Angelic Heel again!
Thursdays keep hitting hard as WWE brings us another edition of SMACKDOWN! Thus week, Kansas City, MO was the stage for the WWE Superstars as they continued to build momentum to the grandest stage of them all, Wrestlemania! The action for the Intercontinental Championship continues to heat up between all competitors as we saw 6 of them compete in a gauntlet match. Which of the diverse superstars came out on top? Find out now!
Mark Henry Endorses Roman Reigns, The Authority Responds
Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Roman Reigns comes out. Talks about how he can and will beat Brock Lesnar for the title (no darlin, you won’t…) about how he’s tired of people saying he can’t and blah blah believe that blah blah only to be interrupted by the World’s Strongest man Mark Henry. While last week we saw the world’s largest beat down, this week we got the world’s largest love fest. Mark Henry came out to the ring and told Reigns that he believe that Roman could and would beat Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Title at Wrestlmania.
But this life time movie moment was short lived as thankfully, representatives of the Authority interrupted. The Director of Operations, Kane, The savior of the WWE, Seth Rollins, and the Big Show, followed by J & J Security arrived on the stage and addressed the ass kissing going on in the ring. The Future of the WWE informed the WWE Universe that not only was Randy Orton not in the building, but that Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury would secure the perimeter to ensure that the Viper would not be allowed to enter the building. This was of course for Randy’s protection. Because the Architect wanted to save all his retribution for the unwarranted yet extremely brutal attack on his person for Wrestlemania. The Corporate Demon then informed Reigns and Henry that they would be facing himself and Seth Rollins in the main event of the evening.
Paige vs Brie Bella
Winner: Paige
Paige and Brie Bella went head to head in a match that did it’s best to get us excited for the tag team match set for Wrestlemania. Paige came out hard against Brie and had the diva reeling. The action spilled out to the floor and Paige was able to slam Bella into the announce desk. However, a slap to the face led to Brie getting the upper hand and offensive momentum from her younger opponent. Brie went all Brie mode on Paige and went for the cover however, Paige countered with a crucifix roll up and got the three count over Brie.
This was a decent but all too short match of two women that were kicking each other’s ass and making it look fun. If anything the commentary from AJ and Nikki detracted from the match. There wasn’t enough emphasis on the battle going on in the ring. I love Paige’s aggression in her matches. It is really beginning to feel as if that that type of aggression is finding its place in main roster Divas matches.
INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE CONTENDERS
GAUNTLET MATCH
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
Dean Ambrose vs Stardust
Winner: Dean Ambrose
The Intercontinental title contenders gauntlet match started off with Dean Ambrose and Stardust. The crowed was merciless as it chanted “Cody” at the cosmic superstar but Stardust quickly regained his composure (well.. as best he i capable of) and went head to head with the Lunatic Fringe. Stardust took his aggression out on Dean Ambrose and controlled a good portion of the beginning of the match. However if there is one thing we all know about Dean, it is that you can hit him, but he will keep getting back up every time.
The Unstable superstar bounced back and landed his signature off the ropes clothes line to take control of the match once more. The end of the match came when Dean countered a pin attempt by Stardust into a roll up of his own for the 1, 2, 3. Stardust was understandably a tad bit miffed by this and then proceeded to cheap shot Ambrose and then preceded to introduce Ambrose’s shoulder to the ring post until R-Truth hit the ring and intervened. The rapper then showed Stardust the floor after a heel kick to the face that sent Stardust out to the floor.
Dean Ambrose vs R-Truth
Winner: Dean Ambrose
R-Truth came to Dean’s aid, and how does Dean repay this kindness? Dirty Deeds for the victory. Thank you R-Truth for showing up when you did, you may go back to the back after serving your purpose as cannon fodder and defender of Dean Ambrose.
Dean Ambrose vs Luke Harper
Winner: Luke Harper
So Dean advanced once again in this gauntlet match. So who’s next? Luke Harper. And here I’m now convinced that Luke and Dean are having a who wears it better contest as both men are in grey tank tops, blue jeans, and boots. But all fashion (or lack there of) aside, this match was hard hitting and brutal. Dean, still feeling the effects of his introduction to the ring post fought as hard as he could but in the end he was over powered by the larger man and ate a clothesline from smell that was then followed by a nasty sit down powerbomb. As good as Dean is, he was unable to kick out of the pin and was eliminated from the gauntlet match.
Luke Harper vs Daniel Bryan
Winner: Daniel Bryan
So who’s next in this exciting match? Daniel Bryan! The hairy little B+ player took the fight directly to Luke Harper as he tried to cut the big man down by focusing his signature kicks to the back of Harper’s legs. But that was not all, submissions, ever a main stay in the farm animals bag of tricks, also made their appearance. i will say, the leader of the Yes movement impressed me as he lifted Luke into the surf board submission and then began to press the bigger man as if he were nothing. The win came when Bryan locked in a heel hook submission on the targeted leg to earn the tap out victory and advance to the finals of the gauntlet match.
Daniel Bryan vs Dolph Ziggler
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
The show Off, Dolph Ziggler, arrived in the ring to a thunderous ovation from the crowd. The WWE Universe was largely divided in their support for each superstar as the two came together in a heated match that was easily the best match of the night. The two traded counter after counter and blow after blow. Dolph even had a few moments to show off his hip gyrations for those in the WWE Universe who are into watching every slight movement of those shiney shorts. But a huge moment came that seemed to turn the tides for Ziggler when he countered a high risk maneuver by Bryan from the top rope into a cross body pin combination for a near fall.
Goat boy’s night nearly came to another end when he went for the running knee and ran his fuzzy face into Ziggler’s super kick. The two continued to go at it and Dolph’s night nearly came to an end when the Yes Lock was nearly locked in, but he was able to power his way out of it (I’m convinced that if D-Bry was an A+ competitor he’d have locked in the move but that’s what you get from a clearly inferior athlete.) Again the two word work to over power the other but it was Ziggler who would catch the victory after a Zig Zag was landed on the Leader of the Yes Movement.
But as per usual, Dolph Ziggler celebrating a victory is just unheard of in the WWE. Out came the Intercontinental Champion, Bad News Barrett to rain on the Show Off’s parade. But why one asks? Because he can and he has some Bad News for all contenders in the Ladder Match at Wrestlemania. And his message came in the form of destroying both Ziggler and Daniel Bryan with a Bull Hammer Elbow apiece. All the kleptomaniacs in the match better not take the champion lightly, he may not have had his belt, but he was always the champion. And he will NOT give up his title without one helluva fight.
Cesaro & Tyson Kidd & Natalya vs Los Matadores & El Torito
6 Being Inter-species Match (No I’m NOT making this up…)
Winner: Cesaro & Tyson Kidd & Natalya
I wish I could tell you that I paid attention to this match but for the life of me, I tried and I am woman enough to admit i failed. The concept just made me cringe all over. Typically I’m cool with fun gimmick matches but this time… I was unimpressed. So as you guess, I’m not spending much time on this one. Best part was when Nattie picked up the win for her team. How’d she do that? She hoisted that little bull up and powerbombed him right into the mat. Can this pretend feud be over now?
Seth Rollins & Kane vs Roman Reigns
Winner: Roman Reigns
Before the main event began, we saw that somehow Mark Henry was knocked cold and would not be joining Roman Reigns in the ring. So now we have a handicap match on our hands. The match started and Roman would not be stopped. No matter who was in the ring, attempting to interfere he would not let anything keep him from full filling his mission to whoop some ass. At one point he delivered 10 consecutive clotheslines to Mr. Money in the Bank. But Seth would also not stay down as he fought with his superior ninja skills and worked to take out the Samoan Superman. Ultimately it was Kane that cost Rollins the victory. The Corporate Demon tagged himself in and failed to get the job done against Reigns as he ate a spear and got himself pinned. Roman did not stay to celebrate his ill gotten victory but rudely pushed his way through the security set up to watch for Randy Orton and made his way to the locker room.
But as a security team, they should be fired. For shortly after the match ended, The Viper struck. Orton flew threw the crowd and pounced on the Future of the WWE. He then went RKO crazy and took out the useless security team. The Viper was not finished as he caught Rollins in mid air and slammed him to the mat. But J & J Security did what they do best and took the RKO’s that Seth avoided as he strategically regrouped at a high rate of speed up the ramp (why do people say he runs away? why on earth would he stay and catch an RKO if it could be avoided. Seth is not given near enough credit for his intelligence. I mean seriously, you would have to be stupid as hell if you think that sticking around to get beat on is a good idea.)
Anywho, that was the main event. Great build for the matches at Wrestlemania. Definitely looking forward to Seth shutting down all his nay sayers and people who think Randy is entitled to beating Seth’s ass some more. Didn’t Rollins suffer enough? Is it really his fault that he’s so much better than Orton that he can take a beating like he was given and be back to work the next week? While Orton on the other hand, takes a couple tiny curb stomps and he’s out for four months. Sounds like a certain snake is approaching B+ player status. Just Sayin… What will the go home week for Wrestlemania bring the WWE Universe? My predictions are that Randy will continue to be out smarted because let’s face it, Vipers aren’t known to be the most intelligent of the Wrestling Gods’ creations.
~Your