Old North Banter: Pre-Survior Series Smackdown Amazes

Jimmy Uso vs. Chad Gable

Before the match started, I pitied whoever had to follow Charlotte’s championship match. Smackdown’s Tag Team Champions,The Usos, built up the singles match between Jimmy Uso and Chad Gable by calling out Raw’s Tag Team Champions, The Bar. Normally, a promo before a match boosts up the adrenaline for a match. However, when it’s a singles match with nothing on the line, the energy never really picked up. Gable, accompanied by his tag-team partner Shelton Benjamin, put up a decent fight, but Jimmy ended the match with a super-kick and pin to take the win.

Prior to the match, however, the long-awaited debut of the newest WWE tag team was finally announced. Luke Harper and Erick Rowan will return to Smackdown next week as the Bludgeon Brothers.

New Day vs. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens

One of the first matches announced following Bryan and Styles’ promo was the matchup between the New Day and the team of Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. As soon as Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston, and Big E formed the New Day, the team became one of the WWE Universe’s favorite groups. Spreading the “Power of Positivity,” the New Day always brings the hype to the crowd, even if they aren’t wrestling.

Zayn and Owens, on the other hand, have a similar yet more complex story. The pair came through the ranks around the same time, but the two had a falling out that transformed into a rivalry. The two made up after Zayn saved Owens from the wrath of Shane McMahon, and the pair have shared a strong bromance ever since.

What do these teams have to do with what unfolded in their match? In the grand scheme of things, NOTHING.

The match itself, the wrestling was as great as they’d ever fought. Woods and Big E put up a strong showing against Zayn and Owens. After opening the match with the New Day going on a tag run while pummeling Zayn in the corner, their opponents turned the match around as Woods drew the ire of the team of best friends. The tide turned back toward the New Day’s favor once Big E tagged in and hit Zayn with several suplexes in a row. After Woods prevented Owens from interfering, the 285-pound behemoth prepared to finish off Zayn. Then, this happened:

Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns made their way down the Spectrum Center aisle to surround the two teams. Once the trio made their way to the ring, Zayn and Owens bolted from the ring as the New Day incurred the wrath of the Shield. The Usos came in to assist the New Day, but Seamus and Cesaro from the Bar joined the brawl to continue the raid.

Unseen from the live audience but shown on television, Alexa Bliss and the Raw Women’s Division infiltrated the Smackdown women’s dressing room and laid waste to the wrestlers inside. The feud was capped off with Bliss delivering a final blow to her Survivor Series opponent Charlotte.

More Raw wrestlers entered the ring from the crowd, but Shane McMahon led a large group of Smackdown’s roster from the back to defend the show. However, the beginning of the end came when Kurt Angle appeared along with Braun Strowman. “The Monster Among Men” decimated the remaining Smackdown roster before McMahon attempted to fend him off. The Smackdown GM’s efforts came up fruitless as Strowman pushed him into the ropes and clotheslined him on the way back.

Angle then approached McMahon with the Shield holding him secure. Grabbing his Smackdown counterpart by the face, Angle yelled, “How’s that feel, Shane? You think this is bad? Wait until Sunday!” The Olympic gold medalist then gave the Shield the cue to execute a triple power bomb onto McMahon before following with an “Angle Slam.” Ambrose, Reigns, and Rollins gave McMahon one more “Shield Bomb” before the entire Raw roster congregated at the entrance ramp, concluding the Raw invasion of Smackdown and ending the televised show.