Csonka’s WWE Smackdown Review 8.16.16

Csonka’s WWE Smackdown 8.16.16

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– American Alpha, The Usos and The Hype Bros. defeated The Ascension, FaBreeze and The Vaudevillains @ 6:50 via pin [**½]
– Eva Marie vs. Naomi never happened
– Heath Slater defeated Randy Orton @ 1:02 via DQ [NR]
– Non-Title Match: Champion Dean Ambrose defeated Erick Rowan @ 5:11 via pin [**]
– Becky Lynch and Carmella defeated Natalya and Alexa Bliss @ 4:14 via pin [**]
– John Cena defeated Alberto Del Rio @ 16:55 via pin [***]

– Randy Orton is backstage with Shane and Bryan; he signs his contract for the match with Brock Lesnar. It seems a bit late in the process for that. Heath Slater arrives, delivering a fruit basket and wearing a “Free Agent” shirt. He stole the basket from a dead man’s family. Slater says he saw last week’s show and says he knows they were about to give him a contract. He said he went face to face with Brock, and they were impressed and surprised he is standing. Heath says they are in a pickle, but they disagree because he dissed them. Orton claims to have an idea as they went to the open. Slater s fun and all but I really miss the little opens they were doing prior to the split, they felt fun and fresh. This is just backstage talking.

MIZ TV with Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler: Miz and Maryse tried to kick off the show, but Ambrose interrupted them. Before he could get going, Ziggler interrupted hi. Before Ziggler and Ambrose could get into it, Miz cut them off because they were here to talk tonight, not fight. Miz spoke about Ziggler getting an unexpected title shot after coming off like a flop, but is now having a career resurgence. Miz asked him what would happen if he failed at Summerslam, but Ziggler said that he was focused on Sunday. Ambrose sort of mocked Ziggler for his new attitude, but he didn’t buy it. Ziggler said he used all of the critics as fuel to rise above, and said that everything Ambrose has been saying made him want to kick Ambrose’s head off of his face. Ambrose played along with the fantasy, so what if Ziggler wins and proves everyone else wrong. But things don’t change, the critics will still be there because once you win, it just is beginning and now you have a target on your back. He says Ziggler can’t handle pressure, and that is why he never reached the top. The chip on your shoulder maybe big, but it is nothing compared to the pressure he will face at Summerslam. He only thing that Ziggler will prove is that he doesn’t want it bad enough and never has. Ziggler said Ambrose knew nothing about him, but will have to dig deep and it won’t be enough to beat him and put him away. As he was ranting, he laid out Ambrose with a superkick, and promised that he will prove on Sunday that he is that damn good. It wasn’t quite as good as their previous promo segment (that’s not an insult), it was close and still very good. They have done a great job allowing these guys to talk up their match and both guys have delivered big time.

– Randy Orton will face Heath Slater tonight.

– During the commercial break, Apollo Crews laid out Miz with a powerbomb. What a shit build for that match, and it tells you how important the match and title are right now.

American Alpha, The Usos and The Hype Bros. vs. The Ascension, FaBreeze and The Vaudevillains: The faces controlled early, and then a minute in it broke dawn with everyone brawling and we took a commercial break. After the break, Mojo and Konnor did a double down and made tags to English and Jey Uso. Jey ran wild; hit the Samoan drop and then the Samoan clambake. Jordan wanted in, he then saved Jey from English and hit a suplex for a near fall. It broke down, everyone attended the signature move buffet, the Usos hit a dive and American Alpha hit grand amplitude for the win. This was absolutely gutted by the commercial, the stuff after the break was good but we didn’t really get much. They had a chance to give these teams some time and to build some dynamics for the division, but the did the exact opposite of that.

– Dean Ambrose is angry backstage; they tell us that he faces Erick Rowan tonight. Eva Maria makes her debut, again, next.

– Naomi has a new version of her theme song and does a dance under black light for her entrance. She had a full body suit now. I love that because she’s been gone for so long and it feels like a total reboot for her.

– Eva’s entrance man did her intro, and said she was delayed due to traffic so there is no match tonight.

I'm sorry to all my fans at #SDLive. Traffic in Austin is HORRIBLE!!!! Must be the weather…🤔!?

all red (lights) everything.

— Eva Marie (@natalieevamarie) August 17, 2016

– We see clips from the Hell in a Cell PPV, where Alberto Del Rio returned and defeated John Cena for the US Title.

– AJ Styles met with Del Rio backstage, and said he was jealous because Del Rio gets to beat up John Cena. Del Rio says he’s beaten up John Cena for a long time and doesn’t need Styles’ pep talk. Styles then mocked Del Rio for not being on the Summerslam card.

– Curt Hawkins gets a video of facts, which is a combination of Chuck Norris and Matt facts. He’s coming to Smackdown.

Get ready for @TheCurtHawkins, COMING SOON to #SDLive! https://t.co/E2BoSxhQz5

— WWE (@WWE) August 17, 2016

Randy Orton vs. Heath Slater: Orton attacks right away and posts Slater two times. He works the stomps and then uppercuts and rights. The referee then called for the bell and Orton got disqualified for kicking too much ass. Orton tossed him to the floor and continued the ass beating, hitting the hangman’s DDT on the floor. Back in the ring, Orton hit a German and did the Brock hop to mock his Summerslam opponent. He hit another and then an RKO to stand tall. This was an overall solid segment to allow Orton to add to the build to the Lesnar match and to allow Slater to get “a win” to help further his gimmick and the most employed free agent going.

– Rowan and Wyatt are backstage, and tell us that they are here.

– The trainer checks on Slater, he’s hurting all over. Bryan and Shane praise him for his win, and Slater is delusional and says he showed Lesnar and Orton no mercy. Slater calls Bryan “Mick” and says he loves Holy Foley. They have a contract for him, and tells Shane that, “you look beautiful Stephanie.” Shane takes the contract away for that one. Poor Heath.

– During the break, they teased a confrontation with Orton and Wyatt.

Non-Title Match: Champion Dean Ambrose vs. Erick Rowan: Ambrose attacked right away, but Rowan cut him off. Ambrose fought back, sending Rowan to the floor and then connected with the suicide dive. Back in the ring and Rowan caught Ambrose off the ropes and hit a power slam. Back to the floor as Rowan tossed him into the barricade, before tossing him back in and covering for a near fall. Rowan took control and worked a solid, but bland heat with little crowd reaction. Ambrose low bridged him and sent him to the floor, Rowan back in and Ambrose avoided a charge. Ambrose fired up with strikes, hit a belly to back suplex and then headed up top to hit the elbow drop to a standing Rowan for a near fall. Rowan then beat Ambrose down with clubbing shots, Ambrose escaped a powerbomb and hit he jawbreaker lariat. He then hit dirty deeds and picked up the win. This was ok, not bad more bland than anything; I think Rowan got a bit too much considering how he’s been booked and the fact that Ambrose is the champion. I was worried that it was going longer, but at least Ambrose won clean and moved on.

– Post match, Wyatt was not pleased with this. He dropped Rowan’s sheep mask and left the ringside area. They have absolutely no idea what to do with Bray overall. There is no real long term planning. The Orton feud is likely, and that is fine, but the need to actually advance the character; he feels the same and as if he hasn’t changed in years due to the booking.

Becky Lynch and Carmella vs. Natalya and Alexa Bliss: Carmella’s entrance has been so dead the past few weeks that she, Natalya and Alexa get the jobber entrances. Becky was the only one that got a TV entrance. Natalya and Carmella started things off. Carmella started off well but then ran into a lariat, and Natalya took her to the corner and tagged in Alexa. Alexa stomped the hell out of her, tried to ground her but Carmella escaped after hitting a jawbreaker. Tags to Becky and Natalya, Becky ran wild with STRAIGHT FIYAH, hitting an XPLODER on Natalya for a near fall. Natalya fought back, they both went for cross body presses, and did a double down. Eva Marie then arrived, distracting everyone and then Naomi arrived. She chased Eva around, Natalya then rolled up Becky for a near fall. Becky scored with the disarmher and Natalya tapped. The slow build for the ladies division continues, they have now situated Naomi as a face, and she, Becky and Carmella all seemingly want to kill Eva for her actions. The work was ok; there was nothing wrong with it, but there wasn’t much there due to the Eva angle and because it was short period. I appreciate them trying to build the division, but they are opting for throwing everyone out there and hoping it happens, similar to the tag division. You have t make people care about or hate the individual performers and outside of Eva, they haven’t done that.

– Baron Corbin is beating the shit out of Kalisto for his lunch money once again, BE A STAR BARON. Making Corbin a bully could work well for him, I mean, he hasn’t been killing it as “the lone wolf” or the “Andre the Giant memorial battle royal winner.”

– We get a video package for Orton vs. Lesnar at Summerslam.

– Becky Lynch, Naomi and Carmella vs. Eva Marie, Natalya and Alexa Bliss has been added to Summerslam. Good news for the ladies, bad news for Sami Zayn.

– AJ Styles makes his way to ringside to watch tonight’s main event.

2016 pic.twitter.com/jgANe9RNPr

— DTAM (@DeathToAllMarks) August 17, 2016

John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio: AJ spent the early part of the match running down Cena and explaining how things like shoulder blocks won’t work on him at Summerslam. Cena and Del Rio went back an forth early, they had a crowd that was actually invested so that was nice. Cena sent Del Rio to the floor and we tock a commercial break at about a minute in. Post break, Del Rio was working the heat; Del Rio took control during the commercial as Styles distracted him. Del Rio was working a solid heat until he missed a charge and fell to the floor. Back in, Del Rio countered an AA into a bridging German suplex for a near fall. Del Rio kept control, connecting with running kicks. Cena would get his hope spots, but Del Rio kept cutting him off. Styles was really good on commentary, the match so far (9-minutes in) has been solid but unspectacular; more like a house show match. We then took another commercial break. Back from the second break as Cena cut off Del Rio with a dropkick. Cena then went into the comeback sequence shoulder blocks and such into the five-knuckle shuffle. Del Rio countered the AA, and hit a back stabber for a near fall. Cena countered the superkick but then ran into the tilt a whirl back breaker as the action is finally feeling as if they are trying. Cena countered the corner enziguri and hit a lariat. Cena went up top, but ate an enziguri and Del Rio got a near fall. Cena countered the arm bar into the STF, Del Rio got the ropes and connected with a superkick to a kneeling Cena (he won with that at Hell in a Cell) for a near fall. Del Rio then countered an AA into the arm bar, Cena fought and powered Del Rio up and broke the hold with a powerbomb. AA connects and Cena wins. The final third finally picked up and that took them from an average and bland outing to an overall good match. Cena won, as he should heading into Sumemrslam.

– Post match, Styles laid out Cena with the springboard forearm and said he was sick and tired of Cena saying that the future has to go through him. He promises to beat Cena at Summerslam and become the face that runs the place. Your time is up, my time is now. Styles then went for the clash, but Cena powered up and hit the AA. Cena then started to dismantle the announce table and brawled with Styles on the floor. He set the steps by the table and walked Styles onto them, and put Styles through the table with the AA to stand tall. Between commentary and the post match, AJ was really strong on the mic tonight. I hope that Cena getting to stand tall means AJ wins on Sunday.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”