This might be another jaded review as I'm still on cold medicine. As with last night's review, I may go a little off-the-rails. No apologies in advance.
SmackDown Thoughts
- THE MAN kicks us off. That's right: Becky Lynch, NOT Seth Rollins. The Man has something to say. She goes over all the attention she's getting lately. Lynch makes it clear: She wants to main event WrestleMania. LOUD ovation. Becky starts talking about Asuka and that she's one of the best in the world. But Becky's better. Lol. Asuka is warming herself on the fire that Becky lit. She's going through The Empress to get to what she wants.
Here comes Asuka. Loud Becky chants while Asuka holds her title in front of Becky. And now, here comes Charlotte Flair. Charlotte is looking forward to winning The Royal Rumble and the choices of who she's going to beat at WrestleMania. Charlotte is "The Main Event." Asuka attacks Becky from behind, and we have a brawl. Agents and referees try to pull them apart. Asuka throws Becky into the barricade. Becky responds by throwing Asuka over the announce table and WHIPPING HER WITH HER LEATHER JACKET! Becky continues to attack Asuka, and then she walks off. Asuka screams in Japanese, enraged at what has just happened.
(A good quick segment to start off the show here. Becky looks like a major star here with the amount of attention given to her by the audience and this segment. Asuka looks like a forgotten piece to this puzzle unfortunately as she seems to be a roadblock on Becky's path to WrestleMania 35. As for Charlotte, she's probably the odds-on favorite to win the Women's Royal Rumble. Good set up for both these matches here.)
We come back from break to see Lynch and Asuka going at it again in the backstage area. Well, that escalated again quickly.
- The first match is Naomi vs. Mandy Rose (w/Sonya Deville). Naomi pushes Sonya aside and goes immediately after Mandy. Rose gets a shot in on Naomi in the ring, but Naomi fires off with rapid shots as we go to commercial. (Thanks to USA Network, we get the picture-in-picture commercials). Mandy kicks at Naomi in the corner, but Naomi quickly fires back and starts torturing Rose in the center of the ring with a shoulder lock. A slam by Mrs. Uso. Old School Split Leg Drop by Naomi. However, Sonya Deville does enough to distract Naomi to allow Mandy to knock her off the apron and begin getting her offense in.
Naomi gets back on offense as we come back from commercial officially. Mandy knocks Naomi back down and chokes her on the bottom rope. Naomi kicks Mandy in the face a couple times. Forearms by Naomi. Leg Scisssors Takedown by Naomi. Sonya again distracts Naomi which allows Mandy to throw Naomi face first into the ring post. 1-2-3 in the ring.
(Given what we were able to see during commercial break, I thought this was an ok match. Mandy is not exactly the best worker in the ring, but that's not what her character needs to be. She's a very good heel character in the division, and she played it up during the match. The Naomi/Mandy feud continues for now. )
Naomi is consoled by Jimmy Uso in the ring.
- Rey Mysterio remembers his 2006 Royal Rumble victory. Sunday is about repeating history. Tonight is about respect and getting it from Andrade. Zelina is barred from ringside for tonight's 2/3 Falls Match.
- The Miz is shown backstage with Shane McMahon. The Miz vs. Cesaro is next. Cesaro gets trapped in the Figure Four early on, but Sheamus helps him escape. Seconds later, The Miz gets caught between Cesaro and Sheamus on the floor which leads to Cesaro hitting one of his trademark uppercuts to take us to commercial.
Miz is on offense after the break, hitting his corner dropkicks and the corner clothesline. But Cesaro catches him with an uppercut. Sheamus takes Shane out and helps Cesaro to set up The Neutralizer to pin Miz. After the break, Shane attacks Sheamus and Cesaro. He smacks Cesaro against the ring post and places him on an announce table. He goes for the flying elbow off the top, but Sheamus throws him down into the barricade. Brogue Kick to Shane on the floor. Miz dives on Shane to cover him up, and he gets beaten up on the announce table for his trouble. The Bar pick up Shane and DRIVE HIM THROUGH MIZ AND THE ANNOUNCE TABLE!
(Only in WWE can you beat up The Boss's son and not get fired for putting him through his best friend and a piece of furniture.)
An awkward moment here as the cameras zoom in on the announce team instead of showing the violence on the floor.
- Mustafa Ali vs. Samoa Joe is previewed. A video package is shown. Mustafa Ali talks about being on the streets and learning lessons. He discusses what happened last week and the look on Joe's eyes when he attacked Ali. That was the biggest insult to Ali: That Joe thought that Ali was nothing but a message to the rest of the locker room. He wants Joe to look into his eyes and know that he can beat Joe.
- Vince is watching from the back as Shane and The Miz are being tended to by the officials at the announce table.
- The next thing we get is the Face to Face between Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles with Vince McMahon presiding. Vince comes out first to set up the segment. After having to deal with a lot of "What?" chants, Vince introduces AJ first. (Fellow wrestling fans, it's been 17 years. Can we please let the "What?" chants die now?) Then, he introduces "The New" Daniel Bryan. Bryan refuses to get into the ring with a Sociopath. He goes on about AJ's future as champion being "illiterate" and "impotent." Bryan goes on about using his power for the greater good. AJ asks if that greater good means coming out and acting like a (donkey). Bryan says he makes the fans think and grow. Daniel Bryan says he is "The Planet's Champion." The Planet NEEDS Daniel Bryan to be the voice of the planet. AJ accuses Daniel Bryan of being "FICKLE!" Bryan yells "Shut Up" at the fans for chanting "Fickle!' at him.
AJ says Daniel isn't in the ring because he's afraid. AJ is going to take the one thing that Bryan sold his morals for: the championship. Vince stops Daniel Bryan from talking and says "Enough of this. Get in the ring." Daniel Bryan calls Vince and his generation the great "parasites" of this world. Wow. "You take and you take and give the planet nothing." Bryan goes on this great rant about Vince's generation hording all the wealth while everyone's too busy with Instagram likes. AJ is the manifestation of the distraction that Vince wants. Vince restates his demand for Daniel Bryan to get in the ring. AJ decides to go after Daniel Bryan since he won't go into the ring. Styles attacks and beats down on Bryan around ringside and throws him in the ring. AJ goes for the Phenomenal Forearm, but Bryan puts Vince in the way. AJ stops himself but gets smacked with the Running Knee.
(Daniel Bryan continues to absolutely kill it as this heel character. AJ showed some good intensity here as well. I'm still expecting Daniel Bryan to win this match, but AJ could easily regain his championship as well. This may be the big "toss-up" match of the evening. )
- R-Truth and Carmella talk about the Rumble. He can't wait to win the Rumble and face Daniel Bryan or AJ Styles. He doesn't want Brock Lesnar because he doesn't want to go to "Sioux Falls City." Lol. Carmella runs into Charlotte and cuts a promo on her about winning the Royal Rumble.
- Next, we get Samoa Joe vs. Mustafa Ali. Joe punches and stomps Ali in the corner early on. On the outside, Joe goes to throw Ali into the ring post like last week, but Ali climbs the corner and dives back onto Joe instead. Back in the ring, Joe reasserts control and begins pounding down on Ali. Ali tries to Springboard onto Joe, but Joe just knocks him off the ropes to the floor. (Picture in Picture Commercial here.) Joe continues to attack Ali on the floor before throwing him back in the ring.
We're back from break as Joe continues to beat down on Ali. He hits the trademark Corner Splash into the Back Kick for a 2 count. Ali escapes Joe and hits the Rolling X-Factor. Ali takes out Samoa Joe and chases him to the floor. Ali jumps off the barricade and splashes down on Joe. Both men are back in the ring. A bunch of superkicks by Ali and a Tornado DDT off the corner get Ali a 2 count. Ali drags Joe into position to go for the 0-5-4. Joe saddles him on the corner and locks in the Clutch. Ali taps out. Joe holds it in for a few seconds.
(Joe looked awesome in this match as he usually does. Ali loses next to nothing here for being in the same ring as Samoa Joe. Ali can always get a win over Joe sometime down the road.)
- The New Day cut a promo about the Royal Rumble. They go crazy on the idea that they are going to eliminate each other, saying they keep getting asked every year. They even work in a Tony Chimel cameo. Lol.
- The Main Event is the 2/3 Falls Match between Rey Mysterio and Andrade. (Thankfully, WWE realized they needed to put this match on last here. No one is following this up.)
Fall #1- Rey hits a masterful Step-Up Jumping Hurricanrana over the top rope to Andrade on the floor as we go to commercial break. We come back to see Rey hit a kick to the face of Andrade from the apron. Seated Senton by Mysterio. Mysterio gets caught mid-air with a dropkick while trying a crossbody. CODE RED by Mysterio! 1-2-Kickout Back and forth action from both men. Mysterio gets smacked to the mat by Andrade, but Rey catches Andrade on the corner. Mysterio climbs up. Andrade puts Rey on his shoulders on the corner, but Rey reverses into a hurricanrana attempt. ANDRADE COUNTERS IT AND HITS A TOP ROPE SIT DOWN POWERBOMB!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1-2-3! WOW!
Andrade is up 1-0 as the fans already chant "This is Awesome.
Fall #2: Rey is hurt and climbing the ropes as the ref allows the second fall to start. A Slingshot Powerbomb gets 2 for Andrade. CANADIAN DESTROYER BY REY! 1-2-3!
The match is tied 1-1.
Fall #3: We join this fall after commercial break as Andrade goes flying after Rey in the corner, misses, and ends up crashing and burning on the floor. Andrade gets smacked into the barricade and recieves an enziguri to the back of his head for his trouble. Mysterio then does the running belly slide to Sunset Flip Andrade back into the barricade! Wow. Andrade is back in the ring. WEST COAST POP BY REY!!!! 1-2-KICKOUT BY ANDRADE!!!! Andrade does an armbar on Mysterio over the ropes to buy himself some time. Mysterio gets sent shoulder first into the corner. Andrade gets sent to the apron. Mysterio kicks Andrade. Andrade and Rey do flips to the outside which ends up with Mysterio getting POWERBOMBED INTO THE RING POST! Hammerlock DDT in the ring only gets 2 for Andrade as Rey gets his foot on the ropes. Fujiwara Armbar on Rey. Mysterio gets dragged to the center of the ring. Rey is able to flip out. Mysterio and Andrade trip up a bit (which is perfectly ok in this kind of match). REVERSE RANA BY REY!!!! 1-2-Kickout! Rey puts Andrade in position! 6-1-9!
Samoa Joe! He powerbombs Rey into the ring apron! He then attacks Andrade, sending him into the ring post! Clutch is in on Mysterio in the ring. Joe gets a mic. "I came here to make a statement!" Joe promises to do the same to the other 29 superstars in the Rumble. RKO OUTTA NOWHERE!!!!!!! WOW! WHAT A POP!!!!
(This may be one of the better non-finishes I could have imagined for this match. You hate giving away matches on TV where you can build to something more in the future. This actually saves Andrade and Rey for future matches now that this was left very disputed. This wasn't as good in my opinion as last week, but this was still very very very good. Samoa Joe continues to look like a savage who can cause destruction in the Rumble. And you have to love that RKO Outta Nowhere. When it's done right, it's a jolt of electricity to any show.)
(Overall, I thought that this was a very productive episode of SmackDown Live. I don't think there was much about this show that I actually disliked. And when you add in any opportunity to see Mysterio and Andrade do their thing, I have to give this a thumbs up.)
Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
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