Winfree’s WWE Smackdown Review 11.05.21

Another Friday night, another episode of WWE Smackdown. Tonight Roman Reigns returns (the Tribal Chief doesn’t work FS1, and I don’t blame him) and will address Brock Lesnar being fined and suspended. We’re also getting another match between Naomi and Shayna Baszler, no doubt with more interference from Sonya Deville. There’s also a decent chance Sheamus is around, I doubt back in action as he just had surgery for his broken nose again, but at least present. Last week King Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston bested the Usos in a tag team match and we might get the fallout from that here as well. We’re also coming off of the heels of some serious roster cuts, so you know, good times all around. We’re also coming up on Survivor Series so WWE better get on some kind of angle development for that.

We open with the Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns along with his entourage. As they head to the ring we get a quick recap of the interaction between the Usos and New Day from last week. Paul Heyman obtains a microphone and then hands it to Roman. Roman says he wasn’t on Smackdown last week, because when you smash someone like Brock Lesnar you’ve got to celebrate so he took some vacation time. But he heard the grumbling, heard that we wanted him back and here he is. So tiny little no name town, acknowledge him. He had a great week on vacation, but it was a bad week for a lot of other people because he wasn’t here. Another guy who had a bad week was that dumbass Brock Lesnar who got fined and suspended, and we can all thank Roman for that. Roman asks Heyman what else happened last week. Heyman babbles a bit about getting distracted by Kayla, but Roman cuts him off and Heyman moves on to referencing the Usos losing. Roman asks him to repeat that, and Heyman can only say that New Day won the match with the Usos. That leads to Roman playing with the crowd, he likes the New Day as they’re entertaining, but they’re not better than the Bloodline. He can’t quite understand how his cousins, the greatest tag team of this generation lost to the New Day. Which one of them got pinned? Jimmy and Jey point at each other, Jey says he knows better than to get pinned and Roman buys this, putting his arm around Jimmy’s shoulders. Roman asks Jimmy how he’s going to fix this problem. Jimmy gets the mic from Roman, and says he’s got Roman, and tonight he’s going to kick that crown off of Xavier Woods big ass head and make him acknowledge the real king, the Universal champion. That all brings out Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods. Kofi does his herald introduction for Woods. Woods complains about the lack of a table here for him, and notes a king sits at the head of a table and then never stop talking about it, even get branded merch to help you remember. Kofi cackles, and laments how lonely the Island of Relevancy must be seeing as no one else is allowed there. Woods moves the program along, his people in his kingdom, right here in Evansville, Indiana, then says he’ll accept Jimmy Uso as a challenger but when Jimmy loses he’ll have to bend the knee to Woods. Jimmy still has the mic, he says no ones taking orders from those chumps. Jey gets the mic and says the Bloodline bends the knee to no one. Roman gets the mic back, Heyman losing his mind over Jey not realizing Roman asking for it is great, and Roman accepts the challenge. Some poor name related gags follow as Kofi decides to reiterate what was just said. Not a bad opening segment, but a little overlong and your enjoyment is going to be determined by how much you enjoy New Day’s schtick.

Naomi heads to the ring, she’ll have an ostensibly fair one on one match with Shayna Baszler after this break.

Baszler heads to the ring after we come back. Sonya is in the back watching TV at an awkward angle, Kayla walks up and asks about Deville’s vendetta against Naomi. Sonya says she’s bringing out the passion and fire from Naomi through adversity, and if Naomi can win tonight then maybe one day she’ll get a one on one match between the two of them.

Match #1: Naomi vs. Shayna Baszler

They run the ropes early with Naomi hitting a Thesz press but Baszler transitions to a leg attack. Naomi rolls through and hits an enziguri. Baszler hits a German suplex but Naomi avoids a low drop kick and kicks Baszler out of the ring. Naomi and Baszler fight over the apron, then Naomi lands a kick and slams Baszler into the ring apron. Back into the ring Naomi heads up top and hits a crossbody for a 2 count. Baszler tries to bail, she avoids a Naomi pescado then drops her with a gutwrench facebuster to send us to break.

Naomi lands a kick as we come back then hits a facebuster on the apron then gets a sunset flip for 2 but Baszler transitions into the Kirifuda Clutch. They fight around and Naomi grabs a Victory Roll to pin and win.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Naomi won

Rating: 2 stars

More about the angle than match, but the action was decent when they were allowed to actually wrestle. Post match here comes Sonya Deville. Deville says there should have been a rope break when she grabbed the ropes to escape the Clutch, technically correct, and she restarts the match.

Match #2: Naomi vs. Shayna Baszler

Instant Kirifuda Clutch from Baszler gets the win.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Shayna Baszler won

Rating: DUD

This is only a few weeks old and beyond tiring. Naomi and Baszler have alright chemistry overall.

Roman is in the back and mentions how everything feel apart when he took one vacation day, saying Smackdown was almost as bad as RAW last week. Jimmy laughs, and Roman gets annoyed. Roman asks Jey what they don’t do, they don’t lose. They don’t lose because they’re the ones. Jey ushers Jimmy out on that note.

We get a recap of Shotzi taking out Sasha Banks last week, and she’ll get some promo time after this break.

A reminder that Xia Li is coming to Smackdown, if she doesn’t get released in the next couple of weeks.

Kayla is in the back and here comes Ridge Holland. Ridge is looking forward to meeting Sheamus, they operate the same and he puts over how big Sheamus was in his hometown. He runs over a few highlights from Sheamus’s career, and he’s learned some tricks from Sheamus and that’s bad news for whoever gets in the ring with him.

Another recap of what happened involving Shotzi last week. Shotzi is in the back, she’s finally had enough. Ever since she got to Smackdown she’s lost title opportunities, her tag team partner, and the support of the WWE universe. And last week, thanks to Sasha Banks, she lost the biggest match of her career. She’s not going to smile and pretend it’s alright anymore, Sasha’s patronizing attitude broke her and now Sasha is her target. Shotzi will run over Sasha or anyone else who gets in her way, and doesn’t need a tank to do so. Decent promo from Shotzi, but she’s so stiff with her body that it’s hard not to know it’s all horribly scripted.

Los Lotharios head to the ring, they’ll be in action after this break.

Cesaro and Mansoor head to the ring, and we get a recap of Carrillo and Garza costing Shinsuke Nakamura and Boogs their street fight against King Corbin and Madcap Moss last week.

Match #3 – Tag Team Match: Los Lotharios (Humberto Carrillo and Angel Garza) vs. Mansoor and Cesaro

Garza and Mansoor start us off. Garza immediately grounds Mansoor and starts working the arm. Mansoor fights back with a dropkick. Garza drives Mansoor into the corner and tags in Carrillo. They hit a double drop kick on Mansoor for a 2 count. Mansoor tries to fight back but is stomped down by Carrillo. Garza tags in and there’s an awkward double team splash then a back body drop. Garza removes his pants but only gets a 2 count on his cover. Boston half crab from Garza, Mansoor fights up and hits an enziguri. Garza stops the tag attempt, but walks into a DDT to no reaction. Both men tag out and it’s time for Cesaro to run wild. Cesaro beats the crap out of Carrillo with uppercuts then hits the discus lariat. Cesaro out of the ring with Garza’s pants and hits a running uppercut to Garza just because. Springboard corkscrew uppercut from Cesaro floors Carrillo. Garza comes in after Cesaro but gets caught in a Big Swing for a few rotations before Carrillo breaks that up. Mansoor is here but is saved by Cesaro. Super kick from Carrillo, Cesaro’s head smacks into Mansoor then Garza tags in and they hit their double team finisher to pin Cesaro.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Los Lotharios won

Rating: 2.5 stars

Well that hurt, Cesaro being reduced to this is darn near criminal. I’m not a big fan of Carrillo and Garza, but they work well enough together in the ring.

In the back Jeff Hardy talks with Aliyah, who then walks off so Kayla can talk with Jeff. Jeff walks over and Aliyah is talking with Sami Zayn. Sami tries to give advice to Aliyah, recommending she wear a pant suit. Aliyah asks if Sami is always like that, Jeff confirms that he is.

Back to the ring, here comes Drew McIntyre, he’ll have another open challenge after this break.

Drew is in the ring, with a large CGI sword pointing at him. That one’s actually kind of cool. Drew grabs a mic, he says it’s Friday night and Drew is here for another open challenge. Let’s talk less and Claymore, who wants to fight him? That’s better than every joke Madcap Moss has told. Ricochet answers the call this week, he’s got a mic and talks on the way to the ring. He’s known Drew for a long time, but Drew is playing with fire here because if he keeps acting like he is someone is going to walk out here, step into this ring, and will smack him right in the mouth. Ricochet then makes all O’Shea’s everywhere proud by smacking a McIntyre in the mouth.

Match #4: Drew McIntyre vs. Ricochet

Drew goes right after Ricochet with strikes in the corner then tosses him across the ring. Ricochet rights back with strikes, then he and Drew fight out of the ring but Drew hits a back suplex onto the ring apron. That was pretty nasty. Back in the ring Drew hits a belly to belly suplex. In the back Mustafa Ali watches TV over his shoulder, he’s taken an interest in Ricochet. Back to the ring, Drew heads up top but his flying nothing is countered with a drop kick. They start trading strikes, Ricochet hits a springboard crossbody then a standing shooting star press but Drew rolls through and powers him up for a brainbuster that gets a 2 count. Drew tries his inverted Alabama Slam but Ricohet rolls through on a Victory Roll for 2. Super kicks from Ricochet but he tries a springboard moonsault and runs into a sick Claymore to end things as Drew wins.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Drew McIntyre won

Rating: 3.5 stars

Not surprisingly, these two had a short little banger of a match. Post match Drew shares some words with Ricochet, they’re of encouragement.

In the back Xavier Woods stretches while Kofi plays hype man. Kayla comes up to interview Woods, she reiterates the stakes for the main event and Woods says they only thing he’ll be acknowledging is that if Roman took any longer to get to the ring he’d be going in reverse. He hopes Jimmy Uso is limbering up, because he’d hate to see Jimmy find excuses for later when he has to bend the knee.

Back to the ring, here comes Happy Corbin and his flunky. There will be a Happy Talk after this, they’ll be talking with the Viking Raiders after this break.

Post break Mustafa Ali asks to team with Ricochet next week. Ricochet says he’s not a winner, he’s a whiner, someone who wont take a moment to look in the mirror and brings up how Ali treated his last partner. And on top all that, Ali’s just a jerk. Ricochet in shorter talking segments like this can work.

Happy Corbin welcomes us to Happy Talk. He says he and Moss have a lot to be happy about, such as winning their match last week. Moss says if Nakamura and Boogs keep challenging them they’ll change their names to “Pinsuke” and “Oops”. I really hate that I’m sure those were names pitched to characters backstage at some point. Corbin then introduces his guests, and here comes the Viking Raiders. Neither Viking takes a seat, they grab the mics though. Corbin and Moss talk about how unhappy the Raiders are. Erik isn’t here to be happy, in fact Corbin and Moss make them miserable. Preach. Ivar says Happy Talk is corny and sucks. Corbin wonders how people still in Halloween costumes could be in such a bad mood and tells Moss to give them a joke. Moss: “How did the young woman suffocate from body odor? She took a liking to a Viking.” Erik and Ivar then do to that set what Moss did to the very existence of comedy, destroy it and send us to break.

Match joined in progress as we return to action.

Match #5 – Tag Team Match: Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) vs. Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss

Corbin and Erik are squared up and trading counters. Knee from Corbin but then they trade strikes and stare off. Both men tag out, and Ivar tosses Moss around with relative ease. Moss tries to fight back with strikes and grabs a side headlock, but Erik tags in and hits a scoop slam to Moss then slams Ivar onto Moss for good measure. Corbin distracts Erik and that allows Moss to hit a spinebuster. Corbin tags back in and they start working to isolate Erik. The end around clothesline from Corbin connects, and Ivar breaks up the pin. Moss with a cheap shot to Ivar as Corbin hits Deep Six on Erik for a 2 count. Moss tags in, but Erik flips out of a back suplex and fights off both Corbin and Moss then tags out. Ivar goes nuts on both men, including a low crossbody to Moss then a boot to Corbin. Moss runs into a sit down senton and Ivar tags out. Corbin eats an exploder suplex from Erik then he tosses Ivar into Moss. Ivar back in, Moss sucks and can’t hold himself up for a powerbomb but Erik hits it anyway, Ivar on the second rope for a splash but Corbin pulls him out of the ring. Ivar climbs the ropes to menace them, but it looks like Corbin and Moss will take the count out loss.

OFFICIAL RESULT: The Viking Raiders won via count out

Rating: 2.5 stars

Average match, mostly because Moss is still not very good. It’s kind of a shame they couldn’t let Moss eat a pinfall, he’s the goober and that’s kind of the goobers job.

Hit Row in the back walks up and finds Sami Zayn. Sami wants to give them advice, he says their entrance a few weeks ago was a little flat. I hate Sami, but he’s right. Adonis gets annoyed but Swerve and Dollah calm him down. Sami keep talking himself into a hole, Dollah asks him to show them what he means. Sami says he can show them a proper entrance and heads to the ring. They laugh at Sami as he heads out, but do follow for what I assume will be some kind of in ring altercation.

We get a recap of Raw from this last week. That leads into Sami Zayn heading to the ring with his new entrance music. Sami spazzes out all over the entrance ramp, and laughs into a mic. He says that’s how you do it. That’s called being fearless, having presence, being in the present. The qualities you need to be a superstar in his locker room. He knows that Hit Row can posses those qualities and more with his leadership. That brings out Hit Row. All three of them have mics. Adonis plays with the crowd, Sami starts dancing to their music, and Dollah says the only problem is Sami is sleeping on them and needs pajamas. Zayn must be in-Zayn to come in here trying to run them, when they wouldn’t let him run their bathwater. Dollah with a “Sami sucks” that spawns a decent chant of the same from the crowd. Sami Zayn tries to head out, but Swerve and Adonis block his way. Sami didn’t come here for a fight, Dollah opens up and lets him run away. Adonis then tells us we know. Were we that pressed for time?

Jimmy and Jey get hyped in the back, Jimmy asks Roman if he’s coming out and Roman asks how many of Jimmy’s problems does he need to fix around here? Jimmy just heads out after that.

Xavier Woods heads to the ring, he’s got new music. The main event will be up after this break.

Woods and Kofi are in the ring dancing around as we come back. And here come the Usos.

Match #6: Xavier Woods w/ Kofi Kingston vs. Jimmy Uso w/ Jey Uso

Woods goes for a roll up that gets 1. Jimmy starts in with the strikes then they run the ropes with both men avoiding hip tosses until Woods hits a Russian leg sweep then a low drop kick for another 1 count. Jimmy out of the ring to recover, Jey hypes him back up. Woods tries to cut Jimmy off coming into the ring but Jimmy clocks him with a right hand. Jimmy heads up top but Woods catches him with a drop kick for a 2 count. Woods lays in some strikes but Jimmy cuts him off with a headbutt then drops Woods over the top rope and sends him out of the ring. That visual sends us to another break.

We come back as Woods starts a comeback and lays in strikes then hits a crossbody for a 2 count. Jimmy hits an enziguri, then a hip attack in the corner. Running knee from Jimmy gets a 2 count. Woods starts fighting back and lands a super kick to the guts of Jimmy, then flips out of a back suplex and runs the ropes before landing a roaring elbow and a leg lariat. Woods hangs Jimmy on the top rope and hits his own running knee. Jimmy out of the ring, and Woods hits a drop kick through the ropes. Back in the ring Woods heads up top and hits a guillotine leg drop for a near fall. Woods heads back up top, this time Jey distracts him and Jimmy is able to crotch Woods on the top rope. Jimmy up for a super Samoan drop, and hits it but that only gets another near fall. Jimmy drags himself to the top rope, he wants the Splash but Woods gets his feet up to block then rolls up Jimmy for 2. Woods blocks a super kick, Jimmy gets a roll up but when Jey tries to give extra leverage the ref catches things. Woods then rolls up Jimmy for the 3 count.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Xavier Woods won

Rating: 3.5 stars

Jimmy isn’t quite the singles wrestler that Jey is, but he and Woods had some good chemistry here.

Post match Woods gets his crown and scepter and demands Jimmy honor the stipulation. Jimmy wants to head out, but the ref stops him. Woods again demands the bended knee, Jimmy starts to do so but Roman ambushes Woods from behind with a Superman punch. The Usos jump Kofi and stomp him down. Woods tries to go after Roman, but runs into a double super kick from the Usos. Roman then Spears the life out of Kofi. Jimmy hoists Kofi up and Jey super kicks his knee. Roman makes Woods watch as Jimmy heads up top and hits a Splash to the knee of Kofi as Jey held him in place. Heyman hands Roman his title and Roman trash talks the fallen New Day. Roman tells Woods if he shows up next week Roman will demonstrate what a real king looks like. The Bloodline stand tall to end the episode.

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

Ultimately I can only go Average here. The opening segment drug on a bit too long, though your mileage will vary depending on how amused you are by the New Day schtick. From there they only notable bit before the main event was Drew McIntyre and Ricochet having about as good a short match as you can expect. The main event was pretty good, Woods and Jimmy work well together and despite taking the loss the Bloodline instantly got their heat back once Roman showed up for the beat down. The set up is obvious, but necessary here as we build towards Survivor Series. This gives Big E a reason to care about facing Roman Reigns at that event. The stuff with Naomi and Sonya Deville is just tedious at this point, the stuff with Sami Zayn and Hit Row was kind of a dud, Shotzi's promo was middle of the road too. Ultimately this show still seems to live and die by Roman's stuff, the supporting acts aren't given a whole lot to do.