This week’s Smackdown opened up with the newly reinstated Highlight Reel. Chris Jericho claims that the “new era” is the “Jericho Era”. Sami Zayn comes out as his guest and Jericho scolds him for attacking Kevin Owens and holding up the Miz’s Intercontinental Title on Raw. The Miz along with Maryse interrupt Jericho and Zayn. The Miz states that he has been in the WWE for 11 years and Sami Zayn is in over his head. Jericho gets annoyed that the Miz and Zayn have hijacked the Highlight Reel and leaves.
The Miz vs Sami Zayn
A few moments into the match, Kevin Owens’ music hits. Sami Zayn is distracted but Owens walks right by the ring and joins the announcer’s table. During the match, Owens was making fun of the Miz, Zayn and especially Byron Saxton. The Miz and Zayn wind up fighting next to the announce table and Zayn challenges Owens. Predictably, Owens declines to fight but as soon as Zayn turns his back, Owens attacks him and the match is over. The Miz and Kevin Owens team up and start beating down Zayn when Cesaro comes out to save the say. He is hitting upper-cuts left and right and accidentally hits Zayn with one. Once everyone is outside the ring, Cesaro celebrates holding up the Intercontinental Title while the Miz angrily looks on.
https://twitter.com/2SW1SS_Superman/status/728382348824334336
The Vaudevillians vs Social OutcastsÂ
This was a quick match with the Vaudevillians getting the victory. Big Cass came out and threw Simon Gotch of the top rope and hit Aiden English with a big boot. As the Vaudevillians were retreating, Curtis Axel rolled into the ring and tried to celebrate with Big Cass. Axel was explaining how sawft the Vaudevillians were before he was interrupted with an East River Crossing by Big Cass.
.@BigCassWWE doesn't seem pleased with @RealCurtisAxel. #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/Yb2UfMvidB
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) May 6, 2016
Natalya & Becky Lynch vs Charlotte & Emma
Charlotte and Emma were beating the hell out of Natalya for most of this match. When Becky Lynch was finally tagged she was on the offensive for about 30 seconds before Charlotte and Emma laid her out. Eventually, Becky Lynch was able to tag Natalya in and the rest was history. Natala locked Emma in the Sharpshooter while Becky Lynch kept Charlotte from interfering and breaking up the hold. Emma tapped out giving Natalya and Becky Lynch the victory.
Bob Backlund is announced as Darren Young’s life coach. Backlund tells Young that his first lesson as his life coach is that wrestling is life.
I died. Cause of death, Bob Backlund screaming "WRESTLING IS LIFE" #Smackdown
— Trey (@InternetTrey) May 6, 2016
Zack Ryder vs Rusev
Rusev pretty much dismantled Zack Ryder and this match was over within a couple of minutes. After the match, Rusev was celebrating but Kalisto came out and attacked him. Before Rusev could retaliate, Kalisto had left the ring. Mauro Ranallo described it as a “successful hit and run” for Kalisto, who will be defending his United States Championship against Rusev at Extreme Rules.
Goldust and Fandango are dancing backstage when they are interrupted by R-Truth and Tyler Breeze. They set up a match a tag-team match for next week’s Smackdown. I think the entire world is waiting with bated breath for that one.
I am so invested in Tyler Breeze/R Truth/Goldust/Fandango it's not even funny.
— Daily DDT (@BlueThunderBlog) May 6, 2016
Earlier in the night, AJ Styles once again told Gallows and Anderson that he wanted to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship his way. Gallows and Anderson stated they understood, but that the old AJ Styles would have hit Roman Reigns with a chair when he had the chance. AJ Styles later confronted Roman Reigns and asked if he was going to be ringside during the main event. Reigns responded that he is the WWE champion and can do what he wants. Styles said that he would see Reigns out there then.
The Usos & Roman Reigns vs Gallows, Anderson & AJ Styles
This originally was supposed to be Gallows and Anderson versus the Usos but it took about a minute before both Reigns and AJ Styles got involved. There was an all-out brawl in the ring and a bunch of officials had to come down and break them all up. AJ Styles grabbed a microphone and said that he thought that this is a new era and that they are going to finish what they started, thus it is now a six man tag team match.
https://twitter.com/donnyshot/status/728401209489432576
This was a solid back and forth match that ended with Roman Reigns hitting a spear on Karl Anderson. AJ Styles tried to break up the pin-fall but the Usos held him back. After the match, AJ Styles and Roman Reigns stared each other down.
This Roman Reigns vs AJ Styles feud is so much better than I expected it to be. Great matches. Great storytelling. #6ManTag #SmackDown
— … (@Wwe5Fan) May 6, 2016
There are mixed reactions to the Roman Reigns and AJ Styles feud. Some feel that the inclusion of Gallows & Anderson and the Usos is helping it along, while others feel like it is too convoluted.
@WWE @WWERomanReigns How awesome would that have been if Anderson got the pin? Nah, we will give it to Reigns…
— Shay Stansell (@SifuMonk) May 6, 2016
I love the AJ Styles vs Roman Reigns feud. Just wish there was some payoff to the Bullet Club speculation at Payback.
— Robbie Fox (@RobbieBarstool) May 6, 2016
It seems like everyone is waiting for something interesting to happen at WWE Extreme Rules. A lot more people seem to find what is going on with the Intercontinental Championship more interesting than the WWE World Heavyweight Championship storyline. What did you think of this week’s Smackdown? Do you find the AJ Styles/ Roman Reigns feud interesting? Let us know in the comments below.