While Survivor Series: WarGames takes place next weekend, WWE is giving its Superstars the Friday off to spend time with their families over Thanksgiving.
That means next Friday's "Black Friday" edition of SmackDown was taped in Denver, Colorado, on November 21. Despite spoilers inevitably finding their way online, it was a surprisingly big show.
Earlier this week, WWE announced that Sheamus will no longer be able to compete in "The Last Time Is Now" tournament (where the winner will face John Cena in his final match at Saturday Night's Main Event) due to a shoulder injury. He'd already advanced in the tournament after beating Shinsuke Nakamura, and there's been a lot of excitement to see who might replace him.
Well, that happened during this taped edition of SmackDown, and his replacement was...The Miz.
Following an argument backstage with R-Truth, The Miz took Sheamus' place in his match with LA Knight and was soundly defeated by the Megastar. We're not sure what WWE was hoping to achieve with this, but it seems likely that the plan was always for Knight to advance.
In case you missed them, here's a full breakdown of spoilers from next Friday's SmackDown:
The Last Time is Now Tournament Quarterfinals
Jey Uso def. Rusev.
Chelsea Green's Women's United States Championship celebration ended with Jade Cargill laying Green out.
The Last Time is Now Tournament Quarterfinals
LA Knight defeated The Miz
Women’s WarGames Advantage Match
Charlotte Flair defeated Asuka.
5-on-5 Survivor Series Elimination Match
Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, Talla Tonga, and JC Mateo defeated Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura, Rey Fenix, Chris Sabin, and Alex Shelley. Sikoa was the sole survivor.
During a recent interview, John Cena explained why he wants Saturday Night's Main Event to feature a series of exhibition matches with NXT talent.
"I really want to take my hat off to Triple H. I called him up, I said, 'I got an idea. We got to do two hours for the tribute show. And if you do a whole John Cena Tribute, two things are going to happen. You’re either going to do too much or too little. You’re never going to please everybody. I would like to propose that we have big name WWE superstars fighting exhibition matches versus the brightest in NXT. So that way, we have a sold-out building.'"
"Hopefully, the world’s watching on Saturday Night’s Main Event. I get to wrestle one final time. But in doing that, everyone also gets to look at what to look forward to. I think that’s the most important thing. It’s my last match, but collectively, we’re all just kind of closing a chapter of an era in sports entertainment. And I want people to be able to look forward to what’s next."