WWE SmackDown was taped this week from the Manchester Arena in England. In addition to the takeaways below, Imperium tried to attack Heavy Machinery but the SmackDown locker room made the save. Dana Brooke & Carmella also qualified to Team SmackDown at Survivor Series tonight.
Here are takeaways from the show:
Baron Corbin Cut A Bizarre Promo
King Corbin kicked off the show to a chorus of boos from the crowd. Corbin called NXT’s takeover of SmackDown last week was embarrassing and blamed it on Roman Reigns. Baron complimented Reigns on battling his disease and coming back to the ring in under a year.
Corbin called the audience fickle and claimed that the audience only cares about what has happened recently. He blasted Roman for taking days off and stated that he no longer has the desire to be champion. Corbin claimed that his brothers in the Shield abandoned him and added that the Big Dog’s testicles have shriveled up into tiny marbles.
Continuing with dog analogies, Corbin said that the Big Dog’s bark sounds like a chihuahua and claimed that Roman is no longer man enough to come to the ring and stand face-to-face. Corbin vowed to beat the crap out of Reigns later tonight. Corbin pulled out bags and stated that the audience can have them to scoop up the Big Dog’s poop at the end of the night.
This promo by Corbin reminded me of the “pooper-scooper” line that Jon Moxley (formerly Dean Ambrose in WWE) didn’t want to say and went out of his way to prevent it. Once again, this was a bunch of words that no human would say before a fight. It was scripted nonsense that did nothing to hype up tonight’s main event.
New Day Captured The SmackDown Tag Team Championships
The Revival defended their SmackDown Tag Team Championships against New Day tonight on SmackDown. Kofi rolled up Dawson for a near fall to start off the match. Scott connected with a right hand that knocked Kingston to the canvas.
Wilder tagged in and hit Kofi with a chop in the corner of the ring. Kingston battled back with a chop of his own and tagged in Big E. Kingston hit the Boom Drop before making his way to the apron.
Dash tweaked his knee and fell to the mat as SmackDown went to a commercial break. When SmackDown returned, Big E planted Wilder with a Belly to Belly Suplex. It was revealed that Wilder was faking the injury during the commercial break.
Kingston took out Wilder and Dawson with a Splash and rolled Scott into the ring. Kofi hit Dawson with a Crossbody and went for the Trouble in Paradise but Scott got out of the way. Dawson hit Kingston with a Superplex and Wilder followed it up with a Splash off the top rope.
Wilder tagged in and went for the cover but Big E broke it up at two. Wilder hit Big E with a DDT and went for one on Kofi but Kingston blocked it. Kingston hit SOS and went for the cover but Dash kicked out at two.
Big E tagged in and Dawson knocked Kofi off the apron. Dawson tagged in and planted Big E with a DDT. Wilder tagged back in and hit an uppercut off the second rope for a two count. Revival hit Shatter Machine but Kingston tagged in. Kofi hit Wilder with Trouble in Paradise for the pinfall victory. New Day are once again the SmackDown Tag Team Champions.
Tonight wrapped up another lackluster title run for The Revival. It is nearly impossible to be invested in the tag team division on the main roster at this point. I was looking forward to The Revival vs. Undisputed Era vs. Viking Raiders at Survivor Series. The match will still be great with New Day, I just don’t think it was necessary to give them the titles once again.
The Fiend Attacked Daniel Bryan
Sami Zayn spoke to Daniel Bryan backstage and told him to watch tonight’s match. Zayn has been trying to get Bryan to join his group with Shinsuke Nakamura. Shinsuke and Cesaro battled Ali and Shorty G as Daniel Bryan watched from the top of the entrance ramp.
Cesaro hit Shorty G with an uppercut and tagged in Nakamura. Shinsuke stomped away at Shorty G and then bounced his head off the top turnbuckle. Ali and Cesaro tagged in and Ali connected with Fasebuster. Ali followed it up with DDT and went for the cover but Shinsuke broke it up at two.
Shorty G sent Nakamura out of the ring with a Suplex but turned around into an uppercut from Cesaro. Ali hit Cesaro with a Suicide Dive that sent him over the barricade. Back in the ring, Ali went for a Crossbody but Cesaro caught him and hit a Backbreaker for a two count.
Shinsuke tagged back in as Shorty G applied an Ankle Lock to Cesaro. Cesaro booted Shorty G out of the ring as Nakamura hit Ali with an Exploder Suplex. Shinsuke went for the Kinshasa but Ali countered with a Superkick. Ali climbed to the top rope but Sami hopped on the apron for the distraction. Cesaro tripped up Ali and Nakamura capitalized with the Kinshasa for the pinfall victory.
Later on the show, Sami Zayn told Bryan that he should have come down to the ring and celebrated with them. Sami told Bryan that he can tell that his mind is already made up and that he doesn’t want to go back to the Yes Movement. The lights went out The Fiend appeared behind Daniel Bryan. The Fiend Bray Wyatt choked out Daniel Bryan with the Mandible Claw and laughed into the camera.
The Fiend versus Daniel Bryan sounds like an awesome match. The storyline between Bryan, Zayn, and Nakamura is one of the only interesting things on the show right now and I’m interested to
Shayna Baszler Attacked Bayley Again
Sasha Banks squared off against Nikki Cross tonight as SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley was on commentary. Banks dominated the match early and beat Cross down in the corner of the ring. Banks had new theme music featuring Snoop Dogg.
Bayley referred to Banks as the greatest during the match as Sasha connected with a Meteora for a two count. The crowd started to singing to Bayley but the SmackDown Women’s Champion called them stupid.
Nikki battled back with a couple of Arm Drags and then a Crossbody for a two count. Cross attacked Bayley outside the ring and posed on top of the entrance ramp. Bayley tripped up Nikki and Sasha connected with a boot to the face. Banks rolled Nikki back into the ring but Cross rolled her up for a two count.
Nikki connected with a Crossbody for another near fall and Banks rolled out of the ring to regroup as SmackDown went to a break. When SmackDown returned, Bayley was back on commentary as Cross hit a Tornado DDT.
Cross hit a Splash in the corner and followed it up with a Bulldog. Nikki made her way to the top rope and hit another Crossbody but Sasha rolled through and locked in the Bank Statement for a moment. Cross escaped and hit a Dropkick but Banks battled back and rolled up Cross for a two count. Sasha once again locked in the Bank Statement in the middle of the ring and Cross tapped out.
After the match, Bayley attacked Cross in the ring and beat her down. Shayna Baszler rushed the ring and hit Bayley from behind. Baszler slammed Bayley to the canvas and left the ring with the NXT Women’s Championship.
Fury & Strowman Beat Down The B-Team
Tyson Fury came down to the ring to a great reaction from his hometown crowd. Fury said that he has some unfinished business and Braun Strowman came down to the ring.
Fury told Braun that it was one of the toughest fights he has ever had and that he knows why people call him the Monster Among Men. Fury shook Braun’s hand and said that if they ever fight again, it should be as a tag team.
Strowman told Fury that he really likes the sound of that and claimed that there aren’t two dudes stupid enough to fight them. The B-Team were the ones that were stupid enough and accepted the challenge. Strowman hit Axel with a shoulder tackle and Fury knocked out Bo with a right hand. Braun then planted Axel with a Running Powerslam to end the segment.
Roode & Ziggler Helped Corbin Defeat Reigns
Baron Corbin battled Roman Reigns in the main event of this week’s show. Reigns dominated the match early and Clotheslined Corbin to the outside. Back in the ring, Corbin battled back and connected with some punches in the corner.
Reigns sent Corbin to the turnbuckle and unloaded ten Clotheslines in a row. Roman followed it up with a big boot that knocked Corbin to the outside. Reigns brought Corbin back into the ring as Roode and Ziggler made their way down the entrance ramp. Roman took them both out but Corbin capitalized with the Deep Six for a near fall as SmackDown went to a break.
When SmackDown returned, Corbin was still in control and hit Reigns with a Clothesline. Corbin went for a Splash but Reigns got out of the way. Baron connected with a Chokeslam and went for the cover but Reigns kicked out at two.
Roman leveled Corbin with a Clothesline for a near fall. Roode and Ziggler hopped up on the apron but Reigns took them out with a Superman Punch and then a Spear. Corbin capitalized on the distraction with the End of Days for the pinfall victory.
I was hoping WWE would build upon the momentum of last week’s SmackDown but that was not the case tonight. Overall, this week’s episode of SmackDown was another forgettable show. Shayna Baszler essentially did the same thing she did on last week’s episode of SmackDown. There was very little to get excited about during the show and the crowd was dead all night.