3-15-13 Smackdown results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the March 15, 2013 episode of Smackdown

The show starts with Randy Orton & Sheamus coming to the ring for their tag match with Rhodes Scholars. Then Cody & Sandow come out. Sandow wants silence. He says that what happened last Monday on Raw was nothing short of a professional and managerial abomination. Not only was their sure fire victory over the New Age Outlaws taken from them. Not only was their post match endeavor with the Bella Twins postponed, but they were put in a match that they were neither physically nor mentally prepared for against the 2 vulgarians in the ring. His uncle whoever told him a story once. Then Cody cuts Sandow off and says we don’t deserve the story. Cody says it’s simple. Orton & Sheamus ruined their date and their night. So now it’s their turn to ruin Orton’s & Sheamus’. This was ok. I like that they’re starting the show off with a match rather than the usual 20 minute promos. Cody & Sandow were both solid on the mic and the promos were thankfully short and lead right to the match..

Randy Orton & Sheamus vs. Rhodes Scholars. Orton & Sheamus win Orton pins Cody. This was solid.

Then The Shield’s music hits and the show up on the Tron. Ambrose tells Orton & Sheamus they don’t have to be afraid. Then Rollins says maybe they do. Then Reigns says just not tonight. They all say their names and then Ambrose says Orton & Sheamus should already know that the ring their standing in is The Shield’s and if they still don’t believe that then they can ask Big Show. On Monday they dropped Big Show and they served justice to Big Show just like they’ve served justice to every major force in this industry. Ryback, Sheamus, Orton, Cena, Rock, check for all of them. Rollins says that brings up an interesting point. They’ve taken Cena and Rock multiple times and they’ve laid them out, flattened them in the center of the ring. Reigns says, “Just like Roadkill.” Rollins says those 2 criminals continue to take from them because they are the main event at WrestleMania & somehow the most dominant force in this company The Shield doesn’t even have a match at WrestleMania and that is the greatest injustice he has ever heard of. Ambrose says that’s an injustice they will serve themselves. No more games, here’s what they’re gonna do. Orton & Sheamus find any partner they want, but make sure they pick the right partner. Orton’s in. Sheamus says he will see The Shield at WrestleMania. Then Rollins says the showcase of the Immortals now & forever becomes the showcase of Justice. Ambrose says that at WrestleMania Orton & Sheamus will believe. . Then Reigns says, “Believe in The Shield.” This was good. Ambrose cut a really good promo & Rollins was good here too. Reigns is good as the big guy who doesn’t say much. It makes him more intimidating.

Time for a look back at Brock Lesnar flattening Road Dogg & Billy Gunn, followed by Heyman’s promo saying Lesnar will accept Triple H’s challenge if they get to pick the stipulation for the match AFTER Triple H signs the contract.

Randy Orton & Sheamus are backstage. Sheamus tells him they made the right choice. Orton says they got this. Then Big Show comes by. He says it looks like Orton & Sheamus are having problems with The Shield. They can use a partner. Sheamus asks Big Show if he is looking to be their partner. Big Show doesn’t trust either one of them but because of recent events that is exactly what he is saying. Orton & Sheamus need a partner that’s merciless, brutal & vicious. A partner that can bulldoze anything in front of him. They need a partner that’s the ultimate destroyer. Orton says they couldn’t agree with him more. Big Show says they won’t regret this decision and that it is a smart move. Sheamus says that Big Show is dead right. That is why Orton & Sheamus have picked “him.” In comes Ryback. Ryback & Big Show have a quick stare down and then Big Show walks off. This was a good backstage segment.

Divas Champion Kaitlyn & Layla vs. Aksana & Tamina Snuka. Kaitlyn & Layla win when Layla pins Aksana. This was a typical Divas match. Kaitlyn speared Aksana then Layla tagged herself in. Then she gave Aksana s spring board cross body for the pin. Kaitlyn wasn’t too thrilled with that. They also showed Naomi & Cameron watching backstage. It looks like they’re setting up a Kaitlyn-Layla program.

Then backstage where Naomi & Cameron are The Bella Twins come by. Naomi & Cameron are thrilled the Bella Twins are back. Naomi says they’ve been a big influence on her & Cameron. Cameron says she knows that she & Naomi aren’t twins (I can’t tell them apart) but the dress alike and they grew up watching the Bella Twins (How can they’ve grown up watching Brie & Nikki? They all look about the same age to me! But this was the chick who said that her favorite match was Melina vs. Alicia Fox)!  Nikki tells Brie that they influenced to hoochi mamas to come to WWE to shake their butts for a dancing dinosaur & his friend that thinks he is Japanese. Nikki sarcastically says, “Isn’t that great?” Then Naomi & Cameron shove their pomp pomes into the Bella Twins faces & Naomi asks them who they are calling hoochi mamas. Then Brie says that they didn’t mean to disrespect them, they just wanted to introduce themselves. Then the Bellas offer their hands and then they attack out Naomi & Cameron and then referees come in to pull the Bellas off. Then Nikki sarcastically says it was nice meat Naomi & Cameron. This was terrible.

Time for a look back at what Taker & Punk on Raw & Punk’s match with Kane.

Kane vs. Dolph Ziggler. Dolph gets the pin. AJ got on the apron & distracted the referee. Then Daniel & Langston went at it on the floor and Langston tossed Daniel into the time keeper area. Then Kane gave Langston a big boot. Then when Kane got back in the ring Dolph gave him a famasser followed by the Zig Zag for the win. This was a solid match too. Afterwards Kane is on the mat & Dolph taunts him. Then Kane grabs Dolph’s throat and was going to choke slam him but then Langston got in the ring and tackled Kane. Then Langston gave him that big end finisher. So Dolph beat both tag team champions and Big E laid them both out afterwards. It looks like they might be setting up Kane & Daniel vs. Dolph & Langston at WrestleMania.

Time for another Ricardo-Del Rio parody of the Jack Swagger-Zeb Coulter youtube videos. Ricardo & Del Rio were good here but I really hope we don’t get these videos every week. It will get old real fast.

Chris Jericho & R-Truth are in the locker room having a laugh over that video. Jericho says that wigs are always funny. Then in come Jack & Zeb. Swagger asks if they think that’s funny. Jericho says yeah. Then he tells Truth he’s got this. Then Swagger tells Jericho to tell him to think if this is funny. When Swagger beat Jericho and 4 other guys to win the Elimination Chamber he put the weight of a nation upon his back. Now he is not only fighting for the World Title but for the soul of our country & Jericho’s joking about it. Swagger then says that Jericho is no different than Del Rio. Jericho “snuck” across the boarder from Canada, came into our country & now he is trying to take what doesn’t belong to him but what belongs to “real” Americans. Jericho says that he grew up in Canada but he was born an American. That makes him a “real” American too. Then Jericho asks Zeb if he is a “real” American. Jericho then says that Zeb looks like a cross between Rush Limbaugh & Yosemite Sam. Zeb wants to tell Jericho something but Swagger stops him. Then Jericho says that rather than worrying about politics & immigration & naturalization, Swagger should worry about the fact that this is WrestleMania season & Swagger has a title match against Del Rio in just a few weeks. More importantly Swagger has a match against Y2J tonight. Till Jack & “Sam” can beat Jericho he suggests that Swagger shuts up. This was a mixed bag segment. I’m really tired of this heel American gimmick that they have Swagger doing. Jericho’s promo was solid though.

Next was supposed to be Great Khali vs. Fandango. Fandango is on the stage and he says that being a professional interpreter of the language of dance what Khali & Natalya were doing is unacceptable. It’s obvious that Khali can’t dance at all. So he tells “stretch” to see if he can pronounce his name right. Khali says, “You are Fandango. I know you. You’re Fandango.” Fandango tells Khali to shut his mouth & follow his lead. He tells clumsy Khali not trip. Then Fandango slowly pronounces his name in pieces as Khali repeats each part. Then he says to put it all together and what do you get? Then Khali says “Focdango.” Fandango says that is absolutely horrible (This whole bit is horrible). He hopes that Khali has a lot of money because he will have to reimburse all the fans tonight because they’re missing out on the debut of FaaanDaaaaaango. This was your same Fandango bit that they’ve done for weeks now.

Time for the video package on The Rock-John Cena match.

Matt Striker is backstage. He says that everyone is looking forward to the main event at WrestleMania and everyone is looking forward to the match at WrestleMania that was just made official by Booker T. It will be Randy Orton, Sheamus & Ryback vs. The Shield. Orton & Sheamus are there. Striker says to Sheamus that the odds have to feel even now that they got Ryback as their partner. Sheamus says that the odds are actually in their favor. Then Orton says we’re about to get a sample of what Ryback is fully capable of in his match with Mark Henry. Then Sheamus says that Ryback is a huge…then The Shield storm the interview area. Reigns spears Sheamus through the interview set and Ambrose & Rollins beat on Orton. Then The Shield throws Orton into the medal garage door. Then they throw Sheamus through a table. Then referees come in & they tell The Shield to break it up. The Shield walks off and the referees check on Orton & Sheamus. One of the referees yells for somebody to get Booker T. This was good. I liked that they had The Shield attack Orton & Sheamus in the interview area backstage.

Back to the show & Booker asks if Sheamus is alright. A referee & a security guy help out Sheamus while Long checks on Orton. Then Ryback comes by & asks Booker what happened. Long tells him that it was The Shield. Booker tells Long that he’s got this. Booker tells Ryback that he and the others will take care of Orton & Sheamus. Right now Ryback needs to take care of his match with Mark Henry. Booker tells Ryback not to lose his cool. This was good too.

Ryback vs. Mark Henry doesn’t last long because The Shield comes out through the crowd. Ryback & Henry watch but they also glance at each other. Then Henry leaves the ring and The Shield hop the guard rail, get in the ring & they go after Ryback. Ryback fights them off, he gets Reigns in the corner but then Rollins jumps on Ryback’s back. Then Ambrose comes in & Ryback clotheslines him. Then he throws Rollins off his back & out of the ring. Then he clotheslines Reigns & Ambrose out of the ring. Then Mark Henry comes back in & Ryback is ready to take him on. Then The Shield come back in & get Ryback from behind. Then Henry leaves the ring again while The Shield beats down Ryback. Then they give Ryback the triple power bomb. Then after The Shield walks out Mark Henry gets back in the ring, picks up Ryback & gives him the World’s Strongest Slam. Then Henry picks Ryback up again & gives him a second 1. Then he picks him again & gives Ryback a third 1. Then Henry stands over Ryback & tells him that this is what he has in store for Ryback. Henry says he is not any of these punks that Ryback has been running through. Then he shouts welcome to the hall of pain. This was really good. I liked The Shield coming out & going after Ryback but having Mark Henry then give Ryback 3 World’s Strongest Slams afterwards was a good touch.

Chris Jericho vs. Jack Swagger. Swagger gets the pin. This was a good back and forth match. Then Swagger poses on the turnbuckle to end the show.

I thought this was good show overall. I liked that they started the show off with a quick Cody-Sandow promo that lead right to them facing Randy Orton & Sheamus and that match was solid. Jericho-Swagger a really good match also. The Shield attacking Orton & Sheamus backstage was also well done. I also like The Shield coming out and laying out Ryback and having Henry give Ryback the World’s Strongest Slam 3 times was a good touch too. The Khali-Fandango bit was terrible. I’m getting tired of having Johnny Curtis come out and then do that whole bit. The Jericho-Swagger backstage bit was a mixed bag. The heel American gimmick doesn’t work for me but I thought Jericho was good here. The Divas tag match wasn’t much and it looks like they’re building to a Kaitlyn-Layla match. The Naomi & Cameron-Bella Twins backstage bit was terrible. Cameron saying that she & Naomi grew up watching The Bellas was idiotic since they all look about the same age. The Del Rio-Ricardo parody video of Swagger & Coulter was ok but I hope this doesn’t become a regular gag. Daniel-Dolph was solid too and it looks like they’re going to have Kane & Daniel vs. Dolph & Big E. The backstage segment with Orton, Sheamus, Big Show & Ryback was well done too. I thought Big Show cut a good promo and his stare down with Ryback was good. So on the whole I enjoyed this week’s show.