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WWE Smackdown!- February 5, 2015

by Scrooge McSuck

- Taped in Colorado Springs, CO, with Michael Cole, Jerry “The King” Lawler, and Byron Saxton calling the action from ringside, unless otherwise noted.

- We recap what happened on Monday Night Raw, concerning the “Controversy” at the Royal Rumble. I find it laughable that of all the things to point a finger at, it’s THE ROCK. If his appearance made it questionable who would win, then why isn’t Rusev, the only legal participant left in the match at the time of the Rock’s arrival, given a chance at getting the match with Roman Reigns at Fast Lane? I guess a Wizard did it, or something. Oh, and did I mention Reigns did a pinfall job to the Big Slow?

- The Miz (and his recently fired Stunt-Double, and even more recently hired Personal Assistant, Damien Mizdow) are here to tease the eventual break-up of the duo. It’s a VERY SPECIAL EDITION of Miz-TV. He has not one, but two guests: Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan. Reigns immediately KO’s Miz with the Superman Punch. Reigns is confident he’s going to WrestleMania to win the WWE Championship from Brock Lesnar. To do that, he’s going to beat Daniel Bryan at Fast Lane. He wants to go now, and they clear the furniture… until Seth Rollins interrupts. He runs down Reigns for being a coward and Bryan for being a chump, and tonight it’s Bryan vs. Rollins… and Mercury and Noble. Considering they played dead for 10-minutes from one offensive maneuver at the Royal Rumble, that’s not much of a threat.

- Renee Young is backstage with the Miz, who is upset at Reigns’ publicity stunt of attacking him. Miz throws a challenge out to Reigns for tonight.

Dolph Ziggler & Ryback vs. Goldust & Stardust:

I guess Ziggler and Ryback are now besties. Call them RyZiggle or something... that actually has a decent ring to it. The Dust Brothers continue to fall, and a break-up seems to be coming sooner than later. Ryback and Stardust start. Ryback grabs a side headlock and comes off the ropes with a shoulder tackle. He catches a leap-frog attempt, connects with an inverted atomic drop, and Ziggler comes in with a dropkick for a two count. Ryback with a slam and second rope splash for two. Double elbow and a goofball elbow drop and splash combo gets another two count. Stardust insists on remaining in the ring until backing down from Ryback. Ryback no-sells a double elbow, but misses a charge to the corner and posts himself. Goldust with a clothesline on the floor as we take a break. We return with Ryback getting worked over in the corner. Goldust grabs a front facelock. Ryback fights back and dumps Goldust to the floor. Stardust tries to prevent the hot tag, but here comes Ziggler anyway. Splash to the corner and a neck breaker to Stardust. Jumping elbow drop gets two. Stardust blocks a super-kick and avoids a Fameasser, but a DDT connects. Stardust with the Disaster Kick. Goldust screams for a tag (calling him Cody), so Stardust slaps Goldust for a tag and walks away. Ziggler hits Goldust with a Super-kick, and Ryback finishes him with the Shell Shock at 10:30. *1/2 About four minutes of that was a commercial break. Ryback and Ziggler worked well together, and I guess we’re getting that break-up very soon. Finally… Goldust vs. Stardust. A Main Event… on Main Event!

- Black History Month Highlight on WWE Hall of Famer, Ernie Ladd. You can watch videos featuring Ernie Ladd on the WWE Network for $9.99… or Free, if you’re one of those bums who refuses to pay for the service in the month of February.

Dean Ambrose vs. Curtis Axel:

Earlier this week on Monday Night Raw, Axel was complaining about being screwed out of the Royal Rumble Match, so Ambrose tossed him over the top rope and declared him eliminated. Why isn’t Axel in the Fast Lane Championship scenario?! Now that he’s over jobbing to Wyatt in Wile E. Coyote inspired methods, Ambrose is sent down the card to kick off a feud with Bad News Barrett over the “I’m Going To Job A Lot” Championship. Axel pounds away in the corner, but Ambrose quickly turns the tide. Whip to the ropes and Ambrose with a body press followed by a snap elbow drop. Whip to the corner, Axel traps Ambrose in the ropes and hits a pair of clotheslines to the back of the head. He dumps Ambrose to the floor and gives creepy eyes to Michael Cole. Ambrose gets thrown back in the ring, but he rolls right back out and levels Axel with a clothesline. Ambrose with a forearm in the corner, followed by a running bulldog. To the top rope, he jumps into a big boot. Ambrose counters the Perfect-Plex and springs off the ropes with a clothesline. Dirty Deeds connects and it’s over just like that at 2:44. ¾* Just a quick match to put Ambrose over. Post-match, Bad News Barrett shows up on the Titantron and has some goofy new thing called “BNZ” with goofy scrolling tidbits that reminds of a certain website that specializes in poking fun at goofy wrestling and sports entertainment topics.

“The New and Improved” Fandango (w/ Rosa) vs. Adam Rose (w/ The Rosebuds):

Heel vs. Heel JTTS matches makes me feel like watching some old school Boston preliminary matches where the crowd just shat all over everyone. Rose does the trust fall, and the Rosebuds can’t quite hold his weight catching him. He beats the men up, including the guy dressed as a hot dog. NOT THE HOT DOG! Fandango snapmares him into the ring and plants him with a spinebuster. Whip to the ropes and Fandango with an elbow. Rose reverses a whip to the corner and stomps away… and somehow, the Rosebuds are still cheering for him. Rose knocks Fandango to the apron and takes him down with a modified back suplex. Back inside, Fandango with a small package for two. Whip to the ropes, and he connects with a leg lariat. Fandango to the top rope, and the Last Dance (Alabama Jam) finishes at 2:08. ½* This was a two-minute match. The real question is where the heck did The Bunny go?!

Roman Reigns vs. The Miz (w/ Damien Mizdow):

In case you skipped over it, earlier tonight Reigns knocked Miz out with the Superman Punch. Miz attacks before he can enter the ring and throws him into the ring steps. Did You Know… Miz is a former WrestleMania Headliner? Miz attacks in the corner with punches and kicks. Whip to the corner, and Reigns comes back with a clothesline. He throws Miz into the corner and unloads with mudhole stomping. Whip to the ropes and a shoulder tackle sends Miz to the floor. Reigns comes from out of the view of the camera with another hard clothesline. Back inside, Reigns meets a knee on a charge, and Miz boots him down. Reigns fights out of a chinlock, but gets caught with the neck-breaker and back-breaker combo. Miz grabs another chinlock as the match officially has gone longer than it needed to. Miz goes for his charging clothesline, but Reigns interrupts with his own. Reigns with a trio of clotheslines, but Miz fights out of a Samoan Drop. He goes for the snap DDT, but Reigns blocks it, throws Miz onto his back, and connects with a modified Samoan Drop. Superman Punch connects, and the Spear finishes at 5:47. * This was fine, but Reigns needs to plow through everyone and anyone in 90-second destructions. Yes, Miz is a former WWE Champion, but he’s recently been a comedy undercard act who would lose in 2-minutes to an Uso.

Erick Rowan vs. Rusev (w/ Lana):

How many times is Rowan going to talk about being his own man and how he’s changed, and then get absolutely destroyed in every match? Seriously, the guy is a walking example of horribly booked performers. I didn’t expect him to get over beyond the midcard, but right now, he’s as low on the credibility pole as Curtis Axel, minus the reigns as Intercontinental and Tag Team Champion to his credit. It was nice of John Cena to help a friend of his… just kidding, he never helps them. Just ask Zack Ryder. Slugfest to start (thank goodness). Rowan with a big boot and bulldog into the turnbuckle. Whip to the ropes, and Rowan comes off the ropes with a shoulder tackle (POUNCE!). Rowan blocks a kick, but a jumping heel kick from Rusev connects. Rowan comes back with an axehandle and clothesline. He sends Rusev across the ring with a hip throw, and comes off the second turnbuckle with a spinning elbow. Rowan with mounted punches, but Rusev slips free and kicks him down. Rusev with the running heel kick and the Accolade to finish at 2:54. * Another quick match that was technically alright. I guess the match at Fast Lane is now a United States Championship Match. John Cena, US Champion, in 2015? Say it ain’t so, Joe.

- We recap what happened on Raw, where Paige was attacked and “sprayed” with fake tan, which came across more as black spray-paint. Renee Young is backstage with Paige, who promises to return payment for her embarrassment by winning the Diva’s Championship at Fast Lane. Short and to the point. I approve.

Paige vs Alicia Fox:

An Alicia Fox match? This I do not approve. I do like Paige is still sporting the “fake tan” spray, either because it won’t come off, or as a symbol to motivate her towards Fast Lane. Paige quickly takes Fox down with a Thesz Press and pounds away. Fox comes back with a tilt-o-whirl back breaker, then dumps Paige through the ropes, to the floor. Back in the ring, Fox with a Northern Lights Suplex for two. Paige fights out of a chinlock and connects with a pair of clotheslines. She comes off the ropes with a running dropkick and follows up with a Super-Kick. Paige locks on the PTO (Scorpion Leglock) and Alicia taps out at 2:21. * Another in a series of short matches serving a purpose.

- We recap the Double Date featuring Jimmy Uso, Naomi, Natalya, and Tyson Kidd. “Harts run on Hart Time” is a cute little nod to the fact that Bret Hart always showed up late. I didn’t catch it during my recap of Main Event. Oh, and Canadian Doubles in Tennis is a 3-person team, apparently, which explains why Kidd assumed he could bring Cesaro to a “double date”. Natalya’s enabling attitude is kind of annoying, though. I swear, Kidd is saying “Fuck-a-dactyl” instead of “Funk-a-dactyl.” Did I mention Natalya wore this same dress to the ring on Main Event? That’s how you recycle a wardrobe!

- Bray Wyatt with another cryptic message that might be him calling out the Undertaker, but when it comes to WWE, who knows. This angle has so much potential and yet could be the most disappointing. I hate to sound like Meltzer there, but it can go extremely down one path or the other at this point.

Daniel Bryan vs. Seth Rollins, Joey Mercury, and Jamie Noble:

This is our Smackdown Main Event… which means we might go an entire show without Big Show OR Kane showing up! Mercury tries to pull Bryan into the corner, but gets kicked in the leg and a finger-wag for knowing to know better. Noble tags in and gets worked over with kicks. Whip to the ropes, Bryan with a knee to the midsection. Rollins finally tags in to take care of business. Bryan gets brought to the corner, but he fights free, only to run into an elbow. Rollins with a neck breaker, and now Noble wants a piece of him. Noble with a short-clothesline and leg drop. Bryan comes back with uppercuts and kicks. He goes for the running dropkick, but Rollins pulls Noble out of harm way. He takes Bryan to the floor and tosses him into the barricade as we take a break. We return with Rollins taking Bryan down with a German Suplex. He taunts Bryan about wanting to face Lesnar and gives him another suplex. Noble with comical showboating. Mercury with a nice looking dropkick for two. Rollins pounds away and grabs a chinlock. Whip to the ropes, and they collide. Rollins continues to control and sets up for a top rope Powerbomb, but Bryan counters with a head scissors. Bryan sends him to the floor and follows with a tope’. Back inside, a missile dropkick puts both Mercury and Noble down! Yes-Kicks for both of them. Rollins comes in, and gets sent back to the floor with a clothesline. Mercury tries a roll up, but Bryan counters with ease and the Yes-Lock finishes at 13:56. Post-match, Corporate Kane helps in the ambush of Bryan, despite promises that last week was the end of their program. He eats two Chokeslams and a Curb Stomp. Reigns making the save would’ve been nice. *1/2 Standard formula handicap match where one of the team consists of “non-workers” (we’ll ignore the fact Merury and Noble were pretty good).

Final Thoughts: The wrestling was mostly sub-par, but to be fair, most of the matches were three minutes or less. Despite the handicap, none of the matches were “bad”, but nothing was very good either. Good effort all around in pushing angles towards Fast Lane and beyond, and it’s always nice to see them try and develop stuff for the undercard, like the situations concerning the Tag Team Championship, the Brothers Dust, and the stuff with Miz and Mizdow. Nothing to really recommend on it’s own, but a fun two hours that makes everyone beg for Monday Night Raw to trim down an hour and remind fans how fun it was to watch wrestling on Mondays.

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