WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from November 5

Sonya Deville has been a thorn in Naomi's side for weeks, robbing her of a fair match and recently recruiting Shayna Baszler to do her dirty work. She relied on The Queen of Spades again Friday, booking the former women's tag team champion against Naomi in singles competition.

Did Naomi finally get one over on the WWE official, or did Deville have the last laugh, further stunting Naomi's championship aspirations?

The answer to that question, and what Roman Reigns had in store for the WWE Universe after missing the previous week's show, await in this recap of Friday's episode of WWE SmackDown.

Just over two weeks out from Survivor Series, universal champion Roman Reigns kicked off SmackDown, flanked by special counsel Paul Heyman and tag team champions The Usos.

Reigns revealed he took a vacation last week to celebrate "smashing Brock Lesnar" at Crown Jewel. "Tiny, little no-name town, acknowledge me," he demanded. Reigns recapped the past week, saying everyone had a bad time because he wasn't there. He then implored Heyman to tell him what else happened on the previous week's show, referring to The Usos' loss to The New Day in the main event.

After finding out it was Jimmy Uso who ate the fall, he asked his cousin what he was going to do about it. Uso vowed to make New Day acknowledge the Tribal Chief.

The New Day interrupted the promo. King Woods mocked Reigns' Head of the Table nickname and then the Island of Relevancy before issuing a challenge for later on the show: If Woods loses to Jimmy, he will acknowledge Reigns. If Woods wins, The Bloodline must genuflect to the King of the Ring.

Reigns accepted the challenge on behalf of his cousins.

Grade

B

Analysis

This was probably longer than it needed to be, but Reigns is so good and New Day is so fun that it picked itself up by the end and set up a big main event for later tonight.

You know you are doing something right creatively when a match between two perennial tag team competitors battling in singles competition comes across as a weighty main event.

Woods is great in the role of king, and New Day was having too much fun mocking Reigns. That will likely come back to haunt him.

Moments after crooked WWE official Sonya Deville took credit for awakening Naomi, the former SmackDown women's champion battled Shayna Baszler in a rematch from the previous week's show.

Naomi started fast and furiously, aggressively attacking The Queen of Spades in search of a long-sought-after win. Baszler downed her opponent heading into the break and dominated the action throughout.

Naomi fought back into the match, escaped the Kirifuda Clutch and rolled Baszler up for the win.

Or so we thought.

Deville appeared and announced that since Naomi grabbed the rope, it should have constituted a break. As such, the pinfall didn't count. She ordered the match restarted, and Baszler quickly applied the clutch for the submission win.

Result

Baszler defeated Naomi.

Grade

B+

Analysis

Deville is a great heel and is getting over this story more with every passing week. That Naomi has a history with the fans, a connection that is unbreakable at this point in her career, only makes things that much more effective. 

There will come a day when Naomi vanquishes Baszler and gets her hands on Deville, and when that time comes, the fans will react loudly and passionately.

For a division lacking in genuine stars beyond the Four Horsewomen, it is refreshing to see creative putting in the work to elevate Naomi and Deville in this manner. It's been a great midcard program to this point.

Backstage, Megan Morant caught up with Shotzi, one week after her brutal beatdown of Sasha Banks. The Ballsy Badass bit back against the title shots she's lost, the tag team partner she had to say goodbye to, the fans she's lost and the defeat at the hands of Charlotte Flair she believes Banks caused. She's going to run over anyone in her path, and she doesn't need a tank to do it, she said.

Back in the arena, the random team of Cesaro and Mansoor battled Los Lotharios' Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo.

The heels worked over Mansoor for the majority of the match before a tag to Cesaro popped the crowd and ignited a babyface comeback. The Swiss Cyborg ran over Carrillo, rushed around ringside and stunned Garza with a running uppercut. A springboard corkscrew uppercut followed as Cesaro fueled the onslaught.

A miscommunication spot that saw Cesaro bump heads with Mansoor gave way to the heels scoring the pinfall victory.

Result

Los Lotharios defeated Cesaro and Mansoor.

Grade

B+

Analysis

For a match that appeared to be thrown together to get the heels on TV, this was a hell of a lot of fun.

The heels have underrated chemistry, Mansoor is a great babyface-in-peril and Cesaro remains the most underrated wrestler on the planet.

Easily in the conversation for best in the world, he single-handedly elevated the quality of the bout the minute he received the tag from Mansoor. The dude is energetic, smooth and a superb technician. He should be doing more than he is, but if he gets to hit the ring every week and elevates whatever match he is involved in, then so be it.

Garza and Carrillo scored a huge win here and got their tag team push off to a hot start. It remains to be seen whether they can maintain momentum, but with a date against Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs almost a certainty following their recent actions, they should be a staple of SmackDown for the foreseeable future.

As for Shotzi, she hit her first promo out of the park. She was thoughtful, made valid points and set the stage for the heel persona we will see in the coming weeks. Her feud and inevitable matches with Banks should be a lot of fun and freshen up a division that needs it.

Drew McIntyre issued another open challenge Friday, and Ricochet answered. The One and Only, showing a confidence we haven't always seen from him, smacked the former WWE champion right in the face before the bell. He then proceeded to stick and run, avoiding his larger opponent's fury.

McIntyre dumped him on the apron, answered a standing Shooting Star Press and executed a brain-buster on Ricochet for a near-fall. As the smaller competitor scaled the ropes and came off with a moonsault press, McIntyre caught him in midair with a Claymore for the win.

Result

McIntyre defeated Ricochet.

Grade

C+

Analysis

This was too short to make the most of the talent involved, but it was still a fun sprint of a match.

McIntyre won the match, as was to be expected, but Ricochet made him look like a monster. He sold well and bumped like a champ en route to making the Scot look like he could step in and beat Roman Reigns tomorrow if he had to. He accomplished his goal.

The biggest takeaway was Mustafa Ali telling the interviewer backstage that he and Ricochet have a lot in common. After the break, Ali extended an offer to Ricochet to team up next week. Ricochet refused, calling Ali a jerk and reminding him of how he treated his former tag partner, Mansoor.

Happy Talk saw Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss welcome The Viking Raiders on Friday. It went about as well as expected, as Erik and Ivar said the show sucks and set up a tag match with the overbearing heels for after the commercial break.

Viking Raiders dominated the action early, but a timely clothesline by Corbin and a Deep Six to Erik for a near-fall. Erik created separation, tagged in Ivar, and the babyface badasses rolled. The former tag team champions had the win in hand when Corbin pulled Moss out of harm's way and bailed on the match, losing via count-out. 

Result

The Viking Raiders defeated Corbin and Moss.

Grade

C

Analysis

Booking Erik and Ivar against Corbin and Moss is a great way to ensure they are treated like babyfaces by the audience right out of the gate. The Viking Raiders were red-hot when they needed to be and had the crowd behind them.

What this needed was a finish and, probably, to be shorter.

Imagine the impact that could have been made had Erik and Ivar bowled over the heels and beat them decisively. It would have been a massive statement to the WWE Universe that they are a top-tier tag team and that not even a competitor like Corbin and his not-so-hilarious sidekick are a match for them.

Instead, we got a finish that suggests the feud will continue. That's fine, for now, but The Viking Raiders should end this program victoriously.

Sami Zayn vowed to show Hit Row how to make an entrance. He did just that, entering the arena with the over-the-top ska dancing we've come to expect from him. Hit Row arrived on the scene, feigned being friendly with him and then turned on him vocally. The newcomers stood tall to close the brief segment.

"Fix the problem," Roman Reigns demanded of Jimmy Uso before his match with King Woods. Jey Uso accompanied his brother to the ring, and Kofi Kingston seconded the 2021 King of the Ring.

Uso rocked Woods with a headbutt and sent him to the floor, seizing control entering the final break of the night. Back from the timeout, he continued his control of the match, stunning his opponent with a running knee to the face. Woods weathered the onslaught, fought back and delivered a running knee of his own. A baseball slide dropkick floored Uso as the king rolled.

A top-rope leg drop nearly earned Woods the win, but Uso shot his shoulder off the mat at two. Uso answered with a Samoan Drop off the second rope for a near-fall of his own. Later, a distraction from Kingston caused the referee to miss a rollup from Uso initially. Moments later, Woods scored a rollup of his own for the win.

After the match, Uso teased kneeling before Woods, but Reigns appeared from nowhere and rocked the winner with a Superman Punch. The Bloodline delivered a three-on-two beatdown that saw The Usos target Kingston's knees. The trio stood tall to close out the show.

Result

Woods defeated Uso.

Grade

B-

Analysis

This was a fun main event and a great way to cap off the show. The post-match beatdown was fierce and furious, as The Usos looked to send a message to New Day by way of Kingston's knees. Reigns challenging Woods to show up on the next show so he can show him what a king really looks like was a great touch and gives viewers something to tune in for.

With Survivor Series right around the corner and Reigns seemingly destined to battle WWE champion Big E, it makes too much sense that Reigns and his cousins would target New Day. Eliminate them, and you eliminate Big E's backup. It's a great bit of storytelling and something WWE isn't getting enough credit for.

Reigns vs. Woods should be fun—as should be The Tribal Chief's reaction to Uso failing him yet again.