What’s up for Smackdown this week?
Here are the results taped for Smackdown on November 10, 2015 to air on November 12, 2015:
By Stephen Lyon
In the opening dark match, Finn Balor beat Viktor of the Ascension. Good match. Balor also cleaned house on Conor at ringside. Fans knew who Balor was and popped big for him. They also loudly chanted NXT.
For Main Event:
1. Jack Swagger beat Adam Rose with the ankle lock. Before the match, Rose cut a promo blaming all the fans for nearly killing his career, by making him believe the Exotic Express gimmick was a good idea.
2. Damian Sandow beat Heath Slater.
3. Sasha Banks beat Becky Lynch with the Banks Statement. Okay match.
For Smackdown:
It opened with a Wyatt Family promo. Bray challenged the Undertaker & Kane to a 2-on-2 match at the Survivor Series, with Bray’s two being any of his choosing. He demanded an answer by the end of the night.
1. Braun Strowman squashed Fandango, defeating him with his sleeper finisher in 90 seconds.
2. Neville beat King Barrett in a WWE title tournament match. Good match. Neville had some great spots, including walking the ringside barricade and doing a somersault senton on to Barrett. Neville win with the Red Arrow.
Next came a dark segment, just for the fans in arena. This was the highlight of the show.
Barrett remained in the ring and said the last 48 hours had not gone to plan. He said he normally would’ve beat Neville without breaking a sweat but had Wayne Rooney on his mind. He said he will go to Stamford to see Vince at the end of the week and implore him never to return to Manchester ever again.
Undertaker came out to a huge reaction. He did his big entrance and entered the ring. Barrett was hilarious here. He said, to much crowd laughter, “Can I help you mate? Are you lost? You’re not in Death Valley now you know, you’re in the mean streets of north west England. You’re on the wrong side of the tracks mate. They don’t call me the Preston Panther for nothing! I’m sick of outsiders coming into my yard. You’re not even worth my time!” Barrett went up walk out, then attacked Taker. Taker then laid him out with a choke slam & two Tombstones. This was all great.
3. Kalisto beat Ryback in an upset in the WWE title tournament. Surprisingly decent match. Kalisto used Ryback as a base to do all his flying around. Crowd popped big for the upset.
Alberto Del Rio & Zeb Colter did a promo. Usual stuff about the English being hated and how Manchester had two soccer teams that divided the city, and it would be better if we were all ‘united in humanity’.
4. Del Rio beat Stardust in the WWE title tournament. Not much heat, given it was heel vs heel. Del Rio won after a double foot stomp on Stardust in the corner.
Roman Reigns did a backstage promo, vowing to beat Cesaro in the quarter finals next week on Raw and then win the title at Survivor Series. He once again said he wasn’t interested in shortcuts or selling out.
5. In the main event, the Usos beat Luke Harper & Erick Rowan via DQ, when Bray Wyatt & Strowman interfered.
The Undertaker’s music played, and then audio of Taker’s voice played over the PA system, accepting Wyatt’s challenge for the Survivor Series.
After the show, in a dark main event, Roman Reigns beat Bray Wyatt in a short match. This was an abridged version of their Liverpool house show match a few days ago. They exchanged Kendo stick shots and Reigns won with a spear.
Overall, a fun show. Nothing outstanding or spectacular but everyone went home happy. The Barrett/Undertaker exchange was the highlight of the show.
I think with Reigns continually vowing not to sellout or take a shortcut, I really think a swerve, with him winning the title with the Authority’s help and turning heel (on Ambrose) would be for the best. That would set up a years worth of programmes – first with Ambrose, then maybe Lesnar at WM32, and perhaps Rollins as a babyface next summer. Throw in a programme with Cena too at some point. Seems the best direction to me.
