Sorry, late again, guess Fridays are still sneaking up on me. Jordan Huie of the Overtimer here to recap Friday Night SmackDown. We begin tonight with the IC title on the line.
WWE Intercontinental Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Roman Reigns
They begin fairly slow tying up as Sami Zayn is on commentary. Shinsuke gets Roman down and starts laying in knee drops. Roman fights back, whips Shinsuke to the ropes, big elbow. Samoan drop, Shinsuke bails as Sami comes in to console him. Roman looks for the drive-by, Sami pulls Shinsuke out of the way, leaving Roman to land on the apron! From there, Nak knocks him off with an enziguri! Commercial break.
We come back to see Shinsuke keeping Roman down in the ring with a headlock. During the break Nakamura caught Roman with a running single leg dropkick on the outside. Roman makes it to his feet on the headlock, elbows to get Shinsuke away. There seems to be a little blood in Roman’s mouth, might’ve lost a tooth. Nakamura off the middle rope, Roman punches him out of the air. Throws him to the ropes, flying clothesline. Roman gets him in the corner, starts his big series of clotheslines. Reigns hits the ropes, big boot!
Roman sets up the Superman Punch, leaps – Shinsuke catches him into a slick cross-armbreaker! Transitions to a triangle choke as Roman struggles reaching for the ropes! Holds looks to be in tight, Roman powers up to his feet and powerbombs out of the hold! Nearfall. “Let’s go Roman” chant starts as Sami comes up on the apron to distract. Shinsuke charges, Roman gets the boots up but Nak catches, hangs up the legs on the middle rope, running German Suplex takes to the mat! Shinsuke sets up for the Kinsasha… dashes right into the Superman Punch! Verrrry close nearfall!
Crowd getting behind Roman as he gets to his feet… sets up for the Spear, only for King Corbin to emerge from behind and attack him with his scepter.
Winner: Roman Reigns (by DQ)
Pretty good match. Opening SD two weeks straight with a DQ involving Roman isn’t great, but fun stuff while it lasted. Afterwards, Baron hits Roman with a Deep Six. Daniel Bryan’s music hits! Rushes the ring, low bridge takes Baron to the floor, catches a rushing Shinsuke! Missile drop kick takes Nak down! Yes chants ensue, Bryan wants a suicide dive but Sami Zayn catches him by the ankle as he hits the ropes. This allows Shinsuke to come in and catch him with a Kinsasha! The heels leave on top, just barely.
New Day backstage singing ’til TUCKY lays a picnic table in front of them. He says that at Crown Jewel it’ll be every team for themselves, but tonight they’re together. He wants to build some camaraderie and uplift Kofi’s spirits from losing the WWE title. Kofi plays this off. Otis comes in with an incredible apron, mixing up pure protein in a bowl. Xavier complains that they can’t eat right before their match they’ll have a cramp. Otis says more for them!
Interviewer Girl #2 tries to talk to King Corbin. He just walks off.
We no joke, see a vignette of people making short jokes at Gable’s expense as he makes his way out.
Shorty Gable vs. Curtis Axel
Gable gets an arm drag and armbar. Axel backs Gable to the corner, Bo clips the legs out from Gable to help Axel stomp away on him. Snapmare, running neck snap for 2. Gable wrestles his way up, sunset flip gets 2. Baseball slide takes Bo away, Gable reverses a side headlock into a drop toe hold, Ankle Lock, Axel taps!
Winner: Shorty Gable
Cannot be overstated how much every win is hindered by him immediately being announced as Shorty Gable right after.
Interviewer Girl #2 in the ring asking Gable how the disparaging remarks about his height have affected. Gable says he’s always felt he’s been held back by his height, but now he knows his height is what makes him and it’s alright to be exactly who you are. Decent pop. Gable says you’ll always find people who want to cut you down, but to them, he just says ‘thank you’ because he made them take a deep look into who he was and he liked what he saw. He accepts who he is. He’s Shorty Gable. Actually, let’s shorten that up… “I’m Shorty G.”
Wow.
Cole and Corey talk about the Team Hogan/Team Flair situation and cut to a conversation with Hogan himself. Corey notes the holes in Hogan’s team and asks what he’ll do about it. Hogan says he’s been chasing Flair since Corey was in diapers so don’t worry about that. He explains that the two men that are standing out now are Ali and Shorty G, but he’ll announce the new team captain by the end of the night. Asks Flair “whatcha gonna do”?
Heavy Machinery & The New Day vs. The Revival, Bobby Roode & Dolph Ziggler
Dolph starts off with TUCKY. Dolph wrestles him to the ropes, no clean break with punches, dropkick takes him down. Ziggler hits the ropes, runs into a return dropkick from Tucker! Tag to Otis, they want a double suplex, Roode runs in to stop it but just gets suplexed himself as Heavy Machinery suplexes one of each. Otis and Big E wishbone Ziggler with a dance. Otis and Big E catch the interfering Revival with simultaneous overhead belly to bellies! Tag to Xavier who comes in with a tope taking out both members of Revival! But a Spinebuster/Zig Zag combo on the floor takes him out, commercial break.
Wilder holding Xavier down with a headlock as we come back. Woods counters with a back suplex. Dawson in to intercept, Xavier knocks off the others and kicks Dawson away, step-up enziguri! Double team elbow drop backbreaker from Revival, 2 count. Tag to Ziggler who pulls Xavier up and drives a knee into his face. Forces him to the corner, takes him up top. Pursues, wants a superplex. Xavier clobbers him in response. Headbutt takes him to the mat. Missile dropkick sends him flying! Both men lunge for their corners, tag to Roode and Otis, the latter of which is a wrecking ball. Big body slam to Ziggler, knocks the Revival off the apron, Roode attacks Otis but he just shakes and gyrates in response. Headbutt sends Roode to the mat. Otis throws Ziggler to Roode, Dawson blind tags in as Ziggler gets the boot up on the charge.
Otis throws Ziggler and Roode around as Dawson comes in but eats a big clothesline. Avalanche to Roode in the corner, and the crowd comes to their feet as Otis hits the caterpillar! Dawson with a crossbody off the top, easily caught by Otis. TUCKY wants to hit the Compactor, but Ziggler pulls him from the ring. Wilder off the top with a javelin headbutt to the back of Dawson puts him down on top of Otis! Ref is distracted, allowing the kickout. Tucker lays out Wilder on the floor as Otis gets Dawson up, passes him to E, tag to Xavier to setup the Midnight Hour! That’s that.
Winners: Heavy Machinery & The New Day
Fun stuff, not really a preview for what the turmoil will be like but a decent show of some fun characters and solid work.
Tag match pitting Roman Reigns & Daniel Bryan against King Corbin & Shinsuke Nakamura announced for tonight.
The very busy Interviewer Girl #2 is back with Daniel Bryan. Bryan asks how many times do you think he’s been beat up? Not once has it affected his mindset. He doesn’t care about getting beaten up, he doesn’t care about twitter beefs, he doesn’t care about arguments over who got drafted win. What he does care about is that tonight is his first night on SmackDown (heh) and he has a chance to take down King Corbin and the King of Strong Style.
Bayley will be on MizTV tonight.
Vignette about Ali about his desire to tear down labels and break down barriers. It’s why his heart beats right now. The mask and glove, asking for everyone to take his hand, to find the light in the dark. He will bring the change that he’s been seeking for years in the world. He has hope and he has heart.
The Miz is out welcoming us to MizTV and quickly introduces Bayley. Her edgy new theme is interesting. She emerges with Sasha. She’s wearing kind of a weird leather jacket, all sorts of patterns. Sasha says she’s just here to support her best friend. Bayley cuts off the Miz to explain that she beat Charlotte Flair to become a 2-time SmackDown Women’s Champ. Sasha announces her as the first-ever Grand Slam Champion. I guess that’s winning the Raw, SmackDown, NXT and Tag Team women’s titles. They then cut to a video of Bayley’s destruction of the Bayley Buddies last week, complete with the crying child video, before her victory over Charlotte.
Back to the ring, Miz just asks, “Why?” There’s a ton of boos as Bayley raises up the mic. She says she doesn’t owe him or anyone else an explanation. Miz says maybe she doesn’t owe him one, but what about all the kids who idolized her? Bayley shrugs. “A champion who doesn’t talk, what are you, Brock Lesnar?” Gestures at Sasha and asks if she’s the Paul Heyman. These both get ‘ooooh’ reactions. Miz notes that the change might be from insecurity, maybe it’s because no matter how many accolades she has, she’ll never be as renowned as Sasha Banks. Sasha chides Miz for being drafted in the fifth round. Miz says he doesn’t have to cut his hair and slash some Bayley Buddies to be relevant.
Bayley explains that she slashed those stupid Bayley Buddies because they’ve defined them her entire career. They all saw her as something fun to put a smile on people’s face. Every single week she gave headbands, high fives and hugs, but all they did was take. They didn’t see what she was doing to be a role model and change the world. The night she won the title she promised she’d elevate the division and that’s what she did. When she lost at Hell In A Cell, she was heartbroken, in pain, she was crying. And was anyone there for her? Was anyone there to hug her? No. Bayley says she’s put herself second her whole career to be a role model to their children, and when she needed them most, where were they? They destroyed her.
But like a role model, she picked herself up and won her title back. But when she walked to that locker room, was anyone there to congratulate her? No. She used to think that this division lacked opportunity, but no, this division lacks desire and passion. She used to be what they wanted her to be. But the truth is, she has out-grown them. (To Vince there couldn’t be a more heel line…) She asks if the people want some inspiration? Life sucks and then you die! (Literal Vince quote!)
Bayley certainly has a lot of heat with this audience. Nikki Cross’ music hits and she comes out to say that is enough. She says she speaks for everyone when she says that the time for talking is done and the time for action is now! Tells Bayley to make herself comfortable, because after she wins this match tonight, she’ll make sure to go over and give her a great huge hug…
Dana Brooke is out, another participant in the six pack challenge. Dana says you want to talk about passion and desire? What fuels hers is being underutilized and overlooked. But that’s the past. Tonight marks a new beginning and she can feel it. Calls herself the Flex Appeal here on Friday Night SmackDown and calls for everyone to flex.
Lacey Evans out now. We go to break talking up the Six-Pack Challenge happening next.
Nikki Cross vs. Dana Brooke vs. Lacey Evans vs. Sonia Deville vs. Mandy Rose vs. Carmella
Lacey immediately bails after the bell rings, I guess she’s heel tonight. Dana thrown to the floor, Carmella wants a roll up on Mandy but her and Sonya take everyone down. Driving knee to Carmella takes her to the floor. Nikki comes in but gets double teamed. Nikki with forearms to fight back but body shots from Deville cuts her off. Whip to the ropes, Cross wants a crossbody on both but they catch her. Nikki counters sending Deville into the corner, but Mandy dumps her. Rather than fight each other they go out and double team Carmella. This is until Lacey spears them both! She then throws Nikki into the ring, takes a wipe with her napkin, but a baseball slide from Cross takes her down! The three heels make their way to their feet only to get wiped out from a crossbody off the barrier from Carmella! Commercial break.
We come back to see the double teaming continue from Fire and Desire, double hairwhip takes Carmella down. During the break a huge triple suplex went down. Carmella fights out of the corner, kick takes Deville into the corner, arm drag sends Mandy into her. Dropkick, Cross sneaks up to get a roll-up, kickout. Carmella with a suicide dive to Fire & Desire, only for Dana Brooke to throw her into the barricade. Cross with a tope wipes out all three! Evans throws her into the barricade now. Pulls Dana into the ring, springing dropkick, 2 count. Brooke reverses a whip into the corner, Lacey wants a headscissor but Dana turns it into a spinning Sit-Out Powerbomb! Dana off the top with a senton, looked nice, haven’t seen her do that before. Mandy and Carmella have to break up the pin. And now they’re trading punches, brief catfight just to get Corey excited. Jacknife from Mandy, countered into the Cone of Silence! Sonia breaks it up. Lacey with a Women’s Right to Dana, Carmella with a ton of superkicks, Mandy takes Carmella out, Nikki gets with a Spinning Neckbreaker and that gets the win.
Winner: Nikki Cross
Neat stuff, Nikki definitely needed a solid win if she was gonna be No. 1 Contender so, works for me.
Braun Strowman vs. Drew Gulak
Bell rings, but Gulak takes up a mic and asks Braun to allow him to properly introduce himself as it’s his first time on SmackDown. Drew says he’s a former Cruiserweight champion and also happens to be a combat sports historian. He warns him that if he goes into Crown Jewel doing his same old ‘monster among men ughhh’, Braun starts to corner him and the crowd chants “Get these hands”. Drew explains that if he does that, Tyson Fury will knock him out. And he doesn’t want that, he’s in the same boat as Braun, he’s a WWE superstar through and through. So he points him to a powerpoint presentation, a 345 slide tutorial on how Braun can defeat Fury.
Braun of course immediately attacks him, takes him to the outside, does his run around ringside to run right through him. Clubbering blow to Gulak’s chest. He says “Tyson, I hope you’re watching!” as he takes Gulak down with a Running Powerslam.
Winner: Braun Strowman
Cute segment. Shame Gulak couldn’t just move to NXT with other cruiserweights but oh well.
Daniel Bryan & Roman Reigns vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & King Corbin
Reigns and Baron start off, bunch of uppercuts puts Corbin into the corner for the corner punches. Baron pushes him away but catches another uppercut. Tag to Bryan, Roman holds him in the corner for running dropkicks. Yes Kicks commence, Baron escapes, tag to Nakamura. Trading strikes, kitchen sink knee flips Nakamura over. Commercial.
We come back to see Baron Deep Six Bryan for a nearfall. Corbin knocks Roman off the apron, tag to Shinsuke, Double Back Suplex but Bryan escapes to his feet, kicks Nakamura down, evades Baron leading him to post himself. Bryan flips off the corner to go over Nakamura, hits the ropes twice, big momentum going into the flying forearm. Bryan struggles for a tag, Roman wants it, but Corbin tears him down and tosses him into the steps! Shinsuke with a Dragon Screw Leg Whip, running knee, nearfall. Corbin gets Roman onto one set of steps and picks up another, Bryan stops him with a baseball slide. Nakamura tries a Kinsasha but Bryan counters into the LaBell Lock! Sami Zayn who I didn’t even see at ringside throws Corbin into the ring to break it up.
Corbin tries his ring-around-the-ringpost, but Roman clips him with a superman punch off the steps! Huge spear decimates like four chunks of the barricade! Bryan with Yes Kicks in the ring to Shinsuke! Setting up for it, Shinsuke cuts off a Buisaku Knee attempt with a running knee of his own. Shinsuke wants the Kinsasha, but Bryan ducks it, hits the ropes, Buisaku Knee! And that’s that.
Winner: Daniel Bryan & Roman Reigns
Good match! Might set up a Bryan IC title chase, still a lot untapped with Bryan and Shinsuke.
Easily the best SmackDown on Fox yet, not that it’s saying much, but definitely true. And we still end a few minutes early…
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