Highlights, Title Changes And Biggest Takeaways

HIGHLIGHTS

• Jade Cargill returns to heel persona
• Chelsea Green regains Women’s US Championship while Nick Aldis reveals participants for John Cena Farewell Tournament
• Drew McIntyre suspended after interfering in Cody Rhodes vs. Aleister Black main event

The latest episode of Smackdown from Greenville, South Carolina was better between the bread than it was on the book ends.

Here’s what happened.

• Ilja Dragunov def. Johnny Gargano to retain the United States Championship
• Nia Jax def. Charlotte Flair
• Chelsea Green def. Giulia to win the Women’s United States Champion
• Talla Tonga def. Rey Fenix
• Cody Rhodes vs. Aleister Black ends in a no contest

Here’s a deep breakdown.

Cody Rhodes Opening Segment Falls Flat

Cody Rhodes opened the show and declared himself done with Drew McIntyre, which of course meant he was not. He said he’d watch the show from the crowd before being interrupted by the suddenly pushed Aleister Black and Zelina.

This came out of nowhere and felt awkward from the beginning. It seems clear there is a struggle to find something meaningful with Rhodes is real. This turned into a main event match between Rhodes and Black (non-title, of course).

Ilja Dragunov Def. Johnny Gargano in US Championship Open Challenge

This role is great for Dragunov. It showcases his outstanding in-ring ability and he had a solid match with Gargano. Tommaso Ciampa was the one who actually answered the open challenge, but Dragunov dismissed him and opted to take on Gargano.

It’s a curious little storyline as Ciampa-Dragunov doesn’t have much of a ceiling as a major feud, so we’ll see what happens.

Jade Cargill Has Arrived

WWE has finally given in to push Cargill similarly to the way she was used with AEW. After she destroyed Tiffany Stratton to become the new WWE Women’s Champion, she kept her mic work short and not so sweet. She reintroduced her, “I’m still that b**** line and exited the ring.

She is far more comfortable as a heel and a bully. She continued that vibe backstage as she dwarfed Chelsea Green and challenged B-Fab to what figures to be a massive beatdown next week on Smackdown.

As she left the ring, she bumped into Charlotte Flair and it seems there’s just a matter of time before Cargill finally locks horns with the Queen.

Nia Jax Defeated Charlotte Flair

The match was pretty clunky, to say the least, but the segment was saved by Lash Legend’s appearance. She seems to have officially received the call-up to the big time on a permanent basis and she is aligned with Jax.

Legend helped Jax defeat Flair and has seemingly ignited a feud with the women’s tag-team champions (Flair and Alexa Bliss).

Legend has the character, style, mic work, confidence and look to do big things. I hope she’s given a chance to explode. With Jax, they look like future women’s tag-team champions.

However, the Kabuki Warriors dressed up as members of the medical staff to attack Flair and Bliss after the match.

The scene was great as it reminded me of some of the backstage chaos WWE used to deliver decades ago. Perhaps the six women involved will find themselves in a huge tag-team match at Survivor Series later this month.

Nick Aldis Announces 3 of the 4 Participants in the Last Time is Now Tournament

WWE is handling this John Cena Farewell Tour tournament well. They’ve made the spot opposite Cena like a title. On Raw, we learned Damian Priest, Rusev, Sheamus and Shinsuke Nakamura would be a part of the field.

On Smackdown, Aldis announced The Miz vs. Jey Uso and L.A. Knight vs. a surprise entrant. They are milking this and I love it. Aldis didn’t say when he’d reveal the surprise entrant, but we’re likely to find out next week because that’s when the match should be happening. I’m guessing we’ll find out about the next 8 people on the November 10 and 14 episodes of Raw and Smackdown, respectively.

Those eight will battle on the November 17 and 21 episodes of WWE programming. The final eight will clash on the November 24 and 28 episodes of Raw and Smackdown, respectively. And finally, at Survivor Series, the final four could commence with the man who survives two matches in one night, having earned the right to face Cena in his final match on Saturday Night’s Main Event in Washington DC on December 13.

Whomever this is will be getting a massive push–if it all plays out as I expect and hope, because this sounds really exciting.

Chelsea Green def. Giulia to win Women’s US Championship

I agree with Green regaining the title, but this match was not good. Green got the win via dirty pin while Kiana James was embroiled in a ringside clash with Alba Fyre.

I’m not a fan of Giulia in WWE, but there was very little provided to help her succeed. Hopefully she’ll get another shot down the road.

As for Green, the pairing with Ethan Page is phenomenal. The duo are the AAA Mixed Tag-Team champions and I hope that’s a title that gets defended on Raw, Smackdown and PLEs, or potentially the WWE creates that division.

There are a ton of storylines to create if this becomes a thing.

Talla Tonga Smashes Ray Fenix

This match went about the way you’d expect. Fenix had some impressive offense early before Tonga smashes him for the clean pin. The Motor City Machine Guns and Shinsuke attacked the other members of the MFT removing them from ringside. It was a good way to show Talla’s strength.

After the win, he was set to punish Fenix but a non-medically-cleared Sami Zayn emerged with a chair to save the day.

Cody Rhodes vs. Aleister Black Ends in a No Contest

This match had no feeling or juice. I was waiting on McIntyre to show up. He did and Claymored the referee. Damian Priest came out to attack Black and the four men battled for while.

The show went off the air with Aldis levying a suspension on McIntyre.

At some point, McIntyre either needs to win the title or get demoted to the midcard.

They have beaten this poor horse past death.