Written by Brian McNamara
It’s the go home show for Survivor Series so it’s all brand teams, all storyline, all the time.
The show begins with the Smackdown roster, bedecked in blue brand shirts, gathered backstage as the “captains” of Team Smackdown – King Corbin and Roman Reigns – try to rally the troops. Roman takes charge by – literally – opening the door to attacks from Team RAW and Team NXT. There’s a tension between the two that borders on dissension before Sasha Banks jumps in to diffuse it and promise that the Smackdown Women’s Team will do what the men can’t – or won’t. The segment, pre-credits oddly enough, strove for a realistic feeling but instead felt oddly paced and oddly timed, like it was an afterthought. That it doesn’t feel all that different from the segment that follows makes it feel even more superfluous.
Sasha leads the Smackdown Women’s Team out to the ring, reveling in their brand superiority over NXT and RAW this past week. Sasha then offers an open challenge to team RAW. It’s answered quickly thereafter as Charlotte’s theme hits and she’s joined by Team RAW. Charlotte and her retinue circle the ring and barbs as traded. Charlotte makes a challenge for a 1-on-1 match right here against Sasha, but is almost immediately interrupted by the NXT Women’s Team. Rhea Ripley stands up for the yellow-and-black brand – who Sasha said didn’t have the guts to show themselves tonight – and challenges Sasha and Charlotte to a Team Captain Triple Threat match. The NXT team advances on the ring and we’re in a standoff. With all 15 women in the ring, it dissolves into an all-out brawl as we cut to commercial.
Triple Threat: Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks vs. Rhea Ripley
The three women square up and trade some strikes before Sasha is tossed out of the ring. We’re then treated to a strike-and-kick heavy exchange between Rhea and Charlotte. The size match up between these two is something to behold and they feel well-suited to each other with Rhea the bruiser and Charlotte the finesse player. Rhea avoids a spear into the corner which takes out Charlotte, opening the door for Sasha to come back. They tumble to the outside, where Charlotte is able to knock Sasha into the steps and into Smackdown teammate Nikki Cross. Sasha and Nikki exchange words, playing on Sasha not wanting her on the team, which serves up a distraction that Rhea capitalizes on. Rhea barely gets ahead before Charlotte delivers a moonsault from the top turnbuckle to the two outside the ring.
Back from break and we’re breaking up a pin from Ripley. A great Meteora from Sasha on Ripley with a pin that Charlotte breaks with a natural selection. A really good sequence in the match. There’s some more brief back and forth before Charlotte gains the upper hand and applies the figure four to Sasha. Rhea Ripley slides into the ring and does something really cool: she pins Charlotte as she bridges her figure four into the figure eight! A unique way to have Rhea steal a win by taking advantage of the triple threat. In all, the match was just okay, lacking a degree of polish and a little odd in places, but it was a showcase for Ripley and a way to actually give NXT a win on the path to Survivor Series.
Winner: Rhea Ripley
After the match Charlotte, who maybe has a bloody nose or busted lip, shoves Sasha and the two tussle for a bit before Team RAW and Team Smackdown get into another brawl while Team NXT gloat from the stage. Charlotte looks dominant even in the face of Ripley stealing a win.
Backstage, King Corbin, Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler plot strategy on how to capitalize on an NXT run-in. Sami Zayn shows up with a mystery bag! Bayley is backstage and challenges Shayna Bazler to a one-on-one, saying she’s tired of being attacked when her back is turned.
In the ring, Sami Zayn is challenging King Corbin to come out to the ring. He then transitions to hyping Shinsuke and calls the two of them studs. It’s a weird segment to say the least. Sami then says he’s gotten Shinsuke a gift and presents him with… a NEW INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE? The new title is handsome and seems cut from the cloth as the modern NXT titles with a clean look, though it’s less immediately recognizable then the white leather belt. It does feel odd to introduce a new title belt in such an unceremonious way.
They feign not knowing who Roderick Strong is in their upcoming match and are then interrupted by the Undisputed Era. Sami and Shin back out of the ring pretty quickly and, oddly enough, Adam Cole and not Roderick is the one to speak. Cole puts over Strong and hypes their War Games match the night before Survivor series before he is interrupted by the New Day. Kofi reminds them that they ran away before facing their consequences last week and maybe it’s time to remind them right here, right now. Undisputed Era agree before asking who will join New Day in a 4-on-4. New Day reveal their partners are… Heavy Machinery. Why Heavy Machinery when Sami and Shin are still standing there is not explained. Sort of an odd bit, seemed like it lacked transition as to why everyone’s involved.
Four-on-Four Tag Match: The Undisputed Era vs. The New Day & Heavy Machinery
Early on the Era trap Big E in their corner and get a bunch of strikes in. When Big E gets an opportunity he tags out and splashes Bobby Fish on the apron before capturing Kyle O’Reily in belly-to-belly on the floor. Kofi gets in a top rope double axe handle to get an advantage on Adam Cole but gets trapped in the corner by the Era who use their tags to keep him hemmed in. Undisputed Era show great teamwork as they pick apart Kofi. Meanwhile, Shin and Sami are looking on from the ramp. A misunderstanding between Big E and Otis after Otis drags Kofi off Tucker after a catch, leads to some shoving between the big men as we cut to commercial.
Kofi is still in trouble and still isolated as we come back from break. Fish still has control but Kofi gets off a great dropkick before hot tagging in Otis. Otis is a ball of fire as he runs into every member of Undisputed Era. Otis sets up for the caterpillar but Kyle O’Riley pulls Cole out and replaces him. Now Tucker’s in and Strong’s the legal man. Tucker breaks out a moonsault onto Strong and nearly gets the pin but it’s broken up by Cole. Big E’s in now and he wrecks Fish and O’Riley. But his advantage is short as Undisputed Era’s teamwork can’t be denied. They take advantage and get control easily. Oddly enough the match is won with a running knee on Tucker from Strong. In all a great showcase for all three teams, but it’s a better way to introduce Undisputed Era to a main WWE viewers and show them as contenders with sharp teamwork and speed.
Winners: Undisputed Era
Strong charges up the ramp to confront Shinsuke and just as they do, AJ Styles comes out of nowhere to attack them both for the RAW brand. But he’s quickly taken out by Sami Zayn attacking with a chair who then goes on to take out Strong. Sami and Shin are chased away by the rest of the Era. Again, the bookend segments to the match were odd, disconnected from each other.
AJ Styles and The O.C. are out here yelling at the crowd, doing a little bit of an SCU riff in what seems to be an off-air segment they cut to. The Chicago crowd starts a CM Punk chant and AJ owns it and says he’d mop the floor with him. And, uh, that’s some real good stuff right there. Book it, AJ.
Daniel Bryan is out next explaining why he wants this match with Bray Wyatt. They recap the last few last weeks. Daniel talks about not being another toy or pawn of Bray Wyatt and defeating the Fiend. The lights drop out but no sign of the Fiend. But now The Miz is out. The two capitalize on their animosity over the years and the Miz smacks Daniel Bryan. It is a bit unclear who exactly the good and bad guys are here – including The Fiend. But Bryan and Miz are compelling competitors anytime they’re together.
Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz
This one started during the ad break. It’s an intense and rough bout. These two work really well off each other. Such good chemistry and a little bit of an edge to the match. Miz’s chest is lit up and Bryan’s chops and kicks seem to be striking true. A really good bout. It’s cut short though as the lights turn out slowly and the prone form of the Miz is replaced by the Fiend! The red lights drop out to spots as The Fiend applies the claw to Bryan in the middle of the ring. A nice way to subvert the Fiend appearing when the lights drop out.
Winner: No Contest
Shayna Bazler comes down to the ring to call out Bayley. Doffing her jacket and title Bazler squares up to the Titantron but Bayley chop blocks Bazler from behind. The two fight in out, throwing each other around the ring and around the outside. Bayley gets an upper hand and heads toward the back.
Mustafa Ali, Shorty G & Roman Reigns vs. Dolph Zigger, Robert Roode & King Corbin
Starts out with Roode and Ziggler teaming up on Roman, smart team work out of the gate. Shorty G showing off some impressive suplexes before being dumped onto the announce table and taken out of the match. A very quick cut to commercial.
Mustafa Ali is in after the break and gets in some really great stuff, in particular catching a superkick from Dolph and countering it into a spinning heel kick looked slick. The match speeds along with Gable and Roman spamming big moves on the outside before each being taken out. Dolph knocks Ali off the top rope and he gets caught in a Deep Six to end the match. That was very fast. Too fast? Seemed oddly rushed.
Winner: King Corbin & Co.
Corbin moves to attack Ali with his scepter but Roman makes the save. But then Seth Rollins’ music hits and Team RAW walks down through the crowd. Seth and Roman face off in the ring and start to attack each other. The RAW team goes to town on Roman, Shorty G and Ali. Braun runs out with the Smackdown locker room as they crawl gets bigger. Heath Slater is wrecking dudes with a kendo stick!
And now NXT are rolling in with a Jeep ala the DX Invasion. It’s admittedly a very good image. But now it’s pandemonium. Keith Lee holding court in the ring is a great image. Lee and Braun sizing each other up before punching each other as the other big men fill in the ring. And then the episode just kind of ends.
This was a very weird episode of Smackdown. On the one hand, the matches were all pretty good. But they either felt rushed – like the main event or starter – or were so badly interrupted by ads that it begs the question of why you even feature wrestling on the show. It took 45 minutes for the second match of the night to show up on Smackdown. The segments all felt tacked on or afterthoughts. I’m also surprised we didn’t get a solid conclusion – someone standing tall in the ring at the end of the night. Just a strange show. Everything was in service of Survivor Series – and to a lesser extent hyping War Games as the lead in – but that tends to detract from the matches.
Miz and Bryan should have been a main event and given ample time before the Fiend swap out. Certainly what we saw was an A+ match. The tepid main event 6-man tag was just odd and only in service of the conclusion. It’s a cohesive show but it felt less than the sum of its parts. This doesn’t feel like Prime Time Major Network Smackdown but rather a throwback to the pre-taped Thursday night era and that doesn’t do WWE any favors in this dawning age of competitive wrestling shows.
