By Jake Barnett

WWE Smackdown on SyFy Live Coverage
Taped 1/7 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

[Q1] Bray Wyatt started the show via a video promo and asked if we had heard the good news. He needed me! The juxtaposed Daniel Bryan with Wyatt, and Bray said he has a home, and he has no use for our words now. The show cut to the arena, and The Usos made their entrance to their ring entrance. They were followed by Luke Harper and Erik Rowan. The way it was cut, they basically were transported to the ring by magic.

1. Luke Harper and Erik Rowan vs. The Usos: Back and forth action to start, with both teams trading offense and making tags. Rowan took control of the match with a pancake and isolated Jimmy Uso in his corner. Harper tagged in and continued the beating. They made quick tags in order to maintain control. Luke Harper knocked Jay off the apron and hit a big boot on Jimmy for a near fall…[c]

The Wyatt’s remained in control and worked their power offense. Rowan hit a big scoop slam and applied a chin lock to slow down the action. Jimmy broke free and hit a somersault plancha from the top rope, and made a hot tag to Jay. He and Harper both tagged in and Jay hit some quick strikes and a Samoan Drop to pump up the crowd. He then hit the Rikishi butt splash in the corner. Rowan caused a distraction that allowed Harper to hit a sit out scoop slam for a near fall.

The Usos rallied and Jay hit a splash on Harper on the outside. Chaos broke out on the outside and the match was called off. Rowan and Harper tried to bring Jay back into the ring to inflict further punishment, but Jimmy pulled him away and the Usos escaped up the ramp. Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt jumped the Usos as they got to the top of the ramp, and tossed Jimmy back into the ring. Bryan hit him with a running knee. Bray Wyatt then hit Sister Abigail and the Usos were piled up mid ring so the Wyatt’s could celebrate.

Match ended in No Contest around 9:00.

[Q2] They cut back and forth between two camera angles, and it seemed like Cole’s commentary was dubbed over, as JBL was not present. Weird stuff. Backstage, Orton approached Vickie Guerrero and demanded to see Triple H and Stephanie. Vickie said they weren’t there, and he needed to focus on his match because that was best for business. Orton said he was tire do of hearing that,and he would call them out on Monday, because it was best for Randy Orton.

My Take: The crowd didn’t react terribly loudly about that opening segment, and I’m kind of with them. The follow up to Daniel Bryan joining the Wyatt family has not been good, with a distinct lack of Bryan speaking for himself. Cole sounded completely dismayed as Bryan seemingly joined the Wyatt family in full force, but without verbally antagonizing the crowds it loses impact.

Miz opened up MizTV and welcomed everyone. He said his guest tonight was involved in one of the most must see segments on Old School Raw, and Miz played video of Lesnar and Big Show from Monday. He then welcomed Big Show, who made his entrance. Miz said Brock Lesnar broke the arm and dislocating the elbow of Mark Henry, but Show stood up to him and threw him across the ring like a rag doll. He asked Show what was on his mind.

[Q3] Show said there is only so much a man can take, and Lesnar and Heyman injuring Henry was his limit. The truth is, he doesn’t like Brock Lesnar, and he didn’t like him when he was in the company before, and was happy when he left. Show said Lesnar doesn’t seem like the baddest man in the world to him anymore, and he was challenging him to a fight. Heyman walked out onto the ramp, and introduced himself.

Heyman said you’re not looking to see me, you’re looking to fight my client Brock Lesnar. Heyman then said since Brock Lesnar is the ultimate figher in WWE, why not fight him right here and right now? Heyman introduced Lesnar, but then caught himself and said Lesnar doesn’t fight on Big Show’s terms. He then said Lesnar would fight Big Show at Royal Rumble, and if he wanted to pick a fight with Lensar before then, he would not be a hard man to find. Cole plugged Orton vs. Big E Langston for later, and the WWE Network announcement for next…[c]

My Take: I’m probably in the minority on this one, but I just don’t care to see Lesnar and Show have another match. While I think the build has been fine thus far, and I like this version of Show better than the previous ones we’ve been seeing. I’ll be pleasantly surprised if this match blows us all away, but I have to imagine it will fall short of their previous encounters.

A Batista vignette aired, and Cole reminded viewers that he will be in the Royal Rumble match. He then introduced footage of the WWE Network announcement. Rey Mysterio was shown in the ring in the arena, with Los Matadores and Sin Cara. The Real Americans and Rybaxel were in the opposite corner.

2. Rybaxel and The Real Americans vs. Sin Cara, Rey Mysterio and Los Matadores: Diego and Axel started, with Diego controlling the early offense with strikes. Fernando tagged in, and Axel immediately backed him up into the heel corner. Multiple tags were made as the teams traded offense back and forth. Ryback and Sin Cara set up Ryback for a 619, and the heels all cleared to the outside to regroup…[c]

[Q4] Cesaro hit a nice greco roman throw on Sin Cara for a near fall. Swagger tagged in and hit some strikes, and stopped Sin Cara as he attempted to reach his corner. Cesaro tagged back in and Sin Cara took him down with an acrobatic head scissors. Sin Cara made a hot tag to Mysterio, and Swagger tagged in as well. They traded offense briefly, and the match broke down as both teams entered the ring. El Torito splashed the heels on the outside.

Rey set up Swagger for the 619, but he blocked the hold and hit a suplex. Sin Cara broke up the pin attempt. Sin Cara cleared Cesaro from the ring and he tried to assist Swagger, and Rey finished him off with a 619 and a splash.

Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara, and Los Matadores defeated The Real Americans and Rybaxel at 10:23.

A video package was shown that chronicled John Cena and Randy Orton’s recent feud. After the video, Orton made his ring entrance.

My Take: I have no idea why that eight man tag happened, other than they wanted to get a bunch of tag teams on this show. It was a fine match, in terms of in ring action, but I just didn’t have any reason to care about it. Mysterio always gives crowds a feel good moment though, so at least it had that going for it.

Big E Langston made his ring entrance.

[Q5] 3. Big E Langston vs. Randy Orton: Big E backed Randy into a corner, but the ref quickly broke it up. Orton ran into a shoulder tackle, and regrouped on the outside. Both men ran the ropes and Big E hit another strong shoulder tackle, and force Orton to roll outside once again to collect himself. Orton took control with a flurry of strikes when he got back in the ring. He tried to hit the ropes again, but once again got leveled by a shoulder tackle.

Big E worked over Orton’s shoulder, and applied an arm bar to slow the pace. Orton quickly got to his feet, and Big E hit shoulder charges in the corner. Orton caught him with a knee on the last one, and Orton hit a few strikes to back him up. Big E caught Orton with a back breaker and a spear in the corner. He then went for the Big Ending, but Orton slipped out and regrouped once again on the outside. Big E taunted in the direction of the hard camera, and caught Orton as he tried to sneak up behind him. Orton retreated to the outside once again…[c]

Orton held on to a chin lock, and drove a knee to Big E’s gut when he tried to power out. He then reapplied the chin lock, and Big E slowly got to his feet. Langston hit the ropes, and Orton sent him through the second rope to the outside on the return trip. He the tossed Langston into the ring steps twice, and then back into the ring. Orton covered for a near fall. There was some back and forth offense, and then Big E hit a clothesline and got fired up.

Big E then hit a series of clotheslines and a Belly to Belly Suplex. He followed up with a big splash for a near fall. Orton quickly recovered and hit an inverted back breaker, followed by a rope DDT. Orton played to the crowd for some boos, and then signaled for the RKO. Langston pushed him off and hit a splash in the corner. He went to follow up, but Orton hit a thumb to the eyes and an RKO for the win. The ref was out of place to see the thumb to the eye.

Randy Orton defeated Big E Langston at 14:29.

[Q6] Cole and JBL plugged CM Punk and the New Age Outlaws vs. The Shield for the Main Event. The Wyatt’s interlude interrupted. Bray said fate is a strange beast. She warms your heart with her eyes, before tearing you apart with her teeth. He asked The Usos if he broke one of their bones, would they other one feel it? He asked the Usos if they ever get tired of living this lie? Bryan screamed LIE as loud as he could and then said that everything we’ve ever been told is a lie, and it makes you want to ram your head into a wall just so you can destroy something…or someone. Bray Wyatt then popped in from the side of the screen and said “right”…[c]

My Take: A nice pre-tape for the Wyatt’s, that at least seemed to tease something new from Bryan from Monday. The match between Orton and Langston was better than I expected, and I think it’s worth watching if you didn’t catch the show and are just reading this report. The cheap finish was a repeat from just recently, so that was a letdown, but otherwise this was a fun match.

Xavier Woods made his entrance to Brodus Clay’s old music with the Funkadactyl’s. Fandango was already in the ring.

4. Xavier Woods vs. Fandango: Woods hit a nice head scissors early in the match, but Fandango quickly got back in it and tossed Woods out to the floor. Woods surprised Fandango with a roll up through the second ropes as he got back in the ring, and got the surprise win…

Xavier Woods defeated Fandango at 1:12.

Post-match, the Funkadactyl’s tripped Summer Rae and R-Truth beat on Fandango. Backstage, The Usos were injured and were asked what went wrong earlier. He said he understands what the Wyatt’s do with their mind games and their numbers, but on Monday they were fighters and were going to bring the pain to them. He said that’s where they were at, and they walked off. Cole said the highlights of Old School Raw would be next…[c]

My Take: Jimmy Uso showed some pretty good fire in that promo. There wasn’t anything profound in there, but he didn’t come off as uncomfortable behind the mic at all. With a little more coaching and opportunity he could be pretty good. Woods vs. Fandango was a total waste of time.

[Q7] Old School Raw highlights were shown during the Raw Rebound, followed by The Shield making their ring entrance. A clip was shown during their entrance of Roman Reigns win from Monday. Reigns grabbed the mic and said Monday was Old School Raw. He said it was a tribute to the business and it’s legends, but only one thing mattered, and that was him becoming the new Best in the World. Ambrose grabbed the mic and said that hates snakes, and got unhinged talking about how he would rip it apart if it was in the ring.

Rollins grabbed the mic and said tonight as about the future of the WWE. He said he’s not Nostradamus, but what he does know if that the future doesn’t involve the New Age Outlaws. Rollins said they stuck their noses in Shield business on Monday, so it would be their pleasure to put them out of their misery. And as for CM Punk, they will break him. The Shield will prove they are the future of the company, and no one can stop them. The New Age Outlaws then made their ring entrances…[c]

My Take: A good promo from The Shield, but not great. I like that they were given an opportunity, though, and they showed that they have some confidence. WWE just needs better writers, period.

CM Punk made his ring entrance for the main event.

[Q8] 5. CM Punk and The New Age Outlaws vs. The Shield: Punk and Ambrose started the match. Punk applied a few headlocks and tagged out to Billy Gunn. Ambrose tagged out to Rollins, who got caught in an arm twist by Billy Gunn. Road Dogg tagged in briefly to hold the same arm twist for a few seconds. Punk tagged in and dropped an elbow on Rollins’ arm. Ambrose tagged back in and Punk dumped him to the outside. Rollins jumped in and Punk nearly hit him with a GTS, but Reings stopped it. The Outlaws sent Rollins and Reigns to the outside, and The Shield regrouped out there…[c]

Road Dogg did his dancing punches and dropped a shake rattle and roll knee on Ambrose for a near fall. Rollins tagged in and hit a flying knee that Road Dogg didn’t see coming due to a distraction from Ambrose. Reigns tagged in and stomped on Road Dogg in the heel corner. Ambrose tagged in and measured some punches of his own. Road Dogg tried to get back in the match, but ate dropkicks form both Rollins and Ambrose. Rollins hit some strikes and dropped Road Dogg onto the second turnbuckle.

More quick tags from the Shield, with Ambrose and Reigns took shots at Road Dogg. Punk tagged in after a back body drop to Ambrose, and cleared house on The Shield. He hit a swinging neck breaker and a running knee on Ambrose. Punk followed up with a cross body for a near fall. They both attempted a near fall a moment later and collided. Billy Gunn and Reigns tagged in. Gunn hit a big boot on Reigns and a big power slam on Rollins. He hit a vertical suplex on Reings and covered, but Ambrose broke it up.

Punk dove at Rollins on the outside. Gunn went for a Fameasser on Ambrose, but Reigns hit him with a spear before he hit it to get the victory.

The Shield defeated CM Punk and The New Age Outlaws at 13:56.

The Shield celebrated in the crowd to close the show.

My Take: Very fun close to the show. The Outlaws looked good and everybody made The Shield look like a million bucks in that match. Reigns continues to look like a powerhouse and get big victories. He has a ways to go on the microphone, and Monday showed some cracks in his endurance in the ring, but WWE has to be happy with what he is doing at this point. I think with a little more seasoning he will be a major star. Overall, this was an average show that didn’t really push a lot of stories forwards. The Wyatt’s and The Usos got a bit of build for Monday, but everything else was moved forward in video packages.

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

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