Posted on 9/27/125 by Bob Magee
– Michael Cole welcomed us to tonight’s show as Booker T was
introduced as his partner on commentary for tonight. Cole
then tossed to a recap of what happened at last Saturday’s
Wrestlepalooza.
Paul Heyman opens SmackDown
After the Wrestlepalooza recap ended, we returned to the
arena with Paul Heyman in the ring. He did his usual “ladies
and gentlemen” introduction as he said he’d paraphrase a
pseudo-de facto secondary champion, “So, Orlando, what do
you want to talk about?” Heyman asked if we’d like to talk
about the World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins as the
fans chanted “O.T.C.” at him.
Heyman said he’d love to talk about to Roman Reigns, but
it’s disrespectful to speak of the injured after he got
stretchered out of Paris following Bronson Reed’s attack. He
then asked if we should talk about the man who will main
event WrestleMania into the 2030s and 2040s, Bron Breakker.
Heyman then turned his attention to the conspiracy theories
and rumors about Brock Lesnar. Before Heyman could go on
further, the theme of Cody Rhodes cut him off.
The Undisputed WWE Champion made his way down to the ring as
the Orlando crowd cheered him on. Once Rhodes got into the
ring, he took a mic and asked if we all got a chance to
watch the Wrestlepalooza recap. He said that he made a
mistake last week in calling Paul Heyman a “goon”. Rhodes
called Heyman the most smartest man that he knows as he said
that he’d go ahead and ask the question: tell him more about
Brock Lesnar. Rhodes then had a still from Wrestlepalooza of
Heyman introducing Lesnar before the match.
Rhodes said that the face on Heyman last Saturday, that it
wasn’t the face of a guy treating it as a one-night thing.
He asked Heyman if he was talking to the Oracle, to the
Wiseman, or the Advocate? Heyman responded by saying that
Rhodes was talking to the GOAT and that he respected him for
confronting him about Brock Lesnar. He said that when Lesnar
is around, everyone will be in danger. Heyman mentioned that
Lesnar is not here, but the bad news for Rhodes, he’s got
others here instead as Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed
appeared.
As Breakker and Reed faced down the Undisputed WWE Champion,
Rhodes tried to give the two advice as he asked “who is Paul
Heyman loyal to?” Rhodes said he didn’t know for sure, but
he said that it ain’t to the Brons. This then led to Rhodes
attempting to fight the Vision’s deadly duo, but the numbers
game got the better of him. Randy Orton made the save as he
took the fight to Breakker and Reed. Orton delivered an RKO
on Reed, while Rhodes clotheslined Breakker out of the ring.
An interesting open to this week’s show, and again, I’m left
cold at the idea of seeing another Brock Lesnar match, as
they teased a potential title match with him against Cody
Rhodes. As for the now, it seems we’ll likely get Rhodes and
Randy Orton fighting The Vision soon.
**********
WWE Tag Team Title No. 1 Contenders Match: The Street
Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) vs. Melo Don’t Miz
(Carmelo Hayes & The Miz)
The match got underway with Ford and Miz as the legal men.
As Ford tried to get at Hayes on the apron, Miz attempted to
get an early rollup pin, to no avail. Hayes tagged in and
tried to keep things going for his team, but he ate a high
knee to the face from Ford. Dawkins entered the match as Miz
tried to get involved. Miz got thrown onto a downed Hayes
for his troubles. At ringside, Dawkins tried for a running
attack, but was met by a dropkick by Hayes, as the action
went to a break.
We returned to the action as Miz drilled Ford with a
kneeling DDT for the near-fall. The cohesive unit of Hayes
and Miz continued to work over Ford as they grounded him
with an assisted double-team clothesline in their corner.
With Ford struggling to get himself back up, Miz taunted
Dawkins in the corner, but paid for it with a kick to the
face from Ford.
Hayes got the tag as he delivered a cheap shot to Dawkins on
the Street Profits corner. Meanwhile, Ford attempted to
fight his way out of enemy territory and managed to do so
after sending Miz out of the ring. Ford tried to tag
Dawkins, but Miz pulled Dawkins from the outside. This
allowed Hayes to hit Ford with the First 48. Hayes headed up
top and looked for Nothin’ But Net, but Miz once again
selfishly tagged himself in. This gave Ford the opening to
get the tag on Hayes.
The Street Profits took command as Dawkins rocked Miz with
his corkscrew elbow followed by a spinning neckbreaker. With
Ford as the legal man, he took to the skies with his From
the Heavens frog splash. As Ford pinned Miz, Hayes didn’t
seem to be in a hurry to break up the pin as the Street
Profits became No. 1 contenders for The Wyatt Sicks’ WWE Tag
Titles.
After the match, The Wyatt Sicks appeared in front of the
commentary table and simply stared down the victorious duo
of Ford and Dawkins.
The Street Profits def. Melo Don’t Miz via pinfall
That was a decent match to start off the in-ring action
tonight, and it seems we’re getting forward movement with
the Miz/Hayes breakup if that finish is any indication, so
it’s a win all around.
**********
– As Jade Cargill was interviewed ahead of her triple threat
match for the WWE Women’s Championship, the Women’s World
Heavyweight Champion, Stephanie Vaquer confronted her.
Cargill said that storm would be coming Vaquer’s way at
Crown Jewel. Vaquer responded by saying that she’d be ready.
Giulia & Kiana James vs. Michin & B-Fab
B-Fab opened the match by blasting James with some strikes,
before she got taken down by a clothesline from the business
associate of Giulia. B-Fab responded with a dropkick to
James as she tagged Michin in. James managed to get the drop
on Michin, which allowed Giulia to be tagged in. The Women’s
U.S. Champion struck Michin with a kick, but was met with a
hurricanrana by her hated rival. The tag was made to B-Fab,
who kept Giulia grounded with a double team move.
Outside the ring, Giulia rolled out for the retreat and
things broke down with the Women’s U.S. Champion getting
waylaid by a dropkick from the commentary table by Michin,
which took us into the commercial break halfway through this
one.
SmackDown returned with B-Fab in trouble as James and Giulia
teed off with a big boot, followed by a missile dropkick.
James re-entered the match and maintained the upper hand on
B-Fab with a punch. A missed elbow dropped allowed B-Fab to
create some separation as she desperately tried to go for a
tag to Michin. One final side kick from B-Fab finally got
the hot tag from Michin.
Michin dropped James with a DDT, using Giulia as a base. As
things broke down, Michin hit James with Eat Defeat, but
that sent her to Giulia’s corner, which allowed the Women’s
U.S. Champion to make the tag. Giulia flattened Michin with
the Arrivederci Knee, followed by a Northern Lights Bomb
with some added sauce for the pin and win.
Giulia & Kiana James def. Michin & B-Fab via pinfall
A fine enough tag match, but I’m kind of tired of the very
limited Women’s U.S. Title picture where it seems like it’s
just Michin as a frequent challenger to whoever is the
champion. I think this is where some NXT call ups to bolster
SmackDown’s women’s roster would do the most good. Giulia
certainly deserves better than fighting the same two people
every so often.
**********
– Backstage, Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair were confronted
by Zaria and Sol Ruca, who wanted to call their shot for the
WWE Women’s Tag Titles. Bliss told the two that they needed
to prove themselves as she told Zaria and Ruca to get in
line. After the NXT duo left, Flair expressed joy in seeing
Bliss telling off Zaria and Ruca the way she did.
– A preview for Crown Jewel was shown highlight the matches
we’d be seeing, including Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins for
the Men’s Crown Jewel Champion, plus John Cena vs. AJ
Styles.
Drew McIntyre on his Wrestlepalooza defeat
McIntyre appeared with a walking boot following his loss at
Wrestlepalooza.
McIntyre said that Orlando held a special place in him, as
he talked about making his WWE return here, winning his 2nd
WWE Championship in front of a bunch of screen. He then
talked about how he should’ve been here as the new WWE
Champion as he proceeded to got mad about the referee
getting in the way at Wrestlepalooza. McIntyre claimed that
the referee was being paid off by Cody Rhodes as Nick Aldis
soon interrupted him.
Aldis said that McIntyre was making too many excuses, and
that to acknowledge that people won some and lose some. As
McIntyre continued to complain about the WWE medical team
being supposedly on the Cody Rhodes payroll, Aldis said that
he was done and left the surly Scotsman to his own devices.
Before McIntyre could continue on, the returning Jacob Fatu
interrupted him unexpectedly. Fatu marched his way down to
the ring and confronted McIntyre face to face.
Fatu snatched the microphone from McIntyre and told him to
“shut his ass up” and to “stop bitching”. He said that
McIntyre came out every week to cry, complain and blame
everyone else for his wrong doing. Fatu told him to sit his
peg-leg ass down. McIntyre had his turn yelled at him for
trying to put him out. As Fatu was doing his usual “all gas
and no brakes” spiel, McIntyre surprised him with a
headbutt. Fatu answered with a superkick to the face of
McIntyre before he ripped the walking boot off of the
Scotsman’s foot. Fatu then kayoed McIntyre with the boot as
he left him laying.
This Fatu/McIntyre feud has the potential to be very
interesting, so this has my full, undivided attention for
when this match goes down.
**********
– While Tiffany Stratton was getting ready for the main
event triple threat match, Stephanie Vaquer sized up her
potential Crown Jewel challenger, like she did with Jade
Cargill earlier.
– Sami Zayn was chatting with Fenix as he prepared for his
U.S. Title Open Challenge match up next. He said he didn’t
know who he’d be facing, as it could be anyone from Raw or
SmackDown, or even NXT, as they’re in Orlando. Shinsuke
Nakamura was briefly seen in the background watching Zayn in
the shadows.
– We got another vignette for Solo Sikoa’s M.F.T. that
focused on J.C. Mateo. Sikoa said that Mateo was loyal to
him and that he’d be rewarded as long as he was part of the
Family Tree.
U.S. Title Open Challenge: Sami Zayn (c) vs. Je’von Evans
Zayn’s challenger in the Open Challenge was revealed to be
Je’von Evans from NXT. Evans’ opponent at NXT No Mercy
tomorrow, Josh Briggs, was seen in the crowd watching.
The two combatants locked up to start as Evans dodged Zayn
acrobatically before he got thrown around by arm drags from
the U.S. Champion. In the corner, Zayn lifted Evans back up
as the chain wrestling battle continued between the two. In
the corner, Evans delivered a chop to the chest of Zayn and
backed off. In response, Zayn got in some chops of his own
on Evans. The NXT young gun answered with a high-flying
springboard clothesline, folowed by a leaping rana off the
top rope. Evans sent Zayn to the outside and looked like he
was about to take flight. Zayn put a stop to that with a
hard lariat that took us into the commercial break.
We returned with Zayn literally having Evans on the ropes
with a chop. The challenger fought out and threw Zayn
outside of the ring before he finally connected with a
soaring dive over the top rope on the U.S. Champion. In the
ring, Evans countered a Blue Thunder Bomb attempt and
answered with a springboard enzuigiri that took Zayn out. On
the top rope, Zayn and Evans had a skirmish, with the former
winning out by sending the latter.
Zayn tried to go for a diving move off the top, but Evans
ran up and delivered an avalanche hurricanrana that nearly
won him the U.S. Title. In the corner, Evans tried to run at
Zayn, but got caught with the Exploder Suplex. A Helluva
Kick attempt was intercepted by a dropkick on the button by
Evans. Another attempt at the Helluva Kick was once again
countered by Evans, who dodged at the last second. This left
Zayn stunned as Evans connected with the OG Cutter. One,
two… NO!
Evans headed to apron for a springboard, but miscalculated,
as he ended up in the corner as a result following a
rollthrough. Zayn made him pay with a Helluva Kick, followed
by the Blue Thunder Bomb for the one, two, three.
After the match, Zayn congratulated Evans on his effort and
got the fans to cheer for the NXT upstart.
Sami Zayn def. Je’von Evans to retain the United States
Championship
For the fourth week running, Sami Zayn’s U.S. Title Open
Challenge is the highlight of the show. The matches have
been fantastic since Zayn began the Open Challenge, and this
week was no exception. Je’von Evans is my favorite of NXT’s
prospects, and he had a great showing here in this one.
Certainly match of the night, for sure.
**********
– Nia Jax was walking backstage on her way for our main
event when Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre attempted to recruit
her into the Secret Hervice to fill in for the injured Piper
Niven. Jax emphatically rejected the offer by ripping up the
flyer that Green gave her. She was then confronted by
Stephanie Vaquer, who made it clear that whoever one between
Jax, Tiffany Stratton, or Jade Cargill, she’d be ready for
them at Crown Jewel.
– Damian Priest was accosted by Kit Wilson, who called him
the “personification of toxic masculinity”. Wilson got a bit
too pushy in calling Priest toxic, but ended up running into
oxygen tanks. Priest turned around and got a Black Mass kick
from Aleister Black. With Priest yet again left down and
out, Black mockingly wished him a happy birthday before he
left.
WWE Women’s Championship Triple Threat Match: Tiffany
Stratton (c) vs. Nia Jax vs. Jade Cargill
The match started off right away as Jax threw Stratton right
into Cargill. She then slammed Stratton onto a fallen
Cargill. The WWE Women’s Champion struck back with a double
dropkick on Cargill and Jax as we took an oddly-placed
commercial break just a minute into this main event bout.
We returned to SmackDown’s main event as Stratton flew into
Jax with a suicide dive that she did not get all of. Jax
recovered and pushed Cargill into the steel steps before she
reentered the ring and took aim at Stratton in the corner
with running charges. Cargill intercepted Jax with a shove
as she then hit a modified pumphandle facebuster on
Stratton. Cargill’s pin attempt was broken up by Jax. With
Jax in the top rope, Stratton shoved Cargill and attempted a
rollup pin. Cargill turned that into a submission hold as
Stratton escaped the hold. Stratton tried for the pin, but
got out of the way as Jax took off with a legdrop that ended
up hitting Cargill instead.
Stratton headed to the top rope and hit a Swanton Bomb on
Jax, but got put down with a superkick by Cargill which
ended up actually making her fall onto the out-of-it Jax for
the pin attempt. As Jax kicked out, we took one more
commercial break as the action continued in picture-in-
picture on the USA Network feed.
The main event returned from the break as Cargill and
Stratton unexpectedly teamed up to deliver a double
superplex onto Jax. With Jax still recovering, Stratton took
Cargill down with the rolling senton as she then connected
with the Prettiest Moonsault Ever on the still-knocked out
Jax. Cargill easily broke up the pin after avoiding
Stratton’s moonsault. In the middle of the ring, Stratton
countered Cargill’s powerbomb into a hurricanrana. As
Stratton ran towards Cargill in the corner, she was caught
and promptly dropped into a modified Jaded. One, two… Nia
Jax saved the match by pulling the referee out at the last
possible second.
Outside the ring, Cargill cleared the commentary table, but
got thrown into the steel steps by Jax. The top half of the
steps was cleared as Jax attempted some sort of elevated
suplex from the steps. Cargill countered that into a samoan
drop onto the base of the steel steps. Cargill was shown to
have suffered a cut to her upper eyebrow in the midst of
this.
In the ring, Jax got dropped by an Eye of the Storm from
Cargill. Stratton broke up the count and tried a pin, which
led to a “phantom kickout” from Jax and some
miscommunication, as it appeared to be a botched pin. The
true finish came when Stratton ended things with a Prettiest
Moonsault Ever on Jax, as she retained her WWE Women’s
Championship in the SmackDown main event.
After the match, Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer
made her way down to the ring to get a better look at her
opponent at Crown Jewel in two weeks. We ended the night on
the two raising their respective titles and jawjacking at
one another.
Tiffany Stratton def. Nia Jax & Jade Cargill to retain the
WWE Women’s Championship
**********
That was a fine main event that seemed to pick up steam a
bit as the match neared its conclusion, though the botched
finish with the phantom kickout did kind of put a damper on
things.
That being said, I liked this week’s SmackDown a lot more
than previous weeks, and after a rather mediocre
Wrestlepalooza show, that is a miracle in of itself. The in-
ring action was mostly great, especially the continuing
success of Sami Zayn’s U.S. Title Open Challenge and we got
some set ups of interesting matchups to come in the near
future. All in all, a better edition of WWE’s Friday night
show than what we’ve seen recently.