WWE Friday Night SmackDown recap for October 11, 2019: Bye bye Bayley Buddies!

This edition WWE SmackDown on FOX saw a bunch of draft picks including a (really) stupid one by RAW, a new champion crowned and so much more.

Friday night was the Draft edition of WWE SmackDown on FOX and it was an okay show for what it was. But for as much as they have been hyping up this Draft for weeks now, the process of how it actually went down was supremely disappointing. Luckily for us, there were a few good matches on the show this week to make up for it, including the crowning of a new SmackDown Women’s Champion.

But let’s not waste any more time — this is the WWE Friday Night SmackDown recap for October 11, 2019.

The Fiend cares not for your draft

Friday Night SmackDown kicked off this week with the WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins going one-on-one with Roman Reigns. The final two remaining members of The Shield went to war with one another for their brands in order to secure the first pick in the WWE Draft.

It was exactly the type of match you would expect from these two, really good stuff. Unfortunately, we didn’t get an actual finish because as Rollins was preparing to hit the Stomp on Reigns the lights went out and The Fiend showed up, rising from the canvas of the ring to put the Mandible Claw on Rollins to drag him underneath.

Rollins eventually got out and The Fiend ended up appearing on the stage after the lights went out again. When SmackDown returned from a commercial break they informed the viewer that essentially Reigns was disqualified and Raw will receive the first draft pick tonight.

Stephanie McMahon came out to announce the first round of draft picks:

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Raw drafts: Becky Lynch

SmackDown drafts: Roman Reigns

Raw drafts: The O.C. (AJ Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson)

SmackDown drafts: “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt

Raw drafts: Drew McIntyre

Well, that was anti-climactic. Is McMahon just reading off the list all of the picks (since rearranged at WWE.com alphabetically after Twitter figured them out)? They couldn’t have had fake FOX and USA Network executives to do this instead? This felt really meh to be perfectly honest. The only real surprise here saw Bray Wyatt going to Friday nights. Other than that, everyone else remained where they were.

Afterward, they went to Renee Young, Booker T, Beth Phoenix, and for some reason, Samoa Joe to discuss the first-round draft picks. There was really nothing to it.

Corbin and Gable … AGAIN!?

For some reason, we got King Baron Corbin versus Chad (Shorty) Gable again this week, and we really couldn’t say why. They have beaten this rivalry into the ground already, and that’s a real shame because the two work well in the ring together. But after a while, people just want to see something else, something fresh.

They took a commercial break after Corbin’s entrance and when they returned, Troy Aikman and Joe Buck did a throwaway segment talking about the draft without really talking about it at all. It was what it was.

Corbin won the match with End of Days and the curse of 50/50 booking within WWE continues. It’s hard for anyone to get over nowadays when no one can get a consistent number of wins.

They go to the FOX NFL Sunday crew to talk about the draft. The synergy is fun to see but they aren’t really adding anything to the show. Stephanie then returned to give us the second round of draft picks.

Raw selects: Randy Orton

SmackDown selects: Sasha Banks

Raw selects: Ricochet

SmackDown selects: Braun Strowman

Raw selects: Bobby Lashley

We saw three actual moves this time, with Orton being moved to Raw and Strowman and Banks being moved to SmackDown. These moves were definitely more interesting than the first round. Let’s hope that continues going forward.

We then got a video package highlighting Strowman’s feud with Tyson Fury. These two will be facing off at Crown Jewel on October 31. That should certainly be … something.

The Beast shows up for work

The WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and his advocate Paul Heyman came out on and the commentators confirm that Lesnar’s match with Cain Velasquez at Crown Jewel will be for the WWE Championship. We guess it’s nice to get a title shot for doing absolutely nothing.

Heyman runs down the history between the two men and just does what Heyman is good at, hyping up the match between Lesnar and Velasquez. We are honestly shocked this wasn’t a match that FOX actually begged for WWE to have on their network, but we guess WWE has different priorities.

Before Heyman could finish, Rey Mysterio and Velasquez came out on the stage and show photos from Velasquez and Lesnar’s UFC fight several years ago. In the end, Velasquez tells Lesnar he will give him a matching scar under the other eye.

Afterward, it was announced we would be getting the New Day against The O.C in six-man tag team action next.

Awaiting the third round of the Draft

When we get back to SmackDown we get a segment with the New Day promoting Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It’s really nice to see WWE do this every year, one of the good things this company does.

Afterward, we went right into the six-man tag between The New Day and The O.C. The match barely got started and we were treated to one of yet another commercial break. When the match returned, we get back just in time to see former WWE Champion Kofi Kingston get the hot tag and go off on all three members of The O.C.

The finish saw Kingston get a much-needed win, defeating Styles with a Trouble in Paradise. After what happened to Kingston last week, this was definitely nice to see. Following the match, McMahon returned for the third round of the draft.

Raw selects: Alexa Bliss

SmackDown selects: Lacey Evans

Raw selects: Kevin Owens

SmackDown selects: The Revival

Raw selects: Natalya

Lots of women were selected in this round, and it was surprising to see Raw separate Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross. That really doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. One thing we are happy about is seeing Evans and Natalya on different shows so we don’t have to see that feud dragged out any longer.

The Queen and the Hugger, but first … let’s finish this Draft

Friday Night SmackDown returned from another commercial break and they immediately go to the fourth and final round of the draft tonight.

Raw selects: The Viking Raiders

SmackDown selects: Lucha House Party

Raw selects: Nikki Cross

SmackDown selects: Heavy Machinery

Raw selects: The Street Profits

So, what in the world was WWE thinking? Why they just draft Cross to Raw separately when they could have taken her and Bliss as a tag team in the last round? It’s literally a waste of a pick. Did FOX ask WWE to do this to make USA look stupid? We don’t know, but this was the dumbest draft decision of the night, hands down.

But enough about the draft — it’s time for our main event. Charlotte Flair came down first and everything seemed normal until the challenger came out. With her entrance tonight, Bayley’s heel turn is finally complete, complete with a new haircut. She also chopped down all of her Bayley Buddies as Flair looked on from the ring in confusion.

Bayley’s new style was in full effect as she and Flair had a great main event. At one point Flair got busted open in the back of her head so there was a lot of blood throughout the match. It didn’t harm the match, however, as these two working together rarely disappoint.

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The finish came when Flair hit the Natural Selection on Bayley but then got caught in a surprising roll up, giving us a new SmackDown Women’s Champion. So Flair’s reign lasted a whole five days. That was pretty much a waste and seemed like it was only done to increase Flair’s title count.

Afterward, Bayley cut a promo on the crowd solidifying her heel turn for anyone who still had doubts about what this new-look Bayley was all about. Funnily enough, it seems like the crowd is more behind her now than ever before.

That wraps up the recap for the Draft episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown on FOX. It was certainly a step down from last week’s show and the Draft itself really felt like a throwaway concept that wasn’t executed very well, like an afterthought.

What did you think of SmackDown this week? What was your favorite match? What was your favorite draft pick of the evening? Sound off in the comments section below!