SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER
OCTOBER 25, 2019
KANSAS CITY, MO. AT THE SPRINT CENTER
AIRS ON FS1 NETWORK, 8:00 P.M. EDT
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Announcers: Michael Cole, Corey Graves
Arena, and Items Advertised by WWE
WWE Smackdown returns to the Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO. The building opened in 2007 and has frequently hosted WWE events, including the first Money in the Bank PPV in 2010. That night saw Kane win the Smackdown briefcase and cash in successfully on Rey Mysterio for the World Championship the same night. The Miz won the Raw briefcase and would cash in on Randy Orton later in the year for the WWE Championship. Smackdown last appeared here almost two years ago while Raw appeared earlier this year.
Due to Fox broadcasting game three of the MLB World Series, Smackdown tonight shifts over to FS1.
Here’s what’s advertised for the show thus far tonight:
- WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez come face-fo-face
- “MizTV” heads to FS1 as Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair preview the Crown Jewel showdown
- The New Day take on Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode ahead of largest Tag Team Turmoil Match in history at WWE Crown Jewel
- Nikki Cross looks to continue Smackdown Women’s division ascent against Mandy Rose of FS1
- Friday Night Smackdown heads to FS1 for one night only
WWE is making a big deal about tonight’s show as they put out a video in regard to tonight’s show:
Matches & Segments
Face to Face: WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez
This past Monday on Raw, Rey Mysterio returned and expressed his gratitude to the fans for the love and support of him and his son Dominick. He talked about everyone being his family and especially Cain Velasquez, who is Dominick’s godfather. He would be interrupted by WWE Champion Brock Lesnar’s advocate Paul Heyman, who would subsequently be interrupted by Shelton Benjamin.
Benjamin, drafted to Raw, talked about his history with Lesnar. They were roommates in the University of Minnesota, he trained Lesnar, and considers him his family. He would bully Rey, thinking he would get a championship match the way Velasquez got one as a result of helping Rey after being attacked by Lesnar. Velasquez interrupted, and attacked Benjamin. Here’s WWE’s YouTube clip of that segment:
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1186464977994911744?s=20
Velasquez once took the UFC Championship from Lesnar. He now challenges him for the WWE Championship at next week’s Crown Jewel.
Frank’s Analysis: Velasquez looked terrible the other night. I wasn’t particularly feeling this match to begin with, and that sequence made me want to see it less. The confrontation should be good tonight as a way of adding juice to the match next week, but I still don’t have a ton of optimism that this will be any good.
Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair on Miz TV
This past Monday on Raw, Ric Flair named the final member of his five-man team which will take on the five-man team captain by Hulk Hogan. That turned out to be Drew McIntyre, whom we hadn’t seen since his elimination from the King of the Ring tournament back in September. He defeated team Hogan member Ricochet, who was responsible for eliminating McIntyre from the tournament. After McIntyre got the win, he did a post-match attack on Ricochet.
Tonight, as advertised by WWE, Hogan and Flair will both be on MizTV. Hogan is bringing the Smackdown portion of his team consisting of captain Roman Reigns, Ali, and Shorty G. Flair is bringing his Smackdown contingent in Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and King Corbin. Last week, Nakamura retained the IC title over Reigns when Corbin interfered. Later in the evening, Reigns teamed with Daniel Bryan to defeat Nakamura and Corbin in the main event.
(Frank’s Analysis: This is just to add juice to the match at Crown Jewel. Knowing WWE, it will likely lead to a match later in the night.)
New Day (Kofi Kingston & Big E) vs. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode
Last week on Smackdown, New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) teamed with Heavy Machinery (Otis & Tucker) to defeat Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode and Smackdown Tag Team Champions the Revival (Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder). New Day got the pin when they hit Dawson with the Midnight Hour.
All four of those teams are involved in the tag team turmoil match at Crown Jewel next week. It’s the World Cup match to determine the best tag team in the world. This week, New Day takes on Ziggler & Roode. Only this week it will be Kofi Kingston & Big E. Xavier Woods suffered an injury on an Australian tour and was unable to finish. Here’s a tweet from Ziggler which includes an interview with him and Roode. Also, check out a tweet from Big E and a WWE exclusive with New Day:
we will win it all & the complaints will be that we don’t have matching gear or a dumb catchphrase https://t.co/0sJULUJJCC
— Nic Nemeth (@HEELZiggler) October 17, 2019
Of all the matches I’ve had in my career, this will be the next one. Thank you for your time. https://t.co/hR9A62HBfQ
— Florida Man (@WWEBigE) October 17, 2019
(Frank’s Analysis: Does anybody remember Kofi Kingston being WWE Champion a few weeks ago? You know the guy that had an improbable run heading into WrestleMania and had a six-month reign? He lost in about five seconds and WWE just moved on to Cain Velasquez vs. Brock Lesnar because you know, everybody was looking for that. Is this ringing a bell for anyone? It did for Kofi, after about five seconds as I mentioned. He’s content to throw pancakes and shuck and jive with New Day, so I guess we shouldn’t be too upset for him.)
Nikki Cross vs. Mandy Rose
Last week, Nikki Cross earned the right to challenge for the Smackdown Women’s Championship by winning a six-pack challenge over Lacey Evans, Carmella, Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, and Dana Brooke. She won the match when she hit Mandy with a spinning neck breaker and scored the pin.
Nikki has defeated Bayley before over the summer. It’s not known when she will have the title match. Tonight, Nikki takes on Mandy one-on-one. Here’s a WWE exclusive with Nikki:
(Frank’s Analysis: As Todd Martin would say on the Fix, this match will happen! For real there aren’t any talking points only it’s predictable WWE booking that Nikki would take on Mandy tonight considering she pinned her. I didn’t have a strong feeling about last week’s match, but I’m not surprised by any stretch that Nikki got the nod. I am surprised Alexa’s not involved in this whole thing. I wonder if she plays in at some point.)
Smackdown on FS1
As mentioned earlier, due to game three of the World Series between the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals being on Fox, tonight’s Smackdown airs on FS1. There are no issues with WWE and Fox. This is simply a logistic as MLB has had the World Series on Fox for many years and this happens to be when game three was scheduled.
Other Match Results and Segments from Last Week
Chad Gable defeated Curtis Axel of the B-Team. After the match he shortened his name to Shorty G. I don’t know what’s worse, all of the short jokes or Gable embracing it and calling himself Shorty G. I don’t care. AEW Dynamite airs Wednesday nights on TNT. New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Power Struggle is coming up.
Bayley explained her recent actions. She talked about wanting to be a role model for the children, but when she lost the Smackdown Women’s Championship (six days before regaining it), where were the children? She said, “life sucks and then you die.”
Braun Strowman squashed Drew Gulak in about two minutes. Here’s Gulak in a WWE exclusive:
Summary and Closing Thoughts
While it’s not all bad, WWE does things that are so frustrating it makes you want to turn away from them. I’ve watched this company since 1986 and while I tuned in and out from time to time (pre-Attitude Era, late 2000s), I’ve never been as frustrated as I’ve been with them lately. Between Saudi Arabia, Shorty G, the Lashley-Rusev story, the Rollins-Fiend situation, squashing Drew Gulak in two minutes in his first match on Smackdown, beating Kofi Kingston in five seconds and throwing him out with the dish water, etc. I don’t know what’s worse. It’s an uninspiring product to watch, which blows my mind considering AEW is in the fold (don’t tell me about the drop in viewership) now along with all the other great wrestling out there.
Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Questions and discussion are welcome. Thank you for reading!
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