Veteran NFL writer and Pat McAfee Show contributor Mark Kaboly breaks down SmackDown and Raw with 10 takeaways.
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You think you know, but …: All signs point toward Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins being the fifth member of Roman’s Reigns Bloodline team for Survivor Series: WarGames following the surprising addition of “Big” Bronson Reed to round out Solo Sikoa’s Bloodline. But are we sure about that? All we got to go on from SmackDown and Raw was Rollins emphatically turning down The Usos and Sami Zayn’s plea to join them, assumptions based on Reed taking out The OTC on SmackDown, and Sikoa distracting Rollins in the main event of Raw to point to The Visionary putting aside his differences with his former Shield brethren. Rollins made it crystal clear that he wants nothing to do with anything that may allow Reigns to return to his tyrant ways. At this point, I’m pretty convinced it’s not going to be Rollins as the fifth member, and we likely won’t find that out until Nov. 30.
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What an ending: I couldn’t tell you the last time I tried calling somebody and got, “The number you have reached is not in service, this is a recording.” Is that still a thing? (I guess it is). We have been programmed to expect the end of either SmackDown or Raw to go off the air with Superstars in the ring. So, when then final minute of SmackDown had a defeated and out-of-options Reigns in his office backstage finally heeding the advice of the rest of his Bloodline to “make the call” just to get rejected by The Wiseman in a devastating way, added yet another layer to the storyline. Not only did it show the severity of Reigns’ current predicament, but it swung the pendulum back toward Paul Heyman as regaining some respect from The OTC if he indeed eventually helps Reigns.
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Never forget: It is becoming quite clear that Reigns burned a lot of bridges over his near-three-year reign as champion, so much so that he now pretty much must either go on a public apology tour soon or just be a loner, which isn’t very Samoan-like. In their attempt to fill out the WarGames roster, Jey Uso, Rollins, Heyman, Cody Rhodes, Bron Breakker, L.A. Knight, and Rey Mysterio have all had reservations or wanted nothing to do with Reigns personally. Jimmy Uso must still harbor bad thoughts about The Head of the Table days of Reigns and the only one who really wants anything to do with him, Zayn, can’t be trusted. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Reigns going it alone soon.
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Same but different: Anytime you say that you deserve an Oscar for your performance and bring up the revitalizing of The Marine series with yourself starring in The Marine 7, you are doing something right. “Do you think Chalamet ever bled for his art?” The Miz hit it out of the ballpark with his two-minute pre-taped promo with Karrion Kross and The Final Testament that should propel them past The Wyatt Sicks feud and into the WWE Tag Team Championship conversation. Kross being an undervalued in-ring worker as well as his special mic skills along with the savviness of The Miz makes this pairing so different that it’s fascinating. This wasn’t the conclusion of a produced two-minute segment, but weeks of buildup and years of experience.
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Best ever? We tend to live in the now, but point out to me a better promo from Cody Rhodes than what he delivered to kick off SmackDown? The Undisputed WWE Champion showed passion and anger toward Kevin Owens after causing “severe cervical trauma” to Randy Orton by administering the banned piledriver. Rhodes is slowly getting away from the “goody two shoes” persona that came along with winning the title last year at WrestleMania. This battle between Rhodes and Owens will be resolved in the ring soon enough (it will be a must-watch) and what makes this even more interesting is that there has been no mention of the impending match being for the title. It’s all about pure hatred and that’s more than good enough.
5
Making a name for himself: Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser continue to distance themselves from each other suggesting that a bigger role for Kaiser is on the horizon. After Gunther strongly suggested to Kaiser that he “make a name for himself,” he interfered with the Intercontinental Championship bout between Breakker and Sheamus – both of who he has a history with. It may not look like a good idea on paper for Kaiser to target strong and powerful individuals like Sheamus and Breakker and especially during a stunningly good match between the two on Raw, but Kaiser’s train of thought isn’t flawed. He hasn’t been in consideration for the title picture for some time now and to single out the IC Championship (and especially Breakker) will go a long way in determining his future status. Besides maybe ‘Dirty’ Dom Mysterio, with all due respect, is there a more punchable face on the roster than Kaiser?
4
Women’s WarGames: The card was set for the women’s side of Survivor Series: WarGames with Nia Jax, Tiffany Stratton, Candice LeRae, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez opposing Naomi, Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY. Unlike the men’s side, this isn’t a group rivalry more than individual rivalries. Now, there are some very interesting things that can come out of this – Rhea vs. Liv, Nia vs. Naomi, Liv & Raquel vs. Belair & Cargill – and that’s where this WarGames will likely take us. It’s different than the men but different doesn’t quite mean worse. Now, I would be concerned with keeping up with who is sore with whom while the match is ongoing but that’s more of a casual fan issue.
3
Business is about to pick up: L.A. Knight has been cruising ever since winning the United States Championship at SummerSlam in August, defending his title six times in his three-month title reign including most recently a SmackDown win over Legado Del Fantasma’s Berto after issuing an Open Challenge. With Andrade and Carmelo Hayes seemingly out of the picture for now for the US Title, the return of the dark and disturbed Shinsuke Nakamura throws an interesting wrinkle into title picture. Nakamura returned for the first time since April, sporting a new look and a surely a new attitude. Lost in all of this was Knight taking a swipe at the former titleholder Logan Paul by saying he’s a fighting champion unlike his predecessor who defended the title two times a year (actually, it was three). That’s not just a veiled shot. That’s foreshadowing.
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Little bit of both: The main event of SmackDown saw Jax put together one of her better matches, maybe her best since winning the WWE Women’s Championship, in a physical win over Naomi to retain her title. Even though there was so much outside stuff occurring during the match – Morgan and Rodriguez jumping Cargill and Belair backstage as well as Bayley, Stratton and LeRae getting involved – it didn’t take away with the performance the two put on inside the ring. A portion of that had to do with Naomi and her natural ability to enhance any match that she is in, but what Jax did can’t be dismissed. The body slam counter of the top rope was spectacular followed by the Samoan drop off the top road into the Annihilator. It was a match that helped both Superstars and it makes you wonder how long until Naomi wins the title. It’s been nearly eight years since her last singles title.
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Odds and ends: Before SmackDown, Triple-H announced the 12-Women Tournament for the newly created United States Women’s Championship set to be crowned at Saturday Night Main Event on Dec. 14. It sure appears that Cargill and Belair are on a collision course for the Finals. B-Fab may have lost in the first-round of the tournament, but it was far from a dominant performance from Bayley that suggests that B-Fab – who also came out to entrance music and had a backstage segment — is going to get some more opportunities soon. Tommaso Ciampa believing he’s been jumped in line by The Motor City Machine Guns is not only an interesting notion, but it’s true. Ciampa has been with the WWE for more than eight years and has tagged with Johnny Gargano for over a year. Reigns taking finishers from Reed, Sikoa, and Fatu on SmackDown needs to be acknowledged. Ripley coming back with a facial shield made her look more menacing. Gunther getting taken out with one kick by Damian Priest was, well, interesting. The Dakota Kai video hit right in the pocket.
