SmackDown Results: Becky Joins WarGames Match, Cody Attacks Bloodline

November 17, 2023 John Kleinchester NEWS, Show Reports
Photo Courtesy: WWE

November 17, 2023
Ford Center – Evansville, IN

By: John Kleinchester

 

The New Damage CTRL 

This week’s edition of SmackDown kicked off with Road Dogg joining Michael Cole and Kevin Patrick on commentary. The new fivesome of Damage CTRL was out to the ring first. Bayley started off by claiming it was her plan to bring Asuka into the group as Asuka, Kairi, and IYO stood stone-faced. After a brief tease of kicking Bayley out, Bayley then offered Asuka a Damage CTRL shirt to make it official. The group challenged Charlotte, Shotzi, and Bianca to find a fourth partner for War Games. Suddenly Shotzi’s tank rolled out onto the stage with no Shotzi on board. Shotzi then appeared on the ropes taking the heels out with a splash. Then Charlotte and Bianca joined in and Damage CTRL fought the trio of faces off. 

Backstage, Bianca complained to Shotzi for being too impulsive. Bianca said Charlotte knew someone who could help them out and Nick Aldis entered saying he needed their fourth member by the end of the night. Aldis left and Cody Rhodes was spotted for a brief second in the background. 

As the night went on, potential teammates were approached by the faces and then beaten down by Damage CTRL later. These included Michin and then Zelina Vega. Finally, late in the night they realized what was happening and told Charlotte to “make the call”.

 

Triple Threat for a Tag Title Shot

The first match of the show was a triple-threat match between Pretty Deadly, The Street Profits, and The Brawing Brutes with the winning team getting an Undisputed Tag Team Championship next week on SmackDown. All three teams took turns gaining the advantage with Butch among the highlights with his multiple moonsaults to the outside. During the match, Bobby Lashley was shown backstage watching the match and was again approached by B-Fab but the camera cut away before the audience could hear what she wanted. The finish saw Butch accidentally Brogue Kick Ridge Holland which allowed The Street Profits to pick up the win with The Revelation. After the match, Ridge left Butch in the ring clearly frustrated with the mistake. 

LW Oh No

A recap was shown of Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar imploding last week and the announce team said that Mysterio was out for “several months” after knee surgery.

NXT’s Axiom Debuts, Awesomeness Ensues

A clip from backstage earlier in the day was shown with Dragon Lee saying he wanted more competition and Nick Aldis informed him that he brought up Axiom from NXT and the announcers explained that both men looked up to Rey Mysterio and wanted to honor him tonight. These two had a very high-energy fast-paced match with a number of incredible spots. Dragon Lee came out on top with The Operation Dragon. 

Santos Escobar

Santos Escobar was out next, coming out to his old Legado del Fantasma theme song. Santos was given the full Dominik treatment by the crowd and said “Never meet your heroes” and that Dominik was right. Escobar said Rey sided with an outsider like Carlito instead of him. Escobar then said he hoped that the surgery didn’t go well and he could never come back. This finally brought out Zelina Vega.

The two argued and Vega slapped him. With that Vega left crying and Cruz del Toro and Joaquin Wilde came out to the ring and Santos jumped them both from behind after telling them to get the hell out of the ring. Carlito then came out and made the save, sending Escobar retreating through the crowd. 

Later it was revealed that Santos Escobar would face Carlito at War Games next Saturday.

Grayson Waller vs. Cameron Grimes

Up next was Grayson Waller taking on the elusive Cameron Grimes, appearing from nowhere again this week. Austin Theory was on commentary for this match as beforehand we were shown the brawl between Theory, Waller, and Kevin Owens last week which led to Owens’ suspension. At one point in the match, Austin Theory tried to help Grayson Waller at ringside and caught a Cameron Grimes kick for his efforts. This distraction led Waller to be able to hit what Road Dogg called the “Dingo Driver” for the win in under three minutes. 

Jimmy Uso vs. LA Knight

A recap of Solo Sikoa defeating John Cena at Crown Jewel was shown. As we cut back to live, Solo was in the ring with Paul Heyman and Jimmy Uso. Heyman then teased that Cena was coming out but then said he would never appear in a WWE ring again thanks to Solo.

Heyman continued repeating himself multiple times as if he was stalling for time until finally, LA Knight interrupted and said that each member of The Bloodline would fall until it was just him and Roman left. He then said that Jimmy Uso was his first target since he cost him the Universal Championship. Their scheduled match was about to start when Paul Heyman received a phone call and suddenly Heyman and Sikoa left the ringside area.  LA Knight picked up the win over Jimmy with the BFT. This brought Solo back out and led to Knight getting hit with the Samoan Spike. Solo and Jimmy were about to put Knight through the announce table when suddenly Cody’s music hit and he ran down to make the save. After the break, Nick Aldis told Cody he had to leave and Cody apologized and left. 

 

The Fourth Member is… Becky Lynch

Bianca Belair and Shotzi approached Charlotte backstage asking what happened and Charlotte responded, “I called her but I don’t know if she’s going to make it in time”. And the three went to the ring (with individual entrances). Charlotte accepted the War Games match and was about to announce their fourth member when Damage CTRL interrupted saying they weren’t going to make it out of the building tonight. Suddenly Becky Lynch appeared from out of the crowd and a brawl ensued as the show went off the air. 

 

Announced for SmackDown Next Week (on FS1) in Rosemont, IL:

  • Undisputed Tag Team Championship: Judgment Day vs. The Street Profits
  • The Grayson Waller Effect with Kevin Owens

Friday Night SmackDown Results:

  • Tag Team Championship Opportunity: The Street Profits over Pretty Deadly and The Brawling Brutes in 10:58
  • Dragon Lee over Axiom in 9:29
  • Grayson Waller over Cameron Grimes in 2:42
  • LA Knight over Jimmy Uso in 9:20
About John Kleinchester 204 Articles
New Jersey born and raised. Wrestling fan since Lex slammed Yokozuna on the deck of the USS Intrepid. Favorite Wrestler of all time is Owen "The Rocket" Hart.
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