Smackdown Live Review 11/07/2017

Hello Misfits. It’s time for this weeks Smackdown Live review. The road to Survivor Series continues and the war for brand supremacy between Raw and Smackdown continues. There were two big title matches on this episode of Smackdown Live with both the WWE Championship and the Tag Team Championship’s being defended. Also there is still one open spot on the Smackdown Survivor Series team. Originally it was supposed to be AJ Styles vs Rusev in a match for the final spot tonight but they called a last minute audible with the WWE Championship match instead. Smackdown’s New Day stirred things up on Raw the night before by making an appearance and costing The Shield the tag titles. I’m looking forward to see if Raw will retaliate tonight.

Smackdown comes to us live from Manchester Arena from Manchester, England.

– There is a video package for tonights main event with short promos from both AJ Styles and Jinder Mahal.

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

Shane McMahon/New Day Segment
Shane takes a look around the arena as the crowd chants his name. Shane talks about Survivor Series and their head-to-head match up with Monday Night Raw. Smackdown Live won’t be the B-show it will be THE-show. Shane talks about Daniel Bryan and holds Stephanie McMahon and Kurt Angle responsible for the incident with Bryan. Shane said he will get his payback for what they did to Bryan. Shane announces Bryan will be back next week. Shane says just because Smackdown Live gets knocked down doesn’t mean that they will stay down. Shane then announces the New Day who then enter the arena. Then they recap the New Day’s appearance on Raw.
Kofi says they made them look pretty silly. Crowd starts chanting New Day Rocks. Kofi says it wasn’t their intention for Dean and Seth to lose their titles, but it was their plan to put Raw under siege. Big E says that they beat them down last time under siege, but will accept any repercussions for their recent actions. Shane starts awkwardly dancing with the New Day and thankfully Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn save the day.
Owens says that was the stupidest thing that he has seen in his life. Sami tells Shane that he is not cool and he should probably never dance again. Kofi says to hold up and asks Sami if he has seen himself dance during his entrance. Owens says that Shane is having a hard time accepting that Owens beat him at Hell in a Cell. Tells Shane to not punish Smackdown for his shortcomings. Sami says that they could’ve beaten down the entire Raw roster if they wanted to put they have honor. Shane says this is exactly the attitude that has Sami and Owens not representing Smackdown Live. Sami says that he lost to a low blow and Shane did nothing about it. Owens says that they shouldn’t need qualifying matches because they are the two best on the roster. Big E then roasts Sami and Owens. Shane says that Sami and Owens don’t care about Smackdown and that they are entitled. Shane then announces a match between Sami Zayn and Kofi Kingston which starts right now!!
Opinion
This was a solid opening segment that addressed what happened on Raw the night before and further progressed the angle going into Survivor Series. I’m still confused on what they’re planning to do with Owens and Zayn for Survivor Series and this segment did nothing to help showcase that they even had a plan for them I think it would have been funny to see Shane book Zayn and Owens to face to each other for the final spot or something. I dont actually know how that would have worked but I believe those two guys could have figured it out. Instead we had some cheesy insults between The New Day and Owens/Zayn which lead to a match. The segment was good but didn’t answer any questions but lead to a match.

Kofi Kingston w/ The New Day def. Sami Zayn w/ Kevin Owens
In a back and forth match Kofi Kingston defeated Sami Zayn after a cross body. After the match Owens gets in the ring and attacks Kofi but gets out of the ring before the rest of The New Day can get at him.
Opinion
This was a solid and fun match but its brutal seeing Zayn and Owens being on the losing end so much just for the sake of Survivor Series. I’m sure Owens and Zayn will be back in the prominent role and involved in prime angles following Survivor Series. It’s weird seeing them portrayed as not so important right now and taking losses to The New Day. It’s nothing to do with the New Day but about the payoff of Zayn turning heel and helping Owens being put on hold.

– Jinder  Mahal is then showed smiling backstage and is asked about his match with Styles. Jinder says that Styles is the appetizer to the entree that is Brock Lesnar. Styles is disrespectful and he will make a meal out of Styles. At Survivor Series he will feast on the Beast.

– A video package airs for the Bludgeon Brothers

Qualifying Match for Survivor Series Team
Randy Orton def. Rusev w/ Aiden English
Aiden English sings about Rusev before the match. As you know Orton is already on the Survivor Series team so the stipulation here is just that Rusev has to beat Orton to get on the team. Randy Orton defeated Rusev after a RKO outta nowhere.
Opinion
It was fun but once again Rusev falls victim to the RKO. I would have loved to see Rusev on Team Smackdown but we’d find out later in the week that Cena would take that spot. Rusev might not even be on the show and I find that to be ridiculous. I’m a loyal Orton fan but he didn’t think victory. I feel like there were a lot of last minute changes for Survivor Series plans that a lot of this doesn’t make sense without factoring that in.

– Ellsworth wants to talk with Carmella and send Tamina after her. He gets Becky instead, and Ellsworth says she can’t win because she’s a woman. This is Manchester, not Womanchester. The ring is no place for her, and says he allows Carmella to compete. Becky says those are ballsy statements, and it’s a shame Ellsworth has none.

Becky Lynch def. James Ellsworth
All of the women on the female Smackdown Live Survivor Series surrounded the ring for this match. Becky Lynch defeated James Ellsworth with a disarmher. Following the match Carmella hit James with a super kick and walked out on him.
Opinion
This was the first time we’ve gotten to see a female face off against a male in a match in years and it was fun. I think the match between these two was long overdue and it felt more random here than it would have back in June. Overall though I thought it was entertaining and for some reason it was believable that Lynch could kick Ellsworth’s ass. Also, Carmella is a smoke show.

– Charlotte meets with Shane and Natalya interrupts and wants to not only face Bliss, but also feels she should be the captain of the women’s team. Charlotte calls bullshit and Shane books a title match next week between Charlotte and Natalya.

WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin def. The Usos (C) 
In a competitive tag team match Gable and Benjamin picked up the victory by countout after Jey didn’t make it back to the ring before the ten count. 
Opinion
The fact the tag team titles changed hands the night before on Raw, made it believable that the titles could change hands in this match. The count out finish was smart as it keeps both teams looking strong and they can continue this feud going into Survivor Series and after it. I think these two teams could really tear it down once their rivalry officially takes off post Survivor Series.

– Renee Young is backstage with AJ Styles. Styles says that Jinder Mahal needs to learn portion control because he cannot be taken lightly. Says that he has been underestimated his whole life and will prove why he is phenomenal. He will also prove that this is the house that A.J. Styles built and that he will then slay the beast Brock Lesnar.

WWE Championship
AJ Styles def. Jinder Mahal (C) w/ Singh Brothers
In an incredible and really entertaining main event AJ Styles defeated Jinder Mahal to become the WWE Champion after a Phenomenal Forearm.
Opinion
The match was brilliant and might have been Jinder Mahal’s best match this year. Its takes two to tango so credit to both guys but I dont remember the last time AJ Styles had a bad match so it doesn’t surprise me. I think it was quite the shocker that AJ Styles won the championship and it tustve been super cool for that Manchester crowd who could not have predicted that the WWE would have had the title change on Smackdown which was pre-taped in the UK. It looks as if we’re going to get Styles vs Lesnar now at Survivor Series which I find shocking since they spent weeks of promos and video packages promoting Mahal vs Lesnar. Also the Singh Brothers have been imitating Heyman for weeks now too. I couldn’t be happier for Styles though. He really is phenomenal and a champion the fans can get behind. I wonder if Jinder wins it back before the WWE goes to India for shows in December. This was shocking though and I definitely didn’t expect it.

Final Thoughts
There was no Raw invasion. There was no build up for the Raw vs. Smackdown matches. I mean thieve done nothing with Corbin and The Miz on television. Alexa addressed Natalya but Natalya barley did. The Shield didn’t come back to retaliate after their loss the night before due to the New Day distraction. If the WWE Championship didn’t change in the main event, I could have totally said this show was forgettable but Styles becoming  two-time champion is Manchester will always be special. This show had a lot of wrestling which I enjoyed but once again it feels like they’re really trying to get fans into watching Smackdown Live.
Rating – 6.5/10

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