WWE Smackdown June 25 TV results & recap: Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose

By Steve Khan, WrestlingObserver.com

– Airdate: June 25, 2015 (June 24 in Canada)

– Location: Huntington Center in Toledo, OH

The Big News:

Seth Rollins beat Dean Ambrose again.

Show Recap:

Jimmy Uso, in his gear and face paint, was on commentary, and is replacing Byron Saxton for the next few weeks. This was Uso’s first appearance on Raw or SmackDown since WrestleMania. Also, Eden is back as ring announcer.

They aired a long recap of Seth Rollins and company beating up Brock Lesnar on Raw. Rollins came out with Kane and Joey Mercury to start the show. Rollins said The Authority is back and they burned Suplex City to the ground.

Rollins reminded us that he broke up the Shield and called The Authority his family. He acknowledged that Jamie Noble suffered three broken ribs at the hands of Lesnar. People cheered. Rollins said he and Mercury spent all night in the hospital with Noble and dedicated SmackDown to him.

Rollins put over Kane and they shook hands. Kane said nobody, including Lesnar, could cross The Authority without consequences. Kane said Big Show wasn’t here because of Ryback. Kane asked Ryback to come out and of course he did.

Rollins said Ryback should take lessons on how to act like a champion from him. Ryback called himself a real champion and ripped on Rollins for being an overprotected sellout. Kane put himself in a match with Ryback.

As the heels left to Kane’s music, Rollins told them to cut the music and said he’s tired of being disrespected. (He waited until being far away from Ryback to say this.) Rollins said he didn’t just barely beat Dean Ambrose at Money in the Bank, he annihilated him. Rollins put himself in a match with Ambrose tonight.

Sheamus beat Dolph Ziggler (w/Lana) via pinfall

Rusev came out almost immediately, pleading with Lana to go back to him. She didn’t, so Rusev yelled that he was done with her. Sheamus tried a Brogue kick but Ziggler dropkicked him to the outside.

After a break, they went back and forth with quick counters and Ziggler hit a superkick for a near fall. Uso dropped a “superkick party” reference. Sheamus crotched Ziggler on the top rope and hit a Brogue kick for the win. Weird finish. Sheamus should win matches like these but Ziggler just lost like it was nothing.

Backstage, Rusev was freaking out and Summer Rae told him Lana isn’t worth it.

They replayed Rollins turning on The Shield last year. Throughout the show, they aired more recent clips from the Rollins-Ambrose rivalry to push tonight’s main event.

Alicia Fox (w/Bella Twins) beat Naomi (w/Tamina) via pinfall

They asked Uso what he thought of Naomi’s recent actions. Uso said he supports his wife and he’s going to leave it at that. Good answer. Naomi got in the Bellas’ faces outside the ring, and Tamina superkicked both Brie and Nikki. Uso again called this a superkick party. Naomi celebrated, but when she re-entered the ring, Alicia caught her with a stupid-looking move for the win. This was dumb.

Backstage, JoJo asked The New Day about their cold streak. Big E was in the middle of preaching but the Prime Time Players interrupted to remind New Day that they suck. Titus did his best Big E impression and said one of the New Day members would have to sit out at Battleground.

Titus and Darren left, and Bo Dallas jumped in. Bo likes New Day and asked The Authority to join them in a match tonight. New Day like Bo Dallas, and they gave him some clap therapy. This was fun. Big E is amazing.

Ryback beat Kane (w/Big Show) via DQ

Big Show jumped Ryback during his entrance and beat on him for a while. He dumped Ryback in the ring and Kane demanded the referee start the match. Kane pinned Ryback but he kicked out at two.

Kane kicked him around for a while but Ryback made a comeback, hitting a spinebuster and clothesline. He went for a shell shock but Show interfered for the DQ. Show chokeslammed Ryback twice. I actually thought this was a fine angle, but it suffered from the problem that will never go away–that it involved Kane and Big Show getting all the heat.

They recapped Tough Enough and announced that Roman Reigns would be on the show next week.

8-Man Tag Match: Prime Time Players & Lucha Dragons beat The New Day & Bo Dallas via pinfall

As the heels worked over Sin Cara, Xavier Woods asked Jimmy Uso how his brother was doing. Sin Cara used a hurricanrana on Kingston and made the hot tag to Kalisto. Everyone eventually jumped in to hit a move, leading to Sin Cara hitting a dive on Kingston, Big E and Bo outside the ring. Kalito hit Woods with a 450 splash for the win. I guess this sets up the Lucha Dragons as contenders when New Day get their titles back. Or maybe it doesn’t.

Backstage, Dean Ambrose told Roman Reigns he’s tired of Bray Wyatt and thought they should search every hallway in the building and take him out Cincinnati-style, which would include using a 5-pound weight and a sock.

Reigns said they’re not in Cincinnati, that he’s a grown man, and would beat Bray’s ass at Battleground. Reigns told Ambrose he should watch his back now that Rollins and The Authority are on the same page. Reigns then said he had Ambrose’s back tonight.

After Ambrose left, Reigns noticed a picture of himself with “Anyone But You” scribbled on it. Then, moments after saying he was a grown man, Reigns lost it over this and stormed off.

After a break, Reigns was hunting for Bray. Reigns asked a backstage geek where Wyatt was. The guy didn’t know, so Reigns took off the guy’s headset and said they better find him. Kane caught Reigns harassing an employee, so he had Reigns ejected. Security came but Reigns left on his own.

WWE Champion Seth Rollins beat Dean Ambrose via pinfall – Non-Title

Rollins worked over Ambrose’s knee but he was able to come back with a double-underhook suplex off the middle rope. Ambrose nailed a face buster for two and tried another suplex off the ropes, but Rollins hit a superkick for two.

Kane tried to interfere, so Ambrose caught him with a suicide dive. Ambrose nailed a top rope elbow on Rollins but Mercury distracted the referee. Ambrose whipped Rollins into Mercury and used a school boy for a near fall, followed by a tornado DDT for another near fall.

Ambrose sent Rollins to the outside and took out all three heels with a top rope elbow. Ambrose turned Rollins inside out with a rebound clothesline. Mercury tried to interfere again, so Ambrose pulled him into the ring and tried Dirty Deeds. Rollins jumped in and hit a pedigree for the win.

The finish was messy with Mercury getting in the ring and the referee just standing there watching. Ambrose technically pulled him in, but still. Also, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that Roman Reigns never came back since everyone just blindly does what they’re told.

Final Thoughts:

A mostly mundane show. Ambrose vs. Rollins is always fun, but we just saw them have a ladder match less than two weeks ago, and this was just a backdrop to the larger story, that The Authority always wins. Suplex City isn’t the only thing they’re burning to the ground.

Also, with Noble out, perhaps now would be a good time to give Rollins some new muscle. Like, I don’t know, Cesaro.