With promise that Bayley would address the future of Damage CTRL, here’s what went down on WWE SmackDown, November 10th, 2023, six days removed from Crown Jewel.
Broadcast live from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, USA.
The show kicked off welcoming Kevin Owens as the special guest commentator for the night, as Corey Graves is absent due to the birth of his child with Carmella. Congratulations to the pair of them!
The Latino World Order came to the ring as a unit, minus Carlito, and we’re shown Rey Mysterio’s loss to Logan Paul at Crown Jewel. Rey takes the mic and says he’s convinced Logan could not win without the brass knuckles and vows to get a rematch. Carlito’s music hits, he joins the party late and he wastes no time in blaming Santos Escobar for the loss. Escobar has to be held back from Carlito and he quickly exits the ring, leaving through the crowd. This takes us into the opening contest.
Bobby Lashley defeated Carlito
Lashley, accompanied by the Street Profits, faced Carlito in the opening match. Cruz del Toro and Joaquin Wilde remained with Carlito for the match. Mysterio and Zelina Vega left after the earlier confrontation. Carlito would take part in his first one on one match on SmackDown in 13 years but would have to wait longer for his first singles victory in that same time period. While distracted by brawling seconds outside the ring, Lashley hit the Spear and picked up the win. Santos Escobar came back to the ring but only stood on the apron, watching the Street Profits continue to lay into Carlito. Mysterio arrived and argued with Escobar, emphasising that the LWO is a family. Escobar considered this for a moment and was about to leave when he attacked Rey from behind instead. After the break, as Escobar left the arena, he claimed that Rey ‘had it coming’.
Bayley Addresses the Future of Damage CTRL
Next up, Bayley headed to the ring to talk about what happened at Crown Jewel during Iyo Sky’s WWE Women’s Championship match. Bayley says that she had a plan and a vision for Damage CTRL from planning to inception. Crown Jewel should have been Damage CTRL’s proudest moment but Kairi Sane made her return instead. Bayley called the WWE Women’s Champion to the ring.
Iyo says she had a plan too, it’s Iyo’s era. She retained the title, isn’t that what Bayley wants? Bayley shows the footage of Bayley and Sane fighting backstage, the moment that sent Kairi packing in 2020. Dakota Kai reveals that she had a part in bringing Kairi Sane into damage control because they wanted to take some of the weight from Bayley and, all’s well that ends well, so they should be celebrating, right?
Sane took the mic and said she respects Bayley as the leader of Damage CTRL and that she forgives her. The new group of four hugged it out which brought Bianca Belair to the ring. Belair said that she was left with little choice but to whoop all four of Damage CTRL but she wouldn’t be doing it alone. To join her came Charlotte Flair and Asuka and a six woman tag team match was booked for later in the night.
Dragon Lee defeated Cedric Alexander
In a rematch from a few weeks ago, Dragon Lee and Cedric Alexander rerun the fun. Despite being dropped on the top of his head from a Belly to Belly Suplex at one point, Dragon Lee escaped the Lumbar Check on multiple occasions and picked up the win after his signature Somersault Reverse DDT.
Shilling
This happened, presented without comment:
L.A. Knight defeated Grayson Waller
L.A. Knight came to the ring and addressed what happened at Crown Jewel, ahead of his match. Knight said that he could say he’s sorry, he fell short, he didn’t live up to the expectations but that would make him a liar. He kept all his promises and would have won were it not for Jimmy Uso. That doesn’t mean that L.A. Knight is moving to the back of the line, though, because he’s not done with The Bloodline. Grayson Waller interrupted and just said that Knight wasn’t the guy. Knight quipped that the Grayson Waller Effect sounds like an S.T.D. and that he got dropped on his head up a Saudi celebrity at Crown Jewel. L.A. Knight closes saying that Waller brought the upcoming beating on himself with the ‘Big Incel Energy’ he brought to him on social media yesterday. Waller tried to jump Knight but found himself dumped out of the ring and covered in water, heading into a commercial break.
You have too many sparkles on your gear, Grayson Waller. That is too many sparkles.
Kevin Owens, via commentary
In a match highlighted by Kevin Owens hilarious commentary, L.A. Knight countered a good amount of Grayson Waller’s offense and picked up the win, via pinfall, after culminating a flurry of offense with Blunt Force Trauma.
Later in the night, Jimmy Uso accepts L.A. Knight’s challenge for a match and it’s booked for next week’s SmackDown.
RELATED: WWE NXT Moves to The CW in 2024
The End for John Cena?
WWE juxtapose John Cena’s first match on SmackDown, June 27th, 2002, with his match at Crown Jewel, in which he was demolished by Solo Sikoa with a savage barrage of Samoan Spikes. The question of retirement is still left lingering but Solo Sikoa is hyped for SmackDown next week.
After this segment, Kevin Owens tries to cheer up the fans with the telestrator. This brings out both Grayson Waller and Austin Theory, who pour water over Owens’ head. KO notes that he could tolerate the water but the fact that they threw the water bottle at Kevin Patrick when they were done meant that KO had to stand up for his broadcast colleagues. Kevin Owens chased down the pair and beat them down in the middle of the ring.
Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair and Asuka vs Iyo Sky, Bayley and Kairi Sane fought to a no contest
In the main event, the Damage CTRL team of WWE Women’s Champion Iyo Sky, Bayley and Kairi Sane, accompanied by Dakota Kai, took on Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair and Asuka. Despite the questions about whether Damage CTRL would gel as a new foursome, it was the team of Belair, Charlotte and Asuka that would self destruct, when Asuka sprayed the mist into Bianca Belair’s face and joined her countrymen in Damage CTRL. The match was thrown out and the pack descended on Belair and Charlotte, despite the help offered by Shotzi making her way to the ring. The new group of five Damage CTRL members stood tall in the middle of the ring as SmackDown went off the air.
What did you think of Friday Night SmackDown? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
