Smackdown – November 15, 2019: An All Time Bad Opening
IMG Credit: WWE
Smackdown
Date: November 15, 2019
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Corey Graves, Michael Cole
We’re actually having a normal night this week as opposed to all of the insanity that it has been in recent weeks. I’m hoping we can get somewhere new with the NXT invasion as last week’s show barely saw anything take place on that front. They still need to hammer in some details of the card and that can be done tonight. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
We open with a recap of King Corbin vs. Roman Reigns over Corbin making dog jokes.
Opening sequence.
Here’s Corbin on his carried throne with Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler waiting on him. Corbin talks about the importance of having loyal subjects who appreciate hearing the truth. Last week he told the truth about Roman Reigns being a shell of what he used to be. He decrees himself the captain of Team Smackdown and we get an updated graphic for the team.
Tonight, Ziggler and Roode are going to take Ali and Shorty G.’s spots on the team so Reigns better pull his weight. Ziggler and Roode promise to make it a glorious win and Corbin invites Reigns out here to watch the match. Cue Reigns’ music but the image of the dog turns into a chihuahua……and there’s a dog mascot in a Reigns shirt. Hold on though as Corbin makes the dog kneel and then shake before we go to a commercial.
This was stupid, bad, idiotic, moronic, immature, all Vince’s doing, a waste of my time, a waste of your time, a waste of Miller Time, something that should be banned from television, something that a stupid person would call stupid, dumber than Cameron on Total Divas, not good enough for Russo and EXACTLY the kind of thing that fans mock WWE for doing.
We see CM Punk returning on Backstage.
Shorty G./Mustafa Ali vs. Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode
The winners are on the Survivor Series team. Gable takes Roode down to start and runs him over with a shoulder. Ziggler comes in as Graves makes Space Jam jokes about Gable’s gear. It’s off to Ali to get beaten up in the corner, followed by a shove off the apron and onto the barricade.
Cue Reigns (I guess he was having a piping bowl of soup earlier) as we take a break with Cole shouting RUN SPOT RUN. Back with Ali hitting a superkick and it’s a double tag to Gable and Roode. Gable takes off the stupid looking jersey, making him look more like an indy wrestler with bad fashion sense.
The moonsault gets two but it’s the spinebuster/Zig Zag combination for two with Ali making the save. The ankle lock goes on with Roode having to make a save of his own. Reigns jumps Corbin but gets sent into the announcers’ table. That means a dive from Ali and a spear from Reigns, leaving Gable to hit Rolling Chaos Theory into the 450 to give Ali the pin at 12:04.
Rating: C+. As completely annoying and downright stupid as the dog stuff is (and it’s REALLY stupid), the match was fast paced and fun with Reigns spearing Corbin being rather cathartic. Gable is trying as hard as he can to get around this Shorty stuff but the Space Jam jokes are making it even worse. Terrible ideas, nice match.
We look back at the Fiend attacking Daniel Bryan last week.
It’s time for the Firefly Fun House with bray Wyatt doing some magic. He turns the Universal Title blue and says he’s looking forward to MizTV with Daniel Bryan. He’ll be watching!
Corbin, Ziggler and Roode are in the back and need to make things better. Corbin and the mascot dog leave, because this is apparently going to be a thing.
Drew Gulak vs. Braun Strowman
The B Team is here with Gulak, who has a graphic showing that he would be able to save Team Smackdown. The three of them jump Strowman, who fights them off like the losers they are. Gulak gets powerslammed to end the non-match.
New Day is ready to defend their titles without Xavier Woods, but they’re defending them in his honor.
Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura again try to get Daniel Bryan on their side, especially now that Bray Wyatt is after him. Apparently Cesaro is on their side as well, but Bryan wants to know where Sami went last week when the Fiend attacked. Sami thought Bryan was right behind him and he was going to get Nakamura anyway. Bryan gives them a firm no but suggests recruiting Braun Strowman instead. That sends Sami into a rant about Strowman, who is right behind him. Panic ensues.
Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. Revival
New Day is defending. Kofi gets taken into the wrong corner to start but fights out with a missile dropkick. Wilder is right there with a powerslam though and we take a break. Back with Dawson hitting a swinging neckbreaker but missing a top rope elbow. That’s enough for the tag off to Big E. for a bunch of suplexes.
The Warrior Splash hits knees but Big E. is fine enough to hit the Rock Bottom out of the corner. Wilder gets two off a tornado DDT and everything breaks down with Kofi hitting a missile dropkick. The big dive over the top takes down both Dawson and Wilder but the Midnight Hour is broken up.
Dawson hits a quick DDT for two on Big E., who backdrops both of them to the floor. Kofi’s dive is cut off and he gets sent hard into the post. Big E. gets dropped onto the announcers’ table and it’s the Shatter Machine for two as Kofi springboards in for the save. Cue the Undisputed Era to jump Kofi though and it’s a DQ at 10:25.
Rating: B-. The ending is the perfect call for this one, even if it took over an hour to get to anything NXT tonight. These teams can have a good match in their sleep but it’s also a match I’ve seen so many times that I don’t care about it all that much anymore. At least they got the ending right though and that’s what matters most.
Post match the beatdown is on until the Smackdown locker room runs in for the save.
Heavy Machinery vs. Kevin Tibbs/Kip Stevens
Otis throws Tibbs onto Stevens and there goes the shirt. Stereo vertical suplexes (with a bit of a toast by clinking them together) sets up a running splash to crush Tibbs in the corner. The Caterpillar sets up the Compactor for the pin at 2:16.
We look at Shayna Baszler invading Raw and Smackdown, only to have Bayley jump Shayna on NXT.
Bayley says this is all about her and she can’t wait to crush Nikki Cross’ dreams tonight. Sasha Banks believes in Bayley and knows Cross isn’t winning.
We look at the Wrestlemania ticket on sale party.
Recap of the opening tag match. Next week, it’s a six man tag.
Nikki Cross vs. Bayley
Non-title and if Cross wins, she’s on the Survivor Series team. Of note: Nikki’s entrance was before the break, a look at the on sale party and the recap. They really couldn’t have put that together a bit better so she wasn’t standing in the ring for six minutes? They start fast with Bayley knocking her to the floor….but here’s Shayna Baszler to chase her over the barricade. Some more NXT women show up to throw Bayley back to ringside but Sasha Banks jumps Baszler inside. The Smackdown women come through the crowd (for no apparent reason) and we’ll say the match was thrown out at 30 seconds.
Banks issues a challenge for a Survivor Series preview.
Nikki Cross/Sasha Banks/Carmella/Dana Brooke vs. Rhea Ripley/Tegan Nox/Dakota Kai/Mia Yim
Kai kicks Cross to start so it’s off to Yim, who gets caught in an armbar. Carmella comes in and superkicks Nox off the apron, which is enough to bring Nox in to stomp Carmella down in the corner. Kai and Nox take turns beating on Carmella, until a forearm allows the hot tag to Banks.
Ripley comes in for a rather nice staredown with Banks, who slaps her in the face. Banks gets muscled over with a suplex and everything breaks down, meaning a lot of shouting takes us to a break. Back with Cross hitting a crossbody on Rhea but Nox hits the Shiniest Wizard. Everything breaks down with a parade of kicks to the face. The Purge finishes Nox at 9:24.
Rating: C-. They had a lot of stuff to cram in here and it didn’t really work all that well. It was cool to see some of these women on the main roster though, even if it is just for a single week. The Survivor Series match needed a boost and this is as good of a way as they could go to make that happen.
Post match the brawl is on until the rest of the Smackdown women make the save.
Survivor Series rundown.
It’s time for MizTV with Miz quickly introducing Daniel Bryan. Miz asks about the Fiend attacking Bryan last week but Bryan can’t bring himself to say anything. Miz wants to know what is going on with Bryan, who looks confused about everything going on. Does Bryan not know who he is anymore? Bryan stands up and says he’s been quiet because MizTV sucks, just as it always has.
Miz doesn’t understand the passion that he has, just like these people. It was a mental instability combined with his passion that drove him to do things. Bray Wyatt understands though and that’s what makes him dangerous. Bray is unstable….and the Firefly Fun House starts up. Wyatt says it’s rude to talk about someone when they aren’t there. Being confused is a scary feeling, but maybe Fiend did it to scare Bryan. Or maybe it’s because of what Bryan did. You remember what that is, right Bryan?
It isn’t explained, because we need to look in Bray’s toy box. After throwing out some stuff, including a saw, he finds the Universal Title. If Bryan wants to come play, all he has to do is say that one word. Bryan: “NO!” This turns into an argument with Bray’s friends but if they’re going to fight, it’s going to be for the Universal Title. Bray says yes and starts his own YES chant. That goes on for a long time with Bray’s eyes bugging out. Bray stops and Miz announces the title shot for Survivor Series. Bryan leaves to end the show.
Overall Rating: D+. This show was a near miracle after one of the worst first thirds of a show that I can remember in a very long time. The rest of the show worked out well enough with some build towards Survivor Series, but the big problem continues to be WWE trying to promote too many things at once.
Since there are only three weeks between Survivor Series and TLC, it’s time to set up Corbin vs. Reigns for that show and for some reason, that needed the first forty minutes of this week’s episode. But maybe the dog joke market is that strong. Anyway, all time horrible start and a pretty great rest of the show doesn’t make for a good mix, but it could have been much worse.
Results
Mustafa Ali/Shorty G. b. Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode – 450 to Ziggler
New Day b. Revival via DQ when the Undisputed Era interfered
Heavy Machinery b. Kip Stevens/Kevin Tibbs – Compactor to Tibbs
Nikki Cross vs. Bayley went to a no contest when Shayna Baszler interfered
Sasha Banks/Dana Brooke/Carmella/Nikki Cross b. Dakota Kai/Tegan Nox/Rhea Ripley/Mia Yim – Purge to Nox
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I dunno man, I think you’re being too hard on SmackDown because of your loathing for Baron Corbin. Not that I don’t understand it and agree; just when I start to get into the guy a little bit, he does one of these promo segments where WWE’s usual idiotic cornball humor is introduced and the wrestlers are all in there laughing like jackasses trying to sell it as if it’s the most amazing thing ever. Corbin’s a big, bald, tattooed freak who could be a solid tough guy, so why not have him be a tough guy instead of trying to have him being this smarky, sarcastic king who laughs, quite badly I might add, at his own jokes.
The rest of the show, however, more than made up for the lousy opening. Solid wrestling overall, good hype for Survivor Series, a nice showing overall for the NXT women and an intriguing promo segment that has us wondering what is was that Bryan did that Bray is referring to or if it’s the ravings of a madman.
I thought Rhea Ripley did exceptionally well on SmackDown last night. She walked in, carried herself like a star, looked like a star, was treated like a star by the fans and left outta the place a star even though the NXT women lost the match. The ending of said match, btw, I thought worked well as Nikki wants on the SD women’s team, she earned her place by getting the win and at least it was her who got the win rather than Carmella or Dana Brooke or Sasha Banks. Carmella & Dana aren’t on the level inside the ring as the NXT women and, frankly, Sasha didn’t need to pick up the win.
The only other thing I didn’t care for on the show was the Braun Strowman segment. It was utterly pointless and struck me as something that Vince wanted to see because he loves to see Strowman toss around guys half his size.
I thought the show was a C+, not the best in the world but pretty decent overall. It could’ve easily been better if not for WWE’s usual nonsense but, then again, that’s just going to be the cross WWE has to bear until Vince steps down or dies.
Worse than Cameron or anything Russo ever did? I don’t think i’d go that far.
A decent Smackdown, i liked the SD Tag Title Match along with the UE invading, Bray/DB being made for Survivor Series and the Women from both interacting especially Sasha & Rhea Ripley.