WWE Smackdown review
November 15, 2013
Taped 11/12/13 in Manchester, England
Aired on SyFy
By Greg Parks, PWTorch Columnist (Twitter: @gregmparks)


- WWE Open.

- A video recap aired on the Wyatts tormenting of C.M. Punk and Daniel Bryan, with their confrontation with The Shield from Raw added in.

- The camera panned an impressive crowd in Manchester. A graphic aired for Punk and Bryan teaming up (for the first time ever on Smackdown!) to face Ryback and Curtis Axel.

- Also, Alberto Del Rio takes on John Cena in an arm-wrestling match. Stills from Monday of Del Rio attacking Cena after his match with the Real Americans were shown.

1 – THE WYATT FAMILY vs. THE USOS

Michael Cole referred to Luke Harper as “a general in the ring.” With the beard, I suppose he could pass as a Civil War general. The Usos double-teamed the aforementioned Harper, utilizing kicks as their offensive weapon of choice. That is, until Harper’s right hand found the mark and felled one of the Usos. Cole said Rowan wears the sheep mask because behind it, he can be anything he wants to be. Okay, but why a sheep? I assumed it was in reference to the non-believers of the Wyatts, who would be the “sheep” who believe what they are told by others. A little miscommunication with Jimmy and Rowan led to Rowan losing his balance and sort-of back-dropping his foe. Rowan bealed Jimmy into the corner in a dangerous-looking bump. They cut to break 3:54 into the match.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 7:07 of the match with Harper subduing the Usos thanks to a gator roll. Harper stood on Jimmy as he made the tag to Rowan. Back-breaker for a two-count by Rowan. An enziguiri created separation for the Usos just over 9:00 into the match. Jey tagged in and cleaned house on Harper. Samoan Drop found the mark as Bray Wyatt brayed on from his rocking chair. Jey ran right into a Harper big boot, but Jimmy barely made the save. Rowan and Jimmy were sent packing. Superkick by Jey for two. Harper came back with a big clothesline for the pin.

WINNERS: The Wyatt Family, at 11:06. Good win for the Wyatts, and a solid match as well.

After the match, The Usos tried to attack Bray before the Wyatts usual post-match shenanigans could commence. Harper and Rowan quickly got the better of the twins, though, and Bray unleashed quite a bit of anger in the direction of the Usos. Jimmy was given the Sister Abigail finish. Bray did some mic work post-match, talking about Survivor Series and he advised Punk and Bryan to run.

[Commercial Break]

- The exterior of the arena in Manchester was shown.

- Punk & Bryan vs. Axel & Ryback is still to come.

- A clip aired from Raw of Paul Heyman trashing Ryback. They also showed Punk getting his hands on Heyman after going through Axel to do so.

- Axel was backstage along with a pacing Ryback. Ryback said if Axel is still a Paul Heyman Guy, he has no intention of teaming with him tonight. Ryback called Heyman “a repulsive tub of blubber.” Axel countered Ryback’s accusations of Axel sucking up to Heyman, noting Heyman went so far as to propose to Ryback. Axel said they need each other tonight, and they should take their anger out on Bryan and Punk.

- R-Truth was rapping to the Prime Time Players backstage. They seemed to like it. Titus O’Neil and Darren Young chimed-in with their own. Truth wanted to get his “jiggy-jiggy on” tonight. They did the “Millions of Dollars” dance.

- Natalya headed to the ring. She’s in action, next.

[Commercial Break]

- William Regal appeared…in the WWEShop.com plug of the night. But Vickie Guerrero showed up to replace him with the Great Khali.

2 – NATALYA vs. TAMINA SNUKA

When Tamina came to the ring, they showed a clip of Natalya vs. A.J. Lee from Main Event, where Tamina interfered to give Nattie a disqualification win. Natalya went right after Tamina at the bell. Samoan Drop by Tamina caught Natalya coming out of the corner. Spinning clothesline by Nattie on Tamina. That brought A.J. to the apron. A mis-communication led to Tamina running into her. Nattie had some trouble applying the Sharpshooter to Tamina, but when she locked it on, Tamina tapped out.

WINNER: Natalya, via submission, at 1:17. So much for making Tamina look like the intimidating muscle for A.J.

- Cole and JBL gave an update on Randy Orton’s status, in that he’s still scheduled to appear at Survivor Series to defend the WWE Title against the Big Show. They showed Orton walking out on his match on Raw, and what happened after that.

- Vickie Guerrero was shown watching the proceedings from backstage. Brad Maddox walked up and said he wouldn’t want to be Vickie when The Authority shows back up. Vickie threw it back in Maddox’s face for not overruling her. She said it’ll be Kane and Maddox who get in trouble on Raw. Vickie cackled with laughter after saying she can’t wait to see Maddox squirm on Monday.

[Commercial Break]

3 – 3MB (aka THE UNION JACKS) vs. THE PRIME TIME PLAYERS & R-TRUTH

Cole referred to 3MB as The Union Jacks throughout the match, as if they had permanently changed their name. Jinder Mahal leapt in the corner, landing right on O’Neil’s shoulders. O’Neil slammed him down. Drew McIntyre tagged in and did a better job on O’Neil than Mahal did. Mahal tagged back in and connected on a running knee for two. R-Truth and Darren Young did some cheerleading on the outside to get the crowd behind O’Neil. A shoulder tackle took down Heath Slater. O’Neil tagged Truth at 2:50 of the match. Front suplex by Truth for two. After everyone predictably got involved, Truth made the pin for the win.

WINNERS: Prime Time Players and Truth, at 3:43. I’m sure we’ll see plenty of 3MB Monday night on the Country edition of Raw.

- Alberto Del Rio was walking backstage. He arm-wrestles John Cena next.

[Commercial Break]

- Michael Cole was in the ring. Before the arm-wrestling challenge, he sent it to a video of what transpired between Cena and Del Rio on Raw. To kick things off, Cole first introduced Del Rio. Del Rio got the mic and said he was proud of what he did to Cena on Raw. He said unlike Cena, he doesn’t steal things – he earns them. Del Rio vowed to become World Champion one more time at Survivor Series. He wanted Cena to accept his challenge right now. Cena, of course, came out after a pause.

Cena complimented the fans in Manchester. He pointed out a guy dressed as Superman in one of the front rows. He made a few playful jokes at the expense of the fan, then turned his attention to Del Rio. In the ring, by the way, was a table (with two blocks on it) and two steel chairs – not quite the “set” we’re accustomed to for arm-wrestling matches. Cena said when he beats Del Rio at Survivor Series, he’ll be left with just his hands on his flag pole. Edgy, but it didn’t really make sense. Cena “woke up” the crowd and was ready to perform the challenge against Del Rio.

Mike Chioda gave final instructions as the crowd chanted “Let’s Go Cena/Cena sucks.” As soon as they began, Cena defeated Del Rio. It was pretty much record time. Cena’s music played, but Del Rio protested. He said he wasn’t ready. Cena granted Del Rio’s wish. As Del Rio sat down to face Cena, Cena gave him the “you can’t see me” gesture and stood up. Finally, they readied for the second match. Cena again beat Del Rio handily, but Del Rio snuck in a left hook to the face of Cena. A kick to the arm, then a kick to the head by Del Rio. Del Rio tried to take out Cena’s good arm, to no avail. Cena fought off Del Rio, but Del Rio ended up putting Cena through the table with a spinebuster. Well, that explains it. Del Rio’s music played as he celebrated the advantage over Cena.

- Still to come: Punk and Bryan vs. Axel and Ryback.

- The Bella Twins were walking backstage. They’re in action next.

[Commercial Break]

- Cole thanked Flo Rida for providing the official Survivor Series theme, “How I Feel.”

4 – THE FUNKADACTYLS vs. THE BELLA TWINS

Clips from Total Divas aired, with Cameron acting all crazy. The announcers noted that Tony Chimel is doing ring announcing this week, with Lilian Garcia under the weather. I hadn’t even noticed. Alabama Slam by Nikki on Cameron. Cross-body off the second rope by Cameron for two. Naomi tagged in and the Funkadactyls both did split-legged leg-drops on Nikki. Brie tagged in and she clotheslined Naomi down. She screamed “Brie Mode” as she came off the middle-rope and grazed Naomi with a dropkick. That’s about right. Naomi avoided Brie’s face-buster and hit a nice-looking rear-view for the win.

WINNERS: The Funkadactlys, at 2:35. Not good but any metric, but at least it was kept short and they got to plug Total Divas.

- Renee Young was backstage with C.M. Punk and Daniel Bryan. Young asked a bunch of questions that both men kept responding “yes” to. Bryan said tonight, The Beard is teaming with The Best. Punk said Bray Wyatt is brilliant in a way, because no one knows anything about Harper and Rowan, except that they’re dangerous. Punk said the easiest way to kill a snake is to cut off the head. But tonight, they plan on putting away Heyman’s goons.

[Commercial Break]

- A shot aired of the exterior of the Manchester United stadium.

- A few crated Superstars on WWE2K14, submitted by fans via Twitter, were shown. They also showed new downloadable content available.

5 – HUNICO & CAMACHO vs. THE GREAT KHALI – HANDICAP MATCH

Chop to the head of Camacho by Khali right off the bat. Next was a chop to the chest. Camacho worked over Khali, then tagged Hunico. He did not find much success. Khali took out both men and grabbed Hunico as he came off the top. Khali bomb finished it.

WINNER: Khali, at 1:16. Poor Hunico and Camacho. They waited all these months to return to Smackdown…for this?

- Up next, Manchester Mayhem from Raw.

[Commercial Break]

- Cole gave a shout out to The Royal Concept for their new single “On Our Way,” which was performed on Glee last night. No clue what that was about.

- The Raw Rebound aired.

- C.M. Punk came out for the main event, followed by Daniel Bryan. The match is next.

[Commercial Break]

6 – C.M. PUNK & DANIEL BRYAN vs. CURTIS AXEL & RYBACK

Punk got the better of Axel to start. Bryan came off the top with an axe-handle to the arm of Axel. Running knee-lift by Bryan put Axel on the canvas for two. Double dropkick took Ryback down. Ryback caught a cross-body attempt and slammed him. As Punk readied for an elbowdrop off the top, Ryback pulled Axel out of the ring. He didn’t pull him to safety though as Bryan and Punk hit stereo suicide dives on the heels. They went to break at 3:57 of the match.

[Commercial Break]

The show returned 7:37 into the match. Punk ended up crotched on the top rope. Ryback didn’t do anything with him there, instead pulling him down to suplex him. Legdrop for two by Ryback. The heels continued working well together against the babyfaces. At 10:35, Axel knocked Bryan off the apron when Punk began to inch closer to his corner in an attempt to make a tag. Ryback held Punk for Axel to beat on, but Punk moved and Axel knocked Ryback off the apron. This allowed Punk to tag Bryan. Ryback came in as well and he fell victim to Bryan’s explosive offense. Bryan took Ryback off his feet and kicked at his chest. Kick to the back of the head got two at 12:40. Axel tried to interfere, but Bryan moved and Axel hit Ryback. Bryan rolled Ryback up for two, but then Bryan locked in the Yes Lock. Before Ryback could tap, the lights went out as the Wyatts’ image flashed across the screen. When the lights came back on, Harper and Rowan were in the ring (with Bray at ringside), with Punk and Bryan nowhere in sight. Axel tried to help Ryback up, but Ryback pushed him into the Wyatts. They stared at him and it was a great, horror movie stare from both of them. The Wyatts took out Axel, then did the same to Ryback. Bray looked under the ring, but Punk and Bryan weren’t there. They finally came from somewhere and they each came to the ring long enough to kick Harper and Rowan once, then escape. They taunted the Wyatts from the stage as the show closed.

WINNERS: No Contest (no bell), around 13:00.


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Greg Parks has been covering WWE Smackdown for PWTorch.com since January of 2007. Follow him on Twitter @gregmparks for live Tweeting during Raw, Impact, and PPVs, as well as other bits of wisdom. Comments, questions and feedback are welcome, and can be sent to g_man9784@yahoo.com.

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