WWE SmackDown Recap & Reactions (Mar. 10, 2016): The Road to KOMania

This week's episode of SmackDown, airing on the USA Network on Mar. 10, 2016, originated from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  The WWE is two nights away from the WWE Roadblock special event this Saturday, Mar. 12, which leads to the WrestleMania 32 pay-per-view (PPV) in three weeks in Arlington, Texas.  For full results and the live blog, click here.

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Same Rivalry; Different Show

Miz TV started the show tonight with the guests being the Intercontinental Champion, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn.  Miz immediately sells that KO and Zayn are old friends turned rivals and provided a clip of Zayn's re-redebut on RAW this past Monday.  The Likeable One made his very first SmackDown appearance as the Miz's first guest of the evening.  Miz talked about Zayn's remarkable journey to the WWE, saying it should be a movie and asked who Sami Zayn is.  Before Sami could speak, Miz cut him off to talk about his relationship with KO.

Zayn spoke about how close he and KO were.  They traveled the World together and were like brothers.  Zayn expressed that he still does not understand why KO turned on him upon arriving at NXT the night Zayn became the champion there.  Miz said that Zayn's story is interesting but there are two sides to every story and called out Owens.

KO waited for a while before walking out.  He told Zayn that he knows why KO did what he did.  KO said that what he did was not personal; it was best for his career.  KO has come out better than Zayn because of it.  KO said that what Zayn did at the Royal Rumble and this past Monday were personal and he is the victim.

Zayn declared that KO will be the victim when he takes the Intercontinental Championship from him at WrestleMania.  KO responded by saying that this is the KO Show and he is nothing.  Zayn challenges KO to a fight but KO called him delusional and went to leave until Neville arrived on the scene.  Neville said that Zayn is not the only person KO has to worry about because he wants the IC title as well.  Miz began to run his mouth at Neville and Zayn, saying he main evented WrestleMania when they had main evented bingo halls. Zayn insulted him right back, saying his days of main events are looooong gone.

Miz attacked Zayn from behind but bailed from the ring before a real fight could start.  At this point, the show goes to commercial but this still is indeed SmackDown, so a tag team match between KO and Miz versus Neville and Zayn is booked.

This match was a nice exhibition of the skills of all four performers.  Miz and KO worked together to get an unfair advantage on Neville when one of his high risk attempts backfired on him.  They beat Neville down in their corner, cutting the ring off from a tag opportunity. Neville continued to fight back and kick out of pin attempts through it all.  At one point, KO asked for a tag while Miz was showboating and it cost him.  Neville regained the advantage long enough to get a tag to Zayn.

Sami came into the match and brought it to Miz.  He honestly did not stand much of a chance.  Zayn was on fire.  KO had ducked off the apron at one point when Zayn came at him.  He returned to the apron and Zayn delivered Miz to him for the tag.  KO got off of the apron, got his title, and walked off.  Upset, Zayn took his anger out on Miz, hitting a Helluva Kick for the win.  KO looked on at Zayn celebrated, holding his precious championship in his hands.

In one segment and one match, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens summed up their previous history quite well.

Now the story continues.

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Shame On You

Chris Jericho came to the ring, where a trash can had been placed, holding a Y2AJ shirt on a hanger, and immediately berated the crowd for booing him, asking, "This is what I get?"

But that did not surprise Jericho because the fans already chose to cheer AJ Styles over him.  That is why he did what he did on Monday.  The fans made him feel like a piece of trash by ignoring him and disrespecting him.  The fans have forgotten that Jericho is the best in the World at what he does.  Whatever you need.  He provides it.  He was never hurt during 17 years.  He was too busy winning championships in the WWE.  But fans still want to chant for Styles so they can go to Hell.

Even after the great tag match against New Day on Monday, the fans still picked Styles over Jericho.  But this is not new to Jericho.  New guys always come in and get labeled the "next big thing" and they fail because they cannot excel at the level that Y2J can.  Styles has only been in the WWE for six weeks yet the fans chose him over Jericho.  Shame on the fans.  Jericho predicted that Styles' WWE career will burn out and he will become nothing but a bum.

Y2AJ was something special and Styles and the fans ruined it.  Jericho then burned the shirt he brought to the ring in symbolism of AJ's career burning out.  Y2AJ is officially over and Jericho promised to be the one to set Styles' career up in smoke.  He then ended by mockingly chanting Styles' name.

I cannot wait for AJ Styles to beat the smug look off of his face.

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Eight Man Tag Match, Playah-playah

The announced main event for the show was Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, and Usos versus the Wyatt Family in an eight man tag team match.  Of course, commentary was focused on Ambrose challenging for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WWE Roadblock this Saturday.  Ambrose gained control for his team early in the match and tagged in Ziggler, who kept the offense going to Harper.  The Usos were tagged into the match and this is when Harper took a powder to talk strategy with his leader, Bray.

After the commercial break, Harper had gained control of Jey Uso, beating him down in a corner.  Jey got a tag into Ziggler, who came in hot but was soon taken out by Rowan.  The Family got Ziggler in their corner and began to beat him down.  Strowman was introduced to the match momentarily to chop Ziggler down.  The Family worked to break Ziggler down but the Show Off fought at every turn.  Harper then nearly took Ziggler's head off using the bottom rope and Ziggler was nearly counted out.

Ziggler was back into the ring where he and Harper went at it again.  Ziggler downed Harper and got the tag into Jimmy Uso.  The match soon broke down and the Usos did dual suicide dives to the Wyatts outside of the ring.  Jey went for a splash from the top rope but Harper but his knees up.  Ambrose got the hot tag and came in wrecking shop on the Wyatts.  He got a few near falls on Rowan, who was now legal for the Wyatts.  The match breaks down completely.  Bodies are thrown out of the ring.

Dean Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds on Rowan out of nowhere for the pin fall victory.  So everyone does get one over the Wyatts, I guess.  Ambrose is headed to a championship match on Saturday and I wish him all the best.

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Other Matches/Segments:

• R-Truth/Goldust: Make them a team already, WWE.  I would have purchased a Golden Truth shirt last month.
• Brie Bella versus Summer Rae: Lana was on commentary for this match yet gave no real reason for why she has a beef with Brie.  Brie won the match via submission.  After the match, Lana attacked her yet again, mocking the Yes! chants.  I apologize but I do not care about any of this.
• Lucha Dragons versus Sheamus and King Barrett: Rusev was ringside for this match that saw Barrett get the pin on Sin Cara after a Bull Hammer.
• Ryback backstage interview: The Big Guy saw Kalisto and Sin Cara lose to the LON and stated that, physically speaking, not all men are created equal.
• Usos /Ziggler/Ambrose backstage segment: This did not clear up why these four are teaming against the Wyatts.  I guess everybody gets a win against them at one point, huh?  I'm so sorry, Wyatt Family fans.
  

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Final Thoughts/Opinions:

There were two big focuses of this show: Kevin Owens and everyone who wants his title, including his former best friend who he stabbed in the back to climb the ladder to success; and why Jericho why?

Zayn and KO have been working on their story together for quite a while and it shows.  The two really play off that they hate each other.  Adding Miz and Neville to the mix is interesting.  Everyone wants to have a WrestleMania moment and KO refuses to have it be at his expense.  And Jericho is a bitter, jealous of man who is upset that fans have moved on from him and prefer AJ Styles.

The rest of the show was recaps and segments that did not really do much to further any other story.  After Jericho's promo, it was kinda hard to keep interest.  There were two really good parts of the show but, unfortunately, could not hold up for the rest.  I really hope we get more angles in the coming weeks headed into the biggest show of the year.

Rating: 7/10

That's all for this week, Cagesiders!  What are your thoughts on the show?  Be sure to leave a comment in the best comment section in sports entertainment!