{"id":71408,"date":"2018-12-11T15:48:12","date_gmt":"2018-12-11T21:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=71408"},"modified":"2018-12-11T15:48:12","modified_gmt":"2018-12-11T21:48:12","slug":"wwe-smackdown-primer-12-11-charlotte-vs-asuka-rap-contest-jeff-addresses-joe-naomi-vs-mandy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/12\/11\/wwe-smackdown-primer-12-11-charlotte-vs-asuka-rap-contest-jeff-addresses-joe-naomi-vs-mandy\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER 12\/11: Charlotte vs. Asuka, Rap contest, Jeff addresses Joe, Naomi vs. Mandy"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-3797602870\" 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>DECEMBER 11, 2018<br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>LAS VEGAS, NEV. AT THE T-MOBILE ARENA<br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>AIRS ON USA NETWORK 8:00 P.M. EST<br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH SPECIALIST<\/strong><\/h3>\n<h3><strong>Arena &amp; Items Advertised by WWE<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>WWE Smackdown makes its first appearance in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV.\u00a0 The arena opened for business in 2016 and has hosted WWE events before, including Money in the Bank the same year it opened.\u00a0 That night saw Dean Ambrose win the MITB contract and cash in the same night to defeat WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, who had just defeated Roman Reigns for the title.\u00a0 It was the famous night where all three members of the Shield held the championship.\u00a0 That was then and tonight, we\u2019re talking Smackdown which will feature a WrestleMania rematch and rap contest.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/wwe.com\/\">WWE.com<\/a> is advertising the following items for tonight.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka<\/li>\n<li>The Bar vs. The Usos in a rap battle hosted by New Day<\/li>\n<li>Jeff Hardy to address Samoa Joe\u2019s public service announcement<\/li>\n<li>Naomi vs. Mandy Rose<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>As we know, Becky Lynch will defend the Smackdown Women\u2019s Championship at TLC in a triple threat TLC match against Charlotte Flair and Asuka.<\/p>\n<p>In the opening segment last week, all three women signed the contract for the match.\u00a0 Following the contract signing, Charlotte and Asuka were put into a tag team match against Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville.<\/p>\n<p>At one point when Charlotte was attempting to kick Mandy Rose, she accidentally kicked her partner Asuka.\u00a0 Sonya rolled up Charlotte to pick up the victory.\u00a0 Later on, Asuka would return the favor and attack Charlotte.<\/p>\n<p>Tonight, these two women go one-on-one in a WrestleMania 34 rematch.\u00a0 That night, Charlotte handed Asuka her first defeat under the WWE umbrella as Asuka was challenging her for the Smackdown Women\u2019s Championship.\u00a0 Asuka won the first women\u2019s Royal Rumble to earn the opportunity.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis:\u00a0 Charlotte certainly acted like a heel during the signing, as did Becky to a degree although she is universally loved so it seems no matter what she says she will be cheered (unless it\u2019s trolling the fans which they\u2019ve stopped.\u00a0 I want to throw something out there that nobody may be thinking about.\u00a0 Is it possible Asuka actually ends up being the heel in all of this?\u00a0 While Charlotte acted like a heel, she hasn\u2019t officially committed a heel act.\u00a0 Asuka came off somewhat unlikable as well when talking to both Charlotte and Becky.\u00a0 Asuka was kicked by accident in the match, and I could understand her frustration.\u00a0 Returning the favor could be perceived as a heel-type act.\u00a0 I\u2019m only suggesting this as Asuka has been ice cold and a heel turn could invigorate her run.\u00a0 Your top heel on Smackdown is Mandy Rose with Sonya Deville and the IIconics right behind her.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>As far as Becky is concerned there were rumors that she may not be cleared for TLC.\u00a0 She dispelled those rumors on Twitter.\u00a0 It wouldn\u2019t be a Smackdown primer without a Becky tweet:<\/em><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-584376507\" 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>https:\/\/twitter.com\/beckylynchwwe\/status\/1071041615110651904?s=21<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Rap Battle: The Usos vs. Smackdown Tag Team Champions the Bar, hosted by New Day<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Bar will defend the Smackdown Tag Team Championship in a triple threat match at TLC against the Usos and New Day.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, Jey Uso defeated Xavier Woods and Cesaro in a triple threat match.\u00a0 Tonight, the Usos and the Bar go at it in a rap battle.\u00a0 The last rap battle ironically took place between New Day and the Usos back on July 4, 2017.<\/p>\n<p>Rap battles have been a staple of Smackdown through the years.\u00a0 Who can forget one of the first battles that took place between John Cena and WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle:<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/youtu.be\/83-2nsxGUEA<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis:\u00a0 There\u2019s not much to analyze here.\u00a0 This is another stop towards the championship match at TLC.\u00a0 These things are always entertaining, and you have three teams with plenty of history between them.\u00a0 I\u2019m selfishly looking forward to seeing Cesaro and Sheamus in his setting as I think they will be sort of a guilty pleasure to watch.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Jeff Hardy to Address Samoa Joe<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Last week, Jeff Hardy renewed his feud with Randy Orton.\u00a0 It was a series of matches that included Hell in a Cell and several cringeworthy moments that saw Orton tug on Hardy\u2019s pierced ear with his fingers and at one point a screwdriver.\u00a0 Nonetheless, Hardy came up short last week as he fell victim to Orton\u2019s signature RKO.<\/p>\n<p>Orton had some help, as Samoa Joe popped up on the titantron acting as a bartender at I assume some local bar.\u00a0 Joe had a \u201cpublic service announcement\u201d in regard to drinking responsibly.\u00a0 He talked about having a few beers with your friends and calling it a night or having \u201c14 of these\u201d and waking up in jail (exploiting Hardy\u2019s past problems with alcohol including a DWI arrest this year).\u00a0 Here\u2019s the YouTube clip in case you missed it:<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-912459610\" 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><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton: SmackDown LIVE, Dec. 4, 2018\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/38kJaYLmjP4?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>Joe continued to trash talk on Twitter the next day.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">It\u2019s amazing how all you virtue laden people will bludgeon your high horse in a instant to justify the actions of your so called hero\u2019s . Yet your upset with me because I just want to bludgeon your hero directly. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SmackDownLIVE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SmackDownLIVE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Samoa Joe (@SamoaJoe) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SamoaJoe\/status\/1070376376304316416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 5, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Tonight, Hardy addresses Joe\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis:\u00a0 You\u2019ll never get me to like exploiting real life issues for the purpose of furthering a wrestling angle, but it\u2019s part of the business and thus I can accept it and put it into context.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t mean I nor anybody has to like it.\u00a0 Jeff Hardy has had his issues with drugs and alcohol through the years and to exploit that to me is just not good business.\u00a0 It wouldn\u2019t get me to want to watch WWE again if I was on the outside.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t like when they exploited Scott Hall\u2019s issues with alcohol on WCW programming in the last 1990s.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t care for CM Punk exploiting Paul Bearer\u2019s death in 2013 in the run-up to his match with the Undertaker at WrestleMania.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t like Ruby Riott exploiting Jim \u201cThe Anvil\u201d Neidhart on Raw last night with Natalya.\u00a0 It is what it is, and let\u2019s just hope the wrestling matches are worth the trouble.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Mandy Rose vs. Naomi<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Mandy Rose has been stepping more into the forefront recently.\u00a0 As I talked about earlier, she and Sonya Deville defeated Charlotte Flair and Asuka in the opening match last week.\u00a0 When the TLC match for the women\u2019s championship was being announced a few weeks ago, she came out with the other heels and spoke of how any one of them deserved a championship opportunity (I don\u2019t know why, but I\u2019ll play along).<\/p>\n<p>She and Naomi have done a little trash talking on Twitter:<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWE_MandyRose\/status\/1071548326808559616<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWE_MandyRose\/status\/1072388737009635329<\/p>\n<p>Tonight, Mandy and Naomi go one-on-one.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis:\u00a0 There\u2019s not much here as it\u2019s a match on the lower end of the card.\u00a0 It seems Mandy has been pushed a little more as of late, and thus you wonder if Vince is looking to see if she could be one of his top heels if not a top star.\u00a0 Let\u2019s be honest, Mandy is certainly what Vince looks for in his women wrestlers.\u00a0 If Asuka or Charlotte don\u2019t officially turn heel, and if you consider Becky Lynch a babyface as we all do, Mandy is your top heel on Smackdown.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Other Items<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Rusev claimed he wanted to feast on U.S. Champion Shinsuke Nakamura on Rusev Day.\u00a0 If TLC coincides with Rusev Day, does he get a U.S. Championship match?<\/li>\n<li>WWE Champion Daniel Bryan was a guest on MizTV.\u00a0 He talked about the fans being sinners while they eat factory farmed meat and drink from plastic water bottles.\u00a0 He quoted Alexander Hamilton saying giving power to the mindless masses is dangerous.\u00a0 He re-emphasized over and over how the fans are \u201cfickle.\u201d\u00a0 Ultimately A.J. Styles came out and went after Bryan.\u00a0 He was intercepted the Miz.\u00a0 Later in the main event, A.J. tapped out the Miz with a calf crusher.\u00a0 He would then be attacked by Bryan, who was on guest commentary.\u00a0 Here are highlights from the match:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"AJ Styles vs. The Miz: SmackDown LIVE, Dec. 4, 2018\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ja0fKmfhMqo?list=PL6C6A4475B56EC5B1\" 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><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Miz and \u201cBest in the World\u201d Shane McMahon had another odd exchange in front of the World Up trophy.\u00a0 Shane reiterated they were not tag team partners.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Start Time &amp; Matches Advertised<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The arena website shows a start time of 4:30 p.m local with doors opening at 3:00 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>The website is clearly not updated as they show the following.<\/p>\n<p>WWE Champion AJ Styles, Rey Mysterio and Daniel Bryan vs Randy Orton, The Miz and United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura! Charlotte Flair vs SmackDown Women&#8217;s Champion Becky Lynch! The New Day live!<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Follow me on Twitter @FrankPeteani.\u00a0 My e-mail is <a href=\"mailto:fpeteani@gmail.com\">fpeteani@gmail.com<\/a>.\u00a0 Questions and discussion are welcome.\u00a0 Thank you for reading!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-2207288412\"><div id=\"pwtor-1656197907\"><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 DECEMBER 11, 2018 LAS VEGAS, NEV. AT THE T-MOBILE ARENA AIRS ON USA NETWORK 8:00 P.M. EST BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH SPECIALIST Arena &amp; Items Advertised by WWE WWE Smackdown makes <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/12\/11\/wwe-smackdown-primer-12-11-charlotte-vs-asuka-rap-contest-jeff-addresses-joe-naomi-vs-mandy\/\" title=\"WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER 12\/11: Charlotte vs. Asuka, Rap contest, Jeff addresses Joe, Naomi vs. Mandy\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52289,"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-71408","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\/2017\/12\/Asuka_TeschJoel_3x2_600.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71408","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=71408"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71416,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71408\/revisions\/71416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}