home | wrestling | flashback_reviews | wwe | smackdown

WWE Smackdown LIVE!- October 4, 2016

by Scrooge McSuck

- Last week on Smackdown Live... A.J. Styles successfully defended the WWE World Title against Dean Ambrose, but not without controversy... Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt played a creepy game of cat-and-mouse... Alexa Bliss punked out Becky Lynch before her match with Unannounced Opponent... The Miz suckered Dolph Ziggler into putting his career on the line at No Mercy... Carmella, teaming with Natalya, pinned Nikki Bella, teaming with Naomi, for what feels like the 5th time in the last two months...The Usos picked up a non-title victory over Heath Slater and Rhyno as part of an 8-Man Tag... Curt Hawkins has a big announcement for tonight... and No Mercy is October 9th.

- From the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, CA, with Mauro Ranallo, John "Bradshaw" Layfield, and David Otunga calling the action, unless otherwise noted.

Kane vs. Bray Wyatt:

Bray Wyatt will face Randy Orton at No Mercy this Sunday. For the two Erick Rowan fans out there, he’s out of action for 4-6 months with a torn rotator cuff. Listing Kane as being from "Knoxville, TN" just doesn’t seem right. Wyatt immediately backs Kane into the corner and attacks. Kane turns the table and unloads rights and lefts. Wyatt fights out of the corner and hits a diving body tackle. Kane fights out of a chin-lock, but runs into a clothesline. Kane rolls away from the senton and hits a running clothesline into the corner. Kane with the sidewalk slam and a jumping DDT. He goes for a Choke-Slam, but Wyatt counters with a uranage and senton. Wyatt does the Spider-Walk, but suddenly he’s distracted by Randy Orton on the big screen. Orton cuts a promo "upside down", from Wyatt’s perspective. Kane sits up during this entire goofball situation. Wyatt avoids the Choke-Slam to Kane again.

- Baron Corbin is walking very slowly before being interrupted by Charley Caruso. He’s got the attention of Jack Swagger, but that doesn’t bother him, because Jack’s dumber than he looks and promises to drop him where he stands. Swagger wants to go right now, but Corbin says he does his talking in the ring.

- Bray Wyatt is wandering backstage, rambling about Randy Orton.

Nikki Bella vs. Alexa Bliss:

Bliss challenges Becky Lynch for the Women’s Title at No Mercy. Carmella is at ringside to join the commentary team. Nikki with a waist-lock. Alexa escapes with an elbow and choke shoves Nikki down. Nikki with a leg sweep and cover for a two count. Nikki with a knee to the face and shoulder tackle. They take it to the floor, with Nikki throwing Alexa into Carmella after some unnecessary trash-talking. Back inside, Nikki goes for the TKO, but Carmella runs in for the Disqualification at 1:52. Becky Lynch comes out for the save, and guess what... we’ve got ourselves a TAG TEAM MATCH. This would make Teddy Long proud.

We return from commercial, with Nikki in control of Bliss with an arm-bar. Nikki misses a forearm into the corner, and a distraction from Carmella allows Alexa to take Nikki down with a handful of hair. Carmella in with some "ground-and-pound." Carmella with a moonwalk and "her version" of the bronco buster for a two count. Alexa tags back in and grabs a chin-lock. Nikki uses her butt to escape, but runs into a clothesline. Carmella with another chin-lock and more trash talk. Nikki avoids another bronco buster and hot tag to Becky. She runs over Carmella with clotheslines and a leg lariat. Alexa runs in and takes a Becks-Plex. That’s a better name than Beck-Sploder, I guess. Becky comes off the apron with a forearm, but runs into a Super-Kick. Nikki with a spear to take Carmella out. Alexa to the top rope, and the Twisted Bliss finishes Becky at 4:03. That should telegraph Becky Lynch going over at No Mercy. *1/4 This was OK at times, but Alexa and Carmella need veteran partners to help carry the wrestling.

- Bray Wyatt continues to look for Randy Orton and finds himself locked inside some kind of a storage unit. Thanks to the magic of television, there’s a camera inside the container, showing Wyatt pounding on the walls.

- Daniel Bryan comes out for the annual Susan G. Komen, Breast Cancer Awareness segment.

The Hype Bros vs. The Vaudevillains:

(Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley vs. Aiden English & Simon Gotch)
Is it wrong I’m disappointed that this isn’t Heath Slater and Rhyno in action? Speaking of Zack Ryder, how about that reintroduction for Emma on Monday Night Raw? EMMALINA? That’s just awful. Mojo and Gotch start. Mojo yells a bunch and plants him with a slam. Then he does the world’s worst dance routine before dropping an axe-handle. I cannot un-see what I have just seen. The Ascension show up at the top of the ramp to remind us of all the lower-tier teams. Ryder gets to play face-in-peril. Gotch with an exploder suplex for two. Vaudevillains with a double chop and jab. English with a boot to the midsection and a chin-lock. English with a slam, but he misses a knee drop. Gotch cuts the tag off, but gets taken over with a sunset flip. Mojo with the hot tag, and he runs over English with shoulder tackles. Mojo with the POUNCE, knocking English into the corner. He follows with a Stinger Splash and a fireman’s carry slam. Hype Ryder to English finishes at 3:52. ½* This was a lot of nothing until the hot 30-seconds to finish. The Ascension don’t look impressed. Considering their record is 0-for-Ever since the draft, they hardly have room to criticize.

- A Special Edition of Miz-TV, a "Dolphumentary" on the career of Mr. Dolph Ziggler. We waste no time, bringing Dolph Ziggler to the ring for what might be the last time on WWE television. Why in his right mind would Ziggler come out for such a segment with the man he faces in a career-threatening match later in the week? The video "tribute" is unflattering, including his time as Kerwin White’s caddy, a member of the Spirit Squad, his various short-comings as Dolph Ziggler, and post-production manipulation for Superstar interviews. Ziggler cuts off Miz’s gloating and calls him a "ass-face." For all his embarrassing moments and failures, he does it for the fans who high-five him, for the Make-a-Wish Kids, and for moments like "the night after WrestleMania a few years ago." Miz has something to "raise his spirits", and it’s a cameo appearance of former stable-buddies Kenny Dykstra and Mikey. How the hell did they get Kenny to make an appearance? The others got lost-in-transit on the way back to OVW. Kenny and Mikey attack, planting Dolph with a parachute drop. Ziggler lays both out with Super-Kicks. Miz goes for the Skull Crushing Finale, but Dolph escapes and sends him running. I didn’t think they’d get me interested in their program, but another segment to promote what might be the end of Dolph’s run in WWE.

- Bray Wyatt is still trapped like a carrot.

- Just confirmed for No Mercy: Nikki Bella vs. Carmella.

Jason Jordan (w/ Chad Gable) vs. Jey Uso (w/ Jimmy Uso):

Jordan is looking for revenge on the Usos for constantly targeting Chad Gable’s knee. The Usos challenge Heath Slater and Rhyno for the Tag Titles at No Mercy. Jordan with a quick waist-lock takedown and a flurry of rights. Jey hooks Jordan from the apron and hangs him up backwards across the top rope for a two count. Jordan escapes a chin-lock and cradles Jey for the three count at 1:20. Jimmy attacks Gable at ringside to make up for the loss. Jordan confronts Jimmy, so Jey clips the knee from behind. They throw Jordan back in the ring, but Slater and Rhyno run down to make the save. Did I mention they advertised this as JIMMY Uso vs. Jason Jordan? They still can’t tell them apart. No rating, but it gives some TV time for the three top teams currently featured on the Smackdown roster.

- Bray Wyatt sings to himself and starts talking to "Abigail." We come back from commercial, and Randy Orton opens the compartment to find that Bray Wyatt is longer inside. So is "Abigail" going to become an actual character, or is Luke Harper replacing Erick Rowan?

- Curt Hawkins is standing by with more Curt Facts. His SPECIAL ANNOUNCMENT... Hawkins will be stepping in the ring at No Mercy. Nobody cares.

Jack Swagger vs. Baron Corbin:

Swagger’s 1st in-ring appearance on Smackdown since making the switch from Monday Night Raw. Lockup and neither man with the advantage. Swagger goes for the leg, but they end up in the ropes. Corbin with an elbow to escape a waist-lock, followed by a shoulder tackle. Swagger goes for the arm and hits a series of shoulder tackles of his own. Corbin uses the referee as a distraction to sucker punch Swagger and pounds away with a flurry of forearms. We return from commercial with Corbin still in control. During the break, Corbin got a near fall with the Deep-Six. Corbin with a half-nelson chin-lock, but Swagger quickly fights free. Corbin with a knee to the midsection to slow him down. Swagger ducks under a clothesline and tosses Corbin to the floor. He gets boots up in the corner and charges into the corner with clotheslines. Swagger with a Power-Slam. The Swagger-Bomb misses, but he catches the foot and applies the Patriot-Lock. Corbin tries to scurry for the rope, but the referee confuses it as a tap-out, and Swagger is awarded the victory at 4:49 (excluding a break). * That was a cheap finish, but you can’t have Swagger job his first match on his new brand. Maybe that’s a tribute for something that happened in the NFL this week.

- A.J. Styles, John Cena, and Dean Ambrose come out for a No Mercy Face-Off to close out the show this week. Styles says Smackdown is the land of opportunity, and he agrees. He had the opportunity to beat John Cena and become the Face That Runs the Place, and the opportunity to beat Dean Ambrose for the WWE World Champion. Ambrose suggests Styles can become the Clown That Runs the Town™, and a chump... just a chump, because he won the title by taking the "low road." Cena tries to get a word in, but Ambrose and Styles keep cutting him off to vent their frustrations towards him. Ambrose says he’s not going to suck his ass and will continue to be Dean Ambrose while he can play John Cena on TV. Cena with a takedown on Ambrose and plants him with the AA. Styles spears Cena and hits the Phenomenal Forearm. Ambrose gets the last shot in, laying out Styles with Dirty Deeds and posing with the belt.

Final Thoughts: Not much when it comes to the actual wrestling, with a handful of matches meant more to push storylines rather than put on a quality performance. This was all about moving forward to No Mercy, with all the key storylines represented in some form, whether it be a promo segment, a non-title match, or some combination of both. Nothing was what I would consider bad, except for the nonsense with the Hype Bros, Vaudevillains, and Ascension, and who the hell knows where they’re going with Orton and Wyatt. It’s different, I’ll give them that.

back to Current Reviews Index