WWE SmackDown aired live from the DCU Center in Worcester, MA. It was the season premiere of the blue brand. Roman Reigns & Logan Paul appeared face-to-face ahead of their title match next month at Crown Jewel. Gunther defended the Intercontinental Championship against Sheamus in a rematch from Clash at the Castle in tonight’s main event.
SmackDown Results:
- Solo Sikoa def. Ricochet
- Raquel Rodriguez & Shotzi def. Sonya Deville & Xia Li
- New Day & Braun Strowman def. The Usos & Sami Zayn
- Gunther def. Sheamus to retain the IC Title
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Triple H Kicked Off The Show
The Game kicked off the season premiere of WWE SmackDown to a big reaction from the crowd. The crowd chanted “Triple H!” as the Chief Content Officer paced around in the ring.
Triple H said that there will come a time when you believe that everything is finished but that is the beginning. Triple H welcomed everyone to the season premiere of SmackDown and exited the ring.
Sami Zayn Calmed Down The Bloodline
Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns made his way to the ring with The Wiseman Paul Heyman and The Bloodline for a face-to-face with Logan Paul. Reigns will be defending the title against the popular YouTuber/boxer/wrestler on November 5th at Crown Jewel.
Reigns asked the crowd to acknowledge him before Logan interrupted. Roman asked Logan to enter the ring and claimed that this was a safe space. Reigns noted that the crowd used to be him as well and now he’s the greatest of all-time. The champion asked The Wiseman to “smarten this boy up” and handed the microphone to Paul Heyman.
Paul hyped up Roman Reigns and claimed that the Tribal Chief asked who the hell Logan Paul was the other day. Heyman joked that Anderson Silva is going to hit Jake Paul in the head when they fight, and claimed that Logan is this generation’s Mr. T.
He’s the outside celebrity that they bring in to bring more eyeballs to the product, which means more people will get to acknowledge The Tribal Chief. Heyman took shots at Ben Shapiro, Andrew Tate, and other social media stars. He claimed that none of them would ever have the balls to fight Roman Reigns.
Heyman added that Logan will have tons of content to create after he gets smashed by Reigns at Crown Jewel. Logan suggested that Jey Uso was actually The Tribal Chief in The Bloodline and they started arguing. Honorary Uce Sami Zayn grabbed the microphone as the crowd loudly chanted his name.
Roman and Jey stared at each other with Zayn in between them. Sami told Roman that he’s the Head of the Table, The GOAT, and The Tribal Chief. Sami added that nobody is questioning that, and Jey Uso did nothing wrong. Zayn called Logan Paul a fake and a “giant number two”. Sami added that The Bloodline will be stronger than ever following Crown Jewel because “we the ones”.
Solo Sikoa def. Ricochet
Solo Sikoa battled Ricochet tonight on SmackDown. Sikoa dominated the action early and sent Ricochet out of the ring as SmackDown went to a break. When SmackDown returned, Ricochet got in some offense but it was short-lived. Sikoa hit the Spinning Solo Uranage for the pinfall victory.
Legado del Fantasma Debuted
Hit Row (Top Dolla, AJ Francis, B-Fab) made their way to the ring but were quickly attacked by Legado del Fantasma. They were wearing suits and lucha masks during the attack. Zelina Vega was with the group as well. Santos Escobar, Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde were under the masks.
Raquel Rodriguez & Shotzi Blackheart Picked Up A Win
Raquel and Shotzi battled Xia Li and Sonya Deville tonight on SmackDown. Sonya and Xia controlled the action early but the babyfaces quickly battled back. Raquel connected with a one-armed Powerbomb on Sonya Deville for the pinfall victory.
Drew McIntyre Attacked Karrion Kross
Karrion Kross made his way to the ring with Scarlett tonight on the blue brand. Drew McIntyre attacked from behind and beat him with a strap. Security rushed to the ring but McIntyre dodged them and beat Karrion down some more. Kross responded and bashed Drew into the ring post several times. Kross and McIntyre will battle in a Strap Match tomorrow night at WWE Extreme Rules.
The New Day Pinned The Tag Champs
Sami Zayn and The Usos battled New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) and Braun Strowman tonight on SmackDown. The Bloodline controlled the match early and isolated Kofi Kingston in the ring. Sami got in some offense before Jey Uso tagged himself in. The two started arguing for a bit before Jey planted Kofi with a Suplex for a two count.
Braun got the tag and hit Jimmy Uso with some Splashes int he corner. Strowman launched Sami out of the ring and sent Jimmy to the canvas with a Chokeslam. Sami and Jey argued outside the ring as Jimmy was alone. Strowman leveled Sami and Jey with a shoulder tackle that sent them out of the ring. New Day hit Jimmy Uso a Backbreaker/Stomp combo for the pinfall victory. It was announced that Kofi Kingston will battle Sami Zayn next week.
Max Dupri Is LA Knight Once Again
Max Dupri continued to target his former group, Maximum Male Models tonight on SmackDown. He attacked Mace and Mansoor backstage until Maxxiine Dupri showed up. He told her to not call him “Max Dupri” anymore and said he’s LA Knight now. He ended the segment with his signature “yeah!” as the crowd cheered.
The White Rabbit Will Appear At Extreme Rules
WWE dropped multiple White Rabbit clues during tonight’s episode of SmackDown. A QR code appeared during Triple H’s promo to begin the show and you can check that out here. The video below also appeared during tonight’s show and revealed the date of Extreme Rules tomorrow night.
Gunther Retained The Intercontinental Championship Due To Outside Interference
Gunther defended the Intercontinental Championship against Sheamus tonight in the main event of SmackDown. It was a rematch from their instant classic at Clash at the Castle. Sheamus told Butch and Ridge Holland to stay backstage for the match and went into the ring alone. Gunther told Imperium to head backstage as well before the match.
Imperium (Gunther, Ludwig Kaiser, Giovanni Vinci) will battle The Brawling Brutes (Sheamus, Butch, Ridge Holland) in a 6-man tag team match tomorrow night at WWE Extreme rules. The action spilled out of the ring early and The Celtic Warrior sent Gunther flying into the barricade as SmackDown went to a commercial break.
When SmackDown returned, Gunther caught Sheamus with a boot in the face but the challenger responded with a Powerslam. The Ring General blocked a Suplex attempt and delivered some chops to Sheamus’ chest. Gunther shoved Sheamus into the ring post a couple of times before taking off the turnbuckle padding to expose the metal beneath. Gunther bashed Sheamus’ chest into the exposed turnbuckle and the challenger fell to the floor.
Back in the ring, Gunther and Sheamus traded strikes to the face. Gunther brought Sheamus down to the canvas with a Sleeper Hold in the middle of the ring. Sheamus escaped and the two stars traded more punches. Gunther got the better of the exchange and sent Sheamus to the canvas with a German Suplex as SmackDown went to the final commercial break of the night.
When SmackDown returned, The Ring General was in control and unloaded strikes to Sheamus’ face and chest. Sheamus responded with some big time forearm strikes to the face and drove the champion to the corner. The Celtic Warrior bashed Gunther down with a flurry of elbow strikes and beat him down some more in the corner.
Sheamus stood tall in the middle of the ring as the camera zoomed in on the welts building on his chest. The Celtic Warrior delivered 10 Beats of the Bodhrán to and then kept going as the crowd erupted. Sheamus brought Gunther up to the middle turnbuckle and hit White Noise for a two count.
The crowd chanted “this is awesome!” as Sheamus went for the Cloverleaf submission. Gunther escaped and hit a Dropkick to the face. Gunther planted Sheamus with a Powerbomb and went for the cover but The Celtic Warrior kicked out at two.
Gunther followed it up with a Splash off the top rope but somehow Sheamus kicked out at two. Sheamus responded with the Irish Curse Backbreaker and locked in the Cloverleaf in the middle of the ring. The champion pounded on the mat and the referee waved it off. WWE official Jessika Carr waved it off and claimed that Gunther was trying to get to the ropes.
Imperium made their way ringside but The Brawling Brutes showed up as well. The two teams brawled as the Intercontinental Championship match continued. Kaiser slid Gunther a shillelagh and The Ring General hit him with it. The crowd booed loudly as SmackDown went off the air.
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