WWE Smackdown spoilers & analysis - 04/02/15

Smackdown results & analysis – 02/04/15

This week’s Smackdown taping for the 2nd April episode comes from California. The likes of John Cena, Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan, Rusev (with Lana) and the WWE champion were all present in a show that looks fairly promising.

Spoilers

-Seth Rollins, accompanied by J&J Security, Big Show and Kane kick off Smackdown with an in-ring promo before being interrupted by Randy Orton who declares he deserves a championship match (having never received his one on one rematch after Wrestlemania 30). Kane announces a match between Orton and Big Show.

-Orton wins against show via DQ when J&J/Kane interfere stopping an RKO attempt. Rollins soon joins them and Kane lays Orton out with a chokeslam. Ryback comes out to make the save and destroys J&J.

-Naomi defeats Natalya with a DDT finisher. The Bella Twins were on commentary.

-During a backstage segment, Kane announces to Rollins that he will face Orton in a championship match at Extreme Rules. Dean Ambrose walks out of Kane’s personal bathroom so he also announces an Ambrose v Harper match for later on.

-Roman Reigns interview on the tron where he discusses Wrestlemania 31.

-The Miz defeats R-Truth in a short bout. Post-match, Sandow runs down and takes Miz out with the skull crushing finale. Sandow poses while putting Miz’s glasses on to a large pop.

-John Cena comes out for an in-ring promo and states that he will defend the US title every week via an open challenge. Rusev, accompanied by Lana, interrupts and states he will crush Cena at Extreme Rules. Rusev goes to make a Russian flag drop but nothing happens. Cena then makes an American flag drop to infuriate Rusev.

-Luke Harper v Dean Ambrose ends in a no contest when Harper put Ambrose through the announce table. Ambrose was helped to the back by officials.

-The Primetime Players cut a promo on the tron directed at The New Day.

-Sheamus enters to a chorus of boos and more ‘you look stupid’ chants. Apparently Sheamus had a new theme song as well. He faced Daniel Bryan in a non-title match while Bad News Barrett is on commentary. Barrett eventually hit Bryan with the bullhammer when the ref wasn’t looking thus giving Sheamus the victory via count out.

Analysis

This week’s Smackdown taping focused on refining a number of ongoing feuds/stories while also putting in the effort to begin developing new ones.

The new WWE World Heavyweight championship Seth Rollins actually appeared to further his feud with Randy Orton and a championship match was officially announced for Extreme Rules. Hopefully the match will be given some sort of extreme stipulation, probably just a standard extreme rules bout. This news also all but confirms that Brock Lesnar won’t be back for a considerable amount of time (possibly until Summerslam).

Naomi picked up another impressive victory of Natalya as she looks to put herself in contention for a divas championship match at some point down the road. Naomi is extremely talented but has yet to capture the title.

John Cena actually made a rare appearance on Smackdown and it appears his feud with Rusev will indeed continue through to Extreme Rules. Apparently Cena was also met to a strong positive crowd reaction with absolutely no ‘Cena sucks’ chants. Also of note, Lana was back with Rusev and is reportedly finished her filming duties for her upcoming film.

Miz/Mizdow continues their feud with Sandow getting the upper hand this week. They will almost certainly have a match at Extreme Rules.

The Primetime Players also look to have started a minor feud with The New Day which may mean the New Day stable will soon be officially turning heel.

Despite having the WWE champion Rollins and John Cena present as Smackdown, The IC title scene still found itself in the main event which signals a growing rise in importance. Sheamus defeated Bryan via count out in the main event thus putting his name in the mix for a championship match. A triple threat or fatal four way for Extreme Rules seems likely with Bryan potentially defending against Barrett, Sheamus and possibly Ziggler as well. Interestingly enough, Ziggler was surprisingly absent from Smackdown despite originally being booking in a tag team match with Bryan (they were set to face Sheamus/Barrett).

WWE is riding high on the momentum from Wrestlemania 31 and look to capitalize by booking a solid Extreme Rules PPV and that preparation took a step forward on this week’s Smackdown tapings from California.