Rusev (w/ Lana) vs Dolph Ziggler
Rusev ties up with Dolph and throws him in the corner, then he repeatedly stomps him and whips him over the ropes. We get back from a break to see Dolph connect with several punches, but Rusev stops him with a fallaway slam before taunting the crowd. Rusev applies a front facelock and tries to choke Dolph out, then he stomps Dolph in the corner and yells at him. Dolph comes back with a jawbreaker and a dropkick, then he connects with some mounted punches and goes for a cradle DDT. Rusev blocks it and tries to slam him, but Dolph floats over and hits a Famouser for a close two count. Dolph calls for a superkick but Rusev blocks it and throws him back, then he connects with a thrust kick and makes him tap out to the Accolade.
Winner – Rusev
Lana says she knows Philadelphia is America’s birthplace, and they encountered an American on Monday, but The Rock is a coward. She runs him down in Russian before Rusev says The Rock will pay, and he says Big Show is a garbage American who will pay too. Rusev challenges Big Show to a match on RAW, and he will get crushed.
Triple H and Stephanie are shown backstage when The Rock greets them, and they catch up and talk about Smackdown’s anniversary. They talk about the first Smackdown that they co-main evented, and The Rock says Shawn Michaels helped HHH cheat, and The Rock beat him the following week, then they talk about all the fights they ever had. Rock says they made a lot of history on Smackdown, but they should think about what they could do at Wrestlemania. Rock talks about how he would win, but HHH says he would win, and he could picture them blowing the roof off. He says it wouldn’t actually have a roof because it would be a stadium, then they try to out trash talk each other and Rock asks why they are so close. HHH says they have intensity but it is kinda weird, and they debate who should back up, and they finally back up but they keep bragging about who would win at Wrestlemania. Stephanie calls them both winners and they should stop, then she says they were supposed to go to dinner and they keep bickering about the match as they walk out. Stephanie tries to hurry them out of the room and Rock says HHH is cheap and can pay the bill, then HHH calls him ‘Mr. Hollywood’ and says Rock is the one being cheap.
BP: Love this for the nostalgic feel and the dry humor. Whether this was a tease or not, I’d absolutely love to see these two face off at Wrestlemania. They played well off of each other and Stephanie played her role well too. Worth going back and watching.
