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1/3 WWE Smackdown on SyFy Live Coverage: CM Punk, The Shield, Big E Langston, Fandango, The Uso's and more on the first Smackdown of the year

Posted in: WWE TV Reports, MUST-READ LISTING
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Jan 3, 2014 - 07:00 PM

By Jake Barnett

WWE Smackdown on SyFy Live Coverage
Taped 12/29 in Washington, D.C.
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[Q1] Footage aired that showed Daniel Bryan as he joined the Wyatt Family on Monday Night. In the arena, Cole hyped The Rhodes Brothers vs. Erik Rowan and Luke Harper for later. The Shield were shown making their ring entrance. Ambrose asked the crowd if they don’t know what’s going on. They’ve heard the rumblings that The Shield isn’t on the same page anymore, and that the Shield are crumbling from within. They’ve heard that the Shield’s egos are out of control, but they were all dead wrong.

Reigns grabbed the mic and said Dean was exactly right. As far as the weak link in the Shield is concerned, there is none. Rollins grabbed the mic and said the Shield would do what they do best, and that is come together as a team and dominate. They all put their fists together and said “Believe that. Believe in The Shield”. The Usos then made their ring entrance. Dean Ambrose joined on commentary.

1. Rollins and Reigns vs. The Usos: The action was back and forth early on with Jimmy Uso and Seth Rollins in the ring. Jay Uso tagged in and they battled back and forth until Jimmy hit a blind tag. He surprised Rollins with a clothesline to the outside, and then both Uso Brothers hit a superkick to Reigns, who tumbled to the outside as well…[c]

[Q2]Roman Reigns hit a nice elbow and a suplex on Jay Uso, and then tagged in Rollins. He climbed up top and hit a punch to the gut as Reigns held Jay. Jay nearly made a tag, but Rollins caught him and made a tag out to Reigns himself. Reigns continued to slow the pace with a rest hold, until Jay used some leverage and dumped him out to the apron. Jay crawled towards his corner for a tag, but both men tagged out. Jimmy hit clotheslines and back elbows on both Shield members, and a big Samoan Drop on Seth Rollins.

Rollins got out of the ring and Jimmy hit an enziguri on Reigns. They went for a double suicide drive, but Ambrose grabbed Jimmy’s leg to cause a DQ.

The Usos defeated The Shield at 10:21.

After the match, The Shield tried to beat down The Usos, but CM Punk made the save. We then got a New Year’s Resolution from The Prime Time Players. Vickie walked out onto the ramp after that video was shown…[c]

My Take: Nothing terribly interesting about that at all. We’ve seen it before, including the promo.

Vickie Guerrero made the main event of tonight’s show during the break. It will be CM Punk and The Usos vs. The Shield in a Six Man Tag Match. Fandango was already in the ring for a match, and R-Truth made his ring entrance.

2. Fandango vs. R-Truth: Fandango dominated the offense early, hitting a nice leg lariat and applying a few rest holds. A few minutes into the match, Xavier Woods got on top of the commentary table and called out the Funkadactyl’s, who distracted Fandango enough for Truth to hit his What’s Up Finisher for the win.

R-Truth defeated Fandango at 2:48.

[Q3] A Tribute for the troops video package aired. Afterwards, Cole said video would be shown of Daniel Bryan joining the Wyatt Family.

My Take: The whole Xavier Woods things is so stupid, it defies belief. They aren’t even giving the poor guy a chance.

Lillian Garcia announced that the next match would be for the Tag Team Championships. Cody Rhodes and Goldust then made their entrance…[c]

[Q4] 3. Goldust and Cody Rhodes vs. Erik Rowan and Luke Harper: Rowan and Harper dominated the early going with power offense, and isolated Goldust away from his corner. Harper hit a slap across the face of Goldust that sounded like a cane shot. Goldust hit a sunset flip power bomb that got him back in the match, and made a tag out to Cody, who hit a missile dropkick on Harper. Cody sent both Wyatt Family members out to ringside, and hit a splash on Harper.

Harper recovered quickly and sent Cody into the barricade, and then the steps. Goldust had a staredown with both Rowan and Harper on the floor…[c]

Rowan mauled Cody in the corner, and then applied a claw. He then tossed Cody out of the corner, and made a tag out to Harper. He slowed down the match with a couple of gator rolls and a chin lock. Cody showed some life and hit a kick, but Rowan tagged in and caught him before he could make a tag. Cody low bridged Rowan and sent him crashing to the outside. Cody crawled for what felt like 20 minutes before Harper was able to stop him.

[Q5] Harper ran across the ring and knocked Goldust off the apron, and then hit a sit out Powerbomb on Cody. Goldust entered to break up the pin. Cody avoided a superplex, and hit a Moonsault to knock down Harper. Rowan tagged in and prevented a tag one more time, but used an Irish Whip, which allowed Goldust to surprise him with a roll up for the win.

The Rhodes Brothers defeated Erik Rowan and Luke Harper at 12:34.

Cole and JBL plugged the main event…[c]

My Take: A fun match that didn’t overstay it’s welcome. It wasn’t a technical masterpiece by any stretch, but the Rhodes Brothers sold really well, and the Wyatt’s got a nice bump even in defeat.

Aksana was shown in the ring, and video played of their match on Monday where she pinned Nikki Bella. Nikki then made her entrance.

[Q6] 4. Nikki Bella vs. Aksana: Nikki hit a scoop slam and a suplex early on for a two count. Aksana rolled to the outside and slammed Nikki’s arm into the ring post to take control of the match. She picked up Nikki for a side slam and then crawled around her suggestively as a taunt. Aksana applied a chin lock, which Nikki escaped from and hit a drop toe hold. She then hit a bulldog for a near fall. Aksana missed a charge in the corner, and Nikki hit her with her torture rack drop for the win.

Nikki Bella defeated Aksana at 3:39.

After the match, a video package was shown that recapped Randy Orton’s career, and his many successes that led to him becoming the first WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Big E Langston was shown walking towards ringside in the back…[c]

My Take: Cool video package for Orton. The Divas match played to apathy from nearly everyone. There was a decent pop for the entrances and the finish, but you could have heard farts in the upper deck during the match.

Big E Langston was shown in the ring, having made his ring entrance. Curtis Axel then made his.

5. Curtis Axel vs. Big E Langston: Early on, Axel dove off the second rope right into a Big E shoulder tackle. Ouch. Axel got back in the match with a clothesline to the back of the head. Cole tried hard during the match to say Axel has “it”, but he didn’t even sound like he believed it. Big E used powere to get out of a chin lock, and then hit a clothesline and an overhead belly to belly. He then followed up with a Warrior Splash. Axel blocked an attempt at the Big Ending, but Big E ended up hitting it a few seconds later anyway for the win.

Big E Langston defeated Curtis Axel at 4:09.

Cole said we would get footage of Brock Lesnar’s attack from Monday after the break…[c]

My Take: Axel is about as boring as they come, but he gave Langston a pretty good match here. I still don’t understand the Big Ending. He takes like 75% of the bump himself.

[Q7] A video package was shown of Brock Lesnar’s return and destruction from Monday. An interview aired between Cole and Heyman. Heyman recapped what he said on Monday, which is that Brock is back because he wants to be the man in WWE, and now that there is one WWE Champion, he can be that guy.

Bad News Barrett was shown on his cherry picker and banged his gavel to call for order. He admonished the crowd for their New Years Resolutions to be more productive in 2014. He said none of them would be capable of sticking to their resolutions, and next year they would be just as fat, unhealthy and unproductive as they are now. CM Punk’s music then hit and he headed to the ring for the main event…[c]

My Take: So many video packages, so much wasted time. Bad News Barrett still sucks. He’d be better of with Sting’s old gimmick where he’s just in the rafters imitating a movie character or something. Maybe a Guy Fawkes mask, since he’s a Brit and all?

The Usos made their entrance, followed by The Shield.

6. CM Punk and The Usos vs. The Shield: Punk and Ambrose started but, that quickly changed to Jay Uso and Rollins. The babyfaces got the lionshare of early offense. Jay dumped Ambrose to the outside, but Reigns got in his way and prevented him from splashing him on the outside…[c]

Reigns hit a huge clothesline and tagged out to Rollins. He did a standing senton splash and covered for a two count. Ambrose tagged in and The Shield continued to isolate Jay Uso. Punk made a hot tag after Jay Uso was able to knock Roman Reigns off the turnbuckle. Punk cleaned house initially, but got crotched on the top rope when the numbers caught up to him. Rollins hit a cross body from the top, but Punk rolled through and locked on the Anaconda Vise.

Ambrose broke up the hold, and Jimmy Uso cleared him from the ring. Roman Reigns knocked him down with a Superman punch, leaving the legal men. Ambrose tagged in, and hit a butterfly suplex out of the corner for a near fall. Chaos broke out as all six members of the match ended up in the ring. The Usos cleared Rollins and Reings, and Punk hit a GTS on Ambrose for the win.

CM Punk and The Usos defeated The Shield at 13:01.

The Shield were shown bickering a bit about the conclusion, continuing the dissention that was hinted at early in the show. The Wyatt’s music hit and Bray Wyatt was shown in his rocking chair. He called the human race a bacteria that destroys. Wyatt said he needed him, and he was lost. Wyatt claimed he has a home, and your words mean nothing to him now. He only hears my truth…

My Take: A fun match that actually had less chaos than the usual six man matches. The finish furthers The Shield dissention story, and the match seemed to focus on Roman Reigns being the break out star. The Wyatt promo following the main event was good, and seemed to hint at the brainwashing we saw in their initial vignettes. We shall see if the crowds are able to rescue Daniel Bryan form his programming.

Do you have questions, comments or concerns? Contact me at barnett.jake@gmail.com or in twitter @barnettjake.

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