WWE Smackdown review
September 19, 2014
Taped 9/16/14 in Biloxi, Miss.
Aired on SyFy
By Greg Parks, PWTorch Columnist (Twitter: @gregmparks)


- WWE Open.

- Smackdown Open.

- Biloxi got the rare treat of fireworks in the arena (but the city wasn’t identified by name). Before anything happened, Tom Phillips plugged Roman Reigns vs. Rusev for tonight, complete with graphic.

1 – JIMMY USO vs. STARDUST

After Jimmy came to the ring, they showed Goldust & Stardust attacking Jey Uso after a match on Raw three weeks ago. Also, Phillips, Michael Cole, and JBL were shown on-camera, sitting ringside for commentary. An inset interview aired with the Rhodes Brothers. Stardust said it didn’t matter who they hurt in search of the Cosmic Key. Goldust chimed in with some weirdness of his own.

The two foes went back and forth to start, with Stardust showing some aggressiveness in the process. Stardust switched it up, dropping down but instead of hitting an uppercut, he kicked Jimmy in the head. Jimmy’s superkick was avoided twice, but the third time was the charm. He went for the pin and the three-count was registered.

WINNER: Jimmy, at 1:56. Way too short to preview a tag-team title match coming up in two days. Did nothing to make Stardust and Goldust seem credible.

Goldust was superkicked by both Uso brothers after the match.

- Coming up, we’ll see the John Cena-Brock Lesnar brawl from Raw.

- Also tonight, Los Matadores & The Big Show vs. The Wyatt Family.

- Dolph Ziggler, his stunt double R-Truth, and Sheamus were walking backstage. Ziggler and Sheamus face The Miz and Cesaro after the break.

[Commercial Break]

- The Night of Champions kickoff show will feature Christian hosting The Peep Show with special guest Chris Jericho.

2 – THE MIZ & CESARO vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER & SHEAMUS

No entrance for the heel contingent or Ziggler/R-Truth. Good early exchange by Cesaro, and Cesaro mocked Ziggler with a hip gyration of his own. The man can move. Ziggler dropped down out of a press slam and dropkicked Cesaro. Ziggler small-packaged Miz for a near-fall. Fameasser missed and Miz hit his neck-breaker combo. They cut to break at 3:34 of the match.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 7:29 of the match. The heels were in control. Sheamus had not been in the match yet. Ziggler battled back, but kept falling short of making the tag. Cesaro threw Ziggler up for the forearm, but Ziggler came down into the DDT on Cesaro. Finally a tag to Sheamus at 9:42. He nailed Miz across the chest with about 14 forearm shots. Rolling senton for two. Irish Curse back-breaker followed, but the subsequent pin attempt was broken up by Cesaro. Cesaro went over the top via Ziggler. Miz seemed destined to eat a Brogue Kick, but Damien Sandow distracted Sheamus. R-Truth took care of him. But it allowed Miz to nail Sheamus with a short DDT for a near-fall. This time, as Miz neared his finisher, Truth got on the apron. It allowed Ziggler to come in behind the ref’s back and superkick Miz. Brogue Kick by Sheamus for the pinfall.

WINNERS: Sheamus and Ziggler, at 11:59. Fine TV match. Ziggler does a nice job playing the babyface role of selling and eliciting a response with hope spots in tag matches.

The finish was replayed.

- Rusev vs. Reigns is still to come.

[Commercial Break]

- Heath Slater and Titus O’Neil were playing their odd-couple role in the ring, waiting for Slater’s opponent for the next match.

3 – HEATH SLATER vs. ADAM ROSE

As Rose came to the ring, they showed the bunny distracting Titus O’Neil two weeks ago on Main Event. Slater had the early advantage during the match, but Rose got his feet up on a charge. Cross-body off the top for two. After a few boots, Slater covered Rose and got two. Slater came off the middle rope, but Rose got his foot up. Small package for two by Rose. Forearms and a spinebuster by Rose. O’Neil tripped up Rose, unbeknownst to the ref, when Rose hit the ropes. Slater nailed him with a jumping side kick for two. At that point, the bunny hopped into the ring and propelled himself over the top rope and onto O’Neil. Rose gave the Party Foul to Slater for the win.

WINNER: Rose, at 2:55. Congratulations to the bunny, who is now more over than Adam Rose.

A replay was shown of O’Neil’s trip, the bunny’s splash, and the Party Foul.

- To ringside and the announcers, where JBL threatened to quit because Cole kept pushing “bunny power.” Tom Phillips threw it to a video of Rusev interrupting Mark Henry’s reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance on Monday night.

- Renee Young was backstage with Rusev and Lana. Young asked Lana how they feel heading into the match tonight against Roman Reigns. Lana spoke Russian and Rusev did the same. Lana ended by saying, “Rusev crush.”

- Big Show & Los Matadores face The Wyatt Family, next.

[Commercial Break]

- The announcers plugged Night of Champions on the WWE Network, and the Network itself.

- Both teams made their entrances for the six-man tag match. Big Show ended up taking Torito’s spot in the entrance of the matadors, but Torito came out soon after. They also showed a clip of Bray Wyatt vs. Show from Raw as they came to the ring. After the Wyatts came out and just before the match began, the show cut to break.

[Commercial Break]

4 – LOS MATADORES & THE BIG SHOW vs. THE WYATT FAMILY

The match was joined in progress. Los Matadores were wearing the colors of “El Matador” Tito Santana on this night. Los Matadores had dominated during the break, but the tide turned upon return. The Wyatts controlled Fernando, but he did end up making the tag to Show. Rowan took out Show’s knee, and Bray tagged in. DDT by Wyatt for two. Dropkick by Harper and Rowan tagged in to continue the punishment meted out to Show. Show took control but missed a second-rope splash. Show tagged out and Diego brought a different dimension to the match. Wyatt threw himself at Diego, though, and the illegal men went to work on each other on the outside. Diego got involved, flying through the ropes and onto Harper. Diego hit the ropes but Wyatt caught him in Sister Abigail to end the match.

WINNERS: The Wyatt Family, 8:06 shown. Los Matadores didn’t quite fit in with the rest of the well-pushed bunch, but just rubbing elbows and getting some offense gave them a smidgen of credibility.

The finish was replayed after the match.

- The announcers discussed what they had just seen. Phillips sent it to clips of Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins on Raw.

- Roman Reigns joined Renee Young backstage. She asked him about tonight’s match with Rusev. Reigns said he doesn’t care where his opponent is from, he’ll bring the fight to them. That goes for Rusev tonight and Rollins on Sunday.

- Tonight, we’ll see the Night of Champions preview that Lesnar and Cena gave us on Raw.

[Commercial Break]

5 – PAIGE vs. NIKKI BELLA

A.J. Lee was shown at ringside on commentary during Paige’s entrance. The ladies exchanged shoves to start the match, with Nikki winning that battle. Springboard enziguiri by Nikki for a near-fall. Paige was knocked outside the ring and in front of A.J. Nikki put her back in, but Paige kicked her off the apron. Paige went back out and re-assumed control. JBL goaded A.J. into making a pseudo-sexual comment about preferring to pin Paige on Sunday. Nikki with a face-buster on Paige for two. Paige came back with a Paige Turner for the pinfall win.

WINNER: Paige, at 2:53. It wasn’t terrible, but I can’t help but think about how disappointing the much-anticipated A.J. vs. Paige feud has been thus far.

A.J. went to grab Paige’s title after the match. A.J. caressed the belt and Paige was upset by this. A.J. and Paige fought over possession of the belt until Nikki came and took it. She hit A.J. and Paige both with the title and held it over her head.

- Jack Swagger vs. Bo Dallas is next.

[Commercial Break]

6 – JACK SWAGGER vs. BO DALLAS

They showed Dallas calling out Swagger after Summerslam last month on Raw. Dallas slapped Swagger in the face after getting into the ropes to break a collar-and-elbow tie-up. Dallas then ran away, but Swagger ran him over with a clothesline outside the ring. Dallas caught Swagger with a neck-breaker coming back into the ring. Dallas was whipped into the turnbuckle then greeted with a kick to the face. Swagger Bomb, but Dallas fled the ring again. He made Swagger chase, and Jack eventually caught up with him. Dallas brought Swagger’s arm across the top rope as the ref was admonishing Swagger. He took advantage with the Bo-Dog for the win.

WINNER: Dallas, at 2:47. A more hard-hitting match than I expected in this match.

Post-match, Dallas got a mic and said Jack has lost his swagger. He asked Swagger if he wanted to end up looking like Zeb Colter, “haggard and old.” Dallas said a waitress at a local diner told him Colter stole three packets of sugar and is a terrible tipper. Dallas told Swagger that if he wants to be successful, all he has to do is Bolieve. Except he didn’t get his last word out: Swagger kicked him away.

- Rusev vs. Reigns takes place tonight.

- Next, we’ll see the Cena vs. Lesnar brawl from Raw.

[Commercial Break]

- The announcers discussed Lesnar vs. Cena at Night of Champions, and a video package previewing the match aired.

- A bit of Cole’s sit-down interview with Brock Lesnar, a WWE.com exclusive was shown.

- Backstage, Renee Young was joined by Mark Henry. She asked him how he was feeling after Monday night. He said he feels good. He said in 1992 at the Olympics, he was defeated by a Russian. And the same went for 1996. But at Night of Champions, Henry said he has the chance to win for himself, the fans, and the country. “Mark Henry…crush…Rusev.”

- Roman Reigns came to the ring. He faces Rusev next.

[Commercial Break]

7 – ROMAN REIGNS vs. RUSEV

We had this match on Smackdown two months ago, and there’s no more of a chance of a clean finish in this one than there was in that match. Reigsn came off the second rope with a clothesline and kicked things into second gear. However, Rusev was up to the challenge, hitting Reigns with a spinning heel kick. They went to break 2:09 into the match.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 5:44 with Reigns attempting to work out of a bear-hug. Cole noted that Rusev has been dominating Reigns. Reigns got his boot up on a corner charge, then avoided a second one. Both men were down after a Reigns clothesline. The audio sweetener wasn’t even helping Reigns at this point. Samoan drop by Reigns, who then punched away at Rusev. Diving clothesline by Reigns for only a one-count. Jumping kick on the outside by Reigns. He set up for the Superman punch. As he did, Seth Rollins ran out and hopped on the apron. That distraction allowed Rusev to kick Reigns in the jaw. Rusev awkwardly positioned Reigns toward the hard camera to set up for the Accolade. However, Reigns suplexed Rusev. Rollins climbed the top rope, and as he came down, Reigns pushed Rusev into the briefcase. The bell rang to end the match.

WINNER: Rusev, via disqualification, at 9:35.

Reigns hit Rusev with the Superman punch and proceeded to brawl with Rollins at ringside. They fought into the stands and through the crowd. Lilian Garcia made the official announcement and Rusev celebrated with Lana in the ring. The celebration was interrupted by Mark Henry’s theme and he walked out. A “USA” chant broke out. Henry pointed to the ceiling, where a giant American flag unfurled behind Rusev, and “Stars and Stripes Forever” played. Henry entered the ring, but Rusev went on offense. Henry willed himself to his feet and delivered the World’s Strongest Slam to Rusev. The slam was replayed. Henry celebrated as the show closed.


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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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