Today is one of those magical days when WWE is in Europe and we get some information in advance which helps us decide if we want to spend two hours with WWE (or three, counting 205 Live) for SmackDown.
Team Blue is coming to us from the same place the red brand did last night - Manchester Arena. Thanks to the five hour time difference between the United Kingdom and the East coast of the U.S. of A., that means advance reports about what goes down on a show which is scheduled to feature a Becky Lynch vs. James Ellsworth match, two championship matches which could change the Survivor Series card, fallout from The New Day’s appearance which helped trigger title change yesterday and more!
We'll still be watching along with our usual live blog, which will of course cover any segments not shown to the fans in attendance, but more importantly feature ReverendKain’s unmatched play-by-play. You can join the fun at 8PM Eastern here.
Unwrap that present early:
- Breezango def. The Colons (dark match, heavy on comedy)
SmackDown
- Shane McMahon and The New Day are out to the open the show. Shane says Daniel Bryan will be back next week, and that Team Blue remains ready for retaliation from “Under Siege 2”. They didn’t intend to cost Ambrose and Rollins their belts, but that’s what happens. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn are out to interrupt. They rundown Shane and say SmackDown will lose at Survivor Series because of him. McMahon fires back, accusing them of having no loyalty. This leads to the commissioner booking Sami vs. Kofi Kingston...
- Kofi Kingston def. Sami Zayn via pinfall; KO was run off by Xavier Woods and Big E when he tried to get involved
- Renee Young interviews Jinder Mahal, who says he’ll beat AJ Styles tonight and then beat Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series
- Another Bludgeon Brothers video
- Randy Orton def. Rusev via pinfall following a RKO; Rusev misses his chance to be on the Survivor Series team, The Viper is officially on the squad (I think? Whether Randy’s spot was on the line or this was for the vacant spot was unclear from live reports)
- Backstage, James Ellsworth is looking for Carmella and runs into Becky Lynch. Some banter takes us to their match. The rest of the Women’s roster is ringside, making this an impromptu lumberjack affair
- Becky Lynch def. James Ellsworth via submission with Dis-Arm-Her. He tried to escape but was thrown back in by Charlotte Flair. He tried to apologize to Lynch by kissing her hand. After the loss, Carmella superkicked him in disgust and left on her own.
- A promo is shown for The Shield reuniting on Raw next Monday
- A segment with Shane, Carmella and Natalya results in the announcement of a Charlotte Flair vs. Natty title match next Tuesday.
- New Day vs. KO/Sami and Baron Corbin vs. Sin Cara will also happen on the Survivor Series ‘go home’
- Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin def. The Usos via countout; Jimmy and Jey retain the tag titles. The match was reportedly cut short after Jey appeared to suffer a knee/leg injury on a chop block spot.
- AJ Styles def. Jinder Mahal via pinfall following a Phenomenal Forearm to become the WWE champion. They teased the usual “Singh Brothers get taken out but create enough of a distraction for Jinder to hit Khallas” stretch, but Styles got his foot on the ropes.
205 Live
- Enzo Amore is hear for the premiere of ‘The Zo Show’ which he calls a ratings draw. He also rags on Manchester, calling it “Blandchester”
- The UK Championship division is here, which looks to be Tyler Bate, Mark Andrews, Jordan Devlin, Tucker, Tyler Bate, Joseph Conners and James Drake (no Pete Dunne yet); segment leads to Bate kicking Zo’s butt
- Kalisto def. Jack Gallagher via pinfall
- Cedric Alexander and Mark Andrews def. James Drake and Joseph Conners via pinfall
- Enzo Amore def. Tyler Bate via pinfall; post match brawl features Kalisto running in to assist Bate