Posted on 11/29/125 by Bob Magee
– Our show opened this week with a recap of the developments
for the Womens’ WarGames match on last week’s SmackDown,
which included AJ Lee joining Rhea Ripley’s team and Becky
Lynch joining Nia Jax’s team.
– After the recap, we saw Asuka and Charlotte Flair walking
backstage ahead of their WarGames advantage match later
tonight. LA Knight was approached by Cathy Kelley about how
Sheamus has been taken out of the Last Time is Now
Tournament due to injury, with a mystery opponent to replace
him. Knight was a bit miffed that he didn’t get a bye,
stating that this tournament was starting to piss him off.
Knight said he was planning to take out his frustrations on
his mystery opponent.
Last Time is Now Tournament Quarterfinals: Rusev vs. Jey Uso
Rusev went on the attack on Uso immediately as the bell rang
as he stomped away on his foe in the corner. He then
connected with a suplex for an early pin attempt that Uso
kicked out of. Uso tried to fight back, but Rusev caught him
and slammed him down on the mat as we went to a break in the
action.
Our match returned from commercial as Rusev had Uso trapped
in a bearhug. The 2025 Royal Rumble winner struggled to
break free from the hold, but did so eventually. Uso then
began punching away at Rusev, finishing off with his
signature Yeet punch. Uso attempted a Samoan Drop, but could
not get Rusev up on his shoulders. The Bulgarian tried to
apply the Accolade, but Uso fought out of it and forced his
opponent to the outside. He then floored Rusev with a
suicide dive through the ropes.
Back in the ring, Uso was finally able to hit the Samoan
Drop on Rusev for a near-fall. Uso then targeted Rusev for a
Spear. However, Rusev somehow kicked out at the count of one
after Uso’s Spear. As Jey tried to head up top, he was
intercepted by a Machka Kick from Rusev upon landing. One,
two… not quite!
Rusev signalled that it was “game over” as he then put Uso
in the Accolade submission hold. After a brief struggle, Uso
was able to make it to the bottom rope to break the Accolade
up. Rusev put Uso up on his shoulders and mocked John Cena
as he looked like he was about to deliver an Attitude
Adjustment. This gave Uso enough time to escape and then
take out Rusev with a Spear, followed by the Uso Splash for
the pin and win.
Jey Uso def. Rusev via pinfall to advance to the Last Time
is Now Tournament Semifinals
It was your typical Jey Uso match. And given how divisive
Jey can be as a wrestler, it’s interesting to see what the
reaction will be if Jey were to be Cena’s final opponent.
**********
– Backstage, The Miz was complaining to Nick Aldis about the
Last TIme is Now Tournament when R-Truth walked in. Truth
was once again talking about his balls being in the running
for Cena’s mystery opponent. In the midst of this, Miz
sneakily stole one of the balls from Aldis, which led to him
being the mystery opponent for LA Knight later on tonight.
– Damian Priest was interviewed about Aleister Black’s
remarks about how his “code” was broken. Priest said that
Black didn’t accomplish that, and the only thing that was
accomplished by Black and Zelina was pissing him off. Zelina
interrupted and told Priest that Black was thinking of
bigger goals, but if Priest wanted more punishment, Black
will be happy to oblige. After Zelina left, Rhea Ripley
caught up with her old friend as she and Priest had a
friendly chat.
Chelsea Green’s Women’s U.S. Championship Celebration
The new Women’s United States Champion was accompanied by
Alba Fyre to the ring as they headed out to celebrate
Green’s big win a few weeks back against Giulia. The ring
was festooned with the Canadian, American, and Mexican
flags, signifying Green’s Canadian heritage, her Women’s
U.S. Championship, and the AAA Mixed Tag Titles,
respectively.
“Welcome, patriots,” Green started her remarks, as she said
that she was proud to be our first and fourth two-time “most
dangerous Women’s U.S. Champion”. Green said that it was an
honor to serve as the greatest Women’s Champion not only in
WWE history or American history, but in the history of the
continent of the North Americas. She said that it was now
time to kick off this celebration with a “very, very
expensive” display of pyrotechnics in her name.
However, no pyro was to be found as the WWE Women’s Champion
Jade Cargill stormed down to the ring. Once Cargill entered
the ring, she hit Alba Fyre with a pump kick before she
turned her attention to Green and planted her with Jaded.
Once Cargill left, the very expensive pyro went off while
Green sulked in the ring.
An entertaining segment for sure, but not sure what this
means with regards to Giulia’s standing on the SmackDown
women’s roster if she’s not even going to get a rematch and
we’re just moving right to Jade Cargill targeting Chelsea.
**********
– Backstage, Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair, along with
teammates Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY were discussing plans ahead
of Flair’s WarGames advantage match versus Asuka later
tonight. AJ Lee appeared and stated that she’d make sure
that her team would win WarGames tomorrow night.
– Jade Cargill was interviewed about her attack on Chelsea
Green moments ago, declaring that it was a statement made to
the entire SmackDown women’s locker room, and that if anyone
had a problem with it, they could step up and get stepped on
too. As Cargill walked off, B-Fab stared her down and said
nothing. Michin then walked up to B-Fab and declared that
she might have to step up to keep Cargill’s out of control
attitude in check.
Last Time is Now Tournament Quarterfinals: LA Knight vs. The
Miz
Knight went on the offensive early as he punched away at Miz
before he took him down with a hard clothesline. With his
foe stunned in the corner, Knight stomped on him and looked
like he was about to drill him with an attack in the corner.
Miz retreated and got sneaky in taking the advantage of the
match. Knight got hit with a knee to the face by Miz, as he
was then hit with a big leg to the back of the head across
the middle rope.
Miz’s advantage was stalled by a swinging neckbreaker, but
he got it back by throwing him across the barricade outside
the ring, followed by a big boot, which was the cue for a
break in the action.
This matchup continued from the break with Miz applying a
resthold on Knight, which was quickly broken up. The two
exchanged sleeper hold attempts until Knight planted Miz
with a back suplex, which left both men struggling to get
back up. Knight got up first and blasted Miz with punches,
before he dropped him with a neckbreaker for the near-fall.
Miz got a boot up on Knight and tried to go up top, but he
was intercepted for the superplex and another near-fall.
Knight tried to go for the BFT, but Miz rolled him up for a
pin attempt. He was then planted head first by a DDT for a
near-fall. Knight countered a Skull-Crushing Finale attempt
into an inverted DDT. Knight headed up top and tried to hit
his signature leg drop, but he was caught by Miz into the
Skull-Crushing Finale. One, two… Knight just able to kick
out at two!
Miz decided to “pay homage” to John Cena by locking in the
STF on Knight, who broke the hold by reaching the bottom
rope. Knight looked like he was going to go for an STF of
his own, but Miz retreated to the apron. With the referee
distracted briefly, Miz poked Knight in the eye and had the
rope-assisted roll-up pin on him. However, veteran ref
Charles Robinson saw Miz cheating and stopped the count. Miz
yelled at Robinson, which opened him up for Knight’s BFT and
a swift defeat.
LA Knight def. The Miz to advance to the Last Time is Now
Tournament Semifinals
A rather mediocre match, and in all honesty, this Last Time
is Now Tournament has been largely a disappointment, which
seems to be the unfortunate par for the course with regards
to John Cena’s retirement year.
**********
– Becky Lynch chatted with her WarGames team and boasted
about her 100% success rate when it came to WarGames. She
said that when the door close, it’d be up to her. Nia Jax
interrupted and said that it wasn’t about Becky, and that it
was up to Asuka to gain the advantage for her WarGames team.
Asuka said that the last time Charlotte Flair faced her, she
was out for a year, which made her confident about her
chances in the WarGames advantage match.
– Cathy Kelley was with U.S. Champion Ilja Dragunov, who was
asked about Tama Tonga’s challenges. Dragunov said that if
Tama wanted a shot at the U.S. Title, he was right here.
Before Dragunov could go further, Tommasso Ciampa rudely
interrupted him. He talked about how he took Axiom’s mask,
and he was going to take the U.S. Title from Dragunov next.
The U.S. Champion said Ciampa made a good point and he was
going to think about it as he called his rival a “jackass”
before walking off.
WarGames Advantage Match: Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair
Flair and Asuka engaged in a chain wrestling duel to start
off with neither woman able to gain a clear advantage so
far. Flair took over as she kicked Asuka on the apron with a
hard boot to the face. Asuka answered in kind with a boot to
Flair’s face as we took a break in the action.
The match continued from commercial as Flair did her dodge
over the top rope and then took off with the crossbody on
Asuka for the two. Asuka responded with a flurry of strikes,
but was hit hard in the face by a boot from Flair as she
took a run at her. That, however, wasn’t enough to end the
match.
Asuka and Flair exchanged strikes and chops, as the latter
gained the upper hand in the battle of chops. Flair then did
her somersault into a clothesline to keep Asuka grounded.
She then headed up to the top rope and connected with a
moonsault to Asuka for a near-fall. Flair connected with a
German suplex on Asuka, but found herself taken out by a
German suplex from her foe. A sliding knee by Asuka to Flair
managed to turn the momentum briefly.
Jumping knee strike by Asuka to Flair was transitioned into
an armbar submission. However, Flair used her strength to
lift Asuka up into a sitdown powerbomb for yet another near-
fall. Following this, Asuka rolled to the outside as a
skirmish broke out in front of the announce table. Asuka
disappeared from behind announce table and tried to catch
Flair with the blue mist. Flair dodged it just in time, as
Asuka ended up misting Berkeley the timekeeper instead.
Back in the ring, Asuka countered Flair’s Figure-Eight into
an Asuka Lock submission. Flair rolled through and escaped
the hold as she then finished Asuka off with her Natural
Selection finishing maneuver to secure the advantage for her
WarGames team.
Charlotte Flair def. Asuka
This was a great match and probably the best of the night on
this week’s SmackDown. It’s also hard to believe that this
is the first women’s match on Raw or SmackDown since the
11/17 edition of Raw. In any case, this was solid stuff.
**********
Survivor Series: WarGames final card
Intercontinental Championship: John Cena (c) vs. Dominik
Mysterio
Women’s WarGames: Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY, Charlotte Flair,
Alexa Bliss, and AJ Lee vs. Asuka, Kairi Sane, Nia Jax, Lash
Legend, and Becky Lynch
Women’s World Championship: Stephanie Vaquer (c) vs. Nikki
Bella
Men’s WarGames: Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, The Usos (Jimmy &
Jey Uso), and CM Punk vs. The Vision (Bron Breakker &
Bronson Reed), Drew McIntyre, Logan Paul, and Brock Lesnar
Traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series Elimination Match: The
M.F.T.s (Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, J.C. Mateo, and
Talla Tonga) vs. Sami Zayn, Motor City Machine Guns (Chris
Sabin & Alex Shelley), Rey Fenix, and Shinsuke Nakamura
It was stated that this main event match would be presented
commercial-free by Michael Cole before the match started.
This massive main event kicked off with Sabin and Sikoa as
the legal men for their teams. Sikoa hit Sabin with a hard
lariat before he punched him repeatedly. This gave the
M.F.Ts the early edge as Sabin was dragged over to their
corner by Sikoa. Loa was tagged in as he continued the
attack on Sabin, up until Shelley was tagged in and he was
floored by a tag maneuver from the MCMGs. Loa escaped his
fate and tagged in Mateo, who found himself chopped down to
size before Zayn entered the match for his team.
Mateo used his power to slam Zayn down for the early pin
attempt, as he then hit a nice standing moonsault on his
opponent. Tama entered the match and provided a distraction
to the ref, which allowed Sikoa and Talla to get in a cheap
shot on Zayn. The M.F.T.s continued to play the game of
isolation on Zayn, which kept him away from his teammates.
Zayn leapfrogged over Sikoa and hit him with a clothesline.
This gave Zayn the opening to tag Nakamura into the match.
Nakamura hit Loa with a hard knee to the ribs, but he was
dropped from behind by Mateo. Nakamura turned that around as
he hit his signature sliding German suplex on Mateo. Sikoa
broke up the pin as Zayn intercepted him. Things then began
to break down between the two teams, as Sabin and Shelley
teamed up to throw Talla over the top rope. The Motor City
Machine Guns worked in tandem to take Talla down with a dive
to the outside. Zayn and Fenix then teamed up to take out
Tama and Loa with dives of their own.
Back in the ring, the Motor City Machine Guns scored the
first elimination with a nice tandem pin combination to take
Mateo out of the match. (JC Mateo eliminated via Alex
Shelley, Chris Sabin pinfall) Tanga stepped in for his team
and found himself on the receiving end of stereo superkicks
from Shelley and Sabin. Nakamura was tagged in as he blasted
Tama with an enzuigiri. Nakamura had Tama in sight for the
Kinsasha, but Sikoa’s distraction was enough to give Tama
the opportunity to hit the not-so-hidden blade of the
Cutthroat to eliminate Nakamura. (Shinsuke Nakamura
eliminated via Tama Tonga pinfall)
With both teams now down to four men, Tama and Loa joined
forces to go on the offensive against legal man Rey Fenix,
but couldn’t eliminate him even after a spinebuster. Fenix
found himself on Loa’s shoulders, but he turned that into a
rollup pin, which got the three and the elimination. (Tonga
Loa eliminated via Rey Fenix pinfall) Talla Tonga made an
impact right away as he crushed Fenix with a running charge.
Talla threw Fenix down with a pair of scoop slams as Sikoa
then tagged himself into the match. Sikoa went for the
Samoan Spike, but Fenix avoided it and Sabin entered the
match with a tag. Sikoa hit a fierce uppercut on Sabin, and
tried for a Samoan Drop. Shelley blind tagged himself in as
he and Sabin hit Sikoa with stereo superkicks. As Shelley
headed up top to set up Skull and Bones, Tama shoved him
down to the outside, as Talla then made the tag and
chokeslammed Shelley across the apron for the elimination.
(Alex Shelley eliminated via Talla Tonga pinfall)
Sabin tried to go for a crossbody on Talla, but he was
caught, and his sunset flip was countered into a hard
clothesline by Talla, which earned him an elimination and a
3-2 advantage for the M.F.T.s. (Chris Sabin eliminated via
Talla Tonga pinfall)
Fenix entered the match and mounted a bit of offense on
Talla. He hit his feint kick on Talla and Sikoa as Tama
tagged into the match. Fenix’s attempt of Goodbye Amigo was
initially countered by Tama, but the Tongan was turned
inside out by a hurricanrana. Fenix then leapt from the top
rope to take out Sikoa and Talla outside. Back in the ring,
Tama caught Fenix with the Cutthroat to get the eliminating
pin, which left Zayn all alone for his team. (Rey Fenix
eliminated via Tama Tonga pinfall)
Zayn was left by himself as he went after Talla right away.
A huge uppercut from Talla snuffed out the attack as the
gargantuan continued his attack on Zayn. Sikoa tagged in and
was thrown into the corner for a running hip strike on the
stunned Zayn. Tama Tonga was next to enter as he blasted
Zayn with two running splashes. At that moment, Zayn woke up
and hit Tama with a surprise Helluva Kick to earn the quick
elimination. (Tama Tonga eliminated via Sami Zayn pinfall)
Talla didn’t let Zayn get a moment to breathe as he stomped
away on him and then threw him into the ringpost. Talla left
Zayn stunned right in front of the timekeepers’ area, and
looked like he was about take Zayn’s head off. The Canadian
avoided the boot from Talla, which sent him flying over into
the timekeepers’ area. Zayn rolled himself back into the
ring, which led to Talla being eliminated via countout.
(Talla Tonga eliminated via countout)
Sikoa entered right away and hit consecutive Spinning Solos
on a weakened Zayn for the close near-fall. The M.F.T.s’
leader headed up top and hit a big splash on Zayn, who once
again kicked out. Sikoa propped Zayn up to the top rope and
looked like he was going to hit an avalanche Samoan Drop,
but that was turned into a sunset flip powerbomb by Zayn.
One, two… NO! Zayn hyped himself up as he and Sikoa
exchanged blows in the middle of the ring. Sikoa gained the
upper hand with a headbutt to Zayn.
Zayn intercepted Sikoa’s running hip attack with an exploder
suplex as he then had him in sight for the Helluva Kick.
Sikoa reversed that into a superkick, but couldn’t land the
Samoan Spike as Zayn rolled him up for the pin. Following
that exchanged, Sikoa hit the Spike on Zayn to gain the
victory.
The M.F.T.s def. Team Sami Zayn via pinfall (Solo Sikoa is
Sole Survivor)
Sikoa celebrated his win, but found himself interrupted by
the Wyatt Sicks’ blackout. Once the lights came back on,
Sikoa found himself surrounded by the Sicks on the apron.
Just as the producer credits popped up, Uncle Howdy snuck up
on Sikoa and delivered Sister Abigail to him to end the
show.