WWE SmackDown 11/29/2024: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE SmackDown," where the final touches were made for Saturday's Survivor Series: WarGames PLE. On the show, Paul Heyman had to be the peacemaker between his former and current clients, CM Punk and Roman Reigns, hoping that they don't come to blows with each other. The show also saw an impressive performance from the supremely-gifted Jacob Fatu, who gave his team the advantage heading into the men's WarGames match, while the competitors of the women's WarGames match brawled it out after a disappointing segment. WWE also continued to tease the breakup of a popular tag team on the show, which some believe is rather predictable.

If you want to know more about what happened on the 11/29/2024 edition of "WWE SmackDown," check out our results page, but you can scroll down below to read the views of WINC staff about the show.

Shinsuke Nakamura has been poorly used the last few years in WWE, but now that he's back I'm hoping things take a turn for the better for him. I was a little concerned about this feud with United States Champion LA Knight, especially when their Survivor Series match got randomly announced on "WWE Raw" on Monday. But tonight made me feel a lot better about what's to come, especially since I don't think their match on Saturday is going to be their last. Thankfully, Nakamura had this match before the Premium Live Event against a great dance partner in Andrade. 

It's been so long since Nakamura has been on TV, so it was nice to get him in the ring for a solid victory, for fans that are maybe just getting back into the show before Survivor Series, and showcase that Nakamura is still around and that he's still got it. Nakamura works so well as a heel when he's presented like this as a more menacing character, rather than a silly one who terrorizes babyfaces with video vignettes.

Of course, his victory over Andrade, who has been in the mix for the United States Championship for a while now, was to be expected, as was the interference from Knight. But I loved how the interference happened tonight. I don't know if it's how the camera angle was set up, but Knight looked giddy and silly (almost to the point of stupid) running down to the ring, and it just made me laugh to myself. Nakamura also didn't have his back completely turned to Knight either, and he clearly saw him coming, and spat the black mist in his eyes and all over the upper part of his body. Knight sold it like a champ, and the way Nakamura just ever-so nonchalantly misted him and walked off looked excellent.

Nakamura also has a great new look, even though the changes are subtle, between his face paint and his ring gear, and the black mist all over his mouth when he was standing on the ramp, to the tune of the darker take on his theme song, which made for an excellent image to end that segment. Again, I don't think their Survivor Series match is going to be their last, and this is going to set up a series where hopefully Nakamura comes out as champion. I think tonight did a great job of setting up whatever comes next.

Written by Daisy Ruth

The women's WarGames match setup has been pretty lackluster leading up to Survivor Series on Saturday, and tonight's promo segment and brief brawl between the two teams did no favors to the match that's happening kind of "just because." The babyfaces opened up the show and the elephant in the room — the fact Jade Cargill was brutally laid out on top of a vehicle last week, was just kind of glossed over. Sure, Bianca Belair, Naomi, and eventually Liv Morgan, mentioned it, but there wasn't any real motivation to find out just who did it. You would think Belair, as one-half of the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions, would be a little more anxious to know, especially if this leads to the team being stripped of the titles down the line. WarGames comes first, even though there's not much in it personally for Belair, I suppose.

Overall, this talking back-and-forth segment, and the fact that every woman on each team needed to get a word in, no matter what, just felt extremely awkward, and was a very boring way to start "WWE SmackDown." Morgan and Nia Jax bringing up the differences and troubles between members of the babyface team didn't help this at all, as many people, including me, are wondering why the heck Bayley wants to team with Belair, who hates her, and with IYO SKY, who betrayed her. I'm hoping there's some kind of motivation there and a story that comes out during the match.

I have no doubt in my mind that the WarGames match is going to be fire tomorrow, but the build to the match just wasn't there at all, and the match itself seems unnecessary with forced teams. The writing of this segment tonight didn't do anything to change my mind about that, so these women just need to show off in the ring for me to forget that and enjoy the brutality of the match. There are definitely some things I'm looking forward to in it, but none of that is thanks to the writing, especially tonight.

Written by Daisy Ruth

You could have ranked me as one to have never envisioned that Roman Reigns and CM Punk would be teaming together, but such is the way of professional wrestling and this week's "WWE SmackDown" saw them and Paul Heyman make sense of it all. In a very cinema-coded vignette, the pair met for a sit-down meeting, table and all, like a kingpin with a renegade outlaw to discuss business. Business, in this case, would be Heyman's master stroke to call upon one of his guys, someone out to get his own against Solo Sikoa, so much that he was willing to put personal issues aside by bringing in the "Second City Saint."

Reigns was a tad more emotional, as we have come to expect from "The Original Tribal Chief" over the years, exuding a sense of jealousy and unease towards the idea that his "Wiseman" had brought Punk into the fold, making it clear he didn't want to team with him from the start. Punk played the mature character in easing the beef (how very mature of him), reasoning this was merely a marriage of convenience and a favor-for-a-favor. Reigns, piqued by his unease, immediately questioned what Punk meant by favor; Punk told him that the favor was for Heyman, "Our Wiseman." But not before Reigns acquiesced to the idea of dealing with the devil, declaring that for "one time" (Obligatory One's Up) he would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him.

It was a loaded segment, filled with seeds sown for potential plots down the line, with Punk even at one point saying he and Reigns can reacquaint on different terms in the future, should Reigns have an issue. Now, allow me to get ahead of everybody else, but that seems like it could turn into a potential battle of allegiances for Heyman, as was the central theme of the segment as a whole. Where do his allegiances truly lie? Not even Reigns could get that answer out of this segment, with Punk having dropped the bomb that he was claiming shared custody of the "Wiseman." 

It was just a really fun, layered segment that established the ground rules for this sudden situationship between two people who have never really had a kind word for one another, rolled in with a new subplot into their dynamic as it pertains to Heyman, and it's a great hook for the next chapter.

Written by Max Everett

It's inevitable that every tag team in professional wrestling will break up and go their separate ways at some point, whether it be amicable to pursue singles careers, a betrayal of one member of the team by the other, or coming back together to reunite at some point later down the line. #DIY are definitely no strangers to the concept of the tag team breakup and reunion, but there also comes a point where the cycle becomes played out and that's how it's starting to feel like with Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano.

I am much more of a fan of heel Ciampa than babyface Ciampa, but he's already betrayed Gargano a handful of times across "WWE NXT" and the main roster. WWE is reusing that same formula once again, and it's made the storyline way too predictable. It doesn't take a die-hard professional wrestling fan to see that Ciampa will be turning his back on Gargano sooner rather than later, which is made all the more disappointing when you consider that there are better options, such as having Gargano be the one to turn heel or turning both members of #DIY heel out of frustration of not being able to dethrone Motor City Machine Guns as WWE Tag Team Champions and do a storyline with them (mini shout out to both Max and Sam for those ideas).

Furthermore, dragging things out between Gargano and Ciampa is doing no favors for the breakup, and airing backstage segments like the one tonight, in which they were arguing with one another about their difference in attitudes, makes it feel as though it's been pulled out for as long as possible when that's the last thing that it needs.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

I always appreciate when WWE adds an "Everyone is Barred From Ringside" stipulation, like the Men's WarGames Advantage Match between Jey Uso and Jacob Fatu, in which there are many people involved and things are more than likely to end in a disqualification of some sort due to outside interference. However, when you have something as big as the Bloodline vs. Bloodline WarGames match and choose not to have some sort of big post-match brawl as one last way of creating hype for the match, then it feels a little bit disappointing.

"SmackDown" should've had at least one last big, memorable moment left in the minds of fans ahead of the show. Instead, all that happened was the WarGames Advantage match and a video of a tense confrontation between Roman Reigns, CM Punk, and Paul Heyman. While the video was definitely a highlight of tonight's show, it didn't change the fact that key members of the storyline, such as Sami Zayn, Jimmy Uso, Bronson Reed, Tama Tonga, and Tonga Loa, all felt like a bit of an afterthought. 

None of them did very much aside from making brief appearances to support their WarGames teammates, further contributing to the feeling of disappointment.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

With the WarGames advantage on the line, Jacob Fatu shined in his first televised singles match since joining the promotion in June. Fatu had previously faced Cody Rhodes in a Philly Street Fight, his other singles bout, but that was a dark match.

While it was pretty much a given that Fatu would win to give the new Bloodline the advantage — especially with the babyfaces getting the advantage for the women's WarGames match — the match was still awesome. Jey Uso brought his best against the WWE rookie, but Fatu seemed to have an answer every time. He impressed with a standing moonsault and a Samoan Drop, and then on the outside, hit Uso with a Superkick, a move The Usos use frequently, before hitting a Samoan Splash on the announce table.

"The Samoan Werewolf" had made an impression on the indies for his incredible in-ring ability, but fans in WWE had only gotten to see flashes of it in multi-man matches until this match against Jey. I have long thought that he would be the one to take over the new Bloodline from Solo Sikoa and this match was just another reason to back that thought. There is plenty of talent in both versions of the Bloodline, with a few other Anoaʻi family members waiting in the wings to impress, but Fatu is establishing himself as the one to watch out for. In his short time in WWE, Fatu has already had tag team success with Tama Tonga, and after seeing him in singles action, it's clear that he'll hold singles gold sooner rather than later.

Written by Samantha Schipman