Match Ratings For Smackdown On Fox 10/25/19 From Sean Ross Sapp

Miz TV

• Ali, Shorty G, Roman Reigns, are all in the ring with Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart. King Corbin, Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura are with Flair.
• Every person takes turns talking, and for some reason Ali has to bust out a bad breath joke. Jesus Christ.
• This is a waste of time, but it’s their way of promoting the show.
• “Corbin shut up, man! You’re not a real king!” – A promo we’ve heard a lot.
• A six man tag challenge is laid down, but Zayn says he can’t compete.
• How did Sami Zayn already coordinate his replacement and already have them waiting in Gorilla?
• A big brawl breaks out before the commercial.

Roode & Ziggler defeated New Day
4.5/10

• I already miss Xavier Woods. This situation is the kind WWE can adapt to and create a story out of, or they can punt, which is what they almost always do.
• We come back to see Big E in the middle of a hot tag. Both Kofi and Big E could be top singles stars if protected and given a story in the absence of Xavier.
• Dolph Ziggler rolls up Kofi Kingston….what?
• The Revival run in, followed by Heavy Machinery. 
• Kofi Kingston getting rolled up in a throwaway tag in two minutes by Dolph Ziggler the week before getting a tag title match is NOT IT. That booking decision took away from this one.

Lacey Evans defeated Casey Connors
SQUASH

• Lacey Evans says that she wants to give her opponent an opportunity to survive, so she’s going to leave.
• She runs back in the ring and knocks Casey out and wins.

Backstage Crappenings

• Nikki Cross thinks the pressure is getting to Bayley, and she’ll help her out by beating her for the Women’s Championship.
• Bray Wyatt has rebuilt Firefly Funhouse. He holds a funeral for the rabbit.

Kalisto (w/ Lucha House Party) defeated Drew Gulak
SQUASH

• “The Lucha House Party love to have fun.” Who the hell doesn’t, man?
• Drew Gulak has another Powerpoint Presentation. This is DURING THE MATCH. The bell has rung.
• Gulak gets attacked.
• Braun Strowman is out and Kalisto wins with the Salida Del Sol.
• Strowman hits a powerslam. The crowd asks for more, and they get it.
• The crowd wants to love Strowman so bad. He should be an unstoppable killing machine.

JOIN?

• Daniel Bryan is asked if the Yes Movement is back.
• Nakamura and Sami Zayn interrupt and run off a list of the things they have in common.
• Zayn actually lays out a pretty compelling case all things considered.

Nikki Cross defeated Mandy Rose (w/ Sonya Deville)
5/10

• The real story of the match is Sasha Banks and Bayley on commentary.
• Nikki and Mandy go at it pretty well, and Mandy shows off her strength pretty well.
• Sonya Deville cracks Nikki with a punch outside the ring.
• Nikki gets sick of the interference and takes Sonya out. She beats Mandy with the Purge.
• This was effective.

FACE TO FACE

• Rey Mysterio is out with Cain Velasquez.
• Rey says Dominic is doing better and will be back in WWE, and as a superstar.
• We hear the same old scar line from Rey. He’s ready for the face-to-face.
• Instead, Heyman and Lesnar are backstage. Lesnar has beaten the shit out of Dominick again.
• Lesnar has an INCREDIBLE beat down on Cain Velasquez and Rey Mysterio backstage. Mysterio almost gets F5’d through the wall. Cain eats one onto Dominick. That was fantastic.
• I’m confused as why Cain is cutting an angry promo to Brock Lesnar in his second language. I don’t think Brock speaks Spanish.

Team Hogan (Roman Reigns, Ali & Shorty G w/ Hulk Hogan) defeated Team Flair (King Corbin, Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura w/ Sami Zayn & Ric Flair)
6.25/10

• Brace of WWE to put Ric Flair on TV so much these days with how wild he is.
• I appreciate that WWE didn’t bring back the Wild Card Rule for the sake of this match.
• This action is good, but you knew it would be.
• Do you think those are shoot pants or work pants Cesaro is wearing?
• Ali is getting worked over hard by the heels.
• Shorty G has a great hot tag. It ends in a moonsault.
• Crowd is HOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT for this six man tag. Always a strong suit for WWE. Reigns has a great hot tag too.
• Cesaro applies a Sharpshooter.
• Each guy goes through their secondary finisher.
• Roman Reigns catches Cesaro with a Superman Punch and Ali wins with a 450.
• I’ll watch a WWE-style main event six-man tag any day.

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.
These are opinions, and incredibly inconsistent ones that may change upon a second viewing, or sitting on the match for a period of time. Don’t take them too seriously, and have (and share) your own!