WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from December 10
On the road to WWE Day 1, Raw tag team champions Randy Orton and Riddle made a rare Friday night appearance as they battled The Usos and New Day's King Woods and Kofi Kingston in a blockbuster triple threat tag match.
However, the match between Naomi and Sonya Deville was the most hotly anticipated bout of the night.
Did the former women's champion earn a measure of revenge against the crooked WWE official, or did Deville further frustrate her and stunt her growth on the blue brand?
Find out the answer to those questions and more with this recap of the December 10 broadcast.
Sami Zayn Started SmackDown, Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar Interrupted
Sami Zayn, the former No. 1 contender to the Universal Championship, kicked off the show in a wheelchair, accompanied to the squared circle by two nurses following the brutal assault dealt him by Brock Lesnar on last week's episode.
Zayn called himself the toughest man in WWE because it took both Lesnar and Roman Reigns to put him in his current state. He said it wasn't the suplexes or the F-5 that hurt most about what Lesnar did to him; it was the betrayal.
Paul Heyman interrupted with "ladies and gentlemen" before apologizing to fans for subjecting them to Zayn's whining and complaining. Heyman addressed the fans, but a defiant, angry Zayn interrupted, revealing that Reigns isn't here and threatening to beat the special counsel up.
Instead, Brock Lesnar's theme played, and The Beast Incarnate made his way to the ring. He produced a chair and sat across from Zayn as chants of "Suplex City" rained from the stands. Lesnar joked with Zayn, appealing to the injured competitor, before inviting him to Saskatchewan to go hunting.
"Actually, Brock, I'm vegan," Zayn said.
An infuriated Heyman reminded Lesnar that the interaction would have been an instant trip to Suplex City rather than fun and games. An impassioned rant gave way to The Beast unleashing hell on the male nurses, then Zayn, culminating with an F-5. Lesnar headed up the ramp as the show went to commercial.
Grade
A
Analysis
Lesnar and Zayn's reactions over the last two weeks have been absolute gold. The over-the-top conspiracy theorist and the ass-kicking destroyer have remarkable chemistry given the dichotomy of their characters. Lesnar yucking it up despite the real sense of terror that accompanies him makes for great television. That Zayn knows his place and plays his role so well only helps the overall quality of the segment.
Heyman was great here, too. Calling for the return of The Beast Incarnate, inadvertently waking him up ahead of Day 1 and his match with Reigns, is a great bit of booking and reignites questions about Heyman's loyalties heading into the latest match between his most recognizable charges.
Thumbs way up for this segment. Everything Paul E. touches has turned to gold over the last year.
Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs vs. Los Lotharios; the King's New Crown
The rivalry between intercontinental champion Shinsuke Nakamura, Rick Boogs and Los Lotharios continued in tag team action as The Artist and his guitar-playing bestie battled Humberto and Angel.
The one-minute, 38-second match ended with Boogs delivering an airplane spin to Humberto and Nakamura putting him away with a kick to the face and Kinshasa.
Backstage, Kofi Kingston revealed a new crown for King Woods, who cut an empowering speech ahead of the night's tag team main event.
Result
Nakamura and Boogs defeated Los Lotharios
Grade
F
Analysis
This served no purpose, added nothing to the feud and dismantled any credibility the heels built up over the course of the program.
Humberto and Angel look like fools for losing as quickly as they did, squashed by a singles champ and his sidekick. Whatever chance they had at building momentum went out the window with this match. If the issue was timing, why even bother putting it on the show given the damage it did to one of the teams involved?
A major booking misstep, unless the goal was to delegitimize Los Lotharios in one fell swoop.
Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus
Drew McIntyre stuck Angela in Adam Pearce's desk in response to being left out of the Black Friday Battle Royal two weeks ago.
Moments later, McIntyre and Sheamus unleashed hell on each other in a physical encounter in the night's next match. The Scottish Superstar took his opponent overhead and to the mat on the floor heading into the commercial, dominating the opening moments of the bout.
During the break, The Celtic Warrior turned the tide in his favor and delivered an Irish Curse for a near-fall coming out of the commercial. McIntyre responded with a wicked chop and the Future Shock DDT. He set up for Claymore, but Sheamus rocked him for a two-count.
Sheamus tried for the Brogue Kick, but McIntyre rolled him up for two. A brief exchange later and McIntyre delivered Claymore for the win.
Result
McIntyre defeated Sheamus
Grade
B+
Analysis
Sheamus and McIntyre are among the most underappreciated in-ring workers of this generation—their physical styles and impeccable timing make them assets to any roster on which they appear. Put them together and you're looking at a potential classic every time.
This wasn't quite that level, thanks to time constraints and an annoying commercial break right in the middle, but it was still an incredibly hard-hitting bout with a great finishing sequence and the right guy going over.
Give us more of this, with some Cesaro and Ridge Holland sprinkled in, and you have a recipe for strong pro wrestling.
Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss stealing Pearce's desk, complete with McIntyre's Angela stuck in, insinuates a feud over the stupid sword is up next for the Scottish Warrior—the exact opposite of kickass TV and the sort of thing Drew has earned better than.
Naomi vs. Sonya Deville and the Debut of Xia Li
Weeks of Sonya Deville's vendetta against Naomi culminated Friday night as the two women did battle in a hotly anticipated match. But first, the crooked WWE official revealed Natalya as the special guest ring announcer and Shayna Baszler as the timekeeper.
Naomi took the fight to Baszler, then rocked Natalya, ensuring the fight was one-on-one. When Deville tried stalling, Xia Li made her debut, coming face-to-face with Naomi. Together, they went after the heels, clearing the ring of Baszler and Natalya.
Deville, left alone, endured the wrath of the babyfaces. Li flattened her and Naomi set up for the moonsault, but the heel cronies rescued Deville from harms' way as the babyfaces stood tall, showing each other a sign of respect.
Result
No contest
Grade
B
Analysis
There was no better way to introduce Li as a big deal than by inserting her into the hottest women's feud on SmackDown.
She looked fantastic here. Her entrance was that of a star and the crowd responded to her as such. Positioning her opposite Deville will only help elevate her instantaneously.
The question is whether WWE can maintain the momentum it created here. Will a single lackluster reaction cause it to have second thoughts about the booking of the new star? It shouldn't. Li more than carried her end of the deal and performed up to the moment.
Let her run with the proverbial ball, and the result will be a new face the company can build feuds, title reigns and the division around, if it is smart and patient.
Toni Storm vs. Charlotte Flair
In a special Championship Contender's Match, Toni Storm looked to deal SmackDown women's champion Charlotte Flair a key loss in her quest to wrest the title away from The Queen.
A competitive sprint of a match saw Flair dominate the action early, delivering a standing moonsault for two. Storm answered with a German suplex that had the champ reeling, only for Flair to re-establish control. A relentless stomping of Storm on the ring apron drew a disqualification from the official before we could get a definitive victor.
After the match, Flair added an extra shot to really establish dominance.
Result
Storm defeated Flair via disqualification
Grade
C-
Analysis
This might be the most half-assed push in recent WWE history.
First, Storm is pied and does nothing about it. A week ago, she was relegated to using a pie of her own. Friday? She got her ass handed to her by Flair, only to score a "win" via DQ. Absolutely nothing from the start of this program to the latest chapter has done anything to establish Storm as a real threat or credible option to win the titles.
Some will argue just sharing the screen with Flair elevates her, but they would be wrong.
Flair looks like the bigger star, is treated as such and just unloaded an ass-kicking that gave Storm a fluke victory.
Unless the goal is to put Storm over Flair eventually, this is all for naught, because it is doing nothing to help the uber-talented Aussie.
Triple Threat Tag Team Match
The triple threat match to determine the best tag team in WWE saw Raw tag team champions Randy Orton and Riddle—otherwise known as RK-Bro—battle SmackDown tag team champions Jimmy and Jey Uso and New Day's King Woods and Kofi Kingston.
The Usos dominated the action, first working over Woods following a commercial break, then isolating Riddle. The Original Bro created an opening, but Jimmy pulled The Viper off the apron and to the floor, preventing the hot tag.
The match returned from the break with New Day working over Riddle, with the team not interested in Orton receiving the hot tag and knocking him off the apron to prevent it. Riddle finally escaped the clutches of his opponents and tagged in Orton to a thunderous ovation.
The Viper unloaded, wiping out Jey and slamming him face-first into the announce table. Consecutive side suplexes on to the commentary table felled the New Day and the draping DDT put Jey down. Jey recovered, rocked Orton with a superkick and teased the splash. Orton moved. He flattened Jimmy with the RKO, but the legal King Woods worked with Kingston to score the win over The Usos.
Result
New Day defeated Usos and RK-Bro
Grade
B
Analysis
This was probably longer than it needed to be, but with that said, it was a hell of an example of crowd manipulation.
All three teams expertly worked the hot tag spot, essentially making fans beg for Orton to get in there. When he did, he opened up a can of whoop-ass on the opposition and would have won had it not been for a heads-up play by Woods, who made the blind tag and partnered with Kingston to secure the win.
Some will question the booking of the finish, wondering why the show didn't let RK-Bro have that moment in their guest-starring role, but New Day is the SmackDown entity. Woods has been on a roll since winning the King of the Ring tournament. Letting him get that win with Kingston helps them establish momentum moving forward, rather than sacrificing a win in the name of putting two Raw guys over.
It may not have been the popular play in Los Angeles on this night, but it was the right one.