Friday Night Smackdown – Nov 11th 2022: Results & Review
Welcome to this review of this past Friday’s episode of Friday Night Smackdown, right here on Nerdly. Let’s see what went down on the show!
Match #1: Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship – The Usos def. The New Day
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
With history on the line, The New Day were hoping to keep hold of their record run as tag team champions, and they brought everything they had to the titleholders. The Usos isolated Kofi Kingston from Xavier Woods, not allowing Kingston to tag him in. When Kingston eventually tagged in Woods, the former King of the Ring was a house on fire, almost capturing the titles after a flurry of offense. A huge top-rope leg drop from Woods nearly sealed the deal, but Jimmy kicked out at 2.9 repeating. The Usos had a heart-pounding moment of their own, as Woods kicked out of a massive Double Uso Splash. Back-and-forth action fired up the Indianapolis crowd with two Midnight Hours from New Day lifting everyone up onto their feet, but the devastating maneuver garnered only a two-count. In a jaw-dropping display of brutality, The Usos connected with a 1D on Kingston as he was leaping from the top rope. With the victory, The Usos will overtake The New Day as the longest-reigning tag team champions in WWE history.
My Score: 4 out of 5
Match #2: SmackDown World Cup on FOX First-Round Match – Santos Escobar def. Shinsuke Nakamura
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
With Shinsuke Nakamura representing Japan and Santos Escobar representing Mexico, the SmackDown World Cup on FOX started with an edge-of-your-seat clash. Escobar had to weather an early Nakamura storm, as The King of Strong Style delivering an awesome rope-assisted German suplex. As Nakamura was getting ready to hit Escobar with the Kinshasa, Cruz del Toro and Joaquin Wilde interfered, allowing Escobar to level Nakamura with a brutal top-rope Phantom Driver to move onto the next round.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #3: Six-Pack Challenge – Winner: Shotzi
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Shotzi, Sonya Deville, Lacey Evans and Xia Li clashed in a high-stakes, Six-Pack Challenge. Evans struck the first blow by hitting Shotzi with a Woman’s Right that nearly gave her the quick win. Rodriguez looked to be the biggest contender as she hit a gruesome superplex. With the match being contested with no disqualifications, Rodriguez set up a table, but it backfired as Morgan flew from the barricade and landed on Rodriguez, who hit the table hard. The collision left Morgan, Rodriguez and Deville all crumbled in a heap. The carnage outside gave Shotzi the opening to hit the Never Wake Up on Evans and earn the big victory.
My Score: 2 out of 5
Match #4: SmackDown World Cup on FOX First-Round Match – Braun Strowman def. Jinder Mahal
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Jinder Mahal made his SmackDown return, vowing that no one could stop him from being the SmackDown World Cup winner. That is until Braun Strowman rained on his parade. Strowman and Mahal, representing the United States and India, respectively, went blow for blow with Strowman getting the better of Mahal. The Monster of All Monsters hit Mahal with the Powerbomb for the decisive victory.
My Score: 1 out of 5
News of the Night:
- Sarah Logan made her return to the WWE, appearing alongside the Viking Raiders.
Final Verdict: 2.5/5
This week’s Smackdown started strong with an awesome tag team match and then went downhill from there… Too many promos, not enough good wrestling. Hell, not enough wrestling full-stop. OK, OKm, I know the WWE is setting up new storylines and feuds (LA Knight and Bray Wyatt… really?!) and setting up Wargames/Survivor Series matches but good god, there really doesn’t need o be this many promos and angles on one show!
