WWE SmackDown Score (10/15/21): SuperSized SmackDown
The Oct. 15, 2021 episode of SmackDown will go down as a special one this year.
Not only because the show was a SuperSized edition of the show that featured Pay-Per-View (PPV) worthy matches.
Not only because the show aired on FOX Sports 1 instead of regular broadcast television due to the MLB Playoffs.
Not only because the show went 2.5 hours instead of its regular two hour timeslot to compete head-to-head from 10:00 to 10:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time with All Elite Wrestling’s Rampage.
Not only because the show was the Go Home show to the Crown Jewel PPV.
But because this was the final SmackDown with the current roster.
Over the last year, SmackDown has been by far the best wrestling show on the planet. It has been constantly entertaining, storylines have been intriguing, the matches have been great, and everything else in between.
For the last year, SmackDown has been what FOX thought it would be when SmackDown started airing on its network in 2019, and I can not be more thankful to everybody involved with SmackDown over the last year. To the superstars (and not just the “Head of the Table”), to the announcers (and not just Pat McAfee), to the writers, and to everybody else involved with this version of SmackDown, thank you for giving us, the fans, an exceptional show with few bumps in the road over the last year. A lot of this era took place in the Thunderdome, and SmackDown did a lot better than RAW in that aspect.
Thank you, SmackDown! I’m excited to see the new faces that enter into the blue brand starting next week! I already have dream matches in my head!
Now, onto the show!
One Last Surprise
Following an epic encounter between “Big Time Becks” and the “Boss” (we’ll get to that soon!), WWE Official Adam Pearce demanded for the WWE ring crew to get a table and two chairs in the ring for the Universal Championship contract signing. Out came the “Tribal Chief” and his “Special Counsel”, who we hadn’t seen all night prior. By the time they arrived in the ring, the “Beast Incarnate” was making his way down.
The champ had Heyman read the contract to him. Heyman told Reigns everything was the way he wanted it, and he counseled his “Tribal Chief” to sign the deal, and the “Head of the Table” listened. Once the contract was signed, Heyman tossed the pen Reigns used to sign the contract out of the ring, so Lesnar couldn’t sign, but Pearce had a backup pen. Lesnar didn’t even look at the contract; he just opened up the folder and signed the dotted line.
Puzzled by the “Beast’s” actions, Reigns called his Crown Jewel opponent a dumbass and a stupid farmer! He couldn’t believe Lesnar wouldn’t look at the specifics of the contract before signing it!
That’s when Lesnar dropped THE bomb: He did look at the contract, earlier in the day, with his ADVOCATE, Paul Heyman!
Mic. Drop.
Lesnar left the ring as the “Tribal Chief” stared back at Heyman to end the show.
THIS. WAS. PERFECT !!!
You couldn’t have booked the last segment to this match better if you tried! There was no physical altercation, just another tease into the eventual demise of Heyman and Reigns. Unless of course, Heyman really is telling the truth, and all this was just one big lie going into Saudi Arabia by Lesnar to try to throw Reigns off his game.
We’ll find out which side of the coin Heyman is on Thursday, possibly! There’s so many routes WWE could go with this story, and I honestly have no idea who’s leaving Saudi with the strap! It’s anybody’s ballgame, folks, and this match truly feels BIG! It feels like a mega match, and it’s a can’t miss match! I just can’t wait to sit back and enjoy it Thursday afternoon!
Sasha Banks Defeats Becky Lynch
The “Man” and the “Blueprint” kicked off the commercial-free last half hour of the show with a banger! The “EST” was on commentary with Michael Cole and McAfee to sell the triple threat in Saudi. For two ladies that had not gone one-on-one since Hell in a Cell 2019, Lynch and Banks never lost their chemistry.
Banks delivered some vicious Meteora’s to Lynch, including one on the outside off of the announce table, and it looked like Lynch hit her neck hard on the barricade, but she was able to continue. An interesting moment in the match came when the champ TAPPED on the outside of the ring to the Bank Statement. Maybe the “Man” knew she was on the outside but it looked like she panicked. Could be an interesting point going into Thursday.
The ending came when Banks tried to powerbomb the “Man” out to the outside, but Lynch reversed it and sent Banks right near the EST before giving Beliar a straight right hand. When Beliar came to, she grabbed a hold of Lynch, who had Banks down on the mat, and caused the distraction, allowing Banks to deliver a Backstabber to the champ and pin her one, two, three, resulting in Lynch’s first singles loss in over two years.
After the match, Lynch just sat in the ring stunned as Beliar — from the announce desk — looked on, and Banks celebrated her victory from the ramp. Lynch didn’t know how to react, and I think her losing may have been the best thing for her, and the worse thing for her two challengers. Beliar challenges the “Queen” for the RAW Women’s Championship this Monday on RAW, and that could be a big development going into Crown Jewel.
With Lynch and Beliar heading to RAW, and Banks and Flair heading to SmackDown, WWE needs to figure out how to get the SmackDown Women’s Title off of Lynch, and the RAW Women’s Title off of Flair without doing a simple title switch. It’s very possible that Beliar could win the RAW Women’s Title, and WWE adds Flair into the match at Crown Jewel. Then, they make a stipulation for the now Fatal 4 Way ELIMINATION match (the elimination part is key) that whoever pins the champion is the champion, and Flair pins Lynch to take back the SmackDown Women’s Title, and Beliar wins the match to retain her RAW Women’s Championship.
I don’t know how they’re going to do it, but either way, this match should be terrific at Crown Jewel.
Edge Wants to Rip Seth Rollins’ Sole out of his Body
Edge started off SmackDown by sitting in a steel chair and explaining to the WWE Universe that he was wrong about Seth Rollins. He admitted Rollins is not Edge-lite. He admitted he underestimated Rollins during their match at the “World’s Most Famous Arena”, just like Rollins underestimated Edge at SummerSlam. The “Rated-R Superstar” said his and the “Drip God’s” rivalry started seven years ago when he tried to end his career when he was still medically disqualified from competing, but now that he’s back, he’s haunted Rollins.
They’re both obsessed over the Universal Title, and it’s how their feud started back up again. They both want to end each other’s career, but the difference is Rollins went to Edge’s house. The “Master Manipulator” said he could have taken a trip to Rollins’ house and had an encounter with the “Man”, but he’s a bigger man than Rollins. He wants to end this long-standing rivalry in the only place it could end: Hell in a Cell. Edge ended the promo by telling Rollins he was going to rip the sole out of his body!
Later in the night, the “Architect” responded. While he’s happy Edge admitted he was wrong about Rollins being Edge-lite, he still needs to end the career of the “Ultimate Opportunist” to live with himself, and unlike Edge, Rollins has been inside the cell twice. This version of Rollins was created because of the cell (a la Rollins vs The “Fiend” from Hell in a Cell 2019), and he won’t let what happened to him on that fateful October night two years ago happen again.
This was another example of an absolute PERFECT way to finish promoting a major match for a PPV. There was, once again, no physical contact between the two men, just deep, dark intentions and intense promos! Rollins drug the meanness out of Edge, and a desperate Edge inside a cell with no rules is bad news for the former “Messiah”. I can’t wait for these two to throw down in Saudi! This is personal, and there’s nothing they won’t do to destroy each other, and I can’t wait to watch the carnage unfold!
The Usos © Defeats The Street Profits in a Street Fight for SmackDown Tag Team Titles
Ever since SummerSlam concluded, the Profits and the Usos have had some great battles for the SmackDown Tag Team gold, but with the challengers heading to RAW post Crown Jewel, somebody had to win the war this week on SmackDown, and there’s no better way to win a war than a fight in the streets!
These two used everything in their power to beat the hell out of each other! Chairs, tables, kendo sticks! You name it, they used it!
Montez Ford shined in this match. He did an incredible dive over the ring post where he took out both Usos and LANDED ON HIS FEET! He also delivered a double “From the Heavens” Splash, and it looked like he hit the roof of the Toyota Arena in Ontario, Calif. He would nail Jimmy with another “From the Heavens”, and it looked as though the Profits were taking the blue gold to the red brand, but Jey saved his brother and put Ford through a table on the outside, leaving Dawkins to fend for himself, and he couldn’t do it. A double Superkick, and two Uso Splashes — one from each Uso — gave the victory, and the winner of the war, to the “Bloodline”.
For a TV Street Fight with a predictable ending, this match was spectacular! The chair shots and kendo sticks both teams delivered to each other looked painful! Now the Profits head to RAW, and I hope we see an RK-BRO-Profits match soon! As for the Usos, there’s not a ton of options on the face side of SmackDown at the moment, but I bet New Day will get their fair share of title shots at the “Bloodline”.
Sonya Deville and Shayna Baszler Defeat Naomi
Going into this week’s SmackDown, it was expected WWE Official Sonya Deville was going to make her return to the ring for the first time since SummerSlam in 2020 and take on her latest rival in Naomi. In typical WWE fashion, Naomi would come out fired up in the ring, but Deville would come out in a suit, and I thought, “Oh no! Here we go! There’s gonna be no match tonight, isn’t there?!”
WRONG, and I was pleasantly shocked when Deville announced she was going to honor her commitment and compete! However, new SmackDown superstar Shayna Baszler was going to join her, and the match was turning into a two-on-one handicapped match.
The referee tried to force one of Deville or Baszler out of the ring to start the match, but Deville said both ladies were going to compete in the ring at the same time and told the stripes to ring the bell.
Naomi actually put up a good fight here, delivering moves to both ladies. The problem for the girl who likes to feel the glow is so did Deville and the “Queen of Spades”. What I liked about this match so much was Deville didn’t stand around. She actually got in there and threw hands at Naomi, and the pairing of Baszler made so much since because of each ladies background in MMA.
Naomi would fight hard, but eventually Baszler locked her in the Kirifuda Clutch and made the wife of Jimmy Uso pass out, but in an even better touch, the referee did not call for the bell. Instead, Deville put one foot on Naomi and covered the former two-time SmackDown Women’s Champion like a boss for the win.
This match reminded me a lot of the Reigns-Shane McMahon feud in 2019 when McMahon was scheduled to go one-on-one with the then-”Big Dog”, but McMahon would insert Drew McIntyre and/or Elias into the match.
As I said above, the difference here is Deville, unlike McMahon in that feud, actually got physical in the match and proved her dominance, and the pairing of Baszler and Deville is a match made in heaven. It makes Baszler look like a legitimate badass again after being stuck in that tag team with Nia Jax for way too long, and when Baszler wins the first-ever Queen Crown’s Tournament, she’s going to have even more legitimacy to her name.
This storyline isn’t over. I’m glad my fear I had of this being a one off is not the case. I can’t wait to see the story develop further. Thank you, SmackDown, for actually telling good stories!
Shinsuke Nakamura Dances and Ticks off “Happy Corbin” and “Madcap Moss”
“Happy Corbin” hosted another episode of “Happy Talk”, and his guest this week was “Madcap Moss”. The duo made jokes about beating up Kevin Owens and sending him to RAW, and how they’re gonna do the same to the likes of Ricochet and McIntyre beginning next week. The Ontario crowd was not happy, nor entertained, watching Corbin and Moss!
Thankfully, Rick BOOGSSSSSSSSSSSSS came out to save the day, and he and Nakamura danced all around ringside as McAfee went wild, enjoying life to the fullest! I’m so glad they didn’t send the Intercontinental Champion to RAW! I don’t care if we’re getting Nakamura vs Corbin again! Just give me Nakamura, BOOGSSSSSSSSSSSSS and McAfee in my life every week, and I’ll be happy!
Finn Balor Defeats Sami Zayn in KOTR Tournament
The SmackDown semifinal matchup between the “Prince” and the “Great Liberator” delivered. There were multiple points in the match where I thought Zayn had Balor, including a rollup that Balor kicked out at 2.9. Balor — after multiple attempts — finally hit the Coup De Grace for the win.
I suspect Balor will face Woods in the Finals and come up short, but we shall see. The Ontario crowd was into this match, and Balor got a lot of cheers. He’s going to get a mid-card push on RAW, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him and Big E matchup for the top prize on Monday nights sometime soon.
Zelina Vega Defeats Carmella in QC Tournament
The two friends promised not to hit each other in the face before the match, but the “Most Beautiful Women in WWE” broke that promise early when she slapped Vega. Vega returned the favor by punching Carmella in the snout, and Carmella had to escape and grab her mask, but when she attempted to grab her mask, Liv Morgan stood with it in her hand. Rattled by Morgan, Carmella walked right into a Vega rollup for the win.
This was more about Carmella and Morgan than it was Vega. Vega is going to lose to Baszler in the Finals. This match was just about continuing the story between Vega, Carmella and Morgan, who all headed to RAW after Thursday’s PPV.
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Besides the QC Tournament match, I loved everything about this show! SmackDown’s 2.5 hours flew compared to RAW’s three hours! It’s not always about the length of a wrestling show; it’s about the usage of the superstars on the show. SmackDown did a great job promoting and delivering on a show! I don’t care if its because of the competition from the wrestling network on TNT, that was a spectacular Go Home show to a PPV, and I am interested in all of the blue brand’s matches at Crown Jewel.
One more time, I just want to say thank you to the current SmackDown roster for a great year! A new era begins next Friday from the Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita Ks.
GRADE: A
