Rick Boogs made his main roster debut on SmackDown.
King Corbin came to the ring on tonight’s show to face Shinsuke Nakamura. Before Nakamura arrived, Boogs appeared and started to play the guitar. He introduced himself, then introduced Nakamura and accompanied him to the ring while playing the guitar. Corbin and Nakamura then wrestled, with Nakamura pinning Corbin via small package after Boogs started playing the guitar again, distracting Corbin.
Boogs has been in the WWE since 2017. He has appeared on NXT television a few times, but had recently mostly been working NXT live events. His last match was at a NXT Live event prior to the pandemic on March 7, 2020, where he defeated Tino Sabbatelli. He also previously appeared in EVOLVE prior to their shutdown.
The feud between Corbin and Nakamura started last week after Corbin defeated Nakamura and started to place his crown on his head. Nakamura attacked Corbin and stole Corbin’s crown, and has since then taken pictures wearing the crown on social media.
Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler have re-emerged, aiding King Corbin in his win tonight on SmackDown against Murphy.
Both men were identified when they came out to help Corbin, who lost last week against Murphy on SmackDown following interference from the Mysterio family. Corbin challenged Murphy to another match, saying that next time he would be prepared.
During tonight’s match, the two sides mostly stayed apart until the finish. Murphy had Corbin in the corner when Corbin signaled to Cutler and Blake. They promptly attacked both Dominik and Rey Mysterio. Murphy exited the ring to help, but when he came back to the ring walked into the End of Days for the win.
Cutler and Blake had originally been called up from NXT along with Jaxson Ryker back in April. However, all three men were pulled from television in May after Ryker voiced support for President Donald Trump during the George Floyd protests, which led to backlash backstage from several WWE stars.
A rematch between Murphy and King Corbin has been announced for next week’s SmackDown.
Commercials airing during football games airing on Fox today confirmed the match would take place next week.On Friday, Corbin wrestled Murphy in an impromptu match after Corbin’s original opponent, Otis, was taken out by Jey Uso with a steel chair. Corbin later confronted Murphy, leading to their match.
The Mysterio family constantly interfered in the match, helping Murphy and impeding Corbin every time he was in control. The finish had Murphy pin Corbin after Dominik Mysterio took Corbin’s foot off the bottom rope following a knee strike by Murphy.
After the match, a livid Corbin told Murphy he wanted another match, and promised that he would be prepared the next time he and Murphy faced one another.
The commercial also said that Kevin Owens would continue his feud with Roman Reigns. This follows an angle that took place at the end of SmackDown where Owens laid out Jey Uso, challenging his cousin Roman Reigns to do something about it.
Two Money in the Bank qualifying matches are set for next week’s SmackDown.
On the men’s side, Otis will face Dolph Ziggler. The two have been feuding for months, mostly centering around Mandy Rose. Otis defeated Ziggler at WrestleMania 36, with Mandy Rose choosing Otis after a hacker revealed that Sonya Deville had concocted a plot to drive Mandy away from Otis.
Mandy, meanwhile, will face Carmella in the other qualifying match. Carmella’ tag team partner, Dana Brooke, qualified last week.
Daniel Bryan vs. King Corbin has also been announced. Both men have qualified for Money in the Bank, but Bryan is looking to face Corbin after he defeated his tag team partner Drew Gulak tonight to qualify.
The Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match currently has Bryan, Rey Mysterio, Aleister Black, Apollo Crews, and Corbin, while the Women’s match has Asuka, Shayna Baszler, Brooke, and Lacey Evans, who defeated Sasha Banks tonight to advance.
The Wells Fargo Center is advertising participants for next month’s Elimination Chamber event.
Earlier this afternoon, a tweet posted by the Wells Fargo Center Twitter account said that the headline match would be Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, Shinsuke Nakamura, King Corbin, and Robert Roode in an Elimination Chamber match. The winner of the match would go on to face the Universal Champion at WrestleMania. WWE has yet to officially confirm the match.
The current Universal Champion is The Fiend Bray Wyatt. However, he has a title match against Goldberg at Crown Jewel later this month in Saudi Arabia. It is likely that the winner of this match would face the winner of the Elimination Chamber match.
The match would tie a number of feuds together. Braun Strowman defeated Shinsuke Nakamura last week to win the Intercontinental championship on SmackDown. Roman Reigns has been primarily feuding with Baron Corbin over the last several months, though Robert Roode and his tag team partner Dolph Ziggler have also been involved, associating themselves with Corbin.
Elimination Chamber will take place on March 8th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
A new number one contender to the Universal Championship will be decided on SmackDown next week.
Tonight’s episode of the show ended with the announcement that Daniel Bryan, The Miz, and Baron Corbin will face off in a triple threat number one contender’s match next Friday. The winner will challenge for “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt’s Universal title at the Royal Rumble in Houston, Texas on January 26.
Bryan & Miz defeated Corbin & Dolph Ziggler in the main event of tonight’s SmackDown. The match was set up in the opening segment of the show, with Bryan, Miz, and Corbin all wanting the next shot at the Universal title. Corbin called Bryan and Miz failures as wrestlers and fathers, then Ziggler ambushed Bryan and Miz.
Miz submitted Ziggler with the Figure Four in tonight’s main event.
With Wyatt wrestling as his Firefly Fun House host character instead of The Fiend, he defeated Miz in a non-title match at TLC this past Sunday. There was then a post-match angle where Bryan returned for the first time since being attacked by The Fiend and having clumps of his hair ripped out.
Bryan, who now has a haircut and most of his beard shaved off, saved Miz from being hit with a mallet by Wyatt at TLC.
Next week’s SmackDown is taking place at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. It’s the final SmackDown of 2019.
CM Punk joined WWE Backstage last night to discuss all the goings-on within WWE.
One of the first segments went over what happened on SmackDown this past Friday when King Corbin and Dolph Ziggler humiliated Reigns by handcuffing him to the ringpost and dumping cans of dog food on him. Punk surprised the panel by saying that he understood why they went with the dog food, comparing the angle to that of the end of the movie “Carrie”.
Corbin was later interviewed on the show, explaining his heel role and why he does certain things to garner heat. During the interview, Punk asked if the dog food used in the angle was real and Corbin confirmed that it was.
Punk later gave his thoughts on Seth Rollins’ heel turn on Monday, saying that he was better as a bad guy than a good guy.
The build to TLC picked up on last night’s SmackDown.
Roman Reigns defeated Dolph Ziggler in last night’s main event, but — after Baron Corbin vowed to humiliate him on the show — the night ended with an angle where Corbin, Ziggler, and Corbin’s royal security attacked Reigns, chained him to the ring post, and poured dog food on him.
Reigns will face Corbin in a tables, ladders, and chairs match at TLC on December 15.
Two other matches were confirmed for TLC last night. Bray Wyatt will face The Miz, and The New Day will defend their SmackDown Tag Team titles against The Revival.
Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin is the first match to be officially announced for this month’s TLC pay-per-view.
Prior to tonight’s SmackDown going on the air, WWE confirmed that Reigns will face Corbin in a tables, ladders, and chairs match at TLC. The PPV is taking place at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota on December 15.
Reigns and Corbin’s TLC match had been advertised by the Target Center before being officially announced.
The Target Center is also advertising two other matches for the PPV. Asuka & Kairi Sane defending their Women’s Tag Team titles against Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair in a tables, ladders, and chairs match is listed for the show, along with Rusev vs. Bobby Lashley. The Rusev vs. Lashley match doesn’t have a stipulation advertised.
Reigns vs. Dolph Ziggler is set for tonight’s SmackDown at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, North Carolina. WWE is also hyping that Corbin “vows to humiliate Reigns” on the episode.
A six-man tag match has been announced for SmackDown’s Survivor Series go-home show.
Roman Reigns, Mustafa Ali & Shorty G will face King Corbin, Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode on SmackDown next Friday. The episode is taking place at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. It will be the first of four straight nights at the venue for WWE.
In a match where their Survivor Series spots were on the line, Ali & Shorty G defeated Ziggler & Roode last night. After being mocked by Corbin in the opening segment, Reigns came out to ringside during the match after Corbin distracted Ali. Reigns ended up laying out Corbin with a spear.
The six-man tag was announced for next week after Ziggler & Roode complained to Corbin and blamed Reigns for costing them the match and spots at Survivor Series.
Reigns, Corbin, Ali, Shorty G & Braun Strowman will be on Team SmackDown for their triple threat elimination tag match against Team Raw and Team NXT at Survivor Series.
This week’s Friday Night SmackDown is a taped show from the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.
With the roster stuck in Saudi Arabia, last Friday’s episode featured an NXT invasion, Brock Lesnar quitting SmackDown to go to Raw, and NXT Champion Adam Cole defeating Daniel Bryan.
Two matches that were initially scheduled for last week have been rebooked for tonight. Roman Reigns takes on King Corbin, and SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Revival defend their titles against The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Big E).
Boxing star Tyson Fury defeated Braun Strowman by countout at Crown Jewel last Thursday. Fury returns to SmackDown tonight to address the fans. Strowman is also scheduled to appear.
Plus, Sasha Banks returns and goes one-on-one with Nikki Cross. This is Banks’ first match since she was injured against Becky Lynch at Hell in a Cell last month.
Our coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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King Corbin made his way down to the ring to kick off SmackDown. He talked about the Survivor Series in two weeks and noted it’s Raw vs. SmackDown vs. NXT. The fans broke into a loud “NXT” chant. Corbin discussed NXT invading SmackDown last week and blamed Roman Reigns.
He noted Reigns fought leukemia and won. Now Reigns spends all his time with his family and doesn’t care about being a world champion. Corbin mocked Reigns and challenged him to come to the ring. He admitted Reigns wasn’t there but promised to defeat him in the main event later.
In the back, Kayla Braxton interviewed Kofi Kingston and Big E. They have a message to the injured Xavier Woods. Big E told Woods not to drop the soap, but Kingston pointed out Woods isn’t in jail. They promised to defeat The Revival and become seven times tag team champions.
The New Day defeated The Revival to win the SmackDown tag team titles
Before the match, they announced Raw tag team champions The Viking Raiders vs. NXT tag team champions Undisputed Era vs. SmackDown tag team champions The Revival at Survivor Series. Cole noted if New Day wins, they’ll be in the match instead.
Kingston went for a quick pin to get the early win. The heels tried to isolate Kingston, but he fought back and tagged in Big E. New Day were firmly in control when Dash Wilder injured his knee. He clutched his knee as they cut to commercial.
Back from the break, Big E hit a bell-to-belly suplex on Wilder. During the break, Wilder revealed the knee injury was a fake and tricked Big E. Kingston ran wild and hit a dive to the floor. The Revival hit a superplex/splash combo for a near fall. Wilder went for a tornado DDT on Kingston, but he fought back and hit the SOS for a two count. The heels took back over and hit a double draping DDT for a close near fall.
The finish came when The Revival went for the Shatter Machine on Big E, but Kingston made the blind tag. Big E held Wilder as Kingston hit the trouble in paradise to win the titles. On commentary, Corey Graves claimed Kingston no longer has to have doubts about his career because of this win.
In the back, Roman Reigns arrived at the arena and ran into Shorty G. He told Reigns about King Corbin’s comments.
Backstage, Sami Zayn approached Daniel Bryan. He noted he asked Bryan to join him and Shinsuke Nakamura. Zayn claimed Bryan would have won the NXT championship last week if he was in his corner. He pointed out that Cesaro & Nakamura take on Ali & Shorty G later, and he wants Bryan to watch closely.
Heavy Machinery was in the ring, waiting for their opponents. Suddenly, Imperium (WALTER, Fabian Aichner, Marcel Barthel & Alexander Wolfe) from NXT UK jumped the faces. New Day and a bunch of other guys ran out for the save. Imperium ran off.
Kayla Braxton interviewed SmackDown Woman’s Champion Bayley and Sasha Banks. Bayley noted NXT Woman’s Champion Shayna Baszler jumped her last week. She pointed out that it was Bayley and Banks that put the NXT Woman’s division on the map. Banks promised to defeat Nikki Cross later, and Bayley promised to beat Baszler and Becky Lynch at Survivor Series.
Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro (w/Sami Zayn) defeated Ali & Shorty G
Daniel Bryan came out to watch the match. The heels had the early advantage, and isolated Shorty G. Shorty G fought back and attempted a tag, but Csearo caught him. He went for the victory roll on Cesaro and made the tag.
Ali ran wild and hit a huge tornado DDT for a close near fall. Shorty G suplexed Nakamura out of the ring, but Cesaro nailed Shorty G with an uppercut. Ali attempted a crossbody, but Cesaro caught him. Nakamura attempted the Kinshasa, but Ali hit a superkick. Ali climbed to the top, but Zayn interfered, and Cesaro pushed Ali off the top. Nakamura then hit the Kinshasa for the win.
After the match, Zayn invited Bryan into the ring, but Bryan walked off.
Sasha Banks defeated Nikki Cross
Banks has a new remixed version of her theme song, which now features Snoop Dogg. Bayley joined the commentators during the match.
Banks had the early advantage and choked Cross on the middle rope. Bayley was very impressed. The fans started singing at Bayley, but she wasn’t impressed.
Cross fought back and hit a crossbody off the apron onto Banks. Suddenly, Cross jumped Bayley at ringside. Bayley interfered, and Banks regained control. Cross fought back, and Banks rolled out of the ring.
Back from the break, Banks hit a double knee for a near fall. Cross fought back and hit a tornado DDT. She followed up with a splash and bulldog. Cross attempted a crossbody, but Banks rolled through into the Bank Statment. Cross reversed, but Banks rolled her up for a near fall.
Cross went for the neck breaker, but Banks hit the backstabber into the Bank Statement for the win.
After the match, Bayley attacked Cross. Suddenly, NXT Woman’s Champion Shayna Baszler ran out and attacked Bayley. It took a while for Banks to run back for the save. Baszler ran off as the fans erupted into an “NXT” chant.
In the back, Sami Zayn spoke with Daniel Bryan. He told Bryan to forget about the Yes Movement and the Yes chant. He asked Bryan to join them.
Suddenly, the lights went out, and the red light came on. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt was standing behind Bryan, and he attacked him with the Mandible claw.
They recapped Tyson Fury vs. Braun Strowman from Crown Jewel.
Tyson Fury made his way down to the ring. He talked about traveling all over the world and ran down some of his victories. Fury feels great to be home. He spoke of his fight in February but noted he has unfinished business with Braun Strowman.
Strowman made his way down to the ring. Fury thanked Strowman for the match at Crown Jewel, and they shook hands. He noted if they fight again, it should be as a tag team. Strowman liked that idea, and so did the fans. He said there’s nobody stupid enough to face the two of them. The B Team’s music hit, and they made their way to the ring. Curtis Axel said they’re stupid enough to accept the challenge.
Fury and Strowman beat down the B Team together. Strowman ran around ringside and ran the heels down. Fury rocked Bo Dallas with right, and Strowman took out Axel with a power slam.
They recapped King Corbin attacking Roman Reigns on WWE Backstage.
Carmella & Dana Brooke defeated Fire & Desire
The winning team joins Sasha Banks and Team SmackDown at the Survivor Series.
The heels had the early advantage and isolated Carmella. Fire & Desire attempted a double suplex, but Carmella fought back. Sonya Devilla regained control with a kick to the head. Dana Brooke got the hot tag and ran wild. Brooke scored a near fall, but Mandy Rose broke up the pin attempt.
Brooke sent Deville into the ring steps. She sent Deville back into the ring and hit the Swanton Bomb for the win. Brooke and Carmella join Team SmackDown at Survivor Series.
King Corbin defeated Roman Reigns
Reigns clotheslined Corbin out of the ring before the bell. Reigns beat Corbin around ringside and in the ring. Corbin had a brief advantage but Reigns took back over with a big boot. Reigns set up for the Superman punch but Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler ran down to ringside.
Reigns attacked them both but Corbin gained control and scored a near fall. Corbin followed up with a hard clothesline for another near fall. Reigns fought back and hit a flying clothesline for a two count. He set up for the Superman Punch but Roode caused a distraction.
Ziggler tried to attack Reigns but he fought them both off. Reigns hit the spear on Ziggler but Corbin hit the End of Days for the win.
