Smackdown Live is emanating from Glasgow, Scotland for the first time in history. The big match tonight is Smackdown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defending against Alexa Bliss. Plus, we will likely have build towards the upcoming Survivor Series elimination matches against Monday Night RAW.
Smackdown Live Review – Becky Lynch versus Alexa Bliss
AJ Styles made his way to the ring to address what happened last week, where Dean Ambrose pinned Styles after a distraction from James Ellsworth. This made Ambrose the number one contender, and their match will take place at TLC. Styles said he was in no mood for the fans cheers or boos. Styles said he was told that he is not allowed to have any physical contact with Ambrose because of the upcoming Survivor Series match. Styles said he is the de facto captain of the team, and therefore needed to get them all together. Baron Corbin made his entrance. Styles said he was going to give Corbin an introduction, but he can do what he wants as long as he delivers at Survivor Series. Corbin said he would deliver, just not for “your team.” The Wyatt Family sounder played, and Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton, and Luke Harper appeared at the bottom of the entrance ramp. Styles welcomed the Wyatt Family to team Smackdown. Dean Ambrose’s music played and he walked to the ring but turned around before getting inside. He went back up the top of the ramp and pointed to the entrance, which brought out James Ellsworth. Ellsworth and Ambrose got in the ring.
Ambrose said Ellsworth was his guest because he has never seen Scotland before. Styles said he didn’t care, as long as Ellsworth was not around at Survivor Series. Styles said they may be on the same team at Survivor Series, but right now, Ambrose is outnumbered. Corbin left the ring, much to Styles’ dismay. The Wyatt Family entered the ring but Shane McMahon’s music hit before anything happened. Shane and Corbin shared a look as they passed each other on the entrance ramp. Shane said they need to defeat RAW at Survivor Series, but they have to be on the same page. Ellsworth whispered something in Shane’s ear. Shane allowed Ellsworth to make the announcement of what he just whispered, which was that Ellsworth will be Team Smackdown’s official mascot. Shane said tonight they were going to let out some tension with the Wyatt Family versus Dean Ambrose, Baron Corbin and James Ellsworth.
A camera shot showed Becky Lynch getting ready for her title defense later tonight.
Rating – 7/10: Corbin had one line, but was very effective here. Playing up the lone wolf gimmick and leaving is great for his character. Styles, Ambrose and Shane were all good here as well. The tag match with Corbin is a weird fit, but I guess that is what happens when you have a heel heavy team. Would guess he walks out on them as well.
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Back from commercial, Shane McMahon caught up with Baron Corbin. Shane said he wanted to make sure Corbin heard about the tag match. Corbin said he did hear, but that he was not interested. Corbin said he would not team with Ambrose and Ellsworth. Corbin said he didn’t care if Shane kicked him off the Survivor Series team because the team needs him more than he need the team. Shane said he would be out of the six man tag tonight, but instead would be facing a returning Kalisto.
The Vaudevillians were already in the ring, awaiting a tag team qualifying match for Survivor Series. Breezango made their entrance and handed out tickets to people in the crowd since they are now apparently fashion police. Aiden English quickly attacked Tyler Breeze. After some quick action outside of the ring, Fandango pinned English to win the match.
Rating – 5/10: The tag team match was a quick one between two teams that no one cares about. It really is a shame because both of these teams should be doing so much more, especially the Vaudevillians. The Corbin and Shane segment made McMahon look sort of like a pushover, but we will see how it all plays out.
A commercial promoted the return of the Undertaker next week on Smackdown.
The coach of the Women’s Survivor Series team, Natalya, made her way to the ring, whistle and all. Nikki Bella was with the commentary team and it was announced that Bella is the captain of the team. Naomi made her entrance. Natalya pulled Naomi down by the hair and put her in a submission move while telling Naomi she was better than her. The two hit a double cross body and Carmella made her way out. Natalya got in between the two of them and pulled her whistle out, blew it in Nikki’s face and told her to stop it. Nikki shoved her out of the way and took a cheap shot at Carmella. Natalya got back in the ring, narrowly avoiding being counted out, only to have Naomi roll her up for the win.
Alexa Bliss was shown getting ready for her championship match later tonight.
Rating – 5/10: Guilty pleasure confession: Naomi’s entrance is always something I think is really cool. It’s innovative and different and I actually look forward to it. The match was slow with little action and was more about Carmella and Nikki Bella’s issues. It was odd that the match wasn’t called when Nikki Bella pushed Natalya, but I guess they wanted to show Naomi getting the best of Natalya again.
Backstage, Daniel Bryan was shown talking to Dean Ambrose and James Ellsworth. Bryan told Ambrose that he found someone to team with them. Ellsworth turned around to see it was Kane. Ellsworth asked what the strategy for tonight was and Kane told him not to tag in.
Baron Corbin made his entrance for his match against Kalisto. The announce team recapped when Corbin injured Kalisto three months ago. As Kalisto jumped over the top rope, Corbin clotheslined the life out of him. Corbin roughed him up some more and threw him outside of the ring like a dart. Corbin went to leave the ring and he slipped off of the apron and sold his knee like it was blown up. Corbin leaned against the steps. Kalisto came out of nowhere and dropkicked the knee into the steps. Corbin rolled back into the ring and Kalisto performed a frog splash on to the injured knee. JBL complained about Kalisto attacking Corbin before the match. A replay aired of Corbin attacking Kalisto on the entrance, which JBL explained as Kalisto “hot dogging.” Corbin was left in the ring getting attention from the referees.
Rating – 7/10: A couple of developments here. First, it looks like they are setting up to take Corbin out of the match at Survivor Series. That’s too bad, as he could have used the rub, but it also makes sense in that he could not afford to take a pin or submit in the match. They could have always gone with the classic disqualification finish for him, but that would sacrifice one of RAW’s main stars. Too bad. Second, Kalisto showed good intensity and got some character development off of this. Hopefully he keeps it up and is more than a happy go lucky underdog. JBL only pointing out Kalisto attacking Corbin and not referring Corbin’s pre-match attack was hilarious.
A video package recapped the Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss setup for the championship match tonight. Alexa Bliss made her entrance before going to a commercial.
Back from commercial, Daniel Bryan walked in and said Baron Corbin will not be able to compete at Survivor Series. Shane handed Bryan the roster and said to pick someone because he is going to watch the main event.
Becky Lynch made her entrance for the title match. The women got the championship match introductions. Bliss got a small reaction while Lynch got a decent positive reaction. The bell rang and the two locked up. Lynch went for the Disarmer quickly, but Bliss was able to escape. The two had some back and forth before ending up in a stare down. Eventually, Bliss cut off Lynch and kicked her to the outside of the ring and threw her in to the steps. Bliss kept working on Lynch’s shoulder and arm area with an arm bar and by slamming her arm in to the ring post and steps. Bliss locked in another arm bar, but Lynch rolled through it and lifted Bliss up and put her down with a sit out power bomb. Lynch gained control and hit a few of her signature moves, including the t-bone suplex. Lynch went to the top rope for a leg drop, but Bliss moved. Bliss hit her “insult to injury” move, which is a jumping knee to the stomach followed by a back handspring knee attack. The two women traded blows which Lynch eventually got the best of. Bliss attempted a tornado DDT, but landed on her feet then hit a normal DDT. Becky Lynch locked in the disarmer, which caused Bliss to tap. The announcers pointed out that Bliss’ foot was on the rope, which should have forced Lynch to break the hold.
In the back, Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan were talking about the fifth member of Team Smackdown. The Miz and Maryse entered the picture and asked why Dolph Ziggler was defending the Intercontinental Championship against a member of the RAW team. Daniel Bryan announced that they made a deal with Mick Foley that would see Ziggler defending the Intercontinental Championship while Brian Kendrick will defend the Cruiserweight Championship against Kalisto. If Kalisto wins, the entire Cruiserweight division will become permanent to Smackdown. Maryse asked if that meant the Miz would not get his rematch if Ziggler loses. Bryan said he could have it next week if he wanted it, which Maryse accepted on his behalf.
Rating – 7/10: The women’s match was good. Both women worked very hard and they delivered a very good match. Sure, it wasn’t like what we might be accustomed to on the Monday night show, but it still was a good match. This feud is obviously not over with Bliss having her foot on the ropes at the end. The Cruiserweight stipulation is pretty interesting and almost seems like it is inevitable that the division will be moving to Smackdown.
Apollo Crews made his way to the ring to take on Curt Hawkins since their match never started last week. The two had a lot of back and forth. In the end, Hawkins Oklahoma rolled Crews for the victory, which the announcers put over as an upset.
Backstage, Renee Young caught up with Dolph Ziggler and asked him about defending the Intercontinental Championship next week against the Miz. Ziggler said he was excited about next week and hyped the return of The Undertaker and Edge along with his match. He said after he wins next week, he would go on to defeat Sami Zayn at Survivor Series.
The Wyatt Family made their entrance for the six man tag match. AJ Styles was with the announce team. Kane made his entrance by himself, then James Ellsworth, then Dean Ambrose. Luke Harper and Kane started the match. The entire Wyatt Family dominated the first few minutes, particularly working over Ambrose. Kane got the tag and took control over Orton. The crowd chanted “we want Ellsworth” but died out when Kane told Ellsworth to stop jumping up and down. Orton regained control and tagged Bray Wyatt back in. The Wyatt’s continued to beat up Kane through the commercial break. After a few more minutes of Wyatt domination, Kane finally made the hot tag to Ambrose, which surprisingly received little reaction from the crowd. Ambrose cleared all three members of the Wyatt Family by himself. Ambrose reversed Sister Abigail and tried for Dirty Deeds, but Wyatt pushed him into a big boot from Harper. Harper and Kane fought to the outside and to the backstage area. Wyatt and Ambrose put each other down with a double lariat. Ambrose made his way to the corner and Ellsworth tagged himself in, which the crowd popped huge for. Ellsworth set up for a superkick on Wyatt, who quickly moved and put him down with Sister Abigail.
After the match, Orton, Wyatt and Styles surrounded Ambrose. Before they could attack him, Shane McMahon ran out and got in between them all. Daniel Bryan’s music hit and the crowd erupted with “YES!” chants. Bryan said his name was on the list he had to choose from, but he cannot compete. Bryan said the name of the Commissioner was on the list and asked Shane if he would be the fifth member of Team Smackdown. The crowd erupted and Shane agreed to be the fifth member.
Rating – 8/10: Shane being the fifth member is significant and was pretty unexpected. Even though he hasn’t been advertised, it seemed like the only obvious choice was John Cena. The main event served its purpose for the Smackdown team and the dynamic between the five of them. Does anyone else have this sinking feeling that the Ellsworth mascot thing is a setup to get him to turn on team Smackdown and reveal himself to be working for Stephanie McMahon? Guess we will see in a couple of weeks.
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