Smackdown Recap' of 22 November 2024

Hey everyone, it's Laure live from Luz' with the recap of Smackdown from November 22, 2024 !

How about we start this show with the rivalry that's currently catching everyone's attention? Yes, Solo Sikoa and his Bloodline are opening the episode with a little speech in the ring. The guy is confident, reminding us that we're just a week away from the WarGames and that they're more than ready to dominate their opponents. Sikoa claims that Roman Reigns, however, is clearly not ready. He's so unprepared that he hasn't even arrived yet! It's true that the OTC has gotten us used to waiting!

Anyway, Solo speaks directly to Reigns: "When you get here, we’ll need to meet at the end so you can finally recognize me." So, we'll check back later to see what happens, alright?

The tournament for the Women's US Championship continues this week, and still in the first round, we have a new Triple Threat match: Bianca Belair, Chelsea Green, and Blair Davenport are fighting for a spot in the next round. Our little Chelsea is sneaky as she tries to steal a pin from Belair, but all she gets is a one-way trip to the barricade!

While the match is ongoing, the giant screen lights up to show Jade Cargill backstage, unconscious on the hood of a wrecked car. Belair, in the middle of the fight, notices this and hesitates to finish the match but rushes backstage to find her friend, leaving Davenport and Green to finish in a 1v1. Chelsea hits an Unprettier before covering her opponent, securing her qualification for the second round. She will face Bayley, and sorry Chelsea, I like you, but I really hope you lose!

We then see an ambulance in the parking lot where Jade Cargill is being taken. Bianca Belair heads out with her friend while Naomi and Bayley are also there, visibly concerned about the situation (Honestly, Bayley, it's nice that you're showing compassion for these women after last week!).

LA Knight then faces off against Legado del Fantasma, this time going up against the leader, Santos Escobar, with the US title on the line. As the two competitors are about to start the match, a video of Shinsuke Nakamura plays. He says he's been watching Knight and knows him better than he knows himself. It's clear that things are starting to get complicated for the champion, and Escobar takes advantage of this distraction to strike Knight from behind, starting the match.

And just when we thought Nakamura was done, nope! He pops up on the entrance ramp during the match. Knight might have been distracted for a few seconds, but it doesn't stop him from maintaining control of the match, ending it with a BFT out of nowhere.

As soon as Knight wins, Nakamura gets in the ring to attack him! He slams him into the corner multiple times before leaving him on the mat, looking like a victim once again.

Backstage, the Motor City Machine Guns are with Johnny Gargano, trying to smooth things over with the champions. MCMG complain about Tommaso Ciampa inserting himself into their business, and Gargano replies that Ciampa just wants a rematch, so they might as well do it to calm things down.

But, hold on, that’s not how it works! MCMG spoke with Aldis, and after what Ciampa did, it's clear that the Street Profits deserve a title opportunity before them. Speaking of which, Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford join the trio to declare that they are the next challengers. Well, that was clear enough!

Still backstage, Nick Aldis and Nia Jax are in discussion. The general manager asks if the champion knows anything about what happened to Jade Cargill. Jax acts all offended, saying, "I was super busy, of course, I don’t know anything about it." With that, Jax leaves, and Aldis spots Cody Rhodes in the distance. He approaches him and asks where he's going. Rhodes responds, "To the face-off we set up with Kevin Owens. What else should I do?" Aldis says he's not sure Owens will show up since no one has seen him. Rhodes is confident and replies that Owens will be there.

And then, our undisputed champion makes his entrance to the ring, and once again, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. Rhodes directly calls Owens to join him in the ring. Kevin makes us wait a bit, making the champion repeat himself, and when he finally shows up, he doesn't join Rhodes in the ring. No, no, instead, he appears in the middle of the crowd.

Owens starts by saying he feels a bit insulted because he was summoned to come here tonight all because the great and handsome Cody Rhodes demanded it. So, for the occasion, he put on a great t-shirt, but Rhodes didn't even bother to wear his usual politician suit.

The champion ignores him and orders him to get in the ring (no pressure, right?). Owens has some fun: "What? You didn’t get what you wanted? So what? What are you gonna do? You wanna fight?" Before considering a fight, Kevin would like Rhodes to tell him why he's so mad, because after all, everything that’s happened is his fault. He continues, explaining that for four years, he fought the Bloodline, who tried to end his career, and then Cody came along. The two of them fought against the Bloodline, Owens was at WrestleMania, and he was proud and happy just like everyone else, but what? Cody Rhodes ended up teaming up with Roman Reigns, and that’s why all of this is the champion’s fault.

In response, Rhodes says that if Kevin wants to justify his actions by teaming with Reigns, he can, but that’s not really what’s going on. The truth is, Kevin needs to be the victim in this story: he sabotaged himself. He's obsessed with being number one, but let’s be serious! Let’s talk about Bash in Berlin!

Rhodes brings up that during their encounter at Bash in Berlin, Owens could’ve pulled the trigger, taken out his knee once and for all, and become champion, but he didn’t, and now he’s blaming him. Randy Orton was his friend, and with him, Owens crossed a line, so now he wants to fight him. It could be now, or in Owens' country at Survivor Series, or even at Saturday Night Main Event.

Kevin Owens, who definitely doesn’t want to please Cody Rhodes, says okay, but only when he’s ready. And when that happens, this time Owens will pull the trigger, because yes, Randy Orton was his friend, and he crossed a line, but he loved him. As for Cody Rhodes, he hates him.

With that, Kevin walks away, thinking the face-off is over, but Rhodes wants the last word: "I don't think you hate me. I think you hate yourself." Cody knows how far Owens is willing to go, and he won’t hold back either. Well, this rivalry is definitely heating up!

Meanwhile, the OG Bloodline has finally arrived in the arena and is in their locker room. Of course, the question of the fifth member comes up, and they’re so deep in the serious business that Cody Rhodes’ name is mentioned, but the Tribal Chief rejects it (and that’s probably for the best). Sami Zayn suggests trying again with Seth Rollins, but once again, Reigns refuses, and for once, he says more than three words: he believes they don’t need a fifth member, that the most important thing is that they’re together, and if they die tomorrow, at least they’ll die together (great vibe, huh?). Zayn is like, "Okay, no problem, but what’s the plan?" Roman Reigns admits he doesn’t know and says nothing more. Great leadership, Chief!

Backstage, we see Rhodes walking through the halls, passing by Carmelo Hayes, who throws a little jab his way, saying, "Finally, someone telling the truth." The champion quickly turns around to confront him. The tension rises between the two, and Rhodes is really fired up to fight (calm down, dude), but Nick Aldis steps in to separate them.

We return to the ring for a tag-team match: on one side, Bayley and Naomi, and on the other, Candice LeRae and Tiffany Stratton, accompanied by Nia Jax. The two teams don’t get along too well; there’s always a bit of an ego war playing out, which won’t help them (nothing new in the face of Bayley and Naomi's chemistry!). And it’s probably getting annoying for the champion since Nia Jax ends up interfering in the match, causing a disqualification.

It turns into a beatdown, which, as you can imagine, leads to a series of interventions. First, Iyo Sky comes in for the save, taking out Nia Jax. She gets neutralized by Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan, but Rhea Ripley arrives with a Kendo Stick to chase everyone away. Honestly, I really liked the moment when Ripley helps everyone up, and there's a bit of awkward tension between Bayley and the War Games trio of Sky/Naomi/Ripley. Some stories are definitely still unresolved!

Next, we move on to another match: Montez Ford versus Tommaso Ciampa for a showdown. Even though Ciampa is furious and full of rage, he gets caught in a Roll Up that gives Ford the win. Ciampa isn’t happy with the result (as usual) and attacks Ford after the match.

Angelo Dawkins comes to his friend’s aid, and then Johnny Gargano also steps in to try and calm things down. Once again, Ciampa isn’t receptive to the peace talk and violently shoves his friend to the ground, just like last week. It’s clear that Ciampa is ready to go further, but MCMG arrives to defend Gargano. The breakup is getting closer, my friends!

Finally, we arrive at the big event of the evening: another face-off between the two Bloodlines. Solo Sikoa kicks things off, promising that he’s not here to fight Roman Reigns. In fact, he still cares for him, but he needs to understand that if his little team joined them, they would be strong enough to dominate WWE for decades.

Right now, if we count it up, Reigns has no fifth member, no Wiseman, and no choice but to surrender. If he doesn’t, the four of them will die where they stand. Roman is about to respond but...

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"

Everyone turns to the entrance ramp where Paul Heyman appears, finally making his return, and maybe saving the day for the little OTC who can’t do anything on his own! Heyman reminds us that he was put through a table the last time he was on SmackDown, so maybe his math is a little off, but it seems like you can’t have a WarGames match with 4 VS 5. So, there will be a 5 VS 5... Oh really? And with who?

The answer comes in music: "LOOK IN MY EYES!!!" and here comes CM Punk, joining Roman Reigns’ entire crew for a fight between the two Bloodlines. The ring is cleared with Reigns and Punk particularly effective, and they end up face-to-face by the end of the show.

Punk and the Bloodline together — that's pretty cool, right? I wonder what little Rollins on Raw will think about this!

This was Laure with the Smackdown recap!

Avez-vous apprécié ce Smackdown du 22/11/24 ?

• Écrire une réponse
• Écrire une réponse