Friday Night Smackdown – Oct 15th 2021: Results & Review
Welcome to this week’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and first off, I need to apologize for my humor as of late. Phil let me know that I’ve offended some people in some recent reviews and I feel very bad about disgusting many of you people. I’ve been leaning on the more bizarre part of my sense of humor lately to compensate for how bad I’ve felt some of these shows have been. That was a bad habit for me to get into and is my fault, regardless of why I was getting mean and lazy with what and how I wrote the reviews. I’ve asked Phil if he would just let me write The Last Week In Wrestling and columns about wrestling and whatever else instead, so I hope that works out. I’m sorry that I’ve just grown to hate the process of reviewing a whole show. It’s not fair to those of you who want some impartiality when you read these things. I’ll still review matches in The Last Week In Wrestling and maybe some columns, but I just don’t wanna review the rest of the stuff that I don’t care about. This will be my last SmackDown review. From this point forward, any thoughts on WWE will be written in The Last Week In Wrestling. I may have grown to not like the reviews any more, but I do appreciate those of you who have read these reviews. Thank you. Well, let’s get to SmackDown!
[Author’s Note: Brock Lesnar, who is accused of lewd conduct in a public locker room, is on this show and if that alarms or upsets you, then viewer discretion is advised].
Match #1: Finn Balor def. Sami Zayn – King Of The Ring Semi Finals Match
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Despite Sami Zayn adapting underhanded tactics in his King of the Ring Semifinals Match against Finn Bálor, The Prince reigned supreme over The Master Strategist with a Coup de Grace and earned the right to battle in the Finals of prestigious tournament at WWE Crown Jewel.
The Verdict: 8 out of 10
Match #2: Sonya Deville/Shayna Baszler def. Naomi – Handicap Match
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
After weeks of keeping Naomi from competing on SmackDown, Sonya Deville infused a vicious surprise into her match against the former SmackDown Women’s Champion. Moments before the matchup, the WWE Official declared that Shayna Baszler would be her partner and that the contest would be a 2-on-1 Handicap Match. The Queen of Spades locked in the Kirifuda Clutch after benefiting from the numbers advantage, took the glow completely out of her opponent and paved the way for Sonya to pick up the win with her foot on Naomi’s fallen body.
The Verdict: 2 out of 10
Match #3: Zelina Vega def. Carmella – Queen’s Crown Semi Finals Match
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Prior to her Semifinal Queen’s Crown Tournament Match, Zelina Vega told Carmella that she didn’t need her protective head gear because they were going to have a good clean match. When Mella crossed the line “accidently,” though, Vega changed her tune and attacked her opponent viciously. When Carmella exited the ring to attempt to get her headgear applied, she found Liv Morgan was holding it. The distraction allowed Vega to roll up the self-professed “Most Beautiful Woman in all of WWE” and get the pin to advance to the Finals of the historic first-ever tournament at WWE Crown Jewel.
The Verdict: 2 out of 10
Match #4: The Usos def. The Street Profits – Street Fight Match For The WWE SmackDown Tag Titles
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Jimmy & Jey Uso successful defended the SmackDown Tag Team Titles against Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins in a brutal Street Fight filled with chairs, tables, Kendo sticks and more. Shortly after slamming Montez Ford through a table outside the ring, Jimmy and Jey hit stereo Superkicks to Dawkins’ ears before delivering back-to-back Uso Splashes onto Angelo for the victory.
The Verdict: 8 out of 10
Match #5: (Main Event) Sasha Banks def. Becky Lynch
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Prior to her Triple Threat Match for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at WWE Crown Jewel against Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch, The Boss engaged in an incredible Championship Contender showdown against The Man in which both Superstars left everything they had on the canvas. In the final moments of their pay-per-view caliber matchup, Lynch reached out for the ring apron. However, when she did, Belair left her place from the SmackDown commentary desk and lashed out at Lynch with her hair. Although she missed her mark, the distraction allowed Banks to roll up her opponent and pick up a rare victory over The Man.
The Verdict: 9 out of 10
Final Verdict: 7/10
Three of the matches went for a while and had some exciting action. Hell…there was even some wrestling in here. Finn winning while fighting Sami works well for both, as Sami can take the loss and Finn needed the win. I rhymed. I feel very good. The athletic combat…athletic combat? Eh. You get what I mean. They do some wrestling here, but it very much is NXT-lite, which is WWE-adjacent…which is confusing. You get the kicks and strikes and punches…not a lot of wrestling overall. Still, the opener delivered enough of a match worth giving a good rating to. I loved how Finn always had an answer for Juevos Jones…Sami Zayn. Damn delete button still doesn’t work. The next few matches were too short and stunted to do much of anything. Fortunately, the last two matches were excellent, which helped bring the show to a proper close. The Usos and The Street Profits beat the snoogies out of each other. They had a lot of snoogies in them, so it all turned out fine. You definitely get the brawl that is promised and the fight that was possible. These guys took the fight to each other all over the ring, the apron and ring-side. It was all guts for the glory and that’s how a prize fight outta feel anyway, so the hardcore version needs to be all that and double tough, which was the case here. As for the main event, Sasha and Becky went toe to toe and really brought one of the best WWE matches of the year to our screens and with no commericals, if my memory serves correctly. Becky and Sasha had a wiley fight that never felt predictable. The ebb and flow of the action was very much the kind of a PPV match. This was about setting up big reversals and sudden attacks that could turn the momentum of the match at any second. It felt like a real main event and it was every bit of that. There was no time wated and, considering that there was a lot of time given to the main event, I’d say it was a resounding success. Brock Lesnar claimed that Paul Heyman helped with the contract for Crown Jewel, so Roman Reigns got pissed. Liv Morgan helped Zelina Vega to win, which was to piss off Carmella. It was all the same standard WWE promos/story stuff, but three of the five matches in this nearly three hour show were quite good, so I’ll take what I can get. This is going to be my last SmackDown review for a good while. I will miss doing it, but I need a good, long break from this. I’m not fond of the WWE product, nor am I really that fond of any wrestling league right now. If Phil wants me back when I’m ready, then I will return to this and be happy. Until that time comes, I will still talk about the matches in The Last Week In Wrestling. I’ll see you there if you choose to do so. I’ll see you later.
