 Nick Aldis Confronted Undisputed WWE Champion Cody RhodesRhodes showed awesome intensity while telling Aldis that he wanted Kevin Owens. Aldis said Owens was barred from the building for the night because of his attack on Randy Orton last week, but he did grant Rhodes a face-off with Owens on next week's show. Rhodes acknowledging Aldis' past as an in-ring competitor was a nice touch, especially given their own history over the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship six years ago. Bayley def. B-Fab and Candice LeRae in a Women's United States Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Triple Threat MatchIt was announced that the quarterfinals of this tournament to crown the inaugural Women's United States Champion will consist of Triple Threat matches, but the rest of the tourney will be singles matches with the finals taking place at Saturday Night's Main Event next month. It's also worth noting that only SmackDown Superstars will be included, though it remains to be seen whether the title will be defended on Raw in the future. I didn't have high hopes for this match given B-Fab's involvement, but she actually fared well for herself, not to mention that sharing the ring with Bayley and LeRae obviously helped. All in all, this was a quality contest. I have to imagine Bayley will at least make it to the finals, if not win the whole thing. United States Champion LA Knight def. BertoIt's been a while since we last saw Legado del Fantasma all together in the ring for a segment or a match. Hell, Santos Escobar hasn't wrestled on TV since late August when he unsuccessfully challenged Knight for the United States Championship, which is why Knight granted Berto the shot here. They had an enjoyable outing. As I expected, Shinsuke Nakamura returned afterward and attacked Knight. He's been gone for the last seven months and this the perfect program to bring him back for in my opinion. The Bloodline and Bronson Reed Attacked Roman Reigns, The Usos and Sami ZaynZayn tried to recruit Seth Rollins for WarGames on Monday's Raw as well as Knight on his show given his own history with The Bloodline, but both of them turned him down. It looks like Rollins will end up joining Reigns' squad after all with Reed joining The Bloodline's WarGames team here. I'm happy for Reed because that's an amazing spot for him and he came off like a total monster here, but I maintain that the five-on-five format for the men's WarGames this year is unnecessary. If nothing else, this was a strong segment. WWE Tag Team Champions The Motor City Machine Guns vs. The Street Profits Ended in a No ContestThis was a first-time-ever encounter and it was a fun one. The Profits were more aggressive than usual and the two teams worked well together. Tommaso Ciampa's interference causing a non-finish was disappointing, but it did make sense as far as Ciampa being frustrated. The Profits were also frustrated and didn't show the Guns respect afterward. I love that things are heating up in the tag team division and an eventual Triple Threat tag team match could be fantastic (not unlike the Triple Threat that #DIY and the Profits had with The Bloodline last month). WWE Women's Champion Nia Jax def. NaomiIt was cool to see the women spotlighted in the main event for a change. This wasn't a barn burner by any means, but it was entertaining enough with both women having really good showings and the crowd being into the nearfalls. There was chaos toward the end, but all of it was logical if we are indeed headed toward WarGames involving a lot of these women. LeRae continuing to help Jax is smart because it keeps her in a prominent spot, but there has to be a payoff for the tension between Jax and Tiffany Stratton on the sooner side. Overall ShowReigns calling Paul Heyman to close the show only for the number to out of order was a wonderful cliffhanger. It reminded me of when Reigns and Heyman first linked up four years ago and how brilliantly executed that cliffhanger that was. Overall, this was an excellent edition of SmackDown with a lot happening. The Survivor Series build continued, there was more emphasis on the women than usual, the Women's U.S. title tourney kicked off, Nakamura returned, and storylines were progressed effectively. This was definitely one of the better episodes all year.
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