WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from October 10

Every week on Bleacher Report, I take an in-depth look at WWE SmackDown to recap the action, offer analysis and grade the matches, segments and anything else that takes place on the show. I also provide some predictions on the direction of storylines.

This episode marked SmackDown's 15th anniversary, which typically means fans are treated to a night filled with great matches, guest appearances and memorable moments.

WWE usually makes their special episodes of Raw and SmackDown entertaining, but this was not the case for SD's big 15-year celebration.

Sure, they had some guests from SD's past show up and argue over who was the best GM and a pre-taped segment with the Rock and Triple H, but the rest of the show felt like any other week. In fact, some of what we saw was below average.

Maybe you don't agree and thought it was a great show—that is certainly your right. You just might end up being one of the only people who think so.

Let's take a look at everything that occurred this week on SmackDown.

15 Years in the Making

The show opened with a promo from Stephanie McMahon, the very first GM of SmackDown. She didn't get too far into her speech before she was joined by some other authority figures from the past.

John Laurinaitis came out and the crowd actually gave him a "people power" chant during his entrance. It didn't take long before "Tag Team" Teddy Long came out to add his two cents.

JBL was very excited to see Long, so much so that he got up and danced his way over to the ring to shake Long's hand. Long and Laurinaitis started competing to see who could create the best tag team match for the show by upping the amount of participants in each exchange.

They were eventually joined by Adam Rose, who tried to get Stephanie McMahon to dance with the Rosebuds. Considering she put him in a match with Kane, it's clear she is not a fan of Rose.

After making the match, Stephanie, Teddy and Big Johnny danced around the ring to Rose's music while he and the Rosebuds looked on with sour looks on their faces. Yes, that was a lemon pun.

It was a decent opening to the show, but they could have done better considering it's a big anniversary for SmackDown. It was great seeing Laurinaitis and Long again, though.

Grade: B-

Some notes from the segment:

• Long got a big pop from the crowd. It's awesome to see him get some much-deserved love.
• Who else cracked up when Long said Tito Santana would be in the 15-man tag match?
• John "Super Dave Osborne" Laurinaitis should return to being on TV regularly. He is one of the few people who can draw real heat as an authority figure.
• Stephanie dancing with Teddy and Big Johnny was funnier than it should have been for some reason.

A Thorn in Rose's Foot

The first match of the night was the Kane vs. Adam Rose bout Stephanie made in the first segment. It was a quick squash that saw Kane win with a Chokeslam in about two minutes.

The Rosebuds went to check on their leader, but Kane came back to the ring and destroyed the group while trying to get his hands on the bunny.

While beating Rose is no big feat for Kane, it was nice to see him look like the dominant monster he should be portrayed as, instead of the vulnerable authority figure he has been playing.

Squash matches are never really a good thing, but at least WWE had the right man win.

Grade: C-

Some notes from the match:

• How many Rosebuds do you think were played by NXT wrestlers this week?
• Kane is one of the most underappreciated wrestlers of all time. He's almost 50 and still looks like he could wrestle for a long time.

Crazy vs. Crazier

Alicia Fox took on AJ Lee in a non-title match. Paige was at ringside for her new BFF, but her support wasn't enough to keep AJ from locking the Black Widow in a little more than a minute.

Paige attacked her rival after Foxy had tapped out, but AJ retaliated and took out both women. It was another short, underwhelming match.

Grade: D

Some notes from the match:

• AJ's waist is probably about as big as one of Foxy's thighs. Seeing AJ next to Fox was like watching a kid fight an adult.

There Is Definitely Trouble in Paradise

In the first decent match of the evening, Seth Rollins took on Kofi Kingston. Rollins was very aggressive from the start, taking the fight outside and throwing Kofi into whatever was hard enough to hurt him.

Kofi got in a few good moves, but Rollins essentially owned him from start to finish, easily beating him in one segment with a Curb Stomp.

This match definitely should have been longer, but the quick win helped Rollins get back some of his credibility after looking like a fool at the hands of Dean Ambrose for the past couple of weeks.

Seeing Kofi job is never enjoyable, but it's not like he was being pushed to begin with. We all know that success goes in cycles in WWE, but it would be nice to see Kofi valued more as a talent.

Grade: C+

Some notes from the match:

• Are Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury Rollins' new bodyguards?
• Rollins is so good at dialing back the excitement and upping the aggression as a heel. When he eventually turns back to being a babyface, people will realize just how different his performances are in each role.
• What was the point of having Noble and Mercury at ringside? They did nothing.

Don't Poke the Bear

After successfully defending his title multiple times in the past few weeks, Dolph Ziggler's momentum was killed by Rusev's dominance.

Ziggler was able to get in some offense a few times, but Rusev controlled most of the match and ended up getting the win with the Accolade.

While booking one of your champions to look weak is never a good thing, at least we had some entertaining moments thanks to Ziggler being so good at what he does.

After Rusev won, he and Lana addressed the Rock and said he would pay for what he did. He also challenged Big Show to a match on Raw next week before he celebrated in front of his huge Russian flag.

Grade: B-

Some notes from the match:

• Where do you even get a flag that big? Did they have to make it or is there some company that makes oversized flags?
• Why did they have to sacrifice Ziggler to make Rusev look good when there are so many people backstage who could be squashed without it making an impact on their current position? It seems irresponsible to do that to one of the only champions who appears on just about every show.

A Walk Down Memory Lane

The Rock appeared in a backstage segment with Triple H that was clearly taped during Raw. They joked about all the times they fought each other, with each of them having a different memory of how they defeated the other.

Tensions ran high as they discussed what would happen if they ever faced off at a future WrestleMania. They went nose to nose, and that is when things lightened up a bit.

Neither man wanted to back away, despite the fact that they both felt awkward being that close to each other's face. They agreed to back up at the same time, and Stephanie played peacemaker by having them agree to grab a bite together.

It was a pretty funny exchange by two of the more humorous Superstars in WWE history. The sad thing is that it was the most entertaining part of the show up to that point, which says a lot about the matches included in the first hour of the show.

Grade: A

7.5 Men vs. 7.5 Men

Sheamus, The Usos, Los Matadors, Jack Swagger, Mark Henry and El Torito took on Slater Gator, Cesaro, Bo Dallas, Damien Mizdow, Hornswoggle and Gold and Stardust in the 15-man tag match made earlier by Teddy Long.

As can be expected in a match of this size, nobody spent very much time in the ring because everyone had to be legal at least once before it was all over.

The only person who the crowd seemed to universally support was Mizdow, who was appearing without Miz for the first time in a while.

Matches with more than six participants are always a risky venture; they can be very good or a total mess. Luckily, this one was given enough time to breathe, so it didn't feel very rushed.

The crowd was really behind Mizdow, chanting three different times for the stunt double before, during and after he was the legal man.

Team Teddy ended up getting the win after a very entertaining exchange featuring all 16 Superstars taking out someone from the opposing team at least once.

Grade: B+

Some notes from the match:

• Do you think Hornswoggle and El Torito were insulted by only being considered half a man?
• Tom Phillips had a SmackDown birthday cake smashed into his face by JBL before the match got started as an initiation to the team. As soon as they showed the cake, you knew someone was getting hit in the face with it.
• JBL asked Booker T what "shucky ducky quack quack" means and all Booker could respond with was, "it's a term." He actually got the term from comedian Cecil Armstrong, who used it as a catchphrase during his stand-up routine.
• It's great to hear the fans actually appreciate Sandow for the good work he has been doing.

MizTV

SmackDown did something unusual and ended the show with a non-wrestling segment, with Miz bringing out Dean Ambrose and John Cena for an episode of MizTV.

Miz announced that the upcoming bout between Cena and Ambrose at Hell in a Cell would be a Contract on a Pole match to see who faces Seth Rollins inside the cell.

Ambrose and Cena exchanged their usual insults before Miz got angry that they weren't fighting. Instead of beating up each other, Cena and Ambrose took out Miz to the delight of the crowd.

After Miz was taken down with a double arm DDT, Cena hit Ambrose with an AA to end the show. It's what needed to happen after Ambrose left Cena unconscious on Raw.

While ending a show with a segment that is not a match is a bit strange, it felt like the right way to go in this instance. Without the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the mix, WWE has to make this a marquee feud, and they have done just that.

Grade: B+

Some notes from the segment:

• Cena went into the audience and hugged a Make-A-Wish kid he had met earlier in the day. Cena gets a lot of crap from people, but when he does stuff like that, it's hard to hate him.
• Miz plays such a good cocky heel. It doesn't even matter that he was taken out, he was still one of the most entertaining things about this show.
• It's no wonder Ambrose was cast in a WWE movie so early in his career. He is one of the few talents who never turns off his character in front of the camera.

Final Thoughts and Predictions

WWE usually does a good job filling their anniversary shows with a lot of entertainment, but most of this week's show felt like a standard outing for the blue brand.

The highlights from the past 15 years that bookended each segment were fun trips down memory lane, but most of the matches felt too short because so much time was devoted to memories from the past.

It's hard to say whether the Rock and Triple H having the most entertaining segment of the night was because they are so good or because the current roster isn't up to snuff.

What we do know is it's not a good sign for current talent to be so easily overshadowed by two guys who aren't even close to being full-time wrestlers.

Whatever the case may be, it's clear that SmackDown is not regarded nearly as highly as Raw, since WWE didn't put a lot of effort into making the anniversary show special.

Predictions:

• The Rock and Triple H will end up having one more match sometime in the distant future.
• Rusev will lose to Big Show by DQ on Monday, leading to one final encounter at HIAC.
• Ambrose and Cena will keep taking each other out on every show until they have their match at HIAC.
• The Usos will get one more shot at Gold and Stardust's Tag Team Championships.
• Damien Mizdow will get a push after officials realize the crowd likes him more than Miz.

What did you think of this week's SmackDown anniversary special? 

Thanks for reading, and follow me on Twitter @BR_Doctor.