– A video recap of what happened at Survivor Series opened
the show. Michel Cole and Corey Graves checked in from
ringside and explained that Bronson Reed suffered a broken
foot at Survivor Series. In other injury news, Tonga Loa
suffered a torn bicep and Jimmy Uso came out of War Games
with a broken toe. Video of all three injuries was shown.
– Apollo Crews was entering the building and it just so
happened Solo Sikoa’s Bloodline was entering the venue at
the same time. Jacob Fatu kicked Crews in the head and then
beat up the security crew. Back at ringside, Cody’s music
hit.
The Cody Rhodes Segment
This was a pleasant surprise. I’m not a fan of making a
mockery out of the phoney baloney brand split, but WWE has
done it so often, so shamelessly through the years, that
it’s hard to get as annoyed as I once did (and, as Cole
explained, we are getting into the season where brand
loyalty is all but gone). Cody showed good fire and Gable
felt like he belonged in there with one of WWE’s biggest
attractions, so this was a win for everybody involved. The
match between Gable and Cody screams “KO interference,” but
it should be fun while it lasts.
Cody yelled into the microphone, “So, Minneapolis, what do
you want to talk about?” The crowd cheered. Cody touted the
return of Saturday Night’s Main Event. Cody said it’s the
honor of a lifetime just to compete on SNME, but it’s not
that simple for him because of Kevin Owens. Out of nowhere,
Chad Gable’s music hit and Gale made his entrance flanked by
American Made.
Gable spoke in the entranceway and called himself the
greatest athlete to ever come out of Minnesota and the crowd
responded favorably. As it goes, Gable said there is a
transfer window and Gable and his crew may come to SmackDown
permanently. Gable then called everyone in the crowd simple
minded and gullible. Gable entered the ring and loud “You
suck!” chants broke out for Gable. Gable said Cody was once
the beacon for what Gable wanted to be – unmatched work
ethic, dressing the part, etc. Gable said that’s easy, but
what’s not easy is being a good friend, and Cody has not
been a good friend to Kevin Owens.
Gable said Cody isn’t who he thought he was. Gable called
Cody superficial because all Cody cares about is what
everyone thinks about Cody. Gable mentioned how Cody went so
far as to team with “the one guy who made Kevin Owens’s life
a living hell.” Gable said whatever Cody has coming to him,
Cody deserves it. Cody asked the crowd if they’d be his
friend and the crowd cheered. Cody said he’s disappointed
that Gable said what he said because he sees a lot of
himself in Gable. Cody said Gable has taken things not
special and made them special and maximized his minutes.
Cody brought up “Shorty G” and the crowd promptly started a
“Shorty G!” chant.
Cody said, “Shorty G, you’re looking at Stardust.” A
“Stardust!” chant ensued. Cody said he knows all about what
Gable is going through and he said Gable probably thinks he
has nothing to lose, but Cody asked Gable what happens when
he fails again. Cody referenced losing at WrestleMania 39
and asked Gable about being the leader of American Made.
Cody put over everyone in American Made until Gable cut Cody
off. Gable said if he didn’t have a suit on, he’d whoop
Cody’s ass. Cody asked Gable if he really said what he said.
Cody asked Gable to talk to Nick Aldis about going one-on-
one with him tonight. Cody threw the mic at Gable to end the
segment.
**********
– Cole, from ringside, explained how wrestlers will move
from show to show in the coming weeks.
– Backstage, Naomi and Bianca Belair were shown talking.
Belair wished Naomi good luck in her triple threat match.
Chelsea Green and Piper Niven walked into the frame and
mocked Belair for looking into who attacked Jade Cargill.
Belair wondered if Niven was the one to attack Cargill.
Belair went after Green and Niven, but Green and Niven
fought back and Belair sold pain from War Games as well as
the attack.
– Jesse Ventura was shown in the front row as Cole touted
Ventura joining the broadcast team for SNME.
Tiffany Stratton defeated Naomi and Elektra Lopez to advance
in the Women’s United States Championship Tournament [7:16]
A feel-good win for Stratton, who should settle in nicely as
a full-time babyface sooner than later. No better place to
test the waters than her home state and the proof of concept
worked here. Of the four first-round matches, this result
felt the most predictable, but the women did a good job
making sure the match didn’t suffer because of that. This
was a fine end to the beginning of the tournament.
Naomi and Tiffy started brawling to beign the match. Lopez
inserted herself and threw Naomi out of the ring, but Naomi
came right back and Stratton then attacked Lopez, with a ton
of support from the live crowd (Stratton is from Minnesota).
Stratton kicked Lopez and shoulder-blocked Lopez to the
canvas. Stratton then landed a basement dropkick on Lopez
for a two-count. “Tiffy Time!” chants broke out. Stratton
posed for the crowd and Naomi re-inserted herself in the
match with a cross-body on Stratton. Naomi nearly fell over
the top rope, but caught herself and the match got back on
track as Naomi slammed Lopez.
Stratton pounded on Naomi until Naomi fought back and hit a
double Stunner on Stratton and Lopez all at once. Naomi then
landed a splash on Lopez and went for one on Stratton, but
Stratton got her elbow up. Stratton then double-stomped on
Naomi on the apron. Stratton turned her attention to Lopez
and landed a snap suplex on Lopez. Before long, Lopez sank
in a half-crab on Stratton. Lopez rolled Stratton up for a
two-count. The women all traded multiple pin attempts to no
avail. Lopez caught Naomi when Naomi leapt at Lopez and
Lopez slammed Naomi. Lopez hit a version of a Blue Thunder
Bomb on Naomi, but Stratton broke up the pin attempt and all
three women were down.
Everyone got to their feet and brawled and Naomi got the
best of it, complete with a Rearview on Stratton. Candice
LeRae showed up and distracted Naomi. Lopez briefly took
advantage of that, but Naomi hit a split-legged moonsault on
Lopez. Stratton came back and took care of Naomi before
hitting the Prettiest Moonsault Ever on Lopez and pinning
her for the win.
**********
– Cole threw to the backstage area, where Montez Ford and
Angelo Dawkins were shown laid out. Nick Aldis was there and
said they both needed medical attention badly. Aldis then
ran into MCMG and told them the Profits got attacked. Johnny
Gargano showed up and said if Aldis needs a title match,
#DIY can step in. Shelley said if Gargano wants their match,
they got it. Aldis made the match for later on.
Bianca Belair defeated Piper Niven [12:17]
This was very good. SmackDown does this more often than it
gets credit for: throws an unannounced match out there and
said unannounced match ends up kind of/sort of stealing the
show. If I’m not mistaken, this is how the Andrade/Carmelo
Hayes saga began. Anyway, it was great to see Niven wade
into the deepest television waters she’s ever been in on the
main roster, going nearly 15 minutes, and even better yet,
holding her own against one of WWE’s most established women.
It felt like this might be a good spot to give her a big
win, with Belair still selling injuries from Survivor
Series, but it was not to be. Still, Niven earned a lot in
defeat here and Belair deserves a good amount of credit for
that – to take nothing away from Niven’s effort, too.
Belair had control early and the two fought over Belair’s
braid. Niven won that battle and hit a splash on Belair to
gain the advantage. Niven worked over Belair in a corner and
lifted Belair for a slam, but Belair countered with a kick.
Belair ran the ropes and Green caught Belair’s foot. Niven
followed that up with a sidewalk slam for a two-count. The
show then went to its first commercial break about 38
minutes into the program.
The show returned and Niven still had control. Belair tried
to fire up, but Niven cut her off with a running Senton, two
times over. That was enough to earn Niven a two-count. Niven
worked a waist-lock, which turned into a bearhug. Belair
fought her way out of it and eventually tried to choke out
Niven, until Niven shook Belair off and went for a splash,
but Belair moved. Belair ran between corners and smashed
Niven’s face off the turnbuckles. Belair went to the top and
hit a cross-body for a nice near-fall.
Belair punched Niven repeatedly and before long hit a spear
for a two-count. Belair tried to lift Niven for her
finisher, but that didn’t work and Niven countered with a
Saito belly-to-back suplex. Niven ran at Belair and Belair
countered with a spinebuster. Belair went for a moonsault,
but Niven got her knees up. Niven then went for a
Cannonball, but Belair moved and Niven tumbled into a
corner. Belair ran at Niven, but Niven caught Belair for a
Piper Driver, which is really just a stiff powerbomb. “This
is awesome!” chants began.
Niven went to the second rope, but Belair cut Niven off.
Green hopped onto the apron and Belair dragged Green into
the ring. Belair then successfully lifted Niven and hit a
KOD on Niven, slamming Niven onto Green. That was enough to
earn Belair the win.
**********
– A video package on Nakamura winning the U.S. title aired.
– Belair was shown walking backstage and ran into Naomi.
Belair apologized for Naomi losing earlier. Byron Saxton
showed up and told the two that he knew Piper Niven didn’t
attack Cargill because he saw where Niven was during the
attack. Naomi listed off all the women who could have done
it. Belair said when she finds out who did it, it will be
“on site.”
The U.S. title/Bloodline segment
I really like the unexpectedness of a lot of what’s happened
so far tonight. Knight and Andrade being involved with Solo
Sikoa’s Bloodline? I’m all for it. Nakamura barfing up black
ooze and not going to battle with Sikoa and his fellas? Even
better. The best parts of SmackDown these days are the parts
where things seem fresh and this felt fresh in its own way.
Does this mean we get a triple threat between Knight,
Nakamura and Andrade for the U.S. title? Or, perhaps, will
Fatu be inserted into that mix as well? Maybe none of this
interaction matters in the long run, but even if that ends
up being the case, it made for a welcome change of pace on
an early-December episode of SmackDown.
Shinsuke Nakamura made his entrance for … reasons unknown? …
because as Nakamura posed in the ring, LA Knight’s music hit
and Knight walked out with a microphone. Knight correctly
noted that he was “in the building in Minneapolis.” Knight
said Nakamura isn’t the real deal and Nakamura was holding
something that belonged to Knight. Knight said he wanted his
rematch and he wanted it right away (despite Knight not
being in his wrestling gear). Nakamura did and said nothing.
Knight put on his “LA Knight mist-blockers” (sunglasses) and
walked into the ring … or at least tried to because
Andrade’s music hit and Andrade walked out with a
microphone.
Andrade hopped onto the ring apron and Tama Tonga attacked
Andrade. Jacob Fatu then attacked Knight. Nakamura just sort
of stood around and eventually, black goo came out of
Nakamura’s mouth. Nakamura then left the ring and Solo Sikoa
went for a Samoan Spike on Andrade, but Knight made the
save. It was only for a short moment because Sikoa went
through with the spike on Knight. Sikoa grabbed a
microphone.
Sikoa said to anyone who thinks they aren’t The Ones
anymore, he dares them to step up because The Bloodline will
lay everyone out every single time. Sikoa said he’s tired of
people not taking him serously and that he’s a joke. Sikoa
said everyone can laugh all they want because he’s still
their Tribal Chief. Sikoa said he is still the head of the
table. Sikoa said he still has the Ula Fala. Sikoa said if
anyone comes down to the ring, they will do what everyone
else has to do – acknowledge him. The segment ended with
Fatu, Tonga and Sikoa’s fingers raised in the air.
**********
– Ciampa and Gargano were shown talking backstage and Ciampa
was still ornery about Gargano. Ciampa said he’d see Gargano
out there and left the scene.
– Kevin Owens cut a promo in his car. Owens said it sucked
to be told to be in Minneapolis for a Michael Cole
interview. Owens said he’s been showing up to SmackDown for
weeks and if Cole wants to interview Owens, Cole would have
to go out to the parking lot and find Owens in his car
because Owens was not going to come inside the building.
#DIY (Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano) defeated Motor City
Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) to win the WWE Tag
Team Championship [10:39]
I have mixed feelings on this. Sabin and Shelley simply were
not getting any reactions any time they appeared on WWE TV,
but I was hoping the powers that be would see it through a
little longer to see if perhaps the crowds could come
around. Either way, it’s really neat to see them in WWE and
was even neater to see them hold gold in WWE. The turn here
was very well done and I’m into a heel #DIY running a smug
ruckus on the SmackDown tag division. The match told a great
story, with Ciampa showing fire and us all (or, well, at
least me) being convinced that this would end in a manner
we’ve seen a million times in WWE: Ciampa and Gargano break
up and MCMG retain their titles. The swerve here was
warranted and welcome. My only fear is that we never see
MCMG come close to WWE gold again, no matter the brand. Time
will tell.
Ciampa jumpstarted the match and attacked Sabin. Sabin came
right back with a pair of arm-drags and a knee to Ciampa’s
midsection. Shelley tagged in and the two hit a fury of
moves on Ciampa before Shelley worked a head-lock. Ciampa
worked out of it and tagged in Gargano, who worked Shelley’s
arm. Ciampa tagged himself in and chopped Shelley
repeatedly. Ciampa yelled at Gargano to “pay attention.”
Shelley elbowed Ciampa and Sabin tagged in to take out
Ciampa on the outside. The show went to a commercial break
as MCMG posed on the apron.
The show returned and Ciampa had the upper hand on Shelley,
working a head-lock. Shelley worked out of it with a chin-
buster and then when Ciampa went to give Shelley a boot,
Shelley moved and Ciampa kicked the hell out of Gargao.
Ciampa yelled at Gargano that he was stupid. Ciampa went for
a Fairytale Ending, but Shelley countered it and got the hot
tag to Sabin, who cleaned house, complete with a cross-body
from the top on Ciampa for a two-count.
Shelley tagged in and MCMG worked over Ciampa. Shelley went
for a pin after they planted Ciampa and got a two-count.
Gargano was still down at ringside. Ciampa got in some
strikes on Sabin and Shelley and ultimately landed a
twisting neck-breaker for a two-count. Gargano reappeared on
the apron. Ciampa threw Shelley to the outside and tagged
Gargano in. Gargano rolled Shelley back into the ring and
Ciampa confronted Gargano for doing that. Gargano and Ciampa
traded shoves. Gargano told Ciampa to leave and Ciampa
stormed off to grab a chair. As MCMG set up their finisher,
Ciampa distracted the referee and Gargano hit a low blow on
Sabin. Gargano then super-kicked Shelley and Ciampa smiled.
Gargano tagged in Ciampa and hit Meet In The Middle on Sabin
to win the titles.
Gargano smirked a knowing smirk after the match and ran
around the ring, Young Bucks style.
**********
– Gargano and Ciampa were shown celebrating backstage.
Candice LeRae showed up and was super pumped about the whole
thing.
The Kevin Owens/Michael Cole interview
This was sort of fun in a Carpool Karaoke kind of way (mind
you, I never liked Carpool Karaoke, but the game is the
game). Silly. Moved Owens’s frustrations forward. Made Cole
look dumb. I half expected Owens to attack Cole to write him
off SmackDown so Cole can reunite with his buddy Pat McAfee
on Raw, which became a headline this week. But instead, we
got innocent fun – with a new batch of very reasonable
complaints from Owens, even. My only complaint is that I
could have used another three to five minutes of it.
Cole walked outside and Owens invited Cole into his car.
Owens noted how many times he’s been told he wasn’t allowed
to come inside the arena in recent weeks. Cole said he
wanted to do an unbiased interview and Owens mocked him for
that idea. Cole cited their friendship and how he’s been a
big supporter of Owens. Owens said he doesn’t understand how
Cole doesn’t see things the way Owens sees them. Owens ran
through his grievances about Cody and Roman Reigns again.
Owens mocked Cody for leaving WWE in 2016. Owens then mocked
Cody’s pyro for his entrances.
Cole said everyone thought it was good to help Roman. Owens
said that Jimmy and Jey were always pawns for Roman anyway
and one day, he’ll catch up with Sami Zayn. Owens said Cody
stabbed Owens in his back. Cole told Owens he was being
petty and Owens should look in the mirror. Cole said Owens
is the problem. Owens yelled at Cole and told him to get out
of his car. Owens called Cole back to his car, only to roll
up the window on Cole. Owens drove off in his rental car.
**********
– Next week, Bayley will face Chelsea Green and Michin will
take on Tiffany Stratton in the semifinals of the women’s
U.S. title tournament.
– Gunther was shown talking to Aldis backstage and Carmelo
Hayes walked in. Melo was mad at Aldis for not talking to
him and Melo wanted to know where he fit in. Melo said
“Monday Night Melo” sounds good and Aldis said that would be
good for Aldis because Melo is such a headache. Aldis said
he has someone special in mind for Melo and walked away.
Cody Rhodes defeated Chad Gable [12:27]
Good storytelling here. Gable softens Cody up for his match
with Owens. And maybe – just maybe – Owens gets the upset at
SNME because of Cody being banged up? It’s probably wishful
thinking, but in the meantime, this was a very good match
and one of the better SmackDown main events in recent
months. We all know Gable can go and all told, Cody
benefited the most from that reality in this match. Nothing
against Cody, but Gable seemed to bring out something more
in Cody, enough to take what could have been a fine-enough
main event and turn it into a very good main event. Here’s
hoping Gable gets a true reboot and/or push sooner than
later. It felt like he was on that track for a minute, but
that momentum has subsided recently. Maybe 2025 will be his
year. This performance alone proves more than anything that
he deserves it to be.
The two felt each other out to start the match. There was
some fine capital “W” wrestling and then Gabel took Cody
down, but Cody kicked his way out of it and the match reset.
Cody went on the offensive from there and landed the drop-
down punch, followed by a suplex with a sustained vertical
hold. Cody went to run the ropes and Ivy Nile hopped on the
apron to stop Cody. Gabe went right to work on Cody’s
ankle/leg with a dragon-screw leg-whip. Gable slammed Cody’s
leg on the ring post and the show went to its final
commercial break.
The show returned and Gable kept his focus on Cody’s leg.
Angle went for an ankle lock, but Cody sent Gable into the
second rope. It didn’t matter much because Gable dropkicked
Cody’s leg. Gable then roughed Cody up with a ton of chops
to the chest. Gable hit a flying headbutt from the top rope
for a two-count. Gable went to the top rope, but Cody cut
him off and landed an inverted super-plex, which proved to
be a wild spot.
The two got to their feet and traded blows. Gable ran at
Cody and Cody turned that into his snap powerslam. Cody hit
a Disaster Kick despite selling leg pain. A Cody Cutter
followed that. Julius Creed pulled Gable to the outside and
the referee sent all of American Made back to the locker
room as a result. Gable took Cody’s boot off and worked an
ankle lock. Cody countered by sending Gable into the second
rope turnbuckle. Cody went to the top and hit a Cody Cutter
from the top rope. With one boot on, Cody went for a Cross-
Rhodes, but Gable countered into an ankle lock until Cody
made it to the ropes for a break. Gable German Suplexed Cody
and went to the top rope, but missed the moonsault and then
finally, Cody landed the Cross-Rhodes and got the win.
After the match, Kevin Owens appeared and stomped on the
ankle that had no boot on it. Officials quickly ran out and
separated Owens and Cody …. until Cody leapt at Owens and
the brawl continued with a suicide dive from Cody onto
Owens. The two kept going at it on the outside of the ring.
The show went off the air as Cody broke through the
officials and the two went back to brawling. “Let them
fight!” chants echoed throughout the arena.
