WWE Smackdown results and observations (01/29/15)
Due to the panic of what was thought to be the snowstorm of the century, the WWE was forced to push its live event in Hartford, Conn. from Monday to Thursday.
The WWE caught a bit of a break in the way of not having to face live crowd 24 hours after the entire world saw its pay-per-view main event booed without mercy.
I figured facing a live audience three days later would soften the blow a bit. I was wrong.
Before we go into details, lets run through the full match results from WWE Smackdown:
- Roman Reigns def. Big Show
- Tyson Kidd def. Jey Uso
- The Ascension def. Goldust & Stardust
- Casket Match: Daniel Bryan def. Kane
Without further adieu, let's go through my highlights and observations from the show XL Center in Hartford, Conn.:
Roman Reigns booed again
Either every Philadelphian that was at the Royal Rumble traveled to Hartford, Conn. to boo Roman Reigns or it is more than one wrestling town that is simply not buying into the 2015 Royal Rumble winner just yet.
That's because the fans of Hartford were every bit as ruthless to Reigns as were the Philadelphia fans this past Sunday night.
Every time his name was mentioned, he was booed. When he came out for his match against Big Show, he was booed. During his match against Big Show, which was average at best, he was booed.
The Royal Rumble was a big indication of where the WWE Universe stood when it comes to Reigns. Thursday night in Hartford was probably a bigger one.
At the Royal Rumble, you have a predominantly hardcore fan base. These are the fans that will travel to great lengths to take in a show of that magnitude. This type of crowd typically consists of more adults.
At Smackdown/Raw tapings, however, there are a lot more families and children in attendance. I went to two Smackdown tapings in 2014, so I saw this first hand.
And even the kid-friendly, family-oriented fans of Hartford gave it to Reigns. Because of this, the WWE officially has a situation on its hands.
All of the equity that was built up by Paul Heyman this past Monday night will be may be washed away by every live audience Reigns faces going forward, which may force the WWE to pull a Peyton Manning and call some sort of audible.
Whether that audible involves Daniel Bryan or not remains to be seen, but judging by the monstrous reaction Bryan received, which is par for the course for him at this point, he may have to factor in some way.
Triple H teased a huge announcement for Raw that will "shake the WWE to its core." Maybe we'll find out what type of audible the WWE is calling then.
Daniel Bryan-Kane finally over?
Speaking of Daniel Bryan, he went against Kane for what felt like the 12,458th time Thursday night, but this time in a casket match.
Throughout the show, the announcers were touting that this was the final chapter in the long-running feud between the former tag team partners. Knowing the WWE, I highly doubt that. John Cena versus Randy Orton is a prime example of that.
Bryan predictably won, as he should have, and seemingly closed the book on this feud forever…or until next week.
The question I had coming out of the Royal Rumble is the same question I will ask right now: What's next for Daniel Bryan?
If you've been in tune with Twitter lately, you've seen Dolph Ziggler challenge Daniel Bryan to a match at WrestleMania.
As much as I would love to an athletic exhibition between Bryan and Ziggler, it would be just that, an athletic exhibition. There wouldn't be anything real at stake. It would almost feel like the NBA dunk contest or the NHL skills challenge.
It would almost be the WWE saying, "Look at these guys do spectacular things that will mean nothing in the grand scheme of our sport." It would be cool for that one night, but what will it contribute to the product overall.
John Cena confronts Rusev
At the Royal Rumble, John Cena and Rusev had probably the most uneventful start to a feud in recent memory.
The two met face-to-face again Thursday and we really didn't get anywhere in the way of storyline progression. It was merely what we've already seen from a Cena program for the last five or six years.
The one thing that annoys me the most about this feud so far is that Cena is giving no thought of challenging Rusev for the United States Championship.
Yes, the United States title is beneath Cena at this point, but it may help elevate the title if the face of your company not only pursues it but wears it proudly upon winning it.
But that would mean the actually wanted to elevate one of its secondary titles. That may be too much work for the company.
Dissention between Rhodes brothers
It finally looks like we're going to get a feud between Stardust and Goldust.
Hopefully, Cody Rhodes can come out of that Stardust gimmick before really sinking his teeth into this feud because how persona can get this program get if Rhodes acting like an idiot under that facepaint?