WWE Smackdown July 23 TV results & recap: Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro, Kevin Owens vs. Rusev

Photo: LA Times

By Steve Khan, WrestlingObserver.com 

– Airdate: July 23, 2015 (July 22 in Canada) 
– Location: Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, NE 

The Big News: 

Cesaro made fat jokes about Kevin Owens so Owens beat him up. 

Show Recap: 

SmackDown started with the announcement of three matches: Kevin Owens vs. Rusev, Naomi and Sasha Banks vs. The Bella Twins, and Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins. Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton and Jimmy Uso was the announce team because Jerry Lawler has the week off. Oh boy. 

Sheamus beat Dean Ambrose via pinfall 

Before the match, Sheamus called Ambrose a coward who put himself and Big Show through a table on purpose to get out of their match last week. Sheamus said he would kick Ambrose’s arse and called himself the next WWE Champion. Ambrose said Sheamus does look stupid. 

Sheamus worked over Ambrose’s leg, body slamming him leg-first into the ropes, as well as using a stretch muffler and half crab. Ambrose came back with a rebound clothesline, jabs and a suicide dive. After hitting a flying elbow, Bray Wyatt came out on the stage and Luke Harper appeared on the announce table. 

Ambrose went after Harper but ate a Brogue kick on the outside. Sheamus finished him off with a second Brogue kick for the win. No Roman Reigns, who wasn’t on the show at all. Perhaps they should’ve mentioned this. The crowd liked Ambrose. 

They recapped what happened last week between Stardust and Neville, again using comic book graphics to tell the story. Backstage, Neville told Jo-Jo that Stardust isn’t a villain, he’s a coward. He said Stardust can’t hold him down and the Altitude Era is now. The TV behind Jo-Jo suddenly switched to a shot of Stardust who was giggling and doing that thing with his hands. 

Neville beat Adam Rose via pinfall 

No Rosa Mendes. Rose got the heat immediately but was caught with a forearm after trying a suicide dive. Neville followed up with kicks, an Asai moonsault and Red Arrow for the win. Not much of a match. 

As Neville celebrated, Stardust showed up on the screen. I’m not sure what he said, but there were two main takeaways: One, he referenced Dusty Rhodes again when he said his hand was reaching out to Neville’s. Two, Stardust had a somewhat subtle reference to Stephen Amell. (Stardust held up green party favour and said it doesn’t matter what colour the “arrow” is — referring to both Neville’s finisher and Green Arrow.)

They aired a video package for Sasha Banks. The best part of this was that Banks was allowed to explain her side of things and why she thinks she’s the best. They should air this on Raw, and they should do this kind of thing more often in general. 

King Barrett came out on the stage for a quick promo. He said if you come at the King, you best not miss. Those weren’t his exact words. Barrett finished by saying his crowning moment has yet to come. This was fine. 

Rusev beat Kevin Owens via countout

One of the commentators said Owens has had an incredible week. (He lost twice in two nights.) Owens cut a promo saying that all he has heard since Sunday is “Tap Owens, tap.” Owens said that’s not what happened. Owens gave John Cena the fight of his life and decided to live to fight another day because he has a family to think about. 

He moved on to the match from Raw, explaining that Rusev couldn’t decide which Lana he wanted to go to second base with, which cost them the match. Rusev came out immediately to attack Owens. 

After a break, Owens had control of the match and hit a cannonball. As Owens struggled to pull Rusev away from the ropes, he yelled “Lose some weight!” Rusev eventually came back with a spinning heel kick and superkick (he was booed). Rusev went for the Accolade but Owens rolled out of the ring and took the countout loss. 

Backstage, Cesaro told a male interviewer it feels right that he has a match with Seth Rollins tonight. Cesaro said he has sacrificed a lot to get here — sleeping on floors, missing his best friend’s wedding, and not spending Christmas with his family in 11 years. Cesaro said he loves this business and the American dream never dies. 

Owens showed up and mocked Cesaro. Owens said nobody cares about his dreams or that Cesaro abandoned his family. Cesaro called Owens the expert on abandoning since he abandons half his matches. 

Cesaro also asked Owens if he just came from catering. Owens said he was heading to catering now to watch Cesaro lose to Rollins. Cesaro told Owens not to choke on his food, like he choked against Cena. Fat joke aside, this was really good. 

Nikki & Brie Bella (w/Alicia Fox) beat Naomi & Sasha Banks (w/Tamina) via pinfall 

Bellas worked over Naomi briefly until she tagged out to Banks. Brie took Banks down easily with a single kick to the gut and Nikki followed with a low dropkick. Brie went for a running knee but Tamina pulled Banks out of the ring and superkicked Brie (she missed, actually). 

After a break, Naomi and Banks worked over Brie, and Nikki got the crowd to rally behind her. What the hell? Nikki made the hot tag and used a terrible Alabama slam on Naomi. 

Nikki tried a Rack Attack but Banks took her down with a “spear.” Brie knocked Banks out of the ring and Fox took out Tamina with a “spear” of her own. Naomi missed a Rear View and Nikki hit a forearm and Rack Attack for the win. Crowd cheered Nikki. 

This was your average WWE women’s tag match and the finishing sequence was a mess. The Bellas were 100% babyfaces, which is dumb as hell. 

They aired a good video package for Lesnar vs. Undertaker. Also, Cesaro was announced for Tough Enough next week. 

Non-title: WWE Champion Seth Rollins beat Cesaro via pinfall 

Rollins dodged an uppercut and hit a running knee and suicide dive to gain control. Cesaro caught Rollins off the top and hit a belly-to-belly suplex, followed by an uppercut parade. Rollins countered a superplex into a turnbuckle powerbomb, but Cesaro came back by applying a sharpshooter. 

Rollins tried to get to the ropes, so Cesaro put him in a crossface. Rollins got to the ropes but Cesaro followed with a pop-up uppercut for a near fall. Rollins bailed a grabbed his title, but Cesaro cut him off with a running uppercut. 

Cesaro tried a big swing but Rollins poked him in the eye, which the referee missed, and Rollins followed with a Pedigree for the win. Good match. 

As Rollins left, Kevin Owens walked out to the ring. Owens attacked Cesaro and left him laying with a pop-up powerbomb. 

Final Thoughts: 

Not much of a show but the main event was good. Cesaro vs. Owens should be fun, assuming that’s the direction. Also, I’m glad they did a video package for Sasha Banks but the tag match was a step back. The revolution will be slow and plodding.