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KELLER’S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT
NOVEMBER 4, 2022
TAPED 10/28 IN ST. LOUIS, MO.
AIRED ON FS1
Commentators: Michael Cole, Wade Barrett
Ring Announcer: Samantha Irvin
[HOUR ONE]
-Michael Cole introduced the show and talked about it being the day before Crown Jewel.
(1) LIV MORGAN vs. SONYA DEVILLE – No DQ match
As Morgan came out, Cole said Morgan says she’s never felt more alive. Cole said it’s a big fight night on Smackdown and hyped Gunther vs. Rey Mysterio. Deville then made her entrance. Deville took early control with knees to the gut. She grabbed a kendo stick from under the ring. Morgan dove at her off the steps and took Deville down, then picked up the stick. Deville blocked it, though. Liv kicked her and rolled into the ring to break the count. Deville hit Morgan with the stick back in the ring.
Liv landed two dives to the floor. The first dive was between the ropes and her legs hit the ropes, causing Cole to gasp. The second dive was over the top rope and her foot caught the rope, causing Cole to gasp. Cole said Liv has thrown caution to the wind. Cole said Liv has proven she can get extreme, despite some doubting her. Fans chanted, “We want tables!” Liv made a big production with exaggerated smiling facial expressions and body gyrations to the crowd before pulling the table out. That cost her, as Deville took over. Deville tried to back suplex Liv off the ring apron through the table at ringside. Liv resisted, but then leaped backwards and drove Deville and herself through the table. They cut to a break. [c]
Back from the break Deville was in control. Liv soon took over and set up Deville for a superplex onto a pile of chairs gathered in the ring. Deville fought back and powerbombed Morgan onto the pile of chairs. Morgan kicked out. (Should wrestlers really be kicking out of that?) Fans chanted, “This is awesome!” Both wrestlers were slow to get up. Morgan blocked Deville’s Advocate finisher. Liv then landed her Oblivion DDT onto the chairs for the win. Cole said, “I kind of like this extreme Liv Morgan.”
WINNER: Morgan in 14:00.
(Keller’s Analysis: Good, hard-hitting, crowd-pleasing brawl. This whole Liv going hardcore and Cole praising her for it all the time is still just weird.)
-They went to Cole and Barrett at ringside. They threw to a sponsored video package on Ronda Rousey beating Emma in Emma’s return to WWE earlier in the week in Rousey’s open challenge.
-Megan Morant interviewed Emma backstage. Emma said it’s been five years since she was in a WWE ring and she didn’t know if that day would ever come. She said when she answered Rousey’s open challenge, her heart was beating through her chest. In walked Xia Li, mock-applauding Emma. Xia said she watched her lose and “the only thing you proved is that you are weak.” Emma said, “Number one, that was Ronda Rousey. And number two…” She then punched Xia Li and left.
-On a split screen, they showed Rey on the left and Gunther on the right rolling their bag into the arena as Cole hyped the main event. [c]
-They showed Logan Paul chilling on a leather couch on his Impaulsive podcast inviting his brother Jake Paul to join him at Crown Jewel since Roman Reigns will have the Usos, Solo Sikoa, and Paul Heyman with him. Jake agreed.
-Cole called it huge news as they cut to Cole and Barrett at ringside. They threw to a video package recapping the build up for the Reigns vs. Logan main event at Crown Jewel.
-Ricochet made his ring entrance. Barrett touted his opponent, L.A. Knight. [c]
-A vignette aired with the Viking Raider’s Ivar in the woods and a bonfire with a woman not shown (Sarah Logan) drawing paint on his face.
(2) RICOCHET vs. L.A. KNIGHT
When Knight made his entrance, he did some mic work bragging up himself. He complained to the ring announcer Samantha Irvin that she got his home town wrong last week. He said she “got lost in these baby blues.” He said her ring entrance isn’t good enough for a megastar like him, but it might be good enough for a gymnastic jerk like Ricochet. Ricochet dove at him and punched away at him before throwing him into the ring. The ref checked on Knight before calling for the bell to officially start the match. Knight was staggering, but did give her the okay. Barrett continued to enthusiastically talk up Knight. Cole said Knight is confident, but pretty good too.
At 2:00 Knight went for a springboard moonsault, but Ricochet moved, then kicked Knight in the face. Ricochet then did a springboard flip into a pose mid-ring as Knight snarled at him from ringside. They cut to a break. [c]
Cole said Barrett sounded like “a fanboy for Mr. Knight.” Barrett said, “I am a fanboy for Mr. Knight.” Ricochet landed a standing shooting star press for a near fall. He played to the crowd and climbed to the top rope, but Knight ducked when he leaped. Ricochet rolled up Knight, but then Knight rolled up Ricochet, yanking on his tights and holding onto the middle rope for extra leverage for the win.
WINNER: Knight in 12:00.
-Sami told the Usos and Solo Sikoa backstage that the Tribal Chief is about to take care of business at Crown Jewel while the Usos are about to break the record as the longest-reigning tag team champions in WWE. Jey told Sami they’re going to go to the ring and tell the Brawling Brutes what’s going to happen in Saudi Arabia tomorrow. Sami asked Jey not to go out there because there’s no reason for it. He said they’ve been talking and making progress, so it’s better to get a good night’s sleep. Jey said, “Just because you’re Sami Uso now, you think you can talk to me, huh?” Jey told Sami it’s not a Bloodline thing, it’s an Uso thing beacuse they were tag champs before he was around Bloodline and will be tag champs long after he’s gone. Jimmy said, “He makes a good point, my dog.” He smiled and walked away. Sami fretted over it as Solo stood stoically with his arms crossed. [c]
-Cole hyped Gunther defending against Rey later in the main event.
-Bray Wyatt paced backstage and said he’s not the kind of person who likes to share his feelings. He said it makes it harder when people interrupt him when he’s trying to do something that is obviously incredibly hard for him. A worker behind him got his attention. Bray walked over to him and told the guy he’s just trying to do his job. He asked if he knows about that feeling you get when someone cuts you off, and you fantasize about what you’d do if you had 30 seconds with them alone. Bray said he can’t stand the way he’s thinking about things. He said he hates himself because all he wants to do is take his head and smash it. He said he’s a hair away from doing something bad. He told him to reach to the bottom of his soul and look him in the eyes and apologize for interrupting him. Throughout this, they had horror music playing and cutaways to distorted views of the Uncle Howdy in the mask and other frightful images. The man apologized and left. Bray took a deep breath and leaned over to regroup.
-Cole said things keep getting weirder and weirder with Bray. He said he’ll be at Crown Jewel.
-The Usos made their way to the ring to their entrance theme. Cole said they’re nine days away from tying the record for the longest-reigning tag champions in WWE history. He plugged the title defense against the Brawling Brutes at Crown Jewel. Jey told the Brutes, “You’re the twos and we’re the ones.” New Day interrupted. Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston told them to hold up, pump the breaks, settle your teakettle, and just stop. Kofi said they’re rooting for the Brawling Brutes, but if the Usos return to the U.S. as champs, “We got next.” The Brutes attacked the Usos. New Day joined in. Solo and Sami ran out to even the odds and cleared the ring of New Day and Ridge Holland. Butch ran in and used the shillelagh, but Solo gave him the Spinning Solo to stop him. The Bloodline left the ring together as the Brutes and New Day recovered.
-Kayla Braxton interviewed Rey backstage. She asked if winning the IC Title will give him the fresh start he needs. Rey said he’s given his life to the business and he’s always shared that with his son. He said now he’s haunted by those memories and misses his son. He said he wants to show the world that even when the worst happens, you have to fight on. He said his chest still hurts from Gunther’s chop last week. He said he’s going to turn that pain into rage and use it to become IC Champion.
-Shayna Baszler made her ring entrance, accompanied by Ronda Rousey. [c]
(3) NATALYA vs. SHAYNA BASZLER (w/Ronda Rousey)
As Natalya made her entrance, they replayed the angle with Natalya and Baszler last week. Cole asked Barrett why Baszler lost her killer instinct after leaving NXT and coming to WWE. Barrett said he’s seen it happen with a lot of wrestlers who get sidetracked by the limelight and the special appearances. Baszler won decisively with her Kirafuda Clutch. Cole said that’s the Baszler they once knew and noted she and Ronda are a formidable pair.
WINNER: Baszler in 4:00.
-Cole and Barrett threw to a video recap of the Drew McIntyre-Karrion Kross feud.
-They showed Braun Strowman backstage. [c]
-MVP introduced five wrestlers he picked to face Braun. When those five came out, Braun charged out and knocked them down like bowling pins. He then attacked MVP. He threw MVP into the ring apron. Cole said MVP shouldn’t have sent Omos to Saudi Arabia early. Braun gave MVP a powerslam mid-ring. Barrett said MVP needs an ambulance now. Braun gave him a second running powerslam. Barrett called it the biggest miscalculation in MVP’s career. The crowd wanted a third one. Barrett called the audience sick. Cole said he’s enjoying it. Braun gave MVP a third powerslam.
-Kayla tried to interview Gunther, but Ludwig Kaiser took the mic from her and handed it to Gunther. Giovanni Vinci stood by him as Gunther said he will defend his title with dignity, respect, and honor. He said Rey has no honor, which is why his son turned his back on him. He said one thing will never change, which is him being the WWE IC Champion. [c]
-They announced next week’s Smackdown will feature New Day getting a shot at the tag champs, Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Santos Escobar, and the start of what they’re calling the Smackdown World Cup.
-A vignette aired with Legado del Fantasma wearing suits and drinking to them being the perfect enterprise.
(4) GUNTHER (w/Ludwig Kaiser, Giovanni Vinci) vs. REY MYSTERIO – Intercontinental Title match
Rey made his ring entrance. Gunther made his entrance next with Kaiser and Vinci. Gunther dominated Rey and knocked him to the floor. They cut to an early break. [c]
Gunther dominated after the break until Rey slammed Gunter to the mat. He then applied a sleeper. Gunther climbed to the top rope with Rey still holding on. Gunther leaped backwards and both crashed to the mat, but the sleeper hold broke. They cut to another break. [c]
Gunther dominated Rey after the break until Rey made another comeback after escaping a powerbomb attempt. Cole asked how Rey does it. Rey connected with a 619 and then took Gunther off the top rope with a headscissors for a two count. They battled back and forth for a while longer, with Cole amazed at Rey’s resilience. Gunther chopped Rey, but when he went for a powerbomb, Rey escaped. Rey set up a 619, but Gunther caught him with a boot to the face and then a powerbomb for the win. They cut to disappointed fans in the crowd, burying their heads in their hands.
WINNER: Gunter in 19:00 to retain the IC Title.
(Keller’s Analysis: Really good match. Gunther looked dominant, but Rey came across really well putting up a big fight.)
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