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Several Superstars were unable to make it to the November 1 episode of SmackDown due to travel issues coming back from Saudi Arabia, meaning WWE’s creative team had to pull out all the stops by completely rewriting this week’s show.
Heading into the episode, WWE’s final preview advertised Daniel Bryan, The Miz, Carmella, Dana Brooke and Nikki Cross, plus “additional surprises”, which led many people to speculate that NXT could invade the blue brand ahead of their involvement in the Survivor Series pay-per-view on November 24.
In this article, let’s find out how many surprises WWE produced by taking a look at 21 things you need to know after SmackDown.
#21 Makeshift announce team
Due to the travel problems that WWE Superstars and employees had in Saudi Arabia, regular SmackDown commentators Michael Cole and Corey Graves were unable to call the action for Friday’s episode. Tom Phillips, Renee Young and Aiden English began at the announce desk instead, while Kayla Braxton – SmackDown’s backstage interviewer – replaced Greg Hamilton as ring announcer.
#20 WWE replayed the entire Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez match
Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman kicked off the show. In a typically passionate promo, Heyman explained that his client is “p****d off” despite his two-minute Crown Jewel win over Cain Velasquez. Heyman then pointed in the direction of the big screen, which showed the Lesnar vs. Velasquez match in its entirety.
#19 Another classic Paul Heyman quote
While addressing Brock Lesnar’s future on SmackDown, Paul Heyman revealed that Vince McMahon told him “The Beast” was not allowed to show up on RAW due to the brand split. Lesnar’s advocate said anybody who is unaware of McMahon can “Google him, b*****s”.
#18 Brock Lesnar quit SmackDown
With two World Champions on SmackDown after Crown Jewel, Paul Heyman went on to announce that Brock Lesnar has quit the blue brand and he plans to appear on Monday’s episode of RAW to target Cain Velasquez’s ally, Rey Mysterio.
#17 Triple H and Shawn Michaels appeared backstage
In the hours leading up to SmackDown, WWE released a statement in which they promised “surprises” on Friday's episode after the majority of the roster was unable to make the show. Following Paul Heyman’s announcement, the next surprise came when Triple H and Shawn Michaels – both associated with NXT – were shown in the backstage area.
#16 Bayley retained the SmackDown Women’s Championship
The first match of the night saw Bayley retain her SmackDown Women’s Championship against Nikki Cross after multiple distractions from Sasha Banks.
#15 Bayley has a new finisher
Instead of her usual Bayley-to-Belly, the SmackDown Women’s Champion picked up the victory by planting Nikki Cross face-first into the mat. The move was almost identical to the original Dirty Deeds that Dean Ambrose used in WWE.
#14 Shayna Baszler made her first SmackDown appearance
With this year’s Survivor Series having a RAW vs. SmackDown vs. NXT theme, we can expect to see plenty of invasions over the next few weeks. The first of those took place after the SmackDown Women’s Championship match when NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler took out Sasha Banks at ringside and went on to attack Bayley in the middle of the ring.
#13 Pat McAfee replaced Aiden English on commentary
Following the Bayley vs. Nikki Cross match, NXT analyst Pat McAfee replaced Aiden English to make his SmackDown commentary debut. Cathy Kelley, known for her work in NXT and on WWE’s YouTube channel, took over from Kayla Braxton as this week’s backstage interviewer.
#12 Matt Riddle and Keith Lee attacked Sami Zayn
Sami Zayn began to run his mouth about a possible NXT invasion during an interview with Cathy Kelley. He was then interrupted by Matt Riddle and Keith Lee, who chased the former NXT Champion through the arena. Riddle hit Bro Derek on Zayn in the ring, while Lee followed up with a moonsault. Judging by the number of “Bro!” chants, the crowd loved Riddle's appearance.
#11 Tommaso Ciampa invaded Miz TV
Bray Wyatt was supposed to be The Miz’s guest on Miz TV but he did not make it back from Saudi Arabia in time to appear on SmackDown. Instead, NXT’s Tommaso Ciampa made a surprise appearance and insulted The Miz by referring to him as an “actor” who represents everything that is wrong with RAW and SmackDown. This prompted a defiant Miz to challenge Ciampa to a match.
#10 Tommaso Ciampa shocked The Miz
Tommaso Ciampa withstood plenty of offence from The Miz before following up a knee strike with his Fairytale Ending finisher to pick up the victory. This might not be a major shock for regular NXT viewers, but it was sure made to feel like a shock by the commentary team.
#9 Shawn Michaels jokingly teased an in-ring comeback
Daniel Bryan bumped into Triple H and Shawn Michaels in the backstage area. The former WWE Champion challenged HHH to a match, while Michaels slowly took off his jacket to tease that he could potentially be interested in facing the man who he trained earlier in his career. HBK was only joking, of course, and he quickly put his jacket back on because he was cold.
#8 Main event set: Daniel Bryan vs. Adam Cole
Many fans began speculating about dream matches when the RAW vs. SmackDown vs. NXT Survivor Series theme was announced. Well, fans were treated to the very definition of a dream match when Triple H called over Adam Cole as Daniel Bryan’s opponent. Cole even accepted Bryan’s challenge to put his NXT Championship on the line.
#7 Bianca Belair made a statement
Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville stood in the ring waiting for Carmella to make her entrance, but “The Princess of Staten Island” never appeared. Cameras then showed backstage footage of NXT’s Bianca Belair attacking Dana Brooke and Carmella. The highlight came when Belair showed off her strength by raising Carmella over her head before launching her over a production case.
#6 Rhea Ripley & Tegan Nox destroyed Fire ‘n’ Desire
One of the brightest young prospects in all of WWE, NXT’s Rhea Ripley cut a short promo revealing that she will face Fire ‘n’ Desire in a tag team match. Her partner for the night, fellow NXT Superstar Tegan Nox, took out Sonya Deville at ringside, allowing Ripley to quickly make Mandy Rose tap out to her Inverted Shamrock submission move.
#5 Brief Stephanie McMahon appearance
After Triple H and Shawn Michaels took their seats at ringside for the main event between Adam Cole and Daniel Bryan, Stephanie McMahon made a brief appearance to congratulate Lacey Evans and Natalya for their history-making match in Saudi Arabia at Crown Jewel. Needless to say, given the talking point, the WWE Universe did not greet Stephanie with a chorus of boos on this occasion.
#4 Adam Cole pinned Daniel Bryan
Superstars from The Undisputed ERA often win their matches thanks to help from other members from the faction. This time, Roderick Strong appeared during Adam Cole’s entrance but made his way to the back, leaving the NXT Champion to defeat Bryan all on his own after following up Panama Sunrise with a knee to the back of his opponent's head to retain his title.
#3 Triple H closed the show
With over a dozen NXT Superstars, plus Shawn Michaels, around him in the ring, Triple H ended the episode with a passionate promo about NXT and how the brand’s “army” has fired the first shot to RAW and SmackDown ahead of Survivor Series.
#2 Pat McAfee impressed on his commentary debut
Pat McAfee is mostly used as an NXT TakeOver pre-show analyst, but it would not be at all surprising if WWE gave him more opportunities in the future following his SmackDown debut. The former football player made for a refreshing voice at the announce desk, bringing an element of entertainment and excitement that is usually lacking on commentary.
#1 WWE made a positive out of a negative
With almost the entire SmackDown roster missing from the show, this could have turned out to be one of the worst episodes in the blue brand’s history. However, WWE took advantage of this year’s Survivor Series theme by booking an incredible show which, as they promised, was full of surprises. Pat McAfee repeatedly mentioned how everyone will remember the November 1 episode of SmackDown – and he was not wrong!
Now you can rate Crown Jewel and SmackDown matches on Sportskeeda!
