SmackDown In A Nutshell: ‘Twas The Night Before Crown Jewel

It’s time for another SmackDown in a Nutshell, and this time? Well, ’twas the night before Crown Jewel…sort of.

It is the night before Crown Jewel, in as much as this is when the show airs.

Anyone who knows, knows this was all taped last week, right after the live SmackDown.

I mean…that just makes sense. It is a very long flight from the United States to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Making Superstars fly over after a show the night before? Not happening.

Then again, WWE always has issues with who doesn’t want to go, and their reasons this time were fear-related.

In any case, it is, for us, the night before Crown Jewel.

We will still be getting final hype for the show, of course. And, if you like the underdog match, how about Rey and Gunther?

There will be more, of course, but it’s all eyes on Crown Jewel, for the most part.

So, let’s get into this week’s edition of…

SmackDown In A Nutshell: ‘Twas The Night Before Crown Jewel

Let’s crack open this Nutshell and get things going!

Best Match of the night:

Liv and Sonya was good.

So too was Rey versus GUNTHER.

Take your pick, I wouldn’t blame either.

Worst match of the night:

If only because it involved jobbers, and also because there has to be one bad one, Strowman versus five jobbers.

Yes. Five.

Star of the Night

Honestly…I have to go with three, and one honorable mention.

Honorable: Sonya Deville. I mean, that was good work there…she has, for a bit now, quietly most of the time, been a steady force.

I would not be at all upset to see her get a push…and I think Superstars like her are a reason why the women need a mid-card title.

And our top three?

Well, one is Liv. It’s like now that she’s dropped the title, WWE is getting even more creative with her booking.

The other two would be Rey and GUNTHER.

Spot of the Night:

Hard to argue with Liv putting Sonya onto the chairs.

That amount of chairs would make Terry Funk proud.

Also…Shayna did do damage with that knee to Natalya. Botch, or just super stiff to build Baszler back up?

Jobber of the Night:

Any and all of the five enhancement talents that got squashed by Strowman.

Upset of the Night:

Not a one.

Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:

Somewhat surprised that Knight got to flirt with Samantha Irvin, but it makes a blossoming feud with Ricochet hit harder.

And…what a segment, recorded as it was, with Wyatt and the plant backstage.

And…a new character teased in the cut scenes?

LOL Moment of the night:

That WWE would continue with the ruse that this show is live.

Like, anyone with a phone or computer and social media knows the press conference for Crown Jewel was today.

In Saudi Arabia.

And that if the show starts 14 hours from the end of SmackDown…and it’s a 20 hour flight at least….yes, we know this was recorded.

I would almost rather WWE uses such rare shows as a chance to let the NXT crew run a special (like WarGames or Halloween Havoc) on FOX.

Noteworthy Moment:

It’s not a huge shock, but Jake Paul will be in his brother’s corner for the big title match.

Also, as The Usos race toward the day they will be the longest reigning tag team champions, we are getting teased of yet one more Uso/New Day tilt.

Here’s the thing…been there, done that. Let’s have some new blood.

Brutes/Usos is good. Usos and Viking Raiders?

Bring up Pretty Deadly…bring back some other team…take advantage of the Good Brothers.

And here’s one to ponder…no details…but intriguing…

Overall lowlights:

Not a ton to hate on. I mean, the recorded “live” episodes…I rip on them plenty. See my LOL section for a way I’d love to “fix” these.

Otherwise, decent show for what it was.

Overall highlights:

Liv Morgan is being built back up and I like it.

Shayna Baszler and Ronda Rousey…nice team. Almost enough to wish that Duke and Shafir were back and we’d have a 4 Horsewomen stable after all.

You kind of knew Rey wasn’t going to have a chance against GUNTHER.

However, both are exceptionally good in the ring, and the match did not disappoint.

After the final bell:

Taped show aside, it was fine.

While for us it’s the night before Crown Jewel, as we watch this, the crew is hard at work getting prepped.

Or maybe sleeping. I’d vote on sleeping.

The best part about getting beyond Crown Jewel? Once the show is over…we can put 100% of the focus on Survivor Series.

And…that means War Games!