Written by Michael Vacchiano
Friday Night Smackdown in Philly saw the blue brand of WWE comes to you tonight live from Philadelphia as Smackdown Live invades the “City of Brotherly Love”! But will any love be lost this evening when The Miz has his longtime rival Daniel Bryan as a guest on the latest edition of MizTV? How about any changes or additions to the Smackdown men’s and women’s teams for the Survivor Series elimination matches? And can the New Day feel the power enough to ward off The Revival, and retain the blue-strapped tag belts in the challengers’ rematch for the titles? In the town of our Founding Fathers, we fans should find out plenty of answers to these questions and more. Let’s dive into Friday Night Smackdown in Philly.
King Corbin pays some homage to the late, great Randy Savage by being carried down the aisle on a platformed throne. Ohhhh Yeahhhh!!! Waiting for him in the ring are Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler, who celebrate the King’s win over Roman Reigns last week. Corbin claims that Roman’s yard is now his kingdom, and declares himself the captain of Team Smackdown at Survivor Series. He also states that Roode and Ziggler will face Mustafa Ali (back to his full name) and Shorty G (still hate the new name) to try and take their spots on the team at the PPV. And that match is…right now!
Robert Roode & Dolph Ziggler vs. Mustafa Ali & Shorty G
The heels took the advantage before the commercial break thanks to a Corbin distraction, which led to Roman Reigns coming out to keep the King at bay. With the Big Dog firmly in their corner, Ali and G used their quickness and technique to mount a comeback against their opponents. But the former tag champions retaliated and almost got the win with a sweet-looking spinebuster/Zig Zag combo on Shorty.
Dolph nails Ali with a brutal superkick before getting trapped by G in an ankle lock. No tap out here as Roode makes the save and asks Corbin for his scepter to use as a “foreign object.” But a Drive By kick and spear from Roman to the king ended those royal plans. Ali then landed a beautiful suicide dive on the Glorious One, leaving Ziggler alone in the ring with G. A rolling German suplex by the former Olympian led to a 450 splash from Mustafa and the victory. Reigns congratulates and celebrates with his Survivor Series teammates in the ring, much to King Corbin’s dismay.
Winners: Mustafa Ali & Shorty G
A short episode of the Firefly Funhouse shows Bray Wyatt dressed like a magician. The trick he performs is the unveiling of the newly designed Universal Championship belt, complete with blue strap. He also mentions Daniel Bryan appearing on MizTV tonight after being attacked by The Fiend last week. Stay tuned…
“The Monster Among Men,” Braun Strowman, stomps his way to the ring where the B-Team and Philly’s own Drew Gulak await him. Dallas and Axel aren’t happy with Strowman and Tyson Fury’s assault on them last week, and Gulak wants Braun’s spot on the Smackdown Survivor Series team. You don’t gotta be Kreskin to predict how this is gonna go. Strowman quickly lays waste to all three men, and polishes off Axel with a hard running powerslam. Hands were gotten, indeed.
Backstage interview with New Day members and tag team titleholders Kofi Kingston and Big E, who honor their injured brother, Xavier Woods. They also declare they will beat the Revival tonight to remain 7-time champs. And yes, plenty of hip gyrating on that last statement.
Daniel Bryan is shown walking backstage at the arena, where Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura intercept him. Sami once again asks him to join their group, claiming that he needs them especially after last week’s attack by The Fiend. After pledging that they have his back, the former Planet’s Champion then asks why Sami ran away and left him during said attack. Busted! D-Bry doesn’t buy in and walks away.
Smackdown Tag Team Championship: The New Day (c) vs. The Revival
Both teams do their thing, with Kofi and Big E using their speed and strength tandem offense. It doesn’t take long, however, for Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder to dominate the champs and cut the ring in half. After a hard clothesline collision with each other, E and Wilder make hot tags to their partners. Kingston soon lets loose with an amazing stage dive to the outside on the Revival, clearing the top rope.
A second dive with a Big E-assisted launch didn’t fare as well, as Kofi got caught and thrown into the ring post. This allowed Dawson and Wilder to get the upper hand and nail Big E with the Shatter Machine. The almost pin is broken up by a recovered Kingston, who lands a huge crossbody splash off the top rope. All four men are down, and don’t see the latest invasion from NXT…
The Undisputed Era storm ringside! Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly attack the champions and challengers, hitting some nasty tandem strikes in the process. The crowd is half stoked at their arrival, and half bummed that they interrupted a great match. Nonetheless, Cole & company hightail it when some members of the Smackdown locker room come down to save their fellow Team Blue compatriots. The inter-brand warfare for Survivor Series is heating up!
Winners: No Contest
Heavy Machinery vs. Kevin Tibbs & Kip Stevens
Tucker and Otis make quick work of their “competition”. Dual stalling vertical suplexes lead to the Caterpillar by Otis and the Compactor for the 1-2-3.
Winners: Heavy Machinery
Smackdown women’s champion Bayley along with Sasha Banks is interviewed backstage about her recent attacks on Shayna Baszler and Becky Lynch. The former Hugger credits her blue-haired BFF for her new attitude, and how she’s going to win her champions triple threat at Survivor Series. Bayley also slams her opponent tonight Nikki Cross, who can earn a spot onto the women’s team at the PPV by beating the champ. Match time, and cue the screams of the Scottish Siren…
Smackdown Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Nikki Cross (non-title)
The match barely lasts 30 seconds when NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler leads the charge of the women from the black and gold brand. The gang attack on Bayley is short-lived as Sasha Banks and the other women of Smackdown turn it into a rumble. The two champions brawl through the crowd, and the remaining ladies have themselves an impromptu eight-woman tag team match right now!
Sasha Banks, Nikki Cross, Carmella & Dana Brooke vs. Rhea Ripley, Mia Yim, Tegan Nox & Dakota Kai
All the women involved got to show a little something in this one, especially towards the end when all hell broke loose. Carmella and Nox traded some hard kicks, and Brooke hit a nice-looking handspring elbow into the corner on Yim. Ripley, perhaps the next breakout star of the NXT women’s division, exhibited some raw power with an impressive deadlift vertical suplex on Banks.
The ending sequence had Kai land a Scorpion kick on Cross before attempting to put the Scotswoman away. Unfortunately, the Kiwi firecracker was countered by a rolling neckbreaker from Nikki, who earned the win for the gals from Smackdown. Wish this had gone a little longer, but I get that they’re saving the best for Survivor Series. Credit to all these women for continually stepping up at the opportunity.
Winners: Sasha Banks, Nikki Cross, Carmella & Dana Brooke
MizTV w/ Daniel Bryan
The Awesome One wastes little time and pulls no punches by asking Bryan the tough questions. Miz believes that Bray Wyatt targeted him maybe because he’s washed up compared to who he used to be, but Daniel angrily tells him to shut his mouth. D-Bry admits he’s not the same man he once was, but that he’s just as mentally unstable as The Fiend. Soon after, the Firefly Funhouse theme hits the Tron as Bray gets set to respond.
Wyatt takes the Universal Title belt out of a toy box and invites Bryan to play, imploring him to just say…yes. Daniel says he doesn’t want to play, he wants to FIGHT! And he wants to fight The Fiend for the Universal Championship at Survivor Series, to which the Eater of Worlds gladly accepts the challenge. And now the match is officially set for the November classic!
Friday Night Smackdown in Philly Final Thoughts:
Tonight’s edition of Smackdown Live from Philly did exactly what it was supposed to do: get all of us WWE fans even more excited for Survivor Series. The lineup looks extremely loaded with both Raw and Smackdown’s main titles on the line, plus the champion triple threats and the elimination matches themselves. The superstars tonight representing their brands have all done fabulous jobs to make this card must-see.
Do you need to go back and watch any particular match or moment from tonight’s show? Probably not, as we know the best action and surprises will be coming to us the Sunday before Thanksgiving. The WWE’s plans for the battle for brand supremacy may not have originally included NXT. But to paraphrase my esteemed colleague on here Matt Widdis, “Sometimes the best ideas are made by accident.” Now it’s time to sit back and enjoy!
