Friday Night SmackDown Review - December 2, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Sami Zayn def. Sheamus

Zayn, Solo Sikoa and The Usos opened the show talking about how Zayn aided The Bloodline to victory at Survivor Series. I'm curious to see how WWE kills time with Bloodline before WrestleMania 39, but I'm sure it will be entertaining either way. Zayn vs. Sheamus was the enjoyable affair you'd expect from them. We found out later on that Sheamus and Drew McIntyre will challenge The Usos for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship next week on SmackDown. I like that they're going back to that after Sheamus and McIntyre beat The Usos last week, but I would have built it up a bit more.

Shayna Baszler def. Emma

This SmackDown women's division is in the doldrums right now, and I don't think continuing Shotzi's feud with Baszler is going to help much. Emma gave it a decent effort, but there wasn't anything remotely memorable about the match and the crowd couldn't bring themselves to care. Despite having her arm broken last week (in storyline), Raquel Rodriguez was already back this week to come to Emma and Shotzi's aid, so it looks like the rumors are true and Rodriguez will indeed challenge Ronda Rousey for the SmackDown Women's Championship at the Royal Rumble.

Intercontinental Champion Gunther def. Kofi Kingston (Non-Title)

Kingston stood no chance here, but as a match we've never seen before, I thought it was fun and they worked well together. Braun Strowman coming down to ringside halfway through was logical after what happened with him and Imperium last week, but I really wish they had held off until after the SmackDown World Cup to kick off the build for that bout. We don't see Gunther in action often unless he's defending his title, so this was a nice treat.

Tegan Nox Saved Liv Morgan From Damage CTRL

I had no desire to see Damage CTRL on SmackDown after they already appeared at Survivor Series and on Monday's Raw. I'm a fan of all three women involved, but the group have basically been stepping stones for Bianca Belair since their SummerSlam debut. Morgan feuding with them is random, but she may have an ally in the returning Tegan Nox, who was among those released back in November 2021. She was never given a fair shot on the main roster, so I'm really happy she's back. She's a quality addition to the SmackDown women's division, which is depleted at the moment as noted earlier.

Ricochet def. Santos Escobar to Win the SmackDown World Cup and Become the No. 1 Contender to the Intercontinental Championship

These two have history from their days in Lucha Underground, a show I desperately miss. It was cool seeing them meet again on a bigger stage and have the great match they're capable of. The crowd was quiet early on but got into the action down the stretch, which is a testament to how talented these guys are. Personally, I was pulling for Escobar to win and stay undefeated (even if Escobar vs. Gunther would have been heel vs. heel), but Ricochet vs. Gunther should also be a blast in two weeks if their first two matches from the start of the summer are anything to go off of.

Overall Show

WWE has a lot of time to kill until their next major event, which is the Royal Rumble at the end of January. We have a sense of where stuff is going and that's a big positive. I hope we get some real progression on the Bray Wyatt front soon, but I am looking forward to the feud between Karrion Kross and Rey Mysterio that was revealed on this show. The rest of the episode largely held my interest between the opener, the main event with stakes, and Nox's return. With an Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship match announced for next Friday followed by Gunther vs. Ricochet for the Intercontinental Championship on December 16th, I'm glad that the blue brand will be keeping the momentum going for the next two weeks at least ahead of the holiday season.

SEE MORE: SmackDown Reviews