Posted on 11/22/125 by Bob Magee
– Over a live shot of the University of Colorado stadium and
the school’s football mascot posing, we’re welcomed to the
show by the voice of Michael Cole. We then see the requisite
shots of Penta, Finn Balor, as well as Alexa Bliss &
Charlotte Flair arriving. This then segued into a recap of
the goings-on in the men’s WarGames and the new additions to
the match happening next week.
The Vision open SmackDown
After the recap, we saw the three members of The Vision’s
WarGames team: Logan Paul, Bronson Reed, and Bron Breakker.
They were accompanied by Paul Heyman, who started with his
usual opening spiel. He then said that at WarGames, five of
the crowd’s heroes would be locked inside a double cage
where Breakker would “take a bite out of every one of their
asses”. They’d be also locked in a double cage where they’d
be Tsunami’d over and over again by the “Original Tribal
Thief”, Bronson Reed. These five superstars would learn that
you’d need an evil and violent strategy to win WarGames,
which led to Heyman giving the mic to Logan Paul.
Before Paul could get far, he was interrupted by The Usos,
Jimmy and Jey. With a mic in hand, Jey said that nobody
wanted to hear what Paul wanted to say. Heyman interjected
by saying that Jey pissed off Logan, as well as stating that
he created The Bloodline was to make sure that nobody would
have to live on the streets. Heyman also pointed out that
the one thing he taught them in The Bloodline was the
numbers game as he counted the Vision members in the ring.
Jimmy noted that they weren’t showing up to this fight
alone, as the sounds of Cody Rhodes’ theme heralded the
seeming arrival of the Undisputed WWE Champion. However, he
never showed up as the Titantron cut to Drew McIntyre
emerging from Rhodes’ bus, leaving behind the champion
beaten down. The Usos ran down to check on him.
An okay start to the show, with the McIntyre bus attack on
Rhodes, but I’m thinking that this feud is getting a bit
stale seeing as while McIntyre gets the upper hand in the
attacks, he just ends up losing when it matters, which
doesn’t help his standing at all. It kinda feels like
they’re going through the motions.
**********
U.S. Title Open Challenge: Ilja Dragunov (c) vs. J.D.
McDonagh
Dragunov and McDonagh locked up to kick off the match as
their standoff reached the corner. After McDonagh chopped at
Dragunov, he was met with a hard boot to the face by the
U.S. Champion. Dragunov knocked McDonagh loopy with an
enzuigiri to the head but couldn’t connect with a suplex as
he was chopped in the chest against the ropes. McDonagh
gained the upper hand by throwing the champion hard into the
middle rope, which sent him outside as we took a break at
this early juncture of the match.
Live action resumed as McDonagh pummeled away at Dragunov
with hard strikes to the face, as well as the Kawada-styled
kicks. Dragunov answered with chops to McDanagh, followed by
the Constantine Special, as both men struggled to get
themselves back up. Once McDonagh and Dragunov got back up,
they traded strikes until the U.S. Champion connected with a
set of German suplexes that kept McDonagh down and out.
Dragunov smashed the back of McDonagh’s head with repeated
elbow strikes as he then nailed a nice suplex.
As Dragunov tried for another Constantine Special, McDonagh
turned that into a standing Spanish Fly for the near-fall.
McDonagh escaped a suplex as he then sent himself and
Dragunov out of the ring with a nasty-looking suplex as the
match headed into its second commercial break.
The match continued from the break as Dragunov nailed a
superplex on McDonagh. Upon impact, McDonagh grabbed at
Dragunov’s hair and countered into a brainbuster for an
incredibly close near-fall. McDonagh headed to the top rope
and missed on a moonsault, which opened him up to a big boot
from Dragunov, followed by the standing uranage. Dragunov’s
attempt at Torpedo Moscow was intercepted by a running knee
from the Irishman, and the challenger took advantage with an
incredible moonsault. One, two…. NO!
As both men got themselves up, Dragunov connected with the
Torpedo Moscow after absorbing a headbutt from McDonagh. One
powerbomb and H-Bomb later, and Dragunov picked up the
victory in this hard-fought battle.
Ilja Dragunov def. J.D. McDonagh via pinfall to retain the
United States Championship
These U.S. Title Open Challenge matches have remained the
highlight of SmackDown for consecutive weeks now and this
one was no exception. McDonagh and Dragunov battered the
heck out of each other and we got a fantastic match out of
it. Incredible way to kick things off in terms of in-ring
action.
**********
– After a recap of Charlotte Flair deciding to join the
WarGames skirmish on Raw, we saw Flair and Alexa Bliss
walking to an unmarked door. The door opened to reveal Rhea
Ripley and IYO SKY inside as Bliss left Flair to have a chat
with Ripley to work out whatever issues they may have. SKY
left soon after as Ripley and Flair stared down one another,
presumably getting ready to have that chat.
– Nick Aldis wasn’t able to give an update on Cody Rhodes
after what happened as he confronted The Vision about it.
Mr. Aldis told Paul Heyman that Drew McIntyre was still
persona non grata even after being named to The Vision’s
WarGames team. Heyman said that he’d respect Aldis’s request
as McIntyre was apparently not at the building after what
happened earlier.
– We got more clips of the University of Colorado’s football
team as it was mentioned that Bill Goldberg’s son, Gage
Goldberg, was a player for the Buffaloes.
– Backstage, Ilja Dragunov was walking, licking his wounds
after his U.S. Title match as Tama Tonga silently stared him
down before walking off. Tommasso Ciampa then confronted
Dragunov and told the champion that he was lucky that he and
Johnny Gargano were busy with Fraxiom, because he’d be
holding the title instead. Dragunov rebutted by calling
Ciampa a “jackass”.
Last Time Is Now Tournament First Round Qualifier: Carmelo
Hayes (w/ Paul Heyman) vs. Bronson Reed
Michael Cole gave his condolences to legendary commentator
Bob Caudle at the start of the match.
In the ring, Reed easily took down Hayes with a fierce
running chop, as he continued the attack in the corner. Reed
taunted Hayes, followed by another hard running chop and a
headbutt on his downed foe. Reed attempted a powerbomb, but
Hayes turned that into a powerbomb for a two-count. Hayes
maintained the attack with a springboard DDT, followed by a
dropkick to the outside. The Vision’s Logan Paul and Bron
Breakker ran out from the back as we took a break in the
action.
We returned from the break as Reed applied a resthold on
Hayes, having gained the upper hand during the commercial
break. Hayes fought out of the hold, but got dropped with a
back suplex by Reed for the two-count. Reed tried for
another back suplex, but Hayes landed on his feet. As
Breakker created a distraction, Paul pulled at Hayes’ feet
to give his fellow Vision member an assist. Hayes avoided a
senton from Reed and rolled him up for the near-fall.
Hayes stunned Reed with a running knee, followed by the
flying clothesline. With Reed trapped in between the middle
rope, he was blasted by a leg drop by Hayes. A DDT on to the
hardest part of the ring by Hayes was followed by a frog
splash on the gargantuan Reed for a near-fall. Hayes’ First
48 was countered into a World’s Strongest Slam, followed by
the senton. Reed headed up top for the Tsunami, but Hayes
rolled out at the last minute to avoid calamity.
Hayes hit Reed with the First 48 as he then leapt at the
three members of The Vision at ringside. Back in the ring,
Hayes leapt from the top rope and hit a nice DDT, but that
wasn’t enough to pick up the victory. Hayes went up top once
again, but missed Nothin’ But Net, as he instead was cracked
with a hard lariat by Reed.
Outside the ring, Breakker was setting up Hayes for the
super spear, but the Usos interrupted and fought with
Breakker and Paul. With the referee still distracted, Cody
Rhodes emerged from the crowd and hit Reed with a Cross
Rhodes that left him out cold. The referee began his count
as Reed struggled to get himself back up. Reed was
ultimately unable to reach the ring by the count of ten,
which gave Hayes the victory.
After the match, Rhodes took the microphone and said that he
no longer wants to be done with Drew McIntyre because of
what he did. Rhodes called out each member of The Vision, as
he then turned his attention to Paul Heyman, stating that
he’ll beat his guys (“you build them and I’ll beat them!”)
Rhodes then said that WarGames was his birthright and that
he’d see Heyman at San Diego.
Carmelo Hayes def. Bronson Reed via countout
This was an good match and a good showing for Hayes. The
inevitable WarGames-adjacent events helped keep things
exciting, and did their job of setting up Hayes vs. Gunther
on Raw this coming Monday.
**********
– Chelsea Green was fretting about her championship
celebration, as she confided with Alba Fyre that maybe she
shouldn’t be holding this celebration. As Green called
herself the “Greatest Women’s Champion Ever”, Jade Cargill
confronted her and took exception to that bold claim.
– Sami Zayn was with Rey Fenix, The Motor City Machine Guns,
and Shinsuke Nakamura and had remarks ahead of the big five-
man elimination tag match against The M.F.T.s next week on
SmackDown. Zayn said that his team was an international
assembly of the best wrestlers as he put Fenix, the MCMGs,
and Nakamura over.
#DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommasso Ciampa) vs. Fraxiom (Nathan
Frazer & Axiom)
Fraxiom started off fast as they stunned both Gargano and
Ciampa with their fast-paced tandem offense. At ringside,
both #DIY members were left shelled by consecutive dives to
the outside by Fraxiom. Back in the ring, Frazer hit a
splash on Ciampa, but Gargano broke up the pin as he then
took out Axiom of the equation. Gargano was now the legal
man and continued the attack on Frazer, who countered a back
suplex by landing on his feet. Ciampa pulled Frazer out and
threw him against the steps, as he and Gargano did their
self-pats on the back. We took a break at this point in
time.
The match returned from break as Frazer sped things up as
only he could with a running moonsault on Gargano for the
near-fall. Frazer made the climb to the top rope with
Gargano stunned, but he missed on the splash. This opened
him up to a Shatter Machine from #DIY for an incredibly
close near-fall. Frazer had his knees clipped by Ciampa, but
he was able to make the tag to Axiom. A dive from the top
from the masked star was met by a hard knee to the face from
Ciampa, as #DIY connected with a nice double team move.
Frazer managed to break the pin up with a splash.
On the top rope, Axiom connected with an avalanche Spanish
Fly, while Frazer flew from the top to take out Ciampa. In
the ensuing fracas, Candice LeRae got on the apron and took
off Axiom’s mask, which allowed Gargano to get in a sneaky
victory for #DIY.
#DIY def. Fraxiom via pinfall
Some solid tag team action to keep up the excellent in-ring
action we’ve had so far tonight. If there’s one good thing
about the rumored return to three hours for SmackDown, it
should be the added focus on the tag division to fill the
time, and they deserve that bigger spotlight.
**********
– We got a video of Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley’s
conversation, where it simply boiled down to the two
acknowledging that they could trust one another for
WarGames.
Last Time Is Now Tournament First Round Qualifier: Finn
Balor vs. Penta
Balor tried to attack Penta as he was still posturing in the
ring, but was cut off at the pass instead as the match got
underway here. Balor attacked Penta in the corner, but was
met with a hurricanrana, followed by the elevated dropkick
in the corner by the fearless masked man.
Penta slammed Balor with a slingblade, as he hit a nice dive
over the top rope on his foe to take us into the commercial
break.
After the break, we returned on Penta landing a crossbody on
Balor as both men tried to get themselves back up on their
feet. Balor got to his feet first and teed away on Penta in
the corner with a series of punches. However, Penta started
to gained some steam with repeated clotheslines, then the
superkick on a prone Balor against the middle turnbuckle.
Penta tried to hit the Penta Driver, but Balor turned that
into a Final Cut for the two-count.
Balor kicked away at Penta, but got a pair of hard chops for
his troubles. Penta then hit a modified Muscle Buster on
Balor for the close two. Penta pulled at Balor’s arm with
his signature armbreaker, but he got rolled up for the near
fall. Balor hit the Slingblade, then the shotgun dropkick,
which was the final setup for the Coup de Grace. Penta
escaped and connected with a variation on his Penta Driver.
One, two…. NO!
Balor pushed Penta into the corner, but he found himself in
the crosshairs for the Mexican Destroyer as Penta picked up
the victory to advance in the Last Time is Now Tournament.
Penta def. Finn Balor via pinfall
A great match to cap off the in-ring action on tonight’s
SmackDown, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I
enjoyed the matches on tonight’s show. Penta and Balor work
together so well, which made this match a fun one.
**********
– Cole and Graves ran down the remaining spots for the Last
Time is Now tournament as they mentioned Sheamus’s shoulder
injury, which forced him out of the tournament, revealing
that a mystery opponent will face LA Knight in the LTiN
quarterfinals in place of the injured Sheamus.
Women’s WarGames Match face off
The team of Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, IYO SKY, and Rhea
Ripley were out as a united front ahead of next week’s
Survivor Series: WarGames.
Ripley had the microphone first and said that she could hear
what the Denver crowd was chanting for. She said at MSG, the
Kabuki Warriors, Nia Jax, and Lash Legend didn’t realize how
united they were at that moment in time, and when going into
war, she wanted to make sure she’d be going to war with the
right people. Ripley pointed out her best friend IYO SKY,
someone who would keep fighting even if they went down
swinging. Ripley then turned her attention to Bliss and
Flair, people who weren’t the best of friends with her, but
they could trust people. However, that was only four people,
as she introduced the fifth member of their WarGames teams:
AJ Lee.
As AJ made her entrance, the heel women attacked Rhea’s team
in the ring. Becky Lynch ambushed AJ as she was making her
way to the ring. The battle was heating up in the ring, as
the heel WarGames team had the upper hand in the ensuing
skirmish. The Levesque & Fitting producer credits were up as
the heel WarGames team stood tall.