wrestling / TV Reports
Winfree’s WWE Smackdown Review 10.16.20
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...Hey everyone and welcome to another episode of WWE Smackdown. Winfree here to keep you updated on all the events just as I see them. Tonight we enter the post draft phase, which will last until convenience or necessity dictate otherwise. Tonight Roman Reigns defends his Universal Title against Braun Strowman, we get the farewell match for New Day after Kofi and Woods were drafted to RAW while Big E stays on Smackdown to presumably finally get his singles push. New Day will battle Cesaro, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Sheamus. One has to imagine that the Seth Rollins and Mysterio family feud will have some kind of continuation here as well, so let’s all look forward to that.
Commentary tries to sell us on the landscape of WWE having been changed, I needed the laugh so thanks. Cut to a bunch of people around the ring, while Trips and Steph are in the ring. Steph welcomes us to the new season premier, Trips says premiers are exciting as everything is new. He reminds us about Strowman vs. Reigns for the title in the main event. Wait, Trips called him Roman Reign. Steph talks about the six man tag team match, then Trips says Jeff Hardy will take on Lars as well. Steph then reminds us that Daniel Bryan will make his first Thunderdome appearance. Kevin Owens and Aliester Black stare down on the ramp, Sami Zayn is here for some reason, as is Otis with his briefcase. The new Smackdown Tag Team champions Street Prophets as well. We get a wild brawl breaking out, who could have possibly predicted that?
Owens cannonballs onto Cesaro, Nakamura, and Black on the outside. Montez Ford with a giant dive onto Roode and Ziggler. Lars shows up to kill undersized jobbers. Oh, they’re selling Lars as 6’3 now, which is still a bit high but more believable. Lars runs wild on Apollo Crews and Shorty G for a bit in the ring. Hardy attacks Lars from behind and he stands tall to set up their match for later.
Match #1: Lars Sullivan vs. Jeff Hardy
We come back as the match starts. Lars just kind of runs Hardy over a few times. Some clubbing forearms from Lars. Hardy gets tossed around some more, Lars hits a sliding clothesline for a 2 count. Up to the top for Lars, but he misses the diving splash. Hardy with strikes and a jawbreaker. Inverted atomic drop from Hardy but Lars counters a second attempt and is back in control. Hardy hits whisper in the wind but only gets 1. Commentary hasn’t reminded us that Lars is a freak yet, might be a record. Wait, there it is. Lars blocks a Twist of Fate and tosses Hard outside. Hardy tries to jump onto Lars but gets slammed onto the apron. Hardy with a Twist of Fate, but Lars is back up before Hardy even gets to the top rope. Lars is mad, he hits a top rope Freak Accident for the win.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Lars Sullivan pinned Jeff Hardy
Rating: 1.5 stars
Extended squash, but they gave Hardy enough to avoid that rating.
Sullivan glares at the hard camera for a bit. Commentary runs down some of the rest of the card, then New Day make their way out for the six man match, which starts after the break.
Commentary tries to say that Bianca Belair will be a champion soon, awkward way to come back from commercial. Big E on the mic, he says that the WWE Draft is the one thing stronger than the power of positivity. That checks out. Woods and Kingston mention that after thinking on this for a week and going through a bunch of emotions Kingston can’t help but smile. Despite the sadness people have been reminding them of all the good memories they’ve provided them and run down a few memorable ones. Woods says he sees two guys who didn’t have to take a chance on him, he wasn’t doing anything and probably wouldn’t even be here anymore, but this has been the best thing in his life. Big E remembers all the miles on the road, and Kingston mentions that in 2012 he wasn’t sure he wanted to continue wrestling but Woods and Big E approached him about this and he’s grateful they did. Kingston considers New Day his brothers, all three are emotional. Woods says they’re here for one last time, to whip tail the only way they can, because New. . . Day Rocks.
In the back our opposing trio get some mic time. Sheamus is happy to be the one to give the muppets the sendoff they deserve. Cesaro is going to take great pleasure in ruining their last match. Nakamura says this will be goodbye to New Day not just now, but forever. They head to the ring as we get another commercial break.
Match #2 – Six Man Tag Match: New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods) vs. Sheamus, Cesaro, and Shinsuke Nakamura
Woods and Nakamura get us going. They trade arm wringer sequences then Nakamura takes over with strikes. Deep armdrag from Woods, then Kingston with a blind tag and they double team Nakamura. Kingston eats a knee then the step over wheel kick and Cesaro is tagged in. Cesaro and Nakamura hit a wishbone splitter on Kingston. Cesaro with uppercuts, European style, and kicks but Kingston with a drop kick and tags in Big E. They double team Cesaro, then Woods is tagged in and he elevates then drops Big E onto Cesaro for a near fall. Woods tries chops, Cesaro is not amused and floors him. Sheamus tagged in, he and Cesaro with a tandem clothesline then a knee from Sheamus. Cesaro and Sheamus with some call backs to their tag team days, but Woods fights free and hits a sliding knee and tags in Kingston. Big E powerbombs Woods onto Sheamus then Kingston with a top rope splash but can’t keep Sheamus down. Kingston gets low bridged by Nakamura and he’s down on the outside. Triple team on the outside, Kingston takes a knee and a suplex on the floor. Nakamura is the legal man, he goes for a cover but only gets 2. Quick tags from our trio of heels, isolating Kingston. Cesaro hits a scoop slam and a leg drop. Sheamus tagged in and resumes beating down Kingston. Nakamura now with kicks and knees. Cesaro tagged in, but Kingston fights back, and can’t get a tag. Kingston on the top rope, Sheamus yanks him off to the floor outside by the hair as we
head to break.
Back from break, Sheamus walks into an SOS to give space for Kingston to finally tag out. Big E tagged in and he runs wild for a bit with a lot of belly to belly suplexes. Big splash from Big E to Cesaro. Big E sets for the Big Ending, Cesaro counters with a gut wrench suplex. Running uppercut from Cesaro. Woods with a blind tag, he and Big E with an assisted back stabber but he can’t keep Cesaro down. Nakamura with the blind tag now, he drops Woods down on the back of his head from the second rope. Kicks from Nakamura, now punches but Woods with a drop toe hold to hang up Nakamura on the second rope. Things break down on the outside, we get dives and everyone winds up down. Nakamura into the ring, Kingston tries to jump onto him but he jumps into a kick and now Cesaro is tagged in. Big Swing from Cesaro, Nakamura with a kick then Kingston eats an assisted White Noise but Big E saves the match. Parade of finishers time, we end with Sheamus and Kingston in the ring. Sheamus posts himself, Woods tags in, Big E tags in and the assisted Big Ending finishes Sheamus.
OFFICIAL RESULT: New Day defeated Cesaro, Nakamura, and Sheamus
Rating: 2.5 stars
Physical and frantic, almost to its detriment down the stretch as we just got the usual spam of moves into the finish.
New Day celebrate and hug in the ring. Big E thanks them audibly. They all pose, no turn for Big E tonight.
In the back Otis gets an interview. Asked about what’s coming next, Sami Zayn interrupts him to remind Otis that everyone who was around Otis is gone. Zayn says there are winners in this world, and then there are Otis’. Otis shoves him down and walks away.
Back to the ring, and Daniel Bryan heads to the ring. He will address the fans after the break.
Bryan in the ring with a mic. He puts over the Thunderdome before anything else. He loves his time at home, he waves to his wife and daughter who are one of the screens, but couldn’t wait to be back here doing this. A rundown of the show follows, he’s stealing the commentary job, and puts over the new mix of talent on Smackdown. Some specific names of people he’s happy to be on the same show as follow. Seth Rollins is out to interrupt things. He’s happy to see Bryan, and is thrilled his wife let him out of the house to be here but notes Bryan omitted him in his list of new acquisitions for Smackdown. Rollins asks Bryan which side of history he’d like to be on, because you’re either with the greater good or against it. He assumes a man as smart as Bryan would rather be beside him to help him shape the future of wrestling. Bryan notes that there was an awkward silence there. Bryan wants to do a lot of things to better the future, but notes that Rollins’ vision is short sighted, self indulgent, and kind of dumb. They argue about who’s dumb for a bit, and like all grade school style arguments it devolves to blows. Rollins lays out Bryan, but Bryan fights back with kicks before Rollins scoots away. Mysterio’s show up now to back Rollins to the ring.
Rollins asks Bryan to help him against Rey and Dominick, Bryan defers and heads out of the ring. Murphy heads to the ring now, he attacks Rollins but Rollins escapes after taking a knee strike. The Mysterio’s stare down Murphy, Murphy offers his hand but Rey and Dominick decline at the moment.
Street Prophets show up for their title defense next. I wonder if the Street Prophets will switch from red cups to blue cups on Smackdown? They want the smoke, which sends us to break.
Match #3 – Smackdown Tag Team Title Match: (c) Street Prophets (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) vs. Bobby Roode and Dolph Ziggler
Back as the match starts. Ziggler and Dawkins start us off, Dawkins being a clear step ahead of Ziggler. Ziggler tags out and Roode stomps Dawkins down in the corner. Suplex from Roode, then a cheap shot to Ford on the apron. Gordbuster from Roode, then Ziggler tagged in for an assisted leg drop and Ford dives in to break up the pinfall. Things break down for a bit and the ref winds up throwing out the match.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Roode & Ziggler defeated Street Prophets via disqualification
Rating: DUD
Weak, no way Roode and Ziggler were winning and they’d have been better off just letting Roode and Ziggler get first crack at New Day on Raw.
Ford is tossed out, Dawkins tries to fight back but Roode and Ziggler with the double team finisher to stand tall. Ford on the top rope, he hits a high cross body onto them so he stands tall.
Video recap of last weeks issue between Bayley and Banks. Sasha Banks out now for her contract signing vs. Bayley, which will of course happen after the break.
Bayley holding a chair high as she poses coming back from break. Adam Pearce is here to oversee things. He runs down that Hell in a Cell is coming up for them. Banks signs first, then says she’s been waiting for this for a long time. Bayley agrees, she’s happy to unload her baggage and resume her record setting title reign. Bayley notes how vindictive Banks is, and says she just beat Banks to the punch in terms of who turned on who. Banks takes issue with that, and tells Bayley she could have turned on her years ago. Pretty sure she did, more than once. Banks says she brought Bayley in after Bayley was left behind in NXT. She runs down their shared history a bit, noting that she’s been helping Bayley every step of the way but at Hell in a Cell she’s ending her career. Bayley takes her title and chair then heads out. Banks calls her a coward for running, but there’s no place to run in Hell in a Cell. Bayley hasn’t signed the contract yet as she’s on the ramp.
In the back Braun Strowman is warming up for his title match, which is supposed to be next.
Back from break, Strowman is here to make the walk. Strowman is threatening to take the title to RAW if he wins, seeing as he was drafted to that brand. Reigns out next, and the crowd is booing both parties, or at least the technician is piping in boos. Oh, another commercial break after the intros. Pacing is a thing I guess.
Match #4 – Universal Title Match: (c) Roman Reigns w/ Paul Heyman vs. Braun Strowman
They tie up early, Strowman getting the power edge but Reigns is able to misdirect him and toss him outside. Strowman to the apron, and Reigns with a superman punch to drop him. The ref starts counting then Reigns outside for the drive by kick. Back into the ring, Reigns with strikes to the body and head. Strowman eats a punch and kick but Reigns can’t keep him down. Reigns low bridges Strowman and we’re back to the ringside area. Headbutts from Reigns, he’s back in the ring to break the count. Strowman drives Reigns into some hardware to take over. Big wind up shoulder tackle from Strowman sends Reigns over the barricade as we get another break.
Back with Strowman still in control, tossing Reigns around. Strowman runs into a kick then posts himself between the ropes. Reigns tries a superman punch but Strowman catches him and hits a chokeslam for a near fall. There was a bit of a low blow from Reigns on that kick out, he hits a spear but Strowman kicks out at 2. Reigns sets for another spear, but Strowman counters with a powerslam attempt. Reigns escapes, and grabs a guillotine choke from the shoulder of Strowman. Strowman tries to break the choke, but Reigns holds it as they hit the mat. I’m not sure if Strowman tapped or went out but either way the ref calls it.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Roman Reigns defeated Braun Strowman via submission,
Rating: 2 stars
Suitable if unremarkable hoss match, Reigns trying to show off grappling acumen to deal with the size disparity was a decent touch.
Jey Uso shows up on the ramp, Reigns spears Strowman while staring Uso down. Reigns invites Uso to the ring, he starts down but halts when Heyman hands Reigns a chair. Reigns points to Strowman and says this is how they eat and take care of their family, he doesn’t want to do this to Uso. He says if he can do this to Strowman imagine what he can do to Uso. Reigns lays into Strowman a bit with the chair before officials head down to try and contain the situation. Reigns can’t be contained though and resumes wearing Strowman out. Uso up on the apron and in the ring. Reigns tries to talk Uso out of their match again, he kicks the chair to Uso and asks him to attack him. Reigns turns his back to Uso, giving him a free shot but Uso throws the chair down. As Reigns turns around Uso hits him with a right and a superkick, then gets the chair and lays into Reigns with it before officials pull them apart. Reigns hits a superman punch and tells Uso that was his last chance, now only consequences remain.
That will close the “season premier” of Smackdown.
