Just days away from his confrontation with WWE World Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns rolls into this week's SmackDown determined to continue proving that he not only can defeat the Beast Incarnate at WrestleMania, but that he will.
To do so, he will have to look to a man who doubted his abilities last week, "The World's Strongest Man" Mark Henry, to back him up in a main event war with The Authority's Kane and Seth Rollins.
Will the babyfaces be able to coexist in the night's marquee bout, or will Rollins and Kane emerge victorious?
Will Randy Orton make his presence felt?
Fans get the answers to those questions Thursday night when WWEpresents the March 19 episode of SmackDown.
Here, now, are those answers and everything else that went down when the company rolled into the Midwest for this week's tapings, courtesy of our friends at WrestlingInc.com.
Venue
Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri
Announce Team
Michael Cole, Jerry "The King" Lawler and Byron Saxton
Results
- Reigns kicked off the show but is interrupted by The Authority. Rollins revealed that Orton would not be in the arena due to security and then teased cashing in at WrestleMania. Henry interrupted at one point and cut a pro-Reigns promo, leading to the announcement of the night's main event tag team match.
- Paige defeated Brie Bella with a roll-up.
- Dolph Ziggler defeated Daniel Bryan, Luke Harper, Dean Ambrose, R-Truth and Stardust in an Intercontinental Championship Gauntlet match.
- Bad News Barrett laid both Ziggler and Bryan out, standing tall to end the segment.
- WWE tag team champions Tyson Kidd and Cesaro and Natalya defeated Los Matadores and El Torito when Natalya pinned Toritofollowing a powerbomb.
- Reigns and Henry vs. Rollins and Kane never got started as Henry was found laid out in the locker room.
- Reigns defeated Rollins and Kane in a Handicap match when he pinned Kane following a spear. After the match, the heels beat down Reigns until Orton hit the ring and fended off the villains to close out the show.
Analysis
The biggest story of this week's episode of SmackDown is the continued positioning of the Orton-Rollins rivalry as one of the biggest and most important on the WrestleMania card.
Orton managing to bypass security to make it into the arena and beat down everyone but Rollins will only help to garner more heat and create a desire in the audience to see Orton do further damage to the loudmouthed Mr. Money in the Bank by the time March 29 comes around.
The involvement of Henry in the main event scenario was curious in that, just a week ago, he was vocal about his dislike and disrespect for Reigns. Then, seven days after getting handed his own carcass by the No. 1 contender, he changes his tune and is suddenly coming to his defense?
It feels forced.
The Intercontinental Championship Gauntlet featuring Ambrose, Bryan, Ziggler, Stardust, Harper and R-Truth has the makings of a phenomenal match. There is not a single bad wrestler in the bunch. In fact, they are superb workers with the ability to steal any show they compete on.
While Ambrose dominates early, it is the final showdown betweenZiggler and Bryan that should have fans talking in the wake of the show.
More than any recent episode of the show, this week's SmackDownlooks like a broadcast to go out of your way to see. With the Gauntlet match and the main event angle dominating the episode, there is enough in the way of WrestleMania story development to satisfy those fans looking for more than the typical B-level show.
Create Your Own Website With JouwWeb