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WWE confirmed today that John Cena will be the fifth and final member of Team SmackDown at The Survivor Series:
It is Cena’s first match since losing to Roman Reigns at WWE No Mercy in late September. Cena had been rumored to be the special referee for the Jinder Mahal vs. Brock Lesnar match at the pay-per-view, but those plans apparently changed after WWE had Mahal drop the WWE Championship to AJ Styles on Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live.
Source: WrestlingINC
(Kickoff) Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin vs. The Hype Bros – Winners: Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin
SmackDown Tag Team Championship – Hell in a Cell: (C) The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods w/ Kofi Kingston)vs. The Usos – Winners and new SmackDown Tag Team Champions: The Usos
Rusev vs. Randy Orton – Winner: Randy Orton
United States championship: (C) AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin vs. Tye Dillinger – Winner and new United States Champion: Baron Corbin
SmackDown Women’s Championship: (C) Natalya vs. Charlotte Flair – Winner by DQ: Charlotte Flair – Natalya assaulted Charlotte with a steel chair and got disqualified.
Breezango with the return of the Fashion Files – (Transcript from WrestlingINC) The announcers lead us to the return of The Fashion Files with Breezango. The Ascension, in disguise, makes an appearance at Breezango’s HQ. The case they’ve been working on is still open. The Ascension, in disguise, delivers a poster to Breezango that says the real Ascension wants to be their friends. Tyler Breeze and Fandango insult Konnor and Viktor, who take off their disguises and say Breezango should be ashamed of themselves for the harsh words. They walk off. Someone knocks on the door and Breeze thinks it’s The Ascension again. No one is at the door but there’s a briefcase laying there. They open it and a light is shining inside. “This isn’t just a briefcase, it’s a new case.” Apparently Breezango has a new case to investigate. A new Fashion Files segment based on Pulp Fiction is announced for Tuesday’s SmackDown.
WWE Championship: (C) Jinder Mahal w/Singh Brothers vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – Winner: Jinder Mahal
Bobby Roode vs. Dolph Ziggler – Winner: Bobby Roode – Ziggler hit Roode with a Zig Zag right after the pin fall.
Hell in a Cell -Falls Count Anywhere: Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens – As Shane jumped off the top of the cell, Sami Zayn pulled Owens off the table as Shane crashed through the table, Zayn then placed Owens on top of Shane for the cover – Winner: Kevin Owens
Shane was carted off on a stretcher.
Hell in a Cell -Falls Count Anywhere: Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens
WWE Championship: (C) Jinder Mahal vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
SmackDown Women’s Championship: (C) Natalya vs. Charlotte Flair
United States championship: (C) AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin vs. Tye Dillinger
SmackDown Tag Team Championship – Hell in a Cell: (C) The New Day vs. The Usos
Bobby Roode vs. Dolph Ziggler
Randy Orton vs. Rusev
The Fashion Files return
(Kickoff) Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin vs. The Hype Bros
There has been Twitter exchanges between Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson and WWE Hall of Famers The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express this week. The RAW tag team issued a challenge to Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson for a match at the November 25th WWE Starrcade live event in Greensboro, North Carolina from the Greensboro Coliseum.
Morton & Gibson were previously advertised to appear at the show. PWInsider now reports that the match is scheduled to happen. WWE has not confirmed the match but they have re-tweeted the comments between the two teams.
There’s been a lot of speculation on the Starrcade event airing on the WWE Network but word as of today is that the show will just be a “jazzed up” non-televised live event. Tickets for the show go on sale this Friday at 10am EST via Ticketmaster.
WWE announced today that Tyler Breeze & Fandango vs. Mike Kanellis (with Maria Kanellis) & Aiden English will also take place at the event.
If The Club vs. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express happens, below is the card for Starrcade:
Steel Cage Match for the WWE Title
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Jinder Mahal
Steel Cage Match for the SmackDown Women’s Title
Charlotte Flair vs. Natalya
Triple Threat for the WWE United States Title
Baron Corbin vs. Rusev vs. AJ Styles
Texas Tornado Match for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles
The Usos vs. The New Day
Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens
Bobby Roode vs. Dolph Ziggler
Breezango vs. Aiden English and Mike Kanellis with Maria Kanellis
Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson vs. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (not confirmed by WWE as of this writing)
* Appearances by The Hardys and WWE Hall of Famer Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat
Source: WrestlingINC
Source: WrestlingINC
The draft episode of WWE SmackDown this past Tuesday gave the program its highest rating in three-and-a-half years. The show registered a 2.20 rating, according to PWTorch.com, and was watched by 3,170,000 viewers in the United States, according to Showbuzzdaily.com.
You’d have to go back to January 11, 2013, when SmackDown was airing on Friday nights on Syfy to find the last time SmackDown did a rating this high.
The rating and viewership (which are two related but distinct metrics) for SmackDown were very similar to that of the RAW on the previous night. RAW’s rating was a 2.22, while viewership for each of the three hours was 3,204,000 for the first hour, 3,236,000 for the second and 2,960,000 for the final hour. So, on a minute-by-minute average, SmackDown was viewed by more people than the final hour of RAW, but didn’t have higher viewership than the first two hours of RAW.
This was the first time SmackDown came this close to equating RAW in ratings within the same week since around Christmas in 2012, when RAW was stuck on Christmas Eve, and its rating suffered to a 2.20. SmackDown the Friday before beat that episode of RAW, with a 2.29.
Before that, on the week of New Years, going into 2008, New Years Eve fell on a Monday, so RAW did a 2.6. SmackDown, which was on Friday at the time, did a 2.9.
The last time SmackDown outdid RAW when a holiday wasn’t involved, was in 2007. RAW on July 30, 2007, did a 2.51 while SmackDown on August 3, 2007, beat it with a 2.62.
It’ll be interesting to watch how much of this audience SmackDown can retain going forward. The impetus for SmackDown moving to Tuesday nights, going live and having its own roster, was to improve that program’s ratings and better satisfy NBCUniversal, the parent of USA Network: the channel RAW and SmackDown are both broadcast on in the U.S.
Who will look to make a splash on Thursday’s final SmackDown?
Miz TV with guest Darren Young w/ Bob Backlund
Sasha Banks vs Dana Brooke
Rusev w/Lana vs Dolph Ziggler
What better way to close out SmackDown on Thursday nights than with a main event clash pitting WWE Champion Dean Ambrose against Kevin Owens
Source: WWE.com
WWE issued the following today:
As if the WWE Draft on SmackDown Live’s Tuesday night premiere on USA Network July 19 wasn’t big enough, the WWE Universe will also be able to watch a special WWE Draft Center Live second screen experience at 8/7 C — exclusively on WWE Network — as well as a SmackDown Live Pre-Show at 7/6 C across all digital platforms. Then, following all the exciting Draft action, there will be a Network exclusive SmackDown Post-Show at 10/9 C to break down all the events of the evening.
While Superstars like Seth Rollins, John Cena, Charlotte and the rest of the roster anxiously anticipate their fate with the clock ticking toward one of the most critical nights in WWE history, the action will begin with the SmackDown Live Pre-Show, featuring expert analysis on what may unfold throughout the evening.
Then, as the WWE Universe tunes in to the WWE Draft on SmackDown Live, fans will also have the opportunity to enhance their experience with the WWE Draft Center Live, a special supplemental show airing exclusively on WWE Network during the SmackDown broadcast. The revolutionary telecast will allow the WWE Universe to get inside the Draft in a way unlike any other as the lives of Superstars change forever – exclusively for WWE Network subscribers. Subscribe to WWE Network today to be part of this incredible experience!
The night will then conclude with the SmackDown Post-Show, exclusively on WWE Network, where reaction and analysis will surely be at a premium following all the memorable moments that the Draft will surely cause.
Watch it all unfold on Tuesday, July 19 beginning at 7/6 C, when SmackDown goes LIVE with the SmackDown Pre-Show, the WWE Draft Center and of course, the WWE Draft itself!
Source: WrestlingINC
Could Daniel Bryan be returning to WWE TV as the new SmackDown General Manager?
As seen on last night’s RAW, Vince McMahon announced that new RAW Commissioner Stephanie McMahon and new SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon will have to announce their General Managers on next Monday’s show.
It looks like the WWE App may have spoiled the SmackDown General Manager as the following image was briefly posted last night. Thanks to reader Danny Stuart for sending this image in, which states that the “Yes! Movement” is taking SmackDown over:
You can see the clip below from RAW on Monday night with Vince McMahon revealing during the final segment that Shane McMahon will be the Commissioner of Smackdown Live and Stephanie McMahon will be the Commissioner of RAW.
McMahon noted that General Managers need to be announced for both shows and gave both Shane and Stephanie the opportunity to make there announcements next week.
Source: WWE.com
Who will battle Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam?
Sami Zayn vs Chris Jericho
Is The Architect building a plot for vengeance?
How will The Club respond to being turned S-A-W-F-T?
Zack Ryder vs Sheamus
