Smackdown Review 11/15/2019

Well..well…well…look who is back to write last weeks Smackdown review. Yours truly is back as Mike aka SockMonkeyMike aka Captain Charisma was unable to write the review for last weeks episode of Smackdown. He might not be able to write the reviews going forward so if any of you are interested feel free to email me at info@thewrestlingclassic.com with sample piece of writing. I am definitely looking for a new Smackdown review writer but until then, I’ll take over my old duties by writing the review.

If you are curious to what happened to my predictions and PPV reviews, I am still wondering if I should bring them back. However, I have been giving my predictions and reviews on the weekly TWC Show which you can find out YouTube, iTunes and Spotify. Links below.

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOQOYraeFlX-xd8f3adQtTw
iTunes – https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/twc-show/id1474551466
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/5DXU6kqwuKJPYwhnQPvQQE

Now lets get to last weeks Smackdown as we are on the road to Survivor Series. This years Survivors won’t just be Raw versus Smackdown for bragging rights and brand supremacy but also NXT. With that being said, last week on Smackdown the NXT invasion continued as they have been making the biggest impact since declaring war on Raw and Smackdown a few weeks back. Also on this episode, the new Universal Championship is revealed, Bryan confronts Bray Wyatt and the feud between Corbin and Reigns continues. Lets get to my review.

Live from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

– Michael Cole and Corey Graves are on commentary.

In-Ring – King Corbin, Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode
King Corbin is carried to the ring on a throne. Corbin says everyone should pledge loyalty to his kingdom, just like Roode and Ziggler. Corbin thinks Roman Reigns just doesn’t have it anymore. This isn’t Reigns’ yard, this is Corbin’s kingdom. Corbin decrees he is now the captain of Team SmackDown. Corbin, Reigns, Braun Strowman, Shorty G, and Mustafa Ali are announced as the SmackDown’s Survivor Series team. Ziggler and Roode say they should have been on the team. They are going to rectify that travesty tonight. Corbin asks Reigns to join him in the ring since they are teammates. Reigns’ music hits with a chihuahua barking over it. A person in a dog mascot suit walks down to the ring. Corbin has the dog bow and shakes hands.
My Opinion
This was not good. I mean it started off with potential and just went down hill from here. I wonder if Fox knew this is what they were going to get when they were getting Smackdown? I mean someone commented on my page that “if Edge and Christian did this, we’d call it gold but the fact that is Corbin we hate it.” I mean there might be some merit to that but maybe its just that Edge and Christian came off as funny and like frat boys whereas Corbin isn’t cool and we’re supposed to take him serious. I will say I did appreciate his grand entrance this week and my little baby cousin popped when the “big dog” came out.

Shorty G & Mustafa Ali w/ Roman Reigns def. Dolph Ziggler & Bobby Roode w/ Baron Corbin
In a fun match up which brought Roman Reigns out to even the odds, Ali and G defeated Ziggler and Roode after Ziggler was hit with a Chaos Theory followed by 450 Splash.
My Opinion
If you’ve listened to the TWC Show you’d know that I hate the name Shorty G…but I am happy that Ali got his first name back. I know why it is important for him to have the full name considering the message he’s trying to spread. This was a fun match and the finish was filled with chaos which I enjoyed. The good guys came out on top and stood tall.

Firefly Funhouse
Bray Wyatt appears and turns himself into a magician. He then turns the Universal Championship into a blue belt. He then talks about how he is going to be watching Daniel Bryan tonight on his new favourite show “Miz TV.” He also mentions that “HE” would be watching too.
Opinon
This served its purpose by introducing the “new” championship belt as well as continuing the angle with Bryan. The blue belt doesn’t do much for me. I mean I like it but I think its because its new. Also, I’ve accepted the Universal Title when it was red and I’ve accepted the designs of todays championship belts. I’ve come to terms that the beautiful championships of my child hood are no longer the desired design from the WWE.

– King Corbin, Robert Roode, Dolph Ziggler and the mascot dog are backstage, and everyone is upset. Corbin has an idea to fix what happened. He walks off with the mascot.

In-Ring -Drew Gulak, B-Team and Braun Strowman
Back in the ring and Braun Strowman marches out as Drew Gulak and The B Team wait together in the middle. Braun enters the ring and stares them down.
Gulak says Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas are with him because they actually want to learn. Gulak goes on and shows us a graphic on the screen that says “Gulak Saves SmackDown.” Gulak says Braun actually lasted longer with Tyson Fury than he thought, but Braun still has so many lessons to learn. A brawl breaks out and Strowman fights everyone off. Gulak retreats as Strowman destroys Axel and Dallas. Strowman with a big running powerslam on Axel. Strowman stands tall as his music hits now.
Opinion
As much as I want to hate the way Gulak is being used as Brauns punching bag on Smackdown, I can’t complain about the amount of TV time he’s getting. I also dig his powerpoint presentations and the use of the B Team here. Braun Strowman stands tall as he should as he’s in some angle with Tyson Fury still but I hope that Gulak gets one over on someone sometime soon.

– Kayla Braxton is backstage with SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day. Kofi Kingston and Big E hype up tonight’s title defense. Kofi, with a platter full of pancakes, says they won these titles in honor of the injured Xavier Woods, and they will defend them in honor of him tonight. We see Big E do The New Day’s grand introduction as their music hits and they head to the ring.

– Backstage, Sami Zayn and Nakamura stop Daniel Bryan. Zayn says if the Fiend is watching Bryan, Zayn needs an answer from Bryan now. Bryan says no to Zayn. Bryan says he does need help. Bryan tells Zayn they should talk to Strowman. Zayn says Strowman is just a big goof. Strowman appears behind Zayn. Zayn begs off. Nakamura stares a hole through Strowman.

Smackdown Tag Team Championship
The New Day (C) def. The Revival
In a competitive match, The New Day defeated The Revival by DQ when the Undisputed Era interfered during the match after a near fall for the Revival which had all four guys down. The ref called for the bell.
After the bell, the attack continues as Fish and O’Reilly pull Dash out of the ring and beat him down now. All four members enter the ring and unload on Big E and Dawson now. A large group of SmackDown Superstars run down to the ring to make the save as The Undisputed Era retreats into the crowd. The Undisputed Era taunts the blue brand Superstars from the crowd as they look on from the ring.
Opinion
This was good match without a decisive winner. It kept both teams looking strong. I wasn’t a fan of The New Day replacing The Revival in the big Survivor Series three way tag match. It’s nothing against the New Day and I’m sure the match will still be great. However, the idea of The Revival facing off against The Viking Raiders and UE seemed more appealing to me. I’m still hoping we get The Revival versus Kyle O’ Reilly and Bobby Fish on NXT this Wednesday. This interference helped continue the invasion angle and I pop every time The Undisputed Era shows up on Raw and Smackdown.

Heavy Machinery def. Kevin Tibbs & Kip Stevens
In quick squash match, Heavy Machinery wins after hitting the compactor on one of the guys.
Opinion
This was a complete squash match that allowed us to have fun with Heavy Machinery and allowed them to continue to climb the ladder back to the tag title scene.

– Kayla Braxton is backstage with Sasha Banks and SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley now. Because of her recent attacks, Bayley says RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch and NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler no longer see her as just an afterthought. Bayley says it’s been all personal from her lately, which is why she’s on a roll. She fights for her and herself only now, and doesn’t care about anyone else. She goes on with the heel talk and says she looks forward to crushing Nikki Cross’ dreams tonight. Banks also has words for Cross and says she’s letting Bayley go out there alone tonight, and letting her take care of Cross by herself. Bayley goes on and says maybe she will join Team SmackDown to defeat Team NXT and Team RAW at Survivor Series.

– It’s announced that next week we will get six man tag match. It will be Roman Reigns, Shorty G and Mustafa Ali facing off against Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode.

Bayley vs. Nikki Cross
This non-title match ended with a no contest when Shayna Baszler jumped the barricade. Baszler then jumps in the ring but Bayley retreats to the crowd. Tegan Nox, Rhea Ripley, Dakota Kai and Mia Yim suddenly appear behind Bayley in the crowd. She gets dropped and then Ripley slams her over the barrier back to the ringside floor. Baszler looks on from the ring but Sasha Banks runs in out of nowhere and drops her. The NXT Superstars stare Banks down from the ringside floor. They go to hit the ring on Banks but here come SmackDown Superstars – Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, Carmella, Dana Brooke.
Baszler and Bayley brawl out into the crowd while the others brawl in the ring. The NXT Superstars retreat to the crowd as the blue brand stars stand tall in the ring. Sasha takes the mic and says if they want the spotlight, she will give it to them. She proposes an eight-woman tag team match.
Opinion
A great way to continue the invasion of NXT but this time focusing on the women’s division. This also focused on both the women’s triple threat match and the women’s triple threat Survivor Series tag match for Survivor Series. It’s always cool seeing some of my favourites from NXT interact with some of my favourites of the main roster.

Sasha Banks, Nikki Cross, Dana Brooke & Carmella def. Rhea Rhipley, Mia Yim, Dakota Kai & Tegan Nox
In a super entertaining back and fourth match, the Smackdown team won when Nikki Cross pinned Dakota Kai after a swinging neck breaker.
After the match, the women continued to brawl which brought more of the Smackdown women’s locker room out again.
Opinion
This match did feel clunky at times but I’m also not a huge fan of random eight man tag matches on Raw and Smackdown because I always feel like they’re clunky. What I will say is that this match was fun thought because it was awesome seeing some of my favourite main roster girls work against some of my favourite NXT girls. The moments we got to see Sasha working against Rhea or Tegan were things I know I wanted but I didn’t think we’d see anytime soon. Seeing Carmella hold her own against Yim, Nox and Kai really shows how much she’s improved since she was on NXT. Nikki picking up the win was fitting as they seem to have plans for her following Survivor Series as Bayley’s main threat.

Miz TV w/ Daniel Bryan
Miz says he is excited about this one because he can really sink his teeth into. Miz reminds the crowd that The Fiend attacked Bryan for seemingly no reason last week. Miz is going to find out why tonight. Miz introduces Bryan. Bryan joins Miz in the ring. Miz asks Bryan why he thinks The Fiend attacked him. Bryan doesn’t answer. Miz says if Bryan won’t answer, Miz will answer for him. Miz says The Fiend attacked because Bryan isn’t the man he used to be. Bryan doesn’t know who he is and neither does Bryan. Miz says he thinks The Fiend can see that Bryan is washed up. The Fiend must want to be the one to end Bryan. Bryan says he will address Wyatt in a second but he just has to say that Miz TV sucks. It’s always sucked and that’s why he didn’t speak.
Bryan says he may be washed up. No one understands him or what happens when you mix mental instability with the kind of passion Bryan has. The Fiend understands because he is just as unstable. As Bryan is speaking, the Firefly Funhouse theme plays. Wyatt appears on the screen. Wyatt says it’s not ok to talk about someone when they aren’t present. Wyatt says The Fiend may just remember what Bryan did to him. Wyatt pulls the Universal Championship out of a toy box. Wyatt asks Bryan to come play. Bryan just has to say the magic word (yes). Bryan and all of the puppets in the Firefly Funhouse get into dueling yes/no chants. Bryan says he doesn’t want to play. Bryan says he will fight Wyatt in the ring, for the Universal Championship. Wyatt screams yes over and over again.
Opinion
I love the never ending dislike between Miz and Bryan that always plays a part when they’re in segment together regardless who’s a good guy or bad guy. I like the theory Bryan gave us before Bray showed up on the screen about being mentally unstable due to his passion for being the best. Talking about how he had to change and kill the yes movement just to feel stable and how Bray is someone who can understand that as he’s had to totally reinvent himself too because how passionate he is to achieve his goals. The duelling Yes/No chant was a nice little touch for a Wyatt mind game catered to Bryan. This set up the match for Survivor Series making it official. I love Bryan’s character doesn’t ever forget his past but carries it with him as the years goes by keeping up the continuity to his feuds even if they reignite years later. I enjoyed it.

Final Thoughts
This episode of Smackdown didn’t start off favourable but by the end of it, I was pleasantly entertained. The Corbin/Roman stuff if by far the most meh stuff on the show at the moment but the NXT Invasion angle is really what made the show pick up. I’m a huge fan of both Bray Wyatt and Daniel Bryan so I am looking forward to seeing their feud blossom at Survivor Series and continue following it. I feel Bryan might just be the guy who can get people to boo The Fiend or if anything split the fans on who they feel they should root for. The real problem is if you takeaway the NXT Invasion stuff, The Fiend and anything he is involved with automatically becomes the most entertaining part of Smackdown so can we really boo him? I mean that is other than Salsa Banks being on the show but that might just be my own bias opinion.
Overall, this show did continue to get me excited for Survivor Series. At the same time, I wonder how Smackdown is going to fare when they won’t have the NXT roster invading their shows to give them that shot in the arm picking up the pace and making them more entertaining. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed this review and remember to embrace the madness! DIG IT!