WWE SmackDown Score (12/10/21): Segment of the Year
Sami Zayn entered the Staples Center in a wheelchair to kick off the Dec. 10 SmackDown. He was accompanied by two male nurses. The nurses helped him into the ring and gave the “Great Liberator” a microphone.
Zayn went on to claim he’s going to sue WWE management, Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman and the “Tribal Chief” for the conspiracy theory that transpired one week ago. He believes Lesnar, Heyman and the Universal Champion worked together to cost him the Universal Title because they know he would have won the match!
The “Wise Man” to the “Head of the Table” interrupted the former №1 contender. He said he had nothing to worry about because the champion was not in Los Angeles. Nope, instead he was on his own island by himself, preparing for his championship defense at Day 1. Zayn took that as an opportunity to take out Heyman, but Lesnar — showing up in overalls — put a real quick stop to that.
What transpired next was an interaction between Lesnar, Zayn and Heyman that would become the Segment of the Year in WWE!
The most interesting part of this segment was Heyman told Lesnar he was a former Universal Champion, but he PROBABLY WILL BE A FUTURE UNIVERSAL CHAMPION! I’m sure the “Tribal Chief” heard those words and won’t be happy with his “Special Counsel” next week! Kayla Braxton even interviewed Lesnar, and he told her Heyman was his advocate, which of course, Heyman denied to the journalist later in the evening. This storyline keeps getting better and better!
Adding another layer to the story, later in the night, the “Beast Incarnate” met with Adam Pearce to tell him a story on how while he was suspended, he hunted a moose, killed it, ate it with his bare hands, and hung the head up on his wall and proceeded to call the moose “Pearce”! We also found out Lesnar still (well, had) a flip phone in another Segment of the Year candidate!
I love this version of the “Beast”! He’s not just playing a beast; he’s playing a character, and he looks like he’s having a good time out there! This isn’t the “Beast” we deserve; it’s the one we need!
New Day Defeats RK-BRO and The Usos To Prove They Are Best Team in WWE
With the “Tribal King” missing the SmackDown in FOX’s backyard, WWE called in the RAW Tag Team Champions to have an All-Star Triple Threat tag match to determine who the best team in WWE currently is (for my money, it’s RK-BRO, and the Twitter poll verified that!). Before the match, King Woods got a new crown, the Usos told the world they were “THE 1’S”, and RK-BRO hung out backstage with the cast of Jackass Forever! None of those things would help any of the teams in this high-flying affair.
The match was designed around Riddle taking punishment. Riddle was the legal man for about 90% of the match. Every time the “Original Bro” would try to tag in Orton, one of the other four men would either knock the “Apex Predator” off the apron, or they would grab one of Riddle’s bare feet, so when the match reached its climax, and Riddle finally made it to the “Viper”, Staples Center almost exploded.
Orton took out Woods and Sir Kofi on the announce table. He managed to RKO Jimmy Uso, but that led to Jey Superkicking him right in the mouth! However, right before Orton RKO’ed Jimmy, Woods made the tag, allowing him and Kingston to execute UpUpDownDown on the other Uso for the victory.
In retrospect, the booking of this match makes perfect sense. WWE has pushed New Day as the Greatest Tag Team ever for the last three years. The Usos can’t win a match without the “Head of the Table” in the arena, and the New Day victory gives them momentum towards their SmackDown Tag Team Championship bout in Atlanta. Not to mention the fact RK-BRO can’t seem to find the momentum they had over the summer, besides the Usos at Survivor Series.
I can’t stop thinking about though that Orton has been getting one of — if not — the loudest ovation from the crowds lately. The fans don’t even seem to care about Riddle. They just want Randyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.
And while that sets up great for the eventual heel turn, does WWE really want to turn a hot Orton heel? Probably, but Riddle was never over like he has been with RK-BRO. He was stuck in the mid-card before a Team Hell No like pairing occurred. Is Riddle the next Daniel Bryan? We’ll have to see.
Team Hell No never split up. It was a natural split when Bryan challenged Cena for the WWE Title at SummerSlam 2013. I’m wondering if Riddle wins the Rumble if WWE would do a natural split between the two to keep Orton a hot babyface right now.
Decisions, decisions.
Xia Li Saves Naomi
When it was time for Naomi to finally go head-to-head with Sonya Deville, I had an inkling this match wasn’t going to take place.
My intuition was correct.
Deville did come out to the ring in her new ring gear, but the shenanigans started when Shanya Baszler was revealed as the time keeper, and Natalya as the ring announcer. The “Glow” knew she was in trouble, so she attacked Sonya’s backup successfully. Realizing she was in trouble, Deville ran outside the ring, picked up her personal security, gathered them on the apron and went to attack Naomi.
Then… she debuted!
The “Protector” Xia Li showed up with electricity flowing through her hands, which allowed her and Naomi to take out the heels. It was a nice debut for Li, and a good way to protect Naomi and Deville and to keep the story going. Deville is going to get her’s eventually. Maybe the Royal Rumble?
Charlotte Flair Intentionally Gets Disqualified Against Toni Storm
The “Opportunity” wanted no part of wrestling the Australian last night in Los Angeles. After showing the “Pie for a Pie” recap, the bell rang, and the champion just flat out took it to Storm. On the apron, she repeatedly stomped Storm’s head and neck into the ring post for over five seconds, causing a disqualification, but Flair didn’t care.
This match was booked to prove Flair’s point Storm doesn’t belong in the ring with her. Even though she intentionally lost the match, she showed how dominant she was over Storm. Storm is probably going to get her rematch either at Day 1 or on the Christmas Eve SmackDown, and as I’ve said over the last couple weeks, I like Storm, but I don’t like how WWE is telling the exact same story with her and Liv Morgan over on RAW, and the RAW version is 10x better.
Morgan actually had a shot against the “Man” on RAW, and I’m rooting for her. That’s not the case with Storm.
Now, saying that, the “Boss” came up to Storm before her match and wished her good luck. While I’m wondering where Shotzi is, I can’t help but think the Storm feud is just a filler before we get to Banks and Flair at the Rumble, a rivalry that we have seen a lot, but one we haven’t seen in a while, and one that always works. I wouldn’t mind seeing those two throw down in St. Louis.
Drew McIntyre Defeats Sheamus
The “SmackDown Warrior” visited Pearce before his match with the “Fella”. He stuck Angela in Pearce’s desk, to which Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss moved after his match with Sheamus, but that’s not the here, nor there. What is was a grueling matchup between two former rivals who picked up right where they left off in early 2021 on RAW. McIntyre would attempt a Claymore, but Sheamus countered with a nasty pump-up knee. An Irish Whip into the corner hit the “Scottish Terminator” so hard he was able to come back with a Claymore for the victory.
Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs Defeat Los Lotharios
Michael Cole pointed out before the match Los Lotharios was undefeated on the blue brand. Well, BOOGSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS and NAKAMURAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA had something to say about that. A quick Kinshasa to Angel put the undefeated streak to rest while the Intercontinental Champion, his personal hype man and Pat McAfee celebrated.
They’re awesome, but when will Nakamura defend the title?!
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The Segment (s) of the Year made this show better. Everything else, including RK-BRO/New Day/Usos was good, nothing special.
To next week in Chicago! Two more weeks till Christmas!
GRADE: B+
