Welcome to the Smackdown Review for November 7, 2017. For both this and Raw, I will go over what the big talking points were, pick the match of the night, and look ahead to the next show.
Talking Points
Paperboy
As Shane McMahon congratulated the New Day for their diversion attack on Raw, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens came out to be wet blankets. Saying that Shane had let power go to his head, Zayn and Owens were interrupted by Kofi Kingston, who called Zayn’s look “paperboy”. This led to a high flying match between the two that ended when Owens attacked Kingston. One of the most interesting things was that in any other story line, Owens and Zayn would be seen as baby faces. The crowd were solidly behind New Day, but also gave Zayn his fair amount of cheers. Next week, Owens and Zayn will team up to take on two members of New Day.
Becky’s Gonna Kill You
That match that everyone one wanted, but we never thought we would see in the Modern Era happened. James Ellisworth took on Becky Lynch. I was wondering how the WWE was going to play this, and the first part of the match was more slapstick then wrestling. Things got physical in a hurry, and Ellisworth and Lynch were allowed to to hit each other hard. After Elisworth taped out to the Dis-Arm-Her, Carmella looked to avenge her boy toy. Instead, she hit Elisworth and walked out on him. With no more advantage, can the Staten Island Princess successfully cash in Money in the Bank?
A Dark and Cold Rusev Day
Rusev might have thought that because AJ Styles was put in a championship match with Jinder Mahl, Rusev would become the last member of Team Smackdown by default. That was not the case, as Rusev would have to beat Randy Orton to get a spot. This match was long and allowed Rusev to get in some offense, but the RKO ended his chances to join the Team. This poses a very interesting problem for Team Smackdown. Who is left to join up? Ty Dillinger or possible Sin Cara are choices but Smackdown will only have a few days to make their final choice.
Match of the Night
WWE Champion Jinder Mahl vs. AJ Styles ( WWE Championship match) (Styles wins by pin fall to become the new WWE Champion)
It took a loss for us to see the best Mahl match he had had since winning the title. Relaying less on the Sing Brothers and more on his physical strength, Mahl looked like a champion. Syles was his usually fantastic self, but he made Mahl look great. Styles was fast, but Mahl hit power moves to slow down the Phenomenal One. With this victory, Styles must now fight Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series, which now should be a classic. As for Mahl, who knows when he will invoke his rematch clause?
Conclusion
A lot slower show then the last week. Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable got their title shot against the Usos, but the match ended quickly with a count out. I don’t know if the injury Jey Uso suffered was real or story line. Two big matches happen next week as the Women’s and US Tile are up for grabs. We will see if Survivor Series changes a few days before the show.
