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0 out of 8
Credit: WWE.com
As WWE gears up for the Royal Rumble on January 31, all is on deck as more Superstars declare their entries and try to qualify for the starting Rumble matches.
This week’s SmackDown continued to develop the pay-per-view while also dealing with some internal affairs for the blue brand.
After winning a title shot by beating Sami Zayn last week, Apollo Crews challenged Big E in an Intercontinental Championship game.
We also saw Bayley and Bianca Belair compete on an obstacle course to see which was the top athlete, and Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens braced for their showdown at the Royal Rumble.
Let’s take a look at everything that happened on Friday’s show.
1 of 8
SmackDown opened with a video package recapping what happened last week with Reigns and Adam Pearce before The Tribal Chief and Paul Heyman made their way to the ring.
Reigns has spoken about how Owens and Pearce could have put one on him, but he’s the champ because he doesn’t believe in the ‘change-prone card’ mentality. He said his back was starting to hurt from wearing this business for years.
Pearce said it had gone too far and things were getting out of hand. Reigns said the only thing that was out of control was Owens was in a title match.
Reigns didn’t feel respected and Heyman had torn Pearce apart. This led to Heyman challenging Pearce to a game, which was quickly accepted.
Classroom: B-
Analysis
Pearce has become a big authority figure on screen and seeing him used more meaningfully in recent weeks has been a lot of fun.
It was a solid opening segment that probably went on for a few more minutes than needed, but never got unbearable.
Reigns was more vocal than usual, which helped express his rage at being cheated. Despite being a heel, almost everything he said was true, especially when it came to his health.
2 of 8
The women’s tag team champions took a trip to the blue mark this week to take on Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott with Billie Kay in their corner.
The Queen and Riott started the match with a basic lockdown and takeout combination. Asuka got the tag and knocked down Riott with a shoulder tackle.
Morgan did a blind tag and hit a dropkick at Charlotte while she was distracted with Kay. She scored two points with a top rope shoulder strap. After a break, Riott and Morgan still had the upper hand.
Asuka scored and hit a knee while running, but Riott was there to break the pin. Riott had pinned Asuka but Kay accidentally distracted the referee. The Empress recovered and scored The Queen to strike the natural selection for victory.
Classroom: B
Analysis
We’re only a few weeks into this angle, but Kay is already having a negative impact on the outcome of Riott Squad matches, which means this union is doomed.
The match itself was pretty good and gave all four women a chance to show off their skills. Morgan and Riott looked particularly good despite Kay’s involvement.
The women’s team division needs a lot of work, but if Riott Squad is one of the main duos that keep it going, there is hope that it can improve in 2021.
3 of 8
Daniel Bryan came in to talk about how The Royal Rumble event still makes him excited. He was eventually interrupted by Cesaro, who explained how he beat Bryan last week.
Cesaro issued an open challenge and Dolph Ziggler answered the call. We came back from a commercial to see the game start. They fought for control with a series of grabs and knockdowns.
The Swiss cyborg nailed an uppercut in the corner and swung Ziggler by his feet. They went back and forth with close drops until The Showoff hit the Zig Zag for a two count. Cesaro grabbed it and hit the Neutralizer for the win.
Classroom: A
Analysis
This was what professional wrestling could be. Cesaro and Ziggler are miles ahead of most players in terms of technical ability and they didn’t even need a long game to prove how good they are.
A few more minutes would have helped, but they incorporated a lot of their time and told a solid story from bell to bell as Bryan provided context for the comments.
Between that and his victory over Bryan last week, Cesaro appears to be having a push ahead of the men’s Royal Rumble game. Even if he doesn’t win the PPV, it’s great to see a talented artist being used the right way for once.
4 of 8
Reginald tried to win Sasha Banks with a rose early in the match but she squeezed the taste out of her mouth. She tried to knock him down but he got to his feet.
He grabbed Banks by the waist but she knocked him over. He rolled out of the ring and he turned the apron over just to show off. The boss made him pay with a baseball dropkick.
Banks shot him down with a wheelbarrow bulldog but missed a meteorite in the corner. Reginald ate a knee in the face but grabbed her slung. She sent him out of the ring with an arm drag and shot him down with a meteor from the apron.
She ultimately dropped it in the bank statement for the submission victory.
Classroom: C +
Analysis
As impressive as some of Reginald’s acrobatics are, this match still had some sloppy moments and awkward spots that would have benefited from this pre-recorded fight.
Still, it was better than expected, so that’s an advantage. The feud between Carmella and Banks didn’t need that, but it was a fun change of pace from what we’ve seen in the past.
WWE has always avoided gender wrestling, so it will be interesting to see if we get more matches like this on the road.
5 out of 8
As soon as the bell rang, Big E hit a huge belly to belly suplex followed by a splash on the apron. The crews retaliated with a few kicks that rocked the champion. He got a quick two-count with a standing moonsault and stayed on the big man with a pair of German suplexes.
Big E blocked a third and hit a big urinagi snap for another near-fall. The crews fought him around the corner with a few head butts. Sami Zayn had handcuffed himself down the aisle in protest but relaxed and ran to the ring to hit the two men with Helluva Kicks to cause a no-contest finish.
Classroom: VS
Analysis
The match was just starting when Zayn stepped in, so he ended up falling short of his full potential in many ways.
It might keep the storyline going, but it still robbed us of what could have been a great title fight, so it’s hard not to be a little crazy about it.
Crews, Zayn and Big E will likely find themselves in a triple threat match at the Royal Rumble to sort this out once and for all.
6 of 8
Bayley gave us an overview of the obstacles before taking the course. She decided to run the class first and pushed Belair aside.
She took her time to get through every obstacle and ended up cheating by running around the walls that were erected instead of climbing them. She finished with a time of 1:12.
Before Belair took his turn, Bayley saw some of the complicated obstacles. Belair flew over the course again, but when she got to the firefighter’s port she had to carry Otis instead of Chad Gable. She always has and beat Bayley’s time by 17 seconds.
Bayley attacked and beat her before throwing her into the post of a basketball hoop that was part of the course.
Classroom: C +
Analysis
It wasn’t anything special in terms of entertainment value, but Belair’s physical prowess made him look nicer than he would have been without her.
We’ve all seen it end in an attack so there was no surprise or gap. It played out as it should, even though it was the most predictable thing on the show.
7 of 8
Dominik Mysterio was looking to get Baron Corbin back after the King defeated his father last week. The Corbin Knights were again absent.
Dom went right after him and hit a few quick punches before sending Corbin out of the ring. The king leveled him with a clothesline for a two-count.
Corbin managed to secure victory with The End of Days.
Classroom: VS
Analysis
It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. It was just … it was. We’re going to move on and forget about that in a week or two after one of the Mysterios defeated Corbin in a rematch.
It was nice to see Dominik again, but it’s hard not to wonder why WWE blew him up NXT completely. He could benefit from more time to polish his microphone skills.
8 of 8
As Heyman made his way to the ring, he pretended to hurt his leg. He did the same as Pearce last week and named a replacement. This is when Reigns entered the ring.
As soon as he hit the ring, the tribal leader nailed him with a Superman Punch. Pearce tried to come back but a low blow stopped him in his tracks.
KO came out of nowhere and saved Pearce from some destruction by attacking the Universal Champion. They brawled near the LED screens with fans on them before returning to the ring.
Owens blocked a Superman Punch and hit a Stunner. It took several officials to separate them and even then they still managed to meet several times. KO hit a second Stunner before putting Reigns across the announcement table with a Powerbomb Popup.
Classroom: B
Analysis
We might not have gotten to see Pearce come out of retirement to give Heyman a beating, but we got to see Owens destroy Reigns, so the show had a happy ending.
It was clear Heyman was never going to have a real game, but there was still hope for Pearce to pull off some good shots. Maybe he will have another chance in the future.
The feud between Reigns and KO is carried solely by the skill of the two men involved. The storyline isn’t anything special or original, but the way it’s executed was fun to watch.
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