WrestleRant
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
    • WWE Reviews >
      • Raw Reviews
      • SmackDown Reviews
      • NXT Reviews
      • Other >
        • 205 Live Reviews
        • NXT UK Reviews
        • Main Event Reviews
        • Superstars Reviews
        • ECW Reviews
    • AEW Reviews >
      • Dynamite Reviews
      • Dark Reviews
      • AEW PPV Reviews
    • More >
      • IMPACT Reviews
      • ROH Reviews
      • NWA Reviews >
        • Shockwave Reviews
        • NWA PPV Reviews
      • LU Reviews
  • Week in Review
    • Year in Review
  • Audio
    • WrestleRant Radio
    • Interviews
    • Audio Archive
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • About
    • Contact Us

Columnist Corner

Friday Night SmackDown Review - October 16, 2020

10/16/2020

Comments

 
Picture
By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Triple H and Stephanie McMahon Introduced the SmackDown Roster

I don't think we've seen Triple H on WWE TV since his 25-year career celebration in April, so it was nice to see him. I was worried when the show opened with them in the ring and the rest of the roster on the stage as it gave me Authority flashbacks, but this turned out to be a solid segment with HHH and Stephanie introducing some of SmackDown's newest acquisitions before a brawl broke out. The Street Profits and Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode got to hype their championship clash for later in the night, while Jeff Hardy attacking Lars Sullivan from behind was a good segue into their subsequent match.

Lars Sullivan def. Jeff Hardy

Hardy is heading to Raw thanks to the Draft and Sullivan is staying on SmackDown, so while it was fairly predictable Hardy wasn't winning here, it still turned out to be a quality contest with Hardy selling well for Sullivan's offense and Sullivan looking impressive in his first bout back in well over a year. It will be interesting to see how Sullivan will be booked on the blue brand going forward, especially as he constantly seems to find himself in hot water outside of the ring.

The New Day (Big E and Raw Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) def. Sheamus, Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro

That pre-match promo from New Day was just fantastic and it sucks there wasn't a crowd there to give it the reaction it deserved. They spoke from the heart, and as much as I love their goofiness, it was refreshing to hear from them out of character about how much their journey together has meant to them. They'll obviously be back together someday, but this was a picture-perfect (temporary) farewell for them. It was also cool to see The Bar back for the first time in over a year and a half and I liked how the commentators ran down the heels' history with New Day from over the years. This was a super fun six-man tag team match and that final stretch was stellar. It was definitely time for New Day to go their separate ways, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't going to miss them as a trio for the foreseeable future.

Daniel Bryan, Murphy and Rey and Dominik Mysterio Targeted Seth Rollins

Rollins and Bryan have had their fair share of matches against each other over the years, but believe it or not, they've never had a full-fledged feud. I enjoyed their interaction here and am all for them feuding in the future, potentially sooner rather than later. I also liked how they tied the Mysterio family and Murphy into this by having Murphy attack Rollins. Rey and Dominik not shaking Murphy's hand made sense considering all that he's done to their family, so it will take time for them to build that trust. Can we please branch off into Rollins vs. Murphy from here and leave the stuff with the Mysterios behind?

SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Street Profits def. Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode by Disqualification

I questioned why WWE would add this match to the "season premiere" of SmackDown when it could have instead been built up for Hell in a Cell next Sunday. That appears to be the direction they're going in given that they went with a non-finish here, but then why book the bout to begin with? What we got was fine, but this was all so quick that it just felt like a waste of time. By the way, why would Ziggler and Roode teaming up on one of The Street Profits lead to a disqualification? We see that in tag team matches all the time. On the bright side, their new tag team finisher looks awesome.

SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley and Sasha Banks Came Face-to-Face

This was supposed to be a contract signing overseen by Adam Pearce, and while Banks signed the contract, Bayley never did. Obviously, they're going to face each other at Hell in a Cell no matter what, but the hook is how Banks will get her to sign the contract before then. This is what I'd been hoping for from these two since the feud started as their mic work was top-notch, though I wish it would have lasted a little longer than it did. Everything since Bayley's betrayal of Banks has been rushed, but at least this managed to get me more excited for the pay-per-view match than I was previously.

Universal Champion Roman Reigns def. Braun Strowman

Amazingly enough, this marked the first time the Universal Championship has ever been defended on SmackDown. Putting aside how ridiculous it was for Strowman to receive a shot at the Universal Championship after doing nothing to deserve it and not appearing on SmackDown since August, this was an entertaining main event and exactly what it needed to be. These are two totally different versions of these guys compared to when they last went one-on-one a few years ago, but their in-ring chemistry is still strong.

Overall Show

I'll never not find the "season premiere" tag WWE gives Raw and SmackDown every fall stupid, but in many ways, this did feel like a proper reset for the blue brand. The matches made sense, storylines progressed, some Superstars got their SmackDown sendoff, and others were effectively introduced. All in all, it was a strong show. SmackDown was producing some terrific television before the Draft, so I hope that can continue even with the new roster.
Comments

    Categories

    All
    #AskGSM
    Cruiserweight Classic
    Halftime Heat
    Hidden Gems
    Lists/Rankings
    Mae Young Classic
    Mixed Match Challenge
    News
    NJPW
    Opinion
    Previews
    Retro Reviews
    Reviews
    RJ's Two Cents
    Satire
    SummerSlam Recall
    The Deadly Draw
    Tribute To The Troops
    Worlds Collide
    WrestleMania Recall
    WWE Starrcade


    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    RSS Feed

©2021 WrestleRant. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
    • WWE Reviews >
      • Raw Reviews
      • SmackDown Reviews
      • NXT Reviews
      • Other >
        • 205 Live Reviews
        • NXT UK Reviews
        • Main Event Reviews
        • Superstars Reviews
        • ECW Reviews
    • AEW Reviews >
      • Dynamite Reviews
      • Dark Reviews
      • AEW PPV Reviews
    • More >
      • IMPACT Reviews
      • ROH Reviews
      • NWA Reviews >
        • Shockwave Reviews
        • NWA PPV Reviews
      • LU Reviews
  • Week in Review
    • Year in Review
  • Audio
    • WrestleRant Radio
    • Interviews
    • Audio Archive
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • About
    • Contact Us