By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Dot Net reader Eric Parsons attended Friday’s WWE Smackdown in Columbus, Ohio at Schottenstein Center and sent the following report.
The Schottenstein Center was nearly full tonight. The only seats empty were in the upper level.
There were three dark matches, one prior to the show and two after. The crowd was very hot for the Matt Riddle vs. Solo Sikoa match, and pretty into the Gunther vs. Xavier Woods match.
Pre-Show Match
1. Natalya defeated B-Fab. Hit Row’s music dropped and they immediately started baiting the crowd “You paid top dollar to see Top Dolla,” and then started saying “Go Blue” and talking about how awful Ohio State was, etc. Natalya’s music dropped and she entered. B-Fab got most of the offense–there was a very botched snapmare mid-match where they both just sort of fell over, but they re-did the spot–and Natalya showed the Sharpshooter at one point, but Natalya ended up winning with a roll-up.
During the show, they announced a “double main event” of Shinsuke Nakamura vs. LA Knight and Imperium’s Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser vs. Sheamus and Butch.
Post Show
1. Shinsuke Nakamura defeated LA Knight. Nakamura entered first and did his dancing thing, Knight’s music dropped to a decent pop (considering half the crowd immediately started leaving as soon as the Riddle beatdown was over). LA Knight dominated the match overall, even mocking Nakamura by shaking his leg at the ropes. There were a lot of big moves–including a nifty spike DDT–all with several false finishes. Toward the end, Nakamura hit several kicks including one that I assume is his finisher (I’ve been away for a while until December and have hardly seen him go), for the three count in about 8 to 10 minutes.
2. Sheamus and Butch (w/Ridge Holland) defeated Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser. The Brawling Brutes entered next to a warm reaction, followed by Imperium. Once again, the heels had the majority of the offense, but the match ended with a dual Ten Beats followed by a Brogue kick, and then Sheamus pinning Kaiser in about 10-12 minutes. The last match ended at 10:24. There was a very obvious digital clock on the hard camera side.
Of note…it was sort of obvious when there was a commercial during entrances. I wondered what would happen and whether they just keep bounding around to their themes? No. At one point they played the DX theme song with the ring announcer singing along with it. Stuff like that.
Overall, an extremely enjoyable show. I am looking forward to the Super Show in Charleston, West Virginia on June 19.
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