Smackdown – December 3, 2015: Back To The Minor League
Smackdown
Date: December 3, 2015
Location: Giant Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Booker T., Jerry Lawler, Rich Brennan
Things started to pick up a bit on Monday as we saw the formation of a new team in the League of Nations. This gives Reigns some more odds to overcome (again) as he gets ready for his second shot at Sheamus in a week and a half at TLC. The only match tonight is Bray Wyatt vs. Bubba Ray Dudley. Let’s get to it.
We open with a long recap of the Sheamus vs. Reigns issues from Raw, including the formation of the League of Nations.
Reigns, the Usos and Ambrose are in the ring to start with Roman talking about being in the ring with his family. All three of these men are like brothers to him and he hugs Dean, who he’s known for five years but there have been enough memories for thirty. Reigns wants to get his hands on Sheamus and the League of Nations tonight so here are Sheamus and company. The fans chant USA but Sheamus says the four of them all have Green Cards. Well Rusev doesn’t but he’s working on it.
Sheamus brings up Reigns’ five minute title reign but it’s worth it because now there’s the cool Sheamus 5:15 shirt. There has been an eight man tag made for tonight and Sheamus lists off all eight men in the match to fill in even more time. This brings out New Day for some reason with Woods asking why Reigns is so serious. Big E. renames Roman the Ruiner and Kofi has a new match to announce for later tonight: New Day vs. Usos/Ambrose and if the Usos and Ambrose can’t win, Reigns is going to fight the League of Nations on his own tonight.
I’m liking the League of Nations idea and it’s a lot more interesting that having Reigns out there to talk about his match with Sheamus on his own. That’s not Reigns’ strength as he’s much better with someone to bounce off of. The League offers several options for Reigns to feud with as well as making Sheamus feel like a much bigger deal instead of just that guy who won the title because of a briefcase.
Tyler Breeze vs. Neville
Dolph Ziggler is on commentary. Neville flips over Breeze for a rollup out of the corner to start and we hit an armbar. Dolph recap his history of trading wins with Breeze as Neville sends him to the floor and we take a break. Back with Neville throwing Breeze off a front facelock and clotheslining him out to the floor for a big flip dive.
A standing shooting star press gets two for Neville back inside as the fans are trying to get into this but can’t keep cheering for very long. The Supermodel kick gets two for Breeze, only to have Neville come back with one of his own. Summer offers a distraction though and the Unprettier puts Neville away at 7:56.
Rating: C. Breeze is another example of a guy who could do something if they would stop having him lose so many matches. He surprised people when he was down in NXT and could do the same thing here with pure hard work and it’s something that is always going to work in WWE, assuming you don’t job him out every week. Unfortunately the same could be said about Neville.
We take a quick look at Charlotte beating Becky Lynch with a handful of trunks.
Becky says she understands why Charlotte did what she did and they’re still best friends. Brie Bella and Alicia Fox come in and to call her naïve until Charlotte comes in to say this is a new generation. Becky and Charlotte are still a bit tense but it seems to be ok.
Brie Bella vs. Becky Lynch
Alicia and Charlotte are here as seconds as Booker says he doesn’t like the factions idea. Becky armdrags her to start and Brie fakes an ankle injury to mock Charlotte, earning her a dropkick to the face. Brie starts in with the YES Kicks as we cut to the back where Tamina is holding a pinata while Naomi swings a stick.
The BRIE MODE knee gets two and we hit a seated abdominal stretch. Becky quickly gets up and makes her comeback with a dropkick and t-bone suplex for two. The threat of the Disarm-Her sends Becky running to the ropes and into Charlotte. Now the Disarm-Her goes on but Charlotte comes in to go after Brie for the DQ at 2:54. Lawler defends Charlotte but that’s totally on her. How dare she make us listen to BRRRRRRRRIIIIIIEEEEE MODE all over again.
Becky is ticked post match.
Neville is in the back when Miz stops him to make fun of his ears. Social media doesn’t like Neville’s lack of personality so Miz offers to mentor him. Neville reminds him of Daniel Bryan and look what Miz did for him. Neville takes his card and a copy of Santa’s Little Helper on DVD.
Rusev and Lana (in a dress and with her hair in a braided ponytail) call Ryback a barbarian (not the Barbarian of course). Lana’s accent slipped a lot during this.
New Day vs. Dean Ambrose/Usos
If the New Day wins, Reigns is in a 4-1 handicap match tonight. Jey chops Woods down to start and it’s already time for the imitation Unicorn Stampede for Xavier. Jimmy gets dragged into the corner for some New Day stomping (showing them how it’s done) and Big E.’s elbow to the jaw for two. Woods’ chinlock doesn’t go very far as Jimmy fights up and makes a quick tag off to Dean.
Everything breaks down for a bit with Ambrose clotheslining Big E. on the floor but getting crotched on the top back inside. Woods asks what happened to Dean as we take a break. Back with the real Unicorn Stampede keeping Ambrose in trouble, meaning it’s time for some tromboning and dancing. A big kick gets two for Kofi and Big E. gets the same off a belly to belly. Dean finally gets smart and low bridges Big E. to the floor but has to roll through Kofi’s cross body instead of tagging.
The rebound lariat allows the tag to Jey a few seconds later and it’s time for some serious house cleaning. Woods takes the pop up Samoan drop for two but Big E. catches a diving Ambrose. Big E. is nice enough to hold him there for a suicide dive from Jey in a really staged looking spot. Jimmy dives at Kofi but tweaks the knee from Raw, which gets tied in the ropes to make it even worse. Woods adds a Shining Wizard to pin Jimmy at 14:00.
Rating: C+. New Day reminds me more and more of Edge and Christian every time I watch them. They can nail the comedy but just as importantly they can have a good match when they need to. This sets up the main event and gave us a good stretch of wrestling in the process. That’s exactly what they needed it to be and everything worked well here.
The Wyatts tell the Dudleys they’re here.
D-Von Dudley vs. Bray Wyatt
Again, can’t they keep a match that they set up the day before this was taped? It doesn’t really matter which Dudley it is but since that’s the case, why bother switching it? Dreamer is here with the Dudleys. The Wyatts’ entrance starts and……R-Truth is on the stage in Wyatt gear. After a wave, here are the real Wyatts with Truth gone. I can get behind this gag.
An early Rowan distraction doesn’t work and D-Von takes over with a Thesz press. Bray quickly snapmares him down and puts on a chinlock though, allowing Bubba to play cheerleader. You can say a lot of things about Bubba, but he is never one to sit around and do nothing during a match. Back up and Sister Abigail puts D-Von away at 1:55. That was quick.
Post match the Wyatts load up a table and Strowman chokes Bubba out. Dreamer takes the table bump and Harper welcomes him home. The ECW guys are all stacked up and Bray poses over them.
Roman Reigns vs. League of Nations
4-1 handicap. Still no Lana or Colter out with the League. Before the match, Reigns says the important thing is Jimmy’s being ok. Renee Young comes up to say Reigns has to go out there on his own but he’s ready to bring the pain. Del Rio starts for his team and gets punched into his corner. Booker: “Roman Reigns is a man alone on an island right now. Like Gilligan.” Thankfully Lawler is there to correct him as Sheamus comes in and goes right after Reigns, dragging him into the wrong corner.
Reigns fights back until Barrett trips him from the floor……which is good for an elimination. Lawler calls him Wade (probably earning himself a fine) and the League is rightfully ticked off as we go to a break. Back with Del Rio punching in the corner and Rusev getting two off a belly to back suplex. Rusev throws him to the floor for a beating from the partners as the numbers are dominating.
Sheamus’ release suplex gets two and we hit the chinlock. Roman finally gets up a boot to stop a charging Rusev and scores with a Samoan drop. The fans think this is awesome. What the heck are they watching? It’s not bad but it’s certainly not awesome. Roman gets up and isolates Del Rio but Rusev comes in for a distraction. The Backstabber gets two for Del Rio but Reigns nails a quick spear for the same with Sheamus making the save. The apron boot hits Rusev and a clothesline off the steps drops Sheamus. Del Rio gets thrown over the announcers’ table and Reigns beats the count back in at 15:22.
Rating: C. That ending felt like something out of an old Smackdown game. That’s the strategy you would use if you were in a big handicap match and you knew that you weren’t going to win even in a video game because it was too ridiculous. There would have been nothing wrong with the League getting disqualified here or Reigns brawling to a double countout but there’s something wrong with Reigns winning.
Ambrose and the Usos come out for the save to end the show.
Overall Rating: C+. I’ve been enjoying this League of Nations idea, even if it’s just something short term. Sheamus vs. Reigns isn’t a feud that is going to work on its own so why not throw in most of the upper midcard and main event scene to mix it up and strengthen the story a lot? The rest of the show was a bunch of quick stuff but they’re doing the important story right and that’s what matters right now.
Results
Tyler Breeze b. Neville – Unprettier
Brie Bella b. Becky Lynch via DQ when Charlotte interfered
New Day b. Usos/Dean Ambrose – Shining Wizard to Jimmy
Bray Wyatt b. D-Von Dudley – Sister Abigail
Roman Reigns b. League of Nations via countout
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I am also enjoying this League of Nations vs Family stuff. Nice analogy of the Main Event comparing it to the first couple Smackdown Games.
Why the hell was Barrett eliminated from the match? What’s the logic behind that?
A stupid way to keep the League looking, ahem, strong.
tyler breeze is soooooooo boring
The only thing I don’t like about the League of Nations us New Days inclusion really doesn’t make sense considering how they bailed on Sheamus like an hour before he won the title. Then again New Day is the best thing about that stable so it’s easily forgivable.
Reigns is perfect? His performances say otherwise.
Does WWE not realise it’s a little hard to get behind a guy who’s only trait is that he’s perfect in every single way? That’s a freaking heel character if anything.
Brock Lesnar. Your argument is invalid.
Brock Lesnar is an antisocial monster who kicks ass, that character at least has a flaw (the antisocial part, and having to rely on hetman in kayfabe as well not to mention the possibility of being outsmarted). Reigns is literally portrayed as the be all and end all of a human being; he’s strong enough to fight off multiple people bigger than him at once, while being smart enough to still beat them when he’s outnumbered. He’s also every single good guy trope in the world in the promos he gives, he’s either a family man when talking to the audience, a “badass” when talking about his opponent, or the friendliest dude on the planet when talking about friends. Couple that in with the unstoppable way he’s been given achievements/records and you’ve got someone that the crowd should be paying to see finally get beat up, not the other way around.
Brock Lesnar is perfect. He kicks everyone ass. He can’t lose. It takes multiple finishers to even hurt him. He appears rarely because he can.
That’s how Roman Reigns should be booked (well not exactly like Lesnar but close to it). Reigns does get cheered. When they go to smark places, he gets booed. It’s completely due to booking. They didn’t book him as a big scary dude who will spear you in half. Instead they tried to book him as a sympathetic babyface who talks for 5 hours. He can still have these family values and crap, just don’t have him talk for 5 hours and go 15 minutes with Big Show.
Brock lesnar also relies on heyman for support, and has been outsmarted in the ring without interference shenanigans.
Your second point is what I’m saying man get that into your head – Roman Reigns is portrayed as the pinnacle of a human being, having so many cakes at once and eating them all too, and guess what? There’s a large amount of people who hate that sort of guy. Even superman has a kryptonite.