Posted on 10/04/125 by Bob Magee
– Over shots of the Cincinnati skyline, we were welcomed to
tonight’s SmackDown by Michael Cole before we headed to the
arena for our opening segment.
Cody Rhodes kicks off SmackDown
The entrance of the Undisputed WWE Champion, Cody Rhodes,
got things going for tonight’s show as he made his way to
the ring with some things to say on his mind ahead of his
tag match with Randy Orton against Bron Breakker and Bronson
Reed later tonight.
As Rhodes got into the ring, he started off with his usual
“what do you want to talk about?” icebreaker. Paul Heyman
interrupted him, accompanied by Breakker and Reed at his
side. “What would we like to talk about?” asked Heyman.
At the same time, Orton appeared at Rhodes’ side to even the
odds as Heyman introduced himself in his usual manner.
Heyman said that he and the Brons weren’t here to talk to
Rhodes, but rather to Orton. He said that Orton wasn’t
taking his calls all week, which meant that he had the Brons
corner Rhodes, which would bring out the Viper. According to
Heyman, that wasn’t a prediction, but a spoiler.
Heyman pointed out that no matter the strategy that Orton
and Rhodes would come up with, it wouldn’t be enough as
they’d lose to Breakker and Reed later tonight. Heyman asked
Orton what would happen if he and Rhodes lost tonight,
attempting to stir the pot. “That’s the Undisputed World
Champion, we could do so much more than that,” Heyman asked
Orton.
He said, that either way, no matter how we’d look at it, the
alliance between Orton and Rhodes would not last, because
that’s not a prediction, but rather a prophecy. The Seth
Rollins-less Vision made their exit as this segment ended.
Seems like a bit of foreshadowing for what could be a future
feud for Cody Rhodes, perhaps for down the line, just not
tonight, however. Still, an intriguing start to the show,
nonetheless.
**********
– As Carmelo Hayes walked in the locker room, the Miz
accosted him and chewed him out for letting him get beat
last week. Hayes responded by saying that this partnership
between him and Miz was done because Miz was simply standing
in his way when he was supposed to be watching his back.
Hayes said that he was being cool about this because
normally, he shoots first. He told Miz that “we good” before
walking off.
U.S. Title Open Challenge: Sami Zayn (c) vs. Aleister Black
Before the match, Carmelo Hayes addressed Zayn, saying that
this time it’d be different because nobody was here to cloud
to his vision or judgement. He said that he’s been the best
that he’d ever been. However, before Hayes could actually
make his way to the ring, The Miz attacked him with a Skull
Crushing Finale, which left him laying. WWE officials shooed
Miz away as they checked up on the downed Hayes.
Aleister Black appeared and said he’d take the open
challenge as this match got underway officially after that.
Zayn dropped Black with a series of arm drags before he
transitioned into an hammerlock following the last one.
Black escaped the hold and kicked Zayn in the face as he
took over with strikes in the corner. Black maintained
control with a boot to the face of Zayn, which left him
trapped against the ropes momentarily. Black took us into
the commercial break with a springboard moonsault on Zayn,
as the challenger still had the upper hand.
We returned from the break with Zayn having fought back and
battering Black with punch after punch in the corner,
followed by repeated stomps to his foe’s head. Zayn
leapfrogged above Black before he clotheslined him out of
the ring. He followed that up with a moonsault from the
apron that floored Black at ringside. Back in the ring, Zayn
caught Black with a nice Michinoku Driver for the close
kickout at two.
As Black recovered, he and Zayn got into a standing switch
standoff until the challenger blasted him with a kick to the
head and a German suplex. One, two… not quite. Zayn avoided
a spinning kick and attempted a Blue Thunder Bomb, but got
countered into a discus knee by Black instead. The
challenger headed to the top rope, but Zayn intercepted and
left him staggered long enough for a superplex that took
both men out as we got another break in the action here.
Our match continued as Zayn headed to the top and took a
leap, but he was skeetshotted with a kick by Black upon
landing. That, however, was still not enough for Black to
pick up the win and the U.S. Title. With both men on their
feet, they exchanged strikes until Black gained the upper
hand with strikes in the corner. In the midst of this, Zayn
attempted a Helluva Kick, but Black dodged and responded
with a top rope Meteora. One, two…. Zayn just managed to
kick out! As Zayn was at Black’s mercy, Damian Priest
appeared at ringside and created just enough of a
distraction for Zayn to catch Black with a Helluva Kick,
followed by the Blue Thunder Bomb. One, two, three. This
one’s done.
After Zayn left the ring, Priest cleared the commentary
table and hoisted the fallen Black above him. He then threw
Black through the commentary table with a Razor’s Edge.
Sami Zayn def. Aleister Black via pinfall to retain the
United States Championship
This was probably the weakest of Zayn’s U.S. Title Open
challenge matches, but it was still an entertaining bout
nonetheless. Zayn has proven himself a workhorse in the past
few weeks and this match was no exception to that.
**********
– As SmackDown GM Nick Aldis was talking to NXT talents
Zaria and Sol Ruca, he was interrupted by Chelsea Green and
Alba Fyre, who were looking to recruit the team into the
Secret Hervice. However, that turned sideways as the two
instead found themselves booked in a match against Zaria and
Ruca by Mr. Aldis.
Chelsea Green & Alba Fyre vs. Zaria & Sol Ruca
Zaria and Fyre opened the match for their respective teams
with a lockup. Zaria grabbed Fyre by her throat and threw
her into the corner and laid into her foe with a strike. As
Fyre escaped, Zaria took her to the opposite corner and held
her up with an elevated sleeper. The Australian followed
that up with a top rope clothesline. After Green tagged
herself in, Ruca entered the match and held her with an
interesting modified tarantula hold of sorts, followed by an
X-Factor for the near-fall.
The Secret Hervice showed some effective teamwork as they
took out Ruca with a double team dropkick that sent the
Women’s North American Champion to the outside. Zaria was
taken out of the equation with a dive from Fyre. With Ruca
isolated, Green and Fyre maintained control for a bit. Zaria
eventually recovered and threw Fyre into the barricade. Back
in the ring, Green fell victim to Ruca’s incredible Sol
Snatcher cutter for the victory.
Zaria & Sol Ruca def. Chelsea Green & Alba Fyre via pinfall
A rather short match here, but it’s nice to see some variety
in the SmackDown women’s roster in the form of some NXT
stars showing up, and their eventual Women’s Tag Title match
against Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair should be
entertaining.
**********
– Backstage, Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss were interviewed
about the victorious team of Ruca and Zaria. The Women’s Tag
Champions said that their potential challengers have proven
themselves, but that they need to be ready when it’s their
turn to challenge for Flair & Bliss’s titles. As the champs
left, Bliss humorously imitated Flair’s “woooo”.
– A recap of Roman Reigns’ return on Raw this past Monday
was shown. Reigns was also advertised to appear on next
week’s edition of Raw.
– Cody Rhodes talked with Randy Orton, who said that nobody
should care what Paul Heyman said earlier. The two exchanged
a fistbump, their alliance seemingly stronger than ever.
Stephanie Vaquer vs. Tiffany Stratton contract signing
SmackDown GM Nick Aldis was in the ring to moderate this
contract signing for Vaquer vs. Stratton for the Crown Jewel
Championship at next week’s Crown Jewel event in Perth.
Stratton was introduced first, followed by Vaquer.
Once both women in the ring, Vaquer took to the mic first.
She said that she respected Stratton, and that even though
she has only been Women’s World Champion for two weeks, she
said she’d prove herself to be the best. “Let the best woman
win,” said Vaquer.
Stratton answered that although she and Vaquer were the best
women right now in WWE, she’d be the one to beat Vaquer at
Crown Jewel. Stratton said that it didn’t matter if they
were in Cincinnati or Perth or anywhere else, it’d always be
Tiffy Time. Both women signed the contract amicably and
shook hands. The contract signing ended without incident.
However, as Stratton was walking out, she was ambushed from
behind by Giulia. Kiana James told Aldis not to notarize the
contract just yet. James then tried to recruit Vaquer for
her services, as she said Giulia outshined even Stratton as
the top star on SmackDown. As James continued to talk,
Stratton pulled James out and attacked her. Vaquer caught
Giulia napping and had her hoisted up for the SVB, but the
Women’s U.S. Champion managed to escape unscathed.
I low-key enjoyed this segment, if only for giving us
something different in terms of Giulia potentially running
back her rivalry against Women’s World Champion Vaquer. Even
if it’s a tag match with Vaquer and Stratton vs. Giulia and
James, it’s something I want to see to break up the monotony
that the SmackDown women’s divison has been mired in for the
last few months.
**********
– We got Earlier Today footage of Je’von Evans talking with
Mr. Aldis about his future potentially involving a move to
SmackDown. Rey Fenix appeared and got friendly with Evans,
as Los Garza talked trash to the two. This led to Mr. Aldis
scheduling a tag match with Fenix & Evans vs. Los Garza.
– A vignette from Jacob Fatu aired. He said that he was
tired of people lying and talking out of their ass. Fatu
declared that Drew McIntyre was going to the bottom, while
he was headed straight to the top at the expense of the
Scotsman.
Je’von Evans & Rey Fenix vs. Los Garza (Angel & Berto)
Evans caught Berto with a high-flying crossbody to start
things off. Berto responded with a knee to the face as he
then attacked Evans with punches to the face, followed by a
hard kick. In the corner, Evans attempted to fight out of
trouble, but got hit with a dropkick by Berto. The high-
flying Evans countered with a springboard hurricanrana on
Berto. Los Garza, however, caught the young gun with a
double team kick to the face, followed by a punch.
Fenix entered the match and took flight with a tornillo dive
that took Angel out. Berto then took out Fenix with a dive
of his own. This was then followed by Evans soaring with a
big time leap over the top rope that took everyone out as
the action headed to a break.
SmackDown returned with Angel punching away at Fenix in the
corner, until his foe escaped and caught him with a hard
kick to the face. On the other side of the ring, Evans
clotheslined Berto out of the ring. Things broke down a bit
as Los Garza coordinated with a unique double team move
where Berto kicked Evans while Angel held Fenix up. Despite
that move, it still wasn’t enough to end this match.
Fenix and Angel took each other out with a clothesline as
Evans got the hot tag. Evans hit Berto in with an elevated
Cheeky Nandos kick before he dove onto both Angel and the
cameraman at ringside. As Evans entered the ring, Berto
tried to catch him by surprise with a rope-assisted pin, but
the referee broke it up.
As Angel entered the ring, he fell victim to a rebound
springboard kick by Evans as Fenix re-entered the match.
Fenix lifted Berto up for the Mexican Muscle Buster, while
Evans intercepted Angel with an OG Cutter. Fenix pinned
Berto to pick up the victory for his team.
Rey Fenix & Je’von Evans def. Los Garza via pinfall
This was a great little match and if it was a tryout of
sorts for Evans to be a part of the SmackDown roster moving
forward, I’d say he passes, as his high-flying moveset is
perfect to pop crowds.
**********
– As Damian Priest was interviewed about how far his rivalry
with Aleister Black would go, Kit Wilson interrupted and
told him that he’d do everything he can to stand up against
what he saw as “toxic masculinity”. Priest answered by
pushing Wilson on his wheelchair far enough to send him
crashing into some pipes. Ultimately, Priest challenged
Black to a Last Man Standing match for next week’s
SmackDown.
– A vignette from Solo Sikoa and his M.F.T.s aired, focusing
on Talla Tonga.
– The Street Profits were interviewed about their WWE Tag
Title matches against the Wyatt Sicks on next week’s
SmackDown. Montez Ford said that they weren’t just fighting
for the Tag Titles, but they were fighting for each other.
The Wyatt Sicks interrupted on the screen behind the
Profits, and talked trash to their challengers.
Next Week on SmackDown
Tiffany Stratton & Stephanie Vaquer vs. Kiana James & Giulia
Last Man Standing: Damian Priest vs. Aleister Black
WWE Tag Team Championships: The Wyatt Sicks’ Dexter Lumis &
Joe Gacy vs. The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo
Dawkins)
Sami Zayn’s U.S. Title Open Challenge
Cody Rhodes & Randy Orton vs. The Vision (Bron Breakker &
Bronson Reed)
Our main event kicked off with Orton facing off against
Breakker in the middle of the ring. Orton quickly pushed
Breakker into the corner and opened up with an European
uppercut, followed by repeated punches to Breakker’s face.
Orton followed it up with a clothesline over the top rope as
we went to commercial not even a minute into this one.
SmackDown’s main event bout continued as Orton was in the
grip of Bronson Reed. During the break, Orton was dropped
across the announce table by Reed, which led us to this
point in the match. Back to live action, Reed ran shoulder-
first into the steel post after Orton dodged at the last
second. Rhodes entered the match with a tag, as he took out
Reed with a Disaster Kick. Both Reed and Breakker were taken
out to the ringside area and fell victim to a suicide dive
by the Undisputed WWE Champion.
Back in the ring, Breakker struck Rhodes from behind while
Reed had the referee distracted, as Reed seized the
opportunity to punish his foe with clubbing blows. Rhodes
turned it around with a dropdown uppercut, but found himself
on the receiving end of a World’s Strongest Slam by Reed.
Breakker tagged in and absolutely blasted Rhodes with a
charged clothesline and we once again headed to one last
commercial break in the midst of the action.
As we returned from the break, it was still The Vision in
the driver’s seat as the Brons kept Rhodes isolated in their
corner. Rhodes managed to kick Breakker away in the hopes of
getting a tag, but Reed stamped out those hopes. The
Undisputed WWE Champion avoided a Reed senton, which finally
allowed Orton to get the hot tag.
It was classic Orton at his best as he hit his signature
powerslam on both Breakker and Reed. However, the titanic
Australian responded with the Jagged Edge on Orton. Reed
tried to head to the top rope, but Orton recovered and met
him at the pass with a massive superplex. Breakker managed
to break up the pin at two. Rhodes and Breakker fought as
the hotshot flew from the apron and took out Rhodes with a
diving clothesline through the barricade.
In the ring, Orton had Reed scouted for the RKO, but Paul
Heyman created a distraction as Seth Rollins stepped in and
stomped Orton. This allowed Reed to pick up the victory with
a Tsunami.
After the match, Rollins told Breakker and Reed to back off
while Rhodes was in the ring to check up on Orton. Heyman
advised Rollins not to go in for the kill, but to no avail.
Rollins tried to go for a Stomp, but Rhodes avoided it and
instead caught Rollins with the Cross Rhodes to end
SmackDown.
The Vision (Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed) def. Randy Orton &
Cody Rhodes via pinfall
**********
Above average main event, but the Brons getting the victory
was the right call, perhaps to further tease the Orton &
Rhodes dissention mentioned at the top of the show.
Despite that, I quite enjoyed this week’s NXT-infused
edition of SmackDown. The matches were all good and as a
result, the two hours flew by quickly. As always, Sami
Zayn’s U.S. Title Open Challenge was the standout
(distraction finish aside), but the Evans/Fenix vs. Los
Garza tag match was solid action too. All in all, tonight
was entertaining.