entrance for Stardust. Saxton noted it was the one-year anniversary of the creation of Stardust. Inverted DDT for a one-count by Stardust. Stardust came off the ropes but was caught and given a spinebuster. Big Meat Hook clothesline by Ryback, followed by Shell Shock.

WINNER: Ryback, at 2:12. A decisive win for the I.C. Champ, a departure from the constant “losing in non-title situations” the champ is usually saddled with.

The clothesline and finish were replayed.

- In tonight’s main event, Roman Reigns takes on Sheamus.

- Paige was walking backstage. She’s out next.

[Commercial Break]

- The exterior of the Toyota Center in Houston was shown.

- Shown at ringside was Houston Rockets star Dwight Howard.

- They showed the end of Nikki Bella vs. Paige for the Divas title from Raw.

- Renee Young was on the top of the ramp as she introduced Paige. Paige said it feels like things will never change, and that she’s sick of the Bella Twins’ magic. She said it’s the Bellas who are holding the Divas Division back. She mentioned Emma, Summer and Naomi as those who are being held back. Paige said their life is consumed with living the celebrity lifestyle, while she’s more concerned about what happens in the ring. She said if you don’t like the world you live in, you have the power to change it. Paige said she’s going to have to change it. Another promo that gives promise to a change in the Divas division. We’ll see if anything substantial comes from it.

- Luke Harper was backstage, holding Erick Rowan’s sheep mask. Rowan came into the picture and said, “we’re family.” Harper said the reapers are at the doorstep and now it’s time to pay for “your” sins. Seemed Harper was speaking to someone specifically.

- Stills from John Cena vs. Kevin Owens at the Chamber were shown.

- Next is the Kevin Owens NXT Championship Open Challenge.

[Commercial Break]

- A MITB video package aired. The graphic said the show would be “live right here on the WWE Network,” which would seem to indicate folks were watching Smackdown not on SyFy, but on the WWE Network.

- Kevin Owens came out for his NXT Title Challenge. Owens said he doesn’t need Michael Cole to intro him this week, because after Sunday, everybody knows who he is. He said he’s the guy who beat John Cena in his very first WWE match. Owens’, not Cena’s. He said he’ll do the same thing at MITB. Owens said Cena seems to think that he’s a kid who hangs on every word he says, like his son. But his son is seven and doesn’t know any better. Owens said he heard Cena go on and on and on Monday night. He realized that night that Cena is completely delusional. He said Cena actually believes the nonsense he spouts. He complained about Cena saying he wasn’t a real man. He said he can’t let his son be influenced by someone so out of touch with reality. Owens said Cena has been force-feeding kids “garbage” for the last 10 years. He said he’ll gladly step up to shut Cena up at MITB. Owens turned his attention to his NXT Title challenge and called anyone out from the back. It was answered by Zack Ryder. Eden Stiles handled formal ring introductions.

3 – KEVIN OWENS vs. ZACK RYDER – NXT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

Owens went after Ryder to start, but Ryder caught the champ with a facebuster. Owens left the ring and Ryder followed, which turned out to be a mistake. Back inside, Ryder got his knees up on a charge and landed a middle-rope missile dropkick. Owens surprised Ryder with a superkick, and finished him with the pop-up powerbomb.

WINNER: Owens, at 1:11. This allowed Owens to plow through someone on the main roster, but interestingly, the announcers didn’t play up Ryder also having faced John Cena in the U.S. Title open challenge and lasting longer against Cena than he did Owens.

After the match, Owens delivered a corner cannonball to Ryder and another pop-up powerbomb. The post-match attack was replayed as Owens headed to the back.

- Backstage, Renee Young was with Sheamus. Young said some people think Roman Reigns is the favorite for MITB, but Sheamus poo-pooed that idea. He didn’t really have much else to say other than that he’d become World Champion after winning the briefcase and closed by stealing Roman’s “believe that” catchphrase.

[Commercial Break]

- The announcers plugged the Tough Enough App.

4 – NEVILLE vs. KOFI KINGSTON

Neville, in his inset interview, told fans not to blink because they might miss him winning the contract at MITB. It could happen that quickly. Xavier Woods and Big E. joined Kofi on his way to the ring. It didn’t take long for the other members of New Day to get involved, with Big E. running Neville over while he was outside the ring. The New Day clapped around him as he lay on the mat. They cut to break at 1:07 of the match.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 4:07 with Kingston holding Neville in a rest-hold. Inverted suplex by Kofi for two. Neville fought back with kicks and a dropkick. “I’m going to make gravity remember you!” shouted Woods, from ringside, to Neville. Middle rope dropkick then a standing moonsault from Neville. It looked like Kofi wanted a monkey flip out of the corner, but Neville wasn’t falling for it. He turned it into a Tornado DDT. He set Kofi up for the Red Arrow but as Woods distracted the ref, Big E. pulled Kofi out of the ring. So Neville adjusted his trajectory and took out Big E. and Kofi with a moonsault to the floor. Roll-up by Neville for two. Kofi tried a roll-up but Neville twisted his foot around Kofi’s arm and sat down, hooking the legs for the win.

WINNER: Neville, at 7:23. Solid match, though Xavier’s comments on the outside were almost more entertaining than what was happening in the ring.

They replayed his moonsault to the outside, then the finishing sequence.

- Reigns vs. Sheamus is the main event.

- Miz was shown in the makeup chair backstage. He’ll have Lana as a guest on Miz TV next.

[Commercial Break]

- Miz was in the ring for Miz TV wearing…well…I have no idea. I’m glad I’m not doing a fashion report for THIS show. Miz said the fans want her, so Miz TV has her: “The Ravishing Heartbreaker” Lana. Before asking a question, Miz cued up Lana’s slap of Rusev from three weeks ago on Raw, then her promo on Rusev the next week. They also showed part of Rusev’s promo from Raw this week. Miz said Rusev is in a lot of pain both physically and emotionally, and he felt Rusev’s apology was sincere on Monday. He asked Lana how she could abandon Rusev in his time of need.

Lana simply said Rusev did not respect her so he did not deserve her. Miz performed some mock applause by said she can’t fool him. “I’m from Hollywood and I’ve seen this all before,” Miz said. He said once Rusev lost to Cena, she cut bait. He said it was a smart business decision. She said it wasn’t business and that she did care for him, but he lost her trust. Lana said Miz’s line of questioning will leave him with two options: Either she’ll leave or he’ll get slapped. Miz said he’s simply trying to get her side of the story. He said there are always two sides, so he introduced his surprise guest…Rusev.

Rusev came to the ring on crutches. Lana could barely bring herself to look at him. Rusev called her “my dear Lana.” He said he’s not here to start trouble and had no excuses. He said he was raised differently. He said it’s like Lana’s favorite American song, “You don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone.” He also said America is about second chances, which his all he was asking from her. He set aside the crutches and begged her for one more chance. “Please, be my crutch,” he said. Lana stood up and appeared ready to embrace him but instead took the crutches and said, “I’ll show you where to put your crutch,” then shoved him into him. “You stupid woman cow!” Rusev shouted. He went off on her, struggling to find the words to use to insult her. Dolph Ziggler then came out.

Ziggler got into the ring and put his arm out. Lana took it in her arm and Ziggler led her out of the ring as Rusev yelled that Lana was worthless and told her to go to hell, all off mic as Ziggler’s theme was playing. Ziggler and Lana walked arm-in-arm up the ramp and backstage.

- Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns is next.

[Commercial Break]

5 – ROMAN REIGNS vs. SHEAMUS

As Sheamus came to the ring, they showed clips of his brawl with Randy Orton on Raw. Reigns continued favoring his ribs after the beating he took on Raw. Sheamus took advantage with a knee-lift to the mid-section. Good thing Reigns has extra padding there with his gear. Reigns clotheslined Sheamus outside the ring. But Sheamus backed Reigns into the apron and slammed him on the announced desk. Then he tossed Reigns over the table and took the cover off it. They cut to break at 1:28 of the match.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 4:21 with Sheamus dropping knees on Reigns inside the ring. Rolling senton got Sheamus a two-count. Sheamus again targeted the ribs of Reigns, but Reigns fought back and brought Sheamus down throat-first across the top rope. Reigns missed his running dropkick from the outside, and Sheamus continued the assault. The tide seemed to turn when Sheamus went shoulder-first into the ring post. Reigns was so hurt that he barely moved. Sheamus grabbed Reigns’ leg, but Reigns pulled Sheamus face-first into the post. Reigns began to make his comeback with rights and clotheslines. Sheamus fought out of a Samoan drop, but Reigns finally executed his outside dropkick. Back in, Samoan drop was hit. As Reigns prepared for his Superman punch, Kane’s music hit and he walked out with J&J Security. The distraction allowed Sheamus to roll Reigns up for two. Irish Curse backbreaker for two. Brogue Kick missed, but the Superman punch did not. Kane entered the ring and dropped Reigns with a big boot, drawing the disqualification.

WINNER: Reigns, via DQ, at 9:50.

Kane tried a chokeslam, but Reigns elbowed out of it. Sheamus hit the Brogue Kick, though. Kane delivered a chokeslam to Sheamus as J&J Security looked on, dumbfounded. Kane got the mic and announced himself as the final participant in the MITB Ladder Match. Kane finished his attack by giving Reigns a chokeslam. The show ended with Kane standing amid the bodies of Reigns and Sheamus, looking up at the MITB briefcase hanging over the ring.


Did you watch Thursday’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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