SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
KELLER’S WWE SMACKDOWN TV REPORT
NOVEMBER 3, 2023 (Taped 10/27)
MILWAUKEE, WISC. AT FISERV ARENA
AIRED ON FOX
Commentators: Michael Cole, Wade Barrett
Ring Announcer: Mike Rome
Tonight after WWE Smackdown, join Wade Keller live with guest co-host Javier Machado from PWTorch to break down the show with live callers and emails.
•STREAM LIVE HERE ABOUT 5 MINUTES AFTER THE SHOW CONCLUDES
•CALL: (347) 215-8558
•EMAIL COMMENTS/QUESTIONS: wadekellerpodcast@pwtorch.com
•IF YOU DON’T LISTEN LIVE, SEARCH “WADE KELLER” ON YOUR PODCAST APP TO SUBSCRIBE AND THEN DOWNLOAD OR STREAM THE FULL SHOW TWO HOURS OR SO AFTER THE TV SHOW ENDS.
[HOUR ONE]
-A video package aired on Bloodline happenings last week.
-Kevin Patrick introduced the show as the camera panned the audience.
-L.A. Knight made his ring entrance. Knight said it’s amazing how quickly nearly 1,200 days can come to an end. He talked about giving a BFD to Roman Reigns last week and the scene will be the same at Crown Jewel. He said “don’t get lost in the sauce because this is a hostile takeover.” He said he’s going to take over everything he has owned the last three years. He was interrupted by Reigns’s entrance theme. Reigns and Heyman walked out as Cole said this is day 1,160 of Reigns’s title reign.
Graves said Knight looked Reigns dead in the eye and Reigns stared him down. He said Reigns still looks supremely confident. Cole said tomorrow the mind games end and it gets real. Graves said it’s already real for Roman. After Roman’s music stopped, there was a modest “L.A. Knight” chant.
Reigns said this “irrelevant town” knows who he is, but he can’t say the same thing about Knight. He said he’s going to introduce himself to Knight one time only. He said he’s “Roman Reigns, the Tribal Chief, the Head of the Table, and the Face of the WWE.” He said he took his leave and expected someone to step up while he was gone, but he didn’t expect it to be Knight. He gave Knight credit for getting the fans on his side. “It’s not easy in this day and age,” he said. He told fans to chant his name. The crowd did meekly. Reigns said he sent the business forward, but Knight is pushing them back.
Roman said what he does is cinema. Heyman yelled, “And you are the star!” Reigns said he’s the megastar. “I turned this business into a multi-billion dollar industry,” he said. He asked Knight what he’s done the last few months. He said fans chant Knight’s name and he cosplays a redneck version of his cousin. He told him to enjoy his moment on the Island of Relevancy, but tomorrow he’s going to smash him. “When we’re done, we’re going to leave you in the desert, but don’t worry, you’re not going to be the last one.”
Knight said he must feel unbeatable. He said he’s beaten just about everybody who ahs stood in front of him, but he doesn’t understand that he isn’t coming at him from the same angle as everyone else. He said he’s not there to finish something. He said he’s there to start something. “Yeah!” he said. “I’m here to start the L.A. Knight era.” He said Roman made himself into a mega-star only because he holds that title, whereas he is a mega-star every day. Knight said he doesn’t do warning shots, so he better be prepared. He said the only bloodline that will be visible will be running down his nose between his eyes as fans chant “L.A. Knight!” They began shoving each other as Nick Aldis and several referees stepped between them. Reigns left the ring but yelled back at Heyman.
(Keller’s Analysis: Knight passed another test there. He really delivered as convincing a promo as I could have imagined him doing in terms of drawing a believable picture of him ending Roman’s reign on Saturday. He expresses the confidence needed for fans to believe in him. Reigns and Heyman, as usual, were great in their roles even if it wasn’t as expansive as usual. The crowd wasn’t over-the-top into Knight, but this was taped last week and they had already seen a lot of him earlier so that’s expected.)
-Knight and Graves hyped scheduled matches and segments.
-Kevin Owens made his ring entrance. He let out a big yell as he made his way to the ring. [c]
-Backstage, Austin Theory said Owens has a face only a mother could love, and when he’s done with him, he won’t have to wear masks on Halloween.
(1) KEVIN OWENS vs. AUSTIN THEORY
Theory made his entrance. Grayson Waller was on commentary. He called Theory “a perfect man” as he posed in the ring. The bell rang 25 minutes into the hour. Theory took control early. They cut to a break at 2:00. [c]
Back from the break, KO was in control against Theory at ringside. He turned and had some words for Waller, who was standing at the announce desk. Theory then took over against KO and threw him back into the ring. KO landed a Pop-up Powerbomb and a stunner to get the three count.
WINNER: Owens in 7:00.
-Cathy Kelley interviewed Bianca Belair backstage about facing Bayley later. As she began talking, Bayley and Iyo Sky attacked her. Aldis and other officials broke them up quickly. [c]
-Clips aired of Logan Paul attacking Rey Mysterio.
-Backstage Logan crossed paths with Bobby Lashley and the Street Profits. Logan told the Profits he’ll dish out more punishment to Rey at Crown Jewel.
-A clip aired from the Smackdown Lowdown last week with Chelsea Green and Niven giving Shotzi a hard time about not having any friends so she won’t be able to find a partner. B-Fab showed up and complimented the Profits on their new Rolex watches. She said profits are up. Lashley asked to speak with her. Graves said he’d love to be a fly on the wall for that conversation.
-Green and Niven made their entrance. Patrick said they’d find out who Shotzi’s partner is after the break. [c]
(2) PIPER NIVEN & CHELSEA GREEN vs. SHOTZI & CHARLOTTE FLAIR
Shotzi came out first. Then Charlotte came out on her tank. Piper and Chelsea weren’t thrilled. The bell rang to start the match 47 minutes into the hour. Flair landed a crossbody onto both Green and Niven early. She then landed a big boot to Green and scored a decisive pin.
WINNERS: Charlotte & Shotzi in 3:00.
(Keller’s Analysis: That was fast and lacked much substance or purpose. It seems Piper could’ve been featured here as more of a physical match for Charlotte rather than just watching Green take a quick pin like that from the sideline.) [c]
-Paul Heyman and Solo Sikoa walked out to the ring. Heyman said this is the end of Cena’s WWE run, and it’s not ending the way he wanted. He said Cena came back to WWE and picked a fight with the Bloodline. “What the hell did you think we were going to do?” he asked. “Let him get away with it?” He said Reigns calls the shots and he turned to Solo to solve the Cena problem. He said Solo has a huge future as a future Tribal Chief, and you can’t be Tribal Chief without victims lying at your feet, and there’s no bigger victim than Cena.
Heyman said Cena could’ve made it easy, but… at which point Solo took the mic and asked Heyman why he was “wasting his breath” talking to the fans. “We didn’t come here to talk to them,” he said. “We came here to talk to John Cena face-to-face.” Cena’s music played immediately and fans popped.
Cena made his ring entrance. After Solo talked for a minute, Cena said they’ve been waiting for him to talk for a year and that’s all he could bring. He said he’d only got half a voice, but it won’t be a challenge to cook him. He said the only reason he has a job there is because of his cousin. He said they see him walking around like a big bad ass enforcer, but he’s nothing but a bargain basement Taz ripoff.
-Backstage Bayley talked about beating Bianca Belair later and then joked that she’d maybe face Iyo Sky at Crown Jewel instead. Sky shot her a look. Bayley said she was kidding. Aldis walked in and said he has to make sure the WWE Universe get what they deserve later and he wants to be sure there’s a winner. He said Sky and Dakota Kai were banned from ringside. Sky told Bayley she can handle it. Bayley looked less sure than Sky.
(Keller’s Analysis: Is this a rule applied to all matches or is this one “special” but in other matches, fans don’t “deserve” a clear winner?)
(3) PRETTY DEADLY (Elton Prince & Kit Wilson) vs. THE BRAWLING BRUTES (Ridge Holland & Butch) – Good old fashioned Donnybrook match
The Brutes jump-started the match on the stage before the bell. Once they got to the ring, the bell rang and the Brutes continued to attack. They had Irish pub apparatus and props all over ringside. Butch leaped off the top rope and flipped onto his partner and Pretty Deadly at ringside. He stood and yelled as they cut to a break at 3:00. [c]
Pretty Deadly took over during the break. Butch snapped Elton’s fingers. Prince used the shillelagh and scored a near fall on Butch. Butch slammed Prince through a table at ringside then hit Wilson with a Brogue Kick for a believable near fall. Ridge pulled a table out from under the ring and set it up in the ring. Prince broke a glass bottle over Butch’s head as he set up a move on Wilson off the top rope. Then Wilson and Prince drove Butch off the top rope through the table and got the pin. They showed Ridge writhing in pain at ringside.
WINNERS: Pretty Deadly.
-Highlights aired of the Roman-Knight exchange earlier.
-Backstage Aldis approached Heyman. Heyman complimented Aldis’s suit and then asked if he could offer him some pearls of wisdom. Aldis told him not to pretend he has a choice. He told him he had a weigh-in to attend, so make it quick. Heyman said he’d recommend they have a lot of medical personnel with him at Crown Jewel because this is the most savage version of Reigns anyone will ever see. He then turned to leave when Aldis asked, “Are you done?” Heyman turned back and said, “With L.A. Knight? Hardly?” [c]
-Aldis hosted the weigh-in. Logan came in at 213 lbs., Rey at 175 lbs. They then posed for photos. Logan patted Rey on the head. Aldis told him no contact. Rey slapped Logan. Logan punched Rey. Aldis stepped between them. Rey bashed Logan with the mic. Logan covered up and then complained about Rey having weapons.
(Keller’s Analysis: Boy, not much to that. Which is fine, actually. Not sure how much more they could’ve done with the format than that.)
-Patrick, Graves, and Cole hyped the Crown Jewel line-up.
-Bianca Belair made her ring entrance. [c]
(4) BIANCA BELAIR vs. BAYLEY
Bayley came out alone after the break, per the edict from Aldis earlier. Graves said he’s not sure if this is the smartest decision by Belair accepting this match so close to Crown Jewel. (He, thankfully, didn’t say “less than 24 hours before Crown Jewel” since so many viewers know this was taped last week and it’s just an unnecessary “lie” otherwise.) The bell rang to start the match 43 minutes into the hour. They cut to a break at 3:00 with Belair in control. [c]
Bayley took over after the break and settled into a side headlock. Belair fought out of it, but Bayley went right back to a chinlock. Bayley avoided a Belair handspring boomsault at 9:00 and then yanked Belair into the ringpost by her braid. Bayley rolled Belair bac into the ring and then landed a top rope elbowdrop to the chest for a two count. She went for two more quick covers. Belair landed a K.O.D. a few minutes later for the win.
WINNER: Belair in 13:00.
-Afterward, Belair gave Bayley a K.O.D. through the announce desk as the show ended.
(Keller’s Analysis: This felt like the end of a pre-taped show just 15 hours before a PLE begins – there to fill TV time and showcase Belair against a credible foe with whom she could have a solid match, but not much else. I suppose it could explain if Bayley isn’t at Crown Jewel at ringside for Iyo.)
Tonight after WWE Smackdown, join Wade Keller live with guest co-host Javier Machado from PWTorch to break down the show with live callers and emails.
•STREAM LIVE HERE ABOUT 5 MINUTES AFTER THE SHOW CONCLUDES
•CALL: (347) 215-8558
•EMAIL COMMENTS/QUESTIONS: wadekellerpodcast@pwtorch.com
•IF YOU DON’T LISTEN LIVE, SEARCH “WADE KELLER” ON YOUR PODCAST APP TO SUBSCRIBE AND THEN DOWNLOAD OR STREAM THE FULL SHOW TWO HOURS OR SO AFTER THE TV SHOW ENDS.
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