Smackdown Review 11/22/2019

Its the Wrestling Classic aka Justin Dhillon back here for this weeks review of Smackdown. Its the go-home show to Survivor Series this weekend where Raw, Smackdown and NXT face off against each other for brand supremacy. In recent weeks we have seen brands invading each others shows and tonight I expect nothing different. Also, Daniel Bryan has made it clear that he wants to go face-to-face with Bray Wyatt before this face off this Sunday. Will Bray Wyatt or The Fiend show up for this anticipated confrontation? This show is taking place in front of one WWE’s hottest crowds in Chicago so I was sure it was going to be good one. Let’s get to my review. If you are curious to what happened to my predictions and PPV reviews, I am still doing them but just not on the site. 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

Live from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.

– Michael Cole and Corey Graves are on commentary.

Smackdown Roster Rally
The show kicks off with the entire Smackdown roster backstage. Roman Reigns speaks from the front of the area and tells the roster they can’t let what happened on RAW and NXT happen tonight. He takes a shot at King Baron Corbin saying they aren’t going to be cowards like him and everyone laughs. Reigns has the bay door opened and says they’re going to let everyone in tonight, and beat their asses when they come. The arguing picks up until Sasha Banksinterrupts. Banks says she waits for no one but herself, the women’s division is ready and is headed to the ring to take care of business right now. Banks walks through the crowd with other members of the blue brand women’s division behind her – Carmella, Dana Brooke, Nikki Cross and Lacey Evans. The others continue arguing as we cut to the normal SmackDown intro video.
My Opinion
This was a great way to open the show to set the tone for the night. They addressed the RAW and NXT invasions, they kept the tension between Corbin and Reigns and it led us to our first segment with Sasha Banks stepping up saying she’s not going to wait to call out the Raw and NXT women’s division. Also, The New Day playing limbo was funny.

Smackdown Women’s Team
The women’s Smackdown team makes their way to the ring to Sasha Banks entrance. Banks takes the mic and says this is their show, and they won’t be getting jumped from behind. She talks trash about what they did to the WWE NXT Superstars this past week. She knows Team RAW is in the building and calls them out for a fight.Team SmackDown waits in the ring until Charlotte Flair’s music hits. The Queen comes out with Sarah Logan, Natalya, and WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Asuka and Kairi Sane. Flair thanks the welcome wagon but says Team RAW would’ve knocked down the door anyway. Team RAW stands on the apron and Flair challenges Banks to a singles match. Team RAW enters the ring and Team SmackDown gets in their faces. The music hits and out comes Rhea Ripley, Toni Storm, Mia Yim, Candice LeRae and Tegan Nox. Fans chant “NXT!” as they stand at ringside. Ripley says Banks is wrong, NXT does have guts. Ripley proposes this be a Captain vs. Captain vs. Captain match now with her in it. Team NXT has been established for Survivor Series. Team NXT enters the ring as all three teams talk trash now. The referees try to separate them but a brawl breaks out.
Opinion
I also enjoyed this segment keeping the chaotic pace that the show started with. I was excited for the Sasha Banks facing off against just Charlotte Flair again for old times sake but the addition of Rhea Rhipley got me even more excited. Over the years we have seen many of the Raw and Smackdown women roster members work against each other but its always fresh seeing a NXT woman in the mix with main roster women. Also, they have not officially announced the NXT team for the match this Sunday but if it is Ripley, Storm, Nox, LeRae and Yim, that is a really solid team.

Rhea Ripley def. Charlotte Flair & Sasha Banks
All the women’s teammates stayed at ringside for this match. In a really competitive and good opening match, Rhea Ripley defeated Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks when she pinned Charlotte while she had Banks in the figure eight. After the match, the Raw and Smackdown women’s team brawl as the NXT women look on with amusement from the stage.
My Opinion
I really enjoyed this match. Sasha Banks and Charlotte Flair know each other so well but Ripley was the wildcard here that neither woman could really figure out. There was some cool spots and this was really competitive but I think the right woman won as Banks and Charlotte are already so established and decorated. I enjoyed this a lot. – Backstage, Corbin tells Robert Roode and Ziggler that if NXT shows up they are going to roll out of the ring and let them beat up Reigns and his friends. Sami Zayn walks in and Corbin calls him annoying. Zayn tells Corbin to say that to his face in the ring. Zayn is carrying a bag for some reason. Zayn makes his entrance followed by Shinsuke making his way out as we go to break. – Back from the break we are backstage with Kayla Braxton and Bayley. Bayley says she is one of the most decorated women in WWE history. I don’t get what she didn’t say titles over whatever she did say that sounded stupid. Anyway, Bayley says if Becky Lynch shows up tonight that she is ready for her. Shayna Baszler only attacks her from behind. Bayley says if Baszler is here to face her tonight.

Sami Zayn Gifts Nakamura
Zayn says Corbin isn’t man enough to come to the ring when its both Nakamura and him in the ring. Sami goes on about people being afraid and says you can’t call him annoying. In fact, if there was one word to use to describe him, it would be stud. Sami says for the big stud he is, Nakamura is even studlier. Sami goes on praising Nakamura and says he’s got him a present for being so studly the past few months.  Sami reveals what’s in his bag and it’s a new WWE Intercontinental Title belt. Sami takes the old title from Nakamura by politely asking him and presents Nakamura with the new one. Zayn says the only match SmackDown is going to definitely going to win Sunday is the match featuring Nakamura. Zayn and Nakamura have trouble trying to remember the NXT’s North American Champion’s name. The Undisputed Era hits the ring. Zayn pulls Nakamura out of the ring after some convincing. Adam Cole grabs a mic and says NXT is going to wipe the floor with RAW and SmackDown. The New Day interrupts. Kingston challenges the UE to a match. The UE laugh at the idea of a four against two match. Kofi and Big E said they brought back up and out comes Heavy Machinery.
Opinon
A lot of good things happened here. Sami and Nakamura as a unit has really grown on me these past few months. As much as I love the OG Intercontinental Championship look, I dig the new one. Its fits with the modern era of championship titles and I like it more than the WWE and Universal title designs. Definitely more than the tag titles. I’m curious if the US Title will get an upgrade soon. I always pop for the Undisputed Era. I’m a huge fan of them as a group and individually so seeing them on Raw and Smackdown these past weeks has been great.

The Undisputed Era def. The New Day & Heavy Machinery
Sami Zayn and Nakamura watched the entire match from up on the stage. In a competitive back and fourth match that saw New Day and Heavy Machinery have their differences, The Undisputed Era picked up the win when Roderick Strong floors Tucker with a running knee after he got hit with a superkick from Cole in midst of all the chaos.
After the match, all four NXT Champions celebrate in the ring. Strong goes to meet Nakamura and Zayn at the top of the stage. Styles shows up out of nowhere by flying in and decking both guys. The three champions brawl until Zayn starts wailing Strong and Styles with a chair before retreating to the back when the rest of the UE ran up the ramp.
Opinion
I really enjoy seeing UE on Smackdown. It really elevates the show but it wouldn’t be the same if they were their full time. I know that so I’m really appreciating these shows. Plus, it really gives the casual fans great exposure to four of NXT’s best. The right team won here and the brawl after the match was a great way to feature the triple threat match taking place between all three champions at Survivor Series. Also, I liked the teasing of the potential Heavy Machinery vs New Day feud post Survivor Series.

– We see Bryan making his way to the ring before we head to break.

– Back from the break, AJ Styles has a mic and he’s with Gallows and Anderson now. AJ is yelling at the crowd over what just happened. AJ goes on knocking Chicago and says The OC isn’t leaving. The fans chant for CM Punk. AJ says he would mop the floor with Punk and Chicago needs mopping up. – That was a quality shot that I guess that they’re allowed to take more often now since Punk is somewhat involved with the WWE now. Plus who wouldn’t want to see that match? – Anyway, Gallows and Anderson also talk trash to the crowd. AJ goes on with the trash talking until Bryan’s music hits and he comes to the ring.

Daniel Bryan
Bryan makes his way to the ring as the crowd pops and chants for him. Bryan says people want to know why he would want to summon Bray Wyatt. Here’s why. He shows us a video package with recent footage of his run-ins with The Fiend.
Bryan says he didn’t come out to play with puppets but he came out to summon Wyatt. Bryan goes on about not knowing what goes on in Wyatt’s head, and calls him out to talk before their title match on Sunday at Survivor Series. They can get to know each other or reminisce about the past, but if that doesn’t sound good then they can fight. Bryan goes on ranting at Wyatt until the lights go out. The lights come back up and no one is there.
Bryan takes the mic and accuses Wyatt of disappointing the people and playing mind games. He calls Wyatt to come fight.
The Miz’s music hits and he comes out instead. Bryan says if there’s one thing worse than The Fiend, it’s The Miz. Bryan asks what the hell Miz is doing out here. Miz enters the ring with a mic and says Bryan’s behavior is making it clear he’s not a professional, unlike Miz. Miz goes on about how Bryan disrespected him on his own show, MizTV, last week. Bryan doesn’t care because he doesn’t respect Miz and doesn’t like him. Miz yells back and says the feelings are mutual. He’s in Bryan’s face now, yelling about how he can’t wait to see The Fiend rip him apart next week. Miz goes on about trying to be there for Bryan since day one and maybe talk some sense into him, but that hasn’t worked so maybe he will just try this… Miz slaps Bryan in the face.
Opinion
This was a good way to lead into a match between Bryan and The Miz. It was also a good way to tease the Fiend coming out to annoy the crowd only for him to come out later. Bryan is telling a good story from his side here as Wyatt still speaks cryptically on why the Fiend has come after Bryan. I said last week that I love the never ending tension and feud between Bryan and Miz so this little detour didn’t bother me as much as it might have with others. I genuinely feel like the Bryan and Miz characters despise each other and its great that they can always got back to that.

Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz
In a solid back and fourth match between two wrestlers who really know each other well, the match ended in a no contest when the lights turned off as Bryan was about to start a “YES” chant followed by running kicks to Miz in the corner. The Fiend appeared in a vanished Miz’s position and attacked Bryan with a mandible claw.
Opinion
This served its purpose. They gave a us a little Miz versus Bryan with even teasing Bryan using the yes chant only to be attacked by The Fiend out of nowhere. In reality, Bryan got what he wanted by summoning The Fiend but paid for it. A good little mind game before their match this Sunday.

Shayna Baszler
Baszler takes the mic and says she heard Bayley talk about how she keeps attacking from behind. She says Bayley must not be getting he message because here she is, in Bayley’s ring, calling her out. Baszler drops the mic and waits for a fight.
Bayley suddenly attacks Baszler from behind and takes the knee out. Bayley unloads but Baszler finally fights back. Bayley tries to retreat through the crowd but Baszler comes from behind with the Kirifuda Clutch. Bayley rams her back into the post and then the barrier. Bayley goes down and launches Baszler throat-first into the top of the barrier. Bayley drops Baszler again at ringside and makes her exit to the stage. Baszler gets back to her feet and stares Bayley down, looking pissed. Bayley runs to the back as Baszler fumes.
Opinion
This was a great little brawl between two women involved in the triple threat this Sunday. Becky made her presence known on NXT this week so it was time for Bayley to make a move this week after doing a lot last week but not much this week. They left us believing that Shayna will want to murder Bayley this Sunday. I wonder if Bayley or Becky will appear at NXT Takeover in any form.

King Corbin, Dolph Ziggler & Bobby Roode def. Roman Reigns, Mustafa Ali & Shorty G 
In an entertaining main event, Team Corbin beat Reigns, Ali and G when Corbin caught Ali with a deep six in the middle of the ring out of nowhere.
Opinion
Is it crazy that Corbin is growing on me? The King gimmick, the over the top entrance, the change of in ring attire and his smugness is making me enjoy him. Anyway, this was a solid match but with four members of Team Smackdown involved, it makes me wonder if it’s a smart decision to have them facing off against each other days before they have to team up to fight against the other brands. Corbin picked up a big win defeating Ali in his own hometown to get more of that heat. The Corbin and Reigns saga will continue after Survivor Series.

Brand Warfare
After the match Reigns spears Corbin but then Rollins music hits. The Raw roster comes through the crowd the same way The Shield used to. Seth tells his locker room to stand back as he gets into the ring with Roman first. The two of them start fighting after having a few words with each other which leads to the rest of the Raw roster jumping the barricade attacking Ali, Shorty G, Roode and Ziggler. Braun’s music hits and he runs down with the Smackdown locker room behind him evening the odds. The large groups of Team RAW and Team SmackDown brawl in and out of the ring. Fans chant for “NXT!” now. Braun with a big powerslam on Drew McIntyre. The camera cuts backstage to a group of NXT Superstars riding the DX jeep from their infamous WCW invasion.
The NXT music hits as Triple H, Shawn Michaels and Road Dogg appear on the stage. They’re leading a large group of NXT Superstars. They all rush the ring as all three brands are going at it nowThere are bodies everywhere as the three rosters brawl all over the arena. Keith Lee with a big Spirit Bomb to Montez Ford in the ring but they are the only ones in there. Braun meets Lee in the ring and fans pop. Slater runs in but Lee leels him. Braun takes out a NXTSuperstar. Braun and Lee meet in the middle of the ring now. They start fighting each other. The ring begins to fill up with Superstars now. SmackDown goes off the air as the ring fills up with Superstars.
Opinion
I always enjoy a good chaotic brawl and we’ve seen a fair share of them these past few weeks. The different between these ones compared to the ones we’ve gotten in the past years is this inclusion of the NXT brand. Its fascinating seeing superstars we dont usually see or haven’t really seen cross paths got at it. The fact that Walter was out there and I thought he would never do anything outside of the UK besides a few US NXT appearances was awesome. The fact that I got excited to see Keith Lee and Braun Strowman go toe to toe says a lot. Solid way to end the go home show even if it was formula they use pretty much every year.

Final Thoughts
This entire NXT invasion has been really fun and AMAZING exposure to the casual fans of what NXT is all about. Its unfortunate that after this weekend, we won’t be seeing them on Raw and Smackdown much unless they jump brands fully. That is until maybe next year around this same time for Survivor Series again. However, if they do it again next year it’ll be the second time around with this concept and it may not give us the same feeling of satisfaction it did this year when it was a fresh idea.
Smackdown has been fairly better than it was before the invasion and most of the highlights outside of whatever The Fiend is doing is credited to NXT superstars appearing which makes me wonder how Smackdown will do after this is over. Other than the Bryan and Wyatt feud, nothing else featuring just the Smackdown roster is really appealing to me. However, maybe things pick up after this brand supremacy angle and they were just waiting to get through it. Regardless, this was a fun show and if you didn’t tune in, I’d definitely recommend you do check it out before this Sunday’s Survivor Series. It got me hyped. Dig it?