Smackdown 7/4/14

1. Seth Rollins comes out to open SmackDown to the sound of boos. He claims Cena got lucky, that He will cash in his MitB contract and take Cena's title. He's interrupted by Dean Ambrose, who comes out to tell Rollins that he will be there to keep the belts out of Rollins's hands. Both of these guys are great on the mic and in the ring, and I hope this feud plays out for a good long while.
2. Ambrose attacks Rollins. Orton comes out to save Rollins, and Reigns comes out to save Ambrose. Hunter comes out and makes Ambrose v. Orton with the stipulation that Reigns will lose his spot in the Fatal Four-Way at Battleground if he interferes in the match. This has to be building toward Hunter v. Reigns at SummerSlam, which should be a superb match.
3. Sheamus v. AdR for the United States Championship. These two have had very good matches in the past, and I don't see this being any different. Prediction: Sheamus retains in a solid match. AdR is going nowhere, and he's taking his time doing it.
4. Lots of counters and submission holds. Sheamus hits a Brogue out of nowhere to retain the belt. Very good match.
5. Stardust and Goldust deliver a bizarre promo. I really like this gimmick as a temporary thing.
6. Reigns interview backstage, and I have to say that it was one of his best samples of mic work.
7. Bo(nehead) Dallas says he'll win the Intercontinental Title Battle Royal at Battleground "for Daniel Bryan." Not impressed.
8. Bo(ring) v. Diego (with Torito). Predict an unfortunate Bo victory.
9. Bo hits the BoDog for the win. Nope. Still not impressed. He then gets gored by el Torito (YES!!!) and slams Torito. Apparently he's been received with nowhere near the heat that was expected. He's just not worth the effort of hating. Blah.
10. Chris Jericho comes put to a big pop. He talks about being attacked by "a big, dark, venomous spider and his family." He thanks the Wyatts for reminding him that the WWE is dangerous, and he can be dangerous too. Very good promo...
11. ...which Bray interrupts with his own golden promo. This will be a great feud!
12. Jericho goes to answer, but the Miz interrupts now to huge boos. (I miss the scruffy Miz.) Miz is talking about his moneymaker face when Y2J hits the Codebreaker! That was an enjoyable sequence all around.
13. Big E v. Cesaro. It wouldn't surprise me to see Cesaro lose now, only to win gold at Battleground. Ceaaro looked particularly brutal on RAW this week, and I think the crowd is finally accepting him as a heel.
14. Cesaro attacks Big E right away, and Big E responds equally. The match never even gets started, and the refs and Heyman keep them separated. I like the ire between these two.
15. Eva Marie (ugh) v. AJ (with Paige at ringside) in a non-title bout. If Eva gets any offense, it will be too much. Paige won't interfere. Great to have AJ back.
16. Eva slaps AJ. Why is she even here? AJ has to sell some of the worst moves we've ever seen.
17. AJ counters a side slam with the Black Widow for the submission win. Paige comes in and claps for AJ before heading up the ramp. Sort of a waste of a segment, but the build for Paige v. AJ is nice, because *that* will be a match to see if they're given more than 2 minutes.
18. Sandow comes out as Springsteen. Can he sink any lower? PLEASE find something *good* for him soon!
19. Rusev comes out to squash Sandow, which he does quickly. Lana gives her "America is fat and lazy and dying" promo about how America's birthday celebration is weak.
20. And Swagger and Coulter come out to a big pop(!) to shut them up! Been waiting for this for months! Coulter delivers a great promo. #WeThePeople!!! Lana holds back Rusev, and they leave the ring to the sound of the crowd chanting "WE THE PEOPLE!!! U-S-A!!!"
21. Main event: Ambrose v. Orton (woth Rollins at ringside and Reigns banned). I'd like to see Ambrose win, but I expect Orton to do so. There's a lot of pain Ambrose has to experience before he's allowed to really triumph. Whatever happens, it should be fun to see.
22. Rollins is doing good work on commentary, though he seems more comfortable in promos than answering questions.
23. No one does casual brutality the way Orton does. Not even Kane.
24. The crowd seems surprisingly dead during this match.
25. And then Ambrose attacks Rollins. He brings it back in the ring as the crowd wakes up. Rollins attacks Ambrose with the briefcase to give Ambrose the DQ win. Orton RKOs Ambrose, and the vultures circle until Reigns comes out for the save. He hits Superman on Orton. Rollins pulls Orton out, and Reigns brings Ambrose back into the ring to close out the show.

Enjoyable show overall, with some great microphone work throughout. A lot of building towards Battleground and beyond.