If I had to review Tuesday night’s WWE “Smackdown” tapings in just four words I would just borrow the current quote Jericho is making famous.
“Drink it in, Man”
This should come as no surprise, but I am a self admitted “Jerichoholic’. From the moment he began reading off that list of “1,004 holds” on a March ‘98 edition of “WCW Monday Nitro” to the moment I was planted in a floor seat beaming ear to ear on Tuesday night, Jericho has been a constant in my life as a wrestling fan, yet it STILL took me nearly 18 years to see him live and in person. As he traveled the globe winning titles and gathering accolades, our “superstar/fan” paths just never seemed to cross over the course of those 18 years. In truth, its harder getting to shows living in a small town in Kansas. Nothing ever comes to this part of the midwest, and when it does its always in far away destination that requires travel of 6 or more hours. For years, I just couldn’t afford it, working dead end jobs and dead end hours, missing out constantly due to my bank statements being in the red. When I could make it, Jericho never seemed to be billed, or when he was he was, something always seemed to manifest and result in Jericho being removed from the card. As a matter of fact, I purchased tickets to WWE Live in Kansas City, MO late last year, and though Jericho was advertised for a brief period of time, he was eventually pulled from the show weeks before, leaving me with a small piece of disappointment despite it being an amazing show overall.
It could go without saying that I was apprehensive two months ago when “Intrust Bank Arena” advertised “Smackdown” in Wichita, Kansas with Chris Jericho on the bill. I bought my tickets and checked the WWE website daily, hoping nothing would change and even felt a small bit of nervousness setting in as we were nearing the last half hour of the show and we still hadn’t seen Chris Jericho make an appearance. All week long, I had seen an eight man tag team match advertised as the “main event” so i was prepared to accept that I may only get to see Jericho tag in for a brief moment, but still…something was better than missing out again. Though fans of the Usos, Styles, Reigns & Rollins were all bummed that the card changed (none of these guys wrestled and were all advertised to do so) I was excited to see an 8 man tag match become a one on one contest between Ambrose and Jericho.
The real treat was the end of the match. Jericho hit his finisher the “code breaker” and got the clean pin fall win and continued assaulting Ambrose after the contest, in which Ambrose finally turned it around and sent Jericho’s face crashing into a ladder. Out of nowhere, AJ Styles music hit and out came AJ and “The Club”; who came down and began to assault Dean Ambrose 3-on-1 as Jericho gathered his composure. As the “The Club” went to town putting boots to Ambrose, Roman Reigns music hit and he entered the fray. The crowd was visibly excited by the scrum and were all on their feet, so I had a hard time seeing what foreign object Jericho picked up to assault Reigns and Ambrose with. As Reigns and Ambrose made short work of everyone in the ring, Seth Rollins entered the fray for a brief moment, setting up Reigns for a pedigree only to be stopped with a back body drop, sending him under the ropes and to the back to fight another day. What happened next will probably not air on Thursday Nights “Smackdown” program but was an amazing way to send the crowd home happy.
As Reigns and Ambrose celebrated in the ring, Jericho came in and clocked Ambrose over the head with something that I originally thought to be the ringside bell, but as it struck Ambrose over the head, he didnt flinch or sell the shot. I then realized it was a binder filled with papers (Byron Saxton’s to be exact) and Ambrose and Reigns smiled wide backing Jericho into a corner.
Jericho begged them to reconsider and then asked the ringside person for a microphone to which he brilliantly delivered an excuse.
“You see in this notebook I wrote you and Dean an apology and I would like to read it to you” he pleaded, as the crowd booed loudly. He then asked the crowd to not be “stupid idiots” so he could read it.
“Wonderful Roman and Sweet, Sweet Dean…” he began. Everyone in our section was laughing so hard I was having a hard time hearing the rest. It was a couple of minutes before he finished and it was well worth the price of admission. Inevitably it ended in Jericho being ejected from the ring and Ambrose and Reigns posing and celebrating as everyone filed out of the building. In a way, I felt like the wrestling gods knew how long I had waited to see Chris Jericho perform and spoiled me in the process. All these years later he is still the best in the business on the microphone. Sometimes things happen the way they do for a reason and though I still wish I would’ve been able to see Jericho earlier in his career, I am glad I was given such a gift on this occasion. 18 years of waiting has ended and believe me, this 31 year old man was 12 years old all over again. Its 2016 and Jericho is still proving he can steal the show at any given time. From all of us here in Kansas, especially the fine people of Wichita, a forgotten burg on the WWE calendar where the majority of the top stars appear to get a night off, we say “thank you” for saving us Y2J! It was an event I will never forget!
—————
Onto the rest of the show:
R-Truth/Goldust def. Dudley Boyz
“Main Event” matches
Sheamus def. Zack Ryder
Titus O’ Neill def. Viktor
Rusev def. Sin Cara
“Smackdown Matches”
Gallows/Anderson vs. Enzo/Cass ended in scrum w/ New Day, Vaudevillains when all 4 teams entered the ring and slugged it out.
Kevin Owens & Alberto Del Rio def. Sami Zayn & Cesaro
Becky Lynch (w/ Nattie) def. Dana Brooke (w/ Charlotte)
Baron Corbin def. Kalisto
Chris Jericho def. Dean Ambrose
Things to note:
I don’t know who was responsible for the advertising (WWE or the Venue) but there were a lot of disappointed people who were stating that they felt cheated that nothing that was advertised happened on the card. Lots of Reigns, Rollins and New Day fans in the crowd. All three technically “appeared” but none competed.Yes “card subject to change” is on the poster, but if everyone was there, why not at least have one of them compete? Seems like a no brainer. Styles was also scheduled to wrestle and did not. Usos were scheduled to appear and did not appear in any capacity. God, I cannot wait for “Smackdown” to go live and become more than the “B” show.
Reigns was incredibly over in Wichita.
Lots of “Goldberg” chants every time they would air the “WWE 2K17″ promos on the big screen. Lots of people chatting about a potential return after the promos aired.
Baron Corbin got a great pop as he was born down the road in Lenexa, KS and hails from Kansas City.
Becky Lynch got an incredible pop from the crowd as well.
