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Credit: WWE.com
Marching to TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs on December 22, Roman Reigns responded to Kevin Owens just a week after WWE’s The Prizefighter sent him a loud message at the expense of Jey Uso.
On Friday night, Reigns and Uso teamed up to fight Owens and Otis in a successful tag team main event.
Who came out victorious and how did that affect the momentum ahead of the spectacular 2020 finale?
Find out with this recap of the December 4 episode.
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Credit: WWE.com
A touching tribute to the great Pat Patterson gave way to Roman Reigns, Paul Heyman and Jey Uso who kicked off Friday’s show.
Kayla Braxton wasted little time asking the tribal chief if he feared Kevin Owens. After apparently laughing at the question, Reigns watched as KO headed for the ring.
The alleged No.1 suitor, refusing to wait for the scheduled main event of the evening, launched a table, ladder and chair match for the December 22 pay-per-view. Uso jumped up and accepted the match, much to his cousin’s dismay.
Reigns refusing to engage his enemy with Braxton in the ring chose to go up the ramp.
Owens ended by saying that there might be a woman in the ring but Reigns is a slut.
Classroom
A
Analysis
Uso’s reactionary acceptance, Owens’ attempt to get Reigns to lose his temper, and The Head of the Table’s constant demeanor in the face of confrontation helped make this a good start for SmackDown.
Everything Reigns and Uso have touched has been gold for the past three months, while Owens elevates every segment he’s a part of.
While it would have been nice to see Reigns and Owens have more time to build a real feud, their match at TLC is shaping up to be the show stealer, especially considering the bar they’ve set themselves with. their previous meetings.
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Credit: WWE.com
A week after Bayley grabbed Bianca Belair’s right hand during the EST match with Natalya, The Role Model fought the Queen of Harts as her new rival watched from the commentary position.
Natalya took control early before the break by sending the longest-running SmackDown Women’s Champion in history up the Steels. Returning from the break, Bayley traded counters and setbacks with his third-generation opponent.
A late-game distraction by Belair and a sniper from Natalya proved the one-two punch that ended Bayley’s night on a sour note in what Corey Graves called upset.
Result
Natalya defeated Bayley
Classroom
VS-
Analysis
WWE took a page out of AEW’s playbook, for the worse, as the majority of this Women’s Division matchup took place during the commercial break. It’s a big disappointment given the talent in the ring and the opportunity for Belair to establish his personality on the mic.
The lack of actual screen time, not to mention storyline development, hurts it exponentially.
The bright spot? Bayley against Belair will reign.
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Credit: WWE.com
Another Patterson tribute, this one to Frank Sinatra’s “My Way”, gave way to a six-party tag team match with former intercontinental champions on both sides. Daniel Bryan, Rey Mysterio and Big E clashed with Dolph Ziggler, Shinsuke Nakamura and current champion Sami Zayn.
The babyfaces worked on Ziggler early on, but a distraction from Zayn gave The Showoff a momentary reprieve. Bryan cleared Zayn at ringside with a top, but opened up to a dropkick from Ziggler that sent him to the ground before another commercial break.
Returning from the break, the action fell apart as contestants took turns hitting their signature thing.
Late Zayn blinded Ziggler. Bryan blew up The Showoff with a running knee and the champion attempted a devious rollup. Bryan replied in the YES! Lock, but Zayn barely reached the bottom rope to force the break.
A streak of pin attempts, culminating with a small packet from Bryan, ended the game with a victory for the babyfaces.
After the match, Ziggler pushed Zayn and Nakamura to charge their opponents, only to find themselves at a 3-1 disadvantage. He begged before taking the Atomic Drop from Bryan, a 619 from Mysterio and a Big Ending from Big E in a sequence that Patterson himself would have been proud of.
Result
Big E, Bryan, and Mysterio beat Ziggler, Nakamura, and Zayn
Classroom
A
Analysis
Classified as a traditional match, it clearly lacked a heat segment to really tie everything together.
Limited in time and determined to pay homage to Pat Patterson, his love for a good finish and crowd-pleasing spots, said heat segment was stretchy in the name of hitting all the high notes.
Ziggler paid homage to Patterson with his post-match antics, Bryan clinched a victory over Zayn to reignite their IC title rivalry and Big E was allowed to show off in his renewed singles push.
Given the circumstances, it’s hard to argue that it didn’t do exactly what he intended.
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Credit: WWE.com
Michael Cole conducted a split-screen interview with SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks and Carmella.
What started as a pedestrian exchange of taunts and bangs gave way to Carmella accusing Banks of being jealous that the Princess of Staten Island could have waltzed into the WWE Performance Center “on a whim” and become a superstar. of WWE, better than Banks, who dreamed of being a champion since he was a child.
The boss claimed Carmella had never met a “slut like” her and ended with one last sale for TLC pay-per-view.
Classroom
B
Analysis
Don’t look now, but Carmella has eclipsed Banks here.
The former champion casually admitting that she became a WWE Superstar on a whim and achieving everything she did as Banks childhood dreamed of being the best and had to scratch and blast her way to the top was a great job of dismissive heel character.
The banks were clearly annoyed / irritated by Carmella speaking so candidly and this added to the overall effect of the segment.
Who knows what their pay-per-view match will look like, but don’t be surprised if Carmella is made to prove that she belongs to Banks, as The Blueprint works to prove that she can steal the show against opponents not named Asuka or Bayley.
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Credit: WWE.com
The burgeoning rivalry between Murphy and King Corbin continued this week as the NXT alumni battled in singles. Dominik, Rey and Aliyah Mysterio accompanied the former disciple while Corbin was assisted by two new associates, dressed in black hoodies.
A momentary distraction by these mysterious cohorts allowed Corbin to lead Murphy into the ring apron and then throw him over the timekeeper’s position before the commercial break.
Graves revealed it was Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake in the hoodies, recalling their status as a member of The Forgotten Sons. The heavyweights faced off against the Mysterios at ringside as Corbin hammered that partner, punishing him with hard rights to the head.
Murphy shook Corbin with a knee but, before he could gain momentum, Cutler and Blake attacked Rey and Dominik. The Aussie tried to help but collided at the end of Days as Corbin claimed the victory.
Result
Corbin defeated Murphy
Classroom
VS
Analysis
Cutler and Blake shaving and quitting the Forgotten Sons is the best thing that can happen to their careers. They are talented contestants who have been caught in a controversy and have had their futures called into question. Back now, they have the opportunity to add to Corbin’s act while improving an already strong team division.
While Corbin vs Murphy isn’t particularly flashy, it keeps both men busy and Mysterio’s story profile elevates him beyond what it would have been otherwise.
They have strong enough chemistry and will likely deliver quality match with no ad breaks right in the middle to hurt the flow. A six-party team game shouldn’t be out of the question either.
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Credit: WWE.com
The actions have consequences, warned Jey Uso after the latter’s overzealous acceptance of a match on behalf of his cousin. Those consequences manifested in the form of a two-on-one handicap match against Otis and Kevin Owens instead of the advertised team headliner.
Otis and Owens tackled Uso until the heel delivered a Samoan Drop at the right time. Reigns came along quite easily as Uso turned the tide, taking his place on the ring apron.
Reigns rocked Otis with a Superman Punch, slammed him into the announcement table, then down the steel stairs as the Universal Champion vented his frustrations on the Blue Collar Brawler. Reigns led the stairs into Otis and Uso grabbed Owens in the break.
Reigns rocked Owens with a jumping clothesline and Uso added an uppercut after the trade timeout. “It’s your problem, Kevin Owens: you talk too much!” Exclaimed Uso.
Owens slowed the heel momentum, delivering a Samoan Drop to Uso that left Reigns in dismay on the apron. He got in in time to deliver an uppercut in a Jey superkick. The tribal chief ordered Uso to score, but Owens caught him with a stunner instead,
Reigns broke the pin and applied the guillotine to pull the disqualification. Reigns stared at a hole in Uso, who grabbed a pair of ringside chairs. The heels landed on Owens with a barrage of chair kicks and Uso added a top rope splash as an exclamation point on the assault.
Reigns beat Uso’s unholy hell, the “consequences” of his earlier actions.
“You and your family are going to be afraid of me,” Reigns said before standing to close the show.
Result
Owens defeated Reigns and Uso by disqualification
Classroom
A
Analysis
Owens pushed, pushed, and pushed Reigns until the tribal chief responded with a vicious assault, then took out his frustrations and anger at his own cousin. The not-so-veiled threats he made to Owens’ family were a nice touch, especially since he objected to KO trying to separate his family.
Best of all was Reigns, earlier that night, claiming he wouldn’t take matters into his own hands because a woman was present, then proceeded to beat everyone up while the female fans watched. This was yet another example of Reigns speaking out of both sides of his mouth, something all high heels do with varying degrees of success.
Right now he completely owns this character with huge effect.
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