SmackDown Report for 11/6/20

SmackDown on Fox Episode #58
SmackDown Episode # 1,107
Orlando, FL – The Thunderdome (Amway Center)
11/6/20

The show opens with us going right into the Thunderdome where the SmackDown Women’s Champion “The Boss” Sasha Banks makes her way to the ring and we then cut to a video package highlighting the Sasha Banks vs Bayley feud including clips from their outstanding Hell in a Cell match. We then cut to gorilla position where Kayla Braxton interviews Bayley about her big title rematch coming up next.  Bayley says watching that video brought up so many emotions for her like the joy she had when she wrapped the chair around Sasha’s neck, anger when Sasha forced her to sign the contract for the Hell in a Cell match, but most of all she is sad that the video package didn’t show the most defining part of Sasha’s career which is every time she wins a title she loses it on the first defense. Bayley says she hopes Sasha took full advantage of her 13-day title reign because it ends tonight with Sasha crippled in the ring because of her own failure. 

Match #1: Sasha Banks © vs Bayley (SmackDown Women’s Championship)
We get a lockup and then both women aggressively jockey for position until the referee forces them to break in the corner, both women go back to the center of the ring and Bayley shoves Sasha, and Sasha answers that with a forearm. Sasha hits a springboard arm drag and floats into a cover for a 1 count. Bayley tries to get a backslide on Sasha, but Sasha drags her toward the corner and flips over Bayley to break the backslide. Bayley tries to keep Sasha down with a knuckle lock but Sasha gets her feet up and uses momentum to take Bayley down with a wheelbarrow into a Bank Statement, but Bayley gets to the ropes and then slides out of the ring and that sends us to a commercial break. 

We come back to Sasha trying to powerbomb Bayley off the ring apron, but Bayley kicks her to prevent that from happening. Bayley looks to hit a baseball slide on Sasha but Sasha slides back in the ring where she looks to dive out onto Bayley, but when she sees Bayley is back on the apron she just slides through and pulls Bayley off the apron. Sasha then hits Bayley with a tiger feint kick under the bottom rope before throwing her back into the ring. Sasha then hits Bayley with the slingshot double knees as Bayley is seated in the corner which gets a 2 count. Bayley rolls out to the apron and Sasha soon joins her as she hits her with the double knees into the ring post, but when she goes for a second one Bayley gets her feet up and was looking to launch Sasha into the ring post head-first but Sasha comes up short and smacks her head on the apron and then splats onto the floor.   

Bayley rolls Sasha back into the ring and goes for a cover but Sasha kicks out at 2. Bayley drives her knee into the back of Sasha and then chokes her across the middle rope and then she catapults Sasha into the bottom rope for another 2 count. Bayley locks in a reverse chin lock for a minute before sending Sasha into the corner where she tries to hit her with the running back elbow but Sasha moves and then she uses her knees to drive Bayley into the corner and finally she hits the running double knees in the corner but once again only gets a 2 count. Bayley gets right back in control when she takes Sasha down with a clothesline and then she sits her up on the top rope and looks to join her but Sasha fights Bayley off and hits diving Meteora but before Sasha has a chance to make a cover Bayley rolls out of the ring. Sasha dives off the apron with a crossbody and that takes us to another commercial break. 

We come back and Sasha goes up top as Bayley rolls out to the apron, both women jockey for position on the ropes until Sasha slides under the legs of Bayley and looks to powerbomb her onto the announce table, but Bayley counters and hurricanranas Sasha into the announce table. Bayley rolls Sasha back in the ring and goes up top but Sasha cuts her off and then she pulls Bayley’s leg out from under her causing the back of Bayley’s head to ricochet off the top turnbuckle. Sasha then catches Bayley with a running knee as she slides through the ropes and then Sasha dives off the steps and hits Bayley with an elbow as Bayley’s upper body is hanging off the ring apron. Sasha throws Bayley back in the ring and then goes up top where she hits her with a frog splash for another 2 count. 

Sasha looks to hit Bayley with the backstabber but Bayley rolls through and tries for the Bayley to Belly but Sasha counters and locks in the Bank Statement for a second until Bayley gets to the ropes. Bayley goes out and grabs a kendo stick from under the ring and looks to bring it in which causes the referee to take it from her and when he does Bayley grabs her trusty chair and looks to hit Sasha, but Sasha kicks it out of her hand and then she takes Bayley down with a boot. Sasha throws the chair out of the ring but as she does Bayley hits her with a backstabber and then successfully hits the Bayley to Belly but is still only able to keep Sasha down for a 2 count. Bayley hits the diving elbow but Sasha still won’t quit as she kicks out once again. 

Bayley looks to hit her crappy finisher but Sasha blocks it and tries for a backstabber, but Bayley looks to back her into the corner so Sasha breaks the hold and shoves Bayley into the corner instead, and then she charges in but Bayley gets her boot up and then she hits Sasha with a running knee and a back suplex for yet another very close near fall, but Sasha refuses to stay down. Bayley locks in her own crossface on Sasha and traps the arm but Sasha is able to eventually able to counter into a jackknife pin but Bayley kicks out. 

Both women roll out to the apron and Bayley charges in but Sasha is able to move out of the way which sends Bayley shoulder first into the ring post. Sasha brings Bayley back into the ring where she hits her with the backstabber and then locks in the Bank Statement and it doesn’t take long before Bayley is tapping out. 
Winner: Sasha Banks via Submission    Match Rating: ****¼ 

As Sasha is walking up the ramp taking in her big victory she is hit out of nowhere with a superkick by a returning Carmella and then Carmella hits her with an X-Factor on the stage. 

Hot Damn that was one hell of a fun match which is just what you would expect from those two ladies as they make magic every time they are in the ring together whether it be teaming with or against each other. I was glad to see the weapon spot wasn’t what lead to the finish as we have had enough DQ and screwy finishes lately and this one didn’t need to be added to that list. This match was nearly 20 minutes and they hardly slowed down the entire time as they were hitting big move after big move. This match was everything you wanted it to be and then some and is up there on the list of match of the year contenders. I am completely fine with Sasha feuding with Carmella as we need a break from Sasha vs Bayley and I don’t think they need to move on to Sasha vs Bianca just yet as I would save that for WrestleMania. 

We cut to the back where Jey Uso is getting some coffee when Kevin Owens walks up and starts picking at Uso about him getting Roman Reigns’ coffee, Uso takes offense and asks KO if he thinks his family is a joke and KO says that none of this is a joke and then says he came over to talk to Uso because they are teammates at Survivor Series and he just wanted to check in on him but clearly Uso has his own issues so he will leave him alone. KO walks off and this sends us to a commercial break.

We come back to a hype video for The Undertaker appearing at Survivor Series which WWE is marketing as his “Final Farewell”

The whole Undertaker “Final Farewell” thing is one of those I’ll believe it when I see it kind of things and actually I kind of wish they would save it for WrestleMania weekend as that show is more synonymous with Undertaker outside of his debut which happened at Survivor Series. I would do like they did when Ric Flair retired and base the entire weekend around Undertaker by having him go into the Hall of Fame, one last match at Wrestlemania, and then the next night on Raw have a big celebration where everyone comes out to thank him which you can do now since Undertaker seems to be completely fine not being in character. 

We go to the back where Kayla Braxton is set to interview Jey Uso, but first, we get another video package highlighting everything that happened last week between Uso and Reigns. Uso says that what he did to Bryan wasn’t personal as he considers Bryan a friend but Bryan isn’t blood and family is forever. Kayla gets a bit more aggressive with her questioning but before Uso has a chance to answer Paul Heyman walks into the picture and asks Kayla if Reigns approved this interview and then tells her he didn’t, Heyman tells Uso that Reigns wants him, and then Kayla ends the interview in a very sassy way by telling Uso that it is clear that Heyman has a better spot in the family than he does. 

We then go to Rey Mysterio who is trying to get in touch with Aaliyah but she won’t answer. Dominik runs up and tells his dad that his match is up next but Rey continues to try and make contact with Aalyiah and then tells Dominik to run grab his gear. Rey is then blindsided by Corbin who sends Rey into an equipment case and puts the boots to him until Dominik runs back to chase Corbin off and this sends us to a commercial break. 

We come back to Heyman and Uso outside of Reigns’ locker room door and Heyman tells him that if he wants to do something like that he needs to run it by Reigns and Uso questions why he needs to ask his cousin permission to do an interview, Heyman says he does so Uso wants to go talk to Reigns right now but Heyman insists he will go get Reigns and bring him to Uso when he is ready. Heyman goes into the locker room and moments later he is back with Reigns. Reigns tells Uso there is a chain of command so the next time he wants to do an interview he needs to let either Heyman or himself know beforehand. Reigns then asks Uso about his run-in with KO and Uso tells him that KO was just making dumb jokes, but Reigns says that it sounded like he was disrespecting Uso and if someone disrespects Uso then they disrespect him and if they disrespect him then they disrespect the bloodline and then he asks Uso if he is going to let someone like KO disrespect their family and Uso tells him he is going to take care of it and then walks off. 

Reigns asks Heyman if he knew about that interview and Heyman says he found out about it as it was happening and Reigns tells Heyman that he is supposed to know about everything and take care of everything so that he doesn’t have to, Heyman says he understands and then Reigns tells him to go find Adam Pearce because they are going to solve the KO problem tonight. 

We then go back to the ring for the next match of the night.

Match #2: King Corbin vs Rey Mysterio w/ Dominik Mysterio (Men’s SmackDown Survivor Series Team Qualifying Match)
Mysterio (who is in street clothes since he didn’t have time to change into his gear after the attack from Corbin) charges at Corbin right as the bell rang and is immediately hit with a big spinebuster for a 2 count. Corbin works Mysterio over in the corner with punches and then chokes him across the middle rope and after he is forced to break the hold Mysterio rolls out to the floor. Corbin goes outside and slams Mysterio into the ring apron before throwing him back into the ring, Mysterio tries to make a comeback with elbows to the gut but Corbin cuts him off with a knee to the gut and then he throws Mysterio out of the ring to the floor. Corbin goes out and nails Mysterio with an elbow and then charges at him but Mysterio moves out of the way sending Corbin crashing into the steps. 

Mysterio works over Corbin on the outside and then he gets him in the ring where he delivers several forearm shots, but when he runs off the ropes he is met with a back elbow by Corbin. Corbin looks to hit the chokeslam backbreaker but Mysterio reverses it into a roll-up but Corbin is able to kick out at 2. Mysterio hits Corbin with a flying headscissors which sends him out of the ring and then it looks like Mysterio wants to dive onto Corbin, but before he can Seth Rollins comes out and Dominik stands guard to make sure he doesn’t interfere and that sends us to a commercial break. 

We come back to Corbin and Mysterio fighting it out on the outside near the ring post with Mysterio in control, Mysterio rolls Corbin back in the ring and then hits him with a slingshot splash but can’t make a cover. Mysterio goes to grab Corbin as he gets back to his feet but Corbin shoves him into the corner and then tries to charge in but Mysterio catches him with a back elbow and a boot to the face and then goes to hit a springboard moonsault only to get caught by Corbin and is hit with an over the shoulder backbreaker for a 2 count. Corbin works over Mysterio with clubbing blows to the back and then he sits Mysterio up on the top rope and is looking to hit Mysterio with something, but Mysterio fights him off and comes off the top with a crossbody but is caught and hit with a couple of backbreakers and a front slam which gets a 2 count. 

Corbin grounds Mysterio with a chinlock but Mysterio is quickly able to grab the ropes and then Mysterio rolls out to the floor. Corbin drives Mysterio into the ring apron and then throws him back in the ring where he fires away with mounted punches and then he hits Mysterio with a couple of running punches to the head before catching him in a bear hug, Mysterio hits Corbin with a couple of elbows and then bites him which forces Corbin to ram Mysterio into the corner. Mysterio moves out of the way when Corbin charges in and then he hits him with a kick from the apron and now Mysterio is fired up as he hits Corbin with a seated senton off the top and then he hits a running dropkick to the knee. Mysterio hits Corbin with a basement dropkick and then hits him with a springboard seated senton to a seated Corbin for a 2 count. 

Corbin grabs Mysterio by the throat out of nowhere and shoves Mysterio into the ropes and when he comes back Corbin looks to hit End of Days, but Mysterio flips through and catches Corbin with a drop toe hold into the ropes and looks to hit the 619, but Corbin slides out of the ring and nails Dominik from behind when he had his focus on Rollins at the top of the ramp. Mysterio staggers Corbin with a dropkick through the ropes and then takes him down with a plancha to the floor. Mysterio checks on Dominik before getting back in the ring where he is caught with a headbutt to the gut and then Corbin sets up for a powerbomb but Mysterio fights out of it and takes Corbin down with a hurricanrana and is then able to hit the 619, but when he does Rollins runs down and attacks Dominik which sends Rey to the outside to fight off Rollins. 

Aaliyah and Murphy come down the ramp and this distracts Mysterio to the point where once he gets back into the ring he walks right into an End of Days by Corbin and that is enough to finish the match.
Winner: King Corbin via Pinfall    Match Rating: **¾ 

This match was 15 minutes long and given the overbooked mess we got in the end there was no reason this match needed to be anywhere near that long and the worst part is that this is not the end of the Mysterio drama on tonight’s show. I didn’t mind the match itself as Mysterio is so good at the David vs Goliath style matches and Corbin did a good job in the role of the overpowering heel, but with all of the other stuff going on around this match we never got to see the true potential of what these two are capable of. 

We are told that Jey Uso vs Kevin Owens will be happening tonight and that sends us to a commercial. 

We come back and go into the next match. 

Match #3: Natalya vs Ruby Riott vs Zelina Vega (Women’s SmackDown Survivor Series Team Qualifying Match)
All three women try to pick up a quick win with a pinning combination, but none of them are successful. Ruby goes for an arm wringer but Zelina blocks it with a forearm and then she beats down Ruby and kicks her in the back, Zelina runs off the ropes but is pulled out of the ring by Natalya who looks for a suplex on Ruby, but Ruby turns it into a small package for a 2 count. Natalya slams Ruby to the mat and then locks in a Mexican surfboard which she is forced to break when Zelina smartly covers Natalya to try and pick up a win. 

Natalya charges at Zelina in the corner but is hit with a back elbow and then Zelina hits her with a hurricanrana out of the corner into the center of the ring after swinging around several times. Zelina is dizzy as she charges toward Ruby but is caught with an STO and then Ruby goes up top but is cut off by Natalya momentarily until she fights her off, Ruby goes back up top and looks to hit the senton splash but Zelina has moved out of the way sending Ruby crashing to the mat. Natalya locks in a Sharpshooter which is quickly broken up with a one-handed bulldog by Zelina.

Zelina hits Ruby with the double knees in the corner and then follows up with a basement hurricanrana but Ruby rolls out of the ring before Zelina has a chance to make a cover. Natalya comes in and goes tor a schoolgirl but Zelina kicks out and then she counters a discus clothesline with a crucifix into a pinfall combination, but Natalya rolls through and locks Zelina in the Sharpshooter, Zelina crawls to the ropes but there is no rope break in a triple threat match and then Natalya drags her back into the center of the ring, Ruby comes back in and locks in an armbar on Zelina and right when Natalya releases the Sharpshooter in order to pull Ruby off we see that Zelina taps out and thus ½ of the Riott Squad has qualified for the Women’s SmackDown Survivor Series team.
Winner: Ruby Riott via Pinfall    Match Rating: **½ 

This was a fun little sprint of a match as the action was very fast-paced and had a couple of nice spots that we don’t see that often such as Zelina going for a pin while Natalya had a surfboard locked in. Glad to see Ruby qualify for team SmackDown and hopefully that means next week we will see Liv qualify as well.  

We cut to the back where Big E is playing a board game with some random woman and then the Street Profits show up and ask Big E if he wants to hang out with the champions. Big E says that he is down with that and decides to give them advice on their match against New Day (at Survivor Series) which is to lay down so they don’t have to get their asses kicked by New Day and this leads to an eruption overdramatic laughter. Billie Kay walks up as Big E walks away and presents Street Profits with her headshot and resume and then she points out that if they want some inside info on the red brand she was a former member of Raw and then Dawkins reminds her that they were on Raw the same time she was so she doesn’t know anything more than they already know about Raw. Billie is stunned at this revelation as the Street Profits walk off. 

The highlight of this was Billie Kay trying to give advice to Street Profits about Raw when they were on Raw at the same time as her, she is really good in this comedic role and I laughed when she acknowledged them as Mr. Profits.   

Otis makes his way to the ring for the next match coming up after the commercial break.

As Rollins makes his way to the ring we see that the Mysterios are watching backstage. 

Match #4: Otis vs Seth Rollins (Men’s SmackDown Survivor Series Team Qualifying Match)
They circle the ring and then Rollins goes behind and starts beating down Otis with sledgehammer blows and then he tries to send Otis into the corner, but Otis blocks it and sends Rollins into the corner so hard that he flips up over the turnbuckle and lands back down on the mat where he runs into Otis who repeatedly slams him to the mat with waistlock takedowns and this sends Rollins out of the ring for a breather. While Rollins is on the outside Murphy slowly makes his way down to the ring. Rollins gets back in the ring and goes to kick Otis but he catches the leg and uses it to slam Rollins to the mat. Otis sends Rollins into the ropes, but ducks his head too early and gets kicked. Rollins charges at Otis but gets backdropped to the floor next to Murphy who he quickly gets away from as he looks scared to death, but Murphy doesn’t move. 

Otis runs around the ring and takes Rollins down with a body attack and then throws him back into the ring, Otis stares down Murphy before getting back into the ring but that delay allows Rollins to get his wits together and hit Otis with a sling blade for a 2 count. Rollins drives his shoulder into Otis in the corner but it doesn’t phase him and then Otis starts jiggling around and no-selling Rollins’ offense and then he hits Rollins with a headbutt and some shoulder blocks before hitting Rollins with a flapjack and a big spinning slam. Otis looks for the avalanche in the corner but Rollins gets his boot up and then dives onto Otis, but Otis catches him and hits him with an exploder and then he hits the avalanche in the corner. 

Otis looks to be setting up for the caterpillar, but Murphy jumps up on the apron and when Otis charges toward him he quickly jumps off and this allows Rollins to quickly take advantage with a superkick and then he hits the Curb Stomp to pick up the win.
Winner: Seth Rollins via Pinfall   Match Rating: **¼ 

After the match, Rollins stares at Murphy as we go to another commercial break. 

This match was about a minute and a half longer than the women’s triple threat match but there wasn’t as much fun to it as it was pretty much a paint by numbers match with a distraction finish. 

We come back and Rollins chases after Murphy and asks him if what he thinks he saw out there tonight is actually what is happening and Murphy just points at himself and says disciple and then points at Rollins and says Messiah, Rollins is pumped up as he tells Murphy welcome back and then he walks off. 

Aaliyah runs up and starts giving Murphy a piece of her mind and questions why he helped Rollins pick up the win as she thought he was a changed man and defended him against her family and then he goes and helps Rollins, Murphy grabs her hands and calmly tells her that he needs her to trust him as this is for the greater good. 

It feels like we are taking two steps back when it felt like we were taking a step forward last week, I won’t Rollins to move on from the story and go do other things but it looks like they are inserting him back into it and it just feels like the whole story is going in circles and not progressing at all. 

We then go to an interview that Michael Cole conducted earlier that day with Lars Sullivan and for some reason, Sullivan has decided to do this interview without a shirt on. Cole reminds Sullivan of everything he said last week during his interview with Corey Graves. Sullivan says he hates bullies and then talks about all the things the bullies would do to him when he was a kid but then once he started lifting weights the bullying stopped and he became the bully and after a while, he realized he could bully whoever he wanted and make them do or eat anything he told them to, he could do anything he wanted including screaming  AHHHHHH!  Sullivan says he loves bullying and intimidating people. 

Dear Lord, this may be the worst thing WWE has put on their TV all year as everything about it was the drizzling shits. First off why did we need this in the first place when Sullivan basically said the exact same thing he did last week except for this time he did it topless and added in heavy breathing and a big scream at the end. The heavy breathing made this thing borderline uncomfortable and not in a good way, although it probably wasn’t as uncomfortable for me as it was for Michael Cole as I’m sure he had to be having flashbacks to all of the heavy breathing that was going on all those years ago when Heidenreich anally sodomized him on an episode of SmackDown. I still think the best way for them to build up Sullivan is to get him a manager to do his talking and just let Sullivan destroy people. 

Jey Uso makes his way to the ring as we go to a commercial. 

We come back and go to the gorilla position for an interview with Kevin Owens where Kayla Braxton asks him if he thinks things got out of hand with Reigns and Uso, KO says that things have indeed gotten out of hand because he wasn’t expecting to face off against his Survivor Series teammate when he arrived at the building today. KO says he has a problem where he can’t help but speak his mind and if Reigns or Uso have a problem with that then so be it, but what Reigns made Uso do to Daniel Bryan last week was out of hand but he understands because he too has done some questionable things in order to provide for his family, however, he did those things on his own because he is his own man and that is more he can say for Uso. KO tells Uso that the beating he is going to get tonight will be 100% from Kevin Owens. 

Kevin Owens makes his way to the ring as it’s time for the main event. 

Match #5: Kevin Owens vs Jey Uso
They lock up and jockey for position until KO grabs a headlock, but Uso shoots him off into the ropes only for KO to take him down with a shoulder block. We see that Reigns and Heyman are watching on the monitor backstage. We get another lockup and KO goes behind with a waistlock which Uso breaks but KO nails him with a forearm and then he locks in another headlock but this time Uso fights out of it only to be slammed to the mat and hit with a senton splash for a 2 count. 

KO goes over to grab Uso, but Uso pulls him out of the ring and then runs off the ropes but KO has jumped back up on the apron and stops Uso with a right hand and then he grabs Uso and this allows Uso to hang him throat first across the top rope. We cut to the back where we see that Reigns is sending Heyman out to the ring to help Uso. Uso looks to hit KO with a tope suicida but KO catches him and throws him into the barricade and then KO comes off the apron with a frog splash and that sends us to a commercial break. 

We come back to Uso stomping a mudhole into KO in the corner and then he sends him into the ropes, but he ducks his head too early which allows KO to kick him but then he looks to hit KO with the Samoan drop only for KO to slip out and hit Uso with a neckbreaker onto his knee which gets a 2 count. KO goes up top but gets distracted by Heyman coming down to the ring and this allows Uso to hit him with a flying kick that causes KO to fall to the floor and then Uso successfully hits the tope suicida he was looking for earlier. Uso sends KO into the steps and then once they both roll into the ring Uso stomps on KO’s head. Uso hits KO with a superkick that lands perfectly and then he starts reigning down with mounted punches before locking KO in a chin lock. 

KO escapes the chin lock and then catches the leg of Uso and lands his own superkick, KO crawls over to the corner and Uso looks to hit him with a splash in the corner but KO moves out of the way sending Uso crashing head-first into the ring post and then KO nails him with another superkick which causes Uso to fall into the corner and that allows KO to him with the cannonball. KO goes up top and hits the Swanton but Uso is still able to kick out at 2. KO sends Uso into the ropes and looks to hit the Pop-Up Powerbomb, but Uso leaps over him and then hits KO with a superkick and follows that up with a back suplex into a neckbreaker, but KO kicks out a 2. 

Uso slowly goes up top only to be cut off by KO and they exchange punches which Uso gets the best of as he knocks KO back down to the mat but by the time Uso gets ready to jump KO is back on his feet so Uso jumps over him and rolls through only to turn around and run right into the Pop-Up Powerbomb which looked like it was going to be enough, but Uso is able to get his foot on the ropes. KO drags Uso into the middle of the ring and goes to pick him up but gets distracted when the music of Roman Reigns hits and this distraction allows Uso to hit a low blow and this allows KO to hit him with a superkick while KO is on his knees and then Uso goes up top and hits the Uso Splash to finish the match.
Winner: Jey Uso via Pinfall   Match Rating: **¾ 

After the match, Uso and Heyman slap hands, and then Reigns makes his way out to the top of the ramp where he stands tall with Uso as SmackDown goes off the air. 

This was a good match but nothing too special.

Outside of the Sasha vs Bayley match I felt this show was a bit of a step down to what we have been getting on SmackDown, I though the Reigns and Uso interaction wasn’t on the same level as it has been over the past month and the whole Mysterios and Murphy story took a backstep in my opinion. If I suggest one thing on this show it’s the opening match and then you can catch up with what happened on the rest of the show by reading my recap because you wouldn’t be missing anything if you didn’t watch it. 

That’s it for this week I’ll be back next week for more action from the blue brand.