Event: WWE SmackDown
Date: January 24, 2020
Location: Dallas, TX
WWE SmackDown Results and Highlights
The Usos and Roman Reigns def. King Corbin, Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler: The Usos started off the match with their usual tag-team work before Jimmy was injured and helped to the back. The match continued in a 2-on-3 handicap fashion, with the heels gaining momentum. Reigns tagged himself in and took out his nemesis before Jimmy limped out to help out his family members. Reigns and Corbin took their battle to the outside, while the Usos teamed up to pick up the win.
Michael Cole interviewed the No.1 contender for Smackdown Women’s Championship, Lacey Evans. Evans talked about her tough upbringing and cut an emotional promo about wanting to be the perfect role model, and how Bayley and Sasha Banks are not the ones to be the representation of Women’s Division. Evans talked about her daughter being bullied by the duo last month, and she gave props to her daughter for standing tall against the heels.
Bayley attacked Evans from behind, and the referees had to separate the champion from the challenger.
Backstage, Carmella and Dana Brooke talked about their chances in the Rumble. Carmella talked about her achievements while Brooke promised to break ground with a win on Sunday. They were distracted by the ongoing brawl between Bayley and Evans.
Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross vs. Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose: The match could never get going as the brawl from backstage spilled onto the main area. Bayley and Evans had an altercation in the ring, with the rest of the superstars getting involved.
Elias and Braun Strowman def. Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro: Elias teamed up with the Monster Among Men, to take down the heel duo. Sami Zayn tried to once again help his team out, but Strowman and Elias proved too powerful for the Intercontinental Champion and his team-mate.
John Morrison def. Kofi Kingston: Before the match, Miz cut a promo on how the fans disrespected the duo last week. He announced their entries into the Rumble and promised to win the Rumble to make WrestleMania ‘awesome’. The match saw Miz get involved, and assisting Morrison to take up the victory with the Starship Pain.
The final segment of the show saw Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt‘s contract signing hosted by Michael Cole in the middle of the ring. Bryan signed the contract, while Wyatt appeared on the Firefly Fun House, trying to use the Fax machine. Wyatt said it will be fitting if ‘he’ signs the contract, and The Fiend appeared in the middle of the ring with a strap in his hand.
The Fiend and Bryan brawled for quite some time before Fiend took down Bryan with Sister Abigail. Fiend took a pen, stabbed himself with it, and signed the contract with his own blood to end the show.
Takeaways from Friday Night SmackDown
1. A Creepy Contract Signing
WWE contract signing segments follow the usual trope of promos, followed by the individuals brawling in the ring. The Fiend appeared for his first-ever contract signing for the Strap Match against Daniel Bryan on Sunday, and delivered a unique twist to the contract signing.
Fiend stabbing himself and signing the contract with his own blood will be one of the horrific sights for weeks to come and goes on to enhance the already tremendous personality of the Universal Champion.
The Fiend’s character is something that could have got stale very quickly, but WWE has smartly avoided it with interesting segments for the Eater of Worlds with each passing week.
2. A Repetitive Mess
If we line up all the SmackDown segments from the last few months, there will be a great deal of repetitive content, with the Bliss-Cross vs. Rose-Deville rivalry, Evans-Bayley, Corbin-Reigns, Strowman-Nakamura, etc.
The show has started to feel burned out due to the lack of new rivalries and the same matches each week. Hopefully, the company changes things up after the Rumble and introduces new and fresh feuds leading to the WrestleMania event.
3. Where Are The surprises?
After more names announced themselves for the Rumble match this week on Smackdown, the total tally of announced names reads at 27, which means there is a total of three surprise entries for the Rumble event.
Rumble events are known for their unpredictability but WWE has killed off that interest with the plethora of names announced. There are several NXT superstars, returning superstars from injury, legends, etc. who could have participated instead of someone like Tucker, who isn’t even a member of the singles roster.
