For the second night in a row, WWE aired a show from Glasgow, Scotland and it has to be said, that this crowd was a lot more enthusiastic than Monday night’s crowd.
With the continued build to Survivor Series on November 20th and the much-anticipated Women’s Title match between, Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss, set for this week, there was plenty to look forward to.
So did the show’s quality, match the fans’ enthusiasm? You can judge that after seeing this week’s 10 “Say What?” moments from SmackDown Live…
#1 Ellsworth the mascot
For what felt like the 200th week in a row, James Ellsworth appeared on SmackDown Live.
Personally, I’m starting to grow tired of the Ellsworth schtick and feel WWE have milked his character dry. But, it doesn’t appear that he’ll be leaving anytime soon, at least not for a couple of weeks, as he has been announced as Team SmackDown Live’s official mascot for Survivor Series.
This decision means that Ellsworth could come face-to-face with Braun Strowman once again, let’s hope that this time, Braun will make sure we never see Ellsworth again.
#2 Breezango qualify
The final spot on SmackDown’s tag team, Survivor Series contingent, would be decided this week, in a qualifying match, between The Vaudevillains and Breezango which the latter would go on to win.
While it was good to see both these teams get some much-needed TV time this week, the match was quick and nothing more than a formality to fill the remaining places on Team SmackDown.
Still, hopefully, this will be a fresh start for Breezango, who had the chance to showcase their new ‘fashion police’ gimmick to a wider audience. Whether this will get over remains to be seen, but at least they are doing something.
#3 Kalisto returns
Kalisto returned to action, after a couple of months out with a knee injury, to face the man who ‘kayfabe’ injured him, Baron Corbin.
The match would not get started, however, as Corbin would attack Kalisto before the bell rang.
The ‘Lone Wolf’ would then stumble off the apron and tweak his knee, again in kayfabe, only for Kalisto to take advantage of this, and elicit some revenge for the weeks of action that the former United States Champion had missed.
But the story didn’t end there…
#4 Corbin removed from Team SmackDown Live
We would later learn that due to Corbin’s injury, he was no longer able to compete as part of Team Smackdown Live at Survivor Series.
This was quite surprising, as it seemed like the start of the much-anticipated push for Baron Corbin. However, his immediate future is now in question after this recent turn of events.
We would also be left with the question of who would replace Corbin on Team Smackdown Live?
That answer would be revealed later in the night.
#5 Women’s main event…kind of
SmackDown Live made a big deal of the long awaited Women’s Title match, between Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss and billed it as the ‘main event’ of this week’s show.
However, the match would take place at the mid-point of the show, so I feel that it can’t really be classified as a ‘main event’. Despite this, the billing and pre-match video package hyped this bout up brilliantly and gave it a big fight feel.
So, could the Women deliver?
#6 Lynch retains
Yes. Lynch and Bliss told a compelling story, with Bliss working on Becky’s arm for the majority of the match, so much so, that it looked like Alexa might walk away with the gold.
However, Lynch would retain her Championship on this occasion, but it wasn’t without controversy.
Becky Lynch would manage to lock in her ‘Dis-arm-her’ finisher and force Bliss to tap out, but not before Bliss would get her foot on the rope, an action that the referee failed to spot. You’d expect that this feud is far from over, after this finish to the match and, I for one, am excited to see this continue.
#7 Cruiserweight division heading to Smackdown?
In a surprising and potentially very interesting announcement on this week’s Smackdown Live, General Manager Daniel Bryan would reveal another inter-promotional match for the upcoming Survivor Series pay-per-view.
Brian Kendrick will defend his Cruiserweight Championship against Smackdown’s own Kalisto, with the stipulation that if Kalisto is victorious, then the Cruiserweight Title and entire Cruiserweight division will be heading to the blue brand.
This is certainly a high stakes match and could be the shot in the arm, that the Cruiserweight division needs.
#8 Hawkins defeats Crews
Curt Hawkins picked up his first victory, since his return on this Tuesday’s show in a match against Apollo Crews. This was somewhat of an underwhelming segment on the show as the fans were not really behind either competitor.
The Curt Hawkins persona has failed to capture the fans’ imagination, and after another disappointing defeat for Apollo, he has a long way to go the re-establish some credibility.
#9 Intercontinental Title match set for Smackdown 900
An Intercontinental Championship match has been announced for next week’s, already stacked, ‘Smackdown 900’ show, as Dolph Ziggler will defend the title against his long-term rival, The Miz.
Add this, to the return of former World Heavyweight Champion, Edge, and a special appearance by The Undertaker and next Tuesday’s show is shaping up to be a must-see event.
As for the Intercontinental Championship match itself, I hope to see Ziggler retain, as I think a lot of people are looking forward to see Dolph defend his title, against Sami Zayn at Survivor Series.
#10 Shane O’Mac on Team Smackdown Live!
As mentioned earlier, Smackdown Live needed to find a fifth member for their Men’s Survivor Series team, after Baron Corbin was forced to pull out due to injury. This fifth member was decided at the conclusion of the show and was revealed to be, none other than Smackdown Live Commissioner, Shane McMahon!
This announcement certainly came out of left field and has added another dimension to the Survivor Series main event.
With Shane and Daniel Bryan scheduled to appear on next week’s Raw, things have quickly heated up and the go-home shows for each brand, before November 20th’s Survivor Series pay-per-view, certainly have the potential to be explosive.
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Teddy Long snaps when Swerve Strickland's race is brought up HERE
