SmackDown on Fox Episode #13
SmackDown Episode # 1,062
Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
12/27/19
The show opens with Elias in the ring ready to sing us a song and that is exactly what he did as he sings a song that talks about things that happened in 2019 (which included digs at Bayley and Shane McMahon) he is also happy that SmackDown isn’t featuring Bobby Lashley and Lana’s wedding. He closes out the song by telling us what we have to look forward to on this episode of SmackDown.
We then get our usual intro video and after that Daniel Bryan makes his way to the ring as seemed like the big number one contender triple threat match would be opening the show, but we all know that would be too good to be true as during his entrance Corbin tells his henchmen to the sedan down because he has something to say. Corbin talks about how Miz and Bryan are terrible fathers and then says he shouldn’t even be in the triple threat and should already be number one contender because he is the only man to defeat Roman Reigns twice. Reigns music hits and this causes the henchmen to drop the sedan out of fear which causes Corbin to crash to the floor. Reigns beat up Corbin around ringside and hit him with the Superman Punch, but Corbin is able to escape through the crowd before Reigns can hit him with a Spear. The referees and agents come out to calm Reigns down and prevent him from going after Corbin. As we go to break the status of the triple threat match is unclear.
We come back from break and Corbin is in the back arguing with agent Adam Pearce as Corbin wants the match postponed, but Pearce says that he can’t do that.
We then get ready for our first match of the night by showing what happened last week between New Day, Braun Strowman, and Sami Zayn’s crew.
Match #1: The New Day & Braun Strowman vs Cesaro, Shinsuke Nakamura, & Sami Zayn
Big E and Cesaro started the match with a lock up and then exchange headlocks until Cesaro shoots Big E into the ropes and Big E comes back with a shoulder block. Big E tags Kingston in and Kingston leapfrogs over Big E and lands on Cesaro with a senton. Cesaro kicks Kingston in the gut and then tags in Nakamura. Kingston hits Nakamura with a jumping back elbow and then clotheslines him to the outside where he looks to hit a dive but Zayn grabs the foot of Kingston as he runs to the ropes. Nakamura runs back in and hits Kingston with a backstabber and then tags in Zayn. Zayn stomps and punches Kingston while taunting Strowman and Big E and then Zayn throws Kingston to the floor. While Zayn has the referee distracted Cesaro hits Kingston with a huge European uppercut that sends both Kingston and Cesaro flying across the announce table. Strowman and Big E check on Kingston as we go to commercial.
As we come back from commercial Cesaro has control of Kingston but that ends quickly when Kingston springs out of the corner with a dropkick. Cesaro tags in Nakamura who prevents Kingston from making the tag. Nakamura makes a tag to Cesaro who comes off the top with an ax handle to the back of Kingston. Cesaro gets a 2 count off a gutwrench suplex and then locks Kingston in a chin lock. Kingston gets to his feet and hits Cesaro with a chin breaker and then attempts to make a tag but Cesaro catches him and hits him with another hellacious uppercut that only gets a 2 count. We get another tag on the heel side as Nakamura comes in and hits Kingston with a front suplex and then drives his knees into Kingston. Nakamura then grounds Kingston with a rest hold. Kingston gets to his feet and tries to reach over and make a tag but Nakamura puts him in an abdominal stretch and proceeds to mock Big E by spanking Kingston to the New Day Rocks beat, this brings Big E into the ring momentarily but as Big E turns around Nakamura attacks him from behind and sends him to the floor.
Kingston catches Nakamura with the SOS and this gives Kingston the opportunity to make a tag to Strowman but Cesaro is tagged in and he runs right over the body of Kingston. Cesaro tries to knock Strowman off the apron but Strowman grabs his arm until Zayn comes over and distracts Strowman, Strowman starts to stalk Zayn but that is put to an end when Cesaro hits him with a wrecking ball dropkick. Cesaro gets back in the ring to deal with Kingston but gets backdropped but there is nobody for Kingston to tag. Nakamura hits Kingston from behind and then Cesaro hits Kingston with a running European uppercut in the corner and after that Nakamura hits the sliding German suplex which gets a 2 count as Big E comes in and breaks the pin. Big E sends Cesaro to the outside but is caught with a spinning wheel kick from Nakamura. Nakamura looks to hit Kingston with the Kinshasa but Kingston is able to counter it with a mushroom stomp.
Kingston finally makes a hot tag to Strowman and as he does Zayn jumps off the apron so that Nakamura can’t tag him in. Strowman hits both Nakamura and Cesaro with shoulder blocks and then hits Nakamura with an avalanche in the corner. It’s time for the Strowman express as he goes out and runs around the ring hitting both Cesaro and Nakamura but when it comes time to hit Zayn he runs away so Strowman chases him around the ring and runs right into a big kick from Nakamura who jumped off the steps. Nakamura is able to get Strowman into the ring and looks to hit him with the Kinshasa but Strowman explodes out of the corner with a big lariat. Strowman gets Nakamura in position for the Powerslam, but Cesaro saves him and then hits Strowman with a springboard uppercut. Big E pulls Cesaro out of the ring and sends him over the barricade. Zayn slides Nakamura the plate that the pancakes were on, but before he can use it Kingston is able to grab it and hit Nakamura with it as the referee is distracted by Zayn and this allows Strowman to hit the Powerslam on Nakamura to get the win.
Winners: New Day & Braun Strowman via Pinfall Match Rating: **3/4
After the match, New Day gets Strowman to dance.
This was a fun match that had a really long heel control segment as it felt like Kingston was never going to make that tag, but that just made the moment when he did make the tag mean that much more. The European uppercuts in this match were awesome, especially the one over the announce table. I think Zayn did a really good job of being the chicken shit heel manager who is in the match but is never touched. This was the first match Zayn has had on TV since August when he was defeated by Cedric Alexander in the first round of the King of the Ring tournament.
As we go to break Kayla Braxton is seen talking to Adam Pearce about the status of the triple threat match as there will be an update after the commercial.
When we come back we are told that Corbin has refused to compete, however instead of postponing the match it has now been turned into a one on one match between Daniel Bryan and The Miz.
Sonya is in the back signing programs when Mandy walks up and asks Sonya to be in her corner tonight, but Sonya hesitates and reminds Mandy that she was nowhere to be seen last week. Sonya eventually agrees and says she will be right out there as soon as she delivers the programs she had been signing. Otis walks up and has a fruitcake that he says was made by his mama and he gives the cake to Mandy.
As we go to break Carmella is making her way to the ring.
Match #2: Carmella vs Mandy Rose
They lock up and Mandy knees Mella in the mid-section before driving her back to the corner where she delivers a couple of shoulder attacks to the mid-section. Mandy charges at Mella but Mella is able to avoid her and then does a moonwalk. Mandy elbows out of a rear waist lock and then tackles Mella to the mat and starts hitting her from a mounted position. Mandy sends Mella hard into the corner and when Mella bounces out of the corner Mandy hits her with a dropkick and the bicycle knee for a 2 count. Mandy grounds Mella with a straight jacket hold and when Mella finally gets to her feet Mandy slams her right back down. Mandy toys around with Mella and talks trash to her until Carmella fires back with a big smack to the face which leads to Mandy delivering a smack of her own.
Mella keeps preventing Mandy from attacking her in the corner and then Mella takes Mandy down with a hurricanrana out of the corner. Mella walks over to grab Mandy out of the corner but Mandy sends Mella into the middle turnbuckle face-first. Mandy and Mella exchange pinning combinations but none of them are able to get either woman the win. Mandy tries for an O’Connor roll but Mella holds onto the rope and then hits Mandy with a superkick out of nowhere to get the win.
Winner: Carmella via Pinfall Match Rating: **¼
This was a good match and was much better than you would expect if you saw on paper that Mandy and Carmella were going to have a match against each other. Not exactly sure where Carmella beating both members of Fire & Desire goes other than building Carmella up to make fans think she has a chance in the women’s rumble match. It feels like there are two different stories going on with Mandy as we have this one with Carmella which also involves Sonya not being happy with her (which is a story they seem to go to every few months and it never goes anywhere) and she also has the story going with Otis and there is no telling where that story may go. One thing I will criticize about the match is the fact that Mandy is still doing the whole thing where she yells that her opponent isn’t as good looking as her, I feel that since she is edging toward being a babyface that she doesn’t need to do that anymore, I mean I have never liked that part of her character but even more so now because that is definitely not something a babyface says.
We are told the Daniel Bryan vs Miz match will be coming up next after the break.
As we come back we get another Sheamus vignette
Match #3: Daniel Bryan vs The Miz (WWE Universal Championship #1 Contender Match)
Bryan and Miz lock up and exchange headlocks and waist locks until Bryan shoots Miz off into the ropes and Miz comes back with a shoulder block taking Bryan down. We get a test of strength which Bryan gets the best of as he uses it to get control of Miz’s arm and works it over until Miz hits him with a back elbow. We get a drop-down and leapfrog spot that ends with Bryan landing a big kick to Miz’s chest. Bryan goes back to work on Miz’s arm until he gets him in the corner where he delivers a series of kicks, Bryan then looks to hit the corner dropkick but is backdropped to the apron and then Miz slides under Bryan’s legs and pulls him to the floor. Miz sends Bryan chest first into the barricade and then throws him back into the ring where he tries for a big roundhouse kick but Bryan ducks and dropkicks the knee of The Miz. Miz ducks a running kick from Bryan and we then get a double down as both men try to crossbody each other.
At this point, four of Corbin’s henchmen enter the ring and attack both men leading to a double DQ. MIz and Bryan fight off the henchmen.
Winner: N/A via Double DQ Match Rating: **½
This was turning into a really good match, but because they wanted to run this stupid show long angle where Corbin was back and forth on whether he wanted to be in the match or not the match had to come to an abrupt end which sucked. If you are one of very few that are enjoying this lovely story of who will become the number one contender then stay tuned because we aren’t done with this story just yet as there is more to come later in the show.
We cut to the back where Kayla is interviewing Corbin about what just happened, Corbin says that he refused to compete because Reigns was making SmackDown an unsafe working environment, but now that he knows that Reigns has left the building he is willing to compete. Bryan and Miz show up and beat up more of Corbin’s henchmen before chasing after Corbin as we go to break.
When we come back from break we are told by the announcers that the triple threat match is back on for tonight.
There are no words to explain how dumb it is that we had to go through all this crap only to end up back where we started, it would’ve been nice if instead of having a match that ends in a double DQ for absolutely no reason we actually had a match that involved people who could benefit from having some time on the show.
It is now time for A Moment of Bliss hosted by Alexa Bliss who is joined by her BFF Nikki Cross. Alexa and Nikki toast with their coffees and then Alexa allows Nikki to introduce the guest for the evening, which is the “Sassy Southern Belle” Lacey Evans.
We are shown footage of what happened last week between Lacey and Sasha. Lacey says that Sasha crossed a line last week when she messed with her daughter, Lacey said one Sasha did that she entered Mama Bear mode and there is nothing she wouldn’t do to protect her baby cub and furthermore had she not been pulled off Sasha last week there was a good chance that Sasha wouldn’t have been able to walk out on her own. Lacey says she knows how these talk shows end and she doesn’t want to be hit from behind so she is going to the ring for her tag match that is coming up next.
Lacey enters the ring but when Dana’s music hits nobody comes out for a few seconds before we see that Bayley and Sasha have Dana and are dragging her out by her hair, this leads to Lacey coming to help Dana as a brawl breaks out on the stage as we go to commercial.
Match #4: Lacey Evans & Dana Brooke vs Bayley & Sasha Banks
We come back from the commercial right as the bell rings and Lacey goes straight for Sasha who is on the apron but Bayley attacks her from behind. Bayley beats down Lacey and sends her into the corner, but Lacey comes out of the corner with a clothesline and then tags in Dana. Dana hits the handspring elbow and then hits a cartwheel splash for a 2 count. Dana fires away with punches to Bayley only to be driven back into the corner where Sasha gets tagged in. Sasha stomps a mudhole in Dana and then delivers a series of shoulder attacks in the corner. Sasha sets Dana up on the top but Dana is able to fight back and hits a tornado style suplex out of the corner for 2. Sasha ducks a clothesline and slams Dana to the mat by her hair. Sasha walks over and slaps Lacey which fires her up and she gets into the ring which allows Sasha and Bayley to double team Dana in the corner while the referee tries to get Lacey to go back on the apron. Sasha and Bayley crisscross the arms of Dana and slam her back into the corner and this gets a 2 count.
Dana fights her way out of a chin lock and then tries to make a tag, but is taken down with a clothesline from Bayley. Sasha tags in and hits a Meteora on Dana that gets 2 count. Dana finally makes a comeback as she knocks Bayley off the apron and then hits Sasha with an enziguri. Dana finally makes the hot tag as Sasha makes the tag on her end as well, Lacey. Lacey hits a couple of clotheslines and a swinging neckbreaker on Bayley. Lacey then takes Sasha down on the outside with a baseball slide. Lacey sweeps the leg of Bayley and then hits her with the slingshot elbow drop. Lacey hits a rope-assisted bronco buster followed by a moonsault, but that only gets a 2 count when Sasha breaks the pin. Lacey chases Sasha around the ring and when Lacey comes back into the ring she is caught by Bayley who hits her with a Bayley to belly suplex for a 2 count as this time Dana breaks up the pin.
Sasha sends Dana out of the ring, Bayley and Sasha attempt a double suplex on Lacey but she lands on her feet which allows Dana to make a blind tag. Lacey hits Bayley with the Woman’s Right only to be thrown shoulder first into the ring post by Sasha. Dana runs in and tries for a school-girl but Sasha turns it into a Bank Statement which leads Dana no choice but to tap out.
Winners: Sasha Banks & Bayley via Submission Match Rating: **¼
I wonder if I would have gotten on the Lacey Evans bandwagon a lot sooner if they had made her a babyface from the start because I am loving everything about her now. I thought the promo she cut during A Moment of Bliss was really good as the material was based on a subject in which everyone can relate to as either you’re a parent of a child you want to protect at all costs or you don’t have kids but know that your parents would’ve done everything in their being to make sure you were safe. I also liked that Lacey was smart enough to realize how talk show segments in WWE end and she wasn’t going to be the dumb babyface that let herself get attacked from behind. The match was good as well but nothing to really note about it.
We cut to the back where Mandy is tasting the cake’s frosting when Dolph Ziggler walks up and starts flirting with Mandy. Ziggler thanks the cake is for him but Mandy tells him that Otis’s mom made it and Otis gave it to her, this leads to Ziggler telling her that Otis gives these to everyone in the locker room and that he heard that they have been known to have roaches in them. Ziggler sets the cake on the ground and smashes it and tells her that a guy like Otis wouldn’t know what a woman like Mandy really wants.
Corbin runs up and says that he wants Ziggler’s help and then Ziggler walks off as Mandy looks at the cake that just got smashed.
We get a promo from Mustafa Ali where he talks about how he didn’t have the best 2019, but he still chooses to stand in the light and in 2020 he is going to continue to fight for change as he looks to win gold.
It would’ve been nice if we could’ve got an actual match tonight featuring Ali as that would’ve been much better than the story of the number one contender.
We go backstage where Otis walks up and sees the cake smashed all in the floor, Otis, picks up the plate and sadly looks at it.
This story with Mandy and Otis is probably my second favorite thing happening on SmackDown right now (behind the women’s title picture) and I think the reason for that is because I see myself in Otis. The segment tonight with Ziggler smashing the cake and then Otis finding it and thinking that Mandy was the one that smashed it really made me want to see Otis get his hands on Ziggler. I now look forward to seeing how the story between Mandy and Otis progresses each week and while I may be doing other things while SmackDown is on I will be sure to stop and pay attention to these segments.
It’s finally time for the main event that was off and on the entire night. We go straight to the match as all three men are already in the ring.
Match #5: The Miz vs Daniel Bryan vs King Corbin (WWE Universal Championship #1 Contender Match)
Miz and Bryan team up on Corbin as they lean him against the ropes and lay into him with chops and kicks and then send him into the ropes but Corbin slides out of the ring. Miz tries to get a quick win with a schoolboy but Bryan kicks out. Miz and Bryan then start arguing and shoving each other. Miz and Bryan trade punches until Miz sends Bryan into the corner where Bryan flips over Miz and then runs off the ropes and dives to the outside where he hits Corbin with a tope suicida. Miz tries to hit Bryan with a wrecking ball dropkick, but Bryan sidesteps him and sends Miz into the ring post. Bryan comes off the apron with a diving knee attack that sends Miz into the barricade and then Corbin sends Bryan over the barricade and into the timekeeper section. Corbin sends Miz into the barricade and then rolls him back into the ring where he levels Miz with a forearm.
Miz tries to make a comeback but it is short-lived as Corbin sends him shoulder-first into the ring post. Corbin slides out of the ring and lays Bryan out with a clothesline and then hits Miz with the chokeslam backbreaker. Corbin throws Bryan back into the ring and mocks the Yes! Chant. Bryan tries to make a comeback but is taken down again with a back elbow. Corbin picks Bryan up and goes for a back suplex but Bryan lands on his feet and then boots a charging Corbin in the face and then Miz hits Corbin with his backbreaker and neckbreaker combo move. Bryan hits Corbin with several kicks in the corner and then hits Corbin with the corner dropkick with Miz right behind him hitting Corbin with the corner clothesline. They try this again and Corbin backdrops Bryan to the apron and then hits Miz with the Deep Six. Bryan comes off the top with a missile dropkick and now all three men are down as we go to commercial.
We come back from commercial and see Bryan and Miz exchanging pinfall attempts before they just start firing away at each other with punches. Miz hits an incoming Corbin with a big boot and then both Miz and Bryan are able to avoid kicks to each other and then Miz hits the kneeling snap DDT. Miz fights Corbin off with some kicks and then ties his leg up in the corner and starts kicking Corbin in the hamstring. Miz locks Corbin in the figure-four when Bryan comes off the top with a diving headbutt and then pins Corbin while he is still in the figure-four but he is able to get his shoulders up. Bryan rolls Corbin over to lock in the Yes Lock and this causes the pressure to be reversed in Miz’s figure-four. Miz finally frees himself and breaks up the Yes Lock and all three men are down. Miz and Bryan exchange chops momentarily and then Miz fires up and starts punching Bryan sending him out of the ring and then turns around and starts doing the same to Corbin. Miz tries for the Skull Crushing Finale but Corbin throws him off and hits Miz with the End of Days which leads to Bryan breaking up a pinfall attempt. Corbin grabs Bryan by the throat and throws him into the corner and then Corbin tries to hit Bryan with End of Days, but Bryan flips out of it and hits Corbin with the running knee. As Bryan crawls over to make the cover he is hit with a superkick by an interfering Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler rolls Corbin on top of Bryan but he only gets a 2 count as Roman Reigns pulls Corbin out of the ring. Reigns sends Corbin into the ring post and then hits a Superman Punch on Ziggler. Reigns clotheslines Corbin over the barricade as we go to commercial.
As we come back from break Miz has Bryan in the corner working over his leg and then Miz hits Bryan with the corner clothesline. Miz goes up top but Bryan cuts him off and hits Miz with a spider style superplex, Bryan pulls himself back up to the top but gets crotched by Miz. Miz goes back up top with Bryan and hits a sweet looking shin breaker off the top rope. Bryan is writhing around in pain but won’t quit. Miz hits the It Kicks on Bryan, but when he goes for the big roundhouse kick Bryan catches his leg and slaps Miz in the face which sends Miz crumbling to his knees which allows Bryan to hit the Yes! Kicks although at this point his leg is shot, this time Miz catches Bryan’s leg and hits a legbreaker across his knees. Miz picks Bryan up by the leg and slams his leg down to the mat and then hits a DDT on Bryan’s leg.
Miz sets Bryan up for the figure-four but Bryan kicks him off and sends Miz out to the apron. Miz springboards with an attempted ax handle but Bryan catches him in the Danielson special. Miz rolls toward Bryan to try and break the armbar, but Bryan tries transitioning into the Yes! Lock, but Miz keeps blocking him and then bites the hand of Bryan. Miz rolls back trying to get a pinfall on Bryan, but Bryan kicks out and then finally connects with the roundhouse kick. Bryan slaps the knee to get some feeling into it and then with the entire crowd behind him Bryan goes for the running knee, but Miz avoids it and hits the Skull Crushing Finale and then he goes for a pin where he still has hold of Bryan’s leg so that if Bryan kicks out he can easily transition into the figure-four and that is exactly what happened. Bryan tries to pull apart Miz’s legs to break the hold but this leads to Miz and Bryan trading shots and this leads to the hold eventually being broken and Bryan takes this opportunity to lock Miz in the Rings of Saturn, but Miz won’t quit so Bryan smoothly transitions into the Yes Lock which is finally enough to get Miz to tap out.
Winner: Daniel Bryan via Submission Match Rating: ****
After the match, Wyatt shows up on the tron and congratulates Bryan and says that they are gonna have so much fun. Wyatt asks Bryan if he is willing to do whatever it takes to let him in. The show ends with Bryan and the crowd loudly chanting Yes! Yes! Yes!
I don’t know why we had to go through all the unnecessary convoluted bull shit throughout the show involving this match that ended up doing nothing to help anybody in it, but once we finally got to the match I absolutely loved it. Corbin did a really good job in the match as the asshole heel that you love to see the babyfaces double team. I will say that Roman Reigns got a nice pop when he finally showed up to take out Corbin and Ziggler to the point where I don’t think fans would be as upset if Reigns won the title at Mania next year, WWE has done a good job since Reigns’s return of making sure he is featured on the show, but at the same time, they are not treating him like he is the second coming of Christ.
As good as the match was as a triple threat it reached a whole new level once it was just Bryan and Miz. I think this was Miz’s best in-ring performance of the year and it may be the best match Miz and Bryan have had against each other. I thought Miz did a great job of working over the leg of Bryan especially when he hit that top rope shin breaker which I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen before. On the flipside, Bryan did a good job of selling the injured leg, especially when it came to hitting the Yes Kicks. I don’t know if this is the story they were trying to tell for one part of this match but here is what I got from it, so back before Miz had respect for Bryan he would’ve pinned Bryan like he would anyone else after hitting the Skull Crushing Finale, however now that he has respect for Bryan he is able to realize that Bryan is a tough mofo and he may very well kick out of the SKF, so he pinned him in a way where he still had control of the hurt leg and could easily and quickly transition into the figure-four. I thought that was a nice bit of storytelling, whether it was intentional or not. I have absolutely no complaints about this main event. I’m interested to see how this revived American Dragon version of Daniel Bryan does against The Fiend, however, I don’t look forward to watching the match under the red light of death.
If you take out the convoluted episode long story that was completely unnecessary, I think this was a really good episode of SmackDown as we had Lacey shining in a promo during A Moment of Bliss, the continuation of the Otis and Mandy story, a better than expected Mandy vs Carmella match, and it was capped off with a fantastic main event match, had they used the time they took on the unneeded main event story and put it on having another match featuring someone like Ali then this would be a perfect show in my eyes, but it’s WWE and very rarely do you get perfect shows so you just have to take a cup half full approach to it and be happy that we got a show that was as good as tonight’s show.
That’s all for this week but I’ll be back next week for the first SmackDown episode of the 2020s.
