SmackDown on Fox Episode #57
SmackDown Episode # 1,106
Orlando, FL – The Thunderdome (Amway Center)
10/3020
We don’t have an intro video this week as we immediately go into the Thunderdome for the entrance of the WWE Universal Champion and Tribal Chief of the WWE Roman Reigns, as Reigns makes his way to the ring we get footage of what happened at Hell in a Cell in his match against Jey Uso. Uso is already in the ring and it’s time to find out exactly what the consequences of saying I Quit to Reigns entails. Heyman goes to introduce Reigns but Uso snatches the mic from him as Uso is full of emotion and is already on the brink of crying,
Uso says that Reigns didn’t beat him and Reigns knows that wouldn’t say I Quit no matter how much Reigns beat on him. Reigns says that Uso can make all the excuses he wants and he can feel any kind of way, but he did what he said he was going to do which is make Uso say I Quit and now Uso has to fall in line. Uso says that what Reigns did was a snake move and he doesn’t respect Reigns and he thinks the title has changed Reigns. Uso says Reigns used the closest person to him to make him say I Quit and that Reigns knew exactly what he was doing.
Reigns says that Uso still doesn’t understand that those types of things are what you have to do in order to remain champion. Reigns says that the consequences are real and as he saw on Sunday night the entire family from the oldest to the youngest stand with him and if Uso doesn’t fall in line he is out of the family. Reigns understands that Uso is angry as he would be too, but what can Uso do about it, Reigns knows that Uso wants to hit him and then he continues to ask Uso what he is going to do and this leads to Uso screaming “I Hate You” to Reigns as he completely breaks down in tears. Reigns knows that Uso hates him right now, but he loves Uso and always has, however, by the end of the night Uso will fall in line. Reigns and Heyman walk up the ramp leaving a broken Uso alone in the ring.
Damn these two make magic every time they are in the ring together whether it is during a match or just cutting a fantastic emotion-filled promo like this one was. If you had told me at the beginning of the year that we would be getting this kind of emotion out of a Jey Uso promo I would say you were crazy, but here we are at the end of October and we are getting just that and he is knocking it out of the park. Roman Reigns may be the first person in WWE since Jake Roberts who is able to cut such a soft-spoken promo but still come off just as menacing and intimidating as if he were shouting during the promo.
The announcers hype up that later tonight Jey Uso will take on Daniel Bryan for a spot on the Men’s SmackDown Survivor Series team and we will also see Kevin Owens vs Dolph Ziggler in another qualifying match and that is coming up right after the break.
We come back and go straight to our first qualifying match.
Match #1: Kevin Owens vs Dolph Ziggler w/ Robert Roode (Men’s SmackDown Survivor Series Team Qualifying Match)
Ziggler goes for a single leg right out of the gate but KO blocks it and grabs a side headlock, Ziggler shoots KO into the ropes but he comes back with a shoulder block which sends Ziggler rolling out of the ring for a breather. KO goes out after Ziggler but he slides back right back in and puts the boots to KO when he tries to get back in the ring and then hits him with a neckbreaker. Ziggler continues to work over KO for a few minutes until KO starts to fight back as he takes Ziggler down with a back elbow.
KO goes to pick up Ziggler after having some words with Roode, but Ziggler kicks him in the knee and then attempts a ZigZag but KO hangs onto the top rope and then charges at Ziggler who sidesteps him and sends KO to the floor. KO distracts the referee inside the ring which allows Roode to hit KO from behind on the outside, Roode throws KO back into the ring but as he is doing so he is caught by the referee and this leads to the referee sending Roode to the back and this sends us to a commercial break.
We come back and Ziggler has KO grounded on the mat with an armbar but KO fights his way out of it only to be hit with another neckbreaker from Ziggler and then he rakes the eyes of KO. Ziggler goes for a third neckbreaker but KO is able to escape and hit Ziggler with a big chop but Ziggler comes back with some strikes of his own and then he kicks KO off an Irish whip when KO lowers his head too early, Ziggler runs off the ropes and gets caught with an inverted atomic drop and KO follows that up with a big clothesline and a senton. KO clotheslines Ziggler out to the floor and then looks to dive out onto him but Ziggler slides in the ring and goes for a clothesline but KO ducks and hits Ziggler with a swinging slam into an air raid crash for a 2 count.
KO goes up top and looks to hit a swanton bomb but Ziggler gets his knees up, Ziggler sets up for a superkick but ends up getting hit with one by KO. KO sends Ziggler into the ropes and looks to hit him with the pop-up powerbomb but Ziggler counters it into a fame-asser for another 2 count. Ziggler goes for another superkick, but this time KO ducks and tries for a Stunner only for Ziggler to push him away and try for the big DDT only for KO to block that and go for a sunset flip which fails as Ziggler falls on top of him and then we get both men trading pinning combinations which prove unsuccessful. Ziggler goes for the superkick for the third time but KO catches his leg, spins him around, and hits him with the Stunner and that is enough to finish the match.
Winner: Kevin Owens via Pinfall Match Rating: **¾
This was a fine match but nothing too special to mention other than I’m glad that KO is on Team SmackDown instead of Ziggler because in 2020 any show where we don’t have to watch Ziggler is a blessing a he is one of the most overused guys on the roster that could really benefit from a year-long break so that we can have some time to miss him.
We go to the back where Billie Kay and Natalya are campaigning to be on the Women’s SmackDown Survivor Series team and Billie even came with her own headshot and resume, Bianca walks up and says that since this year’s Survivor Series is being billed as the Best of the Best she should be on the team because she is the EST of SmackDown and she is ready to lead a team to victory. All three women start arguing and this leads to Adam Pearce making a triple threat match where the winner will qualify for the women’s team at Survivor Series.
Natalya promos will always be cringeworthy but at least Bianca and Billie were there to make this watchable.
We then cut to an interview Corey Graves conducted earlier in the day with Lars Sullivan.
Graves puts over how Sullivan has demolished everyone in his path since coming back and then Graves asks him if it is ok to call him Lars. Sullivan asks Graves if he would rather call him “The Freak” because that is what Graves always calls him while he is in the ring, Graves tries to explain that he calls him that because of his freakish athletic ability, and that reasoning is fine with Sullivan. Sullivan goes on to tell a story of the first time he was called a freak, it was when he was in school, and once he was called that he started crying and that made everyone laugh including the teachers but after a while, the laughing stopped and the screaming started and that screaming lasted a lot longer than the laughing did and after that day he was not allowed back at school. Graves then asks Sullivan what his plans are in the WWE and he says that it is to make the WWE into his own personal hell.
Yeah, I don’t know if Sullivan is one of those monsters who should be talking as I think he would be way more effective if he had a manager (Malcolm Bivens) talking for him as the lisp he has makes him a lot less intimidating.
Bianca Belair makes her way to the ring as we go to commercial.
We come back from break and randomly cut to a video package that highlights what happened last week between Seth Rollins, Murphy, & the Mysterio family. We cut to the back where we see Murphy and Aaliyah Mysterio talking and Aaliyah says that while her mom supports her and just wants her to be happy the same cannot be said for her father and brother as they won’t even speak to her about Murphy. Murphy completely understands why they hate him but he wants them to understand that he isn’t the same guy he used to be months ago and to prove that he is going out to the ring tonight and publicly apologize to Rey and Dominik.
We then go back to the ring for our second match of the night.
Match #2: Bianca Belair vs Natalya vs Billie Kay (Women’s SmackDown Survivor Series Team Qualifying Match)
Billie shoves both Natalya and Bianca and they look to team up on her but when Natalya goes for a slap Billie ducks and she hits Bianca instead. Bianca hits Natalya with a big forearm but Natalya reverses a whip into the corner only for Bianca to jump up and over Natalya and then she takes Natalya down with a shoulder block. Billie tries to get a quick win with a schoolgirl but Bianca kicks out and when Billie tries to escape the ring Bianca grabs her by the foot only to get hit from behind by Natalya. Bianca reverses a whip into the ropes but ducks her head too early which ends up costing her as Natalya takes her down with a discus clothesline. Billie throws Natalya out of the ring and tries to pin Bianca but once again Bianca kicks out.
Billie kicks Bianca in the corner and then blocks an attempted atomic drop from Natalya but then she is able to hit Bianca with a hurricanrana thanks to an assist from Natalya. Natalya hits Billie with a snap suplex and then sits up only to be hit with a basement dropkick from Bianca. Bianca hits a handspring into a standing moonsault on Billie which gets a very close 2 count when Natalya breaks up the pin. Natalya charges at Bianca in the corner but receives a back elbow and then Natalya slingshots Bianca off the top rope and slams her to the mat in a sitting position so that she can run over the top of her and then connect with a basement dropkick of her own.
Natalya locks Bianca in the Sharpshooter and to make things worse Billie comes back in the ring and locks in a reverse chin lock and this doesn’t make Natalya happy as she breaks the Sharpshooter and goes to attack Billie, but Billie hits her with multiple knees to the midsection and then she sends Natalya into Bianca who holds her long enough for Billie to run off the ropes and take Bianca down with a big boot which in turn caused Bianca to hit Natalya with a DDT. Billie tries to cover both of her opponents multiple times but both women end up kicking out every time. Billie picks up Natalya only for her to take Billie down with a double leg and then she locks Billie in the Sharpshooter, Bianca eventually recovers and sends Natalya shoulder-first into the ring post. Billie tries to pick up a win with a schoolgirl as she puts her feet on the ropes as leverage but Bianca is still able to kick out and then she ducks another big boot attempt and catches Billie in the K.O.D. which leads to the 1-2-3.
Winner: Bianca Belair via Pinfall Match Rating: **
This wasn’t that great of a match outside of Bianca showing off her greatness and being the best thing about the match. I think one of the smartest moves WWE could make is to have Bianca be the sole survivor in the tag match as she is a star of the future that they need to start building up immediately and being the sole survivor could be a great way to start that build up.
We cut to the back where Carmella cuts a promo where she says there is a difference between who the world wants you to be and who you really are, Carmella says she is the one that calls the shots and gives the orders and the one who is willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead and no matter what she will always win. Next week the world will find out why she is untouchable.
Murphy and Aaliyah Mysterio come to the ring as we go to a commercial.
We come back and go to the ring with Murphy and Aaliyah Mysterio.
Murphy says that he understands why Rey and Dominik hate him as he did some terrible things to the both of them while he was aligned with Rollins, but he has changed, and to prove that he wants to talk to Rey and Dominik face to face, Murphy asks Rey and Dominik to come out but we get nothing so Murphy reiterates that he needs to apologize and he begs them to come out but we still get nothing from either Mysterio, however, this does bring out Seth Rollins.
Rollins says that the Mysterios will never accept Murphy nor will they accept whatever is going on between Murphy and Aaliyah, however, he will always accept Murphy for who he is and he will forgive him for what he has done and on top of all of that he embraces whatever is going on between Murphy and Aaliyah in fact he would be glad to marry them right there. Rollins says there is a place for them in the greater good and he can tell that Aaliyah is finally able to see that he is not the bad guy and Rey has forced all of this to happen. Rollins says that it seems like Rey is controlling Aaliyah by telling her who to talk to and who to see and as for Dominik he is a coward and jealous of Aaliyah.
Before Rollins can say anymore he is attacked from behind by Dominik but Murphy pulls Dominik off Rollins and goes on the attack himself and sends Rollins to the floor. We then get a shoving match between Dominik and Murphy until Dominik decks Murphy and starts beating him down while Aaliyah is in the corner screaming for him to stop, Murphy gets in control and starts fighting back against Dominik and this brings Rey down to the ring. Rey and Murphy shove each other and then Rey goes on the attack and hits Murphy with a back elbow and then Dominik hits Murphy with a drop toe hold onto the middle rope, but when Rey goes for the 619 Aaliyah steps in between them.
Rey tells Aaliyah to get out of his way but she isn’t moving as she tells him not to hurt Murphy and then he grabs her arm as he wants her to go with him, but she pulls away and tells him she isn’t going with him and then she says the words they Rey least wanted to hear which was that she loves Murphy. Rey and Dominik leave the ring while Aaliyah helps Murphy to his feet and when Rey once again demands that she go with him Aaliyah starts kissing Murphy. Rollins (who is at the top of the ramp) is pleasantly surprised at this latest development in the Mysterio family telenovela. Rey and Dominik walk up the ramp dejected while Murphy holds Aaliyah close to him as the segment comes to an end.
I know that I shouldn’t be into this story as it is corny AF and has absolutely nothing to do with wrestling but I can’t help it I am hooked on this story and look forward to seeing where it goes next, I guess the hopeless romantic part of me is to blame for me liking all of this Romeo and Juliet esque storytelling. I will say that while all of this is corny at least it is more believable than the last time Rey and Dominik acted out a telenovela when Eddie Guerrero was claiming to be Dominik’s father. I guess you can consider this love story my guilty pleasure storyline of 2020.
We go to the back where Kayla Braxton interview Daniel Bryan and asks him if what happened between Reigns and Uso earlier in the night changes his thoughts on his match with Uso later tonight, Bryan says that Uso has changed over the past few weeks and despite his best effort Reigns has been unable to beat Uso and it is for that reason that he is sure whoever wins tonight will be a great asset for Team SmackDown.
The SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Street Profits make their way to the ring as we go to commercial.
Street Profits cut a promo on how they love and respect New Day and they will always be one of the greatest teams in WWE history, but at Survivor Series they are not showing up to get a box of Booty O’s signed they are showing up to take the torch because they are the best of the best and they want the smoke.
Match #3: Street Profits vs Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura
Cesaro catches Dawkins with a kick and an uppercut to start the match and then he tries to hit Dawkins with a hip toss but Dawkins blocks and then we get a drop-down and leapfrog spot that ends with Dawkins taking Cesaro down with a shoulder block. Dawkins tags in Ford who hits Cesaro with a dropkick and then Dawkins slams Ford onto Cesaro for a 2 count as Nakamura comes in to break up the pin. Dawkins tries to take Nakamura out but ends up getting kicked in the head and then Ford takes Nakamura down with a dropkick. Cesaro looks for a suplex on Ford but he escapes and runs off the ropes where he hits Cesaro with a running blockbuster, Cesaro rolls to the outside and Ford goes to dive on both of his opponents but Cesaro is able to get out of the way in time so Ford just takes out Nakamura. Ford runs at Cesaro but gets caught and is thrown up in the air and ends up landing in the “crowd” of Thunderdrome screens and this takes us to a commercial.
We come back to Cesaro having an armbar locked in on Ford and when Ford tries to fight out of it Cesaro knees him in the gut and tags in Nakamura, Cesaro drapes Ford across the top rope and Nakamura knees him in the gut and then Cesaro hits him with a suplex which gets a 2 count. Nakamura lifts Ford up and looks to hit the inverted exploder but Ford lands on his feet, Ford dodges a couple of kicks from Nakamura before dropping him with an enziguri. We get a tag on both ends as Dawkins comes in on fire as he hits Cesaro with a couple of clotheslines and a spinning back elbow and he follows that up with a dropkick to Nakamura. Dawkins hits Cesaro with a flapjack and then he hits both men with a spinning splash in the corner and a one-handed bulldog onto Cesaro. Dawkins tries for a slam but Cesaro blocks it and hits an uppercut and then he tags in Nakamura.
Cesaro and Nakamura try for a double clothesline on Dawkins but he ducks and hits Nakamura with a right hand and then he hits Cesaro with an exploder. Nakamura hits Dawkins with a spinning wheel kick and then tries for a German suplex but Dawkins blocks it and hits Nakamura with a back elbow, Dawkins goes to hit Nakamura with the spinning splash in the corner but Nakamura is able to move out of the way and then he hits Dawkins with another kick. Nakamura sets Dawkins up on the top turnbuckle horizontally and hits him with the running knee in the corner which gets another 2 count. Nakamura tags in Cesaro and they hit the diving knee strike and gutwrench powerbomb combo for a 2 count when Ford breaks up the pin.
Nakamura throws Ford out of the ring and follows him and then he sends him into Cesaro’s boot which he has outstretched from the ring. Cesaro goes over to pick up Dawkins but gets caught in a surprise small package for a 2 count and then he levels Dawkins with a lariat for a 2 count. Cesaro tags in Nakamura and then he lifts Dawkins up in an electric chair while Nakamura climbs up top, but before anything can happen Dawkins slips out of the electric chair and shoves Cesaro into the corner causing Nakamura to crotch himself. Dawkins hits Cesaro with the Anointment which causes him to roll to the outside, Dawkins goes up top and hits Nakamura with a superplex and then Ford finishes things off with a big Frog Splash to pick up the win.
Winners: Street Profits via Pinfall Match Rating: **¾
This was a fun match which you would expect from these two teams and that spot where Cesaro threw Ford into the crowd area was great. I’m sure this will be the first of many many many many matches between these two teams seeing as SmackDown only has four teams in their division which is only one more team than what Raw has.
We cut to the back where Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn cuts a promo to hype his match with US Champion Bobby Lashley at Survivor Series. Zayn says he is the perfect man to be Intercontinental Champion because people on all continents love him and although WWE has never marketed him as the people’s champion he says he is the champion of the people because the people know that he always speaks the truth. Zayn says he represents the people of every country and continent while Bobby Lashley only represents one country and he doesn’t even want to get into further details about that country. Zayn says he is going to show at Survivor Series that the Intercontinental Champion is greater than the United States Champion.
The NEW SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks comes to the ring carrying the chair that Bayley took her out with months ago and this sends us to a commercial.
Sasha says that she told Bayley she was going to finish what Bayley started and in the process, she would take the one thing that Bayley values the most which was the SmackDown Women’s Championship, and at Hell in a Cell, she fulfilled all of those promises. Sasha thanks Bayley for stabbing her in the back because it ended an era of them constantly being linked together as the two of them were supposed to dominate the WWE and be unstoppable, but when Bayley hit her with that chair it made Sasha realize that it wasn’t their friendship that was unstoppable it was her because she is the Boss of Friday nights and the new SmackDown Women’s Champion. Sasha says that now Bayley is in her past she will move on to Survivor Series where she will prove that she is the best of the best when she goes up against Asuka.
Bayley comes out and says that while Sasha did win her title she knows and even Sasha herself knows that she won’t be able to keep it as she did for 380 days. Bayley says that Sasha is lucky that she isn’t coming in that ring to beat her down for parading with her SmackDown Women’s Championship considering that Sasha didn’t legally beat her for it as Sasha forced her to sign the contract under duress. Bayley says she is going to do Sasha a favor since everyone knows that Sasha can’t beat Asuka without Bayley in her corner so she is going to take that title off Sasha before then as she is challenging her to a title match next week. Bayley tells Sasha to enjoy her short yet predictable title reign because it ends next week. Sasha hopes that Bayley brings everything she has got because backstabbing bitches never win and with that Sasha drops the mic.
Remember a few years ago when we wanted to see Bayley and Sasha face each other, well we are finally getting it and in true WWE fashion, it looks like we are going to get to see them against each other so much that by the time the feud is over we will have Bayley vs Sasha fatigue, which is something that doesn’t seem possible but giving WWE’s overkill of every feud it is a definite possibility. I like the fact they play into Sasha not being able to keep a title after her first defense as that has been one of the biggest parts of her story on the main roster and hopefully that story will get a happy ending next week when she retains the title against Bayley.
Daniel Bryan makes his way to the ring for the main event and we go to commercial.
We come back and go straight to our main event.
Match #4: Daniel Bryan vs Jey Uso (Men’s SmackDown Survivor Series Team Qualifying Match)
They circle the ring and lockup and Uso pushes Bryan into the ropes but we don’t get a clean break as Uso gets in a kick and a headbutt and then Uso starts to turn up the aggression as he takes Bryan down with a back elbow. Uso lands some punches on Bryan but Bryan comes back with a couple of uppercuts and then he connects with a kitchen sink. Bryan goes to work on the arm momentarily until Uso reverses a whip into the ropes and hits Bryan with a Samoan drop. Uso crawls over to the corner and it is clear that everything that has been going on with Reigns is taking a toll on him mentally. Uso puts the boots to Bryan in the corner and then he sends him into the corner, but Bryan backflips off the top rope and takes Uso down with a clothesline. Bryan hits Uso with the Yes Kicks which sends Uso to the outside in order to get away from Bryan. Uso tries to recover as he leans against the barricade as Roman Reigns comes out to watch the match and this sends us to a commercial break.
We come back to Uso hitting Bryan with punches as he sits up on the top rope and then Uso tries for a superplex, but Bryan slips out and crotches Uso on the turnbuckle. Bryan pulls Uso down into a tree of woe and starts kicking him repeatedly and then connects with a running dropkick. Bryan raises Uso back up and climbs up to join him and then he tries to hit Uso with a back suplex but Uso counters the move by shifting his weight and this gets a 2 count and then Bryan immediately turns it over into a pin of his own but that only gets a 1 count. Uso hits Bryan with a kick to the gut and then hits him with a big right hand. Bryan tries to make a comeback with a series of kicks only to get hit with an enziguri moments later. Uso charges at Bryan but gets backdropped to the floor and then Bryan looks for a tope suicida only to get caught with a kick by Uso from the floor.
Uso goes up top looking for the Uso Splash, but Bryan gets his knees up and then transitions into the Yes Lock but Uso is able to get to the ropes. Bryan hits Uso with the kicks in the corner and then hits a running dropkick in the corner, but when Bryan goes for a second running dropkick he is hit with a superkick from Uso and then another kick for good measure. Uso goes up top and connects with the Uso Splash and that is enough to pick up the win.
Winner: Jey Uso via Pinfall Match Rating: ***
After the match, Reigns enters the ring and stares at Uso and then Uso says he is with Reigns and that Reigns is the head of the table. Uso hits Bryan with a kick and another splash and then he tells Reigns that he understands now and that he loves Reigns. Reigns tells Uso to make Bryan understand and that leads to Uso dragging Bryan out of the ring and sending him into the steps and then he dives off the top and puts Bryan through the announce table with a splash. Uso slams Bryan’s head into the announce table repeatedly as Reigns looks on with a smile on his face. Reigns walks up the ramp with a smirk on his face as SmackDown comes to a close.
I was not expecting Uso to win this one as I expected that with everything he had going on with Reigns that he wouldn’t need to be apart of the elimination tag match and was sure that Bryan would be a shoo-in and would even be deemed, team captain. While I liked the ending segment and the brutality shown by Uso I think it would’ve worked much better had it happened next week as it felt very abrupt to have him say that he hates Reigns at the beginning of the show and then have him say he understands and that he loves Reigns by the end of the show, he should’ve at least had a week to think about it before joining Reigns, I look forward to seeing where this story goes next.
This was a decent episode of SmackDown as I enjoyed everything involving Reigns and Uso as usual and I also liked the segment involving Murphy and the Mysterios.
That’s it for me this week but I’ll be back next week for more action from the blue brand.