Hello everyone and welcome to another SMACKDOWN RECAP right here on THE SCRUM SPORTS! I’m going to try a new format tonight that is part recap, part review/personal opinion. Hopefully you guys like it, if not… leave some feedback. THANKS!
Tonight’s show is coming to you LIVE from Lincoln , Nebraska at the Pinnacle Bank Arena. We begin the show with the theme song and Daniel Bryan in the ring doing the YES! YES! YES! chant and the Smackdown Women’s Championship on a pedestal. He welcomes us to the show and starts talking about BACKLASH this Sunday and that very Women’s Championship and the Elimination Six Pack Challenge happening for it. He says there’s going to be a Six Woman Tag match tonight with all of them and that first, he’s having an open forum for the women. Becky is out first, then they discuss the meaning of the Championship and Bryan plugs TOTAL BELLAS, which premiers October 5th on the E! Network.
Natalya interrupts saying that she’s basically tired of being overlooked and she’s tired of Becky’s hair… Alexa comes in, says something about Daniel being a Bella Trophy Husband, Carmella comes in and gloats about what she’s done to Nikki, Becky starts a fight and all of the women start arguing among themselves until they realize Becky got them fighting. Naomi and Nikki come out, both teams of Heels and Faces square off and a fight happens in the ring. The faces stand tall in the end.
Dean is shown backstage ridiculing someone’s taste in coffee. A graphic is shown and we find out AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose will have a meeting in the ring tonight about their match at BACKLASH this Sunday.
COMMERCIAL BREAK!
We come back and Daniel with Shane are backstage at what looks like the Guerilla Position discussing what went down in the ring. The Miz comes in and complains about defending his Championship against Dolph Ziggler at the PPV, disses Daniel and Daniel fires back about him not being willing to fight and Daniel tells him if he doesn’t want to fight, he can hand the Championship over. They stare at each other and The Miz’s music hits for him to go to the ring.
MATCH. 01: THE MIZ v APOLLO CREWS — SINGLES MATCH
Dolph is ringside on commentary with JBL, Mauro and Otunga. He talks about everyone talking trash but no one actually doing anything about it. The bell rings and Miz and Apollo lock up. Miz is thrown into the ropes and knocked down. They circle the ring. Apollo gets Miz into a waistlock and slams him down. Apollo slams him again. Miz fights back and powers Apollo into the corner throwing right hands. Apollo fights back, bouncing off the ropes Apollo hits a couple somersaults to get away from Miz, Miz goes outside to get away, Apollo goes to the ring apron to do a moonsault, Miz pulls on his leg, Apollo kicks him off, Apollo does the moonsault and we go to…
COMMERCIAL BREAK!
Back from commercial and the match slowed down it looks like. Some right hands from Apollo and Miz ends up with the advantage. Miz looks at Dolph and then he puts the boots to Apollo in the corner and grabs him for a stretch submission. Apollo powers out, both men hit their own back to back sunset flips, Miz keeps the advantage, he goes for a move from the top rope but Apollo catches him and does a belly to back suplex. Apollo gaining the advantage now, Apollo knocks him out of the ring, Miz smacks Ziggler, Apollo baseball slides outside, Miz uses him to knock Ziggler down, he rams Apollo’s head into the steel steps, throws him into the ring, hits the Skull Crushing Finale on Apollo and gets the pinfall.
WINNER: THE MIZ
Dolph puts the IC Championship in the middle of the ring and tells Miz to come and get it. Miz sends Maryse in to get it while Ziggler trash talks him. We see Renee on her TALKING SMACK set and she introduces AJ Styles. We get a recap of what happened last week in that stupid segment… AJ complains about the footage being shown, threatens a stagehand and gets irked. Oh, cool…
COMMERCIAL BREAK!
QUARTER ONE REVIEW: I didn’t really like the beginning. Too much going on at once and even though they made it show they cared about their women’s championship, it just feels forced and less organic than on RAW. The match was decent enough and got across everything needed for this Sunday. I feel they talk too much on SMACKDOWN and with the amount of commercials they take, it’s hurting the product. I liked AJ’s part but it felt like it got cut off for some reason. Kind of mediocre beginning to the show and really didn’t get my hyped for BACKLASH this Sunday at all.
We’re back from commercial break and we get the Connor’s Cure stuff. Mauro, JBL and Otunga then start talking about the Tag-Team Tournament for the incoming Smackdown Tag-Team Championships. We get a nicely put together package on American Alpha. We then go to the Uso’s backstage and they’re interviewed. They talk about the Semi-Final match against AA tonight and that’s really it. Bray Wyatt is shown on the Tron and he spouts his normal lunacy in a foggy, dimly lit room. He’s talking about the importance of hunting for food and surviving while being predator or prey.
MATCH. 02: NIKKI/NAOMI/BECKY v ALEXA/CARMELLA/NATALYA — SIX WOMAN TAG MATCH
Nikki is introduced and…
COMMERCIAL BREAK!
We come back and Becky is being introduced. Lights go out for Naomi’s crazy entrance. On the heel side Natalya, then Alexa and finally Carmella get their entrances. Naomi and Alexa in the ring first. Naomi run kicks on Alexa and she quickly tags in Carmella. She drags Carmella down to the ground and smacks her ass. Naomi tags in Becky and there’s a Matrix escape from a pin attempt and we go into a bit of chain wrestling with some pin attempts by both women before Nikki is tagged in. Carmella retreats out of the ring while Nikki runs towards her.
COMMERCIAL BREAK!
QUARTER TWO REVIEW: This really hasn’t been much better than the first quarter. We’re now an hour into the show and I’m really bored. If it wasn’t for me having to do this because it’s my assignment, I’d have already turned it off. It’s not a good show at all. These commercial break in mid match and at awkward spots really kills the momentum of the show.
Coming back from commercial and Becky is in the ring with Carmella. Becky does a variation of a Fisherman Suplex, then tries to do something on the ropes but Alexa and Natalya get involved. This brings Becky back into the ring and Carmella dances in the ring. Carmella tags in Natalya. She immediately goes for a sleeper hold, Becky throws her off and Natalya shoves her into the ropes. Tag of Alexa, double team move, Alexa puts her knee on Becky’s neck while on the second rope. Gets her on the ground and hits a two count. Alexa puts Becky into a sleeper hold, Becky powers up, goes for a pin, they’re up and Alexa hits a roundhouse kick. She drags Becky to her corner and tags in Natalya.
A couple slams and Natalya knocks Nikki off the rope, a power slam and cover for two. Another sleeper, Becky rolls over for a small package, gets a one count, Natalya counters and gets a two count, another stretch submission move into another sleeper. Becky powers up, gets kneed, tries for a tag, rolls into a pin for two, Natalya drags Becky back and tags in Alexa. Becky dives for Nikki and gets a tag. Nikki comes in hot. Hits a couple power moves and goes for a pin attempt for two. Alexa dodges a few attacks and tags in Carmella. She’s laughing at Nikki who’s down, Nikki grabs her and hits the Rack Attack for two, Alexa pulls her off, they’re all getting their turn to do their finishing moves while Carmella puts the Code of Silence onto Nikki and makes her tap for the win.
WINNERS: CARMELLA/NATALYA/ALEXA
Trash talking from the heels, a couple vignettes for the AJ and Dean meeting, the other Tag-Team match and AA vs Uso’s next…
COMMERCIAL BREAK!
Come back to The Uso’s entrance…. American Alpha get their entrances…
MATCH. 03: AMERICAN ALPHA v THE USO’S — TAG-TEAM TOURNAMENT SEMI-FINAL MATCH
I have no idea what happened here. They shook hands in the middle of the ring, they were going to their own sides, Uso’s attack and Gabriel hits a suplex and pins one of the Uso’s… they get irked and one of them Superkicks’s Jordan, then they attack Gable’s left leg a couple times. The refs and doctors come out to check on Gable.
WINNERS: AMERICAN ALPHA
COMMERCIAL BREAK!
Come back and get a recap of what just happened in the ring. The announcers are saddened by what they saw from The Uso’s. JBL says he’s embarrassed for them and their dad. They say hopefully we’ll be able to get an update about Gable before the end of the show. Orton walking backstage. He’s asked about what Bray said and starts telling his own story about survival and eating while talking about predator and prey. We go to Fandango gyrating in the ring and sssshhhhhhhhhh’ing the crowd. He talks about Tyler being in Dubai seeking silks for their upcoming fashion line. Fandango has a woman in the ring named Betty and he’s trying to dance with her. She dabs. And her hips are apparantly filled with lies according to Fandango. He talks about corn-husking hillbillies with fire and passion… Kane comes out.
Fandango says he loves the fire and passion, asks him if he wants to dance. Kane chokeslams him and does the finger pointing thing while getting out of the ring. AJ is walking backstage. Hears two guys talking about a picture. He freaks out and takes the phone, sees its only a picture of the guys family, throws phone against the wall and breaks it. Then tells the two guys that he’s the face that runs the place and that the phone is broken and he should go get it.
Connor’s Cure video package time.
COMMERCIAL BREAK!
QUARTER THREE REVIEW: I was impressed with the Uso heel turn. Glad it came from out of nowhere. Now it kind of sets up Rhyno and Slater definitely becoming Champs on Sunday after that attack on Gable. Other than that, nothing too impressive. I love aggressive AJ and wish we’d get more of that. The finish of the women’s match was nice as well. I’m a Carmella fan so I’m glad she’s the one that picked up the W for them.
Curt Hawkins vignette time. Returns next week. Tag match time. Hype Bros get their introduction.
MATCH. 04: HYPE BROS v SLATER/RHYNO — TAG-TEAM TOURNAMENT SEMI-FINAL MATCH
Slater and Rhyno get their introductions, we see all of Slater’s “kids” at ringside and the match begins with Slater and Ryder in the ring. A few moves, nothing too special and then…
COMMERCIAL BREAK!
We come back from commercial as Rhyno gets a hot tag, Ryder gets slammed and a two count happens. Mojo breaks it up, gets thrown out, Slater celebrates, Ryder gets a surprise two count, Ryder goes for Broski Boot, Rhyno pulls Slater out of the way and tags himself in, Rhyno GORE! GORE! GORE’S! Ryder into a pinfall.
WINNERS: HEATH SLATER/RHYNO
Final match now determined for BACKLASH on Sunday. AMERICAN ALPHA v RHYNO/SLATER. We go to the announcers who are talking about the attack from the Uso’s and Renee has an update on Gable…. Shane says that AA is questionable. Uso’s interrupt and say what happened at the end of the match felt right. They talk about the lack of respect from the fans and everyone else and they’re done with it all. Dean is backstage getting his hair styled, sprays some hairspray and lets the woman proceed…. K….
COMMERCIAL BREAK!
Ambrose out first, Mauro fails while talking about a boxer. AJ comes out next. Im not sure what the purpose of this is but, I guess we’ll find out. We have a moderator in the ring in Charley Caruso. Dean tells her to leave and she does. Dean says he’s got AJ a gift and tells him to open it. It’s a trophy. A participation trophy from bowling that Dean got a long time ago. He says he feels bad for AJ because that’s the only trophy he’ll ever get from him. AJ says he’s not a joke, Dean shows the stupid footage from last week. AJ looks irked, Dean says it was high risk. AJ says it wasn’t funny. Dean says everyone thought it was funny and he was just trying to give him a high pitched voice to match his soccer mom haircut. The fans chant soccer mom and then says the band he wears around his arm that was Cena’s is actually a trophy and says the one over Ambrose’s shoulder will be taken from him on Sunday.
He says he will beat him at BACKLASH and then berates Ambrose for thinking he’s a joke then proceeds to tell us how he beat John Cena clean in the ring and that he’s no John Cena. He said no offense but, he beat Cena in a wrestling match and that he drags people into the depths of their souls and and that they don’t give out trophies for the face that comes in second place. AJ kicks him in the nuts and breaks the bowling trophy. We end the show with him yelling at Ambrose…
WHOLE SHOW REVIEW: As the go home show for BACKLASH this Sunday, they really failed to deliver something that MADE me want to tune in to the PPV. They could have done a few things differently but, that’s obviously not my call. I’m still watching the PPV regardless but, I’m not as hype for it as I am for CLASH OF CHAMPIONS in a few weeks from the RAW brand. I give the show a three out of five as a whole tonight. Those commercials killed it. The AJ and Dean segment did nothing to really make anyone want to see the match any more than they already do and it was all around just mediocre. Hopefully they don’t treat the PPV the same way.
