Just got back from this SmackDown...
I ended up late to the Nutter Center due to a flat tire, but got there before the Main Event tapings, so all I believe I missed was a Prime-Time Players Dark Match/Superstars match, which they won.
The Nutter Center was about 60% or so full, and they ended up tarping off the upper deck on the entire hard camera side and on half of the side facing the stage. I'd say that there were about 6000-6500 at the taping. Lots of kids and quite a few Blacks, which I didn't quite expect. Just about everyone was into the WWE narrative, which meant babyfaces mostly got cheered (with exactly one glaring exception) and heels got booed all night.
I ended up sitting in the literal closest seat to the stage, which meant I was right by the pyro. While there were only two uses of the pyro (after the Usos entered, the stagehands were fukking with it all night, so I assume this meant that it malfunctioned at some point. I'd say probably when Jericho came out, because Jericho tron came on as Natalya was going to the back, and they basically panicked, stopped selling and RAN to the back to avoid the pyro, which never went off), it was goddamned loud and, in the case of the Uso's entrance, very hot as well. This also means that the entrance camera was facing me every time that I entered, so you might see me in my shytty glasses and hipster flannel doing something outrageous and stupid on Friday night with my section, which consisted of drunken white people and a good looking chick in a CM Punk t-shirt. Excellent ice breaker, that was (I'll recount the funnier moments below).
So, the Main Event matches were:
The Shield def. The Usos and Justin Gabriel. Decent match, nothing special. The Shield actually entered from outside the Nutter Center altogether, as they chained off the entrance to two sections before the taping started (which was a bytch, since my seat was in the very next section). Ambrose got the pin on Gabriel with the Headlock DDT. Only thing to note is that The Usos were actually pretty over with the kids there. There might be something to giving them a push and seeing how they get over.
Antonio Cesaro w/Zeb Colter def. Sin Cara. Good, long match. Zeb did his usual schtick before the match. Antonio wasn't that over, but people were very into Sin Cara's lucha, which looked very good with Cesaro acting as a base. No real botches, and Cara got a lot of offense in. Cesaro finally won with the Swinging Neck Crank into the Neutralizer.
Kaitlyn def. Aksana. Everything you'd expect to happen here happened. No one knew who Aksana was, Kaitlyn wasn't that over, Kaitlyn won with the Spear. The end.
The SmackDown taping:
The taping was insignificant, but pretty fun. Not a hot crowd, but not a dead crowd either. I had a good time, but if I were in a dead section, I might have been more bored.
Since you have the results, I'll fill in some thoughts...
Bryan's small (though not nearly as small as I would have thought), but he could be a big star if only because he carries himself like a heavyweight champion ready to knock someone's head off. He had the entire crowd's attention during his promo (lots of "Yes"ing as well during his segments), and he didn't get booed at all even though the crowd was clearly more into Orton all night. Promo was basic, though I'm getting really sick of Bryan acting like a dikk during promos.
What a jobber Cody Rhodes is.
Match was nothing special, but Sheamus was really fukking over. Like REALLY over. I'd say that Orton got the better reaction overall, but the crowd loved Sheamus more overall (this will make sense further into the report). Sandow was great working the apron as well. As a matter of fact, Sandow was great all around here. Without his pedestrian ring work marring my view of him, I can see why so many people take to him. Great presence, great look, great character, and great portrayal of his character. He could've been a really good manager in another era.
Other promos that were shown throughout the night: TWO Total Divas promos, neither of which got any sort of reaction, and a RVD promo, which did get a decent pop out of the crowd.
Barely anyone cared about Axel vs. Barrett, or Miz for that matter. Shortish match that Axel won NOT with the Perfectplex, but with his shytty McGillicutter. :MiSu: Match was cool for what it was, but what a jobber Wade Barrett turned out to be. Miz confronted Axel afterward, but Heyman pulled Axel to the back.
AJ got a pop from the crowd, just so you know. Big E's attire still looks completely ridiculous in person. Other than that, nothing of note happened here. AJ won with her Manjigatame (Black Widow).
No one cares about the Kaitlyn backstage segment, especially when she doesn't sell it during the Main Event match.
Del Rio/Jericho was a decent to pretty good TV match. The heel turn hadn't quite taken in Dayton, so Del Rio got some cheers from the crowd. Jericho was very over with the crowd, though (until he took out Ziggler, and from the way he look on the ramp, he might be turning heel full out in the future). Match had a semi-contrived finish, with Jericho giving Rodriguez a Liontamer (which isn't going to win him the match), then getting mad at Ziggler for costing him the match. You weren't trying to win anyway, jackass.
Whatever, it's not important. I did get Del Rio to flash me the
before going to the back by heckling him repeatedly. Ziggler was carried off to applause.
Drew strangely acted like he didn't want to have the match and/or go out with the rest of the group while coming out, so who knows if there's a split or anything planned there. Christian was very over. Short, nothing match and a short promo (with a mention of coming back for "ONE MORE MATCH") before The Shield came out. Post-beatdown was funny, because they exited to the back right by me. While everyone around me was booing them, I'm the only guy clapping, and while I'm clapping I shout out, "I RESPECT THE SHOOTER, SETH!" Rollins didn't react, but Reigns did a confused
double take, as if I was absolutely insane to respect them for what they did. I hope the cameras caught that one.
The Heyman promo was absolutely etherous.
It wasn't even about Punk either. He just verbally destroyed Renee Young for like 3 minutes. I'm not even going to spoil this one for you. You'll just have to watch this one.
Bryan/Orton was another pretty good TV match, better than Del Rio/Jericho. Interestingly enough, while Orton was the more over guy, he got a real mix of boos and cheers (one of only two singles guys to get real hate from the crowd), while Bryan got nothing but "Yes"es while on offense. Orton playing heel the entire match may have aided that response. While the crowd cheered for Bryan's victory, he whipped everyone into a frenzy by screaming for the match to be restarted. "Yes" chants, "Restart the Match" chants, and everything. It made for a flat ending to SmackDown to just have the ref say no and end the taping like that.
Dark Match/Postshow:
The dark match started immediately afterward, and was Bryan/Orton/Sheamus vs. The Shield after Sheamus ran down for the save after The Shield come out. The Shield came out from behind the stage right in front of me, and Roman was still looking at me like I was nuts (I said "I STILL RESPECT THE SHOOTER" in response, which elicited more confused looks).
Match was short, ended in DQ after Roman hit Sheamus with a chair. Bryan made the save with a chair of his own, and Sheamus and Orton ended up hitting their finishes. Show ended there. Bryan went to the back almost immediately (by the way, he played total face during the dark match), while Orton and Sheamus slapped hands and signed stuff for the crowd. Sheamus was ADORED by the people here. He slapped everyone's hand, signed everybody's stuff, hugged everyone that wanted a hug, everything.
So yeah, fun show. A few more notes coming after this.
Nobody explained anything. They just showed a promo for the Bryan/Orton match and moved on.
never would have guessed that. Gonna check if there's a video of that.
