A possible wrestler injury.
A bad day for Rusev days, and...did anything else happen, oh yeah - and we’ve got a new
WWE Champion.
I’m Oli Davis and this is the 7th November, 2017 edition of Smackdown Live...in about
4 minutes.
Compulsory Shane McMahon Opening Promo Shane McMahon opened Smackdown with his usual
‘here’s what we’ve got tonight, folks’ schtick - repeating the same match information
that Tom Phillips just told us several minutes before.
After finally showing concern for Daniel Bryan being taken out on Raw - about a week too
late - Shane then celebrated the previous night’s Under Siege Part II with The New
Day and a boo-tay shake.
To their credit, WWE are really pulling off Smackdown stars being heels on Raw and babyfaces
on Tuesday nights.
This brought out Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, who were not fans of McMahon’s awkward dad
twerking, and criticised Shane for overtly favouring the good guys - presumably foreshadowing
KO and Sami turning on Team Smackdown at Survivor Series.
Kofi Kingston beat Sami Zayn This led to Shane booking Sami vs Kofi Kingston,
which was decent TV match with the respective faction members at ringside.
Sadly, Kofi won clean with a Crossbody off the top rope, when Sami would really benefit
from going over, still early in his new heel run.
Bludgeon Brothers Promo The Bludgeon Brothers destroyed another camera.
Randy Orton beat Rusev Today was not a good Rusev Day.
That the Bulgarian Brute’s Team Smackdown qualifying match went from AJ Styles to the
already qualified and obviously not going to lose Randy Orton was never a good sign.
And despite another excellent rendition of Rusev Day from Aiden English, Orton won with
an RKO from... outta nowhere.
Becky Lynch beat James Ellsworth In
a match that should’ve happened way back in June after the Women’s Money in the Bank
match, the first ever Women’s Money in the Bank winner James Ellsworth took on Becky
Lynch in a rare WWE intergender match.
Which means, Women’s division, everyone out here.
It’s your one proper segment on the show again, so all get in there as lumberjacks
so we can see you.
I rather enjoyed the match’s broad comedy, with Becky really getting over her technical
skill.
Ellsworth tapped to the Disarmer, and then got superkicked by Carmella.
With all the recent WWE releases, that’s rather worrying for The Chin.
Natalya & Charlotte Backstage Presumably upon realising all WWE’s champions
are now heels, Shane then booked Natalya vs Charlotte for the Women’s Title next week.
American Beta beat The Usos The Tag Team Championship match ended rather
suddenly when Chad Gable - continuing American Beta’s slowly building heel schtick - took
out Jimmy Uso’s leg on the outside and then hid under the ring, causing The Usos to lose
via countout.
Hopefully this was because the late addition of Styles vs Jinder in the main event bumped
whatever time they originally had planned, rather than an actual injury for Jimmy Uso
- which is what live reports from PWTorch fear, as “after the bell, Jey just sat in
the same spot.
The lights dropped to black before he was carried out.”
AJ Styles beat Jinder Mahal The main event of AJ Styles vs Jinder Mahal
for the WWE Championship was built throughout the night, with them delivering promos looking
straight into the camera for Smackdown’s cold open - PROMOS STRAIGHT INTO THE CAMERA,
SWAFT NATION.
It was glorious - and Styles later promising he’ll beat both Jinder and Brock to become...
...the one who has the spirits of 5 animals within his soul.
A dog - woof.
An eagle - cawcaw!
A tiger - meow.
A bull - exhale.
And a dolphin - eek eek!
He is...the Beastmaster!
And AJ delivered on the first part of his promise, defeating Jinder Mahal.
After 170 days, the Maharaja’s reign is over, and AJ Styles is our new WWE Champion.
The two had a really good match - with AJ’s brilliantly subtle selling of his knee, Styles
absolutely annihilating the Singh Brothers and a series of fantastic near-falls.
An updated Survivor Series graphic ran almost immediately after the finish, now showing
Styles vs Brock Lesnar for the main event.
So that was this week’s Smackdown Live in about 4 minutes, here’s the usual ratings
recap from top to bottom: SmackDamn, Smacktastic, Smack Bang In The Middle, Ellsworthy and That’s
The Last Time I Take A Leaked WWE Poster As Confirmation Of Anything.
I’ll reveal my score very shortly, but first, vote in the poll above my head to give yours.
I’ll announce the results in tomorrow’s WrestleTalk News.
AJ’s title win was a fantastic ending for Smackdown - the first title change on the
brand’s TV in 14 years.
The rest of the show, however, was rather average.
The Shane McMahon opening promos have become a formulaic chore, the Rusev vs Orton and
tag team bouts were inconsequential and the women’s division continues to be an afterthought.
But sometimes it’s all about the finish.
So this week’s Smackdown is SmackTastic.
WWE apparently had no idea about Chris Jericho’s shock New Japan announcement!
And who debuted on this week’s Raw?
Click the videos to the left to find out, press subscribe and support WrestleTalk on
Patreon.
I’ve been Oli Davis and that was wrestling.