With the Royal Janble event approaching on 31 January, WWE still has a lot of trouble to do before the second biggest of their annual pay-per-view events. This work was continued during the release of SmackDown on Friday night, which was largely anchored by the continuing editions between Roman Reigns, Paul Heyman, Adam Pearce and Kevin Owens.
Reigns once again tried to take revenge on Pearce for defying his wishes, and put together an extensive series of events that would lead to universal champion Pearce getting one-on-one in the ring to close the show. However, Reigns did not count on Owens showing up to spoil his fun, and was caught off guard and laid out when Owens sent one of his last messages before their Last Man Standing match at the Rumble.
CBS Sports has been with you all night, bringing you summaries and highlights of all the action. Read on for everything you need to know about the ThunderDome.
Kevin Owens leaves SmackDown as last man
Roman Reigns opened the show in the ring, saying that despite Kevin Owens promising to send a message, no one would see Owens during the show because Reigns said so. According to Reigns, no one sneaks past them when Adam Pearce and Kevin Owens manage to switch places for the upcoming Royal Rumble match, mentioning that the use of ‘card subject to change’ is the losers. Reigns listed all the injuries he was facing and pointed out that it did not prevent him from presenting every appearance and obligation. He might have implied that then his injuries would prevent him from defending the title against Owens during the Royal Rumble event. Pearce joined Reigns and Paul Heyman and was further beaten down by the duo before pointing out that he was not willing to verbally abuse Heyman, which led to Heyman claiming a match against Pearce later that evening. In fact, Owens was not present, he cut a promo from inside a car and blamed Reigns for pulling strings to keep him away.
Adam Pearce vs. Paul Heyman ended in a non-match. After Pearce was in the ring, Heyman walked to the ring and began limping before telling Pearce, “Card subject to change.” Reigns then walked to the ring to replace Heyman in the match. Reigns strikes a Superman blow as soon as he steps into the ring and sends Pearce to the outside of the ring. Pearce tried to fire back with blows, but he was tossed through the ThunderDome and repeatedly driven into the video boards. Owens then ran in and attacked Reigns and the action hit the ring where Owens hit Reigns with a spectacle. Owens continued the attack and struck another spectacle, even as WWE officials tried to pull him away. Eventually, Owens Reigns drifted through the announcement table with a pop-up powerbomb as the show went off the air.
Scrap Daddy fans are teased with the fact that Pearce has a game almost weekly at this point, but they will have to come down to Pearce getting a single hit on Reigns. It’s been an essential development over the last few weeks to get Owens to overcome one on Reigns, otherwise the story is just that Owens constantly ends up in walls and never achieves anything meaningful. Everyone involved at the corner is excellent on the microphone, so it was another good week for all involved and building more momentum for another somewhat predictable showdown between Reigns and Owens. Grade: B +
What else happened at WWE SmackDown?
Sami Zayn handcuffed himself to the bar line for the show. Zayn also announced that he would be entering the Royal Rumble match.
Charlotte Flair & Asuka defeat The Riott group via fall when Flair hit Ruby Riott with Natural Selection. Billie Kay was out of the group again and cost them the match again in her attempt to find acceptance with the group. Riott and Liv Morgan are extremely upset about Kay. Kay tried to win back their favor by telling them she had entered the Royal Rumble, but Riott still walked away saying Kay would be better off without her.
Cesaro defeats Dolph Ziggler via pen fall after hitting a Neutralizer. Cesaro cut off a Daniel Bryan promotion over his desire to win the Royal Rumble. Bryan turned down a challenge to Cesaro to fight on the spot, but Cesaro said he had rather issued an open challenge since beating Bryan last week. Ziggler was the man who accepted the challenge, leading to a short game won by Cesaro.
Defeat Sasha Banks. Reginald by submission with the Bank Statement. The Carmella sommelier displayed incredible athleticism while not offending, and this was in line with WWE’s stance on inter-gender matches, before Banks could finally pin him down and lock up the submission.
Apollo Crews defeat Sami Zayn via disqualification after interference by Sami Zayn. During the game, Zayn removed his shackles when Crews took over the action. Zayn ran in and delivered a Helluva kick to Crews for the disqualification. He then turns around and gives the same kick to Big E, taking revenge on the two men he held accountable for no longer being intercontinental champions.
The Street Profits have asked Sonya Deville for a second chance at the title they lost to Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler. Deville, at the helm of affairs while Adam Pearce was ready for his game, said they should wait until Montez Ford recovers from his leg injury, but when he is healed, they will be in the title photo again.
Defeat Bianca Belair. Bayley in the Ultimate Athlete Obstacle Challenge. Bayley ran the track first, which includes a tire reversal, hurdles, wall climbing and wearing Chad Gable. Before Belair left, Bayley had the hurdles raised and instead of Gable, Belair had to wear Otis. She still manages to win with ease, but Bayley attacks after Belair wins and walks away after winning Belair, despite losing the challenge.
Defeat King Corbin. Dominik Mysterio via val to the end of the days. Dominik reassured Rey Mysterio that he has a plan to tackle Corbin. Corbin dominated the match and won quickly without encountering much resistance from Mysterio.