Just 24 hours before the Survivor Series premium live event, WWE hit FS1 airwaves Friday night from Chicago’s AllState Arena with a go-home broadcast headlined by WWE Undisputed Tag Team Champions Finn Balor and Damian Priest from The Judgment Day defending against The Street Profits.
Could Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins make up for their recent success with a championship win, or did Judgment Day build momentum heading into the War Games and Survivor Series main event?
Find out with this recap of the Nov. 24 show.
Announced in advance for Friday’s show:
- Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Match: Finn Balor and Damian Priest (c) vs. The Street Profits
- The Grayson Waller Effect with Kevin Owens
Photo credit: WWE.com
Bianca Belair, Shotzi, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch made their way to the ring to start SmackDown and despite the tension between the latter two, they seemed to be on the same page.
Bayley, master manipulator and top-notch villain, entered the scene and attempted to poke and prod the delicate partnership, resulting in a main event being set up for the later part of the show, pitting the Queen and the Man against any two members of the Damage CTRL Was competing gaming team.
This was basically every single show opening promo segment designed to set up the main event of the night.
This one had a little more substance, with hints of remaining tension between Flair and Lynch and the obvious absences of Iyo Sky, Dakota Kai, Asuka and Kairi Sane supporting “The Role Model”, but it was still pretty uneventful in-ring -Promo at the start of the show, which could easily have been a much shorter backstage vignette.
At least the chemistry between the characters, including Shotzi’s irrepressible energy compared to her more reserved partners, was fun.
Degree
C+
Top moments and takeaways
- Lynch refusing to mention Flair’s name while explaining her decision to team up with the babyface team was a nice sign of continuity.
- “What Shotzi said,” the queen said after an all-out rant of revenge from the brave badass.
- Curious, Bayley entered the arena alone, walked the same way to the ring and tried to stir things up between Lynch and Flair. The Queen responded by asking The Role Model where her teammates were, continuing the storyline disagreement within Damage CTRL between Bayley and her partners.
Photo credit: WWE.com
Judgment Day provided momentum ahead of Saturday’s War Games main event as Finn Balor and Damian Priest capitalized on a submission from Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley to defeat Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins of The Street Profits and become the undisputed WWE tag team To keep the championship.
The game went faster than most and the crowd loved it.
Ford and Dawkins were the de facto babyfaces, for better or worse, and the Chicago section of the WWE Universe wanted the team to regain the titles they had previously held.
Instead, Balor and Priest rose to the challenge and sent a message to Cody Rhodes, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins and the returning Randy Orton with a quality win.
A solid segment that achieved its intended purpose, but raises questions about The Street Profits and whether WWE is on their heels.
Result
Judgment Day defeated The Street Profits to retain
Degree
b
Top moments and takeaways
- This is an interesting tag match in that both teams competed as heels and then Ford hyped up the crowd like a babyface. Sure, one team will naturally be hailed over the other, but there are ways to play this game without undoing what got both teams to this point.
- Priest completely worked Ford into shape on the commentary table before halftime and put the challengers on the defensive at the start of the commercial.
- Ripley interfered to give Balor and Priest the submission and set up the win, while Bobby Lashley and B-Fab watched backstage, angry at the result.
Photo credit: WWE.com
Hijinx at The Grayson Waller Effect gave way to a tag team match that pitted egotistical Australian Grayson Waller and his insufferable best friend Austin Theory against Kevin Owens and LA Knight, two men who have gotten the best of each other in recent weeks .
The match was a great showcase for four guys who were inexplicably missing from the Survivor Series card. The Chicago crowd was red-hot for the babyfaces, especially Knight, and stayed in the thick of the action throughout.
The babyface comeback was hot, the heels bumped all over the ring without ever losing credibility, and the right team went over.
A successful section, even if the previous advertising section was largely unnecessary.
Result
Owens and Knight defeated Theory and Waller
Degree
b
Top moments and takeaways
- We received a nice video package about Dragon Lee that clearly aims to explain his background and give him a chance to connect with the WWE Universe.
- “Are you making fun of me? Are you kidding me, buddy! I’ve never looked better!” Owens said, pointing at Theory, who was dressed as him.
- “You know what happens here when you keep saying someone’s name!” Owens said, foreshadowing the arrival of LA Knight, who received a deafening bang.
Photo credit: WWE.com
Santos Escobar interrupted Carlito’s promo on Friday night and added more injury to insult at the end of the segment.
An exchange of insults in Spanish and Escobar’s claim that Rey Mysterio was gone forever led to a fight.
A sneak attack with the heel resulted in Carlito clutching his arm and teasing that he would not be able to attend Saturday’s scheduled match with his former LWO teammate.
Backstage, after a commercial break, Escobar tried to hurt Carlito further until Dragon Lee made the save, blocking the heel and seemingly hinting at a possible change in the Survivor Series roster.
The intensity here was great, Escobar is already one of the most hated guys in the company, and Lee defending the LWO without yet being an official member of the faction is a great way to establish his presence on the show.
Great stuff.
Degree
A
Top moments and takeaways
- Escobar asked Carlito where his LWO tattoo was and criticized him for not representing the LWO.
- “You love Rey so much, you’re going to meet him in the hospital!” Escobar was overheard saying as the show came to an end. Carlito clutched his shoulder after a sneaky knee strike.
Photo credit: WWE.com
Could it be that The Brawling Brutes no longer exists?
After last week’s loss, in which Butch accidentally attacked Ridge Holland with a Brogue Kick, the team’s powerhouse abandoned his partner and left him to face Elton Prince and Pretty Deadly’s Kit Wilson himself.
Butch put on a spirited performance, battling the posh and the handsome before a blind tag and a rollup spelled the end of The Bruiserweight’s inspired performance.
This suggests one of two things: Butch and Holland are ready to go their separate ways, or Sheamus will return and bring them back together.
If the breakup brings us one step closer to renaming Butch to Pete Dunne, then so be it.
Result
Pretty Deadly defeated Brawling Brutes
Degree
b
Top moments and takeaways
- Holland entered the arena before Butch, seemingly out of touch with his teammate.
- After Holland left Butch, the former bruiserweight fought back against his opponents, showing great tenacity and resilience before succumbing to the numerical disadvantage.
- Backstage, Nick Aldis officially announced that the match between Carlito and Escobar was postponed until Dragon Lee interrupted him and begged him to add him to the match instead. Aldis obliged and Lee vs. Escobar was officially announced moments later.
For most of Friday night’s main event, Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair were at odds as they battled Damage CTRL’s Asuka and Bayley.
At one point it even looked like The Man would get the win for her team, delivering a manhandle slam that would take out Bayley. Then Flair mistakenly speared Asuka into her, and the tension that had characterized their relationship before a temporary reconciliation resurfaced.
The Heels took advantage and scored the win.
The result leads to an intriguing cliffhanger that begs the question: Are the babyfaces at War Games doomed because two of the four don’t get along? It gives fans something to sink their teeth into beyond the War Games gimmick, something that can only enrich the combat, as we saw with The Bloodline a year ago.
Result
Bayley and Asuka defeated Flair and Lynch
Degree
b
Top moments and takeaways
- The commentary team continued to sow the seeds of dissension when Lynch failed to enter the arena with the rest of her team to Flair’s music, despite the Queen joining her earlier in the show.
- “I can’t believe this match is still going on without all these women fighting at ringside,” said Cole, who appears to have paid close attention to WWE programming over the past 20 years.
- A “CM Punk” chant was shot down pretty quickly.
- Flair exploded into the match and just as Kevin Patrick was setting her up as the most decorated woman in WWE, Corey Graves interrupted him and reminded him how decorated Bayley is, and rightly so.
- Flair accidentally slammed Asuka into Lynch, breaking the pin and creating even more tension between them.
This episode of SmackDown flew by, a good sign for WWE as they wanted to put the finishing touches to the build-up to Survivor Series.
Judgment Day looked strong, the women’s division and the Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair storyline continued to receive significant attention, and we got a hot angle from Carlito and Santos Escobar.
Add in a fun match between Owens and Knight vs. Theory and Waller and you have a show that was easy to watch and undoubtedly piqued interest for one of the biggest shows of the year.
Grade: B+