WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from October 1

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, as well as make a few predictions for future events.

This weekly recap has sung the praises of SmackDown for the past several weeks, but don't expect Thursday's episode to get the same kind of love.

WWE only booked four matches for this episode. You would think a two-hour program for the main roster would have more action than a one-hour episode of NXT, but that wasn't the case.

On top of that, none of the matches were anything special, and there was very little storyline development. Basically, it felt like whoever was in charge didn't put much effort into making a show worth watching.

Let's take a look at what happened on this week's SmackDown.

Opening Segment

The show opened with a promo from Seth Rollins talking about how Kane is knowingly switching between personalities to mess with him.

Kane came out on crutches to sell the injury he received at the hands of Rollins on Monday. Corporate Kane kept insisting that he is not Demon Kane but acknowledged there is a darkness deep inside him.

Kane actually booked a match with Rollins and The New Day teaming up to take on The Dudley Boyz and Demon Kane. Rollins agreed, so long as Corporate Kane was ringside to watch the action.

This angle has been somewhat interesting, but this segment was dull. Rollins and Kane are both good on the mic, but they didn't have enough to work with.

Grade: C

Notes and Highlights

• Kane is becoming a Barbie doll. He is Corporate Kane and Demon Kane. Next we will get Malibu Kane and Equestrian Kane, complete with dream house and a red convertible.
• If WWE wanted to push this angle the right way, it would use some special effects to show both Kanes in the same place at the same time in a backstage segment. It would add a little intrigue to the storyline.
• It was good that Kane mentioned the special at Madison Square Garden taking place this Saturday. That event hasn't been advertised like a pay-per-view, so the more press it gets, the better.

Team Bella vs. Team BAD

Before the match got started, Team BAD gave a quick promo about how it doesn't matter who started the Divas Revolution because they are the ones who will end it.

The problem with this bout is that both teams are made up of heels. WWE has booked heel vs. heel matches on a weekly basis for the past few months, and it is a bad idea.

The fans like Sasha Banks, but they seem indifferent toward Naomi and Tamina. If there is no clear babyface to get behind, the crowd loses interest quicker than Bo Dallas loses matches.

However, the action in this match wasn't bad. Everyone contributed in one way or another, so it wasn't a total waste of time.

Sasha Banks won the contest for her team by making Nikki Bella tap out to The Banks Statement. It was a smart move to have the most popular woman in the match get the win, but as a whole, this wasn't an amazing matchup, and the win doesn't really mean anything.

Grade: C+

Notes and Highlights

• Tamina should be dominating everyone. Her personality needs some work, but the fact that she is just an enforcer shows how little WWE thinks of her right now.
• All these Divas stables are good for giving everyone time in front of the cameras, but they do nothing to push individual talents. It will be surprising if any of these groups still exist in three months.
• Banks should turn babyface. The crowd loves her too much for her to stay heel for very long.

The New Day Pump Seth Rollins Up

A quick backstage segment like this normally wouldn't get its own slide, but The New Day is too entertaining to ignore.

Rollins was walking backstage when he ran into his partners for the night. Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Big E immediately got on his nerves, but thanks to the power of positivity, Rollins was clapping and chanting along with them after they pumped up his ego a bit.

The way The New Day has evolved into the most entertaining act in WWE over the past few months has been the best natural progression we have seen from anyone in quite some time.

Six months ago, it seemed like The New Day was a sinking ship with no hope of being salvaged, but the team never gave up, and now it is getting as much screen time as the top stars in the company.

If they can continue to come up with new ideas to advance their characters, there's no telling how far these three can go with this group.

The only thing they need to think about is using the trombone a little more sparingly. It was hilarious the first time, but it will soon become more annoying than it is entertaining.

Grade: A

Ryback vs. Kevin Owens

Why wasn't this match hyped more leading up to it? The WWE Intercontinental Championship was on the line, but most people probably had no idea there was a title match until it was announced during the introductions.

This is one of many problems with WWE today. The people in charge want the midcard titles to seem important, but then they have a bout where one is on the line and it gets no advertisement leading up to the match. That's just poor booking no matter how you look at it.

Ryback and Kevin Owens proved at Night of Champions that they can work well together, but this match didn't even come close to matching their first encounter.

Sure, there were some good spots, but it felt like a throwaway segment more than a big title match. In order to keep his title, Owens got himself counted out.

Grade: C-

Notes and Highlights

• Having a heel purposely get counted out or disqualified once in a while is fine, but Owens doing it so much is devaluing him as a Superstar.
• Owens is great at taunting the crowd to generate heat. A lot of people could learn from him about getting the crowd into a match when it starts to slow down.
• I mentioned on last week's SmackDown recap how WWE should create a line of jeans with Dean Ambrose's name on them. The company could also sell the shorts Owens wears to the ring. We can buy plenty of shirts, but WWE is missing the boat on selling legwear. A line of workout pants with Superstar logos could sell well.

The Cosmic Wasteland vs. Neville and Lucha Dragons

This feud has gone on way too long. Stardust and Neville have been fighting since before SummerSlam, and it's getting repetitive.

The real problem is that there is no storyline behind the feud anymore. When Arrow's Stephen Amell was part of it, things were interesting, but now it just feels like WWE has nothing else for anyone in this program, so these six men just keep getting put into matches over and over.

However, all six men have built up a good chemistry, so while there might not be a narrative to follow, at least we get some entertaining wrestling.

Kalisto ended up getting the win for his team by pinning Konnor, which seems to be a growing trend. The smallest guy in the fight has picked up more than a few wins in recent weeks, and it makes you wonder if WWE is grooming him for something bigger down the road.

Grade: B-

Notes and Highlights

• Even with the help of a trampoline, Kalisto barely made it over the top rope.
• Stardust is infringing on The Joker's gimmick by using a playing card in his promos.

The New Day and Rollins vs. Dudley Boyz and Demon Kane

Corporate Kane was sitting ringside as promised, so it came as no surprise when Demon Kane never showed up. The funny part was how Corporate Kane acted like he had no idea what was going on.

Rollins and The New Day controlled most of the action, but after Rollins took Kane out with a suicide dive, the Director of Operations was helped to the back, allowing him to reappear as Demon Kane a few moments later.

Rollins bailed before Kane could chokeslam him through a table, but the distraction he provided allowed Bubba and D-Von to hit their finisher on Kingston to pick up the win.

The Dudleys tried to celebrate with Kane, but the Demon chokeslammed both of them before delivering two more to Kingston and Big E. He finished things off with a Tombstone Piledriver to Woods.

This wasn't a great match, but compared to everything else we saw, it stole the show.

Grade: B

Notes and Highlights

• WWE should be selling little toy trombones with The New Day's logo on them. The fans could play them during The New Day's entrance.
• Big E is channeling D-Von's old gimmick where he acted like a preacher. It would be fun to watch them go mano a mano in a promo.
• Is New Day still using Freebird rules with the titles? Woods never seems to wrestle with the group since they regained the tag team belts.
• Bubba Ray has one of the best back body drops in the business. His opponents get a lot of height when he launches them into the air.

Final Thoughts and Predictions

SmackDown had a string of great shows over the past few months, but that all came to a screeching halt this week.

WWE only managed to pack four matches into a two-hour show. That means we were inundated with video packages, interviews and backstage segments that, while somewhat entertaining, did nothing to add to the show.

However, one good thing that can be taken away from this week's SmackDown was how much promotion was given to the upcoming special at Madison Square Garden.

Since the big MSG event is this Saturday, all the predictions this week will be about the outcomes of those matches.

Predictions

• The Dudley Boyz will win the WWE Tag Team Championships from The New Day.
• John Cena will retain the U.S. title against Seth Rollins.
• Kevin Owens will defeat Chris Jericho to retain the IC title.
• Sheamus will defeat Randy Orton.
• Dolph Ziggler will defeat Rusev.
• Brock Lesnar will destroy Big Show.

What did you think of this week's SmackDown, and what are your predictions for Saturday's event?

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