SmackDown went down in Albany, New York with Survivor Series just over two weeks away, business was picking up for War Games
Let’s get into the results below:
The Time is Now Tournament: Jey Uso def. The Miz
United States title: Ilja Dragunov def. Axiom
The Time is Now Tournament: LA Knight def. Zack Ryder
Jade Cargill def. B-Fab
WWE World Heavyweight title: Cody Rhodes def. Bronson Reed via DQ
Notable moments
Charlotte Flair suggested she has no interest in participating in War Games, chiefly because she doesn’t like or trust Rhea Ripley. She walked out on her team as they opened the show.
Paul Heyman and Bronson Reed turned up to SmackDown for no real reason other than to rub Nick Aldis the wrong way. Cody Rhodes stepped in and ended up demanding a match with Reed, a match that Heyman goaded him into making a title match.
R-Truth is trying to get into the John Cena tournament by having number drawn out of a squirrel cage like the Royal Rumble back in the day. Aldis wasn’t having it.
Chelsea Green turned up demanding a title celebration with pyro after winning the US title last week. Seems like she’ll get her wish next week.
Tommaso Ciampa attacked Axiom after he lost to Dragunov. His crusade for the US title continues.
Sami Zayn cut a promo on the MFTs and his frustration at not being able to help his friends on the roster stand up to them. Once the group confronted him, Zayn revealed he is 100 per cent cleared and he brought some friends with him. Enter Rey Fenix, Shinsuke Nakamura and the Motor City Machine Guns to chase off the MFTs. A traditional Survivor Series elimination match is set for the night before the namesake event.
https://x.com/WrestleClips/status/1989516317397754151?s=20
Jimmy Uso revealed he has joined the babyfaces’ War Games team alongside his brother Jey, Cody Rhodes and CM Punk after a phone call with the latter, which appeared a surprise to Jey.
Zack Ryder/Matt Cardona made his return to WWE (he was on NXT recently) in his bid to face old foe/friend John Cena. It was a great showing from the Indie God, I think it would be wise to expect we haven’t seen the last of him in a WWE ring…
Nia Jax, the Kabuki Warriors and, mostly, Lash Legend beat the brakes off Ripley, Bliss and SKY backstage.
Next matches announced for Last Time is Now: Carmelo Hayes vs Bronson Reed and Penta vs Finn Balor.
Aleister Black and Zelina Vega vignette sends a warning to the whole roster.
Predictably, The Vision interfered in the main event meaning we didn’t see a real winner. The Usos tried to make the save, but less predictably, Drew McIntyre appeared to save the vision and join their War Games team.
Analysis
It was another solid episode of weekly TV for WWE. A couple of decent matches, a surprise return and we learned more about the War Games teams.
The Jade Cargill match achieved very little. The commentary team kept talking about her attitude change and how that’s led to her title run when in truth, very little has changed. A TV match to keep developing is fine, but the post-match stuff with Michin (who I love and all that) doesn’t inspire a great start to her reign.
The War Games teams are looking good. If we think Brock Lesnar will complete The Vision and Roman Reigns will join his cousins with Punk and Rhodes, we’ve got some very interesting dynamics.
The women have some work to do on their side, but Charlotte, whose babyface run has been extremely good for her, will no doubt save the day and then what do we have left? AJ Lee and Becky entering the fray?
Sami Zayn and the MFT feud is not very exciting, but Zayn is clearly poised to get a run at the title in the next year (who knows actually when) so they just have to keep him busy.
Very pleased to see Cardona back on WWE TV. Less inspired he’s back as Zack Ryder, but it does make sense given it’s the John Cena tournament and it’s Ryder he has history with, not Cardona.
Overall, another watchable show that moved things forward, generally.
