WWE SmackDown: Results, Highlights and Grades for Oct. 18

In Hour 2 of WWE SmackDown, The Miz has Bayley on as a guest on a special edition of Miz TV.

WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley hits the ring with Sasha Banks by her side with a banger of a theme and a banger of a jacket. We roll footage from last week.

Miz asks her point blank: “Why?” The champ says she does not owe him, the kids, or fans an explanation. “A champion who doesn’t talk. Who do you think you are, Brock Lesnar? [Sasha] your Paul Heyman?” Miz argues she’ll only ever play second fiddle to Sasha Banks, but Banks cuts Miz down by mentioning he was drafted in the fifth round last week.

Bayley says she slashed the “stupid” Bayley Buddies because they’ve defined her career. People saw her as fun and colorful, but every week, she gave to the fans with nothing in return. “All they did was take … they didn’t see I was trying to be a role model and change the world.” She says losing her title at Hell in a Cell was a turning point. No one was there to hug her when she laid in the ring crying and in pain. She’s tired of being a role model and getting nothing in return.

“I used to think this division lacked opportunity, but this division is lazy,” she adds. She says she’s outgrown the fans.

Nikki Cross comes out furious at Bayley’s words, but she promises when she wins the number one contender’s match, she’ll give Bayley a hug. Dana Brooke comes out promising to win after being underutilized and overlooked. Then Lacey Evans comes out right before the commercial break. Our Six Pack Challenge is next.

Grade: A

A+ promo from Bayley. Best promo from Bayley I’ve ever seen with an A+ explanation for the transformation. Didn’t make this all about Sasha either, as a lot of Bayley’s storylines these last couple years have been. Also did a good job in highlight tonight’s challengers.

Lacey Evans vs Dana Brooke vs. Carmella vs. Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville vs. Nikki Cross

Rose and Deville double team everyone. Lacey hides on the outside waiting for the right time to strike.

They take care of Mella outside, but get taken out by Brooke, who gets taken out by Evans. Bodies flying everywhere to send us to a break.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1185365459270373376

Back from the ring, Mella attempts to fight off Fire and Desire before Cross attempts a pin for a two count. She tosses Mella to the outside, but Mella dives onto women on the outside. Cross does the same before getting slammed into the steps by Evans. She then throws Brooke into the ring for a pin attempt. Things break down until Cross gets the win with her finisher.

Winner: Cross

Grade: B-

Surprisingly fun match. Didn’t light the world on fire, but it had some good, memorable spots.

Drew Gulak vs. Braun Strowman

Gulak introduces himself on the mic in his SD debut, and says he’s certain Braun will get knocked out at Crown Jewel, but Strowman doesn’t want to see that. So he made 300 slides to show Braun how to beat Tyson, but Braun decides to squash him instead rather than listen to advice. What a meanie.

Winner: Braun

Grade: C+

Yes, I’m over-grading this solely because they brought back the Gulak Powerpoint Presentations. That deserves an extra seven pluses alone. I think. I’m bad at math. I need a Powerpoint from Gulak to teach me math.

Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns vs. Shinsuke Nakamura and Baron Corbin

Main event time.

Heels get the advantage early on. Match breakdown. Both Nakamura and Bryan down. Dives, kicks, Bryan gets Naka in a Yes Lock till Corbin breaks it up. Catches a Superman Punch. Spear through barricade. Bryan hits a Knee Plus for the win.

Winners: Bryan, Roman

Grade: C

Not bad. Just your standard tag match with a few memorable spots thrown in.

Overall Grade: C-

Save for the Bayley promo and even to some extent the number one contender’s match, tonight felt largely uneventful. Least favorite episode of SmackDown on FOX so far. Yes, even worse than the episode where Kofi lost his title. Not much at all to rave about. Wish I liked it more than I did. But it wasn’t a very interesting show to be frank.