WWE SmackDown – November 9, 2019 (Review)

It’s amazing how closely wrestling resembles my own personal life. In the sense that just like the graps, my week starts slow, peaks around the midpoint and then hopelessly peters out by Friday night. Also, someone who looks a little bit like Erick Rowan once almost ran me over accidentally. But the first point is more salient.

Because the simple truth is that Raw and SmackDown are increasingly feeling like relics of a bygone era. They’re old, antiquated and feel ever more out of place in the modern world. In a time when creativity and imagination are encouraged and the platforms available for talent to express itself is ubiquitous, people have little patience for the nonsense offered up by Monday and Friday nights.

And so while Rusev is letting his divorce play out on international TV and Shorty G reminds everyone that he’s *cough* short, true wrestling entertainment is playing out on Wednesday nights.

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NXT has maintained a high standard for a long time now, both in terms of its in-ring product and the surrounding theatrics. Somehow the developmental brand has accomplished something that the main roster rarely succeeds in – producing immensely likeable babyfaces and detestable (albeit incredibly cool) heels. And when you have characters as captivating as Dakota Kai, Io Shirai, Adam Cole and Tommaso Ciampa, it becomes a lot easier to buy into the matches they put on. Hell, they even made Finn Bálor cool again!

But it’s the introduction of AEW that has really provided the instant shot of adrenaline that has so sorely been missing. Without delving into the details of the show, Cody and Chris Jericho produced two of the best promos in recent memory this past week. Both are well worth the watch for various reasons. Cody’s for the raw emotion and the pitch-perfect delivery, Jericho’s for the blisteringly genius humour. Both were phenomenal, and both were entirely atypical of what we were used to seeing. As Dave Meltzer stated in relation to Cody’s segment:

“There are 40 writers working in WWE and they haven’t written a promo this good perhaps ever.”

He’s right. And the tragedy is that doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon. Because a week after SmackDown was universally praised for the exciting show it produced when presented with an unforeseen emergency last week, it appeared (on paper at least) to be reverting to form this week.

In fact, SmackDown looked set to simply deliver the show we missed out on last week. And that meant Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin. It meant an appearance by Tyson Fury, and a match between Sasha Banks and Nikki Cross. What it didn’t promise though was an all-time great video package or heartfelt, expertly delivered promo.

That’s what Wednesdays are for. Let’s get to the review.

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The Best of SmackDown

Titles Change Hands

The New Day had an amusing exchange with Kayla Braxton upon their arrival to the arena. They dropped some good lines ahead of their championship clash against The Revival, none better than saying they had to win the Tag Team Titles for a seventh time because “how else are [they] going to catch Charlotte?” That made me chuckle.

What followed was a fine tag encounter that got a bit messy in the sequence of quick tags to finish. Per usual, the babyfaces spent much of the match getting worked over, until things broke down and Kofi Kingston hit the Trouble in Paradise to win.

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It’s perhaps somewhat confusing that Kofi picked up the win, as it appeared for a few weeks that SmackDown was trying to lay the groundwork for a different story, starting with his unceremonious defeat to Brock Lesnar. But Kofi’s battle against futility came to an abrupt end and the New Day are again the Tag Team Champions. It should be fun.

Sami Zayn Consulting Inc.

Sami Zayn bumped into Daniel Bryan backstage. He once again tried to impress upon Bryan how valuable he could be as an ally. If Daniel wanted proof, all he had to do was ask Shinsuke Nakamura or Cesaro. Better yet, he could watch them take on Shorty G and Ali from ringside.

I have to admit, I’m really intrigued by this angle. Particularly as Bryan has yet to say a word in response to Sami’s solicitation, neither last week nor yesterday. Regardless, Bryan took Zayn up on his offer and watched the match from the top of the ramp.

And as you might expect from the talent involved, the tag match was a good one. There were bodies flying all over the place, as the match almost took on tornado rules. Eventually Cesaro capitalised on a distraction caused by Sami Zayn, knocking Ali off the top rope and directly into a Kinshasa.

Impressed, @WWEDanielBryan?@ShinsukeN & @WWECesaro pick up the BIG win on #SmackDown! pic.twitter.com/MrJUWVcOlA

— WWE (@WWE) November 9, 2019

Zayn then beckoned Bryan into the ring to celebrate with his victorious team. But an expressionless Bryan turned and walked to the back.

The Fiend Strikes

In the locker room, Sami continued making his pitch to Bryan. He understood that “artists” such as him could be temperamental, but knew for a fact that Daniel shared his vision. It was time to forget the ‘Yes Movement’ and forge ahead with Sami and Nakamura.

Just then the lights flickered. And dread set in.

Seconds later, the room was plunged into darkness. As a red light illuminated view, The Fiend was lurking behind Bryan. Sami skedaddled, leaving Bryan at the Fiend’s mercy. He lurched at Bryan and locked in the Mandible Claw, laughing maniacally throughout.

THE UNIVERSAL CHAMPION IS HERE.

What has #TheFiend @WWEBrayWyatt done to @WWEDanielBryan?! #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/Qem2tnd6Pw

— WWE (@WWE) November 9, 2019

So I suppose that earmarks Bryan as The Fiend’s next challenger (target?). And I, for one, reckon it’s a solid choice. I’m not sure who else could possibly step up to rehabilitate the image of the Universal Champion after the lacklustre feud with Seth Rollins. Plus, a loss to the Fiend could perhaps push Bryan further into the clutches of Sami Zayn…

The Unsung Star of the Women’s Division

Fire & Desire took on Dana Brooke and Carmella. It was the match we were supposed to get last week, but Bianca Belair took out the latter pair before they could make their entrance.

As the bell sounded, I wondered whether we needed this match. Apparently we did though, because it inexplicably became a qualifier to represent Team SmackDown at Survivor Series.

WOWWOWWOWWOWWOWWOWWOW#SmackDown @DanaBrookeWWE pic.twitter.com/dnE98N1TXx

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) November 9, 2019

But truthfully, I’m glad we got to see the contest for another reason. It’s been said before, but Sonya Deville is a highly undervalued talent. She has presence in the ring, moves smoothly, and is able to deliver impactful-looking strikes. I’m not sure how she’s fallen below Mandy Rose in WWE’s pecking order – that’s not true, I know exactly how it’s happened – but she deserves much better.

Anyway, a nice match, which Dana Brooke (who also deserves a shout-out) won with a Senton from the top rope. So her and Carmella become the first two women on Team SmackDown.

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The Worst of SmackDown

The King of Tedium

Baron Corbin delivered one of the worst promos of the year. And being fully aware of the things Aleister Black has said in 2019, I do not use those words lightly.

He started off by explaining the concept of this year’s Survivor Series, transitioned to Roman Reigns’ return from illness, before claiming that wrestling fans only have a “what have you done for me lately?” mentality. In other words, Roman hasn’t done much in recent times. He’s instead taken a step back, content to remain out of the spotlight.

#TheBigDog's bark isn't so impressive, huh?

King @BaronCorbinWWE has PROOF. 🤨 #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/LkbhanLfBh

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) November 9, 2019

Or, as Corbin so eloquently put it, the ‘Big Dog’s balls have shrivelled to the size of little marbles and his bark resembles that of a chihuahua. There were a lot of bad metaphors here, made even worse by the cringeworthy animation of Reigns’ dog logo yapping like a little puppy.

By the time Baron got to the part where he vowed to beat Roman in the main event, the crowd was well and truly dead. He bombed hard out there and it was uncomfortable to watch.

In an ideal world, the opening segment of a show is designed to set the tone for the rest of the night. It reels you in, hooking the audience for what is to come. Instead, this annoyed me so much that I wanted to change the channel within five minutes of the broadcast starting. So mission failed.

The “Invasion” Continues

For whatever reason, Heavy Machinery pranced down to the ring. Once there, they were ambushed by Imperium, because apparently NXT UK is part of Team NXT in the battle for brand supremacy? (Shrug.)

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Within seconds, New Day, Apollo Crews, Shorty G and Ali ran out to make the save, alongside the suddenly recovered Otis and Tucker. Rather insultingly, commentary tried to pass this off as “another heinous attack by NXT“, when even the casual observer could tell you that nothing much happened.

Rounding off this charade of nonsense, Heavy Machinery then simply left the ring. Which begs the question: why the hell were they out there to begin with?

It’s Boss Time

Sasha Banks has new entrance music. Which is essentially just a remix of her old theme. I don’t like it.

She had a pretty uninspired match with Nikki Cross, somehow made even less engaging with Bayley on commentary. The SmackDown Women’s Champion interfered on one occasion, which had no discernible effect on proceedings. So she just returned to the commentary desk to babble some more.

Sweet, sweet victory.

@SashaBanksWWE makes @NikkiCrossWWE TAP OUT to the #BankStatement on #SmackDown! pic.twitter.com/wE7Cs4XDTg

— WWE (@WWE) November 9, 2019

A few minutes later, Banks locked Cross in the Banks Statement to pick up the submission, meaning that Cross has now lost in back-to-back weeks following her title challenge last Friday.

In the aftermath, Bayley moved to continue the attack on Nikki Cross, but was instead blindsided by Shayna Baszler, who emerged from the crowd. It was a very similar angle to what we saw on last week’s SmackDown, but nevertheless the best part of the entire segment.

Enemies Become Friends

Tyson Fury came out in front on his hometown fans and led them through the usual pops. Although the promo was nothing exceptional, it was still refreshing to see someone speak with a degree of freedom and charisma.

Fury said he had unfinished business with Strowman which he wanted to resolve. But it turned out, once Strowman got to the ring, that unfinished business was just a string of compliments and a suggestion that the two large men tag together.

Excuse me – what?!

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Even more baffling, Braun Strowman agreed! He was all onboard with the idea of teaming with the man he claimed to dislike and who had just called him a “big Dosser” two minutes earlier. But where would they find two people dumb enough to fight them?

Enter the B-Team. (Christ almighty, I hated this.)

So Braun beat them up, while Fury laughed. Pointless.

King vs. Big Dog

Never forget how this feud started. The Rock was mean to Baron Corbin, so the King of the Ring winner decided to take it out on Roman Reigns. Captivating material right there. Maybe Seth Rollins should attack Bo Dallas because of his grievance with Bray Wyatt.

But I digress.

Roman Reigns spent the majority of the opening phase in total command, comprehensively beating up Corbin. But then Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler came down, distracting the ‘Big Dog’ just enough for Corbin to hit a Deep Six.

Did YOU know @HEELZiggler & @RealRobertRoode were buddies with King @BaronCorbinWWE? #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/g2VVbrvdDq

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) November 9, 2019

I must have missed this at some point, but apparently Ziggler and Roode were there because Roman was no longer the “locker room leader” he once was and “the boys” were losing respect for him.

The match rolled on for few more tedious minutes, before Ziggler and Roode once again interfered. Reigns was able to dispatch them with a Superman Punch and Spear, but this gave Corbin the opening to land the End of Days.

So King Corbin wins, and presumably this awful (AWFUL!) feud carries on for another week. And I’m very concerned about the potential of another three-man faction headed by Baron Corbin taking over weekly main events.

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Overall Rating for the Show (From best to worst: SmackDamn, SmackTastic, Smack Bang in the Middle, SmackDowner and A Smack in the Face)

Baron Corbin is the absolute worst.

Sure, we’ve seen marked improvement from the King of the Ring winner in recent months, but this represented the lowest of lows for Corbin. He’s never fared well as the focal point of a show and carrying the main event of SmackDown harkens back to the darkest days of the Dogs of War. His opening promo, in particular, was one of the worst segments in all of wrestling this year.

Such a ROYAL setting for KING @BaronCorbinWWE to make his presence felt! #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/Qb1MWNUPb8

— WWE (@WWE) November 9, 2019

Equally concerning is how quickly the NXT “Takeover” has run out of steam. Just one week after the impactful invasion launched by the developmental brand, things have degenerated to a lacklustre run-in during a Heavy Machinery entrance. And then an equally unimpressive escape once Apollo Crews showed up. Somehow, NXT already looks like a tame threat just seven days after they initially showed up.

In truth, if not for the intriguing dynamic between Sami Zayn and Daniel Bryan, there would be little to redeem last night’s SmackDown. Both men are just such captivating performers, with Bryan able to convey so much without even saying a word. His blindside at the hands of The Fiend also serves to set up an interesting feud going forward.

Taking that into account, SmackDown was a low Smack Bang in the Middle.

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• November
• review
• Smackdown
• wwe

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