Friday Night SmackDown Review - October 22, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Brock Lesnar Attacked Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Caused Chaos

I loved every second of this segment and it sounded like the live crowd did as well. After running down the long list of opponents he's beaten as Universal Champion since WrestleMania 37, Reigns was attacked by Lesnar, who threw him all over ringside. Now that we've gotten their first match out of the way, I have no problem with them getting physical on SmackDown. Several members of the roster pilled out of the locker room to stop him, leading to Adam Pearce announcing his suspension. Lesnar didn't take too kindly to that and retaliated by laying out Adam Pearce with multiple F5s. Lesnar is being booked brilliantly as a babyface and Reigns and Paul Heyman are playing their roles remarkably well. This left me wanting to see that rematch and Lesnar's "suspension" should write him off TV for a few months so we can get it around WrestleMania season.

Drew McIntyre def. Sami Zayn

This was an open challenge from McIntyre. Zayn came out to new entrance music, which feels long overdue considering he turned heel over four years ago. Nonetheless, this was the quality match you'd expect from these two. They weren't given a ton of time, but what we got was good. It allowed McIntyre to bounce back from his loss to Big E at Crown Jewel and get his run on SmackDown off to a successful start.

Kofi Kingston Held a Coronation for King Xavier

Woods was announced as King Xavier at Crown Jewel and the Titantron referred to him as the same, so even though WWE.com has him listed as King Woods, I'll stick with King Xavier for now. Nonetheless, this was an entertaining coronation for him on his first night as King of the Ring. I assumed someone one would interrupt, but no one did, so that was a pleasant surprise. There wasn't a ton to this, but it's cool to see Woods finally get a moment of his own. Where he goes from here is anyone's guess, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

Mansoor def. Mustafa Ali

These two had a fun, well-wrestled match at Crown Jewel and were given around 10 minutes. Mansoor won as he should have and the post-match angle was well done. There was no reason for this feud to continue, yet a rematch was booked for SmackDown, anyway. It was a nice little match while it lasted but too short to be on the level of their original encounter. With Mansoor winning again, hopefully this is it. I'd like to see Mansoor get a sustained singles push on the blue brand.

Hit Row (Isaiah “Swerve” Scott and Top Dolla) def. Dustin Lawyer and Daniel Williams

This was practically the perfect debut for Hit Row. No, they didn't interrupt a huge star or win a title from the get-go or anything, but it was a significant step up from Karrion Kross' debut on Raw over the summer, which saw him get beat in a matter of minutes by Jeff Hardy while the NXT Champion. They got to cut one of their signature promos and then Swerve and Dolla impressed in the ring. A recent report from PWInsider indicated that Swerve and Ashante "Thee" Adonis will be the team while Dolla gets the singles push, but I hope that isn't true. If anyone in the group is going to get the single spotlight, it should be Swerve. He's the only one remotely ready for it.

Happy Corbin def. Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura in a Championship Contender's Match

I'm among those still enjoying Happy Corbin, even though his laughing shtick with Madcap Moss has already gotten old. That said, I don't want to see him be the one to take the title from Corbin. If he's merely being built up as a filler opponent for Nakamura, that's fine, but I'd rather see Sheamus be the one to hold the Intercontinental Championship next. This was a fairly forgettable match (much like most of their other encounters) with a predictable result.

Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch Exchanged the Raw Women's Championship and the SmackDown Women's Championship; Sasha Banks Interrupted

What a bizarre, stupid segment this was. When WWE advertised in advance that there would be a "title exchange" on this show, most fans figured they wouldn't actually go ahead with it by of how ridiculous it sounded. Not only did they do it, the whole segment was just terrible television with the belts getting thrown around and tossed on the ground. Both women teased and outright mentioned a Winner Take All match (which I don't want to see, personally), but it never led to anything, so Lynch and Flair are now indeed the Raw Women's Champion and SmackDown Women's Champion, respectively. I like Banks, but I have no desire to see her and Flair already on SmackDown. Why not give some of the other women a chance at the spotlight? Where was Shayna Baszler?

Overall Show

The show started with one of the best opening segments I've seen in a while and it ended with one of the worst closing segments I've seen in a while. In other words, it was a mixed bag this week. I largely didn't have an issue with anything that happened in the middle, but that title exchange trash was brutal and dragged the overall quality of the episode down a bit. I was also no fan of Corbin beating Nakamura, which means we'll be getting at least one more match between them. The other stuff was solid with Hit Row's debut going well, McIntyre and Zayn facing off for the first time ever, Mansoor scoring another singles win, and Woods getting his moment as King of the Ring. I'm interested to see how the show shakes out with the new roster, but we probably won't be seeing too many fresh faces until the brand warfare storyline is over after Survivor Series.

SEE MORE: SmackDown Reviews