WWE: Notes from This Week's Smackdown Tapings in Newark, NJ

Last night, WWE filmed NXT and Smackdown, as well as segments for their weekly Superstars program, from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. I was on hand for these tapings and tweeted throughout the night about what happened. There's a link to follow my account at the bottom of this article.

This article only contains partial spoilers. If you want to know how the matches actually went, check my Twitter account with a link at the bottom of the article. This is just an article about the things that you won't see on those shows on SyFy or WWE.com.

• The match that took place prior to the NXT tapings was between Jinder Mahal and Alex Riley. Riley tried for the Final Score, but Mahal countered by grabbing the ropes. He would chop Riley down and lock in the Cobra Clutch for the victory. The crowd was pretty dead for it all, though Riley got a better pop during his entrance than I thought he would.

   

• I'm not sure how the reactions will be received on Superstars, but for his match on that program against Ezekiel Jackson, Drew McIntyre was greeted with a lot of cheers. Despite being the heel in the match, there were chants for McIntyre, and fans were happy to see his victory.

   

• Speaking of his victory, McIntyre would grab a microphone, seemingly after the cameras went off, to address the Newark crowd. McIntyre said it was the first victory for him in a long streak that would continue and made a vow to not lose anymore. At that moment, Triple H's music hit to a thunderous roar from the crowd. Triple H came out, hit a Pedigree on McIntyre and left.

   

• Upon opening the Smackdown part of the night, the entrance ramp was lit up with a Stone Cold Steve Austin theme. The broken skull and the Austin 3:16 saying graced the ramp, but was not a case of spoiling a return before it happened. It was an unusual glitch to see, but Austin never appeared.

   

• Smackdown would open with Daniel Bryan and AJ coming to the ring. As Bryan came to the ring, chants from the crowd echoed the now-infamous "YES!" exclamations of the World Heavyweight Champion. Despite getting his fair share of boos, especially during the promo itself, Bryan got a lot of cheers despite being a heel champion.

   

• The crowd would chant "We Want Ryder" at a few points during the night before being rewarded with his match against Jack Swagger. During introductions of that match, ring announcer Lillian Garcia mistakenly said "Long Island Iced Z, Jack Swagger." She knew the error immediately, but did not have time to correct it. It'll be interesting to see if that makes the broadcast.

   

• The finish of the Big Show/Kane matchup got a little bit complicated. It involved Cody Rhodes coming through the crowd and being chased right back out through the crowd. All signals seemed to point to the possibility of Big Show knocking over and potentially injuring a few fans in the process. No stretchers were brought to the area, but it will be interesting to see what WWE does with those shots in that area of the arena.

   

• Before the dark match main event between John Cena and Kane inside a steel cage, Cena appeared with Ryder and Tony Chimel. The trio entered the cage and talked about Garcia's flub earlier in the night. To mend the wrong done, Cena brought Chimel out to announce it correctly. Repeated attempts would always end with the sound guys muting Chimel's microphone before completing the announcement.

   

• In the dark match, Cena defeated Kane by pinfall with an Attitude Adjustment inside the cage-covered ring.

   

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