Posted on 11/08/125 by Bob Magee
– Our show kicked off with a recap of last week’s Saturday
Night’s Main Event, specifically as it pertained to Cody
Rhodes retaining his Undisputed WWE Championship over Drew
McIntyre. This segued right into our opening segment with
the aforementioned Rhodes.
Cody Rhodes kicks off SmackDown
The champion arrived in his usual grand manner, pyrotechnics
and all, to the cheers of the crowd in Greenville. As Rhodes
entered the ring and took a microphone, he opened by asking
what the crowd wanted to talk about. He said that we could
talk about what happened at SNME last week, stating that
Drew McIntyre was the one who introduced the Undisputed WWE
Title as a weapon during the match. Rhodes responded that
his reluctance to pull the trigger has cost him time to
time, something that McIntyre obviously had no issue with.
That said, Rhodes called McIntyre the most “self-sabotaging
athlete” in this business, which meant that the Scotsman was
now fully well behind him.
Rhodes said that he wanted to do something different
tonight, with that something different being sitting in the
crowd with the fans to decide who’d be next for the
Undisputed WWE Championship. That’s when the music of
Aleister Black interrupted. Black arrived to the ring with
Zelina (nee Vega) and had something to say.
Black talked about how he set Damian Priest on fire as he
confronted Rhodes in the ring, showing the issue being the
“size” of the Undisputed WWE Title. As Rhodes tried to step
up to Black, Zelina slapped him in the face. This brought
out Nick Aldis to make it official for tonight: Cody Rhodes
vs. Aleister Black as the main event on SmackDown.
This is something thankfully different to kick off
SmackDown, and a Black vs. Cody main event is something that
is a bit fresh, so I’m at least interested to see where this
goes.
**********
– Michael Cole and Corey Graves teed up the rest of
tonight’s show as we saw Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, as
well as new WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill arriving to
the arena. We then cut to U.S. Champion Ilja Dragunov making
his entrance, but not before he was confronted by Tama Tonga
of the M.F.T.s.
U.S. Title Open Challenge: Ilja Dragunov (c) vs. Johnny
Gargano
As Dragunov’s challenger stepped out, Tommasso Ciampa walked
out and was indignant about being rejected last week and
being called a “jackass” by the U.S. Championship last week.
He demanded that the bell be rung on this match. Once Ciampa
entered the ring, Dragunov said that he accepted the
challenge… but from Johnny Gargano.
The match kicked off as Ciampa provided a bit of a
distraction to Dragunov, which allowed Gargano to strike
early against the champion. Gargano attempted a superkick,
but Dragunov caught it and hit a set of German suplexes
consecutively. Dragunov then battered the back of Gargano’s
neck with elbow strikes before he delivered a suplex as we
headed to a break in the action here.
Our match returned from commercial as Dragunov blasted
Gargano with an uppercut to the face. The challenger matched
the effort with an uppercut of his own, but the Constantine
Special by Dragunov connected right on the button. With
Gargano stunned in the corner, he was open for a big boot
from Dragunov, followed by a diving knee for the near-fall.
Gargano used the ropes to get himself back to his feet as he
stopped Dragunov’s dive from the top with a kick to the gut.
Another kick by Gargano was then immediately followed by a
Poison Rana for a near-fall for the challenger. Gargano
lifted Dragunov up to the top rope, but the U.S. Champion
lit his chest up with chops, followed by an elevated
headbutt. Dragunov leapt off the top rope with a senton, but
that wasn’t enough to put Gargano away.
With Gargano dazed in the middle of the ring, Dragunov
attempted the H-Bomb, but was countered with a boot to the
face. Gargano, however, couldn’t escape Dragunov’s standing
uranage. Another attempt at a Constantine Special was
thwarted by Candice LeRae at ringside as the referee was
distracted. This opened Dragunov up for a tornado DDT to the
outside by Gargano, followed by One Final Beat. Dragunov
somehow kicked out of that at two.
Gargano tried for a dive from the apron, but was stopped by
a kick from Dragunov. The U.S. Champion lifted him up from
the middle rope for a superplex, as one final H-Bomb put an
end to this 19th U.S. Title defense in Dragunov’s favour.
Ilja Dragunov def. Johnny Gargano via pinfall to retain the
United States Championship
Another fantastic U.S. Title match that felt somewhat short,
especially compared to other Open Challenge matches we’ve
had before. That said, Dragunov continues to be a highlight
of these shows since his return and he certainly brought out
the best in Gargano, who got a chance to dig into some of
that NXT magic for this one.
**********
– As Nick Aldis was discussing something with a referee,
Sami Zayn once again tried to ask to have Rey Fenix’s back
against Talla Tonga later tonight. Aldis rejected Zayn’s
request, as he was not medically cleared. Zayn warned that
he wasn’t able to watch for longer as the M.F.T.s ran
roughshod over everyone. Once Zayn left, R-Truth appeared
and asked Aldis if he could be in the tournament for John
Cena’s final opponent. In Truth’s words, he said he was
putting “his balls” in Aldis’ hands. After the SmackDown GM
told Truth he was already in the Cena tournament, Truth said
that he didn’t want his balls in Aldis’ hands anyway.
– We got a recap of Jade Cargill’s Saturday Night’s Main
Event victory over Tiffany Stratton, which made her the new
WWE Women’s Champion.
– Backstage, a defeated Johnny Gargano talked about his loss
to Tommasso Ciampa. The Fraxiom duo of Nathan Frazer & Axiom
showed up to rub a little salt in the wounds, particularly
towards Ciampa for being rejected two weeks in a row by
Dragunov.
Jade Cargill celebrates her WWE Women’s Title win
Once Cargill got into the ring, she made it short and sweet.
What happened to Tiffany Stratton would happen to anyone
else in the SmackDown’s women’s locker room. That’s because
Cargill was “that bitch”.
As Cargill left and made her way to the ramp, she was
interrupted by Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, who were
entering for our next match. Cargill took time to taunt
Flair briefly, which got enough of Flair’s attention that
she tried to confront Cargill. Bliss got her tag partner to
focus herself on her upcoming match against Nia Jax before
anything physical could happen, however.
Pretty much just a short promo from Cargill that didn’t
really need to go on for long, which does neatly help get
around any sort of perceived limitations promo-wise from
Cargill.
**********
– Backstage, Chelsea Green was getting herself hyped up for
her Women’s U.S. Championship match against Giulia later
tonight. That’s when Michin & B-Fab showed up to talk trash
to her. As Green was boasting about being the greatest
women’s champion on SmackDown, Jade Cargill appeared behind
her. Green backed off and took her leave. B-Fab had a
confrontation with the new WWE Women’s Champion afterwards,
which led to a match between the two to be set for next
week.
Nia Jax vs. Charlotte Flair (w/ Alexa Bliss)
The match got underway as Flair and Jax locked up in the
middle of the ring. Jax used her strength to push Flair
aside, as she then weathered a shoulder tackle from her foe.
Jax facewashed Flair with a hand, but got taken down with a
Lou Thesz Press. Jax shrugged that off and pushed Flair into
the corner. Flair answered with a dropkick, followed by a
headscissors takedown as she played to the crowd afterwards.
Holiday joy that lasts forever
Now’s the time to show them just how much they mean to you.
Save up to 50% on the perfect ring or band.
Sponsored By Helzberg Diamonds
Learn more
Back in the corner, Flair chopped at Jax, but got thrown
into the corner, which led to her getting crushed and an ad
break halfway through this one.
We returned from commercial as Flair attempted to fight back
with a boot from the apron. She then went up to for the
diving crossbody that landed on Jax. Flair fired away with
chops to the chest of Jax, then the running clothesline to
ground her gargantuan foe. Flair headed to the top rope and
connected with the moonsault. One, two… no! Flair attempted
to lock in the Figure-Eight, but Jax responded with a
sitdown powerbomb that wasn’t enough to put this one away.
Jax dragged Flair near the corner as she looked for the
Annihilator. Flair escaped, but found herself on Jax’s
shoulders for a move of some kind. That, however, was
countered as Jax fell victim to a diving elbow from the
apron. Jax’s attempt at a Samoan Drop was countered into a
Tornado DDT for the near-fall. Outside the ring, Lash Legend
attacked Alexa Bliss and put her in a sleeper hold. This
caused enough of a distraction as Jax won this with the
Annhilator.
Post-match, it was clear that Legend was now aligned with
Jax.
Nia Jax def. Charlotte Flair via pinfall
The match was not my cup of tea, but the partnership between
Lash Legend & Nia Jax is at least somewhat interesting to
partially freshen up SmackDown’s women’s division. Hopefully
something’s cooking on that front.
**********
– A video package for the tournament to decide John Cena’s
final opponent at the December 13th Saturday Night’s Main
Event aired, narrated by the man himself. Afterwards, a
video from Nick Aldis revealed the two matches that have
been drawn so far: The Miz vs. Jey Uso and LA Knight vs. a
surprise opponent.
– Backstage, Nia Jax and Lash Legend were interviewed about
their new partnership. Jax called Lash her friend, something
that she knew from their encounters on NXT. Lash said that
this was only the beginning.
Women’s United States Championship: Giulia (c) (w/ Kiana
James) vs. Chelsea Green (w/ Alba Fyre)
Green’s AAA Mixed Tag Team Champion partner, Ethan Page, was
in the crowd and congratulated her as she made her way to
the ringside area.
Green started off with a hard slap to Giulia’s face. She got
a headbutt for her troubles, followed by a vertical suplex.
Giulia caught Green with a knee to the face, but that wasn’t
enough for the victory. Green got Biel thrown into the
corner by Giulia, as she then found herself trapped across
the ropes, and a knee to the face.
Kiana James got involved with a slap to the face to the
stunned Green, which got her a superkick to the face by Alba
Fyre. In the midst of this chaos, Green snuck in a roll-up
pin with feet on the ropes to pick up the win and the
Women’s U.S. Championship.
Chelsea Green def. Giulia via pinfall to win the Women’s
United States Championship
This was not good, sorry to say. While I’m glad Chelsea got
the win, and the result was certainly shocking, this
certainly needed a bit more time to cook, and I’m not sure
if people will be up for Giulia losing her title in only her
third defense in the manner that she did here. It does
highlight that there are underlying problems with how weak
SmackDown’s women’s division is even with the new champions
we’ve got, something that needs to be fixed.
**********
– The M.F.T.s plotted backstage ahead of Talla Tonga’s match
with Rey Fenix. Solo Sikoa wanted to see Talla crush Fenix
in their match. As the M.F.T.s left, we saw the Wyatt Sicks
emerge from the shadows, as they kept a watchful eye on
Sikoa’s group.
– As Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss were recovering from
their tough night, Asuka — disguised as a doctor — spat her
blue mist in both their faces before she and Kairi Sane made
their escape.
Talla Tonga (w/ The M.F.T.s) vs. Rey Fenix
The Motor City Machine Guns & Shinsuke Nakamura snuck up
behind the M.F.T.s and attacked them, which evened the odds
for Fenix.
Once the match started, Fenix hit a feint between the ropes
as he went after Talla’s legs with kicks to the back of his
legs. Talla fought back by throwing Fenix down with a
standing flapjack. With Fenix on the apron, Talla kicked him
down, which sent Fenix crashing into the apron. Outside the
ring, Talla threw Fenix into the barricade as we got a break
in the action.
We returned from commercial as Fenix’s attempt at a
springboard was met by Talla easily pushing him aside, to
the amusement of Solo Sikoa at ringside. Talla clotheslined
Fenix and began to pummel him in the corner with hard elbow
strikes. Fenix created some separatation by avoiding a
running attack from Talla, which allowed him to hit a feint
kick to the big man’s face.
Fenix’s attempt at a sunset flip was stopped by Talla, who
nailed his foe with a huge uppercut. As Fenix recovered on
the apron, he avoided the big boot from Talla. He hit the
Goodbye, Amigo kick on a stunned Tallaw as he then took off
from the top rope with a crossbody for the near-fall. Fenix
blasted Talla with a superkick to his kneeling foe. He tried
to go for a dive, but Talla caught him for a chokeslam for
the victory.
After the match, Sikoa tried to get Talla to chokeslam Fenix
again, but Sami Zayn ran down with a chair in hand. Sikoa
and Talla backed off.
Talla Tonga def. Rey Fenix
I honestly did not enjoy this match, but that might be
largely due to me not really vibing this whole rebooted
M.F.T.s. storyline, but I did somewhat appreciate the David
vs. Goliath story that was attempted here. Other than that,
not really much to write home about.
Next Week on SmackDown
Jade Cargill vs. B-Fab
Last Time is Now Tournament Rd. 1: The Miz vs. Jey Uso
Last Time is Now Tournament Rd. 1: LA Knight vs. ???
– The Miz was interviewed about his match with Jey Uso last
week, as well as what he did to Carmelo Hayes last week. In
Miz’s eyes, that was a reminder of what he was capable of.
He said that he made Hayes relevant and that once he beats
Jey Uso next week, he will be the one to end John Cena’s
career.
Cody Rhodes vs. Aleister Black (w/ Zelina)
The two sized one another up and got into a chain wrestling
battle to start off, with neither Black nor Rhodes having
the upper hand early on. Shortly after, Rhodes lifted Black
up for a standing suplex throw. He attempted his signature
dropdown uppercut, but Black caught him with an armbar.
Rhodes went for the Disaster Kick, but was met by a kick
from Black instead, which took us to the final break of the
evening.
SmackDown’s main event returned as Rhodes avoided a kick
from Black and attempted the roll-up pin. Black responded
with a boot to the face and another quick cover. In the
corner, Black attacked Rhodes with chops and a kick to the
chest, as he then hit him with the knee in the gut. Rhodes
fought back with a running clothesline, followed by a
successful Disaster Kick and the near-fall. Rhodes sized up
Black for the Cross Rhodes, but Black countered and hit a
fierce kick to the face for the two-count.
Black attempted a back suplex, but had that countered by
Rhodes, who answered right back with the Cody Cutter for yet
another near-fall. As Black got himself up, Rhodes tried for
the Dusty-style strikes, but was met with a knee and a
jackknife suplex from his foe. Black went for the Black
Mass, but tried for the Cross Rhodes. That attempt was
reversed as the two traded kicks that took each other out.
Just as Black and Rhodes were recovering, Drew McIntyre
appeared and hit the referee with a Claymore Kick.
Things descended into chaos as Black and McIntyre tried
attack Rhodes with a two-on-one assault. Damian Priest ran
down as a brawl broke out between everyone. Nick Aldis
appeared after all this and announced that McIntyre was
suspended indefinitely. The Levesque & Fitting producer
credits appeared as McIntyre shouted repeatedly at Aldis
that, quote, “his back was against the wall”.
Cody Rhodes vs. Aleister Black went to a No Contest
**********
It was an alright main event, and I suspect McIntyre’s
“suspension” is to cover for him filming the Highlander
reboot. That said, it does leave a hole in SmackDown’s world
title scene, especially as it relates to who could Cody
Rhodes face next while McIntyre is off TV.
The show itself, however, was not something I enjoyed
watching. If 2025 has shown us anything, it’s just how much
the bloom is off the rose with regards to Triple H’s booking
post-Vince. SmackDown as a weekly show is a prime example of
that. I enjoy the U.S. Title Open Challenges, yes, but
everything else is either just there or not at all
entertaining, sorry to say.