Posted in: Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: recaps, Smackdown, The Shovel, wrestling, wwe

WWE Smackdown Recap – Holy Crap, Natalya Actually Won a Match

With the enemies at the gates after AEW and Impact teamed up for a wrestling super-mega-crossover event, WWE looks to build toward the TLC PPV on WWE Smackdown tonight. How will they answer the challenge? Probably by doing the same old shit they were already doing. This is WWE we're talking about, after all. I'm Jude Terror, this is The Shovel, and let's get this stupid show on the road. This is part one of a two-part Smackdown recap.

WWE Smackdown Recap for December 4th, 2020 Part 1

The Smackdown roster is on the stage, and a graphic of Pat Patterson is on the Titantron. Sgt. Slaughter is out there. So is Gerald Brisco. Michael Cole gives a short speech about Pat Patterson and introduces a ten-bell salute. WWE pipes in that god damn fake "Thank you, Pat" chant they used on NXT, trying to be a little more subtle about it this time, but it still completely ruins the moment.

Then Kayla Braxton is in the ring and brings out Roman Reigns for an interview. Reigns comes out, flanked by Jey Uso and Paul Heyman. An hour later, he makes it to the ring. After all that, he complains that Braxton didn't introduce him right and has Heyman do it over. Kayla asks him about what happened last week, showing a clip that basically recapped the entire episode. Kayla wants to know if Reigns fears Kevin Owens. Reigns says this interview is the most important thing to happen in Kayla's career, and she asks him a stupid question like that. He says WWE took a chance by allowing her to do this interview instead of Michael Cole, and she blew it. He won't answer the question.

Kayla asks if Roman is using Jey Uso as a pawn. Roman says that's stupid too. He says he's a protector, a provider, and the head of the table, not a manipulator. He again berates Kayla for stinking up the interview. Paul Heyman gets on the mic and says that the Smackdown ratings have been up the past few weeks as Jey Uso has been main-eventing Smackdown, so Reigns has clearly given his cousin a huge opportunity.

Kevin Owens interrupts this nonsense. He says he doesn't fear Roman, and since Roman doesn't fear him, they should just have a fight now. He gets in the ring. Uso snatches the microphone before Roman can talk and accepts a match. Owens says he wasn't talking to the busboy. He was talking to the head of the table. If Roman doesn't want to fight now, they can do it at TLC. And since Roman is "the head of the table, let's get a table in there." Oof. Owens suggests it be a TLC match. Or they could fight now.

Roman says, of course, Kevin wants to fight Roman. It would be a highlight of his career. But Roman says he and Uso don't fear anyone. He accepts the match for TLC. And if he was the old Roman Reigns, he'd whoop Kevin's ass now. But the time isn't right. Reigns isn't a savage. He's a gentleman, and there's a lady in the ring; Roman and his entourage leave.

Owens stops them as they're halfway up the ramp. He says he'll grow up when Roman grows some balls because he isn't a gentleman; he's just a bitch. Oooh, that was WWE's one bi-monthly use of the b-word; they must really be looking for a ratings boost tonight.

Bayley heads to the ring. Smackdown takes a commercial break. Backstage after the break, Jey Uso is riled up and apologizes for overstepping when he accepted the challenge. Reigns puts his arm around him and tells him he loves him. Back to the ring, where Bayley's entrance is supposedly just ending. Natalya comes out. Bianca Belair is on commentary.

Bayley and Natalya have a match. Half the match takes place during a commercial break. Now that there are no live fans there, I wonder if they all just kinda sit around and wait until five seconds before the break is over. Natalya taps out to the sharpshooter as Natalya picks up a shocking win over the former top Smackdown star.

Natalya defeats Bayley via submission.

Surprise win for Natalya, but the true goal here seems to be to put over Bianca Belair. Smackdown takes a commercial break. Then we get a Pat Patterson tribute video, different from the NXT one. This one is photos of Pat with WWE stars and their tweets about him. On display in the arena is the original 1979 Intercontinental Championship that Patterson won. Cole and Graves talk about him a little bit, and then we get the other video, the one we saw on NXT. This is the sadder one. But again, they ruin it by playing a fake "Thank you, Pat" chant. Motherfuckers, there is not a crowd in the building. Who is chanting that? Just stop!

Big E, Rey Mysterio, and Daniel Bryan head to the ring as Smackdown takes a commercial break. Then Dolph Ziggler, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Sami Zayn. They have a match. This is a match to honor Pat Patterson because six-man tag matches are such a rare and special occasion on Smackdown. Bryan wins with an inside cradle.

Daniel Bryan, Rey Mysterio, and Big E defeat Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Dolph Ziggler.

The faces decide to get back in the ring and beat up the heels, with a special focus on Ziggler, who takes everyone's finisher. And now, with Pat Patterson sufficiently honored, we'll honor our paycheck by moving on to part two of this Smackdown recap.

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