Smackdown Live Review 11/20/2018

Hello Misfits. It is time for this weeks Smackdown Live review. Its the fall-out of Survivor Series and a follow up to last weeks shocking episode of Smackdown Live. How will the Smackdown Live roster react after a clean sweep loss to Raw at Survivor Series? Even though they won the tag match on the pre-show, its still being called a clean sweep. How will Charlotte Flair explain her actions after brutally attacking Ronda Rousey at Survivor Series when she snapped? Daniel Bryan defeated AJ Styles for the WWE Championship in controversial fashion. How will AJ Styles react and when will he ask for his rematch? What else will we see with Daniel Bryans new attitude? Will the white hot Women’s Champion Becky Lynch make an appearance? Whats next for the blue brand now that the war for brand supremacy is over? Lets find out.

Smackdown comes to us live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA.

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

Charlotte Flair
Flair says she destroyed the so-called “Baddest Woman on the Planet” and she is damn proud of it. If Rousey is looking for an apology she will never get it. Flair enjoyed every minute she spent beating Rousey. Flair did what she did Sunday night for Becky Lynch. Paige walks out and tells Flair she doesn’t have to apologize for what she did to Rousey. Paige tells Flair that Rousey said she is going to find her. Flair says if Rousey gets in her way she is going to end Rousey. Paige admonishes Flair for putting her hands on five WWE officials. Paige fines Flair a $100k. Before Flair can respond the IIconics interrupt. The IIconics calls Flair crazy for losing her cool at Survivor Series. Flair asks which one of them is going to be the next Ronda Rousey.
Opinion
They kicked off Smackdown this week with new old Charlotte Flair coming out and explaining her actions against Ronda Rousey at Survivor Series. I always preferred heel Charlotte and heel Charlotte has always felt more dominant but I hope this doesn’t take away from Becky Lynch’s “new attitude” persona when she returns. I wonder if Becky and Charlotte are going to work together again or will Becky still have her issues with Charlotte. From Becky’s social media, it doesn’t seem like she wants to be on the same page as Charlotte but Charlotte is playing this off as if she did it for Becky. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when Becky is back.

Charlotte Flair def. Billie Kay w/ Peyton Royce
In a quick back and forth match. Charlotte Flair defeated Billie Kay after hitting a natural selection.
Opinion
Its was a great little match that got the IIconics on TV while showing Charlotte’s new mean streak at the same time.

– Charlotte grabs the mic and challenges Peyton Royce saying that Billie Kay wasnt enough for her. Charlotte said she will play Flair.

Charlotte Flair def. Peyton Royce w/ Billie Kay
In another quick match Charlotte Flair defeats Peyton Royce by DQ once Billie Kay interferes. The IIconics try to double team Charlotte but she catches them with a double spear. Charlotte beats up both women, banging both of their heads in the announce table. Charlotte starts throwing the IIconics around into the barricade, steps and then both of them over the announcer’s table. Charlotte poses on top of the table.
Opinion
I’m glad they had this finish the way it did rather than Charlotte beating both IIconics in one night. However, she did beat the crap out of both of them after the match, once again showing her more aggressive and vicious side.

– Backstage, Rey Mysterio cuts a promo on Randy Orton. He says his eyes have seen a lot of other eyes but none like Randy Orton. He says they go back over a decade and he saw what Randy Orton did to Jeff Hardy. He says he sees that Randy Orton is on top of his game but so is he.

Miz TV with Shane McMahon
The Miz is in the ring for Miz TV and getting a babyface reaction as everyone is chanting “Miz is Awesome!” The Miz introduces Miz TV with help from the fans. Miz sings Shane McMahon’s praises and introduces him. The Miz is doing the Shane-O-Mac shuffle in the ring while a beat up Shane McMahon makes his way to the ring. The “World Cup” trophy is at ringside. Miz talks about how they sacrificed everything for their brand. Shane McMahon questions why The Miz is saying “we.” Miz says he was the team captain so it was his team and he was jus trying to encourage Shane. Shane asks Miz if he has a question since this is his show. The Miz asks Shane McMahon if he would team up with to become the best team in the world. Miz says at Survivor Series he didnt just see a commissioner, or a survivor, or a fighter but a champion. Shane says he does not know. Miz said he already went to Paige because he thought Shane would be more excited and if he was more of a McMahon he would team with The Miz. Miz introduces two local competitiors for a tag match against himself and Shane.
Opinion
This was a fun segment that really didn’t serve much of a purpose at the end unless I’m missing something thats going to be long term plan between The Miz and Shane McMahon. The Miz was really over and I’m not sure if it was just because we’re in Los Angeles. He didn’t do or say anything to get the fans to boo him again like he usually does when he gets over with them, so I’m curious if he’s slowly turning baby. I will say this angle of Miz kissing Shane’s ass is pretty entertaining because it even throws Shane off. What is The Miz’s goal?

The Bryant Brothers def. The Miz & Shane McMahon
Wayne and Dwayne Bryant defeated The Miz and Shane McMahon when Miz got caught with a roll-up. Miz was trying to let Shane in to get the pin but he refused and Miz went for the pin only to lose the match.
Opinion
LOL. This must be a part of a bigger angle and I’m looking forward to see where it goes. Of course this only worked because it doesn’t hurt the Miz and seems like something that would happen to him.

– Starrcade will be streaming on the WWE Network on Sunday.

– They show the New Day on their way to the ring and the Gobbedly Gooker appears. It ends up being R-Truth.

Thanksgiving Feast Fight
Big Show & The Bar def. The New Day
The New Day come out and cut a promo about thanksgiving. The New Day start a turkey day chant and then say they are thankful for being the sole victory at Survivor Series on the pre-show for Smackdown Live and that the real score is 6-1. Xavier said he is thankful for having some cool hard drive that allowed him to download Red Dead Redemption without deleting Spider-Man. Big E says he is thankful for breasts but he was talking about the Turkey Breast that he sees in front of them. Big E starts licking the Turkey until The Bar’s music hits. The Bar comes out and mocks this match. Cesaro says that he’s sure this wasn’t Shane or Paige’s idea but the The New Day’s stupid idea. The New Day says at least they won they’re match at Survivor Series which breaks out another 6-1 chant. Sheamus asks if they’re trying to take the piss out of them because nobody can prepare for a spontaneous urination. They go to commercial break as Sheamus says they are the Bar and they’re going to kick The New Day’s ass.
The match started off as a competitive match, but then Big Show went through a table that had thanksgiving food on it. From that point the match got gimmicky. Sheamus grabbed a turkey and tried to hit Xavier with it but he dodged it. Sheamus went through a table after Kofi jumped off the top rope hitting Sheamus in the head with Turkey. The finish came when Big E put the turkey over his fest and he hit Sheamus with it.
Following the match The New Day throw a bunch of thanksgiving dinner food at Cesaro until he falls down. The New Day slip and slide outside of the ring as they head to the back.
Opinion
The promo before the match was funny. I’m glad they’re pushing the fact that the pre-show matters and that Smackdown’s victory on it should count. 6 and 1! I agree. I’m not a huge fan of these holiday gimmick matches and the older I get the more I wish they would scrap them but I get it from an entertainment standpoint. These two teams made it work but I wish it was another team other than The Bar who are our tag team champions.

– Backstage, we see a Rey Mysterio mask. Randy Orton walks in and says that some people think the mask represents tradition, pride and culture but to him it means nothing. Its just polyester and deserves to be destroyed. Orton says the fans were happy when they saw Mysterio return but tonight they will be disappointed, destroyed and upset all because of three letters…R.K.O

– Naomi and Asuka meet backstage and head to the ring for their match.

Naomi & Asuka def. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville
In a decent match, Asuka and Naomi defeated Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville when there was miscommunication between the two allowing Asuka and Naomi to go on attack leading to Asuka getting the Asuka lock on Deville for the win.
Opinion
This was a good way to continue planting the seeds for the eventual Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville split. There is still trouble in paradise for the two best friends that allowed new friends Naomi and Asuka to pick up the big win.

Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan makes his way out. Bryan says he doesnt expect the people to understand this but he says this is for these people. Daniel Bryan said that last week he was apart of an act of betrayal. However, the act of betrayal was on him that goes back three years when he had to retire. Bryan continues to talk in third person about his road back to the ring. Bryan says during his recovery in some sort of chamber in the silence he focused on his mantra “fight for your dreams and your dreams will fight for you”. Bryan said it worked and Daniel Bryan returned to the ring and he received the loudest yes chants. It was such an amazing moment but it was just that…a moment. The fans weren’t there when he fought with his family, therapist and psychiatrists whoa argued with him to move on. He said he never moved on but the only people who moved on were these people and these idiots who chair AJ Styles. Bryan continues to repeat fickle. Bryan said you heard as the yes chants became less every week and when the ref was down he didnt let them control Daniel Bryans dreams but his dreams took over to get what they wanted. Daniel Bryan’s dreams kicked AJ Styles in the balls. Daniel Bryan dreams made him realize that he didn’t need this people for anything. Daniel Bryan dreams told him that at Survivor Series that he didnt need to beat Brock Lesnar to win but Daniel Bryan won to let Brock Lesnar to beat the weakness out of him. Daniel Bryan said there would ve new emergence after that match and there has been. The old Daniel Bryan, the one these people loved, is dead. The “Yes Movement” is dead. All that is left is you, the “new” Daniel Bryan…the WWE Champion! Bryan says that the only thing that matters is that you never ever ever ever give up on your dream ever ever again.
Bryan goes to Greg Hamilton and gets him too announce him as the WWE Champion…”The New” Daniel Bryan.
Opinion
I absolutely loved this. I enjoyed how Daniel Bryan is reinventing himself and moving on from the entire “Yes” movement phase of his career. I also appreciate the fact that Bryan is using the story of his career to explain his attitude change as it sounds like a reasonable theory to why someone would lose their mind or have this “do whatever it takes” type of attitude to have his dreams. I’m looking to see if there will be any other major changes to Bryan’s character such as his entrance music or merch? No more “Yes Chant” stuff potentially. Also, what is it with everyone on losing their mind on Smackdown and then wanting to stand on the announcer table to gloat? LOL

Rey Mysterio def. Randy Orton
In a solid main event between legends, the finish came when Rey Mysterio went for the sliding dive but was caught with a RKO and then Orton rolls Mysterio back in the ring for a second RKO for the win. Randy Orton throws Mysterio into the ring post while he has a chair wrapped around his neck. Orton pulls off Mysterio’s mask and poses with it as EMT’s come down to help Rey.
Opinion
This was a quality main event between two legends and the sliding dive RKO on the floor looked brutal. The rivalry all continue. There were many moments where Mysterio’s face was exposed and the fans really sold the moment with their shocked faces.

Final Thoughts
This was a solid episode of Smackdown with us getting a lot of answers and explanations for the actions of many superstars in the past week especially, Charlotte and Daniel Bryan. The main event was solid but the rest of the show was just for entertainment and forgettable. However, I think the Daniel Bryan promo, the main event and Charlotte’s beat down on the IIconics is what this episode will be remembered for. If you missed it and check it out.
Rating – 7/10