Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon kicked off the show. They announced that both Edge and the Undertaker are on the show tonight. Shane then announced that the Intercontinental Championship match will be kicking off the show.
Intercontinental Championship Match: Dolph Ziggler (c) vs The Miz
The match started out back and forth. The Miz went for the Skull Crushing Finale but Ziggler blocked it. Smackdown went to a commercial break with The Miz and Ziggler staring at each other. When Smackdown returned, Ziggler connected with a Dropkick. The Miz fought back and hit a Backbreaker. The Miz sent Ziggler into the corner and went to dive onto him but Ziggler got out of the way. The Miz spent some time early in the match focusing his attack on Ziggler’s knee.
Ziggler was able to recapture the momentum of the match and hit a Swinging Neckbreaker. The Miz tried to use the ropes for leverage on a pinfall but the referee caught him. The Miz then argued with the referee and that allowed Ziggler enough time to recover. When Miz turned around, Ziggler hit him with a Fameasser and went for a pin. The Miz powered out at two and Smackdown went to another commercial break.
Smackdown returned to The Miz mocking Daniel Bryan by doing the “yes!” chant and hitting Ziggler with the Yes Kicks. The Miz then connected with a running knee and followed it up with the Skull Crushing Finale. Ziggler kicked out at two and Maryse was frustrated outside the ring. Dolph Ziggler hit a sloppy looking Zig Zag and The Miz was able to get his foot on the bottom rope to break up the pinfall. Ziggler went for the Superkick but the Spirit Squad came down to the ring and distracted him. Dolph kicked the Spirit Squad off of the ring apron but The Miz was able to lock in the Figure Four on Ziggler. Eventually, Ziggler reached the bottom rope to break the hold. Ziggler then tried to roll-up The Miz but Maryse shoved The Miz from outside the ring and he somehow reversed it into a roll-up of his own for the victory.
Winner & New Intercontinental Champion: The Miz
Alexa Bliss confronted Daniel Bryan backstage and showed Bryan the video of her foot on the bottom rope last week on Smackdown where she lost her title match to Becky Lynch. Daniel Bryan stated that the referee’s decision is final but he will give Alexa Bliss a rematch with Becky Lynch for the Women’s title. Natalya then showed up with a whistle because she is the coach of the women’s team for Survivor Series.. Natalya quoted Chumbawamba and Alexa Bliss got frustrated and walked away.
Oney Lorcan vs Kalisto
Lorcan started off this match in control but it didn’t last long. Kalisto hit the Selida del Sol for the quick victory.
Winner: Kalisto
King Booker gave a motivational speech to the Smackdown tag teams. Breezango rudely interrupted as the fashion police and gave everyone a ticket. Fandango referred to Booker T as “King Booger”. King Booker then went off an a tirade on Fandango and the Smackdown tag teams started to chant “all hail King Booker”.
Reaction: The first hour of Smackdown was decent. The Miz and Dolph Ziggler match was good but the ending was underwhelming. I’m not a huge fan of the finish to a title match being a roll-up. I’m also not a fan of the WWE playing hot potato with the Intercontinental Championship. Dolph Ziggler had an epic feud with The Miz and risked his career to obtain the IC title. Immediately after that match, the WWE started bogging down their feud with the inclusion of the Spirit Squad. I don’t understand the point of putting the title right back on The Miz. I’m hoping we don’t have to see yet another angle where Dolph Ziggler puts his career on the line. I’m not interested in watching Ziggler desperately try to get his IC title back either. The Miz will now defend the Intercontinental Championship against Sami Zayn at Survivor Series.
Nikki Bella vs Carmella
Nikki Bella dominated early and landed a Dropkick. Nikki went for a Baseball Slide but Carmella caught her. Carmella then drove Nikki to the mat and Nikki landed on her neck. Carmella then slammed Nikki’s head on the floor several times. Carmella rolled Nikki back into the ring and went for the pin but Nikki kicked out at two. Carmella then kicked Nikki in the face and applied a Chinlock. Nikki Bella eventually broke out of the hold but Carmella continued the attack and landed several punches to the face. Carmella once again locked in a Chinlock and followed it up by stomping on Nikki in the corner. Carmella went for a Bronco Buster but Nikki got out of the way and Carmella landed on the turnbuckle hard. Charlotte then walked through the audience holding up a ticket. Smackdown once again went to a commercial break.
Charlotte was sarcastically cheering for Nikki Bella. Finally, Nikki had enough and attacked Charlotte and the referee rang the bell. The rest of the members of the Raw women’s team showed up and they all attacked Nikki. It was amusing to see Sasha Banks and Bayley beatdown the helpless Nikki Bella. It seemed absurdly out of character for them. Eventually, the rest of the Smackdown women’s team came out and made the save. Nia Jax charged at Becky Lynch but Becky moved out of the way and Nia went flying through the barricade outside the ring. This looked really awkward because either Becky got out of the way too soon or Nia started her charge too late. You can see it in the tweet embedded below. Naomi leaped onto the rest of the Raw women’s team and knocked them all down. The Smackdown women’s team then stood tall as Team Raw retreated.
The Usos, Hype Bros, American Alpha & Breezango vs Spirit Squad, The Ascension, The Vaudevillians & The Headbangers
Slater and Rhyno were ringside for this match. The entire crowd started to chant “we want Slater!”. Mojo Rawley hit a seated Senton on Simon Gotch. Zack Ryder was then tagged in and he continued the beatdown of Gotch. Mojo was tagged back in and he got all hyped out and laid out Gotch. Finally, Gotch tagged in Viktor and the momentum of the match turned for a moment. Zack Ryder got back in the match and hit a Dropkick on Viktor. Smackdown went to a commercial break with both teams shouting at each other outside of the ring.
When Smackdown returned, Chad Gable was tagged in was immediately slammed to the mat by Mosh of the Headbangers. Jason Jordan then launched one of the members of the Headbangers outside of the ring. Breezango then took out the Spirit Squad. The Ascension tossed Breezango out of the ring. The Hype Bros then took out the Ascension. The Usos then leaped onto everyone outside the ring. American Alpha then hit the Grand Amplitude for the victory.
Winners: The Usos, Hype Bros, Breezango & American Alpha
Team Smackdown joined Edge in the ring. Edge shook James Ellsworth’s hand and said he was proud of him. Ellsworth asked Edge to do a five second pose with him. AJ Styles shouted “no” and called the five second pose stupid. Styles claimed that nobody cares about Ellsworth and that nobody cares about Edge either. An awkwardly timed “AJ Styles” chant then broke out. Edge started to poke fun at Randy Orton for joining the Wyatt family. Bray Wyatt then grabbed the microphone and stated that the entire world will see a more dangerous Orton than they have ever seen this Sunday at Survivor Series.
Shane McMahon then stated that it didn’t matter if the entire team hated each other. All they had to do was get along for one night. Styles continued to brag about himself and then turned his attention to Dean Ambrose. Styles called Ambrose a hot-head and stated that he is completely unpredictable. Ambrose then claimed that he will be taking the WWE World Heavyweight Championship back at TLC. Styles then hinted that he might not be a team player at Survivor Series.
The Undertaker then came down to the ring. The crowd started chanting “holy s***!” as The Undertaker grabbed a microphone. The Undertaker stated that Wrestlemania will no longer define who he is. The Undertaker stated that he is back to taking souls and digging holes. The Undertaker then stated that Smackdown has always been his home. The Undertaker said that if Team Smackdown fails at Survivor Series, they will have a reason to fear The Undertaker. The show ended with The Undertaker saying that Team Raw better rest in peace.
Reaction: This was a hell of an ending to an otherwise okay show. I had somehow convinced myself that The Undertaker was going to take Shane McMahon’s place on Team Smackdown at Survivor Series. I was all ready to go bananas when he said that but obviously that never happened. I am now convinced that Team Smackdown is going to lose at Survivor Series. I want to see why everyone should be afraid of The Undertaker on the Smackdown roster if they lose. I’m sure more news will come out in the coming weeks but I’m not sure what The Undertaker meant by stating he is back. I’m interested to see for how long that will be and whether or not he will be in a few matches. They didn’t just have him return for no reason. I’m guessing something is going to go down at Survivor Series that will further this story along. I’m already looking forward to it. In fact, this is the most I’ve looked forward to a WWE PPV in awhile and I could care less about the Lesnar and Goldberg match.
What did you think of this week’s episode of Smackdown? Let us know in the comments below.