Matt Smackdown’s Recap 9/12/14

WWE: Smackdown
September 12, 2014
Wilkes-Barre, PA
Mohegan Sun Arena



The current WWE champs are as follows:
WWE World Heavyweight Champion: Brock Lesnar (8/17/2014)
WWE Intercontinental Champion: Dolph Ziggler (8/17/2014)
WWE U.S. Champion: Sheamus (5/5/2014)
WWE Divas Champion: Paige (8/17/2014)
WWE Tag Team Champions: The Usos (3/3/2014)

Your hosts are Tom Phillips, Michael Cole, and JBL.

• The Usos, Big Show, and Mark Henry vs. The Dust Brothers, Luke Harper & Erick Rowan (w/Bray Wyatt)

This is billed as Jey Uso’s first match back since his knee was injured. What might have made this match more interesting though is after Jimmy Uso tweaks *his* knee when he takes a bump off the apron to the floor, nobody really bothers to capitalize on the situation. Now mind you, Harper and Rowan aren’t exactly technical wizards, but even the Dust brothers aren’t even bothering. To come back, Jimmy is dishing out Samoan Drops and superkicks like nothing ever happened. Hot tag to Show, but the Dust brothers cut off the double Chokeslam and give him a suplex instead. That results in a big schmoz on the floor as Jimmy blasts them all away with a plancha. Meanwhile, Stardust lands a Disaster Kick on Show, but then gets drilled with the Knockout Punch, allowing Jey to score with the Samoan Splash for the win. (7:30 shown) Odd and almost non-existent psychology, but I like it sometimes when they mesh two feuds together for a big match. **¼

Let Us Take You Back to This Past Week on Raw: We see bits and pieces of the epic exchange between John Cena and Paul Heyman. Basically, Cena was playing Jesus in the wilderness and Paul Heyman was Satan tempting him to embrace the dark side. For all the details and much more, check out McGinn’s Raw Recap!

In the back, DOO Kane, Seth Rollins, and Randy Orton bask in the glory of the statement they made at the end of Raw last week. They hype what they are going to do in tonight’s main event.

• Bo Dallas vs. Justin Gabriel

Justin Gabriel is the Yoshi Tatsu of 2014. I had no idea he still worked here. Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter are standing at the commentary table. Despite the match having started, Bo Dallas talks to us on the mic to piss off Swagger and Colter. They end up interrupting him and dropping pop culture references I don’t even understand. Michael Cole makes a reference of his own and gets it wrong according to Tom Phillips. Gabriel puts up a fight and gets a nearfall off a springboard crossbody block. He misses a springboard moonsault though and Dallas gives him the Bo Dog for the three-count. (4:15) Afterwards, Jack Swagger scares Bo Dallas out of the ring. *½

• Non-title match: WWE Divas Champion Paige vs. Summer Rae (w/Layla)

AJ Lee joins us for commentary. Summer Rae does that full nelson hold with her legs on Paige for a bit. Paige fights back, applies the Black Widow, and looks at AJ while she does it for the tapout. (1:45) When Layla comes in to confront Paige, AJ sneaks up behind her and gives Layla the Paige Turner. Snap! ½*

Time for the International Arm Wrestling Contest! This can’t possibly end in a fight, right? “Mr. USA” Mark Henry meets Rusev CRUSH. Lana is very surprised Henry showed up, and thinks Henry should just embrace the American way and forfeit at Night of Champions, just like when he failed in the Olympics. Henry shouts back some American sentiment and promises to lay down 400 pounds of fury on Rusev at Night of Champions. Now let’s get it on. Before we do, Lana dedicates this contest to Vladimir Putin. Rusev’s hand slips in the beginning, but then they lock up again and Henry winds up winning. Now they want a rematch, which Henry obliges. Oh, but just as Henry nearly wins a second time, Lana throws the chalk in his eyes. With Henry blinded, Rusev kicks him in the gut and claims victory over Henry. As the crowd chants USA louder and louder, Rusev kicks Henry down again. Now that’s old school. Put these two in a boot camp match in MSG, STAT!

In the back, Renee Young interviews Chris Jericho. He reflects back on the cage match he had with Bray Wyatt this past week on Raw. He can accept the loss he suffered because it was on his own terms. What he can’t accept is Randy Orton attacking him from behind. Orton didn’t get the job done though because he’s still standing. Jericho says he is the viper vanquisher, the cobra crusher, the snake shredder, the adder madhatter, the ophidian obsidian, and the copperheader shredder. As of tonight and at Night of Champions, Randy Orton will never ever be the same agayne. SSSSSSSS!

• Dolph Ziggler & R-Ziggler vs. The Miz & Damien Mizdow

Funny how Miz’s stunt double has a beard, right? What’s even more hilarious is Dolph Ziggler introduces his own stunt double for one night only: R-TRUTH. Michael Cole mentions Lee Majors in “The Fall Guy” for all the kids out there. The Zigglers isolate Mizdow to start doing only Ziggler moves. When Miz sticks his head in through the ropes, the Zigglers do an illegal switch on the ref for giggles. The Zigglers then clean house and take us into commercial. When we come back, R-Ziggler gets the ring cut in half on him. Typical things happen. You don’t need PBP on this. However, R-Ziggler does hit a nice Ziggler-style jumping DDT on Miz. Hot tag to Dolph, he hits Mizdow with the Famouser, but only gets two when Miz saves the day. While the ref is busy with Miz, Ziggler slaps Mizdow back into a Zig Zag from R-Ziggler for the win. (7:30 shown) Did you get all that? This was actually pretty creative and quite funny to see. **½

More highlights from Raw as now we get to see the Bellas with Jerry Springer.

Now back to the show, Byron Saxton is backstage with Nikki Bella. So for men, it’s a goatee that makes them look like a heel. For women, it’s scrunched hair that makes them look like a slutty heel? She says winning the WWE Divas title will help her forget that she ever had a sister. Oh hey, it’s AJ Lee. She feels Nikki is Stephanie McMahon’s lap dog who gets whatever she wants. Oh look, Paige shows up, too. She is SUPER passive aggressive to everyone. Even to Byron, who she doesn’t even acknowledge is there. As AJ and Paige leave, Nikki thinks the Divas title could actually be quite easy for her to acquire.

• Roman Reigns & Chris Jericho vs. Seth Rollins & Randy Orton

Reigns and Orton start us off. Reigns explodes on Orton and clotheslines him to the floor. Reigns has to fight off both Orton and Rollins and does a fine job doing that until he’s distracted by Rollins and shoved off the apron onto the announce table by Orton. Commercials! When we return, Reigns is being cornered by Orton and Rollins. He escapes a chinlock with a back suplex and hot tags Jericho. Rollins gets stuck in the Walls of Jericho, but Jericho has to release the hold once Orton tries to nail him. Jericho hits the face slam and goes for the Lionsault, but Orton pops him in the face from the floor to turn the tide. Rollins delivers the Three Amigos and then goes over to taunt Reigns. When he charges Jericho, he’s flipped out to the floor. Rollins still manages to cut off the tag to Reigns and tags in Orton. Jericho fires back with a missile dropkick and crawls to Reigns for the tag. He does his vintage comeback on Orton and Rollins. So he can beat up Rollins on the floor and through the crowd, he tags in Jericho again. Orton hits his modified backbreaker and looks for the draping DDT, but Jericho escapes and rolls up Orton for the three-count. (8:45 shown) I like this version of Jericho who is now in a period of his career where he fights from underneath and doesn’t own people like a dominant veteran. Good stuff. **½

Until next week, so long for now.