WWE SmackDown Results, Winners, Live Grades, Highlights Before Cena Retires at SNME
Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of WWE SmackDown on December 12.
Saturday may not be a PLE, but this weekend's episode of Saturday Night's Main Event is still a big deal because it will host John Cena's final match before he retires.
Gunther earned the right to be Cena's final opponent, but that's not until Saturday. For now, here's a look at what WWE advertised for Friday's show:
- Aleister Black and Zelina Vega vs. Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest
- Alexa Bliss vs. Lash Legend
- Ilja Dragunov vs. Tommaso Ciampa (U.S. title)
Let's take a look at what happened on this week's SmackDown.
Opening Segment
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SmackDown opened with Nick Aldis saying he wants Drew McIntyre to come to the show so they can find a resolution to his suspension. He then told Cody Rhodes that Drew's lawyer sent them a letter claiming it was an unsafe work environment, which Rhodes crumpled up before heading to the ring.
Before he could speak for too long, Oba Femi's music hit and he strutted his way to the ring to stand face to face with his opponent for Saturday night. The NXT champion called himself the future of WWE and said Rhodes' time was up and his time was now, which was a nice Cena reference.
Rhodes tried to walk away, but The Ruler stopped him and they had a staring contest while holding their titles up.
This was a pretty simple segment to hype their match this weekend, but simple is not a bad thing. Femi did a good job with what little time he had to make his point.
Grade: B-
Ilja Dragunov vs. Tommaso Ciampa
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Last time in action: Dragunov defeated Carmelo Hayes (SD, Dec. 5), DIY defeated Fraxiom (SD, Nov. 21)
Dragunov usually holds an open challenge for the U.S. title, but this week's match against Ciampa was set up last week following another confrontation between the two. Before the match, Fraxiom told Dragunov that they had his back if things went south.
This match has been building for weeks, so they did not waste any time getting right to the action. They practically ran at each other to lock up and start swinging. This was a hard-hitting fight right away.
Ciampa hasn't been able to show off in singles matches in quite some time, so it was great to see him remind everyone how good he is as a solo act. He took control heading into the break by suplexing the champion against the steel steps.
WWE was wise to start the show with this bout because it's doubtful anything else on the card could have gotten the crowd as hyped as these two did. They put each other through the wringer and every second of it was entertaining.
They wrestled through two breaks and had a lot of time to work. The crowd was chanting "This is awesome" as they were building to the climax. Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae interfered, but it didn't stop Dragunov from getting the pin to retain his title.
Johnny Wrestling attacked the champion until Hayes made the save, which was surprising after Fraxiom made a big deal out of being there for Ilja earlier.
Result: Dragunov defeated Ciampa
Grade: A-
Notable Moments and Observations
- The way Dragunov hit the steel steps looked brutal.
- Ciampa no-selling strikes was a fun sequence.
- Dragunov was bleeding from the nose after the second break.
Alexa Bliss vs. Lash Legend
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Last time in action: Bliss defeated Kairi Sane (SD, Dec. 5), Legend's team lost at WarGames (Survivor Series)
The Wyatt Sicks came out for a rare promo talking about Solo Sikoa and the MFTs. Sikoa responded from the big screen. This was pretty short and didn't do much to advance the feud.
The next match saw two of the competitors from the women's WarGames match go at it when Bliss took on Legend. Charlotte Flair and Nia Jax accompanied their respective tag team partners to the ring.
Bliss used her quickness to take control of the powerhouse and send her out of the ring, but Legend caught her in a senton and slammed her onto the barricade.
Lash nailed a huge forearm strike that seemed to rock Bliss, and Jax tripped her on the apron to keep her down. Legend countered a DDT and turned it into her finisher for the win.
This was very short and didn't have much going on, but Legend looked good getting the win. The way she countered Bliss to hit her finisher was cool.
Result: Legend defeated Bliss
Grade: C
Notable Moments and Observations
- The Miz and Je'Von Evans had a segment backstage to set up a singles match.
- Ripley indicated in a backstage segment that she and Iyo Sky are pursuing the tag titles.
- Any spot where Bliss uses her double-jointed elbow is weird because seeing an arm bend that way is almost more uncomfortable to watch than something bloody.
The Miz vs. Je'Von Evans
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Last time in action: The Miz lost to LA Knight (SD, Nov. 21), Evans lost to Femi (NXT, Dec. 9)
The Miz and Evans had a match after a heated moment backstage set it up earlier in the show. The A-Lister had control for the first couple of moves, but the high-flyer sent him out of the ring and hit a beautiful moonsault.
We returned from a break to see The Miz grounding Evans in a headlock. The Young OG made a comeback and hit a few of his signature moves before nailing the OG Cutter for the win.
This wasn't very long, especially with a commercial break in the middle of it, but Evans looked good getting the win.
Result: Evans defeated The Miz
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
- The moonsault Evans hit from the apron looked incredible. It was almost like he was moving in slow motion.
- The Miz is an underrated seller. He always makes his opponents look good and that is one of his most valuable traits.
- The OG Cutter Evans hit was just about perfect. The Miz sold it as good as anyone.
The Terror Twins vs. Aleister Black and Zelina Vega
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Last time in action: Ripley and Sky vs. Flair and Bliss ended in a No Contest (Raw, Dec. 1), Priest defeated Kit Wilson (Main Event, Nov. 12), Black vs. Rhodes ended in a No Contest (SD, Nov. 7), Vega defeated LeRae (Main Event, Sept. 19)
Jade Cargill attacked Mia Yim backstage and then gave a quick promo in the ring before Yim came out with a kendo stick to get some revenge. Cargill fought back and left her lying in the ring.
The final match of the night was a mixed tag bout with Ripley and Priest reuniting to take on Priest and Vega. The match got started with just 10 minutes left in the show, so we knew it wouldn't be very long going into it.
After a short brawl got the match going, Ripley used her significant power advantage to take control of Vega as the show went into the final commercial break.
Vega was able to get the upper hand by going after Ripley's arm. Once the men were tagged in, The Archer of Infamy was able to gain some momentum before Vega jumped on his back to distract him so Black could nail him with a kick to the face.
Vega and Black botched the Code Red but it looked like both women were fine. Vega hit it a moment later for a two-count. Other than that one spot, everything else in this match looked good.
Ripley scored the win with the Riptide after she and Priest hit simultaneous Razor's Edges.
Result: The Terror Twins defeated Black and Vega
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- Cargill might not be a fan of Slim Jims. She made sure the sponsored table was not seen or used.
- It wouldn't be surprising to see Ripley and Priest fight Ethan Page and Chelsea Green for the mixed tag titles. They are a good duo and would bring more attention to those titles.
- The way Black used Vega as a weapon was cool.
- The way Ripley and Vega messed up the Code Red was weird. It looked like Vega thought she was taking a reverse facebuster instead.
The Final Word
6 of 6Once again, Dragunov stole the show on Friday night with his United States Championship defense. This time, it was against Ciampa, a man who has been trying to get a shot at the belt for weeks.
The Mad Russian has been the most consistently entertaining wrestler on SmackDown in recent months, and maybe in all of WWE. He hasn't had a single match that was anything less than a show-stealing performance.
The rest of what we got on this week's show was relatively mediocre. The other three bouts all had their moments, but none of them came close to what we got from Ciampa and Dragunov.
A lot of attention was put on Cena's final match tomorrow, which wasn't surprising, but it did feel like overkill after a little while.
Grade: C-plus
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