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SmackDown 11/17: From LA Knight’s Mission Against The Bloodline to Santos Escobar’s Hateful Confession and Becky Lynch’s Arrival, Here’s Everything That Happened

Published Nov 17, 2023 | 10:22 PM EST

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The stakes are high now as everybody has tried to prove themselves at the 17/11 episode of SmackDown ahead of Survivor Series. This week, drama unfolded at the Ford Centre in Evansville, Indiana. While Damage CTRL made some announcements, Axiom stood tall against Dragon Lee. Santos Escobar made a shocking confession and a couple of new commentators appeared.  Here’s everything that happened on this week’s SmackDown.

Damage CTRL opens the show

After the events of last week’s SmackDown, Damage CTRL now has a new member. Asuka, who turned heel against Charlotte Flair and Bianca Belair, has now joined the faction along with her old tag team partner Kairi Sane. Bayley addressed the crowd in attendance and made it clear that they were the strongest stable at SmackDown.

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During this time, Shotzi, Belair, and Flair interrupted them only to be overpowered by the heels. Following this, Nick Aldis gave Belair an ultimatum to find a member as soon as possible and went to have a word with what looked like Cody Rhodes.

Who will be the new Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions?

An all-out six-man tag team match broke out between the Street Profits, the Brawling Brutes, and Pretty Deadly. In the end, it was just Pretty Deadly and the Street Profits in the ring. The Street Profits won the bout, making them Tag Team Championship contenders for the upcoming Survivor Series. The two will be facing off against the current Undisputed Tag Team Champions, The Judgment Day’s Finn Balor and Damian Priest on 11/25. After the fight, Bobby Lashley came out to congratulate the Profits on the win.

The next successor to Rey Mysterio

Rey Mysterio is one of the most respectable and important assets for WWE. There have been multiple attempts to recreate something similar. Fans got a glimpse of who might be able to fill in the now-injured Luchador’s shoes shortly. Apart from Mysterio, there are two Lucha Libres in WWE, Dragon Lee and Axiom. Axiom, who is a part of NXT, made his way to SmackDown for a special bout with Lee. After standing tall against Lee, he was dealt with by a Dragon Driver, pinning A-Kid on the floor.

Santos Escobar breaks his silence

Following the bout between Lee and Axiom, Escobar made his way to the ring to break his silence about last week’s incidents. While many thought he would be apologizing for his last week’s actions, he made a bold statement by saying, “Never meet your heroes”. He then on went to say that what Dominik Mysterio has told about Rey Mysterio is true.  Escober told how he wanted to walk in Mysterio’s footsteps and reform the Latino World Order.

But he shattered Escober’s dreams by bringing in an outsider, Carlito. He then added that he wishes Mysterio never recovered from his knee surgery. Zelina Vega interrupted him and, after some confrontation, Carlito made his way to the ring. After seeing him, Escober walked away, but the table was set for a match between the two at the upcoming PLE.

Austin Theory joins the commentary table

While Road Dogg was already a part of the commentary table, Austin Theory joined too for his friend, Grayson Waller’s fight. Waller went head-on against Cameroon Grimes. The Arrogant Aussie was able to pin Grimes after a while, thus securing his win.

Damage CTRL was out of control

As the Damage CTRL is now complete, they are making sure no one joins Bianca Belair for the Survivor Series. During the initial segments of the show, they attacked Mia Yim who could have been a potential team member of Belair. Later on, they attacked Zelina Vega who was seen talking with Belair just on the suspicion of her siding with Belair.

Solo Sikoa returns

After getting the Roman Reigns-style treatment on last week’s episode of SmackDown, Solo Sikoa made his return to the Friday night show. Paul Heyman was later seen in the ring with Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso. Heyman said that this would be an impromptu acknowledgment ceremony. Following this, The Wiseman said that it is now over for John Cena and he will not be seen in the ring anymore, and the credit goes to Sikoa for this.

Just as Heyman was saying how Cena is not going to return, LA Knight interrupted by saying “Let me just talk to you”. He said that Roman Reigns was only the Undisputed Champion due to The Bloodline and everyone knows that. Following this, he said that he would take on The Bloodline one member at a time until he reached the Head of the Table. The first person on his list is Jimmy Uso who he faced at the main event.

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LA Knight as the main event star

After the bell, it looked as if Jimmy Uso was not ready. However, he still proved why he is a member of The Bloodline. But Knight quickly proved dominant over Uso as he smashed his head on the commentary table and then threw him over the commentators. In the middle, Paul Heyman and Solo Sikoa let Uso deal with Knight all by himself as he had a call to attend. While he did manage to hold him off, Knight delivered a BFT to knock Uso out to secure the pin. However, Sikoa made his entry which distracted Knight. Uso ambushed him and Sikoa delivered a Samoan Spike to Knight. They then took him to the table where Sikoa was punching Knight. Finally, The American Nightmare Cody Rhodes made his entry to fend off both Uso and Sikoa.

How did the show end?

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Cody Rhodes was seen speaking with Nick Aldis again after he attacked The Bloodline. There are still some questions about whether it was an impulsive act or something he had been planning for sometime. Following that, Bianca Belair, Shotzi, and Charlotte Flair made their way to the ring to make an announcement. Damage CTRL came in to say that Belair and her team have slim chances of winning the Survivor Series. That’s when Becky Lynch, whom Charlotte Flair had given a call to earlier, made her entry to the ring, making her the final member of the team.

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Written by:

Shaikh Aerajuddin

890Articles

One take at a time

For me pro wrestling has two things that I like the most, storytelling and fighting. Let’s just say movies are failing to keep me entertained in those departments. I grew up watching WWF and not WWE and any hardcore fan will agree that the two are not the same, but I love both iterations.
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Edited by:

Donna Eva