SmackDown

WWE Championship: AJ Styles, who had recently celebrated a full year as WWE Champion, came out to hype his upcoming encounter with Brock Lesnar. Styles claimed to be the workhorse of WWE and has beaten everyone but Lesnar. He vowed to make the most of the second chance to beat Brock Lesnar.

Heyman came out of the audience to hype his client, citing Styles’ victory over Daniel Bryan a couple of weeks ago. Styles shut this down pretty quickly, stating that he respected Bryan and Lesnar, but Bryan tapped in their encounter and last year, while Styles had walked out of Survivor Series defeated, Lesnar had limped out and vowed to not only beat Lesnar, but to make him tap out.

Apparently, the talk about Bryan’s loss to Styles right before Crown Jewel didn’t sit right with Bryan and he came out, griping to Styles about it. Styles was confused as to why Bryan was mad since it wasn’t a secret that Bryan had tapped out. Bryan, deciding to be a whiny little brat, warned Styles that if he used his name one more time, Bryan was going to punch him in the face. Still not understanding just why Bryan was whining about a pretty standard promo, Styles didn’t listen and the fight was on.

Shane ran out to keep the peace, but it was clear that Bryan was mad as hell, for some reason, and not going to take it anymore. He demanded a match against Styles, which Shane was reluctant to grant because of Survivor Series. He finally agreed when it was clear that Styles and Bryan were going to fight either way.

The rematch between Styles and Bryan was amazing, as expected, but the Universe was in for a shock. Bryan, possibly by accident, or just out of frustration, low-blowed Styles. As he recovered from his shock, Bryan made a stunning decision, he hit a running knee on a doubled over Styles and got the pinfall victory, winning back the championship he’d had to forfeit four and a half years ago.

But the surprises weren’t over. Bryan could probably have been forgiven for taking advantage of an act of frustration, but what he did once his hand was raised was not. He attacked Styles, putting the former champ in a surfboard hold before again raising his hand in victory. It will be Brock Lensar vs Daniel Bryan at Survivor Series.

Andrade Almas (with Zelina Vega) vs Jeff Hardy: After losing to Rey Mysterio last week, Almas tried to get back to his winning ways against Jeff Hardy, who had also come up short last week.

The match was good, if slightly awkward match. Almas and Vega tried to do their Double Tranquilo, but Almas paid for it when Jeff Hardy drop kicked El Idolo out of the ropes and onto the floor. Hardy was able to pull out a win with a Twist of Fate/Swanton Bomb combination, to Vega’s fury.

Miz vs Rey Mysterio: Backstage, it was revealed that Daniel Bryan had been removed as co-captain of Team SmackDown, to Miz’s delight. He was so happy about this turn of events, he agreed to have Jeff Hardy on the team, but then he decided to cut Rey Mysterio because Mysterio had been Bryan’s pick and since Bryan was no longer on the team, Mysterio shouldn’t be either, despite Mysterio earning his way onto the team last week.

Paige refused to go along with it and told Miz that if he wanted Mysterio off the team, he was going to have to beat him in a match. Before Miz could protest, she told him that the match was next.

The match between Miz and Mysterio was fantastic. Mysterio had learned a lot from his loss to Miz at Crown Jewel and was ready for most of Miz’s tricks. Despite Miz’s best efforts, Mysterio refused to be beaten, and Miz had to deal with the indignity of a roll-up loss after Mysterio countered a Skull-Crushing Finale.

Seth Rollins vs Shinsuke Nakamura: Seth Rollins’ confession that he hadn’t really been thinking about Nakamura didn’t sit well with Nakamura. In fact, it really hurt his feelings. Nakamura doesn’t want much, he just wants to be loved. Since Rollins isn’t ready for him, he vows to break Rollins’ face as payment.

SmackDown Women’s Division: Becky Lynch made a huge impact on RAW, leading the SmackDown Women to an ambush victory over their RAW counterparts. Unfortunately, Nia Jax’s punch to the face left Lynch with a spectacular black eye and, much more seriously, a concussion and a broken face. Because of this, WWE’s medical staff refused to clear Lynch to wrestle, to her anger and frustration.

As a small consolation, Paige decided to allow Becky to choose her replacement. Before she did so, Lynch cut an amazing promo on Rousey, who had been mocking Lynch’s injury on social media. Lynch pointed out that even with a concussion and a broken face, she’d still been able to kick Rousey and RAW’s ass. Ronda Rousey wasn’t the baddest bitch on the planet, she was the luckiest.

Turning her attention back to her replacement, Lynch chose Charlotte Flair, asking her former friend to not only BEAT Rousey, but to make her tap. The two women shared an awkward hug and there was a smirk on Flair’s face that raised a few questions.

Backstage, Charlotte addressed the change in her Survivor Series fortune. She’d fought against Lynch and with her, but on Sunday, she vowed to fight FOR Lynch and defeat Ronda Rousey.

SmackDown Tag Team Division: The Usos made the final decision for the SmackDown Tag Team Team: Themselvs, New Day, the Colons, SAnIty, and the Club, basically the whole tag division, minus the champs.

Speaking of the champs, the Bar took on New Day in a time filler match to gain some momentum before Survivor Series. The match was okay, not exactly a barn burner, but the teams put on a great match, as always. As usual, Big Show was the ace in the hole, after he SWATTED Kofi Kingston out of the sky to give the Bar the win.

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