5 Things We Learned From SmackDown Last Night

Having to broadcast television on a holiday is never an enviable position, and that’s where WWE found themselves this Tuesday night for SmackDown Live.

Running on Halloween night, the company tried to pull out some big matches to counteract the fact that a good chunk of their audience wouldn’t be at home to watch their weekly USA Network broadcast. Notably, a big advertised main event between Kevin Owens and Shinsuke Nakamura as well as a two out of three falls match between Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode.

Though Owens and Nakamura have worked a singles match in WWE before, this past June on SmackDown, anytime two of the best wrestlers in the world step between the ropes together, it’s a big deal.

We’ll find out on Wednesday if the advertised main event did anything to reign in some viewers, but what did we learn from the show itself? Read on to find out.

1. Shane Plays Underdog and Makes Himself Captain

In an effort to explain why his SmackDown roster attacked the RAW guys last week in such a dastardly, heel-like fashion, McMahon portrayed RAW as the “haves” and SmackDown as the “have-nots.” 

He explained that RAW is the brand that goes back 25 years, that had twice as many draft picks (well not really, they had 60% vs. 40% due to having a longer show), and all the built in advantages while looking down upon SmackDown. Shane said that SmackDown had to do something to change the perception, so the brand as a whole decided to attack RAW. 

He also brought up Daniel Bryan’s surprise appearance on RAW, trying to make peace, and pointed out how he was treated (notably being beaten up by Kane without Kurt Angle giving a damn). Shane said there will be payback.

The segment ended with McMahon announcing he will wrestle as the team captain as part of Team SmackDown at Survivor Series. The crowd, surprisingly, didn’t really react much to that news. 

So it looks like we are going to get Kurt Angle taking on Shane in the ring as part of Team RAW vs. Team SmackDown, as seemed likely after the RAW invasion last week. 

2. Time For Bobby To Move On

We saw what was hopefully the final chapter in the Dolph Ziggler vs. Bobby Roode feud on Tuesday night in a two out of three falls match.

Though Ziggler has always been a solid performer, the ceiling is so much higher for Roode at this point, so it was good to see him go-over (and gain a spot on Team SmackDown in the process).

The match itself was pretty good, though way too short for a two out of three falls match (11 minutes or so). Roode won by a score of two falls to one, so the idea that they had three falls in 11 minutes is pretty crazy. 

I’ve written here on Pop Culture in the past about how Roode feuding with Ziggler (and losing to him) has hurt his potential on SmackDown as a new face when he should have been portrayed as dominant. It’s good to see that Roode will get a spot on Team SmackDown and get to be alongside some legitimate main eventers. That could go a long way toward rehabilitating his image and elevating him after this feud that really felt like it dragged on.  

3. No Idea What They’re Doing With Baron Corbin

I don’t know if there has been a more up and down wrestler in WWE during 2017 than Baron Corbin.

He was pushed all through the spring as a dominant big man, proceeded to be beat virtually every time out at the end of the summer (punishment for some social media gaffes), and then they started to build him up as a monster again, winning the U.S. title in the process.

This week, Sin Cara got his revenge, so Cobin isn’t a monster again after all. After the brutal smack down (pun intended) that Baron issued to Sin Cara last week after their match, Sin Cara came into their bout this week with a lot of adrenaline. 

Though Corbin won the early portion of the match, trying to de-mask Sin Cara in the process, he crossed the line and felt Sin Cara’s wrath. They fought all over the outside of the ring with Sin Cara totally losing himself, destroying Corbin in the process. Corbin eventually fled through the crowd after a three minute match was ruled a no contest.

This does wonders for Sin Cara’s prospects but continues the trend of making fans confused on whether they should really believe in Corbin as a legitimate threat or not. 

 

4. Fantastic Halloween Costumes

The New Day were in the holiday spirit for Halloween, dressing up like wrestling legends from the past. Xavier Woods portrayed himself as Jimmy Hart, Kofi Kingston was Brother Love, and Big E was dressed as Akeem. They did a backstage segment where Woods in particular was hilarious

Big E kept the costume on when wrestling Rusev, and the two of them had a brief but entertaining match. Aiden English accompanied Rusev and sang “Rusev Day,” so it continues to look like they will be an official team in the tag team division very soon.

Rusev won the match with…a kick to the back, which was a bit odd and out of nowhere. But overall an entertaining couple of segments for the New Day. It was later revealed that Rusev will wrestle AJ Styles next week in a match to determine which of them will join Team SmackDown at Survivor Series. 

5. Nakamura Joins The Team

The main event between Nakamura and Owens was good, but it wasn’t the best match they’ve ever had against each other. Honestly, one of the best things they did during the match was explain why Kevin Owens would want to be on Team SmackDown next to Shane McMahon at all. And why would Shane let him have the chance?

Obviously, from a storyline continuity perspective, Shane giving Owens this opportunity is questionable given they just wrestled in a Hell In A Cell match. However during the main event, the announcers early on made sense of it all. They sold Shane as “open minded” enough to give Kevin a chance, but better yet, they explained that Owens in no way or fashion would want the Kevin Owens Show to finish second place to RAW.

Although Owens lost this match, I still have sneaking suspicions that he will somehow end up on the team. The finish came when Sami Zayn continued to get involved in the bout, prompting an appearance from Randy Orton. 

After Owens nailed a frog splash in the ring, he instructed Sami to get the announce table ready for a move. At that point, Orton appeared and slammed Sami into the table. This was followed by Nakamura giving Owens a spinkick and the Kinshasa for the victory.