WWE Smackdown Recap: Shane To Face AJ At Wrestlemania

It’s happening, people. The rumours were all true. We laughed among ourselves and told each other it would never be, but we all stood idly by and did nothing.

AJ Styles vs Shane McMahon is now set for Wrestlemania 33.

Smackdown Live kicked off with The Phenomenal One taking to the ring and addressing the conspiracy against him, listing all hurdles he has had to jump through, only to not have a Mania match. He said he’s going to have a conversation with Shane McMahon about his career, if he even still has one.

An intense promo from AJ, which, given all the facts, the man has a point.

Randy Orton burnt a man’s shack down and nothing happened. Why do the rules of law and life not apply in wrestling? Why?

Tom Philips and JBL were handling commentary duties this week. Otunga is filming a movie (really?) and Mauro ‘MAMA MIA’ Ranallo had travel issues.

Following on from last weeks tag match, after Natalya turned on her, Becky Lynch was able to get a measure of revenge in a decent match after an Xploder and disarmher for the submission victory. Carmella attacked both women after the match.

Did you know that if Randy Orton was tried in court for an Arson charge, he could face a life sentence if tried on indictment?

Miz TV followed, with The Miz and Maryse as the special guests, because they are, as you well know, must see.

Miz and Maryse continued to run down John Cena and Nikki Bella (if you saw Talking Smack last week, it was the same kind of gist) until Team Fearless Cena ran down, and Miz and Maryse bailed. Nikki Bella wanted a match with Maryse, but Miz declined it, saying she didn’t have to prove herself.

Smackdown GM Daniel Bryan came out and was unimpressed with them running their mouths and running away. He wanted to punch Miz in the face for reminding him that he can’t wrestle and for stealing his moves. However, he can’t, but knew two people that could.

With that, Daniel Bryan made it official for Wrestlemania 33:

The Miz & Maryse vs John Cena and Nikki Bella.

I have to say, if it wasn’t for The Miz shining in all the mic time he has had recently and nailing his promos, I would have no interest in this match. The man has been a verbal tour-de-force on Smackdown.

In another bout following from the fallout of last week’s tag match, Mickie James defeated Alexa Bliss with a Mick Kick, in a non-title match. The crowd wasn’t quite as invested in this one as they were for Lynch and Natalya earlier in the night, but for me, this was the better match.

Did you know that Randy Orton’s name is Latin for ‘Slithery Arsonist’?

Shane McMahon arrived backstage but was attacked by Styles, who beat the holy ghost out of Sneakers O’ Toole, then threw him through a car window.

EMTs then tended to Shane, who refused hospital treatment, instead opting for the trainers room. What a lad.

Whilst The Usos talked down on Styles for his actions, Daniel Bryan wasn’t so positive, promptly firing AJ before four police officers, who were definitely police officers and not local wrestlers, marched AJ out of the building.

They replayed the attack, showing footage from a camera inside the car. Because WWE just like to put cameras in people’s cars just in the off-chance of this kind of thing, I guess.

Dolph Ziggler basically said ‘fuck you’ to Mojo Rawley (as we all should), losing by count out in about two minutes. I hate Mojo Rawley. If he had burnt down a spooky cabin, something would have been done about it.

Eric LeGrand is this year’s WWE Warrior Award recipient. His achievements, such as continuing to attend college classes via Skype after a football injury paralyzed him, and launching charity Team LeGrand of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation in 2013 are but a few of the reasons he has been given this award.

Randy Orton, who is an arsonist don’t you know, came out next, saying he waited for the perfect time to strike Bray Wyatt. An RKO would have been too easy. Instead, he took everything from Wyatt and has left him all alone. He swears to finish the job at Wrestlemania.

Wyatt spoke on the big screen, saying that Sister Abigail’s heart still beats and her power is bestowed unto him. He is going to purge the world of infidels, starting with Orton. Wyatt then rubbed Abigail’s ashes over himself. I guess he’s okay with the whole arson thing then.

Backstage, Baron Corbin was asked about his actions last week and if he crossed a line. Corbin said there are only actions and consequences, and that Ambrose is supposed to be able to come back from anything. He said he will take the Intercontinental Championship from him at Wrestlemania.

In the main event, The Usos beat American Alpha in a non-title tag team match (member the Smackdown tag division? I member). The Usos cut off a Doomsday attempt and hit a superkick on Jason Jordan for the win. The crowd was more interested in chanting ‘We Want Angle’, as Kurt Angle was backstage from Smackdown that night.

Throughout the match, they showed Shane McMahon backstage, refusing to leave.

At the end of the show, Shane came out with a mic, saying “AJ Styles says he doesn’t have an opponent for Wrestlemania. He does now.”

Smackdown ends.

I’m still not hugely invested in the idea of Styles vs McMahon, but I will admit the angle on Smackdown was done pretty well, and did make me ever so slightly more curious about the match.

 

Talking Smack

Over on Talking Smack, Daniel Bryan and Renee Young discussed the AJ and Shane drama. Bryan mentioned needing to speak to Shane, to see if he was in his right mind when he made the match, but later compared that their Mania match could be similar to the match Shane had against Kurt Angle at King of the Ring back in 2001. I’d be ok with that.

Mickie James was the first guest, and said her first Mania was on April 2nd against Trish Stratus, where she won her first championship. This April 2nd she will tie Stratus for title reigns.

Eventually all the Smackdown female roster (barring Nikki Bella) came out and bickered with each other, as Daniel Bryan sat quietly by. He knows.

Next, they discussed Miz. Bryan said he can’t be objective here, and compared Miz to Donald Trump in how they argue and cut people off and talk louder. If anyone can photoshop a picture of The Miz with Trumps hair, that would be great.

They wrapped up the show saying this year’s Wrestlemania will be a ‘Face Punching Extravaganza!’

Talking Smack was great fun as always, and the chemistry between Renee Young and Daniel Bryan always make for a fun watch!