WWE Smackdown Live Match Ratings, Podcast Notes For 11/27/18 From Sean Ross Sapp Of Fightful.com

Opening Segment

• Paige brings out Becky Lynch, who says she’s not sitting on the sidelines anymore, and wants to address the woman she picked to face Rousey.
• Becky Lynch brings out Charlotte Flair, who says Charlotte had to channel Becky to bring aggression out of her. Charlotte says she’s just being herself. It seems so phony. 
• Becky says that Charlotte Flair went from copying her old man to copying THE MAN. Charlotte turns around and says the same exact thing, which is kind of weird. 
• Paige says that they’re going to square off, and had to keep them from fighting in the ring. Paige announces a TLC match between the two for the title at TLC.
• Absolution, IIconics and Zelina come out and Mandy Rose says any of them could have beaten up Ronda the same way. Mandy says that Paige is giving her old PCB friends all of the opportunities.
• You can pretty much guess where this is going. Naomi (with a lame rhyme) Carmella, Asuka and Lana come out. Asuka gets huge chants, and Becky says she’s going to slap her head off of all of the dopes out there. 
• Paige says all of these women are added to a battle royal, and the winner will be in the TLC match. Pretty solid way to add stakes.
• There’s a hot crowd for this show. 

The Usos defeated The Bar
6/10

• Ah, so another Big Show turn? Cesaro trashes Big Show backstage and gets punched in the face. Okay man.
• Cesaro distracts the ref, allowing Sheamus to attack Jey Uso. The Bar’s double clothesline is the best I’ve seen in a long time. 
• I love the Uso tributes to Roman Reigns that they integrate into matches. I still want that Reigns/Usos trio.
• Cesaro counters an Uso Crazy with a European uppercut. Fantastic!
• Jey and Jimmy take over with superkicks, but Cesaro knocks one off with an uppercut, and the other eats Sheamus’ knees.
• The Usos pin the tag team champions with their finishes. You know, a week after it happened on Raw.

Styles’ Balls

• AJ Styles essentially says the target on his back went to his balls to the point he couldn’t be at Survivor Series or Smackdown. 
• WWE is really back to making their wrestlers throw to videos instead of just playing them during the entrance. They’re also gone away from having someone prompt the wrestlers to talk. This is crucial for babyfaces.
• Styles says he wants to fight tonight, but Daniel Bryan isn’t there, and wasn’t there on the live events. He didn’t take any time off, and tells Daniel Bryan to show up at WWE TLC. 

Shinsuke Day

• We’re supposed to get Rusev vs. Nakamura, but Nakamura attacks Rusev from behind instead. 
• Rusev gets hit with a Kinshasa outside the ring. 
• Maybe we’ll get a worthwhile feud out of this. I hate to jump on WWE for just booking heat like everyone else has been, but it sure seems that way.

Jeff Hardy 25th Anniversary 

• The entire roster is on the ramp as Jeff Hardy comes out for his 20th Anniversary. He actually debuted as an enhancement guy almost 25 years ago.
• We get a really nice video package about him.
• This Jeff Hardy is real, and genuine and I like it. He does the delete chant. 
• He says he isn’t retiring, and is interrupted by Samoa Joe. 
• Joe says congratulations, but having a bottle of champagne around Hardy, and he probably wasn’t coherent for most of the highlights in the video.
• Whole roster just a bunch of puds or what? They’re just standing there. Joe won’t fight  Hardy, he just leaves.

Kofi Kingston (w/ New Day) defeated The Miz
5/10

• New Day are trolling the Miz about his tag match with Shane McMahon last week. Miz says that New Day’s Survivor Series match didn’t even count. 
• Big E is revealed as a closet Marine-er.
• Kofi is the one facing Miz, and New Day effectively trolls Miz throughout the match. 
• This is a “play the hits” match, but Kofi almost gets a win with an SOS.
• Miz gets a nice DDT and dropkicks Xavier, which gets a funny reaction. Kofi capitalizes on a distraction and gets Trouble in Paradise for the win.
• This is the 197th match that has featured both Kofi Kingston and the Miz. They’ve had 67 one on one matches, 20 on television.
• Miz isn’t happy that Shane McMahon didn’t come help him. Shane denies that they are tag team partners, but Miz compares the World Cup trophy to a child that binds them together forever.

RKO

• Randy Orton comes out to explain his attack on Rey Mysterio. He says that he wasn’t attacking Rey’s heritage, he just wanted to show Rey his place.
• Rey comes out and attacks Orton, but the tides turn when he grabs a chair. He cheeses to the crowd over and over, making himself look really dumb.
• Orton beats Rey up outside the ring and with a chair. 

Top Contender Battle Royal
Asuka Wins
6/10

• Zelina Vega is illegally eliminated by Lana, but attacks anyway. IIconics eliminate Lana after the break.
• Billie Kay is a P4P top 5 most hilarious wrestler in WWE. Asuka eliminates both of them with her ass.
• Carmella slugs Asuka with a superkick, then Mandy cracks Asuka with a big knee.
• There is no shame in creating an apparatus that lowers the top rope, or elevates the canvas for women’s battle royals so you don’t have to do the same apron elimination every time. They’re shorter. Help them out.
• There’s a great series of eliminations where Naomi posts and eliminates Mandy, then Sonya knocks Naomi out.
• Sonya and Asuka have a fantastic exchange of kick reversals. Mandy tries to help Sonya win, and Asuka has a couple of close calls on offensive moves.
• Sonya and Asuka kick each other on the apron, but Asuka wins with a hiptoss knee.
• That was a really fun battle royal. Loved the last two and the finish.

Rating Guide

10- Perfect, 9- MOTY Territory, 8- Excellent, 7- Great, 6- Good, 5- Average to above average, 4- Slightly below average, 3 or below: Poor

Each match starts at a 5 and slides up and down based on entertainment, execution, time, environment, reaction and stakes. The ratings are in no way an indication of a “star rating,” which is a completely different system. A standard, non-offensive “TV match” lands at a 5.The gap between 5.75-6 is generally the largest, with anything reaching 6 being recommended viewing.