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WWE

WWE SmackDown on Fox this week went down at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri, with the show in full hype mode for next week's Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia. It took until Brock Lesnar once again brutalized Rey Mysterio's son Dominick before taking out Mysterio and Cain Velasquez for the show to bring any sort of excitement. The moment really brought some much needed drama to an episode of SmackDown that had, to that point, been a bit of a slog.

Let's check out what went down on Friday night's edition of SmackDown, the go-home offering for the blue brand before Crown Jewel.

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Cain Velasquez tastes his first F-5

Velasquez headed to the ring with Mysterio for an in-ring promo. Mysterio once again talked about his son Dominick being attacked by Brock Lesnar weeks ago. Mysterio, arm still in a sling, said that Lesnar has been able to do whatever he wanted for "too damn long." He then vowed that Velasquez would defeat Lesnar once again -- just as he'd done in their UFC clash in 2010 -- and scar the other side of his face when the two meet at Crown Jewel on Oct. 31 before calling for Lesnar to come to the ring and do things face-to-face.

Lesnar was shown backstage with Paul Heyman, who said Lesnar had "other things to do tonight." The crowd booed loudly before Heyman revealed that Lesnar had once again attacked Dominick as the camera showed the battered Mysterio son. After a commercial break, Velasquez and Mysterio were checking on Dominick as he was being looked at by trainers before Lesnar ran in and hit both with a trash can. Lesnar then hit an F-5 on Rey into a wall as well as one on Velasquez onto Dominick who was lying on the trainer's table.

Poor Dominick just can't stop catching beatings. This was the segment SmackDown needed, having been less-than-great until Lesnar's heinous acts. Lesnar hadn't gotten a "win" over Velasquez in physical contact prior to this, but it's a meaningful decision to have him hit Velasquez with an F-5. He has had to resort to these tactics because there's an underlying fear, knowing what Velasquez did to him in the Octagon, so he has sent a message in Cain's new world. Grade: B+

Team Hogan vs. Team Flair preview

Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair captain opposing five-man teams at Crown Jewel, and their SmackDown roster members were in the ring with them to kickoff tonight's show. After the obligatory back-and-forth on the mic, Hogan threw down the challenge for a six-man match between Flair's King Corbin, Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura (whom Hogan called a "young boy") vs. Roman Reigns, Ali and Shorty G. Zayn removed himself from the match because he'd "tweaked his neck on the flight," but announced he would be replaced by Cesaro. The two teams brawled before things calmed down ahead of the main event clash.

Ali, Roman Reigns & Shorty G def. Cesaro, Shunsuke Nakamura & King Corbin via pinfall after Ali hit the 450 Splash on Cesaro. This was mostly standard WWE six-man tag action, with Ali taking a lengthy beating from the heels before a hot finish that saw everyone hitting their signature moves before things appeared to be wrapped when Reigns hit Cesaro with a spear. Rather than go for the pin, Reigns gave the tag to Ali, letting him hit the 450 and get the pin.

SmackDown should be a better show once they're not stuck building to the 10-man tag at Crown Jewel. It's not a match with a "big feel," but has been the focal point because of Hogan, Flair and the looming pay-per-view event. The opening segment wasn't very good, but there's very little to complain about with the main event match itself. The decision to have Reigns give the glory to Ali was a fantastic little moment, too. Grade: C+

What else happened on SmackDown?

  • Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode def. The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Big E) via pinfall after Kingston was pinned by a Ziggler roll-up. A fairly quick match, much of which happened during a commercial break. After the match, The Revival ran in to attack New Day ahead of their tag title match next week on SmackDown. Heavy Machinery made the save as WWE continued to use brief bursts of chaos between teams to build to the Tag Team Turmoil match at Crown Jewel.
  • Lacey Evans def. Cameron Connors via pinfall after the Woman's Right. Evans cut a pre-match promo saying the Kansas City crowd didn't deserve to watch her wrestle. She told the ref to start the match and left the ring while the referee began the 10-count. When the count hit nine, Connors turned to celebrate when Evans slid back into the ring and hit her signature punch for the win.
  • Bray Wyatt aired a new "Firefly Funhouse" segment, the first since Seth Rollins burned down the last set. Ramblin' Rabbit was declared dead during the segment before, once again, being brought back to life. He was then eaten by Mercy The Buzzard and killed again as the segment came to an end.
  • Kalisto def. Drew Gulak via pinfall after Salida Del Sol. Gulak attempted once again to present his PowerPoint on Braun Strowman's keys to defeat Tyson Fury. Following the match, Strowman ran in and destroyed Gulak for his disrespect as a message to Fury. Earlier in the night, a video package had aired for Fury vs. Strowman, including footage of their recent confrontation at the WWE Performance Center.
  • Daniel Bryan was interviewed in the ring by Michael Cole. When asked if "The Yes! Movement" had returned, Bryan was interrupted by intercontinental champion Shinsuke Nakamura and mouthpiece Sami Zayn. Zayn pointed out that Bryan had already declared the movement dead before making the argument Bryan had much more in common with them than the fans. Rather than shake Zayn's hand or complete the face turn, Bryan simply left the ring and walked to the back, his current mindset remaining a mystery.
  • Nikki Cross def. Mandy Rose via pinfall after hitting the fisherman neckbreaker. Cross gave a backstage interview earlier in the night, stating this "isn't a beauty pageant. This is WWE SmackDown." Bayley and Sasha Banks were on commentary for the match, continuing the build to Cross' eventual title shot against Bayley.