Smackdown Live Review 10/10/2017

Hello Misfits. It’s time for this weeks Smackdown Live review. This is the fall out from the tremendous Hell in a Cell event. There is a lot of questions that are needed to be answered tonight. What happens next between Charlotte and Natalya? Who is the next contender for Jinder Mahal’s WWE Championship? Where does Nakamura go from here? Why Sami why? What happens next between the Usos and The New Day? AJ Styles is scheduled to have his rematch with Corbin, will he regain his title he lost without being pinned? They really gave us a lot of reasons to look forward to this episode of Smackdown Live. Lets see how it went.

Smackdown comes to us live from Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

– There was recap of the Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens Hell in a Cell match focusing on Sami Zayn’s actions.

–  Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton and Corey Graves are on commentary.

The Usos and New Day
The first to enter tonight’s show, new WWE Smackdown Live Tag Team Champions, The Usos. The Usos then address the WWE universe saying that they have the whole tag team division on lock. They tell The New Day to come out because they want to say something to them face-to-face. The New Day oblige and make their way to the center of the ring across from The Usos. The Usos tell The New Day that they just made history that night. The Usos also say that the match became vicious. They say that it’s hard to follow matches between the New Day and Usos, which the crowd applauds too. They say that nobody understands what they went through other than the New Day. Xavier Woods ask if The Usos are calling for a truce. The Usos then respond with the only thing that they’re trying to tell the New Day is, respect. As the teams are about to shake hands as a sign of respect, the Hype Brothers interrupt. Then after a brief exchange between the Hype Bros and The Usos, Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin also enter. Gable tells the Hype Bros to get to the back of the line. Then the fashion police, Breezango, make an appearance, but before they can say a word, The Ascension also appear. Tyler Breeze asks The Ascension to stop following them. The Usos tell each team to get to the back of the line, but as they were about to address Breezango, Woods stops them and says, “nah, they cool.” To settle this dispute between the tag teams is General Manager Daniel Bryan, who says that it is not a good night for this argument between the tag teams. Bryan congratulates The New Day and The Usos, but then tells the two teams to get out of the ring. Then announces a fatal-4-way match between the four tag team challengers, which starts RIGHT! NOW!
Opinion
I really enjoyed the interaction between the Usos and New Day. They really have been putting top quality matches and some of the best tag matches of 2017, so its awesome to see this show of respect between them. I dont think this is a babyface turn for The Usos but just a happy moment to end an awesome feud. Its reminiscent to when Edge and Christian and the Hardy Boys had a moment like this after their first ladder match. I like how they moved forward with the tag division trying to find new number one contenders. This makes me wonder whats next for The New Day.

Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin def. The Hype Bros, Breezango & The Ascension
In a fun fatal four way tag match, Gable and Benjamin pick up the victory when Benjamin picks Breeze up for the power bomb which is capped of by a flying Gable clothesline off the top rope. Benjamin holds on to Breeze for the pin.
Opinion
This was a fun match to watch. I was rooting for Benjamin and Gable or Breezango. However, I’m glad Benjamin and Gable won because Breezango had their short feud with The Usos prior to The New Day making the brand jump. I think Gable and Benjamin and The Usos have potential to put on amazing matches.

-After the match Dasha Fuentes is backstage and says she has still not gotten any comments from Sami Zayn or Kevin Owens. Tom Phillips promises that they will get comments from the two by the end of the show.

– When we come back from break. The announce team recaps the match between Charlotte and Natalya at Hell in a Cell. After the video Natalya is backstage with her title and says it feels so good to be champion. Then Lana arrives with Tamina showing their interest in a championship opportunity. Cue Carmella who shows up as well to remind everyone that she has the opportunity to steal that championship whenever she likes. Natalya tells everyone that they all deserve to be champion more than Charlotte Flair does. Charlotte shows up and gets in Natalya’s face. Natalya says are you going to break your father’s fragile heart again, which makes Charlotte snap and she starts attacking Natalya.

– Renee Young introduces Baron Corbin. Corbin who says it feels good to shove it in the face of those keyboard warriors. He says that tonight in the house that AJ Styles built will be the opportunity that AJ Styles squandered.

Becky Lynch def. Carmella w/ James Ellsworth
In a quick match but decent television match Becky Lynch defeated Carmella by making her tap out to the disarmher.
Opinion
This was a quick match but it was nice to see Becky Lynch pick up a singles win. It feels like she’s sort of been in the background for a little while, so its nice to see her get a decisive victory over a female superstar who has been on the forefront a lot in Carmella. This doesn’t hurt Carmella at all because she is a sneaky heel and still the MITB holder. As for Becky Lynch, I hope this leads to a mini feud between Carmella and herself while Charlotte and Natalya still do their thing.

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn Reunite
Owens comes out with his left arm and hand bandaged. He is also walking down the ramp with a limp. Saxton then announces that Shane McMahon suffered a ruptured spline spleen and is currently at home resting.
Owens said he did exactly what he said that he was going to do. Said that Shane is gone and is never coming back. He said that he saw the white lights, his body separated from his soul, showed up at the pearly gates, but Saint Peter told him that he was needed on Earth. He said that he was also provided a guardian angel, Sami Zayn. Owens that realized that he needed to make Smackdown Live his own paradise. The Kevin Owens heaven, or also known as the Kevin Owens’ Show. Then introduces his best friend and guardian angel, Sami Zayn. Zayn comes out as usual. Smiling and hopping around, but this time to a chorus of boos. Zayn takes a mic at the center of the ring next to Owens. The two just look around a smile for a few moments. Zayn starts to speak, but is interrupted by Owens. Tells Zayn to let the crowd know that Owens was not involved. He then thanks Zayn from the bottom of his heart. Zayn says that he will explain everything. He said that the powerbomb on the apron a few weeks ago opened his eyes to everything. That he tried to be the good guy and that it brought him mediocrity. Meanwhile, Owens became the IC champion, Universal Champion, United States Champion, but it’s fine because Sami gets to sleep well at night. Thought his time had come when Shane brought Zayn to Smackdown Live. Was told that Smackdown Live will give him the opportunity and the respect that he deserves. Everything changed when Zayn tried to warn Shane of what Owens is capable of, but was brushed off by Shane. That’s when Zayn realized that Shane never cared about him. Zayn said he initially wanted Shane to win, but when Shane knocked Owens to the table below, Shane had the match won. But instead Shane decided to climb the cage. Zayn said that through everything Owens is his brother. When Shane climbed the cage it showed that he did not care about anyone else, but only cared about ending Owens’ career. Zayn said saving his brother, Owens, was the right thing to do. That Shane is a psychopath. Zayn then says there is nothing left to say but, thank you. The two hug and celebrate. Then keep raising each other’s hand in victory and tell the crowd to give it up for each other. And another hug.
Opinion
I absolutely loved this segment. Owens promo before Sami was introduced was awesome. I love how he ties his promos together and his character continues to develop logically. Talking about things making sense, Zayn’s explanation of doing what he did made complete sense. He did fall into mediocracy and became the babyface who just seemed happy to be there. I think many of us can agree we felt he was misused or under-appreciated on Raw so when he made the switch to Smackdown Live, we were super excited because we figured he’d be a major player on the brand, but that also wasn’t the case. Owens who has always been a bad person has achieved way more than Zayn and they have been on the main roster for nearly the same amount of time. I feel like this could be Zayn’s breakout angle. This reminded me of the time Bret and Owen got back together after feuding for years. Two best friends who are like brothers, who have be rivals for the last few years coming back together because they’re finally on the same page.

Shinsuke Nakamura & Randy Orton def. Rusev & Aiden English
In a fairly quick match due to a commercial break between it Orton and Nakamura defeat Rusev and English after Orton hits an RKO on Rusev which allows Nakamura to hit the Kinsasha on Aiden English for the win.
Opinion
This was a fun match too. It was cool seeing Nakamura and Orton team up together. The finish was entertaining. I do dislike the fact that it was at the expense of Rusev and English but it is what it is. I hope Rusev gets the upper-hand next week. This ended faster than I expected but it was solid.

– AJ Styles is then interviewed backstage and is asked if he will regain his title back. He said that he was never pinned and that Baron Corbin is prone to mistakes.

– Erick Rowan and Luke Harper cut a creepy promo, but we get a new name for the two which is the Bludgeon Brothers. I’m glad they’re returning as a tag team. I was always upset they never won the tag titles on the main roster.

Bobby Roode Calls Out Dolph Ziggler
The Glorious Bobby Roode makes his way to the ring and said his WWE PPV debut was absolutely GLORIOUS. Roode then says he was quickly squandered by Dolph Ziggler’s attack after the match. Roode says if Ziggler wants a fight, then let’s fight. Ziggler’s music hits, but then a record scratch into a blank screen and no music. Ziggler then addresses Roode and said that exposed Roode for what he is. A fraud. Ziggler said he dominated the match and was the better wrestler. He says that Roode panicked and did the only thing he could do to win. Then he shows a photo of Roode holding Ziggler’s tights during the winning pin in Roode’s match. Ziggler says that Roode cheated and that he wants a rematch anytime, anyplace. Roode said it is obvious that Ziggler doesn’t accept losing very well and if he wants a rematch, he has it. Roode challenges Ziggler to a match right now! Ziggler starts to make his way down the ramp, but says you can’t always get what you want. Ziggler says he will get his match when and where he wants.
Opinion
I just find babyface Bobby Roode weird. He has such a heel look and makes a great bad guy. Roode as a good guy just feels a bit forced but I understand why he is a good guy. The brand needed more babyfaces and he’s too over because of his entrance. Ziggler seems checked out but still trying to make this work. They will have a rematch next week but this was just storyline progression.

United States Championship
Baron Corbin (C) def. AJ Styles
In a competitive match Baron Corbin defeats AJ Styles when Styles tries for a move on the apron, but is caught by Corbin, who throws Styles onto the outside of the ring. Corbin tosses Styles back into the ring and hits the End of Days for the three count. Following the match Renee tries getting an interview with Corbin who tells the fans to eat it.
Opinion
This was a solid match where Corbin finally got the definitive victory beating the former champion clean so nobody can say he only won the belt because of the triple threat stipulation. I’m still not big on Corbin but he really did need this with all of his shortcomings he had these past few months. I think this officially gets Styles out of the US Championship picture which gets me excited that he might be the next one to challenge Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship.

Final Thoughts
This was a great episode to follow a PPV. There was a ton of questions answered, rivalries tied up and storyline progression. The absence of the WWE Champion was odd but it definitely didn’t hurt the show. The format was a bit different with the way things were positioned. For example they opened up with the tag team division rather than going straight to Owens/Zayn. I think that was smart and kept people watching. It kind of felt like a roboot for the Fall Season with Hell in the Cell capping of the Summer storylines. I will admit, this kind of felt similar to Raw where it felt like it was written segment by segment whereas Raw was a bit more creative this week with writing this week with The Shield reunion but it worked this week for Smackdown Live. I would definitely check out this episode. There wasn’t a lot of great wrestling but I wasn’t bored or zoned out at any point of the show.
Rating – 7/10

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