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WWE Smackdown results: Roman Reigns dominates as Edge and Christian host the first show of the year

The turn of the year coincides with the build-up to the Royal Rumble and the Road to Wrestlemania

Sumit Rehal
Saturday 03 January 2015 20:13 GMT
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Reigns 'turns the tables' on Big Show to flip the announcers' table onto him
Reigns 'turns the tables' on Big Show to flip the announcers' table onto him

Edge and Christian kicked off the show to address the return of The Authority on Raw as managers of the roster. Edge apologised for his inadvertent involvement in the affair but vowed to break ground on the night as hosts of Smackdown.

Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury entered the arena to address Seth Rollins' attack on the former Tag Team Champions and apologised on behalf of Triple H but also said that they were sent to observe that Smackdown will be to sufficient order. Edge said that there’s nothing that they can do to hinder their hosting as they don’t even work for the company and that show starts right now, which cued Bray Wyatt’s music to take on Erick Rowan.

Wyatt ordered Rowan to bow down to him but the former Wyatt Family member disobeyed his order and landed a big boot on his former leader. “The Eater of the Worlds” knocked Rowan to the outside and asked “Why are you doing this?” Before returning to the ring and landing the Sister Abigail to win the match. Following the match, Wyatt cut a promo on Dean Ambrose, stating that if he was able to demolish his own flesh and blood like that then imagine what he will do to “The Lunatic Fringe” in their upcoming Ambulance Match on Raw.

Edge and Christian make their way out at the start of Smackdown

Adam Rose joined The Dust Brothers to take on R-Truth and The Usos in a six-man tag team match. Jey Uso was dominated by the opposing team for much of the match before finally tagging Jimmy in who landed a Samoan Drop on Rose. Truth ran in to hit the Truth & Consequences on an interrupting Goldust before delivering a Plancha to the outside. Jimmy countered a pin attempt from Rose into a Superkick before tagging his brother back in to deliver the Superfly Splash to lead his team into victory.

Ryback took on The Big Show in match that was set up by Edge and Christian earlier in the night amid the duo’s rivalry stemming from Survivor Series. Big Show used his weight advantage to keep Ryback down for the best part of the battle but “The Big Guy” managed to regain momentum with a thunderous Spinebuster.

Ryback signalled for the Meat Hook Clothesline but the Russian flag had burst from the rafters for Rusev and Lana to approach the ramp. The distraction allowed Show to find his feet and hit a KO Punch to send Ryback to the outside and lose by count out. Rusev sought to take advantage of his groggy foe but Ryback was able to still send Rusev over the top rope with a Clothesline to leave the Russian duo outraged.

Los Matadores took on Tyson Kidd and Cesaro in a tag-team match for both parties to climb their way back into the Tag Team Championship scene. Cesaro and Kidd displayed great technique and teamwork to win the match swiftly with a Powerbomb/Top Rope Lariat combination on Fernando. Natalya joined her husband to celebrate his win while the commentators highlighted the professionalism from the winning team.

Curtis Axel entered the ring for a match but Dean Ambrose stormed towards the former Intercontinental Champion to attack him around ringside. Ambrose landed the Dirty Deeds on Axel while the referee stated that the bell didn’t even ring so there was no match. Ambrose grabbed a microphone to state that he will kick off the New Year by cracking an ambulance window with Bray Wyatt’s face before running him over twice and taking him on a trip to “Happy New Year Hell”.

The Ascension got their Smackdown debut underway with flying colours as they defeated local wrestlers Lance Anoai & Rhett Titus in less than two minutes. Viktor and Connor showed that they work in co-ordinance by hitting their joint finisher, The Fall of Man on Anoai for the pin. The duo had shown week after in NXT that they are the future powerhouses of the tag-team division, especially as they were the NXT Tag Team Champions for nearly a year.

Big Show attacks Roman Reigns during his main event match with Rusev

The main event of the night saw Roman Reigns take on Rusev in another match that was sanctioned by Edge and Christian. Reigns landed the Superman Punch on “The Big Russian” to set up his finishing sequence but Big Show re-entered the void to distract his new rival.

Reigns wasted no time and delivered another Superman Punch, this time to the “World’s Largest Athlete”. Reigns then hit a Spear on Rusev and went for the pin, but Show pulled the 2014 Superstar of the Year out of the ring for the referee to call for a disqualification. Show attacked Reigns following the match and hit a Spear onto the barricade before signalling for The Showstopper through the announcer table. Reigns somehow managed to counter and squashed Show with the table to end the show as a favourite ahead of the Royal Rumble later this month.

Results

Bray Wyatt defeated Erick Rowan

R-Truth & The Usos defeated Adam Rose & The Dust Brothers

The Big Show defeated Ryback via count out

Tyson Kidd & Cesaro defeated Los Matadores

The Ascension defeated Lance Anoai & Rhett Titus

Roman Reigns defeated Rusev via disqualification

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