Friday Night SmackDown Review - November 11, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos def. The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods)

WWE and everyone involved did a fantastic job of making this match and its stakes feel important. It was safe to assume The Usos were going to surpass New Day as the longest-reigning tag team champs in WWE history, but you never know with WWE and there were some strong nearfalls in this. They worked wonderfully together per usual, were given a ton of time and had an excellent outing. I was surprised this opened the show until it became apparent they were going to close with the WarGames setup for the men's match instead.

Santos Escobar def. Shinsuke Nakamura in a SmackDown World Cup Quarterfinal Match

This stemmed from Nakamura teaming with Hit Row to beat Legado del Fantasma a few weeks ago. This marked Escobar's singles debut on SmackDown and I was happy he got to showcase his skills to the main roster audience. This was an entertaining affair, as expected. The group needs more heat and Escobar beating a big fan favorite in Nakamura should help with that (even if the outside interference wasn't ideal).

Shotzi def. Lacey Evans, Xia Li, Liv Morgan, Sonya Deville and Raquel Rodriguez in a SmackDown Women's Championship No. 1 Contender's Six-Pack Challenge

I rolled my eyes when this WWE announced this on social media on Thursday. I believe it's the third multi-woman match Triple H has done since taking over to determine a number one contender to the SmackDown Women's Championship. It just feels so lazy. The only person who has anything going for her right now is Morgan, and I definitely did not want another round of her against Ronda Rousey. The crowd was quiet for this up until the attempted tables spot, which was ultimately botched. The effort was there from all six women, but I wasn't excited about any of the possibilities. Rousey vs. Shotzi is the definition of a filler feud.

Braun Strowman def. Jinder Mahal in a SmackDown World Cup Quarterfinal Match

This marked Mahal's first televised match in the Triple H era of WWE. I'm not sure if he's worked any house show matches, either. Maybe he was hurt and nobody knew, but his storyline with Shanky was cut short out of nowhere. Hey, I'm not complaining. This was a straight-up squash for Strowman as it should have been. Strowman continues to be super over with crowds despite the stupid comments he makes on social media.

Zelina Vega vs. B-Fab Went to a No Contest

Vega and B-Fab would have continued the feud Hit Row and Legado have had going for the past month, but we dodged a bullet with that not coming to fruition. Instead, The Viking Raiders finally resurfaced and laid out both tag teams, while Sarah Logan also returned and attacked B-Fab. Logan's new look is... interesting, to say the least. I'm perfectly fine with her serving as a manager for Viking Raiders provided she stays out of the ring.

The Bloodline Brawled with Drew McIntyre and The Brawling Brutes

You know had to know this segment was going to end with WarGames being set up for the men, and although it wasn't officially announced, that's exactly where this was headed. Reigns' promo was fairly generic, but he did the smart thing by acknowledging Sheamus' mic wasn't working. McIntyre and all of The Brawling Brutes took the fight to The Bloodline, so we know four of the five faces who will battle The Bloodline in WarGames. Kevin Owens has to be the fifth member, right? This was a solid segment.

Overall Show

This show started strong and gradually lost steam as it went on other than the main event segment. The first two matches were top-notch, but the Six-Pack Challenge was a bit of a mess. On the bright side, the SmackDown World Cup will give some matches more meaning for the next few weeks and WWE wasted no time getting into the build for Survivor Series. All in all, this was a thumbs-up show with zero filler, causing the two hours to fly by even quicker.

SEE MORE: SmackDown Reviews