WWE Smackdown Spoilers 5/31 & VIDEO: Payback Foreshadowing Begins as Shield, Team Hell No Battle Intensifies
This week's Friday Night Smackdown hails from north of the border in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and already, the WWE has started preparing for the upcoming Payback pay-per-view, on Jun. 16.
On Monday's Raw, John Cena upped the ante on Ryback's ambulance match proposal from last week, declaring that it should be an incredibly rare Three Stages Of Hell match. Chris Jericho also booked a Payback match: he is set to take on the long-absent CM Punk, agreed upon with Paul Heyman as his representative.
Friday's Smackdown continued ramping up the ongoing feud between Team Hell No and Shield members Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, and based on the crowd reactions, gave Daniel Bryan some time to shine.
*Kane defeats Seth Rollins/Roman Reigns defeats Daniel Bryan: After about nine minutes, Kane took Rollins out with a choke slam, before a seamless transition into the Reigns/Bryan match. But this one also ended because of Kane's actions, and a punch he landed gave the match to Reigns via DQ. The volatile tag team argued as audience members egged them on to "hug it out."
*Damien Sandow introduced another mental challenge, but not before getting a few shots in at Edmonton -- calling the Oilers out for selling Gretzky for a song was a wonderful way to get heat! In the middle of Sandow establishing the rules, Sheamus interrupted and tried to get in on the game. His attempt to flimflam the Irishman got him a Brogue Kick for his troubles.
*Ryback defeats Kofi Kingston: Was Ryback's ambulance ride in to the ring was longer than this match? Maybe. Kingston got right at the large man straightaway, but was quickly demolished by a Shellshock and a power bomb through three tables. It turned out that Kingston needed the ambulance more, as he was carted out of the ring by paramedics.
*Big E. Langston defeats Alberto Del Rio: AJ Lee was in tow, and she managed to get a shot in at the former World Heavyweight Champion, but it seemed unnecessary: Langston dominated the match, thwarting every attempt Del Rio made to get even a semblance of the upper hand. Langston took the match by pinball.
*Curtis Axel defeats Sin Cara: The newest superstar took on the man in for the second time in as many weeks, though not before bragging about how he beat a concussed Triple H and a distracted John Cena on the last two Raw episodes. His Perfect Plex made the defeat of Sin Cara much more definitive.
*Chris Jericho defeats Cody Rhodes: Jericho made sure he got a few digs in his promo for his Payback match with Punk. Next he tried to beat the mustache off of Rhodes; the mustache presumably remained above his lip, but Jericho still picked up the victory in this fast paced match.
*Randy Orton defeats Dean Ambrose: A lengthy, well-paced match, but once again, Shield interference handed Orton the match. However, a difference cast of characters came in for the save, and this time it was Team Hell No, perhaps temporarily on the same page, that ran into the ring as the show closed.
*Team Hell No and Randy Orton defeats The Shield: The scuffle that ended the show became an impromptu six-man tag team dark match, and it rolled along for nearly four minutes, until Roman Reigns got a chair involved and the refs ended the match promptly.
Check out Monday Night Raw's tag match -- Team Hell No vs. Shield members Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns.