Friday Night SmackDown Review - October 8, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Bianca Belair Attacked SmackDown Women's Champion Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks

This was different from your typical contract signing given I don't think any of the three women actually signed the contract. Rather, the show started with all of them already at ringside except in separate spots. The mic work was very good as usual and built toward the Triple Threat match at Crown Jewel. Belair has been left laying more often than not lately, so her standing tall to end this segment was necessary.

Sami Zayn def. Rey Mysterio in a King of the Ring Tournament Quarterfinal Match

I remember these two having a match many months ago and being disappointed with it because they were shortchanged for time. Thankfully, they were given a bit more time here and they had an entertaining affair. The Mysterios continued their angle with Dominik inadvertently costing his father the victory, so expect that tension to carry over onto Raw now that they've both been drafted. As for Zayn, it's cool he advanced because he's been doing a whole lot of nothing since his rivalry with Kevin Owens ended, even though I don't see him making it past the semifinals.

Zelina Vega def. Toni Storm in a Queen's Crown Tournament Quarterfinal Match

Believe it or not, this marked only the third televised match Storm has had since joining the main roster and her second singles match. Both were against Vega. Much like everyone else, I assumed this would be an easy win for Storm to take her to the next round. Silly me! Not only did Vega win, she won clean, which is laughable considering she's been booked like an absolute loser since returning to WWE three months ago. Storm, on the other hand, has never meant less. Giving the matchup all of two minutes didn't help, either. This was awful all around.

Paul Heyman Acknowledged Universal Champion Roman Reigns

Everything with The Bloodline continues to be a hit for me. Reigns kept questioning Heyman here about where his allegiance lies and Heyman responded with a hell of a promo. I hate that it's being done on one of WWE's Saudi Arabia shows (which are typically terrible), but I'm very much looking forward to Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar at Crown Jewel. Lesnar is set to appear on SmackDown one more time next week, so it will be interesting to see what he has in store.

Carmella def. Liv Morgan in a Queen's Crown Tournament Quarterfinal Match

It's the feud that just won't end. Why wasn't this over after Morgan beat Carmella clean on the Kickoff show at Extreme Rules? This wasn't nearly as good as they were barely given two minutes and it had a fluky finish. I guess it protected Morgan in defeat, but she shouldn't have lost because it means we'll likely get yet another match between these two soon. It will be Carmella vs. Vega in the semifinals and I can't stress enough how little I care about that.

Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss Attacked Kevin Owens on Happy Talk

What a waste of time this was. Much like Carmella vs. Morgan, I thought for sure this Owens vs. Corbin feud was over after Corbin beat Owens last week. Nope! Corbin hosted another edition of Happy Talk and the advertised guests were The Street Profits, but they never showed up, not even to save Owens (who I thought they had an established friendship with a year or two ago). Instead, Owens attempted to attack Corbin and Moss but got laid out like a loser. He desperately needs to leave this company as soon as he gets the chance.

Finn Balor def. Cesaro in a King of the Ring Tournament Quarterfinal Match

I believe this was only the second match these two have had in WWE with the first happening all the way back in July 2017. At least we got it before Balor heads to Raw. Cesaro winning wasn't too far-fetched, but Balor was the better choice to advance since he needs to bounce back from that loss to Roman Reigns at Extreme Rules. This was undoubtedly the best bout of the night and a ton of fun from start to finish. We need more of this in the remainder of the tourney.

Edge Challenged Seth Rollins to a Hell in a Cell Match

I realize Rollins' shtick isn't for everyone, but I've been digging his feud with Edge and pretty much everything they've done has been compelling. Rollins boasted about breaking into Edge's home last week and I loved how Edge wasted no time in running down to the ring to kick his ass. The assault that followed was well done, culminating in the announcement that their match at Crown Jewel will be contested inside Hell in a Cell. Despite WWE's best efforts to bastardize the gimmick over the last decade, it still feels like a big deal and a perfect way to cap off their rivalry.

Overall Show

As they do every year, WWE billed this as the "season premiere" of SmackDown, which was stupid because the new rosters don't go into effect for another two weeks. It was very much a mixed bag of a show. I was looking forward to the tournaments getting underway, but while the men's matches delivered, the women's matches were given basically no time and were booked terribly. The Happy Talk stuff was a waste as I mentioned, but the progression with Reigns and Heyman, Edge and Rollins, and the SmackDown Women's Championship picture was all great, so this episode was all over the place.

SEE MORE: SmackDown Reviews