WWE Smackdown spoilers: Randy Orton vs. Big Show, Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus (updated with more notes)
By Charlie Oliver
MAIN EVENT
DARK MATCH: RYDER (w) v. ADAM ROSE
We begin with Dark Match with Zack Ryder entering to a decent reaction. Adam Rose enters with Rosebuds, a few of which seem to be dressed as fast food items like fries. They don’t do the gimmick where he falls off the mat into their arms. Pretty even match that Ryder wins with his move.
NXT Music – Byron Saxton & Tom Phillips to the announce table
MAIN EVENT LOGO AND INTRO on the Titantron
STARDUST (w) v. JACK SWAGGER
Stardust who does his wacky entrance and immediately faces “Cody” chants. This is a theme throughout the match. Jack Swagger enters and gets cheered politely since he is the face. Lots of “We the People” chants throughout the match. Stardust wins with the Cross-Rhodes.
PAIGE & EMMA (w) vs. CAMERON & SUMMER RAE
Paige and Emma were immediate crowd favorites and Emma looked gorgeous (Paige wasn’t homely either, I suppose). Summer Rae entered with lots of sass along with Cameron. Typical tag match with the heels getting tons of heat by wailing on Emma until she FINALLY got a hot tag and ultimately tapped out Cameron with her submission thing. Paige seemed like she really wanted the audience to approve of Emma so she pointed to her constantly and nodded her head. I approve of her, Paige.
LUCHA DRAGONS (w) vs. THE ASCENSION with the UPPERCATS (KIDD/CESARO) AT RINGSIDE
Lucha Dragons cut an all-Spanish promo prior to the match beginning. Fresno has a big hispanic market so I guess that’s why? I don’t speak Spanish so I assume they were introducing themselves. They came out and trampolined into the ring as they have been known to do on the NXT show. The Ascension came to the ring with growly faces. Replay of the divas tag with The Ascension dominating Sin Cara for way too long followed by a hot Kallisto tag. Faces win with bouncing offense. After the match the Uppercats pointed at the Dragons and vice-versa but there was NO DISTRACTION FINISH!
THE NEW DAY (Woods & Big E variant) vs. the PRIME TIME PLAYERS (w)
The New Day cut a promo as they came to the ring talking about how happy they were to be in San Jose. Immediate heat because WE ARE IN FRESNO. As the Prime Time Players entered, Titus pointed out their mistake and made himself a face in the process. Pretty decent match but ANOTHER formulaic deal where Young was in danger FOREVER and finally crawled through the legs of Big E to tag Titus. I’m fairly sure they did that exact same spot in the Divas match with Emma crawling through Summer Rae’s legs. Not a lot of variety on the Main Event this week. Same ending with the Prime Time Players emerging victorious after Titus hit the Clash of the Titus.
LAWLER music – LAWLER joins commentary team.
SMACK DOWN LOGO/INTRO/MUSIC/ETC
SETH ROLLINS PROMO
Seth appeared with his entourage of J&J Security, Kane, and Big Show. He recapped Wrestlemania and Raw in case we missed it, I guess. He regrets that he didn’t face Brock on Monday night but Brock is an animal that was out of control. Suddenly RANDY ORTON’s music hits and he emerges from the back. Crowd loves this guy and he basks in it for a moment but stays on the stage to cut an over-explaining promo where he recaps everything he said on Raw. Basically, he would like to go against Seth because he didn’t get a rematch after last year’s Wrestlemania. I guess there’s no time limit on this? Will Backlund be showing up to get his title shot one day since I don’t think he got another one after Nash beat him in 20 seconds. Anyway, Rollins tells Orton that he’s living in the past and the future is now. Orton tries to be clever by insulting Show & Kane, calling them “former monsters” that have turned into “lapdogs.” Moreover, he says that Kane used to be the Big Red Machine and now he’s “Little Red Riding Hood” and he didn’t see Kane at Wrestlemania anywhere. The taunting pays off and Kane says he does indeed have some power; if Orton can beat Big Show and beat him, the Authority will *CONSIDER* a rematch. The match starts….now!!~
ORTON (w) v. BIG SHOW
Orton dominates throughout but Mercury & Noble & Kane jump in and cause a DQ finish. Orton delivers RKO’s to Mercury, Noble, then Kane.
NATALIA v. NAOMI (w) with THE BELLAS ON COMMENTARY
The Bellas are well loved by Fresno and received one of the biggest pops of the night. They went straight to the commentary table. Natalia appeared, sans husband, and also received a good pop. Maybe Fresno just loves divas? Naomi came out, wearing a little flag football looking thing in the back of her trunks–seriously, what is that? They had a match–nothing special–and Naomi won with that ridiculous “Rear View” move. After the match Naomi talked smack to the Bellas but again, NO DISTRACTION FINISH OR RUN IN. This is refreshing!
BACKSTAGE SEGMENT: ROLLINS & KANE
Kane looks flustered after the RKO he took and Rollins is apologizing for him. Then, in a bit of weaselly brilliance, Rollins says “I like how you had Randy going there, thinking he had a real chance at a match with me.” Kane apparently WAS SERIOUS(!) and Rollins doesn’t like that. Kane all but says there’s going to be a match at Extreme Rules and tells Rollins he can do it. Rollins leaves.
Suddenly a wild DEAN AMBROSE appears with a newspaper under his arm. He has apparently just used Kane’s executive bathroom and enjoyed the six-ply toilet paper. Kane is angry and sentences Ambrose to a match later with Luke Harper. Ambrose doesn’t seem concerned.
ANOTHER BACKSTAGE SEGMENT: ROMAN REIGNS
Roman is angry with Rollins. He recaps everything in case we forgot what happened when Rollins recapped it. He will defeat Rollins because he’s done it before.
MIZ (w) V. R-TRUTH
Miz beat R-Truth pretty quickly with the Skull-Crushing Finale. As he celebrated, Damien Mizdow ran in from the back and attacked Miz with–you guessed it–the Skull Crushing Finale. He steals the Miz’s sunglasses, poses for a moment, then leaves.
JOHN CENA PROMO
John Cena comes out to discuss America being a land of opportunity. He respects Rusev but Rusev doesn’t respect America and John didn’t like that. RUSEV and LANA(!) appear on the stage; Lana begins with her typical spiel about America being crappy and whatnot but Rusev takes the mic. He explains that he did not lose on Sunday and shoots a look at the ravishing Russian. He says that at Extreme Rules, Cena will be defeated and see “this” wherein he points to the air expectantly. Cena laughs and says, “Oh, were you expecting this?” and an American flag is unveiled hanging in the air. I am assuming that Rusev was not expecting that particular flag because he was upset. Then Cena begins to sing the National Anthem (of America) and Rusev is so upset that he places his hands over his ears and looks pained!
LUKE HARPER v. DEAN AMBROSE (ND)
Dean received a good reaction from the crowd and the two had a pretty good match. The ending came when Harper put Ambrose through the announce table. Weirdly, they didn’t ring a bell here even though the Ref clearly indicated that the match was over. Paramedics were summoned but Harpet slapped one of them and only a small army of referees keeps Harper away. Maybe Harper was just waiting for the bell or a decision? Technically wouldn’t it be a Harper victory if Ambrose is defeated by a ref stoppage? Harper leaves triumphantly and Dean is carried out but he is too crazy to go easily and fights with the paramedics and refs. Eventually they help him out. He sure is UNSTABLE!
The next WWE show in Fresno will be an August 2nd House Show. The presale password is WWEFRESNO.
PRIME TIME PLAYERS PROMO
Pretty funny stuff with Titus O’Neil making fun of each member of the New Day. He sprays water on himself to mock Big E’s sweating problem, discusses Kofi’s strange looking chest (he needs food donations), and calls Woods a PhD–Personal Hair Disaster. Darren Young points out that Xavier Wood’s hair is nappy and “if your hair is nappy, ain’t nobody happy.”
SHEAMUS PROMO
Sheamus has new music and a new tron. He comes out to explain why he’s a heel now–basically, he doesn’t know where the real men have gone so he’s here to be a real man. He’s going to “crush our hopes and dreams” and “put our underdog heroes out of their misery.”
SHEAMUS (w) v. DANIEL BRYAN with BAD NEWS BARRETT ON COMMENTARY
I’m pretty sure this match was advertised on Raw as being Bryan and Ziggler v. Barrett & Sheamus but Ziggler was no where to be seen and Barrett was just doing commentary. Big pop for Bryan, as is expected. Physical match, dominated by Sheamus with plenty of hope spots from Bryan that are shut down. End of match sees Bryan on the outside when Bad News Barrett hits him with the bull hammer and busts him open. Sheamus strikes a dramatic victorious pose as he drags Bryan’s bloody face across his pale chest while they are both outside. Sheamus returns to the ring, posing menacingly with Bryan’s blood across his chest as the ref counts. Bryan loses by countout.
DARK MATCH: ROMAN REIGNS & JOHN CENA (w) v. ROLLINS & WYATT
This is exactly what you would expect. The good guys won, Wyatt took most of the beating, and Rollins was cowardly until the good guys were weak, then disappeared when they weren’t. The finish was Wyatt going for a sister abigail on Cena when Cena got out of the way and Reigns speared Wyatt.
From Stephen Lyon:
Smackdown taping results from Fresno tonight. Crowd were very hot all night and it was a really good taping. It was like a house show crowd, lots of families, with the faces cheered and heels booed.
For Main Event (Tom Phillips & Byron Saxton announcing):
– Zack Ryder beat Adam Rose
– Stardust beat Jack Swagger
– Paige & Emma beat Summer Rae & Cameron when Paige made Cameron submit.
– Lucha Dragons beat the Ascension. Cesaro & Kidd were at ringside doing commentary. Sin Cara won with a swanton bomb on Conor.
– Prime Time Players beat Big E & Xavier Woods. Looks like New Day are being positioned as heels, as they were soundly booed before the match. Crowd was doing the ‘New Day sucks’ chant, and PTP cut a face promo beforehand about how they were in Fresno.
Smackdown (Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton & Jerry Lawler announcing, so no Michael Cole):
– Opened with a Seth Rollins, J&J Security, Big Show & Kane interview. Rollins gloated about Brock Lesnar’s suspension. Randy Orton came out, and demanded a title match. Orton praised Show for winning the battle royal at WM31, but made fun of J&J Security & Kane. Orton vs Show was made.
– Randy Orton Big beat Show via DQ. Authority interfered. Ryback made the save.
– Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus in a singles match was announced for later, so a change from the advertised Bryan & Dolph Ziggler vs. Wade Barrett & Sheamus match.
– Bellas came out to do commentary. Total babyface reaction for them.
– Naomi beat Natalya in a short match.
– Rollins & Kane were backstage. Kane made Rollins vs Orton for later. Rollins wasn’t happy and said Kane’s office stinks. Kane turned around and Ambrose was there. Ambrose had used Kane’s executive bathroom without permission. Kane then made Ambrose vs Harper for later.
– Roman Reigns pretaped sitdown interview with Byron Saxton aired. Said he was close to winning at WM31, and can & will win in the future. Doesn’t blame Rollins for taking advantage as he had the MITB case.
– Miz beat R-Truth quickly. Damian Mizdow ran out and gave Miz a Skull Crushing Finale to a huge pop, then put on Miz sunglasses and posed.
– John Cena interview. Got 90-10 cheers, really good reaction for Cena. Said Rusev was the American Dream (a foreigner who had succeeded in the U.S.) but was ungrateful. Rusev came out with Lana. Lana started speaking but Rusev interrupted her and did the rest of the promo. Said this was Rusev’s world and called Cena a little person. Rusev tried to storm the ring then demanded his Russian flag be dropped from above the ring. Instead a U.S. Flag dropped to a huge pop & Rusev stormed to the back.
– Dean Ambrose beat Luke Harper via DQ when Harper put Ambrose through the U.S. announcers table. Ambrose was helped to the back by EMTs.
– Prime Time Players taped promo making fun of the New Day. Made fun of the New Day chant not being over by playing the sound of crickets chirping.
– Sheamus came out. He has new music, so no more ‘limes’. He did a promo asking where all the real men had gone, calling Bryan & Ziggler two vertically challenged runts. He said he wasn’t here to put smiles on people’s faces, he was here to crush people’s dreams. Fans loudly chanted ‘You Look Stupid’ at him again. He was over as a heel.
– Sheamus beat Daniel Bryan via countout. Barrett came out for commentary and KOd Bryan with the bull hammer elbow behind the referees back to cause the count out.
Dark match:
– John Cena & Roman Reigns beat Seth Rollins & Bray Wyatt. Surprisingly, Reigns didn’t make his entrance through the crowd. Instead he entered like everyone else. Crowd largely cheered Cena & Reigns, although there were some Cena Sucks chants.Cena put over how great the Fresno crowd was after the match.