It was another action-packed night of sports entertainment on WWE SmackDown, and while this edition was just 2 hours, SmackDown will be back to embracing its 3-hour format in the near future. That’s not today though, and over the course of those 2 hours, WWE covered a fair bit of ground, with some successful swings and some that didn’t hit the mark. Let’s start with the very first segment of the show.
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6. Miss: Charlotte Flair’s Rhea Ripley Issue
The first segment of the night revolved around the Women’s WarGames match at Survivor Series, and what was supposed to be a rousing declaration of victory ended up being a subtraction of one member of the team. That’s because Charlotte Flair revealed that she couldn’t work alongside Rhea Ripley due to all the baggage they had, and though she supports Alexa Bliss in this, she can’t be a part of it.
It’s really the execution here that was off. If you remember the back-and-forth rivalry between Flair and Ripley, you will recall that Ripley was the babyface in those, and it was Flair who was trying to show Ripley she wasn’t ready or close to Champion status throughout their feud. That’s why it reads really weird when Flair says she can’t trust Ripley and that Ripley’s a snake, because if anyone is going to say that about someone, it would be Ripley about Flair, and Ripley has no issues with working alongside her here. Ultimately, Flair will likely join the team and come around, but this felt like drama for drama’s sake, and does nothing for Flair or Ripley in this.
5. Hit: Dragunov & Axiom Burn The House Down
Ilja Dragunov had another hard-hitting WWE United States Championship challenge, and this time around, it was Axiom who stepped up for a chance at the Championship, which obviously frustrated Tommaso Ciampa to no end. As one would expect from the talents involved, Dragunov and Axiom had an absolutely barn burner of a match, and Dragunov and Axiom’s contrasting styles paired incredibly well. Dragunov hasn’t missed since becoming the United States Champion, and I don’t see that happening anytime soon either.
4. Hit: Sami Zayn’s Back In Action
It’s always lovely to see someone make their return from an injury, and tonight it was revealed that Sami Zayn had finally been medically cleared. He revealed he was cleared in truly dramatic fashion, waiting for Solo Sikoa to threaten something before he revealed his plan for a match. There are quite a few people out of action at the moment across SmackDown, Raw, and NXT, so to get anyone back is great, especially when they are the caliber of Zayn. It’s good to have him back, even if the MFTs don’t feel like genuine threats.
3. Miss: John Cena’s Tournament Winners
The tournament to decide John Cena’s final opponent is well underway, and SmackDown held the 2 next two matches in that tournament. The first was between The Miz and Jey Uso, and if you thought hey, The Miz is obviously the best pick because of all their history together, you’d be on point, which is why it was so surprising to see Jey win. Nothing against Jey, but if you’re picking an opponent for Cena, Miz just makes all the sense in the world.
The second match continued the puzzling results, as the return of a fan favorite wouldn’t be enough to get them the win, instead giving it to LA Knight. Again, no shade here on Knight, and in this case, Knight does have actual history with Cena as well, but it is odd to have a long-awaited return sullied by a loss, especially when that person has even more history with Cena and would fit right in.
2. Hit: The Ryder Returns
The returning fan favorite in question is Zack Ryder, aka Matt Cardona, who made his return to WWE after 5 years on SmackDown. Ryder got a warm reception from the crowd and then came out and gave Knight a run for his money, so it wasn’t like this was a squash or anything. That said, it would have been amazing for Cardona to come in and get a hard-fought win to kick off this new WWE run. I get wanting to protect Knight, but in that case, don’t put Cardona with Knight then and have a different match-up. Regardless of Ryder not getting the win, he looked like he was back home, and the fans were keen to have him, so it’s a hit.
1. Hit: McIntyre’s Change Of Luck
Speaking of hits, we’re going to end this breakdown with a hit and a change of luck for one of WWE’s biggest superstars. That would be Drew McIntyre, who has had a rough run as of late and is currently serving a suspension. That all changed tonight, however, thanks to the sneaky and always scheming Paul Heyman, who found a way to get McIntyre back into the ring and in a role that helps The Vision at WarGames.
Adding McIntyre to this match adds a huge component in terms of the actual match, but it also keeps one of WWE’s continually entertaining superstars in a key spot at the event. Plus, if you’re going to have a heel superteam, you definitely should include McIntyre, and now we get to see him do what he does best at Survivor Series.
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