WRESTLING RECAP: Breaking down WWE SmackDown from 07/16/15

(www.PlaytimeCares.com) - Pay Per View (PPV) Battleground is in 3 days. If you followed any of my other post of a live event before a PPV, you know that I believe that they normally put together a safe and boring show.  This particular SmackDown episode was actually really decent and they took a lot of risk.

Some things I still need to happen in the WWE Universe:

1. Bring back the Cruiser Weight Division
2. Make all the matches mean something to some sort of belt or rivalry.  
3. Show more of the roster.  You guys recycle the same talent too much.
4. You may wish to consider bringing the Diva's division full circle and have them with Tag Title belts, lightweight belts, etc.
5. The Tag Team Division is starting to look better than the singles division.  Get more people graduated from NXT and get that division showcased more.

Here are the highlights of the show:

AirDate: Thursday, July 16, 2015
Location: Birmingham, AL
Commentators:  Jimmy Uso, Tom Phillips and Jerry "The King" Lawler

Roman Reigns heads to the ring

1. RAW recap of Reigns jumping him before his match with Dean Ambrose
2. Says Bray Wyatt can't break his focus
3. Announces he is teaming with Dean Ambrose tonight in a match
4. Wyatt interrupts via Jumbotron
5. Wyatt says Reigns is a monument and he is a hammer. At Battleground he will bring the hammer down on the monument and destroy it
6. Wyatt tells Reigns to kiss all his loved ones because he might not make it home after Battleground 

• Lucha Dragon VS The New Day with Xavier Woods sitting out and The Prime Time Players on commentary

1. Decent pace and match
2. Plenty of high impact and high risk moves were done throughout the match
3. Numbers game proves to be too much for the Lucha Dragons
4. The New Day wins
5. The New Day tells the Prime Time Players that they will win the titles at Battleground
6. 8 out of 10 for this match

Roman Reigns tells Dean Ambrose that even though he is focused on their match tonight with Sheamus and The Big Show, if Wyatt shows up, he will not make it to Battleground.

• King Barrett VS Jack Swagger

1. "USA" chants
2. Pretty stale paced match
3. Swagger had a good run but runs into a bull hammer elbow
4. King Barrett wins
5. R. Truth comes out and Barrett gets upset
6. Barrett tells Truth that he is making a mockery of the King of the Ring tournament
7. Barrett says that he will beat him badly at Battleground
8. 7 out of 10 for the match 

Recap of the issues forming between Seth Rollins and Brock Lesnar starting from this year's Wrestlemania, leading up to days before Battleground.

Video:

• Rusev with Summer Rae VS Cesaro

1. RAW recap of triple threat match of Rusev, Cesaro and Kevin Owens
2. "We want Lana" chants
3. Very physical match 
4. Back and forth action
5. Rusev goes for a top rope move and gets caught with an uppercut
6. Cesaro gets a pin victory
7. 8 out of 10 for the match

Sheamus says he embraces big challenges because he isn't a little guy.  He says he will give Randy Orton a beating at Battleground because it is personal dislike for him with Orton and not just business.

• Neville VS Stardust

1. RAW recap of Stardust getting a victory over Neville by grabbing his tights on a pin
2. "Cody" chants
3. Short match
4. Decent match
5. Neville wins on a roll up pin because Stardust was distracted arguing with the referee
6. Neville gets interviewed about the win in the back and Stardust attacks him from behind
7. 7 out of 10 for the match

RAW recap of Divas division getting new members and getting teams formed

Jojo interviews Team Naomi (Naomi, Tamina and NXT Women's champion Sasha Banks) and Naomi lets her know that they are the team to beat.  She says their team is B.A.D. (Best At Dominating)

• Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns VS Sheamus and Big Show 

1. Big Show puts on a show and really dominates the early match
2. Crowd really gets into the match when The Big Show was finally neutralized
3. Reigns VS Sheamus kept the crowd on their feet
4. Big Show and Ambrose went through the announcer's table and the crowd went nuts
5. Reigns delivered a Superman punch to Sheamus and was setting up a spear, but Wyatt attacks him
6. Ambrose and Reigns wins via Disqualification
7. Reigns gets out of Wyatt's Sister Abigail finishers and delivers a Superman punch to him
8. Reigns ducks the Brouge kick by Sheamus and delivers a spear to him
9. 8 out of 10 for the match