Big Name Returns To ‘Smackdown’

The most recent episode of Smackdown featured a lot of interesting segments. New tag team champions were crowned, and new Wrestlemania matches were made. There was even a “first time ever” match between Baron Corbin and Randy Orton. The two had never crossed paths before. The match was made when Corbin came into General Manager Daniel Bryan’s office and asked if Ambrose had accepted his challenge to a match at Wrestlemania 33 for the Intercontinental Championship. After Bryan replied that Ambrose was not present, Corbin commented that he had the “night off” and was going to go to the casino, and Bryan instead placed him in a match with Orton. It was during this match that the Intercontinental Champion himself, Dean Ambrose, returned after being assaulted by Corbin backstage two weeks ago.

Corbin and Orton were having an even contest when Ambrose appeared on a forklift and called out Corbin.

“Hey, Corbin! Are you busy?”

Corbin was distracted enough for Orton to perform his finishing move, the RKO, and end the match. After Orton won, Ambrose walked down to the ring and grabbed a microphone. He then accepted Corbin’s challenge for a match at Wrestlemania 33 for the Intercontinental Championship before performing his finishing move, Dirty Deeds, on Corbin.

“You want a match for the Intercontinental Championship at ‘Wrestlemania’? You got it!”

This, of course, was retaliation for Corbin’s ambush on Ambrose backstage two weeks ago. Corbin assaulted Ambrose with a steel pipe before attempting to crush him with a forklift. He was stopped by referees, and Ambrose was taken to a local medical facility. He was not present for last week’s episode, and after being attacked by a forklift, WWE released an injury update on Ambrose.

INDIANAPOLIS – Following an attack by Baron Corbin during tonight’s SmackDown LIVE, Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose was taken to a local medical facility with bruised and potentially broken ribs.

UPDATE (10:15 p.m. ET): While en route to the medical facility, Ambrose reportedly jumped out of the vehicle and started heading back to the Bankers Life Fieldhouse on foot. Stay with WWE.com for more on this developing story.

In a brutal backstage assault, Corbin attacked the champion with a steel pipe and crushed him under a forklift. Ambrose reportedly had difficulty breathing, and rumors indicate that he was coughing up blood.

With the way the two have been fighting, many are expecting some sort of gimmick match, such as a “No Holds Barred” match, a “Street Fight,” a “Falls Count Anywhere” match, or a “Last Man Standing” match. Many also feel that this has the potential to be a crazy and brutal fight, with Ambrose leading the charge creatively. Both men have shown a willingness to go extreme, as evidenced by Ambrose’s run in CZW and Corbin’s Chairs Match against Kalisto at Tables, Ladders, and Chairs in December last year.

Many are expecting the match, if it is to be a gimmick match, to be the brutal fight they should have gotten when Ambrose faced Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 32. The match was largely panned, with it being a glorified squash match with the use of weapons in it. Ambrose said on the Stone Cold Steve Austin podcast that Brock was not willing to do a lot of things, and that led to the match turning out a dud. While the build was excellent, with many former wrestlers giving weapons to Ambrose to use against Lesnar, it was a match mostly consisting of suplexes, as most Lesnar matches have been.

With both Corbin and Ambrose still so young, WWE has the ability to truly cement their reputations and create legacies for both men if they do the match properly.

[Featured Image by WWE]