The John Report: WWE Smackdown 10/28/22 Review
This week’s edition of WWE Smackdown featured Roman Reigns addressing The Bloodline, Ronda Rousey making an open challenge and another appearance from Bray Wyatt.
Smackdown aired on FS1 this week instead of regular Fox, so the viewership number will likely be the lowest of the year. It aired on FS1 because Fox aired game one of the MLB World Series, which is what I watched live and wrote about this Smackdown episode after. Next week’s Smackdown might be on FS1 again if the World Series reaches six games. Other than that, Smackdown will be on the main Fox channel moving forward.
From the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri this is Smackdown for episode #1210. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport. Let’s get to it.
The commentary team of Michael Cole and Wade Barrett welcomed us to the show.
Ridge Holland and Butch made their entrance. The announcers showed the story of The Bloodline “injuring” the left arm of Sheamus with a vicious steel chair assault led by Jey Uso. They also replayed Logan Paul punching out Jey to end Smackdown last week. In reality, Sheamus got married today (Friday) and was given some time off. Drew McIntyre was the best man while Miro (former Rusev) and Claudio Castagnoli (former Cesaro) were groomsmen as well.
The Bloodline group was standing in the Gorilla Position – it was Sami Zayn, Solo Sikoa, and The Usos. Zayn said that Roman Reigns wasn’t there yet, but Roman needs to see their hands raised in victory when Roman arrives. Zayn told Jey to bring the right energy tonight.
The Bloodline – Sami Zayn & Solo Sikoa (w/Jimmy & Jey Uso) vs. The Brawling Brutes – Butch & Ridge Holland
Zayn was wrestling in the “Honorary Uce” shirt that he loves so much. Butch got a knockdown on Zayn leading to Holland tagging in as both guys did knee drops on the arms of Zayn. Butch and Holland each hit Zayn with punches to the chest. Solo tagged in without Butch seeing it, so when Butch turned around, Solo hit a clothesline leading to Butch doing a flip bump. While Butch was on the apron, Jimmy did a cheap shot while the referee wasn’t looking. The action spilled to the floor a bit with Butch hitting a knee. Butch was distracted by The Usos, so Solo ran him over Butch from behind. Solo gave Butch a spinebuster onto the apron as the show went to break.
(Commercial)
Solo charged at Butch, who moved and Solo hit the turnbuckle. Solo lifted up Butch leading to a spinebuster. It didn’t look that great, but it was effective enough. Ridge tagged in against Zayn with two shoulder tackles and a jumping shoulder tackle. Holland with two running clotheslines, Zayn with a boot to the face and Holland caught Zayn leading to a spinning slam for two. Solo tagged back in with a superkick on Holland followed by Solo hitting a Samoan Drop for two. Holland trapped Solo’s arms as they exchanged headbutts to the chest and Holland ran the ropes leading to a clothesline. Butch tagged in against Zayn with Zayn getting a punch along with a boot to the face. Jimmy was on the apron, so Butch kicked him down and Zayn got a rollup for two. Zayn gave Butch an Exploder Suplex into the turnbuckle. Zayn charged, Butch moved and got a kick to the back of the neck. Solo held Butch’s leg as they showed Jey watching from ringside and Jey pulled Zayn out of the ring. Zayn wondered what Jey was doing and Sami said it was his strategy. Solo tripped up Butch on the turnbuckle. Jey and Zayn argued with eachother while Ridge ran over Butch & Jey with forearms to the head. When Zayn got back into the ring, Butch got an inside cradle pin for the win after 12 minutes.
Winners by pinfall: The Brawling Brutes – Butch & Ridge Holland
Analysis: ***1/4 The match was pretty good with both sides getting plenty of offense. As we see a lot in this Triple H era of booking, there are a lot of distraction/interference finishes. In this case, it was The Bloodline arguing on the floor causing issues because that led to Ridge taking them out on the floor and when Zayn got back into the ring, Butch recovered enough from his top rope bump to get an inside cradle rollup for the win. It’s just one loss for The Bloodline, but the story is so good that one loss feels like a big thing.
After the match, Zayn and Jey were arguing with eachother. Solo stood in between them and then Jimmy pulled Jey back as the brothers had a staredown. That’s when the familiar music of the Tribal Chief hit. Cole: “Daddy’s here.” That’s awkward.
The Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns made his entrance joined by the Special Counsel Paul Heyman. They went to break as Reigns got to the ringside area.
Analysis: I think it was a smart move to do the match before having Roman arrive because when you book The Bloodline in a loss, that makes this upcoming segment more interesting for the viewer tuning in to see what happens next.
(Commercial)
Let’s Hear From Roman Reigns and The Bloodline
Roman Reigns was in the ring with Solo, Sami and The Usos standing behind him while Paul Heyman was there beside Reigns to hand him the microphone. Reigns: “St. Louis, acknowledge me!” Loud reaction from the crowd. Reign said it’s time for him to acknowledge this elephant in the room. Reigns said if “you two” want to act like kids then we’ll treat you like kids. Reigns wasn’t looking at them as he spoke. Reigns said he wanted to solve this problem in the ring, not backstage. Reigns: “I want this problem fixed, right now.”
Sami Zayn spoke leading with “Sami” chants. Zayn said that there’s been a communication breakdown of late and he feels it’s specifically with Jey. Zayn said he doesn’t understand what was going on while adding that he’s always liked Jey. Zayn said he doesn’t understand what happened. Zayn said that everybody else is fine with him and Sami doesn’t want this to keep going on like this. The fans clapped while Heyman patted Zayn on the back. Zayn asked Jey if they can be cool and bury the hatchet once and for all? Zayn wanted a handshake. Jey took his time and instead grabbed the microphone.
Jey told Sami to get that hand out of his face. Jey: “I don’t like you.” Jey said he didn’t like Sami’s hair, face, that shirt he’s wearing and he didn’t like Sami being around his family every single week. Jey yelled about how Sami isn’t in The Bloodline if he ain’t blood. Jey said that Sam didn’t belong here, he said it out loud and Sami is a “fake ass uce.” Jey said he’ll shed blood for his family, but not Sami’s family. Zayn wondered why he’s yelling at Zayn and Zayn said the Tribal Chief wants peace. Jey said: “I don’t give a damn what the Tribal Chief said!” The crowd let out a huge “oooohhhh” reaction to that.
Reigns did a slow turnaround and stared at cousin Jey in the face. Some fans chanted “you f**ked that” at Jey. Sami said that Jey didn’t mean it and he is going through a lot. Sami said that lately, Jey hasn’t been “very Ucey” and Reigns smirked at that while the fans chanted “Ucey” after that. Reigns was laughing, so the fans were cheering. Reigns asked if that’s the problem here because Jey isn’t feeling “ucey” and the fans were laughing at that. Even Jey was laughing about it. Reigns said he’ll do something that Jey doesn’t like unless Jey starts behaving the right way. Reigns said he’ll take the “honorary” away from Sami and Zayn will be a full-blown Uce. Reigns said maybe they’ll just name him “Sami Uso” and Zayn was laughing about it. The fans were chanting “Sami Uso” after that.
Paul Heyman wrapped it up by saying the Tribal Chief has called an end to this segment. Heyman did a promo plugging the Crown Jewel match between Reigns and Logan Paul. Heyman said “now a kind word from our sponsors” and the scene ended.
Analysis: There was so much to like here. These are the best segments in WWE. The fans getting into the “ucey” thing made this so great. You could tell that Reigns was trying so hard not to laugh after Zayn said it, then Reigns was laughing about it and the fans loved that more, so then Jey ended up laughing as well. I don’t know if they were aware that Zayn was going to say “ucey” so when he did it, they busted out laughing. Anyway, I liked the overall segment with Reigns wanting Jey to make things right with Zayn or else Reigns is going to do something to upset Jey even more by taking away “honorary” away from Zayn to make it official and also suggested the “Sami Uso” name, which the fans loved. I thought this was terrific overall. Yes, Jey laughing may have hurt it a bit because it’s supposed to be a serious segment, but it’s WWE and we should be able to laugh at stuff like that. I thought it was very entertaining.
A graphic was shown letting us know Bray Wyatt would be there later tonight.
There was a commercial promoting Crown Jewel and the match between Brock Lesnar and Bobby Lashley.
(Commercial)
There was a video package about the Viking Raiders along with Sarah Logan. You could see more of her body this time. She is married to Erik of the Viking Raiders. They ended it with “Valhalla awaits” at the end.
The New Day’s Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods made their entrance. The New Day did a pre-tape promo saying they hope The Usos are watching so they can be reminded why The New Day are the longest reigning tag team champions of all time. It was 483 days. The Usos are getting closer.
The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) vs. Maximum Male Models (Mase & Mansoor) w/Maxxine Dupri
A good double team move by New Day hitting a suplex/cross body block combo. Woods tagged in with a double foot stomp to Mansoor’s arm. Woods with a forearm to the face. Maxxine with a distraction, so Mase did a hair pull because the referee didn’t see it. Mase and Mansoor did a double team move and posed for the camera. Woods sent Mace out of the ring, Kofi got the tag and hit a top rope clothesline on Mansoor along with a dropkick. Kofi hit a leaping clothesline on Mansoor followed by a Boom Drop double leg drop. Kofi with boots to the face on Mansoor and Woods kicked Mase on the floor. Kingston kicked down Mansoor and a splash to the back. Woods tagged in with the Midnight Hour move where Woods did a double foot stomp while Kofi held Mansoor for a backbreaker. It went about four minutes.
Winners by pinfall: The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods)
Analysis: *1/2 An easy win for The New Day to try to build them up for a title shot in the coming weeks to try to stop The Usos from breaking their title length record. I say every week I don’t think this Maximum Male Models gimmick is going to last very long. If they do stick around, they’re just going to be used as a tag team that loses every match.
Sonya Deville was interviewed by Kayla Braxton talking about Ronda Rousey doing the open challenge up next. Deville said that Live Morgan wasn’t going to answer the challenge because Liv is broken, so Morgan attacked Deville. That led to Morgan and Deville getting into a brawl on the floor with referees and officials (Adam Pearce & Kenny Dykstra) breaking it up.
Analysis: That seems like a TV feud that’s going to continue leading to a match (it was announced for next week). That’s fine because every feud doesn’t have to lead to a PLE match. Sometimes it can just be a TV feud like this.
(Commercial)
There was a promo from Braun Strowman talking about his many feats of strength over the years including clips shown of Braun lifting things and flipping over a tractor trailer. Braun spoke about how Omos might be taller than him, but Strowman is stronger. Strowman said that at Crown Jewel, Omos will find out there is nobody as big as the monster of all monsters.
Ronda Rousey made her entrance as the Smackdown Women’s Champion. Rousey said it looks like the belt is back where it belongs. Rousey said that she’s on the move to prove it with an open challenge. Rousey wanted the fans to be grateful, but she didn’t expect the fans to do that. Rousey said that only the greats respect greatness and you’re all too mediocre to know what you’re looking at. Rousey asked who was feeling lucky tonight?
It was Emma making her return wearing some shades and in her wrestling gear. Emma is back in WWE after about five years away. There was just a mild pop for Emma. It was reported as a spoiler earlier in the day. Rousey mocked the old Emma dance while Emma posed on the turnbuckle saying she was back.
Analysis: Welcome back to Emma. She’s a good in-ring performer, but she doesn’t have a big personality. The reaction was okay, but I wouldn’t call it great.
This Monday on Raw: Brock Lesnar is back, Matt Riddle vs. Otis in a Trick or Street Fight and Roman Reigns is there for a Halloween Raw.
(Commercial)
Smackdown Women’s Championship: Ronda Rousey vs. Emma
Rousey tripped up Emma with Cole talking about some of Emma’s background and how she was from Australia. Emma got a rollup attempt, but Rousey kicked Emma to knock her out of the ring. Rousey sent Emma into the barricade. Rousey charged, Emma moved and Rousey hit the steel steps. Rousey charged, Emma moved and Rousey hit the turnbuckle. Emma with the Tarantula submission against the ropes. Emma with a cross body block off the top. Rousey grabbed a tight headlock by the ropes along with some knees to the head. Rousey sat on Emma’s back against the middle rope. Rousey flipped Emma over leading to a submission pulling on the arm and Emma fought back with punches. Emma with a kick to the body, then Rousey with a knee and Emma hit a clothesline. Emma continued the offense with a side Russian legsweep for two. Emma charged into the corner, Rousey moved and Rousey grabbed an Ankle Lock submission. Emma countered it, Rousey stopped herself from hitting the turnbuckle and Emma caught Rousey with a suplex across the ring. Emma hit a running cross body block in the corner for two. Rousey did an eye rake that the referee didn’t see. Rousey followed with the Piper’s Pit slam and the armbar submission with Emma tapping out to give Rousey the win after seven minutes.
Winner by submission: Ronda Rousey
Analysis: **1/2 It was a solid match with Emma getting more offense than I thought she would get. Rousey winning was the obvious result of course. Rousey is back in heel mode, so they did the eye poke spot to have Rousey cheat to win instead of winning in a more honorable way.
It was announced that Bianca Belair will defend the Raw Women’s Title against Bayley in a Last Woman Standing Match at Crown Jewel. Also at Crown Jewel, The Usos will defend the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles against the Brawling Brutes duo of Ridge Holland Butch.
Analysis: Those matches should be good. I don’t expect a title change for either match, but maybe Bayley will win.
Jey Uso was shown outside of Roman Reigns’ locker room with Paul Heyman there as well. Jey said he wanted to get at Logan Paul. Heyman suggested that sometimes it’s better for Reigns to hear something from Heyman. Jey asked if Paul has got it, Paul said always and they shook hands.
Legado Del Fantasma made their entrance. Cole asked Barrett to talk about this group, so Barrett did and then a Bray Wyatt graphic was shown. That went away and Legado was in the ring for a match up next.
(Commercial)
Ronda Rousey was shown backstage with the Smackdown Women’s Title on her shoulder. Shayna Baszler congratulated her buddy Rousey on the win over the “new girl.” Natalya walked up to Rousey saying if she answered the challenge then she would be the champion right now. Baszler hit Natalya in the back with a forearm and Baszler choked out Natalya with a tight headlock. Rousey was happy about it as she smiled with Baszler.
Analysis: It looks like they are finally going to put Rousey and Baszler together. Now that Rousey is a heel, it makes sense to pair the good friends up as allies.
A Progressive Match Flo video was shown to set up Legado Del Fantasma facing Hit Row after multiple attacks by the Legado group.
Hit Row made their entrance. B-Fab said they have friends in high places and Shinsuke Nakamura was announced as the mystery partner.
Analysis: There were rumors/guesses of Hit Row teaming with an NXT wrestler getting a call up, but WWE went Nakamura instead. We had the spoiler on TJRWrestling several hours before the show. That’s fine with me.
The six guys started brawling while Vega ran away from B-Fab instead of fighting her. Dolla splashed Wilde and Cruz while Adonis did a monkey flip to both guys. Nakamura stomped on Escobar in the corner. Vega finally went into the ring, so B-Fab hit her with a pump kick. Nakamura and Hit Row did the “come on” gesture to the Legado guys.
(Commercial)
Legado Del Fantasma (Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde & Cruz Del Toro) (w/Zelina Vega) vs. Hit Row (Top Dolla & Ashante “Thee” Adonis) & Shinsuke Nakamura (w/B-Fab)
The Legado guys were in control as they isolated Adonis. The Legado trio made quick tags leading to repeated corner clotheslines between them. Escobar hit a running double knee attack. A double suplex by Cruz/Escobar and Wilde hit a top rope splash for two, but Dolla broke up the pin. Adonis broke free, Nakamura tagged in with punches, kicks and he tossed Wilde out of the ring. Nakamura rocked Escobar with kicks to the body, then an enziguri kick to the head and Nakamura trapped Escobar against the ropes leading to a sliding German Suplex. Nakamura kicked Wilde down on the floor. Nakamura with a spinning kick on Escobar for a two count. Cruz jumped onto Dolla, then Dolla caught Wilde and Dolla hit a front slam on both guys. Escobar was legal, so he kicked Dolla along with a chop that had no effect. Dolla held onto Escobar’s hand, then Dolla jumped off the top with a punch to the head. Cruz tagged in, Dolla slammed him and Nakamura hit a Kinshasa knee with Cruz selling it with a flip bump. Nakamura covered for the pinfall win after four minutes.
Winners by pinfall: Hit Row (Top Dolla & Ashante “Thee” Adonis) & Shinsuke Nakamura
Analysis: ** It was fine for a shorter tag team match to give the faces some revenge against Legado after the repeated Legado attacks to build the match. Top Dolla wasn’t in there much, but the two spots he did drew big reactions, so give him credit for that. Nakamura winning made sense. I thought Legado might win to build them up since they’re new on SD, but I think it made sense for the story for the faces to win.
Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman were shown in their dressing room. Reigns was looking at his phone while Heyman told Reigns he wanted him to watch one piece of footage. Heyman pressed play and there was a big screen TV set up in the room. They showed clips of Logan Paul training in boxing including a clip of Logan knocking a guy down with one punch. Heyman said it takes one lucky punch. Reigns said he won’t hit one lucky punch. Heyman spoke about how he was at synagogue where a doctor told a story about how Logan broke his hand and had steel pins in his hand. Reigns shouted about how Logan has only had two matches. Heyman said that Brock Lesnar won the UFC Title in his third match. Heyman sucked up to Reigns talking about Roman beating Lesnar twice. Heyman said he was going to take his absence and fire up Roman’s jet, so Heyman left. Reigns was frustrated.
Analysis: A quick segment just to put over Logan Paul as a potential threat to Reigns. While Reigns immediately dismissed the idea of Logan beating a threat, Heyman pushed the “one lucky punch” storyline that WWE has been using to try to tell people that Logan has a shot to beat Reigns. They can do a spot in the Reigns-Logan match with Logan getting that “one lucky punch” for a nearfall, but I fully expect Reigns to win.
(Commercial)
LA Knight was interviewed by Kayla Braxton with LA introducing himself. Ricochet interrupted the interview saying that Knight might get a warmer reception if he didn’t act like God’s gift to Smackdown. Knight said that he is God’s gift to Smackdown and left while Ricochet said that if LA keeps running his mouth then somebody will shut it.
Analysis: A simple way to set up a match for next week.
Karrion Kross made his entrance with his lovely wife Scarlett, who went into the ring first for the “fall and pray” entrance. The storyline was that Kross was in a car accident caused by Drew McIntyre and then Drew beat him up as well, so now Kross is back. Madcap Moss made his entrance as the opponent. Maybe he’s smiling a lot because his girlfriend Emma is back in WWE.
Madcap Moss vs. Karrion Kross (w/Scarlett)
Moss with an atomic drop followed by a forearm. Moss with chops, but Kross came back with punches. Kross with a boot to the face. Moss hit a shoulder tackle followed by a clothesline that sent Moss out of the ring.
(Commercial)
Kross caught Moss with an overhead suplex. Kross rocked Moss with a forearm smash to the head. Kross with a Northern Lights Suplex followed by a clothesline. Kross trapped Madcap’s arms leading to a forearm to the ribs. Kross bounced off the ropes with a boot to the face. Moss ran the ropes leading to Kross hitting an elbow to the head. Kross with a hard whip into the turnbuckle. Kross hit a suplex into a cover for two. Kross went for an armbar on the left arm, but Kross got to the bottom rope to break the hold. Moss exploded off the ropes with a clothesline, then a running shoulder tackle and the fans got into it a bit although it may have been fake noise because they didn’t look that excited. Kross with a punch, but Moss came back with a spinebuster. Moss hit a fallaway slam across the ring, then two shoulder tackles and a Scarlett distraction led to Kross hitting a boot to the face. Kross hit a belly-to-back suplex. Kross slammed Moss into the mat and Kross hit a running forearm to the back of the neck for the pinfall win after 12 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Karrion Kross
Analysis: **1/2 An average match that went a bit longer than I thought because I felt like Kross would win in a more dominant way. The crowd really wasn’t into it. Scarlett was a big factor since her distraction led to Kross regaining control. Kross winning gives him momentum going into the match with McIntyre at Crown Jewel.
After the match, Kross applied the Kross Jacket submission on Moss. While Kross held Moss, Kross said that Moss put up a better fight than McIntyre did. Kross said he will always stand for the new beginning. Kross said that at Crown Jewel, when Drew is locked in the cage with Kross, history will repeat himself meaning another Kross win. Kross locked in the hold some more as referees tried to get him to break it up and Kross finally let go.
Analysis: I feel like McIntyre should win at Crown Jewel as revenge for all the attacks and the screwjob finish at Extreme Rules, but I also think the creative team wants to keep Kross strong. I’m not sure who will win when we do our predictions next week.
Bray Wyatt was shown pacing around backstage as some images were shown on a backstage TV screen. They went to break.
(Commercial)
A Crown Jewel commercial was shown pushing the Braun Strowman match against Omos.
There was a rundown of the Crown Jewel matches with the announcers talking about them.
* Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley
* Last Woman Standing Match for the Raw Women’s Championship: Bianca Belair (c) vs. Bayley
* Steel Cage Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Karrion Kross
* Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Logan Paul
They didn’t mention some of the other matches, b the full seven match card is at the bottom of this review.
Rey Mysterio was interviewed by Kayla Braxton with Rey talking about how excited he was about challenging for the Intercontinental Title next week. Imperium’s Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci kicked Rey, then they held him and Intercontinental Champion GUNTHER chopped Rey hard in the chest.
Next week on Smackdown:
* Liv Morgan vs. Sonya Deville in a No Disqualification Match.
* Intercontinental Championship: GUNTHER vs. Rey Mysterio.
Analysis: Next week’s show (airing on my birthday, November 4th) was taped after this week’s show since Crown Jewel is one day after Smackdown and there’s also a European tour.
Let’s Hear from Bray Wyatt
The lights went out in the building as some eerie music played, then there was some light by the entrance and Bray Wyatt made his entrance with the lamp in hand. The fans gave Wyatt a big ovation as he got to the ring and the crowd was lit up with their phone light. There were about five minutes left in the show as Wyatt “blew” out the lamp and the fans cheered.
Bray Wyatt said this is still really new to him, but he can get used to that. Bray asked if they can feel that and the fans cheered. The fans chanted “welcome back” to Bray. Bray said that when you make him feel like that, it makes him feel invulnerable and like he needs to do something wild. Bray said right now it’s just us, there’s no mask, there’s no smoke & mirrors and he wants us to get used to it. Bray: “This is Bray Wyatt, the real man. This is the best version of me that there will ever be.” Bray talked about how he’s going to do some spectacular things while he’s here.
Bray said that for the majority of his life, he’s been completely out of control. Bray talked about how his emotions don’t work like most other people and his emotions can send him to a very dark place. Bray said no matter how hard he tries, sometimes he doesn’t feel anything at all. Bray added that’s what makes him who he is. Bray spoke about how he has done some horrible things and there’s a part of him that likes doing those horrible things. Bray talked about how there will be come another time where he is faced with some adversity and then he’ll be asked to do something completely horrible. The lights went out and they showed the screen.
A video was shown on the screen of a creepy face that we didn’t really know. It’s the “Mr. Howdy” character. He said this: “Who am I? I’m just a ghost of the man who cured the world of course. You are a fool. You cured the world. You sent him away. And now, the reason why you are just a shell of who you once were. I will teach you to revel in what you are. But you sir, you are a liar. You claim not to wear a mask, but we both know that’s not true don’t we? You will never be able to hide from me, your Uncle Howdy.”
They closed in on Uncle Howdy’s face and there was a tear by his left eye. That was the end of the show.
Analysis: The Mr. Howdy character certainly sounds like Bray Wyatt and looks like him with some kind of mask on his face. It’s likely going to be something where Bray was an alter ego that’s messing with him and Bray is going to try to fight it off, but then it will overpower him like when he became The Fiend in the past. That’s just my guess anyway. I don’t think WWE is going to be rushing this storyline, so we’ll see bits and pieces, but nothing too sudden. There are lots of rumors about who Uncle Howdy might be including some people thinking it might be Bray’s uncle Barry Windham. I don’t really know who it is. I think it’s more than likely going to be Bray’s alter ego wanting him to be evil while “real” Bray is in the ring doing these heartfelt promos. They certainly have a lot of ways they can go with it.
Three Stars of the Show
- The Bloodline
- Butch & Ridge Holland
- Bray Wyatt
The Scoreboard
7.25 out of 10
Last week: 7.75
Final Thoughts
I thought it was an entertaining show with some of the non-wrestling segments being better than some of the matches. The best part was The Bloodline segment in the ring when Sami Zayn told Roman Reigns that Jey Uso wasn’t being very “ucey” so then Roman started laughing. The fans picked up on it, they were chanting it and Jey busted out laughing too. Sami made them crack on a live show in the ring, so that was pretty funny to see.
The matches were mostly predictable. I thought the Brawling Brutes beating Zayn/Solo was a good thing that made sense to set up the Brutes for a title shot against The Usos at Crown Jewel. Ronda Rousey, Karrion Kross and New Day won their matches easily. The Kross/Moss match went too long and the crowd didn’t seem to care, which is understandable. The end with “Uncle Howdy” interrupting Bray Wyatt’s promo continued that story as we are left to wonder if it’s Bray’s alter ego playing tricks or something else.
Welcome back Emma to WWE. She’s not a big name, but she adds depth to the women’s division for sure. I think she’s talented. I just don’t know if she’s ever going to stand out that much compared to some of the women on the roster.
The next WWE Premium Live Event is Crown Jewel on Saturday, November 5th. Here’s the lineup so far.
* Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Logan Paul
* Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley
* The OC – AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. The Judgment Day – Finn Balor, Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio (w/Rhea Ripley)
* Steel Cage Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Karrion Kross
* Last Woman Standing Match for the Raw Women’s Championship: Bianca Belair (c) vs. Bayley
* Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships: The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso) vs. The Brawling Brutes (Butch &
* Braun Strowman vs. Omos
You can watch WWE Crown Jewel on Saturday, November 5, at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT, streaming live from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, exclusively on Peacock in the U.S. and on WWE Network everywhere else.
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Thanks for reading. Please check out my reviews of every WWE PPV ever listed in order. Go Los Angeles Rams, Toronto Raptors and Toronto Maple Leafs. My contact info is below.
John Canton
Email mrjohncanton@gmail.com
Twitter @johnreport