WWE SmackDown Live Review: Results, Analysis, and Grades for October 11

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 7:14 p.m. ET

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SmackDown – Credit: WWE.com

What will happen in the fallout of No Mercy on SmackDown?

Yes, SmackDown Live’s pay-per-view was on Sunday and it was a beauty. How will the direction of the brand shake out after No Mercy?

AJ Styles retained in his biggest test as WWE Champion to date. He beat both John Cena and Dean Ambrose, which leads to this question– who becomes the new number one contender? Or do one of Cena or Ambrose get another shot at the most prestigious belt in WWE.

Also after No Mercy, Dolph Ziggler lives! And he’s the Intercontinental Champion to boot. After losing his own boot and superkicking his way into keeping his contract, what will Ziggler have to say tonight? On top of that, he has a Spirit Squad match tonight, going two on one against his old cheerleading teammates.

Luke Harper is on Tuesday nights! That alone is exciting since he was supposed to be on RAW up until Erick Rowan was hurt. Now let’s see what damage he and Bray Wyatt can cause on SmackDown Live, including to Wyatt’s former adversary Randy Orton.

All this, and sadly no Becky Lynch in action, tonight on the SmackDown Live review.

Dolph Ziggler Opens SD!

The newly crowned Intercontinental Champion is in the house. He’s showered with You Deserve It chants and drinks it in from the San Jose crowd. Ziggler says he didn’t know if Sunday would be the last time he saw the fans, got in the ring, or spray tanned Zack Ryder’s back. He says there was no way he was walking out of No Mercy without the title, and he and the fans did it!

This brings out The Miz. He and Maryse are in all black and tell the crowd to be silent to mourn the death of the Intercontinental Championship. With Ziggler’s mediocrity all over the belt, it’s prestige is now destroyed. Miz says this isn’t the ending, since the hero is always supposed to get the hero and the girl and right now he only has one.

Ziggler shows the clip of him beating Miz on Sunday and taunts Miz for crying. San Jose assists with a “You Were Crying” chant. Miz says he’s not done with him, and neither are they. They being the Spirit Squad. It’s handicap match time, next!

Dolph Ziggler vs Spirit Squad (Mikey & Kenny)

Result: Ziggler def. Spirit Squad by pinfall (Superkick)

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Kenny and Mikey get dumped to the outside real quick. The Spirit Squad get the advantage during the break, but Ziggler eventually breaks through. He nailed Kenny with a superkick, prompting Ranallo’s greatest South Park impression about how he killed Kenny. Ziggler gets the pinfall, victory.

Right after the bell rings, Miz pounces on Ziggler and hits a Skull Crushing Finale. The Spirit Squad are starting to beat on Ziggler when Rhyno & Heath Slater come out to save him. Does this mean the Spirit Squad are the next challengers to Rhyno & Slater’s tag team gold? One can hope!

Randy Orton & Kane vs Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper is announced for tonight, and Becky Lynch will defend her title on November 8th in Glasgow, Scotland against Alexa Bliss.

Up next, Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan are talking about Survivor Series!

Survivor Series Update

Shane McMahon & Daniel Bryan are talking about why Survivor Series will be a can’t-miss spectacle. They talk about how they will be proposing an opportunity. They throw down the gauntlet for a three separate five on five traditional elimination Survivor Series matches: One of male competitors, one of tag teams, one of women. This prompts a Yes chant from the crowd, and a quote from JBL that he’s going to beat up Byron Saxton of RAW.

Carmella vs Naomi

Result: Naomi def. Carmella by pinfall (Victory Roll)

Rating: 2.25 out of 5 stars

They show a clip from earlier today of an interview with Nikki Bella by Renee Young. Nikki talks up the first season of Total Bellas, and how she’s been living her best life after beating Carmella at No Mercy. Carmella appears and tosses her into a barricade backstage and tells Bella that one day, her whole career will fall.

Carmella is coming off that loss, but Naomi is fresh off a pay-per-view win over number one contender Alexa Bliss. Who will continue up the pecking order in the SD Live women’s division?
Before the bell can even ring, Carmella attacks her from behind mid-entrance. Naomi manages to get control back of the match and hits a big crossbody for a two count. As Carmella gets control, Nikki Bella comes out from the back and tries to get involved.

Naomi uses the distraction to pick up the victory roll pin. After the match, Nikki Bella chases down Carmella and almost catches her, with Carmella scurrying to the back.

Alexa Bliss Interview

Bliss is asked about Naomi being on a roll. She says that she would have put the power out on Naomi if she knew she was facing her. She was prepared for Becky Lynch, not Naomi. Daniel Bryan interrupts as Bliss says she could beat Naomi any day of the week. Bryan suggests next Tuesday, and Bliss isn’t thrilled as the segment ends.

AJ Styles is giving a victory speech tonight. How lucky are we?

Jimmy Uso vs Chad Gable

Result: Uso def. Gable by pinfall (Roll-up)

Rating: 1.75 out of 5 stars

American Alpha and the Usos have had their issues for a long time now, ever since the brand split happened and they met in the tag team title tournament. Gable will still be looking for revenge after the Usos took out his knee.
Gable controls the early going with some solid mat wrestling from the Olympian. He continues to keep working over the arm of Jimmy Uso, but Jimmy gets a roll up. Jey slides into the ring to give Jimmy some more leverage and get the victory.

Hype Bros Backstage

Rawley is making fun of Ryder for not going out with him last night, and Ryder keeps talking about how stacked the tag division is. The Ascension creep up and just stare at the Hype Bros before walking away without saying anything. Guess this rivalry is ongoing!

AJ Styles Victory Speech

The Champ Is Here! He makes fun of the fans for living vicariously through him, and instead tells them to cheer for the losers like Cena and Ambrose. Styles talks up how he deserves an opponent tonight that he hasn’t beaten before since he beat both Ambrose and Cena clean already.

This prompts Ambrose to come out to call out Styles for wanting to take the easy way out. Styles calls out his real opponent and it’s James Ellsworth. Because of course, it is. Ellsworth is going to take him on in a non-title match right now. Styles tells Ambrose to leave, and Ambrose agrees because he kinda really wants to see this. He says Ellsworth 3:16 says any man with two hands has a fighting chance. Ambrose is told by Styles to go to the back so that he doesn’t distract Ellsworth.

Daniel Bryan comes out, and says that the match is going to happen right now. Bryan says Ambrose isn’t going to the back, because he’s the special guest referee. Ambrose literally takes the shirt off of the ref’s back and takes all the stuff out of his pockets to get ready for the match.

AJ Styles vs James Ellsworth with Special Guest Referee Dean Ambrose

Result: Ellsworth def. Styles by pinfall

Rating: 5 stars!

Ambrose antagonizes Styles through the beginning of the match since Styles isn’t allowed to hit him out of fear of suspension and fine. He checks Styles for weapons repeatedly, and keeps giving Ellsworth tips and pointers.

Once the wrestling starts, Styles starts absolutely whooping him. Ambrose trips him at one point, and Ellsworth almost gets a three count on a roll up. Styles regains control and locks in a Calf Crusher. Ellsworth is tapping, but Ambrose fields a phone call so he doesn’t see it. He even takes time to take selfies with fans and sign pictures.

Styles hits the Styles Clash that results in a nasty bump. Ambrose counts one…two… but then stops. When Styles confronts him, he hits the champ with Dirty Deeds. Then he rolls Ellsworth on top of Styles, but he only gets a two count. One more Dirty Deeds and a fast count later, and James Ellsworth has beaten AJ Styles.

Book it for Survivor Series – James Ellsworth versus AJ Styles, for the WWE Heavyweight Championship. A very fun segment, and we all know it will lead to a much more vicious and angry Styles coming out next week. Also, of course, this match gets five stars. It’s the upset of the century!

WWE.com

Orton and Kane Backstage

Backstage, Randy Orton approaches Kane. Orton talks about how he’s tired of living in Bray Wyatt’s world, so now he wants to make Wyatt live in his. He convinces Kane to drag Wyatt into Orton’s world, and the segment ends with Kane telling Orton that the Viper has some issues.

Styles, McMahon and Bryan Backstage

Styles is backstage yelling at Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan. McMahon tells Styles that the loss is official, and Styles says he’s going to take things into his own hand. Daniel Bryan says he has an idea for Ellsworth next week.

Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper vs Randy Orton & Kane

Result: Wyatt Family def. Orton & Kane by pinfall (Sister Abigail)

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Harper gets on the mic before the match and says that he now sees the light with Wyatt. His leader then says that we’re all going into a black hole, and that he is a god. You know, standard Bray Wyatt words.

Wyatt and Orton’s issues clearly aren’t solved yet, so these guys will continue to be at each other’s throat for the next month or so at the least.

In the match, the Wyatts use double teams and typical tag team tactics to isolate the Big Red Machine. Kane manages to get the hot tag to Orton, who unleashes on Wyatt. He lays into both Wyatt Family members on the outside, tossing Harper over the announce table and Wyatt into the barricade.

In the ring, Wyatt is trying to bargain with Orton, who is having none of it. He hits the draping DDT to Wyatt. Kane is on the outside battling Harper, and he gets yelled at by the ref. With his back turned, Harper nails Orton with a superkick and both Orton and Wyatt are down. As Orton goes for the tag, the lights go out and when they come back on Harper is standing where Kane was. Orton is spooked, and turns into a Sister Abigail to get the pin and the win.

Wyatt and Harper pose on the ramp to end SmackDown.

Final Thoughts

This week’s episode of SmackDown Live took some interesting turns, but it appears that for the next month the show is really staying the course.

Most of the rivalries that were in place heading into No Mercy seem to be continuing into the next month. Orton and Wyatt are still facing off, Miz does not seem done with Ziggler, and Ambrose appears to be the next challenger for AJ Styles’ title yet again. That is, unless Ellsworth steps up and becomes the next champ. Stranger things have happened (looking at you, David Arquette)

Some fresh things did happen on the show, though. The James Ellsworth bit was pretty fun, the tag division is getting layers with the multiple feuds happening throughout, and the women’s division continues to get depth each and every show. Alexa Bliss versus Naomi could be a stellar placeholder feud in the few weeks while Becky Lynch recovers.

The only real disappointment of the night? That was summed up by our editor Rob Wolkenbrod:

Hawkins WAS supposed to do something, but who cares really.

What did you think of SmackDown Live? Big fan of the angles that are shaping up for Survivor Series? Let us know in the comments below!

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