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The following report originally published 10 years ago this week here at PWTorch.com…
KELLER’S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT
MAY 14, 2015
AIRED ON SYFY
[HOUR ONE]
-The Smackdown opening was interrupted mid-stream by Bray Wyatt. He said he knows under Ryback’s muscle is an Achilles heel. He said he will expose it and make an example out of him, and expose to the world he is chasing a Garden of Eden that does not exist. He said beneath the surface, his wounds will fester and his dreams will turn to nightmares.
-Byron Saxton introduced the show and immediately plugged Payback. He said they are off to an interesting start. Jerry Lawler called them scary comments from Bray. Tom Phillips was the other announcer.
-Dean Ambrose came out to the ring. He said he works best alone – fighting alone, drinking alone. He said it felt good on Monday to be standing all alone in the ring because alone is what he’ll be on Sunday at Payback. He called Seth Rollins a chicken weasel troll. He said Randy Orton ate a spear from Roman Reigns last time they saw him. He said he hit Dirty Deeds on his best and only friend in the world, Roman Reigns, in the heat of the moment. He said he wanted to say something to Roman in person. Reigns’s music played and as he walked through the crowd, the announcers plugged Reigns vs. Kane in the TV main event.
Reigns entered the ring and had a tense staredown with Ambrose. “You know you’re not going to get an apology,” Ambrose said. Reigns smiled and walked up closer and said he wasn’t expecting one. He said he did exactly what he thought he’d do. “You hit me with Dirty Deeds. One time. And that’s all you get.” He said he’ll get payback at Payback. Roman said tonight they’re brothers, but bring the big guns on Sunday. Reigns offered a handshake. Ambrose stepped back and paused, and as he seemed ready to accept the handshake offer, out walked Kane.
Kane said they should be more concerned about Payback and less concerned about winning the Slammy Award for Bromance of the Year. Ambrose told Kane he ought to be worried about being out of a job if Seth doesn’t leave Payback as champion. He said this could be the last time they see Corporate Kane. Kane said he’ll go one-on-one with Sheamus right now. Ambrose said as soon as Sheamus is done French-braiding his beard, come out on out and fight.
-Sheamus’s ring entrance took place. [c]
(WK Reax: It’s annoying when we get this deep into the show and there are three voices that have yet to be identified by name, other than passing first name references, and they haven’t shown the faces of the announcers. That doesn’t happen in any other presentation on the planet where there are announcers commenting on a sport or a show of any kind.)
(1) SHEAMUS vs. DEAN AMBROSE
Hard-hitting opening four minutes. Sheamus knocked Ambrose to the floor and threw him into the security barrier as they cut to a mid-match break. [c]
Back from the break, Sheamus had Ambrose in a Texas Cloverleaf. Ambrose reached the bottom rope to force a break. Ambrose countered White Noise with a roll-up. He made a comeback with punches, but Sheamus came right back with White Noise. Sheamus took a moment to catch his breath and then set up the Brogue Kick. Ambrose ducked it and rolled to the floor. Ambrose met Sheamus at ringside with a spinning forearm to the neck at 11:00. Sheamus came back with a Brogue Kick attempt in the ring, but again Ambrose ducked and sent Sheamus to the floor. Then he dove through the ropes and tackled Sheamus. Ambrose climbed to the top rope. Sheamus avoided him and gave him a backbreaker for a two count.
Dean came back with his rebound clothesline off the middle rope. Sheamus met Dean on the top rope. The crowd chanted “This is awesome!” Sheamus lifted Dean onto his shoulders. Dean slipped free and knocked Sheamus off balance and Sheamus’s head hit the corner ringpost. Ambrose scooped him up into a schoolboy for a three count. Lawler said this win made believers out of a lot of people that Ambrose can win on Sunday at Payback.
WINNER: Ambrose in 13:00.
(WK Reax: Really good match between these two. Creative spots, believable pace including some selling, both guys looked strong, and a clever finish.)
-Backstage Seth Rollins approached Kane and snottily said he has a question for him. He said he heard a nasty rumor that he’s still not sure if he’s going to help him on Sunday. Seth reminded him how much he gets paid to be Director of Operations. Kane said he’s saved his money and he’s set, so he doesn’t need any more paychecks from The Authority. Seth said he needs to do the right thing. Kane said he’s struggling with what that is. He said he might not know what the right thing is until Sunday at ringside. He said he has to get ready for his match against Reigns. Seth laughed and wished him luck. Kane informed Seth he has a match later against Ryback. Seth looked frozen in panic.
(WK Reax: Seth is such a good sniveling heel, it’s becoming harder to imagine that people ever thought he was the most natural babyface in The Shield because he was the flashier wrestler in the ring. Kane is really good in his role, but I’m just not sure that many people care about his decision or his fate.)
-Lawler plugged the Daniel Bryan announcement from Raw would air later. [c]
-Rusev and Lana walked to the ring. Lana read prepared text, at the angry insistence of Rusev. She said last week on Raw she betrayed her country by indulging in their perverse Western customs. “I allowed these false ideologies to corrupt my loyalty and dedication to the Russian Federation and our longstanding traditions. I beg for forgiveness of my family, mother Russia, and most of all the super athlete and America’s only champion, Rusev.” Lawler said he doesn’t think those words were voluntary. He said that was a prepared statement she was forced to read.
A clip aired of Rusev interrupting the John Cena-Neville match from Raw. Lawler said Rusev interrupted a fantastic match and then went after Cena to make sure he’s not in any shape at Payback this Sunday. Rusev then cut an angry promo saying he knows Cena was thinking “I quit!” when he had him in the Accolade on Raw. He played a spliced clip of Cena saying over and over “I quit. I quit. I quit.” It repeated more than a dozen times. Rusev was proud of himself for that. The Russian flag unrolled behind him. Lawler said it will be a different story on Sunday because “we all know that John Cena never gives up.”
-Renee Young interviewed Ryback backstage. She asked if he can focus on his match against Seth knowing Bray Wyatt has warned that he’ll come after him. Ryback said tonight is huge. He said beating Seth could earn him a future title opportunity. He said he may look like a meathead, but is no dummy. He said he’ll face Bray on Sunday, but first he faces Seth, and the Big Guy is hungry. He said, “Feed me more!” [c]
-The announcers threw to Tough Enough wanna-be videos fans submitted to WWE. They actually went to the announcers at ringside who reacted to seeing Gabriel Iglesias at the end of the videos doing a funny skit about wanting to be on Tough Enough. He wore a t-shirt that said, “Sorry For What I Said When I Was Hungry.”
-Seth walked to the ring with J&J Security. He threw to a video package on what happened on Raw of Orton giving Seth an RKO with Kane just watching at ringside. Seth said he hoped they all enjoyed that because that is the last time they will see anything like that happen to him. He said Ambrose, Reigns, and Orton are just as cut-throat as he is. He said they will cut each other’s throats and he will be there to pick up the pieces. He said with his security, his superior athleticism and mental acumen, and Kane in his corner, he will emerge victorious. As he began to talk about Ryback, whom he called “today’s roadblock,” Ryback’s music interrupted him.
As Ryback walked out, Bray Wyatt jumped him from the side. He knocked him down with a flying elbow hockey check type move. Ryback went down and Bray crawled over to him while laughing. Three referees checked on Ryback, who was unable to regain his senses. Lawler said he might not be able to wrestle. They cut to a break. [c]
-Ryback was in the ring, but leaning in the corner talking about his condition with the referee. Lawler said when you get blindsided, it’s different than being thrown around and hit during a match when you are expecting it. Ryback told the ref he was fine to go.
(2) RYBACK vs. SETH ROLLINS
Seth attacked Ryback aggressively at the bell. J&J stomped away at Ryback at ringside. Ryback barely beat the ref’s count to get back into the ring. Seth DDT’d Ryback for a near fall.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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[HOUR TWO]
Ryback teased a comeback a few minutes in by slamming Seth. Both were slow to get up as the crowd chanted “Feed me more!” Ryback got up and then gave Seth a spinebuster for a two count at 5:00. He signaled for a Meat Hook Clothesline. Mercury distracted him. Ryback clotheslined Seth anyway and then set up his Shellshock. Seth raked Ryback’s eyes as Noble distracted the ref (as if the ref would have DQ’d Seth for a mere eye rake). Seth then gave Ryback a flying knee off the top rope to the side of his head. As Ryback began to sit up, Seth sidekicked him in the face and scored the pin. Phillips asked if Seth will need J&J to win on Sunday. Lawler sad he’ll need all the help he can get on Sunday.
WINNER: Rollins in 6:00. [c]
-The announcers plugged the Payback Kickoff match featuring The Meta Powers (Curtis Axel & Macho Mandow) vs. The Ascension. They also plugged The Bellas vs. Naomi & Tamina.
-Renee Young interviewed Naomi and Tamina backstage. Clips aired of them attacking the Bellas on Raw two weeks ago. Naomi said she’s been overlooked for years. She said she’s gotten nothing and she’s sick of walking around empty-handed. She said in this world, opportunities aren’t given to women like them, so they need to take what they want. Tamina said they run the Divas Division now. Naomi laughed as she said Nikki doesn’t stand a chance. She said she’s just desperate for attention. She said Brie is a quitter like her pathetic husband, Daniel Bryan. “Sometimes a good girl gotta be bad in order to get thing done,” she said.
(WK Reax: The camera, as usual, floated back to an awkward reaction shot from the interviewer, which is is one of the first things I’d change about how WWE produces its shows. Just have Renee look at the camera and say, “Now, back to you guys ringside.”)
-The New Day walked out and talked about their two-out-of-three falls match. Big E said Cesaro and Tyson Kidd are “bad people” because they don’t recycle, they double-dip, and at the theaters they buy one ticket and see two movies. Kofi Kingston said there is good news for the fans. They don’t have to be like Cesaro and Kidd. They can choose to be like The New Day. He said they are the change they need to see in this world. Xavier asked the crowd to sing “New… Day Rocks!” A few kids in the crowd, not getting it, sang that song without the “sucks” with enthusiasm. Mostly the crowd seemed withdrawn when they showed the fans.
(3) TYSON KIDD (w/Cesaro, Natalya) vs. KOFI KINGSTON (w/Big E, Xavier Woods)
The crowd began chanting “New… Day Sucks!” Lawler noted they finally were chanting it. Kidd flip dove onto Kofi at ringside a minute into the match. Kidd applied a sharpshooter mid-ring and forced Kofi to tapout. Phillips said that could be one of three falls we see on Sunday.
WINNER: Kidd in 3:00.
(WK Reax: This was shorter than I expected. These two could have easily filled more time and held the audience’s attention.)
-The announcers hyped the Elimination Chamber PPV just added this week to the May schedule. Lawler said it’s a career-changing event. Phillips said it’s a great value considering May is free. [c]
-A video package aired on Bryan’s announcement on Raw that he was relinquishing the IC Title and might never wrestle again.
-They went to the announcers at ringside. Lawler said it was hard to watch and know the heartbreak that Bryan was going through for the second time in his career. He said he hopes he can “beat this thing,” without specifying in any way what that “thing” is he’s battling.
-Bo Dallas walked out and said earlier this week on Raw might be the last time they see Bryan. “I guess life isn’t all about yes or no,” he said. He quoted Albert Einstein saying in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. He said this is his opportunity for be there for the fans. He said he can help the fans through all five stages of grief. He said there’s no denying he let the fans down. He said anger is good and healthy, especially when it’s directed as Bryan for letting them down. He said as for bargaining, they’ll get a hell of a bargain on Bryan t-shirts now that he’s gone. He said Bryan is going to be engulfed in depression when he realizes the fans are going to forget about him. He said last but not least is acceptance, and he will help them accept that Bryan is gone and never coming back. “All you have to do is Bo-lieve!” he said as he smiled wide.
-Neville’s ring entrance took place. Lawler told viewers to fasten their seatbelt. [c]
(4) NEVILLE vs. BO DALLAS
The match was joined in progress after the break. King Barrett joined the announcers at ringside. Barrett said he is a true king, the first for this announce desk. When Lawler made fun of Barrett’s crooked nose, Barrett said there is no need for cheap shots. Barrett: “I earned this broken nose. I also earned this title of King, unlike you.” Barrett said he’ll ground Neville at Payback, just as he did at King of the Ring. Neville landed the Red Arrow for the win.
WINNER: Neville in 3:00.
-Afterward, Barrett stood on the announce desk and said he doesn’t have time to deal with the frivolity of a mere peasant like him, especially someone who comes to the ring in such a ridiculous costume. He said he’s going to get a Royal Bullhammer on Sunday. He asked the crowd to “All hail King Barrett.” They replayed the Red Arrow in slo-mo as Barrett’s music played.
-They cut backstage to Adam Rose and Rosa Mendez rubbing noses. Rosa said she was upset with the hot dog staring at them. The Hot Dog guy said his name is Carl and he’s wondering when they get paid. Rose said he doesn’t pay him to talk. Rose said this is high art. Carl asked if that meant they’re not getting paid. Rose said he’s just like the bunny, he doesn’t get it. Rose shoved him to the ground. Rose said, “The party is officially over.” Rosa said, “No, the party’s about to begin.” She passionately began kissing Rose. In walked Kane. The Rosebuds gasped. Kane looked grossed out by Rose and Rosa. [c]
-The announcers plugged the Tough Enough videos available to watch online. Phillips said they’re fun to watch when you have some free time.
(5) KANE vs. ROMAN REIGNS
Kane met Reigns as he was climbing over the security barrier at ringside. Kane threw Reigns into Lawler, who cowered. Kane whipped Reigns hard into the ringside steps. When they entered the ring, the ref signaled for the bell. Kane swung the ringside steps toward Reigns up against the ringpost. Reigns moved and made a comeback, hitting Kane with a kendo stick at ringside. Kane took over in the ring and hit Reigns over and over with the stick. They cut to Seth and J&J nodding backstage as they watched on a monitor. It was one of the most awkward, staged-looking positions you could imagine three people standing in while watching a monitor. WWE would rather show all three perfectly from a side angle than have the scene look the least bit authentic even if there’s some overlapping of their bodies and the monitor is actually at a truly viewable angle for them. [c]
Kane kindly removed the monitors from the announce table at ringside and set up Reigns for a chokeslam on it. Reigns landed on his feet on the table and then kicked Kane in the face. Then he leaped off the table with a clothesline. Reigns speared Kane into the edge of the ring apron. Seth and J&J were shown laughing in the back. Reigns gave Kane his running dropkick, landing on the announce table. Reigns hit Kane in the shoulder with the ringside steps. Reigns slid a table into the ring. A fan held up a sign that said, “Roman Reigns Like Nickelback.”
Reigns tried to whip Kane into the table leaning in the corner. Instead Kane came back with a DDT for a two count. Kane set up a table in the ring and tried to chokeslam Reigns onto it. Reigns elbowed out of it and then set up his Superman punch. Kane blocked it and chokeslammed Reigns hard through the table for a believable near fall. As Kane called for the Tombstone, Reigns slipped free and landed a Superman punch and then a spear through the table in the corner for the win.
WINNER: Reigns in 12:00.
(WK Reax: Exactly what you’d expect from these two. It was fine.)
-Renee asked Seth how Reigns’s victory over Kane affects his confidence. Seth laughed at the question and said that was a hell of a performance by Reigns. He said Kane is nothing to sneeze at, but it will take more to beat him on Sunday. He said when the dust settles, they’ll all be losers. Renee left the scene because Ambrose walked up behind them with a tray of cookies. He asked if any of them wanted a cookie. Then Ambrose attacked Seth. Noble and Mercury pried him off of him. Reigns joined in the brawl. He cleared the scene of the heels. That left him and Dean to eye each other and the abandoned World Title belt beneath them. Reigns offered a handshake. Ambrose pretended to reach for Reigns’s hand, but then bent over and picked up the belt. He put it over Reigns’s shoulder and told him he’ll take it from him on Sunday.
(WK Reax: I wouldn’t want to hold the belt like that over my shoulder until I actually won it. It’s like skating with the Stanley Cup trophy without winning it. It just seems to take some of the thrill of the actual moment away if it happens. Good final scene, though, of Ambrose and Reigns playing off of each other with the awkward dynamic they have as friends on Sunday fighting for the same prize.)
FINAL THOUGHTS: Pretty typical Smackdown.
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