July 22, 2020 / By mobanmarket
– Air Date: October 29, 2015 (Oct 28 in Canada)
– Location: Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, AZ
The Big News:
Cesaro got pinned again as the Wyatts defeated him, Dean Ambrose and Ryback in the main event. Also, Natalya returned unceremoniously, and the U.S. Title might have a new name.
Show Recap:
“Halloween Smackdown” means pumpkins on the stage and orange graphics and lighting instead of blue.
The show started with a ridiculous recap of the Wyatts taking out Undertaker and Kane. Rich Brennan did the voiceover, claiming that the Wyatts escaped with the souls of Taker and Kane. I know it’s Halloween, but this is still a real storyline that will continue beyond October 31st.
Bray Wyatt did a promo backstage, claiming to own the souls of Taker and Kane. He had what looked like Taker’s hat. Bray challenged any three brave souls to go against his three monsters. Rowan said he couldn’t dress up for Halloween as a kid because he was told it was too sinful. Ok. Harper said they weren’t costumes, evil is very real. Bray gave his condolences to whoever takes the challenge, and pulled out Kane’s mask. Strowman told them to run.
Roman Reigns came out and they recapped his win over Bray at Hell in a Cell, as well as the fourway win on Raw. Reigns said he’s had one goal since day one, to win the WWE Title. He’s been knocked down along the way but he’s back in the fight and now he’s the number one contender. He said Rollins is the only man in his way, and there’s no one who wants him to fail more.
That brought out Kevin Owens. (There was a sloppy edit here. Owens’ music hit and the crowd reacted audibly as they usually do for him, but the camera was still on Reigns who didn’t react and the crowd didn’t budge. Most likely, they cut out some of Reigns’ promo and just didn’t put this together properly.)
Owens said Reigns stole one from him on Raw and sarcastically encouraged the fans to cheer for him. Owens said Reigns didn’t overcome any odds, it was a fluke, because Owens was a split second away from hitting a pop-up powerbomb and winning the match, “and you can believe that.”
Reigns, who just talked about getting screwed earlier this year by Rollins and Bray, said Owens was just making excuses. He said his win on Raw was all skill and challenged “Talk Owens Talk” to a fight. Owens got in the ring and went face-to-face with Reigns. He hesitated but accepted the match.
Non-Title: Roman Reigns beat IC Champion Kevin Owens via countout
There were dueling chants of “Let’s Go Roman” and “Fight Owens Fight.” After a break, Owens gained control after hit a fallaway slam into the barricade. Damn. Reigns came back with clotheslines in the corner and a big boot. Lawler pointed out that the boot was something new from Reigns. Owens hit a back drop and superkick for a two count, but Reigns popped back with a leaping clothesline.
Owens bailed so Reigns went after him and tossed him back in the ring. Owens was able to hit a German for a two. Reigns then knocked Owens to the outside of the ring with a superman punch. Owens was able to get up well ahead of the 10 count, but grabbed his title and walked out through the crowd for the countout. The match was fine but the walkout finish was telegraphed from the beginning. The crowd was into Reigns.
Backstage, Renee Young, dressed as Tinker Bell I think, got ready to interview Dean Ambrose. Ambrose introduced himself as “ruggedly handsome Dean Ambrose” before Renee could say anything. Renee froze, so Ambrose asked himself a question, “Are you going to accept Bray Wyatt’s challenge?” Ambrose answered yes. He said he exorcises demons and smashes zombies, and was going to take down the Wyatt family.
Bo Dallas, dressed as a ghost, tried to scare Renee Young but it didn’t work. He said someone would be scared by the end of the night. He said “boo-lieve” instead of “bo-lieve.” Because it’s Halloween.
Fatal Four Way Tag-Team Match: Lucha Dragons beat Ascension, Dudley Boyz and Sheamus & King Barrett via pinfall
Big E and Kofi Kingston came out before the match wearing unicorn horns on their foreheads and shamed the competitors in the ring because they weren’t wearing costumes and don’t believe in magic. They joined commentary and Kingston told Booker he could be old school Kofi Kingston. Booker did a bad Jamaican accent, so Kingston told him to go back to being Booker T.
The faces sent the heels to the outside and, in his generic play-by-play voice, Big E said, “The good guys are rallying!” After a break, New Day begged Brennan to take off his headset, and he did. Sin Cara came in on a hot tag and made a nice comeback but Barrett and Sheamus broke up a pin attempt. Bubba and D-Von held down the heels for the “whassup” headbutt spot, with the Lucha Dragons hitting the diving headbutts.
The Dudleys then launched the Lucha Dragons over the top onto the Ascension. Sheamus and Barrett ran away, so the Dudleys dumbly ran after them, allowing the Kalisto to get the pin on [Ascension member] for the win. It wasn’t a number one contender’s match, but they made it seem like the Lucha Dragons would be next in line. New Day danced to the Lucha Dragons’ theme.
Backstage, Dean Ambrose ran into somebody who was off-camera. He asked if they were dressed as Lex Luthor, the Transporter or James Bond. It was Cesaro, who said that’s just how he dresses. He compared Ambrose to Mad Max and Ambrose responded “This is a nice jacket, alright?” Ambrose wanted him to swing the Wyatts, unless he’s afraid. Cesaro said he’ll be the scariest guy out there. They made some Halloween movie references before Ambrose left. Bo Dallas tried to scare Cesaro, but Cesaro put on his shades and walked away.
Trick Or Treat Street Fight: Dolph Ziggler beat The Miz via pinfall
Jack-o’-lanterns surrounded the ring apron and they had some other decorations around the ring. Miz grabbed a toy lightsaber so Ziggler grabbed a kendo stick and got in a couple of shots. Ziggler also made Miz bob for apples and put a pumpkin over his head. Ziggler then superkicked the pumpkin which shattered.
After all the comedy, we had to get serious for a minute, because Miz pushed Ziggler into the steel steps and used the kendo stick and a chair on his leg. Miz tried a figure four but Ziggler countered into a small package for the win. Nothing match. (Ok, Ziggler superkicking the pumpkin off Miz’s head was funny.)
As Ziggler sold his leg, Tyler Breeze came out with Summer Rae. Ziggler attacked him, but Breeze used the kendo stick and stomped away until referees broke it up. Breeze broke through and attacked him again until the refs broke it up one more time. No heat for this.
Paige beat Natalya via pinfall
Uh, so I guess Natalya’s fine. She did an inset promo saying she doesn’t know who attacked her, but Paige can’t treat people the way she has and Natalya would make her pay. The bell rang and Paige immediately hit a superkick. Natalya came back with a clothesline and German, sending Paige to the outside.
Team B.A.D. came out to Sasha Banks’ music. Banks did all the talking, mocking Nattie for getting attacked and said she has their attention. The distraction allowed Paige to hit RamPaige for the win. Team B.A.D. attacked Natalya after the match, concluding with a Bank Statement. Natalya tapped. Booker T, who has two working legs, said someone should go in there and do something about this.
Backstage, Ryback told Ambrose he’d join their team.
Non-Title: U.S. Champion Alberto Del Rio (w/Zeb Colter) beat R-Truth via pinfall
Before the match, Alberto Del Rio and Zeb Colter basically said the U.S. Title is now the MexAmerica Title. Colter called it official. This didn’t get much of a reaction. Del Rio won quickly with a double foot stomp off the top. Meh.
Backstage, Bo Dallas (still in ghost costume) hid in a box. Mark Henry walked by and Bo popped out of the box to scare him. It worked, so Henry knocked him out. The box closed on Bo, who is presumably (hopefully) dead. Henry picked up his phone and walked away. This was amusing.
The Wyatt Family (w/Bray Wyatt) beat Dean Ambrose, Cesaro & Ryback via pinfall
Ryback ripped Luke Harper’s shirt, which seemed to annoy Harper, so he tagged in Strowman. Ryback attacked him but Strowman managed to hit a vertical suplex. After a break, Wyatts had the heat on Ryback. Ryback hit a spinebuster and made the hot tag to Ambrose. Ambrose went wild, sending both Harper and Rowan to the outside, followed by a top rope elbow drop.
Rowan cut off Ambrose with a spinning kick, but he made the hot tag to Cesaro who hit uppercuts and a dropkick to Harper. Cesaro then did uppercuts outside the ring to Rowan and Harper as the crowd cheered. Cesaro applied a crossface on Harper, but Strowman pulled him out of the ring. Ambrose caught Strowman with a suicide dive but he remained on his feet. Ryback then flew in and took Strowman out over the announce table.
Ambrose hit Rowan with a rebound clothesline and Harper took out Ambrose with a superkick. Cesaro nailed a spinning springboard uppercut on Harper and went for the swing, but Strowan rose from the dead and tossed the table on its side. This distracted the referee, so Bray punched Cesaro and Harper finished him off with a discus clothesline for the win.
Final Thoughts:
A pretty normal Smackdown show that also had pumpkins.
The main event was good but they should probably find something more productive for Dean Ambrose.
Categories: News