Kevin Owens continues to be pushed like a major star in WWE after debuting on the main roster less than a month ago. His NXT Title Open Challenge was hyped up on Raw for good reason because it's the first time the NXT Title has been defended on Smackdown. There were a lot of rumours about who might step up to face Owens because WWE could have put Samoa Joe out there to go after him. If that happened it would have created the kind of buzz that Smackdown really needs. Instead, WWE went a more predictable opponent in Zack Ryder, which was pretty disappointing just because WWE books Zack like a loser a lot of the time. There was a very cool moment on the show that may have gone unnoticed, but it's definitely worth mentioning. Dolph Ziggler was only on briefly to walk to the ring and escort Lana to the back when Rusev confronted her. Under Ziggler's jacket he was wearing a Tyson Kidd/Cesaro shirt in support of his friend Tyson, who was in the hospital this week. Great show of respect by Ziggler. Here are the results from this week's show. - The Prime Time Players d. The Lucha Dragons and The Ascension - Ryback d. Stardust - Kevin Owens d. Zack Ryder to retain the WWE NXT Championship - Neville d. Kofi Kingston - Roman Reigns d. Sheamus by disqualification when Kane interfered There were a few noteworthy things that happened this week, so let's take a look at the ups and downs from this week's Smackdown.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
