Most of Team WWE will already be in Saudi Arabia for Crown Jewel next Friday, so they stuck around at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and taped the Nov. 1 episode of SmackDown immediately after the Oct. 25 live edition went off the air.
Currently advertised for the show: WWE champion Cody Rhodes will team with his old Legacy mentor Randy Orton to take on WWE World Heavyweight champ Gunther & his Imperium partner Ludwig Kaiser ahead of Rhodes & Gunther’s match for the Crown Jewel title.
Here’s how that went, along with some details about what else went down, courtesy of SPOILERS from PWInsider and fans in attendance who posted on social media:
Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins w/B-Fab) def. Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince & Kit Wilson)
IYO SKY def. Bianca Belair, Lash Legend & Piper Niven in a 4Way
WWE Women’s champ Nia Jax was out for a promo, promising to win the Crown Jewel title. That brought out WWE Women’s World champ Liv Morgan and Dirty Dom Mysterio, who reminded Jax that she beat her last time they went one-on-one. Tiffany Stratton showed up to promise it will be Tiffy Time in Riyadh — she’s going to cash-in her Money in the Bank contract there, but she hasn’t decided which champ to target yet. She wondered if cashing in on Liv would mean she gets Dom too, as she needs a little dirty in her life. Liv says it looks like she already has plenty, then Stratton attacked her. That brought out General Manager Nick Aldis to book a match between the two… right now!
Liv Morgan def. Tiffany Stratton via pinfall. Jax took out Morgan post-match.
Naomi & Bayley def. Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell
Roman Reigns & The Usos were out for a promo segment, seemingly after a Crown Jewel match had been announced pitting the OG Bloodline against three unspecified members of Solo Sikoa’s Bloodline. Jimmy Uso made a pitch for Jey and Roman to drop their beef, saying they won’t win in Saudi if they aren’t united. Jey said he only took the match to get back at Solo. He’s showing up because that what family does, but the family is a long way from fixed. Jey hasn’t forgotten what they did to him physically, emotionally & mentally. He’s not Roman’s right-hand anymore. If Reigns can acknowledge them as equals, Jey says they can stand together and run things like before. The OTC, who’d been listening with his head down, signals Jimmy to hand him a mic. After a dramatic pause, Roman says “Yeet” to a big pop. First Jimmy, then Jey, and finally Roman put their fingers up to a bigger pop.
Cody Rhodes & Randy Orton def. Gunther & Ludwig Kaiser (Rhodes pinned Kaiser after Cross Rhodes). Kevin Owens slid in the ring behind the celebrating victors and took Orton out with a steel chair. Gunther snuck up behind Rhodes and choked him out until a team of officials and security pulled him off.
Sound worth a couple hours next Friday night?