WWE Smackdown spoilers & analysis: April 9, 2015
This week’s Smackdown tapings for the 9th April edition were filmed from Dallas, Texas.
Spoilers
-During a pre-show dark match, Los Matadores defeat two local wrestlers
-In another pre-show dark match, Finn Balor defeated Xavier Woods
-Daniel Bryan kicks off Smackdown with an in-ring promo. He was interrupted by Sheamus and Bad News Barrett. A brawl ensued but Dolph Ziggler made the save. Big Show then attacked Ziggler which lead to Reigns making the save. The previously booked tag match, Bryan/Ziggler v Sheamus/Barrett was now changed to a 6 man tag main event with Reigns and Show joining the respective teams.
-Cesaro & Tyson Kidd defeat The New Day in a non-title match. The match was good and there were reportedly many ‘New Day sucks” chants.
-Neville defeated Curtis Axel with the Red Arrow in a short match.
-Backstage segment featuring tension between Natalya, Alicia Fox and Cameron which lead to a match being set up.
-Natalya defeated Alicia Fox. Cameron was the special guest referee. Post-match, Cameron attacked both divas.
-Bray Wyatt cut a promo before his match with Eric Rowan. The bout was solid but Wyatt eventually picked up the pinfall fairly dominatingly.
-Miz TV segment with Miz. Summer Rae was present, promoting the Marine 4. Miz demands an apology from Damien Sandow. Sandow then knocked Miz down before kissing Summer to a loud reaction.
-Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Roman Reigns defeated Bad News Barrett, Sheamus and Big Show when Reigns speared Barrett for the pinfall. The crowd reaction for Reigns was apparently extremely positive, a lot better than the dreadful reactions he has been exposed to recently.
Analysis
Finn Balor competed in a dark match prior to Smackdown beginning which may suggest his main roster debut is near. It’s been previously reported that Balor wouldn’t be spending much time in the developmental system so he may be officially debuting soon which is definitely something to get very excited for.
The New Day were greeted with a chorus of boos and ‘New Day sucks’ chants so it seems evident that WWE are set now on pushing them as heels moving forward while the audience is also truly treating them as such. This is seemingly a smart choice considering their ongoing negative reactions thus far.
The Miz/Sandow feud continued with what should be a fairly entertaining Miz TV segment. These two will almost certainly have a match at the Extreme Rules PPV in which the super popular Sandow should definitely win.
Bray Wyatt stepped back inside the ring for the first time since losing to Taker in a bout against his former stable mate, Eric Rowan. The match will allow Wyatt to regain some momentum in a solid bout that features a significant back story. It still appears to remain unclear who Wyatt was speaking about on Raw last night so hopefully more will be revealed in the coming weeks.
The inclusion of Big Show and Reigns in the main event tag match would presumably only slow the action down but apparently Reigns was actually met with a loud strong babyface reaction from the crowd. 6 man tag main events are nothing out of the usual but hopefully this one will still be fun and exciting to watch. With Bryan v Barrett now confirmed for Extreme Rules, it’s likely that Sheamus will face Ziggler (in a possible no.1 contender match) and Reigns may face Big Show (or in a tag team match with Ryback against both Show & Kane).
The Extreme Rules PPV is only weeks away and WWE will want to ride high on the momentum from Wrestlemania 31. No real new feuds were established on this week’s Smackdown but the company looked to instead further the existing ones.