WWE SmackDown Review 10/3/23

My review of this week's episode of SmackDown.

Recap of the Main Event of Raw

Paul Heyman is outside of the arena awaiting the arrival of Uso’s, their call pulls up and the Uso’s get out. Jey asks Paul where Roman Reigns is. Paul hugs Jey, telling him that the Tribal Chief is proud of him, and that he is also proud of Jey. Jey tells Paul, when he sees Roman, to let him know that he is here. Paul Heyman leaves.

Kayla Braxton then interviews the Uso’s, asks him why he did what he did to Sami Zayn on Raw. Jey told Kayla that everything he needs to say will be addressed in the ring later. Jimmy tells Kayla she needs to ask Cody why he is getting involved in Bloodline business. The Uso’s then walk away.

Match 1: Fatal 5 Way Number 1 Contenders Match for the Intercontinental Championship. Drew McIntyre Vs Karrion Kross w/ Scarlett Vs Xavier Woods Vs LA Knight Vs Sheamus

Sheamus and Drew empty the ring and stare each other down, LA Knight and Karrion Kross come back into the ring and they fight Drew and Sheamus out of the ring. All 5 men are now on the outside of the ring. An unlikely team of Karrion Kross and LA Knight has formed and they are taking out the competition. LA Knight goes for the pin but it is broken up by Karrion Kross. That team didn’t last long. Xavier getting a nice run of offence against every man in the match. A big elbow drop from Xavier – almost getting a 3! Imperium are now on the stage, getting a closer look at the match. LA Knight goes for a superplex on Karrion Kross, Drew McIntyre able to sit up from being hung on the turnbuckle and powerbombs LA Knight, who still has hold of Karrion Kross. The three men are laid out in the ring. LA Knight reverses a Future shock DDT, Sheamus is now back in the ring and takes out LA Knight. Sheamus and Drew are now staring each other down in the ring. Sheamus pushes Drew out of the way and delivers a Brogue Kick to Xavier Woods, Drew then delivers a Claymore kick to LA Knight. Sheamus covers Woods and Drew covers Knight, 2 refs are in the ring and they both count the 3. Sheamus and Drew both get their hands raised by the refs. Will this now make the match at WrestleMania a triple threat? Will Drew and Sheamus have to face each other to decide who actually becomes number 1 contender? This was a really good match, lots of action, each man getting in a good amount of offence. Interested to see how this now plays out. Grade B+

Backstage Interview: Kayla Braxton is interviewing Paul Heyman. She asks him if he has any insight into why Jey Uso did what he did on Raw. Paul seems distracted, eventually tells Kayla that he wasn’t paying attention to her. Paul then starts talking about Cody Rhodes getting involved in Bloodline business. Paul goes on to say that Cody was the one person he didn’t want to see Roman Reigns, but Cody will be defeated and he will acknowledge Roman Reigns as his tribal chief.

Hall of Fame Announcement coming up after the break! Finally! I’ve been wondering when we were going to get an announcement with how close we are to WrestleMania.

Backstage Segment: Drew McIntyre and Sheamus are arguing over the result of the Fatal 5 Way Match. Ridge Holland & Butch come to separate the two men.

Hall of Fame Announcement: The first Inductee into the Hall of Fame Class of 2023 is Rey Mysterio! This is absolutely so deserved! I must admit that I wasn’t expecting it to be Rey Mysterio, but so happy that he is being inducted.

In Ring Segment: Rey Mysterio comes out to the ring – the crowd chanting “you deserve it!” Rey is about to deliver a promo when he is interrupted by Dominik and Judgement Day. Dominik says he is ashamed to be Rey’s son. Music plays, out comes Legado Del Fantasma! Santos tells Dominik that Rey may have let go what he did last week, but he hasn’t! Legado Del Fantasma and Judgment Day scheduled for a match later, but Santos wants the match now. A ref comes out, so the match will happen now.

Match 2: Legado Del Fantasma Vs Judgement Day

Judgement Day have the early advantage in the match, successive tags to all 3 members of Judgement Day. Legado Del Fantasma manage to get some offence including some quick tags. Judgement Day once again getting the upper hand and implementing quick tags of their own. A very fast paced match between these two teams. Double dives to the outside takes out Judgement Day. Zelina Vega on the steps, she attempts a hurricanrana to Rhea Rhipley, but Rhea catches Zelina and throws her into Legado Del Fantasma. Rey confronts Rhea but is hit with a baseball slide from Dominik. Rey attempts to get into the ring but is stopped by the ref. While the ref is distracted, Priest comes into the ring and superkicks Del Toro. Dominik rolls him up for a 3 count. Judgement Day win! A very good match with plenty of action. Nicely furthering the story between Rey and Dominik. Grade B

After the match, Dominik asks Judgement Day to leave the ring so that he can talk to Rey 1 on 1. He says he doesn’t understand why Rey is bring inducted into the Hall of Fame. Instead he should be in the deadbeat dad Hall of Fame. Dominik says Eddie Guerrero should have been his dad. Dominik pie faces Rey, pushing him into the ropes. Dominik keeps goading Rey into fighting him, Dominik runs at Rey, but Rey pulls down the ropes, sending Dominik crashing to the outside. Dominik keeps shouting at Rey while the Judgement Day are backing away from the ring, Legado Del Fantasma get back in the ring and stand with Rey.

Backstage: Ricochet and Braun Strowman are getting ready for their match.

Backstage: Adam Pearce speaks to Charlotte Flair. Charlotte asks for a match tonight, she doesn’t care who against, she just wants a match. Adam Pearce says he can set that up.

Match 3: Ricochet & Braun Strowman Vs The Viking Raiders w/ ValhallaMatch 2: Legado Del Fantasma Vs Judgement Day

Judgement Day have the early advantage in the match, successive tags to all 3 members of Judgement Day. Legado Del Fantasma manage to get some offence including some quick tags. Judgement Day once again getting the upper hand and implementing quick tags of their own. A very fast paced match between these two teams. Double dives to the outside takes out Judgement Day. Zelina Vega on the steps, she attempts a hurricanrana to Rhea Rhipley, but Rhea catches Zelina and throws her into Legado Del Fantasma. Rey confronts Rhea but is hit with a baseball slide from Dominik. Rey attempts to get into the ring but is stopped by the ref. While the ref is distracted, Priest comes into the ring and superkicks Del Toro. Dominik rolls him up for a 3 count. Judgement Day win! A very good match with plenty of action. Nicely furthering the story between Rey and Dominik. Grade B

After the match, Dominik asks Judgement Day to leave the ring so that he can talk to Rey 1 on 1. He says he doesn’t understand why Rey is bring inducted into the Hall of Fame. Instead he should be in the deadbeat dad Hall of Fame. Dominik says Eddie Guerrero should have been his dad. Dominik pie faces Rey, pushing him into the ropes. Dominik keeps goading Rey into fighting him, Dominik runs at Rey, but Rey pulls down the ropes, sending Dominik crashing to the outside. Dominik keeps shouting at Rey while the Judgement Day are backing away from the ring, Legado Del Fantasma get back in the ring and stand with Rey.

Backstage: Ricochet and Braun Strowman are getting ready for their match.

Backstage: Adam Pearce speaks to Charlotte Flair. Charlotte asks for a match tonight, she doesn’t care who against, she just wants a match. Adam Pearce says he can set that up.

Match 3: Ricochet & Braun Strowman Vs The Viking Raiders w/ Valhalla

Ricochet and Erik to start the match, Ricochet trying to use his quickness but Erik overpowering him. Tag to Ivar, again Ricochet trying to use his quickness. Manages to tag in Braun. Braun clotheslines Ivar over the top rope. Erik tries to attack Braun from behind, but Braun avoids and clotheslines Erik over the top rope as well. Braun throws Ricochet over the top rope straight into the Viking Raiders.

We return from the break and the Viking Raiders are back on the offence. They continue to overpower Ricochet. Erik is taunting Braun whilst in the ring, Ivar is able to grab Braun’s leg so Erik can take Braun out by hitting him off the apron. Ivar then hits Braun with a cross body into the barricade. Ricochet is doing his best in this 2 on 1 situation, he manages to kick out at 2 from a powerbomb. Ricochet hits a moonsault from the middle rope, Braun manages to make it back to his corner and Ricochet makes the tag. Braun is now hitting anything that moves. He tags Ricochet back in and Braun runs around the outside of the ring and takes out Ivar, he continues running to try and take out Erik but Valhalla pulls Erik out of the way. Braun crashes into the announcers table. Ricochet dives out of the ring, taking out Erik. Valhalla tries to distract Ricochet. Ricochet climbs the turnbuckle and goes for the 450 splash on Ivar, but Ivar roll out of the way. Ricochet manages to roll through but gets hit by a massive heel kick from Ivar. Ivar hit a huge splash onto Ricochet and gets the pin. That match was a lot better than I was expecting it to be. A lot of varied, hard hitting action. Grade C+

Backstage: Adam Pearce is with Imperium. Gunther is not happy about the outcome of the Fatal 5 Way Match earlier in the show. Gunther tells Pearce he should only have one contender. Pearce says he has a solution. Drew McIntyre and Sheamus will face each other next week and the winner of that match will face Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania.

Match 4: Charlotte Flair Vs Shotzi

A show of respect between both women. The match already looks a bit sloppy (I don’t know if that’s the right word), it just looks very awkward between them. Both women trading offence. Charlotte looks to try and lock in the Figure 8, but Rhea Rhipley’s music plays and distracts Charlotte. Rhea comes out, keeping Charlotte distracted and Shotzi manages to roll Charlotte up. Only gets a 2 count. Charlotte hits a German Suplex and then stares down Rhea.

After the break, Shotzi is on the offence, but Charlotte hits a boot on Shotzi, sending her to the outside. Charlotte dives to the outside but Shotzi avoids. Shotzi goes for a kick but misses, so attempts again, this time connecting. Shotzi rolls back into the ring and attempts a running dive to the outside but Charlotte blocks her with a forearm shot. Charlotte gets back into the ring and gets locked by Shotzi. Charlotte comes back with several chops, a fallaway slam and a spear. Charlotte stares down Rhea and applies the figure 8 to Shotzi and Shotzi taps out. Charlotte wins by submission. A very awkward looking match, it looked like there were a few mistakes made or missteps during the match. A bit of a let down. Grade D+

After the match, Rhea gets into the ring and tells Charlotte that after watching that match, it reminds her of why she challenged Charlotte after winning the Royal Rumble. Rhea says that at WrestleMania, she will take the title from Charlotte. Charlotte tells Rhea that she has improved, bit Charlotte keeps improving every day, she outworks everyone on the roster (man or woman) because she takes this business seriously. Charlotte tells Rhea, that she will not be able to rip her apart like she has done to the other women on the roster.

Recap of the ending of Raw

In Ring Segment: The Uso’s make their way to the ring. Jimmy tells the crowd that the Bloodline is back together. Jey starts to talk, but the crowd starts loudly chanting for Sami. Jey then asks the crowd what they would have done in his position. Jey said he did what he had to do. He didn’t want to do it but he had to. He says he had no choice because Jimmy is his blood, Sami isn’t. He tells the crowd that nobody knows what he is going through. There is only one person to blame and that is Sami Zayn. He calls Sami selfish, says all Sami had to do was to fall in line. Jimmy says they have dealt with the Sami problem, they now only have one problem left, the Cody Rhodes problem. Cody’s music hits and Cody comes out.

He tells the Uso’s that of they are going to talk about him, they may as well say it to his face. Cody tells the Uso’s that he doesn’t answer to Roman Reigns, he answers to the WWE Universe. It sounds like the crowd don’t want to hear them talk, but they want to see them fight. Jimmy tells Cody to not take one more step, because he won’t make it to WrestleMania. They will put him on the shelf like they did to Sami. Cody begins to take off his jacket and tie, Sami appears out of the crowd! He enters the ring and takes down Jey. Jimmy tries to fight off Sami but Cody gets involved and attacks Jimmy. A brawl breaks out between the 4 men. Sami and Jimmy fighting at the announce desk and Cody and Jey fighting in the crowd. Jimmy jumps the barricade to go help his brother but Sami follows. The brawl makes its way back to the ring. Sami and Cody clear the ring. Refs and producers come out to stop the Uso’s getting back in the ring as the show ends with Sami and Cody standing tall in the ring.

A very good episode of SmackDown. Some really good matches and great build to WrestleMania. Extremely happy about the announcement of Rey going into the Hall of Fame. Hopefully we will get more inductees announced on Raw. Hope the build to WrestleMania continues to be strong.A very good episode of SmackDown. Some really good matches and great build to WrestleMania. Extremely happy about the announcement of Rey going into the Hall of Fame. Hopefully we will get more inductees announced on Raw. Hope the build to WrestleMania continues to be strong.