WWE SmackDown Live Full Results, Grades and Highlights for October 24, 2017

Randy Orton Sami Zayn

INTRO: We get a replay of last night’s Raw: Under Siege. The apparently meaningless boundary between heels and faces is now Under Siege for the purpose of selling one pay-per-view.

OPENING SEGMENT: Shane McMahon shuffled to the ring as two of the three Raw announcers welcome us to SmackDown. Are they also Under Siege? McMahon admits to being busted up, but said he’s happy to be back in charge. A “welcome back” chant started up for the guy who was off television for an entire week. McMahon said his roster paid a visit to Raw in order to strike first in the brand vs. brand fight. Shane claimed he let AJ Styles stay for an extra night on Raw in order to lay the groundwork for the backstage assault. So that explains the presence of one guy out of like 15. While Raw was caught by surprise, McMahon declared, SmackDown is already prepared for its counterstrike.

Sami Zayn did a ridiculous impression of Sami Zayn’s ring entrance. This week’s performance featured bongo playing on the steel steps and Zayn skanking directly up in McMahon’s business. Zayn extended his hand to Shane to make amends after nearly getting him killed at Hell in a Cell; McMahon declined the olive branch. Shane kvetched about Zayn pulling Kevin Owens off the table during that match, then pulling him onto McMahon for the pinfall. Zayn told McMahon that if he was standing in the ring as a competitor instead of an authority figure, Sami would take him out in one second. As for the time being, however, Zayn proclaimed that he and Owens were volunteering to lead SmackDown into Survivor Series.

McMahon flatly told Zayn that he didn’t want them to represent his brand at Survivor Series. He did offer Zayn an opportunity: he could participate on the SmackDown team if he beat a mystery opponent. The winner would get the open slot. Zayn demanded to know his opponent; McMahon announced it was Randy Orton, then busted a move at Zayn.

New Day vs. Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin

The Usos sat at the announce table to watch their top challengers and provide the best commentary exchange of the night.

Michael Cole: “A matchup that is presented by Jolly Rancher – Keep on Sucking.”
Uce: *Pause* “What?”

Chad Gable headlocked and shoulder-blocked Xavier Woods to start the match. Woods leapfrogged Gable and hit him with a dropkick to the stomach. Both men tagged out. Shelton Benjamin and Kofi Kingston traded hammerlocks. Kofi flipped all the way through a monkeyflip, then showed off a Dikembe Mutombo fingerwave to tell Benjamin it wasn’t happening. Benjamin matched that feat by doing a full flip out of a monkeyflip. Kingston dropkicked him low, however, and New Day hit rapid-fire blows on a prone Benjamin, culminating in a Woods middle-rope elbow that gained a two-count. Back up, Benjamin suddenly Irish-whipped Kingston and followed him in with a clothesline over the top rope.

Back from break, Benjamin took over Kingston with a double-underhook suplex. He brought Kingston to his feet, but Kofi backflipped out of a move and planted Benjamin with a DDT to stem the tide. Both men tagged out. Woods dropped Gable with running forearms, then tossed him throat-first onto the middle rope and jumped up for a dropkick. Woods charged Gable, who backdropped him over the top rope to the apron. Xavier landed on his feet and launched himself through the ropes for his tornado DDT. Gable saw it coming and hit a flip kick for a two-count. Uce amused themselves by repeatedly pronouncing Shelton Benjamin’s full name in a boudoir R&B manner.

Benjamin entered the ring, and the duo slammed Woods with a double hip-toss that was modified into a double neckbreaker. Benjamin got a two-count. Frustrated, he went for a suplex, which Woods countered with a knee and a discus forearm. Two more strikes got Woods a two-count. He couldn’t keep down Benjamin, who sprang up and executed a spinebuster. Shelton tagged Gable, then got dropkicked by an interfering Kingston. Gable evened the odds by leveling Kofi with a top-rope clothesline. He got up and turned directly into some rights from Woods. Gable signaled for help, and Benjamin delivered with a leg strike to a running Woods from the apron. Gable covered Woods for the pinfall.

Upon replay, Benjamin’s kick hit Woods in the back, and looked more like a transition move than a finish. Pretty weak considering Woods got beaten mercilessly with a kendo stick at Hell in a Cell and still fought on. While he didn’t wrestle, Big E was sweating more than both of his teammates as he consoled them following their defeat.

Result: Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin beat New Day when Gable pinned Xavier Woods following a kick from Benjamin.

Grade: C+

Backstage, the women’s division discussed a potential reprisal from the Raw roster. Carmella walked up to ask if anyone had seen Ellsworth; no one had. Daniel Bryan wandered in to tell the wrestlers that they’d all be on the SmackDown team. Lana pointed out that there were six of them; Bryan thanked her for reminding him, and told her she was excluded. Great use of her talent there. He said that they’d present a unified front this year and win. The five participants would fight in a fatal five-way match tonight, with the winner becoming team captain.

Byron Saxton set us up for Fashion Files: Fashion Dogs. Decent opening credits scene with a suited Breezango striding through a parking lot, then dissing Viktor on a high-five attempt. Inside, Tyler Breeze asked Fandango why he couldn’t be Mr. Pink. Their argument was interrupted by the Ascension waving a gas can and dancing around a tied-up Ellsworth. Fandango asked Konnor if the can actually contained gasoline; the big man said he was just warding off thirst, then guzzled its contents. Viktor claimed that someone saw Ellsworth with the briefcase, so they were going to cut his chin off and see if he started talking then. Breeze stopped Viktor from menacing Ellsworth with plastic cutlery, then tore the duct tape off the hostage’s mouth to get some answers.

Fandango asked Ellsworth about the briefcase; Ellsworth barked back at him. As Ascension prepared to douse him in gasoline, Carmella entered and chastised Ellsworth for not helping her guard the Money in the Bank briefcase. Fandango apprehended the briefcase and opened it. He pulled out some disgustingly soiled underwear. Carmella yelled at Ellsworth that he was in big trouble, freed him, and marched him off. Grossed out by the nasty briefs, Fandango nonetheless slung them onto his shoulder. He and Breeze congratulated each other on another case closed. Ascension stated that they hadn’t solved the actual mystery of the briefcase, who attacked them, who trashed their offense, or the meaning of 2B. Breezango realized that things were about to get strangerer. Next week: Strangerer Things.

Bryan checked his phone for messages as we return from break. Fortunately, McMahon walked up to talk to him. Otherwise, that would’ve been a very boring segment. Bryan asked if they were going to talk about taking Raw Under Siege, as he was caught unawares. McMahon said they showed Raw who was boss. Bryan said he thought they were a team, and he wasn’t sure he agreed with Shane’s tactics.

Sin Cara vs. Baron Corbin

Snazzy new music for Sin Cara. Michael Cole lied by calling their encounter last week an “incredible match.” Corbin immediately drove Sin Cara into the turnbuckles and clotheslined him. He drove knees into Sin Cara in the corner. Corbin hurled Sin Cara across the ring with a beel. He picked up Sin Cara and beat on him with a knee and elbow, then stood on his opponent’s head. Corbin threw Sin Cara back into the turnbuckle. Sin Cara caught him with an elbow and two boots to the face, then dove over Corbin off the middle rope and landed strikes of his own. He springboarded off the middle-rope with a back elbow, sending Corbin out of the ring.

Sin Cara slammed into Corbin with two suicide dives through the ropes. Wonder why WWE announcers can call that move a suicide dive but not mention the phrase “title shot.” Sin Cara threw Corbin back inside the ring and went up top, nailing Corbin with a missile dropkick for a two count. Corbin rolled outside the ring. He caught his breath and found his fury, diving back into the ring and picking up Sin Cara. Corbin slammed his foe into the turnbuckles and stomped him down. He mounted Sin Cara in the corner and pounded him with right hands. The referee made a five-count to stop Corbin, and disqualified the U.S. champion for not obeying his directions to break contact.

Result: Sin Cara beat Baron Corbin by disqualification.

Grade: C

After the match, Corbin pulled Sin Cara out of the ring and brutalized him with End of Days on the concrete.

The Singh Brothers introduced themselves as the “advocates” for the reigning, defending, and undisputed SmackDown world champion, Jinder Mahal. Mahal called out Paul Heyman for lying. He’s not the first to do so. We revisited Heyman’s rollicking pronunciation of “Maharaja” from Monday night, as well as Brock Lesnar’s acceptance of Mahal’s challenge. Mahal boasted that he is Lesnar’s worst nightmare. At Survivor Series, he would show why the Maharaja Era has just begun.

AJ Styles vs. Sunil Singh

The referee tossed Mahal from the proceedings before Singh and Styles locked up. Styles blocked Sunil’s right hand and landed his own strike directly after the bell rang. As Styles prepared to execute a follow-up move, Samir Singh climbed onto the apron and got in AJ’s face. Styles grabbed him by the collar, then threw Sunil head-first into Samir’s gut, knocking him to the floor. AJ rolled Sunil into the Calf Crusher for the victory. It’s wasteful to make the erstwhile Bollywood Boyz useless in an actual match.

Result: AJ Styles beat Sunil Singh by submission via the Calf Crusher.

Grade: D

Sami Zayn geared up backstage for his match. Owens walked into their locker room. He informed Zayn that he had his own qualifying match for Team SmackDown next week. In seven days, Owens would fight Shinsuke Nakamura.

Backstage, Jinder Mahal approached Bryan and demanded an opportunity to gain vengeance against Styles. This granted opportunity would be bequeathed to Samir Singh next week.

Charlotte Flair vs. Naomi vs. Becky Lynch vs. Tamina vs. Carmella

The winner of this match would captain the women’s team at Survivor Series. SmackDown women’s champion Natalya entered the ring and stood center-stage. She coerced the ring announcer to proclaim her the greatest member of the Hart family in addition to women’s champion. Natalya smiled and basked in her own glory before exiting the ring. With her gone, the five combatants engaged in a free-for-all to start this match. Lynch and Naomi tried to double-suplex Tamina, who bore down to suplex them both. Tamina followed up with a superkick to Charlotte. Carmella overenthusiastically congratulated Tamina, who accepted her hand and used it to facilitate a Samoan Drop as we go to break.

Back from commercial, Carmella jumped on Tamina outside the ring. Tamina dropped her awkwardly against the apron before being struck by Charlotte. The Queen knocked the powerhouse down, then ran through Carmella with a big boot. Charlotte executed a follow-away slam on the concrete to Tamina. Becky Lynch stopped her friend’s momentum with a running forearm off the apron, then got smashed by a pescado from Naomi. When Naomi tried to follow up that high-risk move with a hurricanrana on Charlotte, Flair grabbed her waist to prevent the move, and whipped her into the barricade. Charlotte turned her attention to Tamina, prompting Lana to intervene. Charlotte clocked the Ravishing Russian, then received a superkick from Tamina, who whipped her over the barricade.

Lynch went after Tamina, who slammed her face into the ring apron. Tamina threw Lynch into the ring. When she went after her opponent, Naomi scored with a wrecking-ball dropkick, knocking Tamina to the concrete. Lynch took advantage by executing an O’Connor Roll on Naomi for a two-count. Naomi reversed the pinning combination, but Carmella resurfaced to grab Naomi by the hair and fling her into the ringpost. Carmella dodged Lynch’s offense and superkicked Becky for two two-counts. Ellsworth exhorted her to maintain control as he was leashed outside the ring. Carmella yelled at the crowd as she attempted to figure out her next move. She never made it, as Lynch seized Carmella and applied the Dis-Arm-Her for the submission victory.

Result: Becky Lynch tapped out Carmella with the Dis-Arm-Her. She will captain Team SmackDown at Survivor Series.

Grade: B-

Back in the great outdoors, the Bludgeon Brothers informed us that danger makes the impossible possible, and horror makes the unthinkable a reality. That’s some David Brent meets Clive Barker knowledge right there. Harper and Rowan claimed that down is up, up is down, dark is light, and light is dark. So their new gimmick is portraying the witches from Macbeth. They smashed the camera with their giant hammers.

Renee Young tried to interview Dolph Ziggler, who’s complaining about catchphrases this week. Roode walked up to Ziggler and smiled broadly. Ziggler asked if he thought they were friends just because they sneak-attacked the Raw roster together last night. Good to know that feuds mean nothing for the next month of WWE programming. Roode challenged Ziggler to a two-out-of-three falls match next week; Dolph accepted. Roode said “Glorious” and smiled broadly.

Randy Orton vs. Sami Zayn

This match meant we received two super-corny, great Zayn entrances in one night. A replay showed Zayn beating Orton last week with a low blow and Helluva Kick. Slow start to this match. The two tied up in the corner; Zayn offered a clean break. Another lock-up led to an Orton headlock. Zayn countered into an arm bar, then gave a second clean break (albeit one that included some insulting slaps to Orton’s chest). Zayn danced, then executed a go-behind. Orton countered into a top-wristlock. Sami pushed Orton in the corner, eschewing a third clean break for three chops. Orton hit back with a European uppercut, sending Zayn to the mat. Orton rocked Zayn with right hands and another uppercut, then stomped Zayn before issuing more uppercuts.

Zayn held the ropes during an Irish whip and escaped to ringside. Orton pursued him and threw him back inside, only to get hit with a kick by Zayn upon trying to follow. As Zayn pressed the advantage outside, Orton tried to whip him into the barricade. Sami vaulted to the top of it, then moonsaulted onto Orton, throwing his hands up in victory after coming down. We take our final commercial break.

Zayn maintained the advantage with a chinlock as we return to live action. Orton created separation with right hands, but was put back down with a heel kick to the jaw for a two-count. Zayn went for a suplex; Orton blocked, then lifted Zayn and dropped him onto the top rope. Orton fired up and clotheslined Zayn twice. He avoided a running clothesline from Zayn and powerslammed him. Orton went for the rope-drape DDT, but Zayn slipped out and pulled him to ringside. He tried to bounce Orton’s head off the apron, but Orton fought back with a kick and whipped him toward the announce table. Zayn leapt onto it in anticipation of another moonsault, but Orton pulled him right back onto the concrete and dropped him onto the table in a back suplex-like maneuver. Zayn came down high and hard there.

Orton brought Zayn back into the ring for a near-fall. Zayn sought refuge in the corner, then grabbed Orton and tried to overhead-throw him into the turnbuckle. Orton countered with elbows and threw Sami with a big fall-away slam for another two-count. Orton chased Zayn into the opposite corner. Zayn knocked him away with a boot, then jumped to the top rope for a cross-body-block that almost won the match. Both men made it to their feet; Zayn countered an RKO attempt with a backslide that netted another two-count. Sami hit Orton with a standing kick that knocked down Orton. He went to the top-rope again, but Orton stopped him with straight rights and delivered an impressive superplex for a near-fall.

A groggy Zayn bailed to ringside. Orton followed him, but was shoved into the ringpost. Zayn lined up his through-the-ropes DDT and got all of it. Zayn rolled into the ring as Orton struggled to beat the count. With Orton back inside, Zayn tried to end the match with a Helluva Kick. Orton sidestepped him, sending Zayn crashing over the top rope to the apron. Orton quickly grabbed Zayn and dropped him with the rope-drape DDT. He pounded the mat in anticipation of an RKO, leading Owens to run to the ring and interject himself into the proceedings. Orton caught Owens with a kick as he tried to enter through the ropes, and front-facelocked him for another DDT. Zayn rolled him up from behind for a believable near-fall. Owens pleaded to the referee that there should have been a three-count made there. As the ref argued with Owens, Orton gained payback on Zayn with a low blow. Orton stared down Owens at ringside as he lifted Zayn by the jaw, only to send him crashing back down with an RKO. He kept his eyes trained on Owens as he made the cover. Orton will join the SmackDown team at Survivor Series.

Result: Randy Orton pinned Sami Zayn with an RKO.

Grade: B+

Backstage, McMahon remarked to Bryan that they’d had a tremendous show and just gained the first SmackDown team member. Bryan said that Raw would eventually try to ransack their show, and Shane better be prepared for the consequences.

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