WWE Smackdown review
September 17, 2015
Taped 9/15/15 in Little Rock, Ark.
Aired on SyFy
By Greg Parks, PWTorch Columnist (Twitter: @gregmparks)


- WWE Open.

- A video packaged aired from Raw, detailing Sting’s first match on Raw. And his second!

- In the arena in Little Rock, Seth Rollins was first out. A graphic previewed tonight’s main event: Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins & Sheamus. Rollins talked about his upcoming Night of Champions matches. When Rollins mentioned Sting, there was a “We Want Sting” chant. Fat chance, Little Rock. Rollins also discussed tonight’s tag match, and said he wasn’t worried about Sheamus cashing in against him tonight. “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” was his mantra. That brought out Sheamus.

Sheamus asked Rollins if he considered him friend or enemy. Sheamus said Rollins doesn’t want him as his enemy. He said when he decides to cash in, Rollins won’t see it coming. Rollins made fun of Sheamus’s look, saying of course he’d see HIM coming. Rollins encouraged the fans to chant “you look stupid” at Sheamus. Sheamus told fans to respect the ‘hawk. He said if Rollins keeps insulting him, he won’t make the main event. Sheamus turned the tide a bit, saying he wants to be friends with Rollins. He said he’ll get to see Rollins up close, scouting his strengths and weaknesses for when he cashes in his MITB contract. This was a good hook for later on: Not only to see if Sheamus and Rollins can get along, but to see if Sheamus will cash in the MITB contract.

- Rich Brennan, Jerry Lawler, and Booker T. were shown at ringside. They previewed another big match tonight, Cesaro vs. Big Show.

- Team PCB was walking backstage. Divas Tag Team action is after the break.

[Commercial Break]

- Brennan discussed WWE’s contribution to Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month.

1 – PAIGE & BECKY LYNCH vs. NAOMI & SASHA BANKS

As Team PCB came out, they showed the end of Sasha Banks vs. Paige from Raw, as well as the fallout from that match. Lynch hit Naomi with some European uppercuts to start. Single-leg dropkick and Naomi tagged out to Banks. Deep arm-drags by Lynch. Banks ended up getting the better of Lynch, with the show going to break at 1:26 of the match.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 5:23 of the match with Lynch hung in the Tree of Woe in the heel corner. Naomi and Banks worked the double-team well against Lynch. Lynch broke out of a rest-hold, but Naomi stopped her from making a tag. Banks locked in an abdominal stretch. Banks snap-mared out of it. Paige tagged in at 8:40 and took out both heels with her offense. Knees in the corner to the face of Naomi. A distraction by Banks while Paige set up for a suplex led to Naomi inside cradling Paige for the pinfall.

WINNERS: Naomi and Banks, at 9:20. This was fine. Long heat segment on Becky, which may not have been entertaining for everyone watching.

The finish was replayed.

- On the Night of Champions kickoff show, it’ll be Neville & The Lucha Dragons vs. Stardust & The Ascension.

- From somewhere backstage, Stardust cut a promo, with some rhyming involved. The Ascension rose at his side and Stardust said Neville and his men will bow down to the Astral Alliance.

- The New Day came out with signs. “Booty,” “Broken Wood is No Good,” and “#SaveTheTables.” Kofi Kingston vs. D-Von Dudley, next.

[Commercial Break]

- Xavier Woods cut a promo out of break. “A table is a terrible thing to waste,” said Woods. Woods said the Dudleys have disrespected man and woman, specifically, Mother Nature. They did a take on Shaft, Big E. saying that Mother Nature is a “Bad Mutha-“ “Shut your mouth!” responded Woods. Poor Mike Chioda had to stand in the corner with a straight face throughout all of this. Big E. had a petition to be signed to save the tables. Kingston said “only you can prevent table poaching.” They got a “save the tables” chant started when the Dudleys music interrupted.

2 – KOFI KINGSTON vs. D-VON DUDLEY

When the match began, D-Von took Kofi’s petition and broke it over his knee (it was on a clipboard). Thesz Press by D-Von. Big E. pulled a table out from under the ring, but Bubba knocked him down. Woods got on the apron, and D-Von brought him in the hard way. He had Woods by the hair when Kofi rolled him up (“he’s the legal man!” shouted Brennan. Yes, in a one-on-one match) for the win.

WINNER: Kingston, at 1:17. Basic booking to give New Day an edge heading into Night of Champions.

- The announcers talked about, and we were shown, Dolph Ziggler giving Summer Rae a gift on Raw, and then Summer Rae opening it backstage.

- Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens is tonight.

[Commercial Break]

- The announcers were shown on-camera, followed by a clip from Charlotte vs. Nikki Bella from Raw.

- The Bellas were walking backstage, along with Alicia Fox, checking off everything from the list for tonight’s Bellabration. Nikki seemed to put a lot of pressure on her two teammates to make this the most amazing celebration ever.

- The WWE Rewind, presented by Geico, was the Wyatts promo against Reigns and Ambrose from Raw last Monday.

- Tonight, Reigns and Ambrose take on Rollins and Sheamus.

- Big Show was walking backstage. The Miz came up to him with a folder labeled “confidential.” Miz told him he needed to look at it and he wished him luck on his match. Show leafed through it quickly, rolled his eyes, and tossed the folder aside.

[Commercial Break]

3 – CESARO vs. THE BIG SHOW

When Show came to the ring, they showed Show knocking Cesaro out two weeks ago on Raw. Cesaro immediately hit Show with two dropkicks once the match began. Cesaro blocked a Show chop in the corner and hooked the arm in a submission move using the ropes. Cesaro continued to work the arm to lessen the effect of the knockout punch. Show ended up dropping an elbow on Cesaro’s knee. Show gave two butt splashes to Cesaro’s knee for good measure. An arm-bar, only with the leg, applied by Show. Cesaro popped Show with a couple of European uppercuts. Cross-body off the top for two by Cesaro. Cesaro countered a chokeslam, but he tweaked a knee when he tried to land on his feet after a back-drop. Knockout punch by Show.

WINNER: Show, at 5:56. That was actually a pretty fun match, with some unique moves and working different body parts than usual.

A few moments in the match were replayed.

- Renee Young approached Ambrose and Reigns backstage. Young asked who their third partner would be against the Wyatt Family at Night of Champions. Reigns said he has to play it close to the vest given how many have been taken out. Reigns said Ambrose made the right phone call. Ambrose said Young will find out when the Wyatts find out, on Sunday. He put over Braun Strowman and said the odds are even on Sunday. Reigns turned their attention to tonight, saying Sheamus and Rollins won’t be able to get along and they’ll be able to fine-tune things this evening.

- Kevin Owens came out. He’s in action next.

[Commercial Break]

4 – KEVIN OWENS vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER

They aired an inset interview with Rusev and Summer Rae. Rusev insulted Ziggler’s “skinny little arms and your gift bags.” Summer didn’t say anything while Rusev threatened to break Ziggler in half. Ziggler went for a pin early with a roll-up. Senton by Owens on the back of Ziggler for two. Owens slowed things down a bit. Owens mocked Ziggler after stepping on his wrist. He stopped a brief Ziggler spurt of offense with a DDT. They went to break at 2:56 of the match.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 5:58 with Ziggler catching Owens with a back elbow. Owens missed a charge, going shoulder-first into the ring-post. Ziggler madea comeback, and tried a backslide. Fameasser for a near-fall. DDT by Ziggler. It got him a two-count. Outside the ring, Owens delivered a fallaway slam to Ziggler into the barricade. Ziggler broke the count by Owens took him back out and threw him head-first into the ring-post, then over the barricade and into the timekeeper’s area. Ziggler got back into the ring just before the ten count. Superkick by Owens and Ziggler rolled out of the ring. Owens looked ready to hit a pop-up powerbomb outside the ring when Ryback charged in. He went right at Owens for the disqualification.

WINNER: Owens, via DQ, at 10:07. That was odd for Ryback to come out like that – it’s not like the match was over and he was saving Ziggler from further damage. That said, both Ziggler and Owens are in big matches on Sunday, so I was curious as to what the result would be. The DQ makes sense in that context.

Owens was able to avoid Shell Shock and escape Ryback’s clutches before too much damage was done.

- The announcers were shown and Lawler did the PPV vs. Network flash card thing again.

- The main event is still to come.

- Final touches were being set for the Bellabration by Brie and A.Fox backstage. It’s next.

[Commercial Break]

- A video package aired for Connor’s Cure.

- Nikki was excited for her Bellabration backstage. Brie wanted to tell Nikki before she entered, but Nikki danced into the ballroom…but there were no guests. Nikki was expecting big names to pop out at any minute, but Brie told Nikki that nobody showed up. Fox said they’d fix it and Nikki demanded they fix it now. Uh-oh, I spy a cake. Paige, Charlotte, and Becky Lynch came in with party hats and made fun of Nikki for not having any guests show up. Charlotte reminded Nikki that she can win the title on Sunday by pin, submission, count-out, or DQ. Nikki was nearly in tears as Team PCB walked away. Adam Rose then came in and told Nikki her party sucks. And that guy knows about sucky parties. Nikki threw her cake in anger. Though we didn’t see it on camera, it ended up all over Brie and Fox, who walked into the shot covered in cake. Nikki yelled “good!” when she saw them covered in the errant toss.

- Ziggler was recovering from his match backstage when Summer Rae walked up. She said Dolph’s gift on Monday was unexpected. He just wanted bygones to be bygones. Summer said it was an expensive peace offering. Ziggler said sometimes a rose is just a rose…but sometimes, it means more.

- Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose both entered together through the crowd. Their main event tag is next.

[Commercial Break]

5 – ROMAN REIGNS & DEAN AMBROSE vs. SETH ROLLINS & SHEAMUS

Sheamus and Rollins weren’t getting along even before the bell sounded to begin the match. Sheamus grabbed the mic at ringside and again chastised the fans for their “you look stupid” chants, of which I don’t think they were chanting at the time he went off. Ambrose took advantage, dropkicking Sheamus followed by a clothesline from Reigns. Rollins was back-dropped out of the ring, where Reigns met him with a clothesline. Ambrose dove over the top onto Sheamus. They went to break at 2:17 of the match.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 5:19 with the heels having taken control during the break, despite more dissension. Back-breaker by Rollins for a two-count. Sheamus came in and suplexed Ambrose down. With things going well, the heels seemed to work better together. Sheamus tried to powerbomb Ambrose, but Ambrose dumped Sheamus over the top rope. Neck-breaker by Ambrose back inside the ring and both men were down. Tags were made at 9:39 of the match. Samoan drop by Reigns on Rollins. Reigns picked Rollins off the mat with one arm and powerbombed him. He set up for the Superman punch, but Rollins rolled to the apron. Reigns was brought throat-first across the top rope. As Rollins went to tag Sheamus, Sheamus jumped down from the apron. Rollins took the briefcase of Sheamus and as Sheamus took it back, Rollins tagged him in. Ambrose also tagged in and as Sheamus and Rollins argued outside the ring, Ambrose hit a suicide dive. Back in, a Superman punch by Reigns was followed by Dirty Deeds for the win.

WINNERS: Reigns and Ambrose, at 12:02.

They replayed the finishing sequence. As the babyfaces celebrated, The Wyatts came on the Titan-Tron with a video package of Strowman destroying Reigns, Ambrose, and their various partners. It closed with Bray walking in the darkness, saying it doesn’t matter who Reigns and Ambrose will have as a teammate at Night of Champions, because they all..fall…down.


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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