In recent years, SmackDown ‘go-home’ episodes have not typically packed the same kind of punch as RAW when it comes to meaningful “go-home” storylines heading into the PPV/PLE. This is because SmackDown is on Friday, and the PLE is the next day or two—leaving little time to promote a huge angle added to the biggest stories. However, Survivor Series is one of the big four PLEs of the year and 2024’s final before 2025 ushers in a brand-new era of WWE programming with major (financial) implications set to impact every facet of the company (almost). In other words, they need this to land hard enough that the hype steamrolls right into January 6th’s Netflix debut, or at least enough to pique the casual fan’s interest.
That is why the ‘big go-home angle’ came last Friday when CM Punk showed up at the behest of a returning ‘Wiseman’ to fill the role of ‘reluctant’ 5th member of team OG Bloodline—giving WWE a full week to promote Survivor Series: WAR GAMES with the “can they coexist” narrative. The move was a ‘big-league’ hit, and you could assume that WWE would coast through the final 2 hours of WWE TV before tomorrow night’s PLE in Canada.
Yet, tonight’s show, pre-tapped from last week’s Delta Center in Utah City, Utah, was booked heavily with a premiere matchup headlining the show—Jey Uso vs. Jacob Fatu—along with a pre-tapped Roman Reigns–CM Punk ‘sit-down’ with Paul Heyman.
CM Punk Playin’ … Games?
The segment started with three chairs placed around a table, but only two of them were filled as Roman Reigns asked, “Wiseman, where is he?”
“I don’t know, my Tribal Chief,” Heyman responded. It was interesting to hear Paul’s loyalty towards Reigns when it was CM Punk that Paul was first in contact with after Roman realized his council had “changed phones on the team.” This has led many to speculate that Paul would side with Punk over Reigns when it inevitably comes time to choose. Roman was furious for being ‘made to wait’ and was about to storm off before Punk made his way into the shot (right on time), which offered symbolism for Punk’s “late arrival” in the storyline.
.@HeymanHustle is going to owe @CMPunk BIG time after this…👀 #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/tE714zlZU0
— WWE (@WWE) November 30, 2024
Punk admitted right away that he showed up for Paul and NOT for Roman, and then the two began a verbal contest. Paul told Roman that Solo has had them in checkmate since the night after Mania, but then warned Punk that he would be next on Solo’s list. Punk and Roman agreed to a partnership ONE TIME, but only after Punk said he and Roman could “revisit” their own rivalry once they ‘get through’ Saturday.
The segment ended ominously as Punk suggested that Paul would ‘owe him a favor’ for his participation in WARGAMES before he exited the room. Roman asked his Wiseman what ‘favor’ he’d have to do for Punk, to which Paul responded by putting that convo on the back burner until after Saturday. (Notably, Punk referred to ‘his friend’ Paul as “our” Wiseman” to Roman in one of his last lines.)
Jey Uso vs. Jacob Fatu (WarGames Advantage At Stake)
Before ‘Day One’s’ entrance, he received a pep-talk from Jimmy and Sami before Nic Aldis came into the frame to inform them (and us) that all faction members from both sides would be barred from ringside. The winner will get a ‘match advantage’ at WARGAMES, which guarantees a disadvantaged beatdown for the first four entrants of one team.
It was Jacob’s first singles match on WWE TV, a point made on commentary, so he had to be favored in the match. But from a storytelling standpoint, it would make sense for Solo’s team to get the advantage, considering that he has used the numbers game to get to this point. The match advantage would mirror what we have seen from the faction until now, but it would also give Roman’s team a BIG obstacle to get over in the match, and it is appropriate for that BIG obstacle to be THE big obstacle Roman has been up against.
As for the match, Jacob gained control early, but Jey was competitive in strides. The crowd was heavy on Jey’s side, but it was impossible to deny Fatu’s impressive combination of speed and power. Jey kept getting caught by Jacob, highlighting his strength and dominating control—this was on full display when Jey caught Jacob with a superkick before countering Jey into a pop-up Samoan Drop. The stiffest spot in the match was seeing Fatu attempt to drive Jey through the announce table with another Samoan Drop. Unfortunately, the table did not break, and you could see it hurt. Fatu used an Implant DDT to set up a pop-up moonsault off the top turnbuckle for the win. “The Samoan Werewolf” secured the advantage for Team Solo heading into WARGAMES.
Roman and company have been outnumbered for months, and now they will have to face those odds officially. The only way for Team Roman to win is to finally overcome a disadvantage Solo has managed to take with him into WARGAMES.
Women’s WarGames!!!
It felt like the women’s side of the WAR was lost alongside the major booking over on the men’s side. Unlike the men’s WarGames that is propped up on years of historical booking between The Shield and CM Punk with family conflict as the backdrop, the women’s match was crammed together with zero consideration for continuity. This match is begging for a major turn, but unfortunately, the ideal story to tell would have been between tag champs (for now) Belair and the injured Jade Cargill. Cargill was replaced after a storyline injury was used to cover up a real injury that could lead to a lengthy stay on the shelf.
However, tonight’s opening segment featuring all ten women booked for tomorrow night’s two-ringed cage match managed to perfectly frame a tumultuous team of ‘faces’ with a history of ‘heel’ behavior (towards one another). The team is captained by Belair (who was dressed in BLACK atop her camo cargos), and FightsATW’s own Abraham Gonzalez believes she is the one to watch as far as “turns” go. There was a sense that Jade would turn heel on Bianca, so replacing Jade’s future booking with Belair makes plenty of sense.
Still, Nia Jax and Liv both commented on Bianca’s team, which was filled with backstabbers and their backstabbed victims. It effectively turns this booking’s greatest flaw into the match’s greatest strength. A safe prediction is for the heels to emerge victorious after the face team is betrayed, but it’s even safer to say this match could steal all of the [rating] stars when compared to the men’s match simply by comparing the teams on paper.
KO Explains
He came with receipts!
Ngl @FightOwensFight has been through A LOT… 😮💨#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/djSiLcBYbg
— WWE (@WWE) November 30, 2024
Kevin Owens showed up with receipts tonight in the form of a video package furthering his narrative of Cody being the ‘turncoat.’ KO went through a revised 2021-20223 of Roman Reigns’ treatment towards him and why it hurt so much when his ‘friend’ Cody joined Reigns at Bad Blood against Solo’s Bloodline. The match is not booked for SS and will instead headline “Saturday Night’s MAIN EVENT” on December 14thlive on NBC/PEACOCK.
Rhodes came out for his appearance next facing off against Carmelo Hayes. Hayes faced off against Rhodes in a non-title match shortly after being called up from NXT following Mania, and he certainly impressed in a losing effort. Rhodes was again victorious over the upstart.
Andrade vs. Nakamura
Heel Nakamura was getting ‘face’ chants as some of the more educated fans in attendance attempted to show appreciation for this amazing matchup. Nakamura and Andrade could be booked into a significant PLE feud, so getting it thrown into the mix as the Japanese star goes for United States championship glory against LA Knight tomorrow night is certainly a bonus. Andrade, who had previously feuded with the US champ, was beaten by the contender—using a black mist on LA Knight, who tried to run-in on his Survivor Series opponent.
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