Smackdown ***SPOILERS*** 3rd May 2013

Loughc

WWE Smackdown TV taping report
April 30, 2013
Detroit, Mich.
Report by Ron Roberts, PWTorch reader
Smackdown SPOILERS 5/3

Ryback came out to a decent pop and cut a promo about John Cena being hurt. He said the Law of Nature dictates that only the strong survive, and the crowd answered with an annoying "What?" chant.

(1) Ryback beat WWE tag champion Daniel Bryan with Shell Shock. Ryback looked quite awkward in the ring with someone at Bryan's skill level.

(2) Fandango beat Zack Ryder. Huge pop for Fandango's entrance, and jobber entrance for Ryder. Zero heat during the match.

A video aired of Kaitlyn receiving another gift from her secret admirer. She saw Natalya and Great Khali, who gave her love advice. Quite funny.

(3) Alberto Del Rio & Ricardo Rodriguez beat World Hvt. champion Dolph Ziggler & Big E. Langston and Jack Swagger & Zeb Colter in a triple-threat tag match. Not sure how this will look on TV, but it started out as Ricardo vs. Colter, then Swagger interfered, so Teddy Long ordered a tag match. Del Rio was then about to pin Swagger when Big E. interfered from commentary. So, Long ordered a triple threat tag match, which ended with Del Rio submitting Ziggler with the cross arm-breaker.

The Shield cut a promo backstage revealing an attack on Daniel Bryan.

(4) Randy Orton beat Damien Sandow with the RKO. Orton easily had the biggest pop of the evening.

Big Show then came out and called out Orton, saying his ego prevents him from being a team-player. Show said that at Extreme Rules, there will be nothing funny about what he does to him, suggesting a singles match.
Mark Henry beat Sheamus in an Arm Wrestling Challenge. Sheamus asked for another chance, so they locked up and Sheamus punched Henry, then hit the Brogue Kick. So, who is the heel in this feud?

(5) Dean Ambrose beat WWE tag champion Kane clean in the main event. Very physical match.

TV then ended with Shield holding the Tag Titles over a prone Kane.
After Smackdown ended, they went to a bonus dark match.

Dark Match: Sheamus & Randy Orton beat Marl Henry & Big Show. Henry took the Brogue Kick and RKO for the loss.

[Credit: PWTorch]

Loving the fact Ambrose got a clean victory over Kane, looks like the Shield will take the Tag Team Titles at ER.

I have 0 interest in Big Show/Orton at ER. Liking the Sheamus/Henry Feud but why do they always make him seem like a bully even tho he's the face, remember his feud with Del Rio?

A Primal Nut

Teddy Long is some man for the tag team matches. Has to be some kind of inside joke among the writers at this stage.

Wow, big win for Dean Ambrose.

People complain Sheamus is too much of a good guy, then he starts acting a bit more like a badass and we read this comment by the person who wrote the spoilers: "So, who is the heel in this feud?"

I seriously despair of wrestling fans sometimes.

Lord TSC

I can kind of see the point though; there's a line between "Badass" and "Sore loser" and Sheamus is closer to the latter. That's twice Henry has legit been beating him, and Sheamus just clobbers him. That's typically how they book heels (as in, the face is beating the heel clean so the heel cheats and blindsides the face).

It works if the bad guy is doing something bad, for example cheating at the events. Then the good guy attacks to even the odds and teach the bad guy a lesson for cheating. That's bad ass in a "You won't screw me" type of way. That's what, for instance, Austin used to do with Vince; Vince tried screwing him, but Austin always was one step ahead.

Sheamus on the other hand is just accepting challenges, losing them and then attacking. If he was starting to gain the upper hand on Sheamus, Henry cheated to win and THEN Sheamus hit him, that would be booking them in the right face/heel roles. It would give people a proper reason to cheer Sheamus.

Angron

As much as I don't like Kane losing clean, it does make sense. They can't have Bryan lose every time, and they need to keep the Shield strong.

rovert

Teamshadowclan wrote: »

I can kind of see the point though; there's a line between "Badass" and "Sore loser" and Sheamus is closer to the latter. That's twice Henry has legit been beating him, and Sheamus just clobbers him. That's typically how they book heels (as in, the face is beating the heel clean so the heel cheats and blindsides the face).

It works if the bad guy is doing something bad, for example cheating at the events. Then the good guy attacks to even the odds and teach the bad guy a lesson for cheating. That's bad ass in a "You won't screw me" type of way. That's what, for instance, Austin used to do with Vince; Vince tried screwing him, but Austin always was one step ahead.

Sheamus on the other hand is just accepting challenges, losing them and then attacking. If he was starting to gain the upper hand on Sheamus, Henry cheated to win and THEN Sheamus hit him, that would be booking them in the right face/heel roles. It would give people a proper reason to cheer Sheamus.

He was booked as a dickhead for ages last year so it is something they are going back to.

Loughc

rovert wrote: »

He was booked as a dickhead for ages last year so it is something they are going back to.

Correct point and case his feud against Del Rio last year.

DM_7

Sheamus is being a 'dick' to a guy that attacked him a few weeks ago without provocation, I don't see a problem.

SlickRic

DM-ICE wrote: »

Sheamus is being a 'dick' to a guy that attacked him a few weeks ago without provocation, I don't see a problem.

if he just attacked him, then that'd be fine.

but he's taking sneaky cheap shots, which isn't particularly face-ish.

DM_7

Stone Cold was always sharing beers with people then stunning them. Crowds have shown they get a kick out of a Heel getting pulled in by a face and then getting their arses kicked

Thats the important thing, the crowd seem to enjoy those moments.

Lord TSC

I feel that Austin is the exception to the rule, and a huge part of that was the fact he was always up against the loathsome Vince & Friends who fans were always itching to see get beaten down.

But I've always hated when other faces are booked like that. I hated, for instance, when HHH would pedigree other faces for the lulz (Kendrick & London being a notable example I can remember vividly). Some faces can get away with it against the right opponents, but I don't think Sheamus and Henry fall into those categories. As I said, it's only a slight tweak needed to reaffirm the roles they obviously want to push; if Henry had even slightly cheated, then the kick is justified and gives us a reason to cheer. Otherwise, it's just a guy being an ass and we're being told we should like him because we're told to...

SlickRic

there is no reason to pull for Sheamus, bar the fact he smiles.

JP Liz V1

The Shield must be getting the tag titles at Extreme Rules

starviewadams

Hopefully,then Bryan can go back to singles,been at this tag team schtick way too long.

orestes

I like smart-arse Sheamus, it's like taking the p1ss out of a bully and people like seeing the big, bad tough guy getting dropped on his arse, and with Sheamus it just seems so cheekily Irish.

CastorTroy

Had to laugh at Teddy coming out making a tag match, then coming out a few mins later to make a triple threat tag match. Think after the first time he came out, Ziggler actually made a comment like "Oh wow, Teddy comes out and makes a tag match. Big surprise!"

rovert

Probably the best overall Smackdown this year.

Daniel Bryan did an excellent carry job of Ryback which harkened back to when Benoit would have a good match with everyone (except Kane!) whether they wanted to or not.

DM_7

Nice run of matches on WWE this week, Ryback v Bryan was very good thanks of course to Bryan. The ending was a bit like a scene from the avengers though

Hulk Battering Loki