WWE Friday Night Smackdown Live Coverage - November 3rd, 2023

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Rey Mysterio and Logan Paul to weigh in before WWE Crown Jewel

The United States Champion and The Maverick will step on the scale before their highly anticipated title match at WWE Crown Jewel. The brash Logan Paul is back in WWE and immediately called out Rey Mysterio, believing him to be unworthy of holding the U.S. Title. Mysterio accepted the challenge, and the two will come face to face one last time before the United States Championship is on the line.


:smackdown:

– We open tonight's show wit highlights from last week, with the focus being on the interaction between Roman Reigns and LA Knight heading into their WWE Universal Championship showdown at WWE Crown Jewel on Saturday afternoon.

The video wraps up and we shoot inside the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, WI. where Kevin Patrick welcomes us to the show along with Michael Cole and Corey Graves as the camera pans the crowd while the "Who's better than me?" theme plays in the background.

LA Knight's theme hits and the crowd roars as the commentary trio promote tomorrow's special start time for WWE Crown Jewel 2023. Back in the ring, Knight's theme wraps up and he grabs a mic and soaks in the atmosphere as the fans chant his name.

Knight starts by saying nearly 1200 days is a long time. It's how long Reigns has been the Universal champ. He says what is even more impressive is how fast 1200 days is going to come to an end. He calls what he's doing a hostile takeover and vows to take over everything "The Tribal Chief" stands for.

As he continues talking, he is interrupted by the familiar sounds of Reigns' theme song. "The Head of the Table" emerges with his title in-hand and "The Wise Man" of The Bloodline, Paul Heyman, by his side. He makes his way to the ring as fireworks explode. He settles in the ring and his music dies down.

Reigns gets on the mic and says he's gonna remind Knight who he is. He talks about what he does he is cinematic. He says he takes some time off and things have changed. He expected someone to step up, but not him. He talks about how he's going to smash Knight and leave him in the desert. He says Knight won't be the last one.

"The Mega Star" says he's coming at Reigns differently than others have in the past. He's not coming to end something at Crown Jewel by dethroning Reigns. He's there to start something by making this the LA Knight Era in WWE. He claims to be "The Mega Star" because he lives it every damn day.

He tells Reigns he doesn't do warning shots so he better make sure he's good and done when he leaves him in the desert. He says if he doesn't, he's gonna keep coming for him. He drops the mic and the two go face-to-face as a bunch of officials rush to avoid things escalating.

– The commentators run down the lineup for tonight's show and then Kevin Owens' theme hits. The crowd explodes as "The Prize Fighter" emerges and heads to the ring for his opportunity to punch some faces on a Friday night. We head into a pre-match commercial break as he settles inside the squared circle.

Kevin Owens vs. Austin Theory

When we return from the break, Austin Theory's theme hits and out comes for the former U.S. Champion accompanied by Grayson Waller. Waller heads to join the crew on special guest commentary for this one as Theory settles in the ring. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one.

Owens starts off strong, but Theory ends up taking over and putting the boots to him as Waller sings his praises on commentary. Owens fights back into competitive form and takes over as the crowd comes to life. He knocks Theory out to the floor and hits a standing senton back-splash onto the A-Town Down man before turning and trashing Waller on commentary as we head into a mid-match commercial break.

As we settle back in from the commercials, we see Theory has taken over on offense and the match is back in the ring. Theory works Owens over as he is slumped in the corner of the ring. Waller jokes on commentary that he bet Owens wishes he was still working on Monday nights right now. Owens comes back to life and does what he loves best, punches a face, as he decks Theory.

He follows that up with a pop-up power bomb and then taunts Waller on commentary before hitting Theory with a stunner for the pin fall victory. Fun but basic opener.

Winner: Kevin Owens

– We shoot backstage and Jackie Redmond is standing by with Bianca Belair. She brings up her ongoing issues with Damage CTRL and how Bayley led an attack that put her on the shelf for weeks.

As Belair is answering the question, in comes Bayley, IYO SKY and Dakota Kai. The trio try and attack "The EST of WWE" but a ton of officials rush to the scene to avoid things getting too far out of hand. We head to another commercial break after this wraps up.

– Back from the break, we go backstage to Logan Paul walking the hallways. He runs into Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits, who compliment him on knocking out Rey Mysterio last week.

He says there's gonna be more of that at Crown Jewel. He walks off. Up comes B-Fab, who asks to talk alone with Bobby Lashley. They walk off to have a conversation.

Piper Niven & Chelsea Green vs. Shotzi & Charlotte Flair

We then shoot to SmackDown Lowdown footage of Chelsea Green & Piper Niven mocking Shotzi during an interview. Back live inside the arena, Piper Niven's theme hits and out she comes. She stops and her music dies down.

Chelsea Green's theme hits and the Undisputed WWE Women's Tag-Team Champions head to the ring for our next match of the evening. As the two settle in the ring, the commentators hype finding out who Shotzi picked to be her partner when we return.

We shift gears and head into a quick pre-match commercial break. When we return, Shotzi's theme hits and out she comes in her mini-tank. Green and Niven taunt her in the ring for being alone and then she smirks as Charlotte Flair's theme hits.

"The Queen" makes her way out to join Shotzi in this women's tag-team showdown. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with our next match of the evening. Shotzi and Niven kick things off for their respective teams.

As Niven takes it to Shotzi coming out of the gate, we see shots backstage of Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn watching the action unfold via a monitor. Green tags in and picks up where Niven left off, taking it to the recent NXT Halloween Havoc 2023 co-host.

The women's tag-champs do a good job of isolating Shotzi, keeping her in their end of the ring and stopping her from making the much-needed tag to the fresher Flair. Finally Shotzi does make the tag and in comes the former 14-time women's champion off the top-rope.

Immediately we see Charlotte shifting the offensive in her team's favor as the fans come to life in the background. Niven and Green try and double-team Charlotte, but she fights them off and then finishes this one up seconds later with a pin fall victory.

Winners: Shotzi & Charlotte Flair

– We go to highlights from John Cena promising victory at Crown Jewel last week before being attacked and laid out by Solo Sikoa. We shoot backstage after that and we see Solo Sikoa looking at his taped up thumb as the commentators talk about him leaving Cena laying with his Samoan Spike last Friday night.

They hype up Cena and Solo going face-to-face for the last time before Crown Jewel next. On that note, we head into another commercial break. When we return, Solo's theme hits and out he comes accompanied by Paul Heyman.

Heyman gets on the mic and talks about how we're at the end of days for the Dr. of Thuganomics. He talks about how Cena is doing this to himself and how the fans shouldn't blame him or even their "Tribal Chief." Solo stops him and grabs the mic. He asks why Heyman is bothering to talk to the fans.

Solo says they came here tonight to talk face-to-face with John Cena. With that said, we hear the familiar sounds of the entrance theme of "The Greatest of All-Time." Out he comes to a big pop and a serious look on his face. He settles in the ring and his theme dies down, but the "Cena! Cena!" chants only grow louder.

Sikoa tells Cena he's pissed he has to wait until tomorrow to kick his ass, but he's got orders from "The Tribal Chief" to give him the mic to say goodbye to these people while he still can, because after tomorrow, he won't be able to. Cena says, "That's it?" He says we've been waiting for Solo to talk for a year and asks if that's all he's gonna bring to the table.

Cena's voice is half gone and he brings up only needing half a voice to "cook him." He tells Solo that we all know the only reason he's got a job here is because of his cousin. He says everyone sees him walking around looking like a wannabe tough guy when at best he's a bargain-basement Taz rip-off. He tells him to tape his thumbs up good because he's gonna shove it up his ass tomorrow. He walks off.

– We return backstage and see Bayley joking with Damage CTRL about beating up Bianca Belair. She jokingly tells IYO SKY after she beats up Belair tonight in their match, maybe she'll challenge her next for the WWE Women's Championship.

She then claims she's only kidding. Up comes Nick Aldis who tells Bayley that Damage CTRL are banned from ringside for her match against Belair tonight.

Good Ole' Fashioned Donnybrook Match: Pretty Deadly vs. The Brawling Brutes

Now it's time for a Good Ole' Fashioned Donnybrook. The Brawling Brutes' theme hits and out comes Ridge Holland and Butch for their scheduled "Good Ole' Fashioned Donnybrook" match against Pretty Deadly. We see a bunch of barrels and other props in and around the ring.

As The Brawling Brutes settle inside the squared circle for this one, we shift gears and head into a quick pre-match commercial break. When we return, Pretty Deadly begin their over-the-top ring entrance until Holland and Butch run up and attack them at the top of the entrance ramp.

Once they bring them into the ring, the bell sounds and immediately we see Kit Wilson and Elton Prince begging off. The Brawling Brutes lean them over the ropes at the same time and hit Ten Beats over the Bowery in stereo as the fans count along with each shot that lands.

Weapons start getting entered into the mix now as glass beer bottles are broken over Pretty Deadly's heads near a bar set up outside the ring. Butch starts yanking at Kit's fingers until he and Elton double-team each guy one at a time to take over on offense.

They throw Ridge back in the ring while Butch is laid out on the floor. Butch recovers and helps knock both Elton and Kit out to the floor, before climbing to the top-rope and connecting with a wild moonsault onto all three guys for a big pop. After that, we head into a mid-match commercial break as the match continues.

When we return, we see some more back-and-forth action. The Brawling Brutes set a table up in the ring and look to finish this one off with a double-team top-rope spot through a table. Instead, Pretty Deadly breaks a beer bottle over their head and put them through the table for the win.

Winners: Pretty Deadly

– We shoot backstage and we see Nick Aldis walking when he approaches Paul Heyman. Heyman tells Aldis if he were him, he'd have a lot of medical personnel at Crown Jewel. He says LA Knight is gonna need it.

He says he's been around a lot of Samoans throughout his career but Roman Reigns is the most savage version anyone will see. Aldis asks if he's done. Heyman responds, "With LA Knight? Hardly." We head to another commercial break.

– When we return from the break, we see Nick Aldis standing in a special area outside of the arena for the official weigh-in for Logan Paul vs. Rey Mysterio at WWE Crown Jewel.

The WWE U.S. Champion comes in and steps on the scales, weighing in at 175 pounds. Logan Paul steps on the scales next and weighs in at 213 pounds.

Now the two are asked to face-off for photos. They talk trash in each other's faces and then we see Rey tell Logan he's only got one thing to say. He slaps him in the face and then hits him with a microphone like Dillon Danis did.

– When the weigh-in finishes up, the commentary trio run down the advertised lineup for tomorrow's WWE Crown Jewel premium live event in Saudi Arabia. After that wraps up, we hear the sounds of Bianca Belair's theme music.

Bianca Belair vs. Bayley

Out comes "The EST of WWE" swinging her giant ponytail as always. She settles inside the squared circle for the final match of this week's Crown Jewel go-home edition of SmackDown. Michael Cole reminds us that Damage CTRL is banned from ringside for this one.

As Belair wraps up her ring entrance, we shift gears and head into a quick pre-match commercial break. When we return, the commentators announce Bobby Lashley vs. Carlito for next Friday's post-Crown Jewel episode of SmackDown.

Now the familiar sounds of Bayley's theme hits the house speakers and out comes the women's wrestling veteran without her fellow Damage CTRL members, as they are barred from ringside for this one. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with our main event of the evening.

Bayley establishes the early offensive lead over Belair and then briefly turns to taunt Michael Cole on commentary, demanding that he say her name. She gets too cocky for her own good and Belair starts to take over as the crowd comes to life. We head to a mid-match commercial break a few moments later.

As we settle back in from the commercials, we see Bayley has shifted the offensive momentum into her favor during the break. She has Belair on the floor and she leaps off the ring apron with a flying elbow smash to the lower back of "The EST of WWE."

She brings the action back into the ring and continues to beat down Belair as the fans try and rally behind her. We see Belair show signs of life and take over, hitting a big cross body splash on Bayley on the floor after Bayley cleared off the commentary table.

Back in the ring, Belair hits the KOD for the win.

Winner: Bianca Belair

– After the match, she puts Bayley through the announce table. That's how the Crown Jewel go-home episode of Friday Night SmackDown goes off the air.