WWE Smackdown results: John Cena gets revenge on Dean Ambrose while The Rock and Triple H tease a match at WrestleMania

To mark 15 years since the very first Smackdown, The Rock and Triple H took a stroll down memory lane, but it was Cena who was left standing tall

John Cena (WWE.com)

The special 15 Anniversary edition of Smackdown kicked off with a promo by Stephanie McMahon who was announced as Smackdown’s first ever general manager in 2002. Before Stephanie could make any points, former general manager John Laurinaitis interrupted as the crowd changed “People Power”.

“Big Johnny” was however interrupted by another former general manager in the form of Teddy Long, which caused JBL to go into frenzy and dance around the ring. Long said that he was the manager of Smackdown for six years and he won’t let Laurinaitis ruin the show like he did a few years ago. Teddy made one of his famous tag-team matches for later, which turned out to consist of 15 men competing for either “Team Johnny” or “Team Teddy”.

Adam Rose came down to the ring to celebrate but Stephanie was having none of it and killed his party by putting him in a match against Kane. “The Devi’s Favourite Demon” chokeslammed Rose before pinning him in his first ever loss in WWE. Kane wasn’t finished there and went on a rampage on the whole of Rose’s “Exotic Express”. Kane chokeslammed most of the members and set his eyes on Bunny but the mystery man made a lucky escape throught he ropes as the Authority man looked on in anger.

AJ Lee continued the action in a match against Paige’s new best friend Alicia Fox. Paige watched on at ringside, clinging on to AJ’s Divas Championship and calling it her “Baby”. Fox gave AJ a decent contest but the champion eventually won via submission with the Black Widow. Paige ran in after the match to attack her long-term rival but AJ diverted the fight by using Fox as a barrier before walking up the ramp unscathed.

Rollins Regains Authority

Seth Rollins took on Kofi Kingston to redeem his name following weeks of embarrassment from Dean Ambrose. “Mr Money in the Bank” dominated over Kingston and repeatedly asked him if he’s trting to embarrass him. Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury were at ringside, signifying that they are here to stay as the new “Stooges” in resemblance to Vince McMahon’s feeds Pat Patterson and Gerald Briscoe. Rollins won the match with a curb stomp before celebrating with his beloved briefcase and looking chuffed that he’s managed to salvage some grace following his troubled weeks.

Rusev took on Dolph Ziggler following the Russian’s confrontation with The Rock on Raw. The powerhouse still looked frustrated by the beating that “The Great One” gave him and made sure that he recovered his momentum against Ziggler here. “The Show Off” hit the Famouser on Rusev but this wasn’t enough to keep him down. Ziggler then went for the superkick but Rusev blocked it and hit one of his own before forcing Dolph to tap out to The Accolade. Lana gave Rusev his medal before Lana got on the mic to call The Rock a coward and said that he will pay for his consequences. Rusev challenged The Big Show to a match on Raw and said that he will be crushed as the flag of Russia lowered from the rafters.

Blast From The Past

There was a backstage segment with The Rock and Triple H trading comments at each other. Triple H mentioned how it was Smackdown’s 15 year anniversary and mentioned how he beat The Rock on the first ever Smackdown. The Rock came back by saying how he remembers giving The Rock bottom “The Game” on the following week. The two legends then noted how they had never faced one on one at WrestleMania and teased a future matchup. Triple H said that the end result would always end up with him beating The Rock, which “The Peoples Champ” said there’s no way that Triple H will beat him at any upcoming WrestleMania. The atmosphere became tensed as the two became nose to nose, drawing flashbacks of their famous rivalries in the Attitude Era.

Booker T came down to the ring to commentate for the 15-match tag match with Teddy Long representing Mark Henry, Sheamus, Jack Swagger, Los Matadores, El Torito & The Usos against John Laurinaitis’ Cesaro, The Miz, Bo Dallas, The Dust Brothers and Slater Gator. The match was full of fast-paced action, with Jimmy Uso superkicking Cesaro while he was swinging Sheamus. “The Celtic Warrior” then hit Damien Sandow with a Brogue Kick before Jey Uso landed the splash from the top rope to win the match for his team. Teddy Long joined his team to celebrate and dance in the ring while Johnny watched on in distress.

Cena Adjusts Ambrose’s Attitude

Miz TV closed the show with The Miz hosting a segment between Dean Ambrose and John Cena amidst the announcement of the two’s match at Hell in a Cell. Dean Ambrose said that he doesn’t take crap from anybody and nobody pushes him around and that Seth Rollins stabbed him in the back therefore he won’t live with himself till he sets that right. Ambrose said that Cena is becoming dangerously close to stealing his match with Rollins from him. Cena replied by saying that Ambrose does have the “It” factor and congratulated him as he impressed by laying him out with the underhook DDT on Raw. The Miz tried to instigate a fight between the two there and then but the two decided to corporate briefly by beating down on “The Moneymaker”. Cena however cleverly fed Miz to Ambrose before hitting “The Lunatic Fringe” with the Attitude Adjustment.

Cena swiftly got payback on Ambrose for what he did on Raw and it’s refreshing to see Cena in a more natural role rather than the all righteous champion. Smackdown was very strong this week with the return of a few welcome faces and the engaging backstage segment with The Rock and Triple H. Ambrose and Cena have now affirmed their one on one rivalry while Rollins has slotted now into more of a puppet master role as he watches the two tear each other apart while he looks to beat the remaining survivor in the main event of Hell in a Cell.

Results:

Kane DEF Adam Rose

AJ Lee DEF Alicia Fox

Seth Rollins DEF Kofi Kingston

Rusev DEF Dolph Ziggler

Sheamus, The Usos, Los Matadors, Jack Swagger, Mark Henry and El Torito DEF Slater Gator, Cesaro, Bo Dallas, Damien Mizdow, Hornswoggle and Gold and Stardust