WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights From Nov. 22

Welcome to Bleacher Report’s live coverage of WWE SmackDown on November 22.

Survivor Series WarGames is coming up next weekend, but Roman Reigns’ OG Bloodline was still one man short for his team heading into Friday’s show.

Not only did Solo Sikoa employ Bronson Reed to fill out his team, but the loyalty Jey Uso and Sami Zayn have for Reigns is hanging on by a thread.

Another big blue brand feud that was addressed was Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens’ ongoing rivalry. The former friends met for the first time in weeks to discuss their issues.

We also saw the ongoing Women’s United States Championship tournament continue this week with Bianca Belair, Blair Davenport and Chelsea Green competing in a quarterfinal match.

Let’s take a look at everything that happened on Friday’s episode of SmackDown.

SmackDown opened with a recap of last week’s show before we went live to the arena for Solo Sikoa and the New Bloodline’s entrance. He only spoke for a few minutes and said he wanted Reigns to surrender tonight when he got to the arena.

The first matchup of the night was a triple-threat quarterfinal bout in the women’s U.S. title tourney with Belair, Green and Davenport. All three women scored a near-fall during the opening sequence.

All three of these women had obvious roles to play and they fell into them naturally. Belair was the heroic powerhouse, Davenport was the vicious heel, and Green was the sneaky heel looking to win by any means necessary.

Belair found herself working against both women, but Green and Davenport weren’t working as a well-oiled machine, so it wasn’t exactly a handicap situation.

The EST saw footage of Jade Cargill after she had been attacked and ran to the back to help her while Green and Davenport continued fighting. Green used the Unprettier to score the pin and the win. The crowd erupted with applause, which was surprising but deserved.

This was a fun match to kick off the action this week. Green could be on her way to her first singles title in WWE, and it seems the WWE Universe is happy about it.

Result: Green defeated Belair and Davenport

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

After defending the U.S. title against Berto last week, another member of Legado Del Fantasma stepped up to challenge him, but this time it was the leader, Santos Escobar.

Before the match could start, Shinsuke Nakamura delivered a promo in a pre-recorded video that was animated. Escobar used the distraction to attack Knight before the bell.

We returned from a break to see Escobar still in control, but Knight began to build up a head of steam once he was able to turn things around.

As Knight was about to hit an elbow drop, Nakamura appeared on the stage to distract him. Escobar hit a hurricanrana from the top rope followed by a frog splash.

Knight countered his finisher with the BFT to pick up the win, but he was attacked by Nakamura before he could even get to his feet.

This was a solid but predictable title bout. Setting up a feud with Nakamura before he was done with LDF made it too obvious he would never lose to Santos.

Regardless, it’s awesome to have Nakamura back and chasing gold again.

Result: Knight defeated Escobar

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

After Nick Aldis was shown asking Nia Jax if she was involved in what happened to Jade, we saw Cody Rhodes walk to the ring for his face-to-face with KO.

Owens appeared in the crowd and taunted him. He said everything that has happened is Rhodes’ fault because he worked with Reigns, who tried to end Owens’ career.

They went back and forth for several minutes about who was right and who was wrong, but nothing new was said or accomplished. This was a filler segment that kept the feud going without advancing it. Both guys did fine with what they were given, but it was a little anticlimactic.

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

The next match saw Bayley and Naomi team up to take on the two women who are both trying to be in Jax’s good graces, LeRae and Stratton. The women’s champion accompanied them to the ring.

Tiffy and LeRae argued over who would start and it allowed Naomi to hit a knee strike out of nowhere to take Ms. MITB down.

After a break, Tiffany and Candice got into another argument, but it didn’t stop them from being in control. If anything, it motivated LeRae to take down both opponents.

This bout was decent, but it had more than one sloppy moment and ended in a disqualification, so it felt cheap in the end.

Iyo Sky ran down to make the save, but Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan showed up to attack her, too. This led to Rhea Ripley showing up with a kendo stick and a protective mask on her face. She helped clear the ring to end the segment and continue the build for the women’s WarGames match.

Result: Bayley and Naomi win by DQ

Grade: C

Notable Moments and Observations

After Tommaso Ciampa cost The Street Profits a match last week, Montez Ford was looking to get a little revenge in a singles match. Angelo Dawkins and Johnny Gargano were not with them for their entrances.

Ciampa took control early with his aggressive style, but Ford’s physicality and agility allowed him to gain the upper hand quickly.

Both of these Superstars are lauded performers for multiple reasons, so it came as no surprise when they easily stole the show in the main event.

Ciampa being allowed to show his aggression again was fun. He’s been a babyface most of his time on the main roster except for his short union with The Miz, so a lot of fans who don’t watch NXT may not be aware of how good he is.

After surviving a brutal knee to the face, Ford was able to pick up the win by countering a move and pinning Ciampa. An irate Ciampa attacked Ford until Dawkins made the save. Gargano tried to play peacemaker, but Ciampa went after Dawkins.

After shoving Gargano to the mat, Ciampa left to avoid the Motor City Machine Guns.

Result: Ford defeated Ciampa

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

The final segment this week was yet another Bloodline Civil War meeting between the two factions. They met five on four in the middle of the ring, but Solo said he wasn’t there to fight because he loved all of them. He offered them a chance to join his Bloodline and be a family again.

Before Reigns could respond, Paul Heyman’s voice echoed through the arena and he came out to a big pop. He brought out CM Punk to be the fifth man on Reigns’ team and all hell broke loose.

Punk’s music continued to play as they all took out the New Bloodline while the crowd cheered every single strike.

Other than the final segment, this week’s SmackDown was about as down the middle as it gets. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but it certainly wasn’t must-see television.

All of the feuds that were addressed are in a holding pattern until their big PPV matches, so we didn’t really get any major advancements or revelations other than Punk joining forces with Reigns.

Ciampa and Ford managed to steal the show in a match that would have stolen the whole week if it had five more minutes. The rest of the bouts were decent but a bit lackluster.

The blue brand has settled into the four-match patterns for quite some time, and while it keeps the show moving while still allowing for a lot of backstage segments, it means a lot of members of the roster are left in the locker room every week.

Grade: B-