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Credit: WWE.com
This is the last show before WWE Royal Rumble, and you know what that means. Friday night, SmackDown promised to build up the excitement to a fever, just two days before one of the biggest nights of the year. This blue mark on January 29 was definitely unpredictable.
Only one game was promised before nightfall as Bianca Belair wanted to avenge her loss to Bayley. After everything the role model went through, it was the EST’s opportunity for welcome revenge.
Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens did not want to wait until Sunday to start the junk talk. SmackDown promised a war of words where KO and The Head of the Table could speak their last piece before an epic Last Man Standing contest.
That was by no means all that SmackDown fans would give just days before the Rumble. However, the blue brand kept everything under control. Can Raw stars break into SmackDown to make a statement? Would new stars deserve a lock in the Rumble games for men or women? Everyone wanted to build momentum.
The January 29 issue of SmackDown feels like a monumental opportunity and a chance for WWE to bring to the table the absolute best before the evening that will begin to define the path to WrestleMania.
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Daniel Bryan opened the program to talk about what it means for him to win the Royal Rumble for men. He wanted to change his life one more time by attending WrestleMania one last time. He wasn’t sure how many WrestleMania moments he still had.
He transferred Chad Gable and Otis with the Alpha Academy to get him in shape for a long difficult climb to the top. AJ Styles is interrupted as part of the quarterly Brand-to-Brand invitation, which sets up a challenge by The Planet’s Champion for later in the night.
Styles pushed Bryan to the mat, and Omos put The Planet’s Champion in the way of trying to get revenge. Bryan exclaimed Styles because he stood behind the big man too often.
Grade
B-
Analysis
Bryan is one of the best in the world, but his promotions get tired every week. He still plays hype for the Royal Rumble, and spends too much time explaining how the game works. It’s best for him to get past WWE Royal Rumble.
The quarterly Brand-to-Brand invitation is a silly technique that WWE would like to bring out at random times. However, it was a clever way to bring The Phenomenal One to SmackDown just before Royal Rumble.
Styles vs Bryan is a guaranteed fantastic clash of top talent. Both men are considered the best wrestlers in the world, and every time they walk into the ring, they steal the show.
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Credit: WWE.com
After a video package for last week’s obstacle course was rolled out, Bayley explained in an interview before the match to Kayla Braxton why she was simply better than The EST and would win the Royal Rumble for women.
The role model took over the action early and defeated The EST. Bayley made a mistake by teasing Belair with her braid, motivating The EST to become physical. She landed a series of blows, followed by an impressive lunar salute for a near fall.
Bayley last week tried to exploit Belair’s injured left elbow and stop her from hitting a Glam Slam. The EST, however, fought with everything she had, and beat Bayley with a right hand, followed by the KOD, for the win.
Then, at the top of the ramp, Braxton asked Belair how much this victory meant to her, and The EST persuaded Bayley when The Role Model glared at her from inside the ring.
Outcome
Defeat Belair. Bayley through the fall.
Grade
B +
Analysis
Bayley was the perfect challenger to introduce Belair to the SmackDown audience. Each segment shows more and more why The EST is not only the future of WWE, but is also good enough to challenge the absolute best. This match was no different.
While Belair can only rely on her athletic ability to shine, she has a complete game in the ring, changing her style to tell a complete story. She just needs time. She and Bayley scored it in a very good opening match. It was completely different from their first fight.
The biggest mistake WWE made her was the interview after the game. Belair may cut a promotion, but she was exhausted after a long battle. She did not have to gather words when her actions spoke for themselves.
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Dominik Mysterio attacked King Corbin from behind while The King was after the ring. It only angered Corbin, who took over emphatically once the game started. He physically hit Dominik with his right hand when Rey Mysterio looked at comments.
Rey’s son tried his best to stay in the action and turned around the King’s dangerous efforts. Both men entered the steel post and Dominik managed to turn an end-of-day attempt into a DDT tilt. However, it cannot achieve the victory, and the second End of Days attempt is to win.
After that, Corbin Rey also tried to attack, but The Master of the 619 sent him to the steel post outside.
Outcome
Corbin defeats Dominik by falling.
Grade
C +
Analysis
Corbin Vs. the Mysterios was hardly an interesting rivalry. After Rey and Dominik disappeared from television, the story stopped, and their return made Dominik look like a rookie again rather than the young prodigy he looked like against Seth Rollins.
Dominik has decent chemistry with The King, but each loss cut off the momentum Dominik already had. He is back to play his father a second violin. The clear focus is to build another match between Corbin and Rey.
Ideally, this competition will end within the next month. With The Knights of the Lone Wolf recently on TV and Murphy, WWE is likely to make things difficult again soon with the returning stars.
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After Kalisto chatted with Sasha Banks, The Boss ran into Reginald, who gave her the ‘perfect wine to lose the SmackDown Women’s Championship’. Banks left the wine bottle at the sommelier to return to Carmella.
WWE has shown a video package for the entire history of Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns. Michael Cole led a final interview between The Head of the Table and KO. Owens explained that he would never stop getting up again on Sunday before winning.
Paul Heyman initially refused to let Reigns waste his words on KO, but The Head of the Tables heard Owens talk for too long. He blamed Owens’ father for mistaking him for believing he could beat a better man. He calls him and his whole family fools.
With each painful word, Owens increasingly lost his cool and called him a fake mob boss. Reigns turned off the camera for his side of the interview when KO shouted with fire on the screen. Owens seems ready to find Reigns and start the fight early.
Grade
A +
Analysis
WWE considered the interview of KO and Reigns to be the biggest moment of the night, and it was absolute. Reigns found a way under Owens’ skin and exploited it. At the same time, KO clearly frustrated its competitor by never losing its confidence.
The Table of the Table promotes itself as a family man, while KO is proud as the ultimate family man. This interview clearly described the dynamics between these two that made the story so special. Without being able to defeat Reigns, KO just made the WWE universal champion better.
This match may be the best on the whole map. Even if it is not, these two men will tell a special story together as they are all along the way to get to WWE Royal Rumble.
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The Miz and John Morrison argued with Big E behind the scenes over who would make a bigger impact in the Royal Rumble contest for men. Sami Zayn tried to recruit Shinsuke Nakamura, but The Artist completely fired him.
AJ Styles told Omos to stay behind for this match and wanted to prove he could beat The Planet’s champion. Cesaro joined comments to explain why he has more momentum than one of the two men.
After an impressive series to start the match, Bryan got the upper hand to be interrupted only by Sami Zayn. The distraction allowed The Phenomenal One to knock The Planet’s Champion off the top rope.
The master strategist refused that the program was not allowed and that he kept quiet, and so he commented with his camera crew. In the ring, Bryan struggled to get off the ring, trapped in the Calf Crusher until he reached the bottom rope.
Bryan shifted his weight to plant Styles with a butterfly suplex that transitioned into the Yes Lock until The Phenomenal One caught up. Big E showed up and started the master strategist with a washing line and started an argument between everyone.
Zayn attacked Bryan for causing a disqualification, and heels kicked the faces off until Shinsuke Nakamura equalized. Cesaro and Nakamura almost got beaten up, but Zayn got involved and threw outside.
Outcome
Bryan defeats Style by disqualification.
Grade
B +
Analysis
While the cheap end was expected and that this game could no longer be special, Bryan against Styles was fantastic again. The two had a great technical showcase amid chaos on the side of the ring, which reminded everyone that they both still have a lot of great games together.
The two got too much time to wrestle the rest of the hour, so something is always going to happen. With Rumble Sunday, it was time to build up a variety of challengers. Bryan and Styles are likely to win more than most in the game, but WWE needs to build a variety of options.
The match with six men was only a promise of more action and a story that feels more enjoyable than the main event of the Royal Rumble home show.
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Daniel Bryan was the first victim off the heels after Sami Zayn caught The Planet’s Champion with a hood block. After an emphatic rocket delivery, Bryan finally let his knee rest and gave an impressive badge to Big E that could not be stopped even after a European chapter of Cesaro.
The Miz and John Morrison showed up to pick up Shinsuke Nakamura at the ring, and then along with Big E, who forced the referee to request another disqualification. Otis arrived there and saw the opportunity to take revenge on The A-Lister and The Shaman of Sexy. He makes both out of the ring.
The match was restarted as a five-to-four handicap match by Sonya Deville. Once again, the heels isolated Bryan, who took part in the various recovered matches for more than 30 minutes. It looked like the heels won the game after taking out the other faces, but Sheamus even got the chance.
Everyone was impressively offended in a chaotic scene that left Zayn fighting a fresh Celtic Warrior. Sheamus planted him with a Brogue Kick to win. Braun Strowman showed up and took everyone out and hit a running power slam on Cesaro to end the night.
Outcome
Big E, Bryan and Nakamura def. Cesaro, Styles and Zayn by disqualification; Sheamus, Big E, Bryan, Nakamura and Otis def. Cesaro, Styles, Zayn, Miz and Morrison through the fall.
Grade
C
Analysis
The positive in the original six-man game was a bigger action. Cesaro and Nakamura gave an early preview of the amazing match they could have soon. Bryan and Zayn returned to the basics in a fun sequence. Big E had to look like a monster with its hot tag.
It was just an awkward transition to an unnecessarily bigger game because Miz and Morrison had to get involved. All the struggle here was memorable, and everyone got a small chance to stand out. It was just way too much chaos to enjoy it.
Strowman ended the evening as the big late addition to the Royal Rumble contest for men, but everyone knew he would be taking part in the contest without the official word. Although the monster should be seen as a favorite among men, this moment may have built him up too strong to really take it out.