WWE SmackDown
Episode 1052
#SmackDown
Original Air Date: October 18, 2019
Event Date: October 18, 2019
(aired live on Fox)
City: Indianapolis, IN
Venue: Bankers Life Fieldhouse
Commentary: Michael Cole, Corey Graves
Ring Announcer: Greg Hamilton
Intro Video
“Are You Ready” by AC/DC
Match 1
Intercontinental Title Match
Roman Reigns vs Shinsuke Nakamura (IC Champ) w/ Sami Zayn
(referee: Dan Engler; guest commentary: Sami Zayn)
Result: Roman Reigns wins via pinfall after Baron Corbin attacks him
Time: 8:23 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Good match. I didn’t really think this match would have a definitive ending, and the finish didn’t surprise me. I liked the action fine though. I really liked that Nakamura kicked out of the Superman Punch (even if he got beat up a lot towards the end of the match).
Ring Area
After the match, Baron Corbin hits Reigns with Deep Six. A few seconds later, Daniel Bryan runs to the ring and attacks Corbin. Nakamura gets involved, and Bryan takes Nakamura down as well. Bryan attempts to go for a dive, but Sami Zayn grabs Bryan’s leg from ringside. That distraction allows Nakamura to kick Bryan. Nakamura, Zayn, and Corbin leave the ring area together as Reigns and Bryan slowly get back up.
Backstage
While New Day sings, Tucker Knight sets down a table in front of them. Tucker wants to build some camaraderie while lifting Kofi’s spirits after losing the WWE Title. Kofi says he’s fine because he has the power of positivity, but we can see that he’s grinding some pancakes in his hands as he speaks.
Otis Dozovic walks up. He’s wearing trunks and an apron with a bikini-girl body on it, and he’s stirring some pancake batter. Otis offers some to New Day, but they don’t want to eat so close to their match. Otis has no problem eating though, so he dumps a bunch of batter on his face and beard. New Day is simultaneously grossed out and intrigued.
Backstage
Kayla Braxton wants a word of explanation from Baron Corbin for what he did to Roman Reigns. Corbin just puts on his crown and walks away.
Video
We see a video explaining why Chad Gable is now “Shorty” Gable.
Match 2
Shorty Gable vs Curtis Axel w/ Bo Dallas
(referee: Jason Ayers)
Result: Shorty Gable wins via submission with an ankle lock
Time: 1:57
Match Thoughts
This was kind of a squash. Unsurprisingly. I appreciate that Gable is getting air time and is winning some matches, but this could have been a more competitive match and both men still could have come off looking good.
Ring Area
After the match, Kayla Braxton enters the ring and asks Gable about his height. Gable says his height is what makes him who he is. Gabe thanks everyone who ever made fun of him.
Ring Area
Hulk Hogan joins Corey Graves and Michael Cole like via Skype. Hogan says everyone wants to join his team. By the end of the night, Hogan will reveal his team captain. Hogan’s side of the conversation totally wasn’t taped beforehand, and Graves and Cole totally weren’t rehearsed.
Match 3
Heavy Machinery & Xavier Woods & Big E w/ Kofi Kingston vs Robert Roode & Dolph Ziggler & The Revival (SD Tag Champs)
(referee: Ryan Tran)
Result: Xavier Woods pins Scott Dawson after the Midnight Hour
Time: 7:25 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Good, fun match. Heavy Machinery and New Day started with some good offense, and they had a nice sequence with Big E and Otis working together. The Revival, Roode, and Ziggler started to get in some offense of their own after that. As the match went on, The Revival seemed to stay out of the way and allow Roode and Ziggler to take a lot of the damage. Then Otis came in late in the match to start a fun finishing sequence.
Backstage
Kayla Braxton welcomes Daniel Bryan. Bryan saids he doesn’t care about getting beat up or about draft picks or anything else like that. All he cares about is his first fight on Friday Night SmackDown later tonight.
Backstage
Bayley walks slowly with her title belt.
Video
Ali wants to tear down barriers and show everyone the light.
Ring Area
The Miz is in the ring for Miz TV. He wastes no time introducing his guest, Bayley.
Sasha Banks accompanies Bayley down to the ring. Sasha says she is here to support her best friend, the first-ever women’s grand slam champion (having won the RAW, SmackDown, NXT, and tag titles). Miz then shows footage of Bayley making a kid cry (and also beating Charlotte for the SmackDown Women’s Title).
Miz asks Bayley, “why?” Bayley says she doesn’t owe anyone an explanation, but Miz won’t stop asking. Kiz tries to get under Bayley’s skin, so Bayley responds. Bayley says she gave and gave week after week, and all people did was take. When Bayley lost her title at Hell in a Cell she was hurt and crying, but no one was there for her. Bayley strove to be a role model for others, but no one was there for her. So she won her title back.
Bayley says the women’s division is lazy and lacks passion. She used to be what “they” wanted her to be, but she has outgrown them. Bayley offers an inspirational quote, then Nikki Cross comes out to the stage. Nikki says the time for talking is done, and the time for action is now. After Nikki wins tonight, she’ll give Bayley a great big hug.
Dana Brooke comes out next. She says what drives her is the fact that she’s been underutilized and overlooked. Tonight marks a new beginning. The flex appeal is here on Friday Night SmackDown.
Match 4
SmackDown Women’s Title Number One Contender Six-Pack Challenge
Nikki Cross vs Dana Brooke vs Lacey Evans vs Mandy Rose vs Sonya Deville vs Carmella
(referee: Dan Engler; at ringside: Bayley, Sasha Banks)
Result: Nikki Cross pins Mandy Rose after a swinging neckbreaker
Time: 6:01 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
This was fun. With so many women in and out of the ring, the action was fast and focused on multiple spots, one after another. Standouts for me were Dana Brooke and Nikki Cross. I also enjoyed the finish and the outcome. I’m looking forward to the title match that will come out of this.
Video
A look at Braun Strowman.
Video
A look at the feud between Seth Rollins and Bray Wyatt.
Match 5
Braun Strowman vs Drew Gulak
(referee: Danilo Anfibio)
Result: Braun Strowman wins via pinfall after a running powerslam
Time: 3:09
Match Thoughts
Of course this was a squash. I was initially dismayed to see Gulak get the jobber entrance as prey for Strowman, but Gulak did get on the mic at one point during the match. So that was fun, even if we did only get to see about 0.003% of Gulak’s PowerPoint presentation…
Match 6
Daniel Bryan & Roman Reigns vs Shinsuke Nakamura (IC Champ) w/ Sami Zayn & King Corbin
(referee: Jason Ayers)
Result: Daniel Bryan pins Shinsuke Nakamura after a running knee strike
Time: 6:11 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
This was fun. It was pretty straightforward as far as these kind of thrown-together tag matches go. Daniel Bryan did a lot of the work for his team while Reigns got to pick his spots. Nakamura and Corbin worked together fairly well as a team, but this was mostly a match of four individual efforts. It was a nice, kind of forgettable main event.
Show Impressions
This was a pretty good show. There were a couple of squashes, but even those were interesting for one reason or another. I liked it.
Match of the Night
Six-Pack Challenge
The eight-man tag match was also fun and probably at least just as good. My initial reaction is that I enjoyed the women’s match slightly more though.
Official Results: https://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/2019-10-18