WWE SmackDown rolled into Denver, Colorado with Survivor Series War Games just over one week away. With the women still to complete their teams for the event, we’re in store for a stacked show.
Let’s get into the results below:
United States Open Challenge: Ilja Dragunov (c) def. JD McDonagh
The Last Time is Now tournament: Carmelo Hayes def. Bronson Reed
DIY def. Fraxiom
The Last Time is Now tournament: Penta def. Balor
Notes:
Paul Heyman and The Vision opened the show with the former’s trademarked praising of his clients. The Usos interrupted and thought they were going to be backed up by Cody Rhodes, but camera cut to Drew McIntyre leaving The WWE heavyweight champion’s tour bus after taking a severe beating.
It’s the 13th SmackDown in a row where the United States title was defended. No shock at all that Dragunov and McDonagh put on a banger of a TV match.
Alexa Bliss tricked Charlotte Flair into having a clear the air chat with Rhea Ripley, of which we did not see until much later in the show. At that point,
Some internet fans might say Hayes vs Reed was overbooked – they would be wrong! It was fantastic stuff. The Vision interfered, The Usos equalled the odds and then Rhodes, supposedly out for the count, shocked the fans to drop Reed on the outside with a Cross-Rhodes and giving Hayes a count-out win.
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Chelsea Green wanted her US title celebration postponed with Giulia breathing down her beck and a confrontation with Women’s champ, Jade Cargill.
Led by Sami Zayn, the Canadian, Rey Fenix, Shinsuke Nakamura and the Motor City Machine Guns gave an especially amped promo ahead of their traditional Survivor Series match with the MFTs next week.
DIY stole a win after Candice LeRae stole Axiom’s mask.
Michael Cole and Corey Graves addressed Sheamus dropping out of The Last Time is Now tournament through injury. LA Knight will find out his opponent next week on SmackDown – seems another surprise entry.
AJ Lee was revealed as the final member of the female babyface team at War Games. As she made her way to the ring to try and save her team from a beatdown, Becky Lynch cut her off and savaged her.
Analysis:
Another solid show in a string of them for WWE. It was obvious after RAW that AJ Lee was going to be the fifth member of Team Rhea, but having Becky telegraph it too and instantly attack was the right move.
Also, AJ Lee’s pop was HUGE. A true monster pop.
Pretty creative how they had Carmelo Hayes advance against Bronson Reed. WWE know what they have with Melo and know he needs to kick on sooner rather than later. Yes, Rhodes hands him a win, but he more than showcased himself before the WWE champ arrived.
Sami Zayn is trying really, really hard in this five-on-five storyline with the MFTs but it’s a little hard to buy into at the moment. I’m sure watching it play out in a traditional Survivor Series match will help it’s cause.
Rhea Ripely is a massive, massive star as well. The crowd reactions to the Aussie whenever she’s on-screen are insane. She has grown into something beyond the obvious expectations. She always had the propensity to be a top women’s wrestler, but being in the Judgement Day, having that Chyna-esque aura to strike fear into men and working with Dirty Dom was the perfect cocktail.
SmackDown had enough star power, decent TV matches and storyline advancement to keep things moving for WWE. Now they head into a go-home week with all the decks stacked, can they deliver?
