Sean Ross Sapp's Match Ratings, Notes For WWE Smackdown Live (10/31/17)

Opening segment

  • Shane McMahon basically describes Smackdown being upset about Raw because of draft pick numbers and such.
  • He announces himself as captain of the Smackdown Survivor Series team.
Leyla Hirsch Defeats Diamante In Bloody Texas Death Match At ROH Death Before Dishonor 2024

Two out of three falls match
Survivor Series qualifier 
Bobby Roode defeated Dolph Ziggler
6/10

  • This feels much more fun as a Smackdown match with stakes than a PPV match without any.
  • I continue to enjoy Roode's Blockbuster.
  • Ziggler wins the first fall in four minutes with a superkick, which makes me wonder why this stipulation is happening.
  • Second fall happens during the break. WELP. I kind of like that, but whats the point in the first falls being so short?
  • Ziggler lands a big DDT and Zig Zag for great nearfalls.
  • There's a great callback to their first few matches with tights holding, but Roode gets the win on a Glorious DDT.
  • 3 falls in like 11 minutes. 

Backstage crappenings

  • New Day are dressed as Jimmy Hart, Akeem and Brother Love, and Rusev isn't happy about it. This hilarious Halloween segment leads to a match being made and Aiden English singing. Joyous and fun all around.
  • The women's SS team is backstage and Ellsworth is dressed as a dog. He gets sprayed with water by Becky. HEH. Who says "YOU SEE" in casual conversation? Am I missing all this? Natalya puts a lot of pressure on Charlotte to get the win. 
  • Backstage, Gable and Benjamin reveal that they have a tag team title match next week, and could replace the Usos at Survivor Series. They then run back one of the shittiest promos of all-time -- Gable rapping.
  • Fashion Files is back. Fun as usual, but getting a little old to me.

Baron Corbin defeated Sin Cara via DQ

  • Newly re-signed Sin Cara.
  • I'd like to echo my sentiment about how good Corbin is at brawling. The commentary is shitty though, and screams "OH!" with every strike.
  • Cara and Corbin work well together.
  • Corbin is trying to yank Cara's mask off, and Cara whips Corbin's ass.
  • Can't wait for the "IT'S NOT BELIEVABLE FOR SIN CARA TO BEAT UP BARON CORBIN" comments. Those should be fun.
  • This qualifies as a REAL PROPER ass kicking.
  • Sin Cara talks about the importance of his backstage. He's muffled. Fix that shit. 

AJ Styles defeated Samir Singh (w/ Jinder Mahal and Sunil Singh)

  • Jinder Mahal cuts a promo on Brock Lesnar. I don't know what it is. His delivery, maybe the sour feeling of his whole run. He's just tuned out. 
  • Samir Singh gets tackled and kicked. Styles Clash. Real quick.
  • Jinder Mahal and The Singhs jump Styles. Styles sells like crazy for Jinder.
  • Jinder has a great heel look  -- face wise. He slings Styles into the ring post in a pretty good beating. 

Rusev (w/ Aiden English) defeated Big E (w/ New Day)
5.5/10

  • I miss seeing Big E as a singles wrestler. But he's wrestling as Akeem.
  • Tom Phillips calls Big E the "A"-keem. Shit.
  • Big E really eats it on a ringpost spot. 
  • "I wish you'd pretend you're Booker T, Byron, then I'd have a good commentary partner"- Corey Graves.
  • These two remind me of how nice the WWE Hoss Division used to be.
  • Aiden English and Xavier Woods have a song-off. Aiden eats the Big Ending, but Rusev wins with a kick.
  • This was a lot of fun. 
  • One of the greatest things is that Rusev has learned what "elated" means from Renee Young.

Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Kevin Owens 
Survivor Series Qualifier
6.5/10

  • We're seeing a rarely motivated Shinsuke Nakamura. 
  • He's laying in his strikes. 
  • There's some really good back and forth, and stiff shots from Nakamura. He's controlling the match, but Owens is getting some hope spots. 
  • I'm very surprised to see Nakamura take a super fishemerman's buster.
  • These two fit together very well. A shame we can't see it at the top of the card because the show is being hijacked for a market that WWE can barely charge for (until the next TV deal in India).
  • Sami Zayn saves Kevin Owens from defeat, which allows KO to hit a great frog splash.
  • Clearing off the announce tables is way less dramatic with those tiny LCD monitors.
  • Randy Orton makes the save and Nakamura wins. That was good stuff. 
  • Orton has made a table bump his signature.
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