Winfree’s WWE Smackdown Review 10.22.21

Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of WWE Smackdown. Tonight we’re hot on the heels of Crown Jewel and have some work to do setting up the narratives for Survivor Series in just under a months time. Firstly there should be a title exchange between Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch, Becky retained her title at Crown Jewel against Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair and now that the Draft is in full effect Charlotte and Becky will be swapping titles since they’ve also swapped brands. This will also probably plant seeds for their clash at Survivor Series, because for 3 weeks every year the WWE decides to take the brand split super serious. More interesting is the Universal title picture, Roman Reigns retained the title against Brock Lesnar at Crown Jewel but Heyman’s actions were a touch nebulous and his loyalty remains a bit of a question mark. There’s a decent chance we’ll get a rematch between Roman and Lesnar, but probably not too soon as Roman will be looking to the champion vs. champion clash with Big E. Zelina Vega won the Queen’s Crown tournament, and will probably get squashed by Charlotte because that’s just how this goes. We don’t have any matches announced yet, but I assume there will be wrestling on the wrestling show as the new rosters take effect. Alright, that’s the preview done so let’s get into the action.

We open with Roman Reigns, he’s here with Paul Heyman but the Usos are not currently present. They eventually hit the ring and Roman gets a mic from Heyman. Roman asks if Heyman is holding the title for him, or for Brock. Because last night Roman put his hand out and Heyman just threw the belt into the ring and asks if Heyman wants to rehearse. Roman holds his hand out, and Heyman hands him the belt, which Roman puts on his shoulder. He says Heyman isn’t great at his job, but Roman is. There’s no denying that Roman is the best of the best, he’s carried this company for over a year and a half, he’s the Tribal Chief, the Head of the Table, the greatest Universal champion of all time. He’s these things because he’s smashed everyone, the list of his victims is so long you can’t go back to the very beginning. He runs down his victims since WrestleMania instead, culminating with Brock Lesnar last night. Speaking of Brock, he said he’d be here, and Heyman pulls up the tweet on his phone then reads it for our benefit. Roman is amused by this, and slaps the phone out of Heyman’s hand and jokes that he beat Brock so bad that Brock has started tweeting. He tells Brock he’s right here in the middle of the ring and invites him down to make good on his threat. Roman hands the mic back to Heyman and waits in the middle of the ring, then takes the mic back. Brock must be scared, so Roman says he wont leave the ring until Brock comes out here. That sends us to break. Roman being this kind of abusive to Heyman makes for good interactions, especially since Heyman does such a good job of being fearful.

Roman plays with the crowd as we come back, drawing a “We want Lesnar” chant before agreeing with them. But apparently Brock is scared and no one wants anymore of Roman. That does prompt Brock showing up, leading to a brief brawl in the ring that ends with Brock clotheslining Roman out of the ring. More violence from Brock on the floor, he tosses Roman into the ring steps, then takes the top part and clobbers Roman with them. Brock takes apart the announcers table, he wants to F5 Roman through it but the Usos and some refs are here to make the save. That goes poorly for the Usos as Brock just abuses them then tosses them over the barricade into the stands with ease. Roman jumps Brock from behind but is driven into the ring post for his efforts. Brock gets a TV camera and chucks it at Roman, who thankfully avoids it. Brock has gone nuts and is tossing around officials and some of the locker room who show up to try and stop him before the real members of the roster show up and he desists. We head to break as the Bloodline retreats and Brock poses with the Universal belt in the ring.

We come back to a recap of Brock’s path of carnage. Adam Pearce is in the ring, he says no one can do this kind of thing holding a show hostage and denounces Brock Lesnar’s actions. Brock didn’t just cause damage, he endangered the production crew, the referees, and the locker room to say nothing of the danger to the WWE Universe. Due to his actions Brock Lesnar is indefinitely suspended, until Royal Rumble if I had to guess given when Brock tends to show up to work. But that did draw Brock back to the ring, he’s not sure he heard Pearce correctly. Brock grabs Pearce by the tie and asks Pearce to repeat himself. Pearce doesn’t have a choice, and does reiterate that Brock is suspended. Brock backs Pearce into the corner, then hoists him up and drops him with an F5. The crowd want one more, Brock obliges them. Brock gets a mic and says he can’t hear Pearce before walking out and sending us to another commercial break.

When we come back we get a recap of Brock abusing Adam Pearce. During the commercial break Pearce needed referee assistance to get to the back. Sonya Deville is on her phone in the back promising to get the show back on track. Naomi shows up to object to what happened last week and wants a fair match against Sonya tonight. Tonight isn’t about Naomi, Sonya has other things to worry about tonight than Naomi. Drew McIntyre is here as well, he introduces himself and notes there’s chaos but he’ll do her a favor by going to the ring and issue an open challenge with or without her permission. Drew walks past the group of wrestlers who went out to deal with Brock and says he hopes they heard him. Cesaro was in the group, as was Nakamura and I could go for Drew against either of them. That leads us to the ring where Drew makes his entrance. Drew and his sword pose in the ring before he gets a mic and reiterates his desire to finally have a match after 40 minutes into the episode. He doesn’t care who shows up, he just wants some ass to show up so he can kick it. Sami Zayn’s music hits, he’s got a new song. Zayn says Drew didn’t mention him, but Zayn is the longest tenured member of the Smackdown roster and the locker room leader. Drew might be a former WWE champion, but around here Drew’s just the newbie. But if Drew is looking for an opponent Zayn accepts as he’s the best superstar on Smackdown.

Match #1: Sami Zayn vs. Drew McIntyre

Sami immediately heads out of the ring, gets chased around for a bit of stalling before Drew finally gets ahold of him and slams him into the barricade to send us to break.

Sami is in control as we come back, he tries a series of covers but can’t keep Drew down. A bit of trash talk from Sami as he lays in rights but Drew scoops him up and starts abusing him in the corner then hits a belly to belly throw. Drew with clotheslines then another overhead throw and a neckbreaker. Drew sets for the Claymore, but Sami rolls out of the ring. Sami hangs up Drew on the top rope, tries the Blue Thunder Bomb but Drew is too big. Some elbows to the back of the head from Sami, but Drew avoids the Blue Thunder Bomb and hits a Glasgow Kiss headbutt but Sami avoids a charge and Drew posts himself. Sami posts Drew again and wants the Helluva Kick, but Drew intercepts him with a Claymore and we’re done.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Drew McIntyre won

Rating: 2.5 stars

Perfectly acceptable average match, I’d rather Drew had been even more dominant if you’re going to try and establish him on Smackdown, but ultimately this still accomplished the goal.

Hit Row will debut tonight apparently.

After this break Xavier Woods will be crowned King Xavier after winning the King of the Ring at Crown Jewel.

Kofi Kingston is in the ring to introduce Xavier Woods after another video recap, this time on Woods beating Finn Balor to win the impromptu tournament. Kofi reminds us we’re gathered here today to coronate Xavier Woods, then calls Xavier Woods down to the ring. Woods and his trombone make it to the ring, where Kofi presents Xavier with his royal cloak. That gets a “You deserve it” chant from the crowd. Unrelated note, but boy does that chant mean almost nothing these days. Next is the scepter, which Woods holds up. Finally there’s the crown, a physical representation of the respect that Woods has earned, and Kofi crowns Woods. Kofi hands Woods the mic, and Woods says that means a lot to him. The fans have shown Woods a ton of love, they’ve helped him turn a dream into reality, so thank you. While his reign will be fun, it will also be fair, and he wants to give these fine people right here in Wichita, Kansas a chance to hear the gospel of King Woods. That’s really just a “Hail King Woods” chant while Kofi and Woods cavort around the ring. No one’s coming out to rain on this parade? What a missed opportunity.

Over to commentary who try to hype up the women’s title exchange. Becky Lynch is in the back with her belt, and reminds everyone that she never actually lost the RAW women’s title and maybe instead of just an exchange tonight Becky two belts will make a comeback. But that would leave Poochie, I mean Charlotte, without a title and Charlotte must always have a title.

Back to the ring, here’s Mansoor for a rematch with Mustafa Ali after this break.

Another plea to watch Becky and Charlotte trade belts then set up their match at Survivor Series as we come back, then a video hype for Xia Li. We get a recap of Mansoor winning in Saudi Arabia at Crown Jewel, then Mustafa Ali heads to the ring.

Match #2: Mansoor vs. Mustafa Ali

Mansoor avoids a drop kick then lays in rights. More offense from Mansoor, including a back body drop then he sends Ali out of the ring. Mansoor chases Ali back into the ring, back drops him out of the ring then they head back into the ring. Mansoor up top, hits a cross body for a 2 count. Ali tries to beg off, then tosses Mansoor into the middle rope to cut him off. Ali with a sunset flip then a sit out powerbomb for a 2 count. A bit of trash talk from Ali but Mansoor avoids a neckbreaker and drills him with a Tiger suplex. Ali then eats a clothesline, but Mansoor runs into a kick. Another sunset flip attempt from Ali, but Mansoor counters into a rana pinning position and gets the 3 count.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Mansoor won

Rating: 2 stars

These two have decent chemistry, this was mostly hurt by the length but they were non-stop action for as long as it lasted.

Ridge Holland is in the back, he’s come from scrapping on the streets of Yorkshire to Smackdown. Aliyah is here as well, she’s going to give this place a makeover. Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo are here, then we get someone who actually matters as Sheamus talks. Sheamus delivers banger after banger in the ring.

Hit Row is here, God help us all. B-Fab tries to sing, they all introduce themselves. This is the richual, (Yes, I lost brain cells typing that). Swerve raps a bit to the ring, B-Fab explains her name. Apparently now we know about them. They’ll be in some kind of in ring action after this break.

Isiah

Match #3 – Tag Team Match: Isiah “Swerve” Scott and Top Dollah vs. Jobbers

Swerve with some offense, he tags in Dollah and hits a senton then hoists up both guys for a modified Worlds Strongest Slam. Dollah tags Swerve back in, they hit a double team kick and sidewalk slam to pin and win.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Hit Row won

Rating: Tschermak. . . SQUASH

Top Dollah did not look especially good, even as limited as his ring time was. Swerve is clearly going to be doing the lions share of the work for this group in terms of the in ring content.

Hit Row celebrate, and we cut to a recap of Brock Lesnar’s path of carnage earlier on the show. Kayla is in the back outside the trainers room, she talks with Sonya Deville for an update on Pearce. Pearce will be OK eventually, she apparently volunteered to be the one to tell Brock he was suspended. Tonight’s title exchange could be combustible (please please watch, we promise it’s not a waste of time) but she’ll handle it. Sonya does not have the acting skill to pull off what’s supposed to be this kind of passive aggressive evil character.

To the ring, and here’s Rick Boogs to introduce Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura will battle Happy Corbin in a non-title match after this break.

Back from break a ton of self congratulatory stuff about the success of Crown Jewel before we get back to the ring for our match.

We get a video promo from Corbin and Moss, Happy is glad to be here to thank Nakamura for ruining his life by beating him to a pulp. Oh, Madcap is here for his weekly bad joke. This week, “What do you call a container of orange juice that claims to have pulp, but clearly is pulpless? Pulp fiction.”

Match #4: Shinsuke Nakamura w/ Rick Boogs vs. Happy Corbin w/ Madcap Moss

Corbin with some early offense but he runs into a knee from Nakamura then an ax kick and running drop kick. Nakamura with more knees on the mat. Corbin fights out of the corner with elbows, they trade strikes with Nakamura getting the better of it with a flurry of knees and elbows. Kicks from Nakamura, then some Good Vibrations with guitar accompaniment. Corbin avoids a running attack and tosses Nakamura to the apron. Nakamura fights back, he wants a suplex to the floor but Corbin counters and hits a modified gordbuster to the floor as we head to break.

Nakamura fights off a side headlock as we come back, then Corbin with his slide through clothesline for a 2 count. Mounted punches from Corbin active Kevin Dunn’s Michael Bay style editing for a few seconds. Nakamura avoids a scoop slam and hits a running kick, both men are down. Nakamura fights up first and mocks Corbin then lays in strikes and drops Corbin with a kick. Corbin misses a corner charge, eats a kick to the head then takes the elevated knee strike for another near fall. Nakamura sets for the Kinshasa, but Corbin counters, they trade counters before Corbin hits an ugly looking front slam for a 2 count. Boogs starts playing the theme of Nakamura, Nakamura fires up, lands a knee to avoid a chokeslam then hits a wheel kick. Moss is over to stop Boogs, they trade shoves before Nakamura comes out to kick him down. That allows Corbin to jump Nakamura, send him into the ring and hit the End of Days to win.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Happy Corbin won

Rating: 2.5 stars

Corbin and Nakamura have showed some legitimate in ring chemistry before, and that showed up again here.

Charlotte in the back to talk, of course Becky wont hand over the title. Just pretend it’s Charlotte’s suit case, which she’s spent half of her career carrying, and hand it over.

We get a video recap of the triple threat from Crown Jewel where Becky Lynch retained. That leads to Becky showing up and walking to the ring. After this break we’ll get the women’s title exchange.

Post break we get still shots from Crown Jewel, then head to the ring where Becky is still hanging out though Sonya Deville has joined the party. Here comes Charlotte Flair. Sonya and Charlotte have mics, Sonya reminds us that we’re here for a title exchange and kills time by recapping a lot. Charlotte tries to tell us she’s was the number one draft, well the first woman but not the first pick. Sonya demands they exchange titles, neither woman moves to do so. There’s a “Becky 2 Belts” chant breaking out. Sonya demands Charlotte’s belt, Charlotte removes her belt and drops it when Becky tries to grab it. Charlotte picks her belt up and hands it to Sonya, Becky angrily tosses the blue belt at Charlotte then takes the red one from Sonya. Charlotte poses and then wants a winner takes all match tonight. There’s 5 minutes left, don’t do this to me. Oh, here comes Sasha Banks to further complicate things. Banks wants to make one thing clear, she runs the blue brand and if Charlotte wants to just take over then bitch (so you know she’s serious) you’re out of your mind. Charlotte reprimands her for breaking the PG standard, and Becky heads to RAW and says she’ll see one of them at Survivor Series. Banks and Charlotte have every “You’re jealous” “Am not” exchange scripted for women for years. There’s a loud “Becky” chant as Becky heads out. Charlotte mocks Banks for her weak title reigns, that leads to a brawl between the two women that spills to the outside where Banks hits a meteora off the apron. Sonya breaks up the fight and the two women trade glares and insults as we end the show.

5.0

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

I want to first applaud the crew and talent for making the logistical hurdles of this show work given they did Crown Jewel yesterday. That said, this was a rough show. We spent 40 minutes with Roman and Brock Lesnar related shenanigans to start the show, and I'm not sure there's any pairing that could sustain momentum through that kind of pacing. The wresting was sparse, which happens on reset shows, but the filler was a bit painful. Hit Row fell kind of flat, Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston got nearly a whole segment to mess around crowning Woods, and there was a bevy of short reintroduction packages for the new roster. Drew and Sami had a solid match, as did Nakamura and Corbin, but the main event segment was a giant waste of time. I'm willing to acknowledge the hurdles this show had to overcome, but it still resulted in a rather dull and unimportant episode at the end of the day.