As Friday night approaches, SmackDown is set to present one of the biggest shows of the year on “The Blue Brand”. While WWE Draft offered some surprises, the biggest moves and some compelling matches delivered a slightly above average show.
The big news out of the event was the first day of the WWE Draft, which promised to turn things around for both SmackDown and Raw locker rooms. Although this largely didn’t pay off, one of WWE’s most marketable groups split when New Day members Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods returned from injury, only to be immediately separated from their teammate Big E.
CBS Sports has been with you all night Friday, achieving results and top scores throughout the night. Read on to see what happened in the SmackDown.
Draft a bittersweet day for a new day
Great defeat. Sheamus via installation In a Fall Count Anywhere match after a big ending. Unsurprisingly, things moved out of the ring early, with Big E hitting a spear through ropes. This allowed Sheamus to tie Big E with ropes and use a kendo wand to get things swinging the way of Big E after he had Sheamus’ feet together before taking and using the wand on Sheamus. After a commercial break, the event returned behind the scenes and eventually entered the parking garage. Sheamus used an iron frame and repeatedly hit the Big E with the car door. Fight Big E, stained with blood through the windshield of a car, to hit the big end of the trunk and through a table for the win. Later in the show, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods are back to party with Big E and say they want to reclaim the tag team titles later in the night.
SmackDown Tag Team Championship – The New Day (Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston) defeated. Caesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura cross-pinch to win titles After walking elbow with Xavier Woods rope. Woods grabbed Nakamura below the expanse as Nakamura searched for Kinshasa while Cesaro executed a Cesaro swing. This culminated in Woods hitting the rope walking elbow to reclaim the titles, putting the belts back around the waist on The New Day again. This is the team’s seventh time as champions for the SmackDown tag. Immediately after their victory, it was announced that Woods and Kingston were being drafted into Raw while Big E was being drafted into SmackDown.
The draft was not surprising on the whole, but there was a huge logic gap in the draft when Raw chose to drafting Woods and Kingston but not Big E. There is no way to make that decision logical because it was spelled out The New Day as a whole could be formulated – The Hurt Business was drafted As a group of four earlier at night. Big E deserves legitimate singles running, but you can’t ask people to suspend their full sense of logical thinking just because this is pro wrestling. Both games were adorable as solo moments, but the draft as the overall story failed to make any sense. Grade: C-
2020 WWE Draft: Tour after tour results for Raw and SmackDown
Two more matches for Hell in a Cell have been announced
Roman Reigns revealed Hell in a dungeon requirement to pay for their upcoming viewing. Jey Uso asked Reigns to tell him the terms of his match with Reings would be in Hell in a Cell. Paul Heyman interrupted him on Tron, with Heyman telling Uso that things were happening at Reigns’ time, before airing a video package reminding Uso of what happened when they were confronted at Clash of Champions. Then Reigns appeared on screen and cut a promotional ad saying Uso just needs to admit it in their last match. And now, for the first time, inside Hell in a Cell, there will be an “I Quit” match. Then Reigns said that after Usu says “I quit,” there will be consequences.
Smackdown Women’s Championship – Sasha Banks defeated. Bayley (c) via disqualification After Bailey used a steel chair. Banks flew at Bailey from the opening bell, causing the hero to attempt to leave the ring with her head behind the scenes before Banks pulled her back. Bailey took matters with a clothesline, attacking a previously injured Banks’ neck. When Banks attempted to fight, Bailey used a steel chair, and Banks was hit in the stomach, forcing disqualification and allowing Bailey to retain her title. After the match, Bailey attempted to attack Banks with the chair, but Banks turned things around, haunting her with the chair in the middle of the ring. Banks then stuck Bailey’s head in the chair, trying to re-attack Bailey weeks ago, but Bailey manages to escape the chair – and the ring – to avoid any further damage. Later on the show, Banks said she would face Bailey in the upcoming PPV in a Hell in the Cell match.
Bayley vs. Banks and Reigns vs. Uso to PPV as Hell in a Cell offers the confirmed number of matches in the cell to three, with the cell’s record number of matches tied to a single card. There might not be more matches added for Cell, but there is a high risk of having three of your big matches in one-on-one. However, Reigns vs. Uso was one of the best storytellers in recent WWE history, and Banks vs. Bayley is a long story in the making, so playing big stunt matches makes sense. B grade
What else happened in WWE SmackDown?
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In the first round of the WWE Draft, Raw Drew chose McIntyre, Asuka, and The Hurt Business, while SmackDown chose Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. Rollins is the first big change of night, as the rest of the heroes – including Bobby Lashley of Hurt Business, who holds the US Championships – lock onto their current brands. Rollins needs a major refresh as Raw runs out of new options. Rollins cut a promotion after the first round, and said it was more about his message, not the brand and that he is happy to finally become a SmackDown star. Rollins said he’s sad that he’s not going to be there to watch the Mysterio family implode, although he’s happy not to look at their disgusting faces again, which will prove not the case an hour later.
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In the second round of the WWE Draft, Raw drafted AJ Styles, Naomi, Nia Jax, and Shayna Baszler, while SmackDown chose Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair. Styles was the big change in the tour, while Belair represents a potential big step up for SmackDown, with a very high ceiling and potential as a title competitor in the near future.
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Matt Riddle and Jeff Hardy were defeated. Miz and John Morrison via pinning After he hit Riddle Miz with Pro Derek. Match the basic mark with the provisional team, by defeating the existing team. After the match, Lars Sullivan returned, easily knocking out Riddle and Hardy. Then Sullivan turned his attention to Miz and Morrison, pulling them out before standing alone to finish the clip.
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In the third round of the WWE Draft, Raw drafted Ricochet, Mandy Rose and Miz & John Morrison, while SmackDown picked Jey Uso and Dominick & Rey Mysterio. The big change here is to bring Mysterios to SmackDown where they join Seth Rollins, which really refreshes nothing because that hostility only changes brands. Beyond that, Miz and Morrison will be fresh in the Raw tag section, but without expecting much of the bigger stuff.
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In the fourth round of the WWE Draft, Raw selected The New Day, Dana Brooke and Angel Garza, while SmackDown drafted Big E and Otis. Obviously, the big news here is that New Day has been broken up, with the new tag champions, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, moving to Raw and Big E to face SmackDown. There’s a huge logic gap here as Raw could have picked all three of the New Day members, but they chose not to take Big E. It was also noticeable on the tour that Otis was penned by SmackDown but not Tucker.
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“Punk” Bray Wyatt def. Kevin Owens cross-installation After locking the lower jaw claw. Owens took the fight to The Fiend from the jump, and seemed close to the match to score a win on several occasions, but The Fiend kept standing every time it seemed to be paused. Owens’ two powerbomb attempts weren’t enough to keep The Fiend down before he got up and entered the ring again, locking the mandibular claw. Owens’ spectacular game wasn’t enough to break the suspension before The Fiend crashes into urine with the install still locked to secure the fix.
