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WWE Friday Night SmackDown comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Oct. 7, 2022) with a live show emanating from DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, featuring the go-home show for tomorrow night’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view (PPV) in Philadelphia. This episode is also being promoted as the “season premiere” of SmackDown.
Advertised for tonight: Roman Reigns and Logan Paul will come face-to-face to hype up next month’s Universal championship match at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia.
Tonight’s card also features GUNTHER vs. Sheamus in a rematch for the Intercontinental title, Ricochet vs. Solo Sikoa in a singles match, Wade Barrett joining the commentary team, and more!
Come right back here at 8 pm ET when the SmackDown live blog kicks off once the show starts on FOX. It will be below this line here. (Note: Links to illegal streams are prohibited. Pics and GIFs are allowed.)
WWE SMACKDOWN RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR OCT. 7
Don’t come closer, ‘cause it ain’t safe here. Just turn around now and walk away. I’ve gotta tell you, there are no rules here. Sometimes I wonder what goes on there, behind those eyes. But tonight? I’m just here to liveblog this here pro wrestling show for you, folks.
The show opens with Triple H in the ring, King of Kings blasting over the PA.
He gets on the mic and says there will come a time when you believe that everything is finished, but that is the beginning. He welcomes us to Fox and the season premiere of Friday Night SmackDown.
The Bloodline make their entrance and our new commentary team of Michael Cole and Wade Barrett introduce themselves.
Roman Reigns gets on the mic and after a long silence asks the crowd to acknowledge him.
Enter Logan Paul.
Roman says he gets it, there’s a bunch of them, but this is his show, and that means he’s a guest and they want to hear what he has to say. But also it’s important that he hear what Roman has to say, so c’mon in. He says there’s lots of things they can teach Paul, and he asks the Wise Man to smarten him up.
He talks about being asked who Logan Paul is and he says he’s this generation’s version of Mr. T and Cyndi Lauper, the celebrity who comes in and gets some exposure, and they were talking about who Reigns should smash at Crown Jewel to give a minute of fame, and at first he thought Jordan Peterson, who would never have the balls to fight Roman Reigns.
Maybe Ben Shapiro or Andrew Tate (boy howdy you’re naming lots of people who hate me and everyone I love here, Paul E), but they wouldn’t have the balls either. But we do have Mr. Big Balls himself, Logan Paul! And he’ll be able to say to himself that he got smashed at Crown Jewel, and that’s not a prediction, it’s a spoiler.
Logan asks whether by Tribal Chief he means himself or Jey Uso. Uso says he knows what he’s trying to do but Reigns ends up taking the bait and staring Jey down anyway. Sami Zayn defuses things, reminding Roman that he’s the Tribal Chief here and nobody here would question or challenge that.
This is his family, and Jey Uso did nothing wrong. The only person doing anything around here is this wannabe, this fake, this pretender who wants to be a WWE Superstar and doesn’t realize he’s gonna get smashed worse than anybody’s ever been smashed at Crown Jewel.
He says Paul is the biggest two there’s ever been, and they’re the ones.
Paul retreats, and we go to break.
Ricochet vs. Solo Sikoa
Fast-paced out the gates, Sikoa lands a wicked right hand, Ricochet back in with a crossbody and a moonsault for a two count! Solo to the floor, Ricky with a fakeout dive, back in and a knee lift sends Sikoa right back outside! Frustrated, he grabs a chair and smashes it against the apron before throwing it to the floor!
Back up on the apron, snapping Ricochet’s neck over the top rope, back inside, big headbutt, throwing punches, back body drop to the apron, slingshot back in cut off by a huge right and Ricky crashes to the floor as we go to break!
Back from commercial, Solo has a trapezius claw locked on and follows it up with a big palm strike across the face! Ricochet with the boot up on a charge, whip reversed, snap off a tijeras and Sikoa is on the back foot! Shoulder thrust, springboard up and over, step-up dropkick sets up a knee strike and a superkick and a crescent kick from the One and Only!
Up top, shooting star press countered...
Solo Sikoa wins by pinfall with Spinning Solo.
Backstage, the Bloodline are hanging out and Sami Zayn rambles about how he’s taken Solo Sikoa under his wing and Jey Uso takes offense. Sami tells him not to be such a hothead, Jey yells at him and Roman Reigns tells him that he is and always has been a hothead, Zayn isn’t telling any lies.
The fact that he keeps on doing this is a problem, and he doesn’t want it to be a problem anymore, so it’s not going to be his problem, it’s Sami’s problem now. A sheepish Sami Zayn agrees with an “okay.”
Hit Row are seen getting out of their bus and chatting on their way to the ring to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Sami Zayn is walking with the Usos and trying to apologize when they run into the New Day.
They tell Sami to take a back seat and say Jey Uso has gone from Main Event Jey Uso to Sami Zayn being his daddy. Zayn yells at them to go find a partner and they’ll have a trios match.
Jey storms off furious and Jimmy tells Sami he’s gotta get this together.
Hit Row make their entrance and get laid out by Legado del Fantasma in suits and lucha masks! They leave Top Dolla laying, B-FAB comes and checks on him and Zelina Vega attacks her from behind with a Frankensteiner and lays her out in turn! Stereo splashes from Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde!
They take their masks off for the reveal and Wade Barrett is very excited.
Zelina gets on the mic and says she’s back and she didn’t come alone, and Santos Escobar gets on the mic and says SmackDown is their show now.
We get a retro video game style White Rabbit video package where we’re promised a reveal tomorrow, and we go to break.
Raquel Rodriguez & Shotzi Blackheart vs. Sonya Deville & Xia Li
Heels in control early, Rodriguez with the corkscrew Vader Bomb for a comeback as the match breaks down but she gets Deville up...
Raquel Rodriguez & Shotzi Blackheart win by pinfall with the one-armed powerbomb from Rodriguez on Sonya Deville.
We get a twitter hype reel for tonight’s main event between Sheamus and GUNTHER.
Brawling Brutes are hanging out backstage and we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get a video package for Ronda Rousey and Liv Morgan’s title match tomorrow.
Karrion Kross makes his entrance with Scarlett as always. Drew McIntyre jumps him and attacks him, strapping the strap on, looking to top last week’s beatdown, but security hit the ring and try to pull him away! They get Drew out of the ring and drag him off bodily but he fights them off!
Kross wakes up and slips outside, pulling McIntyre into the post repeatedly! He pulls the strap to maximum tension to get Drew to his feet and whips him with the raw leather! Again and again until he gets his fill, leaving McIntyre to rage as we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get a Viking Raiders vignette about not confusing absence for weakness.
Braun Strowman & New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) vs. the Bloodline (Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, & Sami Zayn)
Zayn and Woods to start, circling, collar and elbow, Sami with a side headlock, shot off, shoulder block. Xavier with a headlock this time, shot off, shoulder block, whip reversed, tag to Kingston, crossbody for two! Off the ropes, Sami tags Jey in and Uso fumes at him for it, eating a dropkick from Kofi!
To the floor, stereo dropkicks through the ropes stagger the Usos and we go to break with Sami and Jey bickering and Jimmy trying to broker a peace between them.
Back from commercial, the Bloodline are working Kingston over in the corner, hammering away, Jey tags Zayn a little too hard and they bicker about it. Quick tags, Sami offers a high five after Jey tags in at one point but he’s not having it. Kofi clears a path, Strowman is waiting... TAG MADE!
Braun runs roughshod over the Bloodline, corner lariats for Jimmy, a chokeslam lays him out while Jey and Sami bicker on the floor! Strowman freight trains them, Kingston is legal, Jimmy’s distracted...
Braun Strowman & New Day win by pinfall with Up Up Down Down from New Day on Jimmy Uso.
Backstage, Max Dupri is yelling at Maxxine Dupri.
He says he’s not going to be anyone he’s not ever again and he is LA Knight, and he storms off over Mansoor and Mace’s fallen bodies.
We see Imperium hanging out backstage and we go to break.
Back from commercial, commentary hypes up next week’s show.
GUNTHER (c) vs. Sheamus (WWE Intercontinental Championship)
Trading forearms out the gates, GUNTHER bails to the floor and trips Sheamus up on the apron! The Celtic Warrior throws him into the barricade a couple times, and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Sheamus with a whip, back body drop puts him on the apron, he snaps GUNTHER’s neck over the ropes and follows it with a diving lariat! Big slam follows, looking for the Beats of the Bodhran, the Ring General turns him around but is met by punches!
Jockeying for position on the apron, a chop, a shove into the post, GUNTHER back inside and he draws the Celtic Warrior up and removes the cover from the turnbuckle proper before pulling Sheamus bodily into it! Back inside, trading right hands, the Ring General with the Gojira Clutch, rolling over to grind him into the mat!
Sheamus stands up to break free, more chops and forearms as they trade hard hits in the middle of the ring, sweat flying! GUNTHER with a German suplex to lay him out and we go to break!
Back from commercial, GUNTHER has a wrist clutched and he lays vicious forearms and chops to Sheamus’ ground meat chest. The Celtic Warrior fires back with forearms, the Ring General behind him with the Gojira Clutch but Sheamus backs him into the corner and rocks him with back elbows!
Beats of the Bodhran follow, leaving GUNTHER laying, corner lariat, fireman’s carry, Sheamus going up top... AVALANCHE WHITE NOISE CAN’T KEEP THE RING GENERAL DOWN! GUNTHER powering up, shotgun dropkick sets up a powerbomb, lateral press... SO CLOSE! Standing neck twist, the champion goes up top, 747 Splash... STILL NO!
Waiting for challenger to rise, Sheamus lands a knee, the Irish Curse, and the Cloverleaf is in! GUNTHER reaching for the ropes, slapping the mat in frustration, no tap... HE GETS THEM! Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci run down to cheer their man on from ringside but Pete Dunne and Ridge Holland even the odds!
Sheamus draws GUNTHER up only to get a chop, off the ropes, big knee strike, Kaiser passes the Ring General the shillelagh... SHILLELAGH-ASSISTED LARIAT TAKES SHEAMUS OUT! IT’S OVER!
GUNTHER wins by pinfall with a shillelagh-assisted lariat to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
GUNTHER stands tall.
That’s the show, folks.
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