WWE SmackDown Live Results: Highlights, Analysis, and Grades for October 24

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Sami Zayn vs. Randy Orton

Result: Randy Orton defeated Sami Zayn via pinfall

Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars

We got a taste last week in tag team action, but heel Sami Zayn is a revelation. I pointed out his skanking in Shane McMahon’s face before, but look at his sarcastic hand wringing before the match started and tell me you don’t want to punch him in the face.

Then once the match got started, Sami decided to celebrate hitting his big moves. The barricade apron connected, and before anything else Zayn had his arms in the air like he just scored a touchdown.

And Sami’s offense is pretty much the same as it was when he was the most pure babyface in all of WWE. But he’s just subtly shifted his mannerisms enough to make him an effective antagonist now.

Now, as the match progresses, you had to figure at some point the other shoe was going to drop. All night, the announcers made a point of mentioning the extra security posted to thwart a possible Raw retaliation. So as Orton was hitting all his usual moves, and there was only seven minutes left in the broadcast, your brain was saying, “Where’s the superstars in red shirts?” Only, they never showed up.

But through that, Sami made his comeback, hitting the tornado DDT through the turnbuckles to the outside. But Sami missed the Helluva Kick and was in danger of losing the match until Kevin Owens came down to help. It backfired, as Orton hit Sami with a low blow to get some payback for last week. And it didn’t come out of nowhere, but Orton hit an RKO for the victory.

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Backstage after the match, Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon discuss that Raw never showed up tonight. Shane says Daniel was worried over nothing, but Bryan says that it’s just a matter of time before Kurt Angle retaliates. and that closes out this week’s SmackDown Live.