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WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Grades, Highlights and Analysis from December 4
- Sana Ejaz Khan
- Credit: WWE.com
On the march to TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs on December 22, Roman Reigns responded to Kevin Owens just one week after The Prizefighter of WWE sent him a message loudly and clearly at the expense of Jey Uso.
Friday night, Reigns and Uso teamed up to battle Owens and Otis in a blockbuster tag team main event.
Who emerged victorious, and how did it affect momentum ahead of the final spectacular of 2020?
Find out with this recap of the December 4 episode.
Kevin Owens Gets What He Wants
Credit: WWE.com
An emotional tribute to the great Pat Patterson gave way to Roman Reigns, Paul Heyman and Jey Uso kicking off Friday's show.
Kayla Braxton wasted little time asking The Tribal Chief if he fears Kevin Owens. After seemingly laughing off the question, Reigns watched as KO made his way to the ring.
The presumptive No. 1 contender, refusing to wait until the night's scheduled main event, pitched a Tables, Ladders and Chairs Match for the December 22 pay-per-view. Uso jumped in and accepted the match, to the dismay of his cousin.
Reigns refusing to engage his foe with Braxton in the ring opted to walk up the ramp.
Owens ended, saying there may be a woman in the ring but Reigns is a bitch.
Grade
A
Analysis
Uso's reactionary acceptance, Owens' attempted goading of Reigns into losing his cool and The Head of the Table's continued even-keeled demeanor in the face of confrontation helped make this a strong start to SmackDown.
Everything Reigns and Uso have touched has been gold for the last three months, while Owens elevates every segment he is part of.
While it would have been nice to see Reigns and Owens have more time to build a genuine feud, their match at TLC is shaping up to be the showstealer, especially taking into consideration the bar they have set for themselves with their previous encounters.
Natalya vs. Bayley
Credit: WWE.com
A week after Bayley caught a hard right hand from Bianca Belair during The EST’s match with Natalya, The Role Model battled The Queen of Harts while her newfound rival watched from the commentary position.
Natalya gained early control heading into the break as she sent the longest-reigning SmackDown Women’s Champion ever into the steel steps. Back from the break, Bayley exchanged counters and reversals with her third-generation opponent.
A late-match distraction by Belair and a Sharpshooter from Natalya proved the one-two punch that ended Bayley’s night on a sour note in what Corey Graves labeled an upset of sorts.
Result
Natalya defeated Bayley
Grade
C-
Analysis
WWE took a page out of AEW’s playbook, for the worse, as the majority of this women’s division match occurred during the commercial break. That is a major disappointment given the talent in the ring and Belair’s opportunity to establish her personality on the mic.
The lack of actual screen time, not to mention storyline development, hurt this one exponentially.
The bright spot? Bayley vs. Belair is going to rule.
Six-Man Tag Team Match: Mysterio, Bryan and Big E vs. Zayn, Nakamura and Ziggler
Credit: WWE.com
Another tribute to Patterson, this one to Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” gave way to a Six-Man Tag Team Match featuring former Intercontinental Champions on both sides. Daniel Bryan, Rey Mysterio and Big E squared off with Dolph Ziggler, Shinsuke Nakamura and current champion Sami Zayn.
The babyfaces worked over Ziggler early but a distraction by Zayn allowed The Showoff a momentary reprieve. Bryan wiped out Zayn at ringside with a tope but opened himself up to a dropkick from Ziggler that sent him to the floor heading into another commercial break.
Back from the break, the action broke down as the contestants took turns hitting their signature stuff.
Late, Zayn made a blind tag to Ziggler. Bryan blasted The Showoff with a running knee and the champ tried for a sneaky rollup. Bryan countered into the YES! Lock, but Zayn barely got to the bottom rope to force the break.
A series of pin attempts, culminating in a small package rollup from Bryan, ended the match with a victory for the babyfaces.
After the match, Ziggler suckered Zayn and Nakamura into charging his opponents, only to find himself at a 3-on-1 disadvantage. He begged off before taking the atomic drop from Bryan, a 619 from Mysterio and a Big Ending from Big E in a sequence Patterson himself would have been proud of.
Result
Big E, Bryan and Mysterio defeated Ziggler, Nakamura and Zayn
Grade
A
Analysis
Graded as a traditional match, this very obviously lacked a heat segment to really tie everything together.
Limited for time and determined to pay homage to Pat Patterson, his love of a good finish and crowd-pleasing spots, said heat segment was expendable in the name of hitting all of the high notes.
Ziggler paid tribute to Patterson with his antics after the match, Bryan earned a win over Zayn to reignite their rivalry over the IC title and Big E was allowed to showoff in his renewed singles push.
Taking the circumstances into consideration it is difficult to argue that this didn’t do exactly what it set out to.
War of the Words
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 smack talk gave way to Carmella accusing Banks of being jealous that The Princess of Staten Island was able to waltz into the WWE Performance Center “on a whim” and become a WWE Superstar, better than Banks, who dreamed of being a champion since childhood.
The Boss claimed Carmella has never met a “bitch like” her and finished with one last sell for the TLC pay-per-view.
Grade
B
Analysis
Don’t look now but Carmella outshined Banks here.
The former champion nonchalantly admitting that she became a WWE Superstar on a whim and achieving everything she did while Banks had childhood dreams of being the best and had to scratch and claw her way to the top was a great bit of dismissive heel character work.
Banks was clearly annoyed/peeved by Carmella speaking so frankly and it added to the overall effect of the segment.
Who knows what their match on pay-per-view will look like but do not be surprised if Carmella is driven to prove she belongs with Banks, while The Blueprint strives to prove she can steal the show against opponents not named Asuka or Bayley.
Murphy vs. King Corbin
Credit: WWE.com
The budding rivalry between Murphy and King Corbin continued this week as the NXT alumni battled in singles competition. Dominik, Rey and Aliyah Mysterio accompanied the former disciple while Corbin was seconded by two new associates, cloaked in black hoodies.
A momentary distraction by those mysterious cohorts allowed Corbin to drive Murphy into the ring apron, then throw him over the timekeeper’s position heading into the commercial break.
Graves revealed it was Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake in the hoodies, recalling their status as part of The Forgotten Sons. The heavies confronted the Mysterios at ringside as Corbin pounded away at this partner, punishing him with hard rights to the head.
Murphy rocked Corbin with a knee but, before he could build momentum, Cutler and Blake attacked Rey and Dominik. The Aussie attempted to help but ran right into End of Days as Corbin scored the win.
Result
Corbin defeated Murphy
Grade
C
Analysis
Cutler and Blake shaving and moving on from the Forgotten Sons is the very best thing that could happen to their careers. They are talented competitors who got caught up in some controversy and saw their futures called into question. Back now, they have the opportunity to add to Corbin’s act while enhancing an already solid tag team division.
While Corbin vs. Murphy may not be particularly flashy, it keeps both men busy and the profile of the Mysterio storyline elevates it beyond what it would have been otherwise.
They have solid enough chemistry and will likely deliver a quality match without a commercial break right in the middle to hurt the flow. A Six-Man Tag Team Match should not be out of the question, either.
Kevin Owens and Otis vs. Roman Reigns and Jey Uso
Credit: WWE.com
Actions have consequences, Roman Reigns warned Jey Uso after the latter’s overzealous acceptance of a match on his cousin’s behalf. Those consequences manifested themselves in the form of a two-on-one handicap match against Otis and Kevin Owens instead of the advertised tag team headliner.
Otis and Owens teed off on Uso until the heel delivered a well-timed Samoan Drop. Reigns arrived conveniently enough as Uso turned the tide, taking his place on the ring apron.
Reigns rocked Otis with a Superman Punch, slammed him into the announce table, then into the steel stairs as the Universal Champion unloaded his frustrations on the Blue Collar Brawler. Reigns drove the stairs into Otis and Uso caught Owens heading into the break.
Reigns rocked Owens with a jumping clothesline and Uso added an uppercut following the commercial timeout. “That’s your problem, Kevin Owens: you talk too damn much!” Uso exclaimed.
Owens slowed the heels’ momentum, delivering a Samoan Drop to Uso that left Reigns dismayed on the apron. He entered in time to deliver an uppercut into a superkick by Jey. The Tribal Chief ordered Uso to tag out, but Owens caught him with a stunner instead,
Reigns broke up the pin and applied the guillotine to draw the disqualification. Reigns stared a hole through Uso, who grabbed a pair of chairs from ringside. The heels laid into Owens with a barrage of chair shots and Uso added a top-rope splash as an exclamation point on the assault.
Reigns beat the unholy hell out of Uso, the “consequences” for his actions earlier.
“You and your family are going to fear me,” Reigns said before standing tall to close out the show.
Result
Owens defeated Reigns and Uso via disqualification
Grade
A
Analysis
Owens pushed and poked and prodded Reigns until The Tribal Chief responded with a vicious assault, then further took out his frustrations and anger on his own cousin. The not-so-veiled threats he made to Owens’ family were a nice touch, particularly as he took exception to KO trying to pull his family apart.
Best of all was Reigns, earlier in the night, claiming he wouldn’t take matters into his own hands because a lady was present, then proceeding to beat the hell out of everyone while female fans watched. It was yet another example of Reigns speaking out of both sides of his mouth, something all great heels do to varying degrees of success.
Right now, he is completely owning this character to tremendous effect
