The October 2nd, 2018 edition of WWE SmackDown Live took place at the Moda Center in Portland, OR, and was the go-home show for WWE’s Super Show Down on Saturday.
– SmackDown opens up from the Moda Center in Portland, with Tom Phillips, Corey Graves and Byron Saxton on commentary.
– Paige is in the ring to kick off the show. She talks about doing her job as SmackDown GM, and the heinous crime Samoa Joe comitted last week. We go to a replay of Samoa Joe outside of AJ Styles’ home.
Paige says the Styles family is alright, and Joe did not actually enter the home. She says Joe was charged with trespassing, and WWE officials feel that Joe should be fired. AJ ended up dropping the charges and he doesn’t want Joe fired, because he wants to hand out punishment to Joe in the ring. Paige says the match between them on Saturday is still on.
Paige introduces a pre-taped video from AJ Styles at home. AJ apologizes for not being at SmackDown tonight. AJ says he’s not leaving his house until Joe has already left for Australia. AJ says his family needs him right now, and then their match at the Super Show Down will be the end. AJ says he wants to bury Joe alive.
– We go to the broadcast team and they promote the No DQ, No Countout match between Joe and Styles on Saturday.
– Still to come: Aiden English’s “video evidence” on Lana, and Becky Lynch addresses the crowd.
– R-Truth and Carmella vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas and Zelina Vega: Vega and Carmella start this one off, and they talk trash before locking up. Carmella levels Vega with a dropkick early on, and then she wastes some time moonwalking. Vega comes back and chokes Carmella against the ropes. Vega goes back to choking Carmella until the ref hauls her off again. Carmella comes back with a jawbreaker, then Almas and Truth tag in. Truth comes in fired up and drops Almas. Truth misses a shot in the corner, then Almas and Vega pose on the ropes while Truth and Carmella do a pose of their own. Vega and Almas roll outside to regroup. Back in the ring, Almas baits Truth and decks him. A missed running knee in the corner leads to Almas tumbling down to the floor hard, and Truth has a moment to recover now. Back in the ring, Almas works over Truth’s shoulder, but Truth fights out and hits a heel kick. The women tag in and Carmella takes control with a flurry of strikes. Carmella hits a flatliner for a pin, but Almas breaks it up. Carmella tries to superkick Almas, but Almas blocks it, and Truth drops Almas. Carmella ends up putting Vega in the Code of Silence for the win via submission.
Winners: R-Truth & Carmella
– Backstage, Tye Dillinger asks Paige for a shot at Randy Orton. Tye wants revenge for last week. Paige is hesitant, but she gives Tye the match against Orton tonight.
– Still to come: Becky Lynch has something to say.
– The New Day comes out to the ring for a cooking demonstration, and the pilot filming of their new cooking show. They talk about their upcoming match against The Bar at Super Show Down, and they also introduce their assistant Mr. Bootyworth to the crowd. The Bar comes out to interrupt, and Sheamus makes fun of The New Day for acting like children and playing with food. Woods says The Bar is ruining the pilot filming. Cesaro and Sheamus both trash The New Day’s cooking, then they hit the ring. The Bar and The New Day start brawling, and the table with cooking ingredients goes flying. Sheamus throws a bunch of flour on the New Day, and The Bar starts taking control of the fight. They send Kofi in to the ring post, then hit a double backbreaker on Woods. They hit the double team White Noise on Big E. They turn to Mr. Bootyworth, and they fill his hat with pancake batter and put it on his head. Cesaro dumps the rest of the pancake batter on him, and they send him out of the ring. The Bar stands with the Tag Title belts as their music hits.
– Still to come: Aiden English’s big reveal about Lana; and Tye Dillinger vs. Randy Orton
– We go to a video package promoting the WWE 2K19 video game.
– Tye Dillinger vs. Randy Orton: Tye attacks Orton before the match and sends Orton outside. They brawl around the commentary table, where Orton tries to hit his back suplex on the table, but Tye fights out. Tye hits some elbows to the head and suplexes Orton on to the desk. They continue to fight at ringside, until Orton comes back and hits the hangman’s DDT off the barricade. Orton takes Dillinger over to the ring post and appears to jam Tye’s fingers in to the metal turnbuckle . Orton appears to snap Tye’s finger in the turnbuckle as Tye screams in pain. Orton finally lets go and leaves Dillinger laying.
Winner: No contest
– Still to come: Daniel Bryan vs. Shelton Benjamin
– Shelton Benjamin is shown backstage warming up, when The Miz walks in. The Miz says he thinks Shelton is under-appreciated and over-looked, and he says he put in a call to get Shelton his match with Bryan tonight. Miz says Benjamin needs to do more than just beat Bryan tonight, he needs to hurt him and make a statement. Shelton says his statement is that he’s been on the bench waiting for an opportunity to remind everyone how good he is, and Bryan just happens to be a casualty of that. Miz wishes Shelton well, and says he’ll be on commentary for a closer look at his match tonight.
– Aiden English is backstage requesting that the production truck is ready for what he has to reveal tonight about Lana. English says this footge needs to be in high definition.
– Rusev and Lana come out to the ring, and they demand to see Aiden’s Miluakee footage. Rusev says that Aiden attacking him is one thing, but saying he has incriminating footage of his wife is another thing. Aiden comes out to the stage to introduce the footage. We see footage of Aiden practicing his singing routine in his dressing room at a show in Miluakee. There’s a knock on the door, and Aiden answers it – it’s Lana. Lana walks in to Aiden’s room, and Lana says there’s something important she has to tell Aiden. Lana says “I want you,” and then the footage pauses. Rusev looks confused at Lana in the ring, and Lana doesn’t say anything. On the stage, Aiden says he can’t show the rest of the footage because he’s entertaining and offer from TMZ. Rusev looks upset at Lana, and then Rusev hops out of the ring and chases Aiden to the back. Lana leaves the ring by herself, and then we go to the broadcast team. Tom wants to move on, but Graves wishes he could see the rest of the footage.
– Tom Phillips introduces footage from last night of Shawn Michaels, Triple H, The Undertaker and Kane on RAW. They promote the Super Show Down pay-per-view on Saturday.
– Daniel Bryan vs. Shelton Benjamin: The Miz is on commentary for this one. Shelton starts off strong and starts working over Bryan’s knee early on. Bryan mounts a comeback and backs Shelton in to the corner. Bryan hits a series of kicks, but Shelton shuts him down with a facebuster for a two count. Shelton applies a headlock now to keep Bryan grounded. Bryan fights up and looks for the Yes Lock, but Shelton reaches the ropes to break the hold. They fight spills out to ringside, where Shelton repeatedly throws Bryan into the fan barricade and apron. Shelton drops Daniel face-first over the fan barricade a few times before taking him back in the ring. Shelton misses a spear and Bryan throws him outside, then hits a flying knee off the apron on Shelton on the floor. Back in the ring, Bryan looks for a splash off the top, but Shelton rolls away. It looks like Bryan and Benjamin’s heads collided hard there, and they’re both feeling that. They fight in to the corner, and Bryan does a backflip off the top rope to avoid Shelton. Shelton catches Bryan and hits a German suplex for a two count. Bryan starts to fight back, but Shelton shuts him down with a kick and another German suplex for a two count. They fight up to the top rope, and Daniel punishes Shelton with a series of elbows to the head. Bryan hits a frankensteiner off the top. Bryan hits the Yes Kicks on Shelton, but Shelton ducks one. Shelton looks to answer with a kick of his own, but Bryan decks it and kicks Shelton down again. The Miz gets up on the apron, and Bryan knocks him off. The distraction leads to Shelton hitting the Paydirt on Bryan for the three count.
Winner: Shelton Benjmamin
– Shelton celebrates his win on the ramp, as The Miz eyes Bryan at ringside. The Miz attacks Bryan while he’s down, and then he repeatedly slams him in to the announce table. The Miz takes Bryan back in the ring and he hits the Skull Crushing Finale. Miz talks some trash to Bryan and then heads to the back.
– The broadcast team promotes the Super Show Down again, and this time they show us replays from RAW showing the feud between The Shield, and the team of Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre.
– Naomi is in the ring to introduce a video package looking at WWE’s work with the Susan G Komen foundation.
– Asuka vs. Peyton Royce: Billie Kay and Naomi are both at ringside for this one. Peyton starts off strong and controls the pace for the opening moments. Asuka goes for a dropkick off the middle rope, but misses. Asuka tries to fight back, but Peyton drops her with a clothesline for a two count. Peyton misses a shot and Asuka comes back with a successful missile dropkick off the middle rope. Asuka applies an ankle lock. Peyton reaches the ropes and Billie grabs her arm until Naomi drops her. Asuka pulls Peyton back in the ring and applies the Asuka Lock for the win via submission.
Winner: Asuka
– Up next: Becky Lynch’s Super Show Down surprise.
– We see a promo video for the Mixed Match Tag Challenge on Facebook Live after SmackDown. Rusev and Lana say they’re going to forget about the Miluakee tape for now so they can focus on their match tonight.
– WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch comes down to the ring next. Becky gets on the mic and talks about “toppling the queen” and taking over the Women’s division. She says she has made the SmackDown women’s division the hottest thing in WWE. She says she’s done being nice, and now she strikes fast and strikes often. She introduces a video package looking at her feud with Charlotte Flair. Back in the ring, Becky says time and time again she has proven that she owns Charlotte. Becky complains about not getting magazine covers or interviews like Charlotte does. Becky says since no one will give her those spots, she’ll take those too, and then she unveils a new poster she designed for Super Show Down. The poster shows a cartoon of Becky standing above Charlotte who is laying on the ground. Charlotte’s music hits, and Charlotte comes out to interrupt. Charlotte hits the ring and starts brawling with Becky. Charlotte hits a spear, and the crowd seems to be booing Charlotte. Charlotte suplexes Becky in to the poster, and then applies the Figure Four. Charlotte gets up and kicks Becky back down. Charlotte heads to the back as Becky recovers in the ring and the broadcast team promotes Super Show Down on Saturday.
