WWE SMACKDOWN 11/15/24 REVIEW: LONG-TERM STORYTELLING

- Rob Crowther, Editor In Chief

After several stellar installments of Friday Night Smackdown on USA, the blue brand continued the epic saga of The Bloodline Civil war with a few unexpected twists and turns.  

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In previous weeks Roman Reigns was able to reform the OG Bloodline, (the merch is fantastic) mending fences with cousins Jimmy, Jey, and even Sami Zayn. I'll forever say that Sami is such an integral part of the overall Bloodline story arc, at times the unspoken MVP. Regardless, the search for the OG Bloodline 5th member continued, while it was made crystal clear that none other than Bronson Reed officially joined Solo and his Bloodline after a brutal attack on the OG Bloodline. 

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A few thoughts on this, if I may. Traditionally the War Games match is a five on five bout, but I personally I felt that the four on four would serve the overall story better. The Bloodline Civil War would be a straight up family four on four affair. (Yes, that includes Sami) The OG Bloodline would be at full strength as a united front, eventually completing the puzzle with the return of the wise man Paul Heyman.

Despite my personal preference, it seems as though with the addition of Bronson Reed, we will indeed see a fifth member in perhaps a Cody Rhodes (who is already occupied with Kevin Owens) or potentially a Seth Rollins. That being said, Bronson is a GREAT fit overall as a heavy for The New Bloodline. I'm still cautiously optimistic as the show ends with Roman Reigns calling Heyman who seems to have disconnected his phone number. To be continued...

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The first match of the night was the women's United States Championship tournament featuring B-Fab, Bailey, and Candice LeRae. After a hard hitting bout amongst all three Superstars, heavy favorite Bailey would get the win after a quick rollup on B-Fab. My money is still on Chelsea Green to win the tournament. 

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Bailey would return later in the night to help even the odds in the main event for the WWE Women's Championship between Naomi and champion, Nia Jax. This was a great match between both Superstars, but there was a ton of interference and happenings backstage that may have been just one too many moving parts. A distraction from Candice LeRae was enough to cost Naomi, allowing Jax to retain. It will be very interesting to see Naomi's character arc moving forward. 

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The WWE Tag Team Championships were also on the line as The Street Profits challenged champs, The Motor City Machine Guns in a fast paced, high flying match. Unfortunately, a frustrated Tomasso Ciampa interfered and ended the match in a no contest. Johnny Gargano came to reign in the unhinged Ciampa, but was met with a shove from his tag partner. This is very interesting as the saga of Gargano and Ciampa in NXT was nearly perfect. The last time the two of them faced off, Triple H said that it would be the last. It's an interesting play to potentially revisit this feud, but if anyone can make it work one more time, it is these two.  

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United States Champion, LA Knight retained his championship in an open challenge against Santos Escabar. Great to see the open challenge and guys like Escobar get the opportunities. However, post-match Knight is attacked by a returning Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura seems to be the heel of choice in these championship situations, and will be a formidable opponent for Knight. 

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Next Week on Smackdown we have a face to face between Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens after Cody's plea to GM Nick Aldis. This has been an intriguing feud, but we do eventually need to find out the impetus for Kevin Owen's initial heel turn for everything to make sense and become full circle.  

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Keep it here on BCP+ for all your WWE coverage.  

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