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Add FightsATW on GoogleDanhausen‘s “Very Nice, Very Evil SmackDown,” Halloween special was hosted in Charleston, West Virginia, at the Charleston Coliseum, where the kayfabe vampire played ‘host’ for the venue’s first WWE TV show. The theme was interesting, especially when you consider WWE‘s companion post earlier this week, where Danhausen hosted a social media show featuring legendary ‘spooky characters’ like Papa Shango and Boogeyman.
The show opened with a traditional ‘Halloween Special’-themed video intro filmed in black and white that touched on the old-school elements utilizing Gothic Horror and German Expressionism. “Our Feature Presentation” appeared on screen after a bit of wordplay that changed the adjective to “Creature Presentation,” before Danhausen ran down the card featuring three title matchups.
SAMI ZAYN(c) vs. TRICK WILLIAMS—WWE Undisputed World Championship
Trick Williams’s resume continues to age like fine wine, and tonight he attempted to capitalize on his winning history against world champion Sami Zayn. Zayn has complained about the ‘young guns’ gunning for his title, but Trick Williams defeated the current champ just this past year at WrestleMania in a win that earned Trick his first reign as U.S. champion.
After a feud with Corbin that forced Trick to win back that U.S. title, he walks into this title match with a strap of his own and looking to become ‘champ-champ.’ Early shenanigans saw Gargano drag out the referee in a move that earned Trick a DQ win, though Zayn retained.
GM Nic Aldis came out quickly and ordered official Charles Robinson to restart the match after banning Lil Yachty, Gargano, and Candice LeRae from ringside. It was a contradictory move when Aldis stipulated the match was now ‘no DQ,’ but the confusion led to an amazing near-fall where Trick nearly pulled off the win.
After kendo sticks and steel chairs, Trick landed the “Trick Shot” for another near fall, and in that desperation, Trick held the world title in his hands as a foreign object. Without hesitation, Trick tried to clock Zayn with the belt before using the ref as a human shield, giving Sami the chance to land a low blow.
Sami used the belt and planted it across Trick’s forehead to retain the title as a graphic popped up featuring his Crown Jewel match against Roman Reigns.
CHELSEA GREEN ‘BANKING’ TOO MUCH ON FRIENDSHIP W/TIFFY
This year’s ‘Money in the Bank’ winner Tiffany Stratton was all smiles standing next to her friend and WWE women’s world champion Chelsea Green while being interviewed backstage prior to her match. Something dark lurks behind Stratton’s pearly whites—a former world champion who achieved that goal after turning on ‘her friend’ Nia Jax following months of pump fakes.
Now, as a face, she is in a similar position, with Stratton close enough to strike without Chelsea ever seeing it coming—Tiffany should be a heel anyway. That said, the upcoming Survivor Series: WarGames could feature them on the same team facing off against their current protagonist in Chelsea’s ‘Crown Jewel’ competition in RAW women’s world champion Liv Morgan.
CHELSEA GREEN (c) vs. NIKKI BELLA
After being injured and unable to defend her title at first, Chelsea is on a run of successful title defenses after beating Roxanne Perez last week and Nikki tonight via pinfall. In the post-match, Liv came out and verbally ran down Chelsea.
Liv told Chelsea she was a ‘nobody’ and that she could get fired again, and nobody would even notice—feeding into backstage rumors that Green is a ‘placeholder champion.’ The segment ended in a schmoz with The Judgment Day standing strong.
CODY VS RANDY… LAST MATCH STANDING
Cody Rhodes opened the show with the same topic in his mind that has plagued him since refusing to ‘pull the trigger’ on kicking Randy’s face—something he has continually vowed to rectify ‘next time.’ After facing off this year at WrestleMania in a match that saw Cody win and Randy lose partial eyesight after a post-match punt, the feud between the two future legends now culminates after a summer of feuding.
The Last Man Standing match is booked for ‘Crown Jewel’ in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in eight days, and Cody and Randy have traded beatdowns throughout various segments of SD. Cody apologized to Randy’s family ahead of their showdown, acknowledging that the very nature of this match calls for violence. There are no pinfalls, submissions, or mercy in a LMS match, and Cody might have to follow through on his ‘punt promise’ if he is going to put Randy away in this match.
THE DEMON FINN HAUSEN
Danhausen has been working a ‘Dr. Frankenstein’ gimmick for… well, it feels like forever, and tonight it paid off with the return of Fin Balor’s alter ego, “The Demon.” The scheduled segment was interrupted by Gunther, who has routinely beaten down Danhausen for his “antics,” as Michael Cole described on commentary.
Gunther brought Danhausen to the ring before the ‘cloning machine’ popped out a bunch of Minihausens that became ‘cannon fodder’ for “The General.” Then the lights went black, and fog filled the walkway as red lights strobed in a countdown to The Demon’s entrance.
The Demon ate Gunther’s offense, no-selling his way to a ladder spot where Balor landed his ‘Coup de Grâce’ onto Gunther through the announce table. Balor and Hausen stood tall at the end of the segment, and ‘The Demon’s’ body art featured a split-face illustration of the two.
OTHER TIDBITS
– Rey Fenix(c) defeated Ricky Saints in defense of his AAA cruiserweight championship after a summer of bangers and going back and forth with Dragon Lee in WWE ‘Match of the Week’ performances. Saints has been booked pretty much the same over the past several months, and it is starting to feel like Ethan Page.
– Jade Cargill defeated Tatum Paxley in singles action, though B-Fab attempted to interfere before Alexa Bliss neutralized the threat. Cargill landed a big boot that nearly decapitated her opponent as her faction stood tall to close out the segment.
– CM Punk and Kevin Owens were announced for a ‘No Holds Barred’ match scheduled for next Friday at The Barclays Center.
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