Smackdown Spoilers for 3-15-2013: Is there a new inductee in the Hall of Pain?

[Emperor Smeat]

Credit: Rob McCarron & Wrestling Observer

Josh Mathews / Michael Cole / Brad Maddox on commentary

Sheamus & Randy Orton defeat Cody Rhodes & Damien Sandow. Sandow ate a Brogue Kick, Rhodes ate an RKO to take the pin.

After the match, The Shield challenged Orton and Sheamus to find a partner for a six man at WrestleMania. Orton and Sheamus accepted.

The Miz defeats Darren Young via submission (Figure Four). Wade Barrett helped on commentary.

Backstage, Big Show wanted to be the tag partner against The Shield. Orton & Henry said they already picked somebody - The Ryback.

Layla & Kaitlyn defeat Tamina Snuka & Aksana. Sloppy match. Kaitlyn hit Aksana with a GORE, but Layla snuck a tag in and pinned Aksana with a crossbody. Turn coming.

Backstage, the Bellas beat up Naomi and Cameron. Bellas made fun of the "dancing dinosaur and his fat friend who thinks he is Japanese."

Dolph Ziggler defeats Kane with the ZigZag. Daniel Bryan and Big E brawled at ringside towards the end. This distracted Kane leading towards the finish. Big E tossed Bryan over the timekeeper wall. After the match, Ziggler taunted Kane until Kane grabbed Zigg's throat for a chokeslam. Big E saved Ziggler, then hit his finish on Kane.

Another Ricardo/ADR spoof on Colter aired. This one was about Canadians. It was pretty funny.

Fandango vs Great Khali never happened. Fandango came out, calling Khali "stretch." He wanted Khali to pronounce his name. Khali tried. Fandango was sickened by Khali's attempt. No match.

Backstage, Booker made Shield vs Sheamus, Ryback, and Orton official. The Shield then attacked Orton and Sheamus and left them laying.

Mark Henry vs The Ryback never happened. 10 seconds after the bell rang, The Shield attacked Ryback. Ryback initially cleared the ring and faced back off with Henry, but the Shield got the better of Ryback on attempt #2. The Shield left Ryback laying with a trio powerbomb. After Shield left, Henry came back in and gave Ryback a World's Strongest Slam. And then another. And then another. Henry welcomed Ryback to the Hall of Pain.

Jack Swagger pinned Chris Jericho. This was a good, long match with a lot of back and forth trading nearfalls at the end. Swagger won with his gutwrench powerbomb.

Swagger and Zeb posed to close the show.

[#1-norm-fan]

Hmm. I have no idea where they're going with this Show/Ryback/Orton/Sheamus/Henry/Shield thing.

Maybe turning it into an 8-man at WM eventually? Seems random.

[#1-norm-fan]

And lol @ Fandango making Khali say his name properly.

[Ruien]

Maybe Ryback never accepted the request.

[#1-norm-fan]

It says "Backstage, Booker made Shield vs Sheamus, Ryback, and Orton official."

[Skippord]

I would imagine Ryback will drop out of the match and challenge Mark Henry(and will hopefully lose to him) and then Big Show will join.

[#1-norm-fan]

Unless they're just building up to Ryback saying "Fuck the Shield" and taking himself off the team to face Mark Henry and then Orton and Sheamus asking Show to be on the team and Show saying "fuck you guys".

Which would be a pretty decent way to turn Show face again if that's what they wanna do. Have Show decline the offer because he's pissed they didn't choose him in the first place and then the week before WrestleMania, he saves them from a 3 on 2 attack and finally joins.

[dronepool]

Hmm. I have no idea where they're going with this Show/Ryback/Orton/Sheamus/Henry/Shield thing.

Maybe turning it into an 8-man at WM eventually? Seems random.

Putting the big name boring wrestlers against Shield and Henry is an easy way to give all the well liked boring wrestlers a spot at WM :D

[Emperor Smeat]

It says "Backstage, Booker made Shield vs Sheamus, Ryback, and Orton official."

Probably like Skippord says and Ryback will drop out in favor of taking out his frustrations against Henry.

If done right could even start a small tease towards a future heel turn. Just have the Shield attack Orton/Sheamus again and then both guys confront Ryback on why he didn't help. Ryback would rather go after Henry who's become his new source of anger and no longer cares about the Shield regardless if they are beating up his "friends."

[Shisen Kopf]

Hmmm.

[Corndad]

That whole situation is confusing but I still have no idea what they are gonna do with Ziggler/Team Hell No/even Jericho at Mania and it scares me will be left off somehow.

Maybe a Team Hell No vs Dolph/Big E for Tag Titles with Dolph cashing MITB later in show? Jericho Maybe against Barrett in IC match but damn. Any guess is a good one. Confusing as hell.

Those guys deserve a spot. Looks like they are trying to build Ziggler back up with a few big wins this past week but lord knows what's gonna happen.

[Shisen Kopf]

Tape or no tape??

[Bad News Gertner]

WTF, no Heath Slater!!! Does the company want to go out of business or something?

[Dark One]

WTF, no Heath Slater!!! Does the company want to go out of business or something?


WWE Main Event (Airing Wednesday):
The Miz & Michael Cole on commentary.

Big Show defeats Alberto Del Rio via Countout. Jack Swagger came out and watched the match from the ramp. When Show sent Del Rio over the ropes, Swagger came down and chop blocked Del Rio’s knee.

Jey & Jimmy Uso defeat Drew McIntyre & Heath Slater. Drew took the pin after a top rope splash.

Wade Barrett defeats Justin Gabriel via pinfall. Gabriel was coming off the top rope when Wade caught him with his forearm smash for the win. Wade aced off with Miz (on commentary) afterwards.

Heath Slater is a Main Eventer.

[KaosDarksol]

Hope mark Henry isn't revealed to be behind the shield and turn the six man tag into an 8 man tag

[MoFo]

Hopefully Orton & Sheamus bring back BIG DAVE BATISTA to beat up the dastardly Shield.

[Fox]

Here's what I'm thinking:

At Mania, Randy Orton turns on both of his partners and is revealed to be the mastermind behind the Shield all along, and that the biggest injustice that they are going to set out to right is the mis-use and lack of appreciation of the youngest World Champion in WWE history, Randy Orton.

This would lead to a Randy Orton vs. The Rock series of matches - something that people have been interested in since 2003. I think Orton beats Rock at Backlash(?) with help from the Shield, Rock picks up a win at Summerslam and then they have a rubber match at WM 30.

[Wehttam]

yea, that's not happening. they have been attacking orton for months. typical fox.

[Innovator]

That and Randy already has two wellness violations against him, and he's looking bigger these days.

[Fox]

yea, that's not happening. they have been attacking orton for months. typical fox.


Orton has been rumored to be turning heel for months.

What better way to swerve the world than to have the bad guys who you are secretly in partnership with attack you in public to remove all suspicion? It instills trust in you on the part of your tag team partners, making the turn all the more shocking. And the fact that he would take an ass-beating to sell the ruse only makes Orton that much more fiendish, diabolical and sadistic - a viper.

Plus, The Rock verus Randy Orton is a marquee match. Two third generation superstars one-on-one. It sells itself.



Why did I un-ignore you again?

[Fox]

That and Randy already has two wellness violations against him, and he's looking bigger these days.

In exchange for a major PPV pay-off, I think WWE would be willing to take the risk. Look at Jack Swagger - not nearly as big a star as Orton - still main eventing WrestleMania, despite his recent and much publicized incident. Why? Because the company believes and has invested in Swagger. Just like they could still invest and believe in Orton.

[Tazz Dan]

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[Mr. Nerfect]

Ryback was the logical choice to face The Shield at WrestleMania, since he's been the target of their attacks since their debut. It makes sense that Orton & Sheamus would go to him and that he'd be the first confirmed to take on The Shield. But Mark Henry attacking Ryback now gives him bigger fish to fry, which leaves Orton & Sheamus one man down. Enter a dude that they both hate: The Big Show. This sets up WrestleMania perfectly. The story is "Can we trust Big Show?" now, which is of course a red herring, as it is Orton they cannot trust.

It seems that the WWE are going ahead with Team Hell No vs. Dolph Ziggler & Big E. Langston, which I am actually not a fan of. I don't know why. I guess it's because I'm not really into Ziggler & Langston as a team. I'd rather that Ziggler got another partner and went against Bryan & Kane with Langston as an enforcer at ringside. Antonio Cesaro would be pretty great.

It seems that they are building to Kaitlyn vs. Layla, too, which makes me sad, because I'd rather they give AJ the spot at WrestleMania against Kaitlyn. She's clearly been the stand-out Diva lately. I guess they don't feel like she needs to wrestle to be over. I'm all for a Layla heel turn, though. I'd have her turn on Naomi, though...:naughty:...after she and Layla get into a crump-off or something one day. No, it wouldn't be a feud over dancing ability, but rather it'd be a return to Layla's awesome heel persona. She'd cut a promo something along the lines of: "Remember when this used to be all about me? Well, guess what -- it still is."

[CSL]

Orton has been rumored to be turning heel for months.

oh well in that case it absolutely unequivocally must be true

[#1-norm-fan]

I think the rumor originated from Orton mentioning on Twitter or somewhere that he hates being a face. So it's got some credibility. His character hasn't been doing anything of note for a while now and he wants to be a heel. Seems like a turn will probably be happening sooner or later.

[CSL]

well yeah, quite possibly he could but it's been no secret for years that he prefers being heel, plus plenty of guys could potentially turn face or heel at a given time. It's aimed at the internet wrestling adage of "see something written online: treat it as gospel/use it to help make your "argument""

[#1-norm-fan]

I like face Orton if they were committed to him like they were during his last title run. Like a few people have already said, the guy knows how to get a crowd behind him during a match like no one else. And he's over in a way you can't really manufacture.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Orton has two strikes against his name. The WWE have pushed two strike guys in the past (Jeff Hardy comes to mind), but I can totally understand that the the WWE doesn't want to put the World Title on Orton or anything.