Posted on 9/13/125 by Bob Magee
– As Vic Joseph introduced us to tonight’s show, shots of
Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre, Tiffany Stratton, and Jade
Cargill arriving to the Scope Arena were shown. We then went
to inside the arena, where Joseph was joined by his NXT
color commentary partner Booker T. to call tonight’s action.
– A recap of last week’s John Cena vs. Sami Zayn match being
crashed by Brock Lesnar was shown.
Brock Lesnar opens SmackDown
Lesnar arrived to the arena, cowboy hat and all, as the
crowd was a mix of cheers and boos for his arrival.
With mic in hand, the fans chanted “you suck” at Lesnar
before he could speak, and he was soon interrupted by R-
Truth, who rapped his way to the ring. Once Truth entered
the ring, he asked the Norfolk crowd to make some noise
before Lesnar told him to shut up.
Truth responded by saying he was going to be the first WWE
superstar to say to Lesnar, “welcome back”. He said that he
used to be scared of Lesnar, but not anymore. Lesnar
answered by saying that he didn’t know who Truth was and he
wanted him to get to the point.
Truth said that Lesnar was disrespecting John Cena, his hero
and older brother for the past twenty-five years. Lesnar
said he was here to look for John Cena tonight as he asked
Truth for his whereabouts. Truth said he didn’t know where
Cena was, but he was here to defend the honor of his “older
brother”. Truth then told Lesnar that his name was “Ron
Cena”.
Lesnar asked again where Cena was, as Truth again answered
that he didn’t know. Truth warned Lesnar that “Super Cena”
was coming for Lesnar, as he wouldn’t be running from The
Beast, he’d be feeding on him. Lesnar had enough and picked
Truth up for an F5, which somehow ripped his pants.
Not a very good segment to start the show, but it was
mercifully short. The necessity of reverting R-Truth to his
pre-Cena heel turn character randomly has hurt his standing
and the build (or lack thereof due to Cena’s absence this
week) towards Wrestlepalooza’s scheduled main event just
isn’t grabbing my attention at all.
**********
– Backstage, Sami Zayn was talking with someone as he was
happy to continue the U.S. Open Title Challenge, as he and
his opponent would give the crowd a hell of a show tonight.
We found out he was talking to Rey Fenix, and their match
would be up next.
– We were shown shots of various WWE and AAA officials
arriving to the arena in Las Vegas for Worlds Collide, which
airs after SmackDown.
– A vignette from Solo Sikoa was shown, where he expressed
anger about having lost his Bloodline, Ula Fala, and the
United States Champonship. He vowed to take back what he
lost, as it was time for others to live in the shadows of
his Family Tree.
U.S. Title Open Challenge: Sami Zayn (c) vs. Rey Fenix
We started off fast with Zayn rocking Fenix with repeated
arm drags. Fenix responded with an acrobatic arm drag,
followed by an attempted dive to the outside. Zayn dodged
out of the way, as Fenix feinted between the ropes at the
last second to stop himself. We went to a break at this
early point in the match.
SmackDown returned with Zayn having the upperhand as he
delivered a pitch-perfect tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Fenix
for the near-fall. Zayn continued to target Fenix’s
shoulders with a submission, but found himself taken out by
a kick on the apron. With Zayn stunned outside the ring,
Fenix soared above the ropes with a tope con hilo that took
the U.S. Champion out.
Back in the ring, Fenix took off from the top rope with a
frog splash on Zayn, but couldn’t get the three out of it.
Zayn attempted a Blue Thunder Bomb, but Fenix countered him
twice in two attempts. Fenix blasted Zayn with a superkick
after another feint between the ropes. One, two… not quite.
Fenix headed up top, but couldn’t connect with the
moonsault, as Zayn dodged.
Zayn had Fenix in position for the Helluva Kick, but the
masked star avoided and countered with a DDT, that once
again wasn’t able to get him the victory. We got a second
break in the action with both men down in the ring.
Our match returned from the break with Fenix once more
heading up to the top rope, looking for a high-risk
maneuver. Zayn cut him off at the pass and put Fenix on his
shoulders. However, Fenix countered and hit an incredible
double stomp from the top rope onto a seated Zayn.
Fenix leapt up for his signature moonsault and connected,
but Zayn kicked out at the nick of time. In the middle of
the ring, both men tried to hit a suplex, but couldn’t.
Fenix was first to escape as he bounced off the ropes for a
kick, but Zayn caught him for the Blue Thunder Bomb. One,
two… 2.9999999!!!!!!!!
Zayn managed to catch Fenix with his Exploder Suplex in the
corner and had him targeted for the Helluva Kick. Fenix
recovered and hit a hurricanrana instead, but only got a
near-fall out of it. Fenix continued the momentum with the
Goodbye Amigo kick. He attempted his spin kick in the
corner, but Zayn reversed it into another Exploder Suplex.
One Helluva Kick later, and it was a succcesful title
defense for Sami Zayn.
Sami Zayn def. Rey Fenix via pinfall to retain the United
States Championship
That was one heck of a match to kick things off. Both Zayn
and Fenix were at the top of their game and I quite enjoyed
this from start to finish.
**********
– We got Earlier Today footage of B-Fab being confronted by
Giulia and Kiana James. B-Fab said that she might’ve been
busy as of late with the Street Profits’ drama, but she
wasn’t busy now. This led to a match being made between the
two, which was up next.
– A video from the Wyatt Sicks was shown, with Bo Dallas
wondering where the Street Profits would go from here. He
said that the Profits have failed at every turn, as Erik
Rowan said that people never truly appreciate things until
it’s gone. Dallas said that the Sicks weren’t the ones who
sowed the seeds that sprouted horns, as he told us to follow
the buzzards.
Giulia (w/ Kiana James) vs. B-Fab
As B-Fab entered the ring, James got in her face, and paid
the price for it. Giulia took exception and kicked B-Fab to
the outside, as she threw her around outside the ring. In
the ring, James stomped away on B-Fab and teed her up for
Giulia’s Arrivederci Knee. They looked like they were going
to do further damage to B-Fab until Michin ran in, armed
with a kendo stick. Michin struck James with the kendo
stick, as she sent Giulia to a retreat.
Giulia vs. B-Fab never happened
**********
– We got remarks from Aleister Black about his win over
Damian Priest on last week’s SmackDown. He said that Priest
could keep fighting and he could die by that code, and that
violence begat violence.
WWE Women’s Championship: Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Jade
Cargill
Cargill immediately went for a pump kick, but Stratton
avoided it soundly. The challenger tried to lift up
Stratton, but got met with a high dropkick. Cargill
eventually got the advantage with a powerslam on Stratton,
as she then followed that up with an attempted suplex.
Stratton countered the suplex attempt and went for a rollup
to little success. With Cargill out of the ring, Stratton
vaulted over the top rope with a dive, as we went to a break
in the action.
Our WWE Women’s Title match returned with Cargill hitting a
fallaway slam on Stratton. She tried to go for a corner
attack, but Stratton countered and eventually hit a
spinebuster on Cargill. Stratton tried for a hurricanrana,
but Cargill caught her and looked for a powerbomb. Stratton
turned that around into a hurricanrana as she then hit a
double-footed dropkick on her opponent.
Stratton headed up top and connected with the Swanton Bomb
for a near-fall. Cargill recovered and hit a superkick on
Stratton that sent her outside. In the ensuing mixup,
Stratton attempted a baseball slide, but she got caught by
Cargill, who slammed her against the apron. Back in the
ring, Cargill failed to connect with a pump kick, but
managed to avoid the Prettiest Moonsault Ever. She had
Stratton on her shoulders and hit a modified Blue Thunder
Bomb for a close near-fall.
Stratton hit a nice rollthrough into an Alabama Slam, as she
looked for another Prettiest Moonsault Ever. Cargill avoided
calamity and hit the Pump Kick as both women were down in
the ring. Cargill and Stratton eventually recovered and
mixed it up on the apron with an exchange of strikes.
Cargill looked for a Spear, but Stratton dodged, which
caused the challenger to hit the ringpost instead.
Stratton missed with the diving moonsault to the outside, as
Cargill speared her opponent through the barricade. The
match was then ruled a draw due to a double countout.
After the match, Nia Jax attacked both Cargill and Stratton
and left both women laying.
Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill ended in a Double Countout
A decent match that was undercut by the draw ending and Nia
Jax showing up once again, really highlighting how bare the
cupboard is, when it comes to the top of the SmackDown
women’s division. It’s honestly felt like the same set of
players in the title picture and it’s really hurt the main
event scene as it pertains for the women of SmackDown.
**********
– As Nick Aldis walked out of his office, he was accosted by
Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre, who demanded a Women’s Tag
Title match. Aldis proposed that the two would face the
winners of Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss’s title defense
on Tuesday’s NXT Homecoming.
– We got a video package ahead of Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena
at Wrestlepalooza that focused on both men’s beginnings in
wrestling.
– Over in Las Vegas, Rey Mysterio was interviewed about
Worlds Collide, before his son Dominik rolled up and said
he’d become the AAA Mega Campeon after tonight’s main event.
Rey said he’d put the AAA Mega Campeon belt around Dominik’s
waist if he won tonight.
– Back in Norfolk, Sami Zayn was interviewed after his
successful U.S. Title defense as Carmelo Hayes called his
shot to be Zayn’s next challenger. After Zayn left, The Miz
showed up too late and was upset about Hayes taking up
Zayn’s U.S. Open Challenge, having been seemingly outsmarted
by his Melo Don’t Miz partner.
Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre
Both men locked up in the middle of the ring to start before
McIntyre went on the attack in the corner. Orton roared back
with a clothesline as he got in some shots of his own on the
Scotsman with punches in the corner. He then sent McIntyre
crashing to the outside with another clothesline over the
rope as our main event headed to a break.
SmackDown’s main event came back from the break with
McIntyre seemingly having Orton at his mercy, but he fell
victim to a suplex instead. With McIntyre down in the ring,
Orton targeted him with some stomps to the legs, followed by
a knee drop to the face. McIntyre took a shot at Orton’s
knee with a clip, followed by a stretch in the corner.
McIntyre maintained the pressure on Orton’s injured knee
with a figure-four leglock cinched in tight in the middle of
the ring. Orton struggled hard, but managed to turn it over
to reverse the pressure of the leglock on McIntyre. In the
middle of the ring, Orton dropped his foe with a belly-to-
back suplex that sent McIntyre scurrying back out of the
ring.
Orton slammed McIntyre against the commentary table, but got
raked in the eyes, as he found himself dropped across the
table with a back suplex. McIntyre once again clipped at
Orton’s knees as our main event headed to one final break in
the action.
We returned from the break as McIntyre slammed Orton down to
the mat, with the bum knee making contact with the top rope
as a result. Orton poked McIntyre in the eye to regain
momentum, as he then bashed his opponent’s head across all
four corners. McIntyre tried for another figure four, but
Orton kicked him aside into the ring post, which sent the
Scotsman out of the ring once more.
As McIntyre got himself back in the ring, Orton tried to
generate momentum with a signature powerslam to fell his
foe. Orton looked like he was going to hit the apron DDT,
but McIntyre scurried to the announce table. This opened him
up to consecutive back suplexes across the commentary table.
Back in the ring, McIntyre connected with the Claymore Kick,
but couldn’t capitalize. This gave Orton the opportunity to
land an RKO out of nowhere. Out of the ring, McIntyre shoved
Orton against the apron.
McIntyre tried to get back into the ring, but he fell victim
to the apron DDT from Orton. McIntyre was in position for
getting punted by Orton, but the referee got in the way. In
the ensuing chaos, this gave McIntyre an opening to hit one
final Claymore Kick to get the victory in our main event.
After the match, McIntyre looked like he was going to finish
Orton off good with a Claymore against the commentary table,
but Cody Rhodes ran in for the save, going after McIntyre
right away with a flurry of offense. Rhodes hit a Cody
Cutter on McIntyre as he asked for a microphone after the
fighting was done. Rhodes said that the champ was back and
that he’d face McIntyre at Wrestlepalooza.
**********
An okay main event for an otherwise okay episode of
SmackDown. Obviously it was a nice star power-filled match
and it did its job of bringing Cody Rhodes back into the mix
after a month or so of filming the Street Fighter movie,
setting up another Wrestlepalooza match.
The dismal opening segment got things off on a shaky note,
but I did enjoy the in-ring action this week, especially
with Zayn vs. Fenix in the opening bout. That made for some
okay viewing for the rest of the night on this week’s
SmackDown.