{"id":128471,"date":"2021-10-14T23:38:53","date_gmt":"2021-10-15T04:38:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=128471"},"modified":"2021-10-14T23:38:53","modified_gmt":"2021-10-15T04:38:53","slug":"wwe-friday-night-smackdown-primer-10-15-supersized-smackdown-beast-appears-becky-vs-sasha-carmella-vs-zelina-finn-vs-sami-naomi-vs-sonya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2021\/10\/14\/wwe-friday-night-smackdown-primer-10-15-supersized-smackdown-beast-appears-becky-vs-sasha-carmella-vs-zelina-finn-vs-sami-naomi-vs-sonya\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER 10\/15:  Supersized Smackdown, Beast Appears, Becky vs. Sasha, Carmella vs. Zelina, Finn vs. Sami, Naomi vs. Sonya"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-1347741028\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><h3>WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER<br \/>\nOCTOBER 15, 2021<br \/>\nONTARIO, CA. AT THE TOYOTA ARENA<br \/>\nAIRS ON FS1, 8:00 p.m. EDT<br \/>\nBY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR<\/h3>\n<p><em>Announcers: Michael Cole and Pat McAfee<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Arena<\/h4>\n<p>WWE returns to the Toyota Arena in Ontario, CA. for the first time since June of 2018. The building opened in 2008 and has hosted WWE events since 2014.<\/p>\n<p>Tonight\u2019s episode will air on FS1 as opposed to Fox to accommodate the game one of the ALCS between the Boston Red Sox and the Houston Astros. It is being billed as a \u201csupersized\u201d episode since it will be two and a half hours with the final half hour being commercial free. They will go head-to-head for that half hour with AEW Rampage. I will join Tyler Sage for the Rampage post-show exclusively for PWTorch VIP members.<\/p>\n<p>Pulling the curtain back somewhat, I am starting this at 3:45 p.m. local time on Thursday. WWE\u2019s preview is already up. Their preview is seldom up before noon on the day of the show, if not a few hours beforehand. There is a concerted effort to go after AEW to not just go up against Rampage, but to pull viewers from potentially watching Dynamite which was pre-empted to Saturday night to accommodate the NHL on Wednesday (which sucked for me since the Rangers got stomped by the Capitals \u2026 but it\u2019s not about me \u2026 but to me it is \u2026 anyway).<\/p>\n<p>Four matched and an appearance are advertised for tonight.<\/p>\n<h4>Advertised Matches &amp; Segments<\/h4>\n<h4>Brock Lesnar Appears<\/h4>\n<p>Brock Lesnar is challenging Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship at Crown Jewel. They have a long history going back to 2015 when Roman won that year\u2019s Royal Rumble and earned the right to challenge Brock for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at that year\u2019s WrestleMania. They faced off again three years later at WrestleMania, the Greatest Royal Rumble, and eventually SummerSlam where Roman defeated Brock for the Universal Championship.<\/p>\n<p>Through all those times Paul Heyman was by the side of Brock. Things have changed as Paul is now the \u201cwise man\u201d to Roman, the \u201ctribal chief.\u201d Last week, Paul and Roman tapped into their recent history where Paul admitted that Roman rescued and save him and chose him to be his special counsel. At the behest of Roman, Paul cut a promo on Brock going back to when he defeated the Undertaker. He said the Undertaker had met his match and now Brock has met his in Roman. In classic fashion, Paul said Roman would still be Universal Champion and that\u2019s not a prediction, that \u2026 is a spoiler. Calling back to Roman\u2019s days with the Shield, he then said, \u201cand you can believe that!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brock appears tonight ahead of their match at Crown Jewel.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2324602422\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: One of the biggest feuds I looked forward to was Brock vs. Roman, mostly due to the dynamics of Paul Heyman. It\u2019s a shame it\u2019s going to play out in Saudi Arabia where a lot of people are likely not going to watch. That said, my money is on Roman retaining, but I don\u2019t rule out a title change. That gives them a reason to do another match. Where they would do it remains to be seen, but the Royal Rumble is a possibility. That\u2019s if they change the title at all.<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Non-Title Match: Smackdown Women\u2019s Champion Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks<\/h4>\n<p>Becky Lynch will defend the Smackdown Women\u2019s Championship against Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair in a triple threat match at Crown Jewel. Tonight, Becky goes one-on-one with Sasha. There is a history with these women going back to their time at NXT. Their more recent history takes up back to 2019, where they had a Hell in a Cell match.<\/p>\n<p>Last week they attempted a contract signing between Bianca, Becky, and Sasha but things ended up in a brawl. Later, Becky signed the contract. Things broke down this past Monday where Becky teamed with Raw Women\u2019s Champion Charlotte Flair to take on Sasha and Bianca. They brawled before the match started until Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville restored order. The match started, but still ended in a no-contest when the reluctant partners fought each other. Becky and Bianca are members of the Raw roster while Charlotte and Sasha belong on Smackdown. Here\u2019s Becky in a WWE exclusive:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Raw belongs to Becky Lynch now: Raw Exclusive, Oct. 11, 2021\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/L0kKccC0Phg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: WWE is in the business of putting out the biggest TV they can, so a match between Becky and Sasha is big. I should be excited, but I\u2019m not. Nobody came out of Monday looking good and it\u2019s another match in a long line of matches they advertise where they don\u2019t give a finish and thus why waste your time watching. Does every match need a clean finish? You can debate the answer, but when they do the same thing repeatedly it loses value and I think people tend to become numb to what they\u2019re seeing and eventually tune out.<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Carmella vs. Zelina in a Queens Crown Tournament Match<\/h4>\n<p>Carmella goes one-on-one with recent \u201cpartner\u201d (so to speak) with Zelina Vega in a Queen\u2019s Crown Tournament match. Last week Carmella defeated Liv Morgan, who had defeated her in multiple matches some time ago. Zelina defeated Toni Storm in about two minutes.<\/p>\n<p>The winner of this match goes to the finals at Crown Jewel to face the winner of Shayna Baszler vs. Doudrop which will take place on Raw.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: This has Carmella written all over it. Come on, you can\u2019t see Queen Carmella? It\u2019s not like she\u2019s winning a title any time soon, nor should she. I\u2019m fine giving it to her since it means nothing. If this was meant to push someone to another level, I\u2019d give it to Doudrop.<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Finn Balor vs. Sami Zayn in a King of the Ring Match<\/h4>\n<p>Finn Balor takes on Sami Zayn in a match to determine who will go to the finals of the King of the Ring tournament. The winner will face the winner of Jinder Mahal vs. Xavier Woods which will take place on Raw.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-840196027\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Last week Finn defeated Cesaro while Sami defeated recent rival Rey Mysterio. Finn last faced Sami a week after he interrupted his promo during his return to Smackdown, the first episode in front of live fans since the beginning of the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: I think it\u2019s common knowledge that Sami can\u2019t go to Saudi Arabia, so Finn seems like a lock tonight. Here me out though. If they want Xavier Woods to win this, they can have Sami win, and have the finals match on Smackdown instead next week since both guys are members of the roster and it gives them a big match. I don\u2019t know if they\u2019re obligated to have the King of the Ring in Saudi though, so if that\u2019s the case then Finn goes over tonight.<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Naomi vs. Sonya Deville<\/h4>\n<p>Naomi goes one-on-one with Sonya Deville tonight. It\u2019s Sonya\u2019s first match since losing to Mandy Rose at SummerSlam 2020. She has been a WWE official since her return, working alongside Adam Pearce.<\/p>\n<p>Naomi has been lobbying Sonya Deville to have a match on Smackdown she became a member of the roster. She showed up several weeks ago, before the draft, and told Sonya she was on the show. Naomi was drafted to Raw in 2020 but was never officially moved off the roster. Sonya has told Naomi in so many words she has gotten pushes before, but it went nowhere. She\u2019s turned Naomi down for a one-on-one previously claiming she\u2019s \u201cno longer an active competitor.\u201d Last week, Sonya reversed course and told Naomi they would be having a match tonight.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: I like trying to do something different with Naomi, but I don\u2019t have faith in WWE that it will go anywhere. Given they gave the Queen\u2019s Crown matches about two minutes, what\u2019s to stop them from having Sonya beating Naomi in two minutes or vice versa, and the story dropped the following week. I\u2019m sorry to be so cynical but we\u2019ve seen it so many times, so I\u2019m not going to spend mental energy trying to figure out where this is going.<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Match Results and Segments not Advertised for Follow-Up<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Happy Corbin &amp; Madcap Moss ran an episode of Happy Talk. They were to have the Street Profits, but Kevin Owens came out to attack both men. Owens got at both men, but it ended in a two-on-one beatdown.<\/li>\n<li>They ran an \u201cin defense\u201d segment for Seth Rollins, who talked about his invasion of Edge\u2019s household during the previous week. He said he wanted Edge to admit he wasn\u2019t Edge Lite and he was the man that ended his career. Later, he called out Edge who speared Rollins. He choked him with a cable and was going to do the choke-out with the piece of the chair he did to the Usos over the summer. Rollins got away, and Edge said \u201cYou, me, Hell in a Cell!\u201d That match is set for Crown Jewel.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Thank you for reading!<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-3555523929\"><div id=\"pwtor-3944882707\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER OCTOBER 15, 2021 ONTARIO, CA. AT THE TOYOTA ARENA AIRS ON FS1, 8:00 p.m. EDT BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR Announcers: Michael Cole and Pat McAfee Arena WWE returns <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2021\/10\/14\/wwe-friday-night-smackdown-primer-10-15-supersized-smackdown-beast-appears-becky-vs-sasha-carmella-vs-zelina-finn-vs-sami-naomi-vs-sonya\/\" title=\"WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER 10\/15:  Supersized Smackdown, Beast Appears, Becky vs. Sasha, Carmella vs. Zelina, Finn vs. Sami, Naomi vs. Sonya\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":128271,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,52,4403,27,5893,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prowrestlingnews","category-opnionandanalysis","category-smackdown-primer","category-specialists","category-tvprimers","category-news_wwe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2021\/10\/Lynch-vs.-Banks-SD.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128471"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128475,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128471\/revisions\/128475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}