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KELLER’S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT
NOVEMBER 7, 2017
TAPED IN MANCHESTER, ENGLAND
AIRED LIVE ON USA NETWORK
Announcers: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves
NOTE: Send questions or thoughts on tonight’s Smackdown to: wadekellerpodcast@pwtorch.com. We might read your comment or question on tonight’s podcast taping, and might publish your comments on pwtorch.com.
[HOUR ONE]
-They opened with A.J. Styles looking at the camera saying tonight he has an opportunity to become WWE Champion. He said Jinder Mahal may be bigger and stronger than him, but he’s not him, the Phenomenal One.
-Then Jinder Mahal said last week he just flat-out beat up Styles and it was fun. He said because of that, he is forced to defend his WWE Championship tonight against Styles, “which is alright by me.” He said Style will be a Phenomenal Loser tonight and he will remain the Modern Day Maharaja.
-The Smackdown opening aired.
-The announcers hyped the line-up as the camera panned the crowd and showed graphics advertising Becky Lynch vs. James Ellsworth, Usos vs. Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable, and Jinder Mahal vs. A.J. Styles.
-Shane McMahon danced onto the stage as “Here comes the money!” blared. Graves said Shane is looking to build momentum for the Blue Team headed into Survivor Series. Shane asked how Manchester was doing. He talked about Survivor Series being the one time a year that Raw and Smackdown go head to head. He said after Nov. 19, they won’t be known as the B-show, they’ll be known as Thee-Show. He blamed Kurt Angle and Stephanie McMahon for locking Daniel Bryan in their office and sending Kane to do his dirty work. He said he’ll get his payback against Angle at Survivor Series, “so get ready.” The fans chanted “Shane-o-Mac.” He said Bryan will be back next week. He said Bryan represents the locker room, which doesn’t stay down when they’re knocked down. Shane then introduced New Day for “doing a phenomenal thing last night,” firing a shot at Raw that is still going. The crowd chanted “New… Day sucks!”
As New Day walked out, they showed highlights of last night’s New Day prank on Raw. Back live in the ring, New Day said they made Raw look pretty silly. Kofi Kingston said it wasn’t their intension to have Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose lose the tag team titles, “but such are the consequences of putting Raw Under Siege, bay-bee!” That got almost no crowd response, but there were scattered boos when he mentioned costing Seth & Dean the tag team titles.
Big E said they led the Siege two weeks ago and looked the Raw roster dead in the eye (except when they were attacking them from behind) “and we beat them down.” Kofi said they’re ready to accept the full repercussions for their actions. Xavier said if anyone from Raw shows up, they’ll beat them back to Mondays. Shane said they are all about Team Blue. New Day then encouraged Shane to dance and gyrate with them, and he did. They were interrupted by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Graves said they saved Shane from embarrassing himself anymore because “that dance was atrocious.”
Owens said that was the stupidest, most painful thing he’s seen in his life. Sami said: “I hate to break it to you, but you are not cool and you probably should not dance again.” Kofi asked if Sami has watched himself dance on stage. “You look like a fool!” They didn’t exactly defend Shane’s dancing, did they? Owens said Shane is acting out because he lost at Hell in a Cell and is coping with his daddy issues, but he shouldn’t make Smackdown pay for his shortcomings.
Sami said he should be representing Smackdown at Survivor Series, but he lost to Randy Orton because of a low blow. He said if that happened to one of Shane’s favorites, Shane wouldn’t have let that stand. Owens said it was ridiculous he even had to wrestle a qualifying match because he and Sami are the two best wrestlers on the roster. He asked if they have to sing and dance like the New Day puppets. Kofi said the only puppet he sees is the 1930s-paperboy-looking, never-been-to-a-gym in a life Sam Zayn. Big E said Owens has his arm so far up Sam’s butt that when Sam brushes his teeth, he gets a manicure. New Day celebrated their joke.
Shane told Owens and Sami that they don’t care about Smackdown and have no brand loyalty. He said they walked around like the own the place and are entitled. Shane said what they are actually entitled to is a match tonight. Shane booked Sami vs. Kofi “right now” (meaning right after this break)… [c]
(1) SAMI ZAYN (w/Kevin Owens) vs. KOFI KINGSTON (w/Big E, Xavier Woods)
Byron said New Day are so loyal to Smackdown because they succeeded on Raw and then were “traded away” in the Superstar Shakeup. (Had WWE actually established the shake-up was a result of “trades”?) The crowd pelted Sami with a “Paper Boy” chant. Graves said maybe if Orton didn’t cheat, Sami would be representing Smackdown at Survivor Series. They cut to a break, but stuck with the action on split screen. [c]
Owens distracted Kofi at ringside during the break, then Sami threw him into the ringpost. Sami controlled offense during the break. Kofi flip dove onto Sami at ringside to reverse momentum and then hit the S.O.S. for a near fall. Sami countered a Trouble in Paradise into a Blue Thunder Bomb for a two count. The pace picked up and Kofi scored a three count after a crossbody out of the corner off the second rope. Owens ran into the ring to beat up Kofi afterward. Big E and Xavier quickly made the save.
WINNER: Kingston in 8:00.
-The announcers commented on a replay of Mahal beating up Styles last week on Smackdown.
-They went backstage to Mahal and the Singh Brothers enjoying the replay. Renee Young asked Mahal about how he’s adjusting from preparing to face Brock Lesnar to facing A.J. Styles first. Mahal said last night at a fine restaurant he asked his server to refer to his first course as “A.J. Styles” because Styles is the appetizer and at Survivor Series, he’ll Feast on the Beast.
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-Phillips plugged Orton vs. Rusev. [c]
-Another Bludgeon Brothers vignette aired. They said the world is a horrible place and they’re there to make it worse. They smashed their sledge hammers to the floor.
-Aiden English sang an introduction for Orton.
(2) RANDY ORTON vs. RUSEV (w/Aiden English)
Orton caught Rusev’s boot and went for an early RKO. Rusev blocked it and kicked Orton, then went for a pin over and over rapid-fire. Graves said Rusev really wants to be on Team Smackdown. They cut to a very early break. [c]
No split-screen during this break. The crowd chanted “Rusev Day!” Graves imagined Rusev versus either Braun Strowman and Samoa Joe. They showed Shane McMahon, Bobby Roode, and Shinsuke Nakamura watching the match backstage. (Or were they? They didn’t show us the monitor they were watching! That’s the first time ever.) Rusev continued to express frustration when Orton kicked out of his pin attempts. Suddenly, Orton caught a frustrated Rusev with an RKO out of nowhere for the clean win. Phillips said just like that, Rusev is not going to Survivor Series. Graves said that means Smackdown still has an open spot on the team. They showed Shane, Roode, and Nakamura reacting.
WINNER: Orton in 7:00.
-The announcers hyped Jinder vs. Styles.
-Backstage James Ellsworth was pacing when Tamina stepped out of the locker room. He asked her to get Carmella for him please. Out came Becky Lynch instead. Ellsworth asked if she really thinks she has a chance because she’s a woman and he’s a man. He said the Women’s Revolution is a farce. He said if Raw invaded Smackdown, she’d be the first to hide behind him. He said the ring is no place for the “softer sex.” He said he lets Carmella compete because it makes her happy. He said he’ll prove he’s the better man. She said those are ballsy statements. She looked down and said, “Too bad you don’t have any.”
[HOUR TWO]
-The announcers threw to a long video package on the Raw-Smackdown happenings since Under Siege including what happened on Raw with New Day.
(3) JAMES ELLSWORTH (w/James Ellsworth) vs. BECKY LYNCH
Charlotte, Tamina, Lana, and Naomi were at ringside. Graves said he normally admires Ellsworth’s loyalty, but the little doggie might have bitten off more than he can chew. They showed images of Tweet exchanged by Ellsworth, Becky, and Carmella to build up this match in the last few days. Graves was in the JBL role of mocking Ellsworth’s physique and trunks. Ellsworth did some push-ups after the bell rang. The fans chanted “Becky’s going to kill you.” She went for an early Dis-arm-her. The crowd chanted “Where’s your chin!” at Ellsworth. They sang other songs. Graves made fun of Ellsworth for taking off his shirt and for being pale. They did some comedy spots in the ring leading to some leverage pins, obviously an effort play into Ellsworth’s character but also avoid any man-woman violence. He did the crane pose and then shoved Becky. She tumbled to the floor and then made some comments at the other women at ringside. Becky then surprised him with a missile dropkick for a two count. Graves: “That dropkick would have caved in Ellsworth’s chest, but nature beat her to it.” Becky blocked a No Chin Music kick and then gave him an atomic drop and an exploder suplex. Ellsworth rolled to the floor at the feet of the other women. Ellsworth reentered the ring and tried to make amends. He hugged Becky, and she countered into a Dis-arm-her for the tap-out win.
WINNER: Becky in 6:00.
-After the match, Carmella and Becky exchanged some words. It appeared Carmella was there to defend Ellsworth, but instead she superkicked him. The crowd was shocked. Becky’s jaw dropped. The crowd chanted “Yes! Yes!” Carmella left the ring with her MITB briefcase. Graves said someone should call animal control and scoop him off the canvas. [c]
-They went backstage to Shane chatting with Charlotte. He was talking to her about the tease of an invasion and how Angle’s reaction was priceless. Natalya interrupted and said she will prove she is the best women’s champion in WWE at Survivor Series, but she will gladly take Charlotte’s place on Team Smackdown. She said Natalya is delusional. Shane said she escaped with the Women’s Title at Hell in a Cell because of a chair. Natalya said it was because of a chair. He said that didn’t sit well with him or Bryan, so next week she’ll defend the Smackdown Women’s Title against Charlotte, the winner will face Alexa Bliss at Survivor Series. Charlotte let out a big “wooo!”
-Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin came out first. Then the Usos came out. They asked who was standing in the middle of the ring, and said it looks like American Alpha, part two. Some fans laughed. They said they’re their next victims, then threw the first punches. They knocked Gable and Shelton out of the ring. [c]
(4) THE USOS vs. SHELTON BENJAMIN & CHAD GABLE
After the break, Shelton and Gable dominated for a couple minutes. Shelton ducked a charging Jey Uso, who flew to ringside. Gable then clipped his knee and then snuck under the ring. Jey sold a left knee injury. Graves said that could have terribly damaged his knee. He tried to put his weight on the leg, but couldn’t re-enter and the ref counted him out.
WINNERS: Gable & Benjamin in 4:00.
(Keller’s Analysis: That was unusually short. It seemed legit the way they played it with the sudden awkward end. Not sure what the point was if it was planned.)
-The announcers threw to a preview of “Damnation.”
-Renee interviewed Styles backstage. Styles said the last thing Jinder should do is take him lightly because people have been underestimating him his entire life. He said he has an opportunity to do what every WWE Superstar wants, which is to become WWE Champion. He said he remedies not being the biggest or strongest by working harder and getting up earlier and staying later. He said Smackdown is the house that A.J. Styles built.
(Keller’s Analysis: Good interview.) [c]
-The announcers hyped Sin Cara vs. Baron Corbin next week for the U.S. Title, Charlotte challenging Natalya, and Owens & Sami vs. New Day. So we could see Miz vs. Sin Cara and Charlotte vs. Bliss at Survivor Series in addition to Styles vs. Lesnar.
(5) JINDER MAHAL vs. A.J. STYLES – WWE Championship match
The crowd taunted Jinder with a “You can’t wrestle!” chart. Graves said, “Look at the physique of Jinder Mahal. That’s what a champion should look like.” That eliminates any doubt that Graves has become the vessel for what Vince McMahon is thinking and wants conveyed on the air. Jinder blocked a Styles sunset flip and then lifted Styles by his head and threw him to ringside. [c]
Jinder settled into a chinlock. He took it to Styles at ringside and threw him onto the announce table. Jinder settled into an armbar. He stomped away at Styles, but Styles lifted his boot and caught Jinder on the chin to take over. Styles rallied and threw some round kicks to Jinder’s chest. Jinder caught his boot and shoved him down hard. Jinder lifted and dropped a charging Styles onto the mat and scored a two count. Styles slipped under Jinder when on the top rope and then rolled him into a Calf Crusher. Jinder teased tapping and the crowd cheered in anticipation. Jinder escaped by slamming Styles’s head on the mat. Styles applied it again, but Jinder reached the bottom rope. Jinder came back with a clothesline that flipped Styles. He set up a superplex. Phillips said the champion had a plan “in the late stages of this match.” (How does he know it’s the “late stages”?)
Styles ducked a charging Jinder, who tumbled to the floor. Then he slingshot himself onto Jinder with a Phenomenal Forearm. Styles landed a 450 splash next, but the Singh Brothers pulled Jinder to safety at ringside. Styles rolled out to ringside and went after one of them. He tackled him and punched away at him. Then he hit the other. “Yes!” chants rang out. Jinder caught Styles on the ring apron, but Styles fought free. Styles went for a Phenomenal Forearm. Jinder countered with his finisher, but Styles draped his leg over the bottom rope. A loud “Yes!” chant rang out. Graves said the place is rocking. Jinder stood up again and set Styles on the top rope. He set up his finisher from the top rope. Graves said Styles might never fight again if Jinder nailed that. Instead, Styles leaped to the floor and snapped Jinder’s neck over the top rope. He then hit the Phenomenal Forearm square on and scored the pin. As Styles celebrated, Byron said he’s going on to face The Beast at Survivor Series. Phillips said that was the first time in history the WWE Title changed hands outside of North America. Jinder threw around the Singh Brothers in frustration after the match.
WINNER: Styles in 16:00 to capture the WWE Title.
(Keller’s Analysis: Good match with a very good crowd response.)
Send questions or thoughts on tonight’s Smackdown to: wadekellerpodcast@pwtorch.com. We might read your comment or question on tonight’s podcast taping, and might publish your comments on pwtorch.com.
I thought this was a pretty good show. I liked it better than last week’s show. AJ taking the belt is a sure positive going forward unless somehow Mahal wins it back during a rematch quickly.
The Raw roster looks like dolts again. They have been invaded twice now, and have done nothing in response. Absolutely nothing. I get that they are probably saving that for Smackdown next week, but two weeks in a row of nothing does not make them look very unified or even concerned.
Styles vs. Lesner, Shamus and Cesaro vs. The Uso’s! This is going to be a very interesting Survivor Series!
Well, I’d like to thank Vince. Really. I’ve been on the fence with 5 hours of WWE a week so he has made it easy to drop to 3 [minus the Asuka bathroom break]. You spend months building up Jindar and hotshot it to AJ at the last second. At least Brock beating the crap out of jindar would be fun, the booking for AJ is going to be to weaken Brock because straight up in a fight Brock wins in 2 minutes. And my favorite, the ladies. Wow, Vinny you just destroyed the entire Smackdown women’s division in one what, 5 minute match? A woman vs Ellesworth is a SQUASH match you senile old man, anything more than 1 minute is a victory for the turtle. He actually got moves in on Becky, he got into a pin position, he left the ring and Tamina didn’t toss his butt back in. Bad show, Bad booking, Wipe out the women’s division [was Charlotte there or did they bring a cut-out poster and are they going to hotshot Charlotte into the title next?]
I now understand why we disagree so much. I feel the same way you do about Raw. 3 hours of skits and a lack of enough wrestling has soured me on that show.
I thought Smackdown was far better this week than Raw has been in weeks. As far as Mahal as champion, the ratings were falling so fast, they had to do something. Not many people bought into race angle. Mahal vs Lesnar was not resonating with the people. At least AJ can wrestle. Did you pick up the “you can’t wrestle chants” towards Mahal? He did not win a singles match in how long on tv and then all of a sudden is champ. That was never going to work.
As far as the womens division goes, I agree with you to a point. It is a bit of a mess.
Btw, that should read above that I feel the same way about Raw that you do about Smackdown. I think if I tried to watch Raw in its regular timeslot, I would napping within an hour. It takes far too long for anything to happen. Too many long talking segments. IT probably would work if they went back to two hours and didn’t have to fill so much time with non wrestling things.