PUTTIN’ THAT SMACKDOWN…What Happened Last (Tuesday) Night [Feb. 19th, 2015]

I’ll say this, Enthusiasts.  This week’s episode of Smackdown was less apprehensive in comparison to the episode prior to the Royal Rumble and so, by that marker, I think we don’t have too much to worry about come Sunday.  It’s still anybody’s guess as to how things will go but, as I voiced in my previous post and a bit on the Twitters, I get the feeling that Seth Rollins should figure somehow.  After further research, it appears we have a 6-Man-Tag with him involved scheduled for Sunday evening but, that match doesn’t really do anything to move anything along.  I mean, there are really no rewards or consequences for winning or losing.  Could that allude to a possible preemption for a Money in the Bank cash in? At the rate the WWE is currently going, the bulk of what's presented turns out to be MacGuffins.  Why not build some drama? Or will my off-shoot prediction transpire and will we eventually be led into some sort of Fatal-4-Way for WrestleMania? And then, there’s the very real possibility that we’ll get a knockdown, drag ‘em out fight between Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns and one of them becomes the undisputed winner and #1 Contender for WrestleMania.  Just can’t get a clean read, Enthusiasts but at least all the speculation is maintaining my interest.

To start the evening, we have The Miz being his douche-tastic self and ordering Damien Mizdow around.  Once he gets himself into the ring, we get some Throwback Thursday reminiscing as The Miz goes on to remind us of how he once mentored his opponent for tonight, Daniel Bryan.  He even has a photo shown on the big screen of he and Bryan from years back where he basically looked the same but Bryan was barely bearded, short-haired and looked about 18. Nice, huh?  Well, let’s see if Bryan continues to show him respect.  Bryan then makes his way out to the ring to concur, yes he was a young padawan of The Miz’s back in the day but, as Bryan remembers it, he taught The Miz a thing or 2 from time to time.  Touché, The Miz acknowledges and the 2 have at.  Bryan seems to use this match more for warm-up/practice and after dealing some solid kicks and maneuvering out of some of The Miz’s attempts to get into the match, Bryan administers his famous YES! Lock and takes the win.

Next up, we have Dad (Kane) and Ryback go for a round in what seems like their umpteen-thousandth match.  Not much to note, unfortunately and the crowd seemed to feel it was a good time to hit the concession stands.  I still have to commend Dad again on keeping in ring shape all these years.  He looks just as good as some of the whippersnappers, if not better in some cases.  In any case, these 2 crashed into each other a few times before Ryback manages to hoist Dad up and a slam him down with the ShellShock for the win.

To follow, Wade “Bad News” Barrett and R-Truth have a dance while Dean Ambrose sits in on commentary.  Since we have the makings of a rivalry brewing between Barrett and Ambrose, Barrett made sure to try and make an example of R-Truth so Ambrose can see what’s going to happen to him on Sunday at Fast Lane.  Ambrose is cheeky, of course.  Feigning interest and topping that off with loads of sarcasm as he watches on and gives his 2¢.   When Barrett feels he has R-Truth right where he wants him, he prepares for the Bull Hammer and prefers that Ambrose watch what but, you know what?  Suddenly, Ambrose loses interest and turns his attention to the crowd.  Snubbed, Barrett calls to Ambrose trying to get him to pay him the respect he feels he deserves and with him distracted, R-Truth sneaks in and rolls him up for the win.

Moving right along, we get into our Tag Team fare with The Ascension taking on Xavier Woods and Big E. Langston of the New Day.  This was a far more spirited match than I was anticipating.  With the New Day an iffy gimmick at best and The Ascension trying to gain true street cred, it was hard to figure how the match was going to go.  Yet The Ascension, much like when we saw them at Tag Team Turmoil, enter the ring set to “DESTROY” and annihilate the New Day.  Langston looks like he may get the jump on them with a Running Splash but he falls on knees instead of body.  With Langston incapacitated, The Ascension deliver the Fall of Man and secure the win.

Looking at the docket, we see the next match is Luke Harper up against Roman Reigns.  I read on the spoilers that Reigns’ entrance got a little mucked up but it seemed to flow fine on TV, the beauty of editing.  Anyway, I like when these 2 get together.  For whatever reason, they work well.  Harper does way more than you’d think a guy his size would and displays some fancy moves, which makes things exciting.  As for Reigns, he definitely comes out with shit to prove and doesn't fuck around.  He’s real aggressive and heavy-handed with Harper.  Harper being the bigger man, it looks like he can take it and that seems to be the problem in this showing.  They throw their biggest shots at each other but each of them stays standing.  The match is fast-paced so, once Reigns gets his opening for the Spear he takes it and the match.  We'll see how this carries over to Fast Lane.

Following that, we have Big Show up against Erick Rowan.  This wasn’t so much a match as it was a brutal decimation.  Big Show doesn’t even let Rowan get into the ring. He just pummels him down and doesn’t let him get back up.  I find Rowan’s special character endearing and so, I fall for the “story” here and feel for him.  Big Show isn’t even fair!  But it doesn’t matter.  After taking Rowan to the mat with a Chokeslam, Big Show has the match and reminds us of how things used to be when it came to him.

This brings us to some Divas action in the form of Paige and Cameron.  I suppose this is payback for Paige after her little “wrestling gear fiasco”.  We have The Bella Twins on Commentary again too. Yet, this time around, they’re more funny-bitchy so, they’re half tolerable.  Paige isn’t fucking around tonight either and Cameron is just her bitchy self.  Paige doesn’t waste any time on Cameron and though she tries to put up a fight, she gets what’s coming to her in the end and submits to Paige’s PTO.

Afterwards, we have Tyson Kidd and Jimmy Uso fight it out in singles action, seeing how their storyline has them at odds at the moment.  Yet, the match doesn’t really start because Rusev decides that he needs to make a statement and lays waste to any male wrestler in reachable distance.   He then grabs a microphone, shouts at the world in his native tongue something about John Cena and storms off leaving everyone feeling assaulted and confused.

Yet, no matter, we have the main event in Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler.  These cats put on another high-intensity match yet, it looks like Rollins won the coin toss this time around.  Nevertheless, Ziggler lands some nice moves.  The double-footed Superkick he lands on Rollins to knock him off the apron is epic.  We have Ziggler’s new buddies in Ryback and Erick Rowan on the sidelines for this one too, and when Rollins gets back to his feet he greets them as only a Heel can and starts shit.  Well, Ryback doesn’t appreciate this and moves in to show him how he feels but Ziggler decides he’s not finished with him and jumps in to land more elbows on Rollins.  They get back into the ring and continue to pull out what tricks they have in their books but Rollins finally gets the jump on Ziggler and after tossing him into a turnbuckle, Curbstomps Ziggler off the rebound and gets the pin for the win.  Since Rollins' Authority compatriots are circling about too, Rollins decides to celebrate his win with a good old fashion jumping and the Heels swarm to add insult to injury.  The faces attempt to hold their ground but the Heels have it tonight and they let us all suck on that.

Well, Enthusiasts, this wasn't the best Smackdown and I’m still unsure as to what will fully transpire but, I’m intrigued enough to take a gander on Sunday night.  They really should have scheduled this to be on another night than the Oscars but, what are you gonna do?  Since one can stream Fast Lane, it’s very possible to watch them in tandem nowadays.  I’ll probably be doing some of that myself.  I don’t expect to be impressed but we don’t have to worry about another Royal Rumble so, let’s cautiously proceed and hope to be entertained with...standard Pay-Per-View level quality.  How’s that (^_~)

See You Sunday,

-Nicole Alexis.