{"id":68700,"date":"2018-10-30T14:29:14","date_gmt":"2018-10-30T19:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=68700"},"modified":"2018-10-30T14:29:14","modified_gmt":"2018-10-30T19:29:14","slug":"wwe-smackdown-primer-10-30-trick-or-street-fight-a-j-confronts-bryan-u-s-title-match-world-cup-becky-prepares-for-ronda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/10\/30\/wwe-smackdown-primer-10-30-trick-or-street-fight-a-j-confronts-bryan-u-s-title-match-world-cup-becky-prepares-for-ronda\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER 10\/30: Trick or Street fight, A.J. confronts Bryan, U.S. Title match, World Cup, Becky prepares for Ronda"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-758299228\" 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><strong>WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER<br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>OCTOBER 30, 2018<br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>ATLANTA, GA. AT THE STATE FARM ARENA<br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>AIRS ON USA NETWORK 8:00 P.M. EDT<br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>BY FRANK PETEANI, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Arena \/ Recap of Last Week &amp; Evolution \/ Items Advertised by WWE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>WWE Smackdown returns to the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, GA after last appearing in May of 2017.\u00a0 WWE shows the site as the Philips Arena; however, the name was changed in August of this year when State Farm purchased the naming rights.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if Jake from State Farm had anything to do with this, but I\u2019m certain he\u2019s somewhere wearing khakis.<\/p>\n<p>We move past Evolution and turn our attention to Crown Jewel which is just three days away.\u00a0 We now know, according to Michael Cole on Raw last night, that Crown Jewel is a \u201cglobal event\u201d with a special start time of noon.\u00a0 Why is that WWE?\u00a0 It\u2019s okay, you can say it.\u00a0 They know.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, the Miz had Rey Mysterio on Miz TV before having a one-on-one match that saw Mysterio come out on top.\u00a0 They could potentially face each other in the World Cup tournament at Crown Jewel.\u00a0 Randy Orton defeated Jeff Hardy in the main event.\u00a0 They also could face each other in the World Cup.\u00a0 Last night on Raw, the brackets were revealed.\u00a0 I will touch on that later.\u00a0 Big Show and Kofi Kingston fought to a no-contest.\u00a0 The Usos once again defeated WWE Champion A.J. Styles and Daniel Bryan, this time pinning A.J.\u00a0 Rusev defeated Aiden English.<\/p>\n<p>At Evolution, Becky Lynch retained the Smackdown Women\u2019s Championship by defeating Charlotte in a last woman standing match.<\/p>\n<p>Thus far, WWE has announced these items for tonight:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Who will compete in a trick-or-street fight?<\/li>\n<li>A.J. Styles will confront Daniel Bryan<\/li>\n<li>Tye Dillinger to challenge Shinsuke Nakamura for the U.S. Championship<\/li>\n<li>Who will gain momentum ahead of the World Cup?<\/li>\n<li>How will Becky Lynch prepare for Ronda Rousey<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>RELATED:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/10\/30\/10-29-wwe-raw-on-site-report-off-air-post-raw-tag-match-crowd-reactions-for-dx-undertaker-kane-crown-jewel-reigns-chants-lesnar-braun-dean\/\">10\/29 WWE Raw On-Site Report: Off-air post-Raw tag match, crowd reactions for DX, Undertaker &amp; Kane, Crown Jewel, Reigns chants, Lesnar, Braun, Dean<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Trick-or-Street Fight: One Member of New Day vs. Sheamus, Cesaro, or Big Show<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2591973232\" 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>At Crown Jewel, you know that global event with the special start time of noon on Friday, the Bar (Cesaro &amp; Sheamus) will defend their Smackdown Tag Team Championship against New Day.\u00a0 The Bar will likely have Big Show in their corner as he has recently aligned with them.\u00a0 Tonight, there will be a trick-or-street fight where one member of New Day takes on either Sheamus, Cesaro, or Show.\u00a0 For those not familiar, a trick-or-street fight is just that, a street fight with no DQs or count outs.\u00a0 Halloween themed items ranging from pumpkins, bowls of candy, apples, skeletons, witches, etc. are used as weapons.\u00a0 The last match of this nature was on Halloween in 2016 between Enzo Amore and Luke Gallows on Raw.\u00a0 Remember Enzo folks?<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis:\u00a0 First off, if there\u2019s candy in those bowls, could somebody save the Hershey minis and Reese\u2019s peanut butter cups?\u00a0 You just don\u2019t waste those items or any chocolate for that matter.\u00a0 Anyway, joking aside this is fairly straight forward.\u00a0 It\u2019s Halloween so somebody has to do the comedy bit.\u00a0 Would you think it would involve anybody but New Day?\u00a0 I have no inclination as to who will do the match tonight, but does it really matter?\u00a0 We\u2019re just bridging the gap until Crown Jewel, you know that global event with\u2026.oh you know the rest.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>A.J. Styles Will Confront Daniel Bryan<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>At Crown Jewel, A.J. Styles will defend his WWE Championship against former WWE World Heavyweight Champion (the way the title was named in 2014) Daniel Bryan.\u00a0 To recap, Bryan won a number one contender\u2019s match at Super Showdown by beating the Miz surprisingly in just under three minutes.<\/p>\n<p>In the last two episodes of Smackdown, A.J. and Bryan have teamed together and lost to former tag team champions The Usos.\u00a0 Last week A.J. took the pin while Bryan took the pin a week earlier.\u00a0 Each match featured a miscommunication leading to the loss.\u00a0 Tonight, they confront each other in the run-up to their match at Crown Jewel.<\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, one media outlet is saying that Daniel Bryan will not be travelling to Saudi Arabia.\u00a0 If confirmed, the scheduled match will be certainly be augmented.\u00a0 There\u2019s a possibility tonight\u2019s angle will somehow write Bryan out.\u00a0 There are other possibilities having the match filmed tonight, as a dark match, and aired during Crown Jewel.\u00a0 They could also have the confrontation escalate to the point of \u201clet\u2019s not wait until Friday, let\u2019s do this match tonight!\u201d and have it as tonight\u2019s main event.\u00a0 It\u2019s anybody\u2019s guess but Crown Jewel continues to be an issue on many levels.\u00a0 As rumored, John Cena was pulled from the World Cup as he refused to participate and was replaced by Bobby Lashley.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis:\u00a0 Good on Bryan if he doesn\u2019t want to go to Crown Jewel.\u00a0 I could care less if Cena doesn\u2019t go, as he is all but out of WWE.\u00a0 Bryan is a full-time wrestler, so for him to take a stand it certainly sends a convincing message.\u00a0 That notwithstanding, I\u2019m not a fan of what they\u2019ve done teaming A.J. and Bryan.\u00a0 It\u2019s not because I haven\u2019t wanted to see the combination.\u00a0 Historically, when babyfaces are to square off for a championship or anything for that matter, a much bigger deal is made of the fact that they are teaming in advance of the match.\u00a0 Two weeks ago, we didn\u2019t know of the match until showtime.\u00a0 Last week we knew about it ahead of time, but had already seen it, and thus the concept was watered down to a degree.\u00a0 The other issue here is nothing is made of the Usos getting two straight victories over these top wrestlers.\u00a0 The Usos, former tag champs as I said, have not done much in the way of winning in 2018.\u00a0 You would think WWE would make a bigger deal of this especially with a championship tag team that has clearly delivered through the years.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>U.S. Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura (champion) vs. Tye Dillinger<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3113967645\" 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>Tye Dillinger will challenge Shinsuke Nakamura for the U.S. Championship.\u00a0 We last saw Dillinger nearly a month ago in a match with Randy Orton where at the end, Orton attempted to break his fingers.\u00a0 In case you missed this dastardly act, take a look:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Viper unleashes an assault that leaves Dillinger as The Painful 9: SmackDown LIVE, Oct. 2, 2018\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/47RMQr57ZVQ?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>Dillinger and G.M. Paige communicated on Twitter:<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWEDillinger\/status\/1057043004622602241<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/RealPaigeWWE\/status\/1057060763196637189<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis:\u00a0 This is not a matter of elevating Dillinger but rather an exposure of a lack of babyfaces on Smackdown.\u00a0 It is good to see them trying to make something out of him, as I feel all talent should be used to lengthen the roster.\u00a0 There just can\u2019t be a ton of expectations for this going beyond a TV feud.\u00a0 Nakamura continues to have a lack of challengers since winning the U.S. Championship and ending his feud with Jeff Hardy.\u00a0 Rusev could be looming assuming his feud with Aiden English is over.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Who Will Gain Momentum Ahead of the World Cup?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The brackets for the World Cup at Crown Jewel were revealed on Raw last night.<\/p>\n<p>From Smackdown:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Randy Orton vs. Rey Mysterio<\/li>\n<li>Jeff Hardy vs. The Miz<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>From Raw:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bobby Lashley vs. Seth Rollins<\/li>\n<li>Dolph Ziggler vs. Kurt Angle<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As of this writing, nothing is announced for tonight in terms of a match or any sort of promo.\u00a0 This is just me speculating, but the graphic on <a href=\"http:\/\/wwe.com\/\">WWE.com<\/a> suggests a tag team match with Mysterio &amp; Hardy facing Orton &amp; Miz if history serves me well on what they done in situations like this.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis:\u00a0 I\u2019m not overly concerned about what they do here.\u00a0 Whatever they do tonight is just a means to get to Crown Jewel.\u00a0 The brackets are set, and I\u2019m more concerned about what they do with the winner of the tournament.\u00a0 Let\u2019s not rule out the possibility of the winner of World Cup getting a championship opportunity on their brand, as this is what should have been done the whole time in my opinion.\u00a0 If Daniel Bryan indeed doesn\u2019t go to Crown Jewel, and his WWE Championship opportunity is pulled, it\u2019s not crazy to imagine the winner coming from Smackdown and challenging A.J. Styles.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if this would happen at Crown Jewel though, as the winner will have wrestled three matches before getting to A.J.\u00a0 That would give the babyface champion an unfair advantage, something usually reserved for heels.\u00a0 It\u2019s anybody\u2019s guess with WWE.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>CHECK OUT THE NEW WADE KELLER PRO WRESTLING POST-SHOW covering last night&#8217;s Raw.<\/strong> Wade Keller is joined by Matt Koon along with an on-site correspondent&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">-On Stitcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stitcher.com\/podcast\/wade-keller-pro-wrestling-postshow\/e\/56960320?autoplay=true\">HERE<\/a><br \/>\n-On Apple Podcasts <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/wade-keller-pro-wrestling-post-show\/id1340490567?mt=2\">HERE<\/a><br \/>\n-Or<strong> search &#8220;Wade Keller&#8221;<\/strong> on your podcast app of choice<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: solid 1px #dedede;\" src=\"https:\/\/app.stitcher.com\/splayer\/f\/180002\/56960320\" width=\"100%\" height=\"220\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>How Will Becky Lynch Prepare for Ronda Rousey?<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It was announced on Raw last night that the women\u2019s champion from both brands will face each other at Survivor Series coming up Sunday, Nov. 18.\u00a0 Smackdown Women\u2019s Champion Becky Lynch, who retained her title over Charlotte Flair at Evolution, will face Raw Women\u2019s Champion Ronda Rousey.\u00a0 Ronda of course retained her title over Nikki Bella at the same event.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a <a href=\"http:\/\/wwe.com\/\">WWE.com<\/a> exclusive that followed Evolution:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Becky Lynch confronts Ronda Rousey after WWE Evolution: Raw, Oct. 29, 2018\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/f-N4rVIdrxY?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>Here\u2019s some twitter exchange between both women:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Cheers Champ <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BeckyLynchWWE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@beckylynchwwe<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/NL4EIcN6VG\">https:\/\/t.co\/NL4EIcN6VG<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Ronda Rousey (@RondaRousey) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RondaRousey\/status\/1056983290672963591?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 29, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/BeckyLynchWWE\/status\/1057277684915560458<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/BeckyLynchWWE\/status\/1056890653374853120<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis:\u00a0 This is certainly not surprising as the champions faced each other last year and I expect more of the same with other champions at this year\u2019s Survivor Series.\u00a0 It certainly makes sense as to perhaps why Becky was positioned as Smackdown Women\u2019s Champion and has had the character change she had recently.\u00a0 You get a more badass Becky facing the \u201cbaddest woman on the planet\u201d and promos that will likely raise a lot of interest in the match.\u00a0 We will certainly speculate on the outcome in the weeks to come as this is the most formidable opponent for Ronda to date.\u00a0 The other big point of interest is who the crowd will favor.\u00a0 Becky, while a heel, is still cheered even more so than when she was a babyface.\u00a0 Ronda is clearly over as a babyface as well.\u00a0 It will be interesting to see if Charlotte plays a role in this storyline as well considering her history with Becky and many people thinking it will be Ronda vs. Charlotte at \u2018Mania.\u00a0 The latter, if true, suggests to me Charlotte will likely not get involved.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Start Time &amp; Matches Advertised<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The arena website shows a start time of 7:30 p.m. but doesn\u2019t specify when doors will open.\u00a0 They advertise these matches.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A.J. Styles &amp; Daniel Bryan &amp; Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz &amp; Randy Orton &amp; Shinsuke Nakamura.<\/li>\n<li>Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair for the Smackdown Women\u2019s Championship<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>They show several wrestlers appearing.\u00a0 The ones that jumped out to me were Sanity, whom we haven\u2019t seen since they competed for the right to face the Bludgeon Brothers at SummerSlam for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship.\u00a0 Speaking of the Bludgeons, the site shows them appearing as well.<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow me on Twitter @FrankPeteani and ask any questions you may have.\u00a0 Thank you for reading!<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>NOW CHECK OUT THIS STORY:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/10\/30\/john-cena-off-the-crown-jewel-event-wwe-is-holding-in-saudi-arabia-this-friday-world-cup-brackets-without-cena-announced\/\">John Cena off the Crown Jewel event WWE is holding in Saudi Arabia this Friday, World Cup brackets without Cena announced<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-1032983193\"><div id=\"pwtor-2525927697\"><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 SMACKDOWN PRIMER OCTOBER 30, 2018 ATLANTA, GA. AT THE STATE FARM ARENA AIRS ON USA NETWORK 8:00 P.M. EDT BY FRANK PETEANI, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR Arena \/ Recap of Last Week &amp; Evolution \/ Items <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/10\/30\/wwe-smackdown-primer-10-30-trick-or-street-fight-a-j-confronts-bryan-u-s-title-match-world-cup-becky-prepares-for-ronda\/\" title=\"WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER 10\/30: Trick or Street fight, A.J. confronts Bryan, U.S. Title match, World Cup, Becky prepares for Ronda\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62996,"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-68700","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\/2018\/07\/LynchBecky_BrandonLeClair_3x2_600.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68700","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68700"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68708,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68700\/revisions\/68708"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}