SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT
DECEMBER 27, 2024
HARTFORD, CONN. AT XL CENTER
AIRED ON USA NETWORK
Commentators: Corey Graves, Wade Barrett
Ring Announcer: Alicia Taylor
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[HOUR ONE]
– The show opened with a recap of Cody Rhodes defeating Kevin Owens at Saturday Night’s Main Event and Kevin’s post-match assault was shown.
– Backstage, Nick Aldis addressed Kevin Owens’ claim of being the rightful champion. Aldis said that Kevin wasn’t the real champion and demanded that he brings back the Winged Eagle championship by the end of the night or he would face consequences.
– Backstage, Cathy Kelley interviewed Bianca Belair and Naomi about their win last week for the tag titles. Naomi said that she was proud of tagging with the EST of WWE and Belair said that she hadn’t forgotten about Jade Cargill’s attacker.
– A recap of Tiffany Stratton accidentally distracting Nia Jax last week was shown.
– Nia Jax arrived with a mic in hand to claim that none of them were Jade Cargill’s attacker. Jax said that after Tiffany Stratton failed last week, she clearly wasn’t the attacker. Jax suggested that Bianca Belair was the real attacker and said that she would make her own up to it.
(1) BIANCA BELAIR & NAOMI & BAYLEY vs. NIA JAX & TIFFANY STRATTON & CANDICE LERAE
Belair and Stratton traded headlock takeovers, until Belair knocked Stratton off her feet. Bayley, Naomi and Belair nailed their opponents with a suicide dive, a dropkick through the ropes and a plancha, as WWE SmackDown went to commercials.
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, Belair pummeled Jax with numerous forearm strikes in the corner. Naomi shoved her but on Jax’s face, only for Jax to shut her down with a spienbuster for a two count. Belair and Naomi dropped LeRae with a double suplex, followed by a split leg drop and a handspring moonsault. Belair hit LeRae with a shoulder thrust and beat her down with a load of right hands, until Stratton distracted her.
LeRae swept Belair off the top turnbuckle and Jax crushed her with a senton. Jax flattened Belair with a spinebuster, setting her up for a splash from LeRae. Stratton hit Belair with a diving splash, accidentally stopping a pinfall attempt in the process. Bayley tagged in to hit LeRae with a back suplex, only for LeRae to swing her head into the ring post. LeRae pummeled Bayley down and drove her into the apron, as WWE SmackDown went to an ad break.
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, Naomi got the hot tag to take Stratton down with a shoulder tackle and a kick to the head. Naomi dropped Stratton with a spinning bulldog for a two count. Stratton took Naomi down with a spinebuster before receiving a Bayley-to-belly. LeRae caught Bayley with a Codebreaker, only for Belair to hit her with a gutbuster. Jax put Belair down with a powerslam, but Naomi shut her down with an avalanche hurracarrana and a split-legged moonsault. Stratton pulled Naomi out of the ring and took care of her with a plancha. Stratton teased cashing in her briefcase, until LeRae stopped her from using it. LeRae tagged herself in, only for Naomi to nail her with a Full Nelson slam and take the win.
WINNERS: Bianca Belair, Naomi & Bayley at 16:15
(Pomares’ Analysis: A pretty good opening contest that lasted much longer than most expected. The whodunnit storyline has been mostly fine, but I like that they are addressing Bianca Belair and Naomi as possible attackers. I’m getting tired of the story between Jax and Stratton which feels like it hasn’t progressed meaningfully in months. I hope they pull the trigger soon on a Stratton cash-in, so we can move on to a more interesting main story in the women’s division.)
– Backstage, A-Town Down Under complained to Nick Aldis about Braun Strowman, but he simply focused on their match against him tonight. Sami Zayn entered the room to speak with Aldis.
[Commercial Break]
– Backstage, Sami Zayn that the Bloodline showed up on Raw and that he wanted to get back at them. Carmelo Hayes interrupted, only for Sami to tell him to wait. Hayes insisted and Sami asked Aldis to book him in a match against him.
– A recap of Carmelo Hayes defeating Braun Strowman via Count Out and assaulting him with a chair was shown.
(2) BRAUN STROWMAN vs. AUSTIN THEORY (w/Grayson Waller)
Strowman shoved Theory out of the ring and knocked him down with a clothesline. Strowman drove Theory into the corner, but missed a corner splash. Theory briefly tried to lift Strowman before Strowman tossed him across the ring, as WWE SmackDown went to a commercial break
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, Strowman clobbered Theory with a chop to the chest, only for Theory to hit him with a chop block. Theory attacked Stormwan with an elbow strike for a one count. Theory nailed Strowman with a rolling dropkick, but Strowman immediately retaliated with a shotgun dropkick. Strowman stomped Waller’s hand before he could interfere and dumped Theory on top of him. Strowman laid Theory out with a clothesline and shoved Waller off the apron. Theory lifted Strowman, but Strowman blocked A-Town Down and finished him with a running Powerslam.
WINNER: Braun Strowman at 7:27
(Pomares’ Analysis: An okay showing to give Braun Strowman another singles win on TV. Theory and Waller are essentially fodder for most singles stars on the roster, so a loss for them doesn’t really matter. I’m assuming the plan is to do a big singles match between Strowman and Hayes, maybe with some sort of stipulation.)
[Commercial Break]
[HOUR TWO]
– A video of Kevin Owens speaking in his car was shown. Kevin said that he would agree to speak with Nick Aldis in the ring, as long as there weren’t any security guards surrounding the ring.
– Piper Niven stood in the middle of a ring with a podium and numerous United States flags behind her. Niven introduced Chelsea Green as the new United States champion who arrived dressed as the Statue of Liberty. Green described this moment as the most glamorous one, as she claimed that she was the youngest, oldest and longest Women’s United States champion.
– Green said that she would show some respect to a woman who stood alongside her throughout everything, only to reveal that she was still speaking about herself. She said that she was shocked that Michin even made it that far in the tournament before asking the crowd what they could do for Chelsea Green. Green said that 2025 would be the year of red, white and green, only for Michin to interrupt. Michin said that if it wasn’t for Niven, she would be the champion. Michin clobbered Niven with a load of kendo stick shots to the back and forced Green to retreat.
(Pomares’ Analysis: A decent start to the reign of Chelsea Green with a bit of an underwhelming ending. Green’s promo and presentation were fun and I liked the tease of a breakup between her and Piper Niven. However, I’m not that excited to see a rematch with Michin and the beat-down angle had a weak execution.)
– Backstage, Nick Aldis asked DIY who attacked the Street Profits three weeks ago. They claimed that they didn’t know, only for Aldis to reveal Pretty Deadly as eye witnesses. Elton Prince and Kit Wilson claimed that it was Garza, so the Street Profits immediately walked away to start a brawl with Los Garza. Aldis and some referees broke apart the fight and told them to solve this inside the ring, as WWE SmackDown went to commercials.
[Commercial Break]
(3) STREET PROFITS (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins w/B-Fab) vs. LOS GARZA (Angel & Berto w/Elektra Lopez)
Back from break, Dawkins and Angel traded right hands, until Ford and Berto knocked them off the apron with big boots. Ford and Berto crashed into Dawkins and Angel with stereo planchas. Ford took Berto down with a clothesline, followed by a double facebuster. Los Garza nailed Dawkins with a senton to the back and a forearm strike for a two count. Dawkins clobbered Berto and Angel with forearm shots before nailing Berto with a shoulder tackle and dropping Ford on top of him. Angel caught Dawkins with a headbutt, but Ford took him down with a thrust kick. Berto caught Ford with an enzuigiri and Angel shocked him with a dropkick into the ring post, as WWE SmackDown went to an ad break.
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, Angel dropped Ford with a spinebuster and Berto clocked him with a kick to the head. Berto stomped Ford down and Angel blasted him with a running knee to the head. Ford surprised Angel with a leaping DDT, reaching Dawkins for the hot tag. Dawkins hit Angel with clotheslines and Berto with a leaping back elbow. Dawkins dropped Berto with the Silencer, but he kicked out at two.
Angel saved Berto from a tag team move and shoved Dawkins into Ford before blasting him with a thrust kick. Los Garza dumped Ford with an avalanche double bodyslam before crushing the Profits with moonsaults for a nearfall. Dawkins pounced Angel away and Ford caught Berto with an enzuigiri. Lopez pulled Angel out of the ring, only for B-Fab to take her out with a big boot. Ford crashed into Los Garza with a Tope con Hilo. The Profits planted Angel with the Doomsday Blockbuster to pick up the victory.
WINNERS: Street Profits at 11:08
(Pomares’ Analysis: This was a pretty good match that once again got way more time than I thought it would. The tag division has been a weak spot all over WWE in 2024, so matches like this are a good sign that things can improve going into 2025. Based on the backstage segment from earlier in the night, I assume that the Profits will be the first major challenger to DIY’s reign.)
– Backstage, Andrade said that he wasn’t scared of Shinsuke Nakamura’s mind games. Andrade said that he would expose Nakamura and claimed that he would show everyone that he was inevitable.
– It was announced that Andrade would take on Shinsuke Nakamura; Naomi would challenge for Nia Jax’s championship and that SmackDown would officially move to 3 hours next week.
[Commercial Break]
– Backstage, Pretty Deadly and DIY agreed to work together before the Street Profits showed up to thank them for informing them about Los Garza. The Motor City Machine Guns interrupted the Profits to say that they had next title shot and Apollo Crews showed up to tell the Profits that it was actually DIY that attacked them.
(4) SAMI ZAYN vs. CARMELO HAYES
Sami cornered Hayes and put him in a wrist lock before blasting him with a series of chops. Hayes caught Sami with a dropkick and put him in a headlock, only for Sami to toss him out of the ring and tease going for a Tope con Hilo. Hayes pulled Sami out of the ring and tried to Irish-whip Sami into the barricade, but he leapt onto it and hit him with a moonsault, as WWE SmackDown went to a commercial break.
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, Sami smashed Hayes’ head into the turnbuckle, only for Hayes to pull his head into the ropes. Hayes nailed Sami with a springboard clothesline and pummeled him down. Sami caught Hayes off-guard with a clothesline and knocked him down with a diving axe handle. Hayes blocked the Blue Thunderbomb, but Sami countered his springboard DDT with the Blue Thunderbomb for a two count. Sami shoved Hayes off the top turnbuckle before Hayes avoided a splash and hit him with First 48 for a nearfall. Hayes spiked Sami with a springboard DDT, only for Sami to block Nothing But Net with a lariat.
Sami attacked Hayes with a flurry of blows to the head and put him down with a Xpoder into the corner. Hayes rolled out of the ring to avoid the Helluva Kick and walked away from the match. Braun Strowman showed up and tried to carry Hayes back in the ring, but he quickly ran away to the back. The Bloodline entered the ring to assault Sami and end the match.
WINNER: Sami Zayn via DQ at 11:30
– After the match, Sami caught Tama Tonga with a big boot and made Jacob Fatu crash into the ring post. Braun Strowman returned with Carmelo Hayes, only to drop him and save Sami. Strowman took care of Solo Sikoa and Tama before having a face-off with Fatu. Tama nailed Strowman with a chop block and Solo knocked him out with a Samoan Spike. Sami tackled Solo, but the Bloodline quickly overpowered him. Nick Aldis and some agents ran to stop the Bloodline while Solo hit Sami with a Samoan Spike. Kevin Owens made his way to the ring to confront Aldis, as WWE SmackDown went to its final commercial break.
(Pomares’ Analysis: A really good match with a very annoying and overbooked finish. I really don’t like when WWE books a big match and decides that they don’t want either side to lose, so there isn’t a real finish. The post-match angle was decent and I liked the tease between Strowman and Fatu, but this felt like more of the same from the Bloodline.)
[Commercial Break]
– Nick Aldis demanded Kevin Owens to give back the belt, only for Kevin to say that he wouldn’t do it because it was his bargaining chip. Kevin said that he would give the belt back, as long as he was given a rematch where the referee doesn’t cost him the match. Aldis told Kevin that this wasn’t a negotiation and that Kevin wouldn’t set foot in a WWE ring if he didn’t give back the belt. Cody Rhodes interrupted to tell Aldis that he wouldn’t go to the back and say that he wouldn’t make Kevin a martyr.
– Cody said that he didn’t do this only for himself, but for all the people around the ring. He said that this wasn’t Aldis’ responsibility, but it was his. Cody said that they were no longer friends and that he wanted a match where the referee wouldn’t stop what he would do to him. Cody told Kevin to take both championships and hang them high for a ladder match. Aldis begrudgingly set up a ladder match between Cody and Kevin at the Royal Rumble. Kevin shoved Aldis into Cody and stomped Cody’s neck, until various agents showed up to separate them.
(Pomares’ Analysis: A very strong segment to set up the big rematch for the WWE title at the Rumble. This is by far the most interesting feud Cody has been in since winning the title and after the slightly disappointing match at Saturday Night’s Main Event, this should be a standout match on the same level as their match at Bash in Berlin. As for the winner, I’m hoping for a KO victory since he has been an incredibly entertaining character to follow, but I get the feeling WWE would like to keep the belt on Cody going into WrestleMania.)
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