Smackdown this week had a lot to live up to. RAW had introduced Goldberg yesterday and the onus was on Smackdown to ensure that a great product was produced that could deliver along the lines of the solid power-packed edition of Monday Night Raw.
We all know that WWE, in Dean Ambrose’s words, has “got to pay the bills, brother” and thus utilises a lot of it’s on-air time for commercials. But have you ever wondered what is happening in the matches as the actual live show cuts to these commercials? We often see matches changed and developments having happened when the show was off-air!
Well, wonder no more because we have you covered.
Starting this week, we’re going to take a look at some of the most interesting moments that happened when the shows cut to commercial breaks. There are important match developments, fun segments and sometimes we even get to see high-flying action live when the show on TV is taking a commercial break!
So without further ado, let’s start off with what happened during the commercial breaks for our first match of the night!
#1 AJ Styles (Champion) vs. James Ellsworth (For the WWE Championship)
James Ellsworth and AJ styles had a highly entertaining match to finish off the show. A bout which was hardly a back-and-forth one was made a lot of fun thanks to Dean Ambrose’s constant interference and by him playing the duties of the match announcer, the timekeeper as well as the in-ring announcer all at once!
We had cut to commercials just after Dean Ambrose had announced that the match had to be stopped for one. It appears that James Ellsworth had somehow found himself outside the ring after this. Possibly pulled out by Dean Ambrose himself. Dean then went on to interview Ellsworth about his thoughts.
An interview in the middle of the match! This must have been entertaining for the live audience. AJ Styles didn’t seem to be amused by Dean Ambrose’s shenanigans however, as he made sure he cut the interview in between by getting out of the ring and attacking Ellsworth from behind. As pictured below:
It appears that Dean Ambrose wasn’t harmed in this onslaught and made a quick exit as James Ellsworth continued getting beaten down at the hands of AJ Styles. The offence continued as AJ Styles slammed James Ellsworth down on the ringside barricades. That must have hurt!
After spending quite a bit of time outside, threatening Dean Ambrose that he would be next, it appears that AJ Styles left a downed James Ellsworth to be counted out and went back to the ring. Also, here’s a video of the entire incident:
James Ellsworth obviously needed to be nursed back to health after the vicious beatdown that he had suffered at the hands of AJ Styles and fortunately for him, Dean Ambrose wasn’t too far.
Dean Ambrose appears to have massaged Ellsworth’s traps (or lack thereof) and shoulders. Thus rejuvenating him and nursing him back to consciousness after being beaten down by AJ Styles. AJ it seems, was happy to see the terrified Ellsworth’s reaction to his beatdown and gloated in the middle of the ring.
A little showboating from AJ Styles saw him do a front-double-biceps bodybuilding pose towards the crowd!
Ellsworth was possibly helped back to the ring by Dean Ambrose, where it doesn’t appear like the nursing helped much at all since AJ Styles almost immediately continued the beatdown again.
This was the moment we got back on air and the rest, as they say, is history! Ellsworth went on to win the match via a disqualification, thanks to Dean Ambrose constantly mocking AJ Styles and infuriating him to the point where he had stopped listening to the referee.
Truly a momentous occasion for James Ellsworth to have now defeated AJ Styles more times than even John Cena has!
#2 Randy Orton vs. Luke Harper
Right after the lights went out and Bray Wyatt made his entrance, the Smackdown live feed had cut to commercials, but it seems that the lights had come back on immediately thereafter and the action was taken out of the ring with Randy Orton and Luke Harper battling it out.
As per this picture, Luke Harper seemed to be getting the upper hand on Randy Orton at ringside. Note that this is the opposite side to where Bray Wyatt was standing at this time.
Randy Orton seems to have bounced right back though, as he smashed Luke Harper’s head to the announcers’ table. After this, the action seems to have been brought back to the ring where both Luke Harper and Randy Orton started battling it out once again.
It appears that Luke Harper tried going for a big boot on Randy Orton, who caught the boot mid-air and ended up reversing it. The match was subsequently taken outside as Randy Orton pushed Luke Harper out. It’s worth noting that the match being taken outside again, this time, was done on the side that Bray Wyatt had entered from.
Luke Harper’s head was smashed into the casket by Randy Orton. It’s worth noting that despite being close to the action, Bray Wyatt doesn’t seem to be interfering at this point. The back-and-forth continued as Luke Harper got his own offence in!
Luke Harper seems to have delivered a superkick to Randy Orton, which is quite impressive for a man his size! After the superkick, Luke Harper seemed to have slid back into the ring and that is where we got back from commercials, with a downed Randy Orton being counted out by the referee.
#3 Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss
Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss was an action packed match. Really goes on to show how technically gifted the two ladies really are, seeing as how they can really go in the ring. The match was filled with a lot of back-and-forth action. But there were some moments off air that you would definitely like to check out!
After the referee had instructed Naomi to stay in the ring and to not follow Alexa Bliss outside, we had cut to commercials. However, it appears that Naomi didn’t listen to the referee and actually decided to follow Alexa Bliss regardless.
Here, she’s seen having picked up Alexa Bliss on her shoulders (after presumably having landed some offence) and Alexa Bliss fighting back by gouging out her eyes.
It appears that the two ended up getting back to the ring, with Alexa Bliss having the upper hand as she shoved Naomi on the bottom turnbuckle and tried to choke her out with her boot. You can also see the referee interfering, trying to stop her.
We’re not quite sure what happened immediately thereafter, but either Naomi got a cross body slam or it was some sort of a power-slam move by Alexa. Either way, here’s an image for you to decide yourself! Our opinion leans towards the latter possibility, however.
After this, Alexa Bliss got Naomi on to a chokehold in the middle of the ring and that is where we came back from the commercials!
#4 The Miz (with Maryse), Kenny and Mikey (Spirit Squad) vs. Dolph Ziggler (Intercontinental Champion) with Heath Slater and Rhyno (Tag Team champions)
Gosh, that took a while to get together. But this 6-man tag team match was pretty action-packed in its’ own right! Slater and Rhyno seems to have allied themselves with the Intercontinental champion Dolph Ziggler and came to his aid after he was getting beaten down by the Miz and Spirit Squad last week.
As we all know, Dolph was a former member of the Spirit Squad himself, so the green male-cheerleader team doesn’t seem to be taking too well to his recent success. Let’s see some of the unseen moments that happened during this bout!
We had cut to commercials right after the Miz was superkicked by Dolph, who had then rolled out of the ring. It appears that the trio of Dolph Ziggler, Heath Slater and Rhyno wanted to go after the Miz and the Spirit Squad after the Miz was thrown out, but the referee is pictured here trying to stop them from doing so:
lt was after this, that we see that Maryse finally reacted and got Kenny, Mikey and The Miz into a huddle for a team discussion of sorts. Maryse, the mastermind made sure that she had everyone on the same page regarding her plans for how the match should end. A beauty with brains if there ever was one!
This was one pivotal moment in the match that wasn’t aired. It was Maryse who orchestrated the plan that led to the eventual win! She isn’t just arm candy but a very important part of any of Miz’s matches and it shows.
After Maryse had discussed her game plan with the team, it appears that Mikey had been tagged in by The Miz. Mikey got in the ring and actually managed to land some offence on the Miz before he was countered, as we can see below.
Dolph Ziggler followed his offence up with a flying elbow on the chest of a downed Mikey. Mikey was definitely out of it at this point and there was no way he could have continued to land any remarkable offence on his former Spirit Squad member.
The Miz was tagged back in by Mikey as we moved closer to coming back on air. Dolph Ziggler was prepared for his incoming opponent as he landed a clothesline on the Miz, as we can see below. The Miz, pretty much got back into the same position as he had started in.
After getting tagged back in, it appears that The Miz wasn’t able to do much on the offensive front as he continued to get a beatdown at the hands of Dolph, Dolph seems to have taken miz on to the turnbuckles and got some punches in while Heath Slater continued to cheer him on.
And after this was when we got back from the commercials!
And that’s a wrap, folks!
This is the first time that we’re trying to cover these off-air moments and we hope you readers had a good time reading them! Please let us know how you feel about this effort of ours on Facebook or on the comments below.
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