The March 19th edition of SmackDown kicked off with Roman Reigns approaching the ring to cut a promo only to be interrupted by Mark Henry again. Mark Henry entered the ring and had previous footage playback on the Titantron from the week before. The World’s Strongest Man announced that he now believed in Roman Reigns and that Brock Lesnar will lose his Championship title at WrestleMania 31.
Of course this wouldn’t please the ears of Seth Rollins, who walked out from the back with J&J and Corporate Kane. Seth Rollins informed everyone that with the help of J&J security, Randy Orton would not be in the building that night. Yeah, because we all know how good J&J security are at their job. Kane then announced the night’s main event to be a tag team match between Roman Reigns, Mark Henry, Seth Rollins and Kane himself.
Brie Bella vs. Paige
The first match of the night was a Divas match between Paige and Brie Bella with AJ Lee and Nikki Bella as guest commentators. AJ Lee and Nikki took the opportunity to exchange verbal comments at each other about their match at WrestleMania. Nikki believes that her team will reign superior due to the fact that her and Brie are sisters while Paige and AJ are frienemies. The conversation at ringside was a little distracting of the action going on inside the ring. Paige and Brie actually had a good match and it would be the former British Divas Champion who would get the pin fall on her opponent at WrestleMania.
Intercontinental Title Contender Gauntlet Match: Dean Ambrose, R-Truth, Luke Harper, Stardust, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler
Next up was the Intercontinental Title Contender Gauntlet match. To kick it off was Stardust versus Dean Ambrose. Dean Ambrose would get the win over Stardust and eventually R-Truth. Unfortuantely the Lunatic Fringe could not get a win over Luke Harper, which is typical because the opponents who were left to compete were Dolph Ziggler and Daniel Bryan.
Luke Harper would lose against Daniel Bryan, leaving Bad News Barrett’s opponent at WrestleMania to be either Daniel Bryan or Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler and Bryan pushed each other to their limits, fighting for that spot at Wrestlemania. In the end, it was Ziggler who dodged a kick from Bryan before hitting the Zig-Zag for the win.
Given the results of this match, the whole situation with the title getting tossed around like a hot potato, has just been one huge waste of time. The only good thing it has done is show that the mid card titles are actually wanted and that it’s not just the world title that everyone has their eyes on. Obviously WWE should have just went ahead and made the match at WrestleMania between Bad News Barrett and Dolph Ziggler. WWE would have saved time for other matches and possibilities instead of wasting it on this charade. It would have been different if Dean Ambrose would have won the title shot at WrestleMania or if all seven men would compete in the ladder match. Ziggler getting the title opportunity is what should have happened all along so it’s really nothing new.
WWE Tag Team Champions and Natalya vs. Los Matadores and El Torito
Next up was a match that WWE has decided to be called the first-ever Six-Being Interspecies Tag Team Match. “Interspecies”? Really? Before I rant about the name let’s discuss the match first. There was plenty of high flying action from Los Matadores against the team of Cesaro, Natalya, and Tyson Kidd. It was a hetic attack between Los Matadores and the WWE Tag Team Champions. You almost forget that Natalya is actually able to compete in the match and she does. Kidd makes the tag to his wife before getting thrown from the ring. Natalya gets the pin fall after getting El Torito with a powerbomb.
Now about the name. I know that WWE is now PG and they’re trying to target children for their audience, but kids aren’t sheeps enough to believe that El Torito is a real bull. Everyone knows that he’s a man not an animal. So why call this an “interspecies” match? Maybe it’s to cover up the fact that after years, the WWE Universe finally sees some girl on guy action in the ring and it’s legal. But okay WWE if you really want us to believe that El Torito is in fact a real bull then can I file a lawsuit for animal cruelty?
Mark Henry and Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins and Corporate Kane
Aside all of that, I’m sure everyone saw the events of the night’s main event happening when the match was announced. The main even tag team match turned into a 2-on-1 Handicap Match after Mark Henry was attacked backstage. Even Roman Reigns clearly saw this coming. Reigns didn’t let this distract him as he Superman Punched Seth Rollins and speared Kane for the win. Before the show came to a close, Randy Orton made his way into the ring and unleashed an attack on Mr. Money in the Bank. Gee I wonder how he managed to get past the great J&J security. Seth Rollins managed to escape The Viper but will he be so lucky at WrestleMania?
