FanPost

SmackDown in Chocolatetown

Last night (April 22, 2014), I took my lady to her first live event, as she has become one of the biggest WWE fans ever since watching WrestleMania. I was a little disappointed that Daniel Bryan wouldn't be there, but the man needed to be with his family. It was tough watching the billions of Raw replays of his segment.

Post will contain spoilers for SmackDown this Friday.

- Main Event kicked off the night, and it was okay. There were a lot of matches before SmackDown, some done for Main Event and two others that were dark matches. Big E got a nice reception and he and Alberto Del Rio had a decent match, with Big E going over. Bad News Barrett interrupted on his glorious lift, and crapped on Big E and the crowd. One thing I loved is that Barrett looks like he is having a great time with his gimmick, and that helps me get involved in what he is doing a lot easier.

- Hornswoggle and El Torito was okay, the crowd was up and down on it. Sheamus got a solid reaction when he came out to squash Titus O'Neil, who was mehburger with cheese and had to be carried by the Celtic Warrior. Ryback took down Jimmy Uso in a fairly long match that was actually pretty good. The Usos are really over with the live crowd.

- There were two dark matches, one with Bo Dallas beating a local Hershey wrestler. Bo cut a pretty decent promo beforehand, and the smile on his face was priceless. Maybe it's from watching NXT, but he really does come across as the guy who thinks everyone loves him. Later, Sami Zayn defeated Heath Slater in a decent match. As entertaining as Zayn is, I'm still unsure of his gimmick or how he'll connect with the crowd. I enjoyed his match because I know the guy can go, but I'm interested to see how he will do in the big leagues on a regular basis.

- SmackDown kicked off with Vickie Guerrero, and holy crap you can't hear a word she says. I thought she said that she had given Daniel Bryan the night off, but apparently it was The Authority getting the night off. Anyway, Zeb Colter w/ Jack Swagger debated Paul Heyman w/ Cesaro. Seeing Heyman talk about the Streak over and over is pretty damn awesome, because the crowd just instantly hates him for it and he just keeps hammering it home. Cesaro and Swagger ended up having a really great match, and the Swing has really put Cesaro over in a big way. For what it's worth, I thought his music sounded a little better live. The Shield then came out to a nice pop and took out Swagger. These guys just ooze bad-assness walking to the ring and destroying whatever is in their path.

- Natalya got a loud pop, but ended up losing to Tamina in a decent match. Felt like the Divas match was easier to get into with a live crowd. They weren't super into it, but they also weren't taking a shit on it and seemed at least somewhat invested.

- The Shield had a backstage segment where they took out 3MB. Again, these guys are fantastic and really carried the show. The Shield was worth the price of admission.

- They had Curtis Axel take on Jey Uso, and maybe it was because we had Ryback beat Jimmy earlier on, but this match was bad. One thing of note is that Ryback was trolling the crowd perfectly. They need to put that guy on commentary or give him his own talk show or something, because outside the ring he does a great job with the crowd. Axel went over and everyone yawned.

- The Wyatts entrance is something to behold. The chills you get when they say "we're here" is just awesome, and everyone was clapping to their theme song. Bray's promo went over perfectly with the crowd. The guy can captivate an audience and I thought he made real points in his promo rather than being kind of vague. The Wyatt Family then defeated the Rhodes Brothers, after Goldust knocked Cody off the top rope accidentally. There was also a point in the match where Cody went for a tag, but Goldy had been knocked off the apron. Bray and the Family stood tall and said "Follow the Buzzards" to end the segment. Another note is that Bray really interacted with the crowd well during what I assumed were commercial breaks.

- Brad Madd-ox took over for Vickie and ended up catching a beat down from the Shield. One thing that was awesome, was that Reigns threw Maddox against the wall, behind a couch. Rollins then unleashed Ambrose who jumped over the couch and started pummeling Maddox like the psycho that he is. It was amazing and the crowd loved it.

- Emma! Oh, and Santino. Fandango then came out, and I'd say 70% of the crowd was Fandangoing. Unfortunately for the lover of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, he was interrupted by The Shield and Triple Power-bombed off the stage through a table. The Shield did their pose and a 'this is awesome' chant broke out.

- The Shield then went on to have a 6 on 3 Handicap match. A CM Punk chant broke out for a bit, which I thought was a little dumb, mainly because The Shield were doing a great job all night and earned our full attention. A YES Chant eventually drowned it out. The Shield destroyed everyone by the end. Alberto Del Rio and Bad News Barrett bailed, but Reigns ran through the crowd to the top of the ramp to Superman punch Del Rio. Everyone else was speared and the Shield stood tall. It really is something seeing these guys live.

- The dark "match" saw the Wyatts come out to confront the Shield. It was awesome. Wyatts held the ring before the Shield rallied to take them out, with Reigns delivering a spear to Rowan.

The Shield really made the night amazing by simply being badasses and taking everyone out. The crowd was really behind them and like I said, they went out and made the show worth the price of admission My girlfriend took 40 pictures, all of the Shield.

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Cageside Seats readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cageside Seats editors or staff.