Tag: off-air notes

SmackDown off-air notes: Maverick manages EC3, Owens vs. Zayn

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A former TNA Wrestling duo was reunited in a dark match prior to last night’s SmackDown in Brooklyn, New York.

Before SmackDown’s post-WrestleMania episode got underway, Luke Harper defeated EC3 in a dark match. EC3 was accompanied by Drake Maverick, who was formerly known as Rockstar Spud in TNA. They were both allies and rivals together during their time in the promotion.

Dixie Carter tweeted about the pairing: “What a fantastic, ‘original’ idea!! Those two are [money] together…. @therealec3 @WWEMaverick #SDLive @wwe”

EC3 should officially be assigned to a brand in next week’s Superstar Shakeup. Maverick is the on-screen general manager of 205 Live and managed AOP on Raw prior to Akam being out of action with a knee injury. Maverick has accompanied Rezar during matches on Main Event since then.

Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn in the dark match after last night’s 205 Live. Pat Laprade wrote about the match: “Sami tried to convince Kevin not to fight him. It worked. But he then insulted him. So KO came back and said since both were off Mania, they should be ready for a match. KO did a stunner right off the bat for the quick win. He then did two more stunners, well, just for fun!”

WWE SmackDown off-air notes: AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Posted on by F4W Staff

Submitted by Liam Renner

While they only appeared on SmackDown in separate backstage interview segments where they made it clear that their feud isn’t over, AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura faced off in last night’s dark match after 205 Live.

Styles won by disqualification, and they worked harder than you’d expect for a dark match. It was short, but they did a lot of near falls. They ended up outside of the ring and Nakamura hit Styles with a chair for the DQ. Afterwards, Nakamura threw Styles into the ring and went for the Kinshasa. Styles tried to do the same counter he did at WrestleMania, but they sort of botched it. They recovered quickly and Styles hit a Styles Clash to send the crowd home happy.

Asuka also defeated Sonya Deville in a dark match before SmackDown started. It was a pretty good match. Deville got the heat and they did a cool spot where they each blocked a head kick from the other and then hit them at the same time for a double down. Asuka eventually won with the Asuka Lock.

The crowd wasn’t very big. The entire non-television side upper deck was tarped off as well as the upper deck behind the announcers.

WWE SmackDown off-air notes: Daniel Bryan vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Daniel Bryan’s first bout with Shinsuke Nakamura in WWE came in the form of a dark match at last night’s SmackDown tapings in Montreal.

The match happened after 205 Live went off the air, with Bryan winning by disqualification. Bryan was hitting his “Yes” kicks when Nakamura gave him a low blow for the DQ, but Bryan stood tall after the match by hitting a running knee as Nakamura was going for the Kinshasa.

The match lasted for under 10 minutes.

Bryan and Nakamura (and UFC fighter Lyoto Machida) were roommates during their time at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Los Angeles dojo in the early 2000s and both have spoken about wanting to wrestle each other at this point in their careers.

Bryan didn’t appear on television last night, with the storyline explanation being that he wasn’t cleared to compete due to his chest being damaged in the Greatest Royal Rumble. Big Cass brought a little person dressed as Bryan out to the ring, made fun of him, and then gave him a big boot after admitting that it was just an actor.

The Usos defeated Rusev & Aiden English in last night’s pre-SmackDown dark match.