Smackdown – December 13, 2019: The Reign Is On

Smackdown
Date: December 13, 2019
Location: Firsev Forum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Commentators: Corey Graves, Michael Cole

It’s the go home show for TLC and I’m going to assume that at least three more matches will be added to the card tonight. We also have the big angle between Roman Reigns and Baron Corbin, though for once I actually liked what they were doing last week. Granted I have no confidence in them to continue such a streak. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a long recap of Corbin vs. Reigns.

Here is Corbin on his throne, complete with security around the ring and Dolph Ziggler waiting on him. Ziggler says he can’t get away from the stench of dog food and Corbin goes over his accomplishments over the year. Corbin is ready to become the new star of the company and isn’t worried about Reigns being off the leash tonight.

Last week Reigns was put in his place and Ziggler is going to speak for the locker room when he says Reigns got what he deserved. Reigns says a new day is dawning so here is the New Day to interrupt. They don’t like Corbin using the term “new day” but Corbin brings up Kofi losing to Brock Lesnar in six seconds. Kofi: “It was more like eight seconds.”

Kofi brings up Corbin talking about his year so far, so remember when Kofi won the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania and then defended it against Corbin’s court jester Dolph Ziggler? It’s true that Kofi lost but then he came back and became a Tag Team Champion again. Corbin laughs it off so Kofi slaps him in the face. That’s not cool so Corbin promises to humiliate him later tonight. This really didn’t need to be nearly fifteen minutes long to set up either a single or tag match (or maybe both) later.

We recap Bray Wyatt targeting the Miz and his family.

Corbin and Ziggler find two backstage people out cold and their locker room ransacked. Oh dear.

Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross vs. Fire & Desire

Bliss and Cross give an interview from backstage but Mandy and Sonya run in to jump them from behind and start the fight on the stage. They get the ring for the opening bell and Bliss is sent outside. Cross gets beaten up in the corner and it’s a double suplex being loaded up, only to have Bliss pull Mandy to the floor. The Purge (which the camera misses at first) finishes Deville at 1:37.

Sami Zayn runs into Heavy Machinery and Otis has a Secret Santa present for him. It’s some Milwaukee ham, but Sami is disgusted because he’s a vegan. Sami yells at him for the mistake so Otis gets mad, only to have Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura come up to take care of things. They’ll fight later. Cesaro throws the ham on the ground and Otis shouts. Now I want ham.

Shorty G./Mustafa Ali vs. Revival

Wilder trips and falls down during his entrance. Gable gets sent outside to start as Revival takes over early on. The chinlock doesn’t last long so Gable gets in a few rollups for two. Wilder drives him into the corner but Gable suplexes his way out of the powerbomb/top rope clothesline combination. Ali hurricanranas Wilder to the floor and we take a break.

Back with Gable flipping out of a moonsault and grabbing a belly to back suplex on Dawson, with Ali adding a top rope double stomp for two. Dawson grabs a tiger driver for two on Gable but he’s right back with Rolling Chaos Theory. Wilder dives in with a frog splash for the save but Ali hits a 450 on Wilder to put everyone down again. Ali goes up again and dives straight into the Shatter Machine for the pin at 9:13.

Rating: C+. They were starting to roll here with the technical stuff against the flying and it was getting entertaining. Revival wasn’t going to lose two days before a title match but they were still having a good match as a result. It’s ok to know the way a match is going to go if they are making things work and that’s what they did here.

Bayley complains about Lacey Evans not being entertaining and brags about her and Sasha’s high level of awesome. We hear some guitar though and it’s Elias serenading Dana Brooke, which doesn’t sit well with Bayley. She yells at him so Elias sings about Bayley wanting a threesome with him and Banks (seriously) but she looks too manly after the haircut. Anyway, Bayley vs. Brooke later.

Bayley vs. Dana Brooke

Non-title. Bayley slaps her to start so Brooke knocks her outside for a handspring elbow against the barricade. Another one connects back inside but Bayley elbows her in the face for two. Bayley loads up a superplex but gets reversed into a sunset bomb for two. Brooke gets sent into the corner though and that arm trap bulldog driver gives Bayley the pin at 1:52.

We look at Miz/Wyatt from last week again.

Sheamus is still coming.

We get a sitdown interview with Miz at his home in Los Angeles. Miz hasn’t seen Bryan and doesn’t have much to say to him. We see the near legendary promo battle on Talking Smack and Miz says he thinks it’s finally time for him to do the right thing. Last week Bray took a step too far because family is what matters most.

We hear Maryse scream from somewhere else and Miz runs over to hear. Bray has hacked a tablet and the Firefly Fun House puppets are in their daughter’s crib. Miz and Maryse run upstairs to check on her and everything seems ok, though Willow is a bit scared. There’s a Bray doll in her crib and Miz tells the cameras to get out. I know it’s rushed and I know the match isn’t going to work, but they’re trying with these two and the promos have been good.

And now, the Firefly Fun House with the Bray doll sitting on the table. Bray was just trying to be nice and she told him a long time ago that no one likes a snitch. Miz was so busy trying to defend Bryan that he ended up exposing himself. Bryan is with, ahem, him, but Miz is with Bray. See, Bray has taught himself that pain is just a chemical reaction and you can train yourself to not feel pain at all. He bangs his head into the table and smiles, saying you can train yourself not to feel love either. All you have to do is let him in. Oh and Marine 5 was FIRE! See you at TLC!

Corbin and Ziggler find the throne toppled over and more people down.

Heavy Machinery vs. Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura

Tucker dropkicks Cesaro to start and hits a spinning middle rope crossbody for a bonus. Otis comes in and shoves Nakamura down before sending Cesaro outside as we take a break. Back with Tucker fighting out of a front facelock as the fans want Otis. Tucker rolls him away and brings in Otis for the gyrating but Nakamura breaks up a charge in the corner. Nakamura’s sliding knee gets two but Kinshasa is broken up. So is the Compactor though, leaving Otis to send Nakamura outside. The Caterpillar is broken up but Sami offers a distraction, allowing Nakamura to blast Tucker with Kinshasa for the pin at 9:43.

Rating: C. Just a match here and I continue to be surprised by how long the Caterpillar has stayed over. The fans are just digging it every single time and that’s a cool situation to have. Otis and Tucker shouldn’t have a lot of staying power but Otis’ ridiculous charisma is enough to keep them fine enough. Not a bad match, and again the right team won after breaking a sweat.

Batista and the NWO are going into the Hall of Fame.

Kofi Kingston vs. King Corbin

Kofi kicks at the ribs to start but gets shouldered down in a hurry. Corbin is knocked outside and Kofi drops him again as we take a break. Back with Corbin shoving Kingston off the top and driving him into the barricade a few times. Corbin takes him back inside for more shots to the ribs, followed by a big boot for two. End of Days is countered into the SOS for two but a Ziggler distraction breaks up Trouble in Paradise. That’s good for an ejection but he comes back to the ring for the brawl with Big E….and the double DQ at 10:21.

Rating: C. Yeah yeah just ring the bell for the tag match. They might as well have had a big sign up saying this was coming and there was no way they were going to do anything else. I can appreciate them not doing a clean finish here but it was a bit annoying waiting around for the ending that they telegraphed like no other.

New Day vs. Dolph Ziggler/King Corbin

Joined in progress with Ziggler hitting Big E. with a Fameasser for two and it’s off to Corbin for some choking. The belly to belly gets Big E. out of trouble and it’s off to Kofi for the top rope chop to the head. Ziggler is sent outside but Corbin clotheslines Kofi to cut things off. Ziggler busts out the handcuffs to tie Kofi up and that’s a DQ at 2:39.

Post match Kofi gets tied up ala Reigns last week and here’s the Revival for a Shatter Machine to Big E. Corbin brings out the dog food so here’s Reigns (who was so ENRAGED that he waited until the match was over and Corbin had a huge numbers advantage at the end of the show) to wreck everyone. Reigns gets the scepter but Ziggler superkicks him down. Big E. saves him from a ladder elbow through the table, allowing Reigns to throw him through the table instead. Reigns frees Kofi as Corbin bails to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. They really can’t help themselves with Corbin. He starts getting a little traction in the King role and then he’s all over the show AGAIN, which is what caused so many of his problems in the first place. WWE does this every time and it never works, which is why we’re so likely to see it happen again and again. That’s going to headline on Sunday too and Corbin will keep getting a push as WWE fails to see why it isn’t working. The rest of the show didn’t seem to matter but it was all about Corbin with Reigns thrown in at the end.

Results

Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross b. Fire & Desire – Purge to Deville

Revival b. Shorty G./Mustafa Ali – Shatter Machine to Ali

Bayley b. Dana Brooke – Arm trap bulldog driver

Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura b. Heavy Machinery – Kinshasa to Tucker

Kofi Kingston vs. King Corbin went to a no contest when Big E. and Dolph Ziggler started brawling

New Day b. King Corbin/Dolph Ziggler via DQ when Ziggler used handcuffs

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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