The title is a joke as many wrestling fans are still buzzing about the big announcements made by All Elite Wrestling during their rally in Jacksonville. 17,000 fans apparently were at this rally, and many of those fans who went to the SmackDown Live show down the road have been turned away for wearing All Elite Wrestling merchandise. This might be interesting to watch in a "Where's Waldo?" way to see if you can find an AEW T-Shirt.
SmackDown Thoughts
- Daniel Bryan is shown at a concession stand in the arena. He goes on a rant about the bad food served at a concession stand. People eat empty junk food because they want to fill a void. Cheering for AJ Styles fills an empty void. Bryan picks up a fan's hot dog and throws it in his face. He picks up a fan's pop and throws it in their face after talking about their environmental waste on the environment. Bryan then goes to the Merchandise stand. He killed the "Yes" Movement to stop the pollution of the environment. He says there are plenty of AJ Styles shirts to fill that void though. Bryan comes through the audience now. Bryan wants to "change the world." Every one in this arena is impotent and pathetic. Bryan will fill the void with something valuable unlike AJ Styles. Great heel promo and work here by Bryan here. Bryan gets jumped by R-Truth. Truth was attacked by Bryan during the Christmas Day episode of SmackDown Live. (Again, I really liked Bryan's work here. He's been killing it as a heel for the past month in my opinion. What's good about this run is that Bryan has made multiple enemies, like Truth and Mustafa Ali, who want a piece of him. Whether you like his aggressive environmentalist character or not, having a heel with many different opponents helps keep things fresh even if the heel has a bigger fish to fry.)
- We return to see R-Truth and Daniel Bryan having a match. Truth starts off hot, but Bryan starts overwhelming him with his fast-paced offense. Truth does get some momentum back with a flying spinning forearm. But he gets caught with the Running Knee for a 3. Bryan wins a quick match against the man who holds #30 at the Royal Rumble. (Imagine this 3-minute match as the main event of WrestleMania.)
Bryan backs up the entrance way. As he's about to go into the back, Styles jumps Bryan and attacks him viciously. He gets some punches in and rams Bryan into the LED boards. Styles picks up a chair, but Bryan runs off. Styles plays up hitting WWE officials with the chair, but he throws it down. (The continued aggression from AJ Styles is a welcome development. It's a weird situation to have Styles and Rollins both show some ruthlessness in their characters after some encouragement by the McMahon Family. One has to wonder if WWE has plans for a Styles vs. Rollins match possibly.)
- As soon as Styles goes to the back, Rey Mysterio is out for his scheduled match. It's Rey Mysterio and Mustafa Ali vs. Samoa Joe and Andrade "Cien" Almas. All four men are scheduled for the Royal Rumble Match. Rey continues to show that age is just a number by giving a good performance in these type of multi-man matches. As for Ali, he continues to add to whatever match he is booked in. Ali doesn't see that Joe tagged Almas. Ali hits a Tornado DDT in the ring. As he goes to jump on Almas in the floor, Joe gets in the way, grabs Ali, and throws him overhead onto the announce table.
As we return from break, Rey gets the tag from Ali and unloads on Almas and Joe. Almas takes an absolutely sick Canadian Destroyer from Rey. 619 by Rey. 450 by Ali. Ali helps Rey get Almas in position. Almas catches Rey in position during 619. Almas hits a gutbuster and a Hammerlock DDT for the win! ALMAS WINS! ALMAS WINS! (Andrade needed a victory in the worst way, even if it was during a tag team match. Almas is a legitimate great athlete, as all four of these men are. Andrade has spent more time on a mat than a painter since moving to the main roster. It's good to see, even if just for one week, that Almas is getting a victory here and there.)
- The Usos cut a promo about facing The Bar for the opportunity to challenge them for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships. After the break, we hear The Miz complain to Shane McMahon about not getting the opportunity. Shane tells Miz they need to scout their competition and be prepared. Miz says ok, but he wants to know about what Shane thinks of their outfits. They argue about white or red leather.
- Rusev is in the ring when we come back from break. Loud "Rusev Day" chants. He talks about Lana getting hurt. He blames Shinsuke Nakamura for her injuries. He's not out here as a United States Champion or a handsome brute. He's a husband. The fans chant "Lana is the best. Lana #1." Shinsuke crossed the line. He demands Shinsuke come out so he can break every bone in Nakamura's body. Nakamura is shown on the big screen in the production truck.
Nakamura says Rusev is trying to get sympathy in the ring. Nakamura wants to prove that Rusev is to blame for what happened. They show a clip of Last week where Rusev kicked Nakamura down while Lana was on Nakamura's back attacking him. "Rusev, you crushed Lana." Rusev says he is going after Nakamura and runs backstage. Nakamura catches him backstage and runs a crate into Rusev several times. He gets taken away from Rusev by officials. KINSHASA! Nakamura and Rusev are now involved in a grudge feud as much as it is about a championship at this point.
- We get a replay of the Mean Gene Okerlund tribute from Monday Night Raw.
- The Bar face The Usos next. If The Usos win, they get a future Tag Team Championship match. I guess this is change if we've already seen this match again and again? We must have lost our sanity, or a couple good brothers didn't show up. I guess we aren't getting our usual dose of pancakes tonight either. The first part of this match really didn't do much for me as I felt like I was watching a "been there, done that" segment. That's because I was.
After the break, Jey Uso continues to be attacked by The Bar. He gets the tag, and The Usos go on their usual hot offense. Jimmy hits a crossbody off the top on Sheamus for a 2. More back and forth between the two teams as we go to another commercial break. After we return, Cesaro jumps off the top rope and dives into a superkick. Then, we get Mandy Rose in a towel. Mandy asks Jimmy if he can help her find her top and shorts. The last time she saw them, they were in his hotel room. Neutralizer finally ends this. (As good as the announcers were trying to make this, the match was too much of a been there, done that for me to enjoy in the slightest. Thankfully, The Usos are out of the picture for a while.)
The Miz comes out afterwards and makes the announcement that he and Shane want the shot for the Tag Team Championships. Cesaro says he doesn't get how The Bar should lower themselves to face a team with "Daddy Issues." A Brogue Kick by Sheamus connects on The Miz. They take the challenge.
Mandy is shown backstage. Naomi sees her and Sonya walking backstage and attacks both women. Jimmy Uso runs over to help Naomi.
(Again, we are seeing the Mandy-Naomi feud continue, and now it has spilled over into The Usos' tag team championship aspirations. Interesting to see if this affects the tag team going forward. As for The Miz, I wonder if we are going to get a limited Tag Team Championship run for The World's Best Tag Team? God help us.)
- Daniel Bryan cuts a promo promising to show a vicious side that AJ has never seen.
- The Miz is backstage with Shane. Apparently, they are getting their shot at the Royal Rumble. They argue back and forth, but Shane ultimately agrees to the match at the Rumble.
- The main event sees Charlotte Flair vs. Carmella vs. Becky Lynch to determine who will face Asuka at the Royal Rumble for the SmackDown Women's Championship. Loud "Becky" chants to support "The Man." Carmella is the least experienced of these three, and there were a couple rough spots in the match. But I think she held her own here with Lynch and Charlotte. Charlotte hit a double moonsault on Lynch and Carmella before the commercial break. We return to see Charlotte on the corner. Lynch tries to superplex her, but Carmella rips her off. Carmella tries to hurricanrana her off. Charlotte fights it and almost powerbombs her, but Carmella hits the hurricanrana for a 2 count. Carmella hits a suicide dive onto Becky Lynch on the floor. Carmella moves out of the way of a Charlotte moonsault to the floor.
Becky and Carmella start fighting on the floor. It is any woman's match at this point. Carmella and Charlotte are in the ring now competing. Becky gets hit with Natural Selection, but Carmella almost gets the pin out of the sequence. Carmella goes mental and starts striking Charlotte. Big punch to Charlotte. Figure 8. Becky dives off with a leg drop on Charlotte, but Charlotte kicks out of a pin attempt. Disarm-Her is locked in. Superkick by Carmella breaks it up. Charlotte is thrown to the floor. The crowd chants "This is awesome." Not quite. Spear by Charlotte. Carmella kicks away Charlotte. Disarm-Her to Carmella. Carmella taps. Becky Lynch now will face Asuka at the Royal Rumble for the SmackDown Women's Championship.
Asuka comes out after the match to face off with Becky.
(Well, I guess this means Vince is going to get his Charlotte vs. Ronda Rousey match at WrestleMania. Becky Lynch faces Asuka at Royal Rumble. I honestly don't know what happens there. Maybe Asuka gets a fluke win, and it ends up being Becky vs. Asuka again at WrestleMania. But I'm less certain of a Lynch vs. Rousey match than I was going into this show. Maybe, just maybe that's the point. And I hold out hope for that.)
This was a mixed bag for me as a show. The main event was decent, but it was hardly anyone's best match in it. Daniel Bryan had some good heel heat to start things off, and I really liked the Almas victory in the tag team match. Plus we got a good continuation for the Nakamura and Rusev feud. But the rest of the show was really a miss for me. I was bored with The Usos vs. The Bar, likely because I'm sick of The Usos being in any tag team match. And I'm not a fan of seeing The Bar face Shane and Miz. Overall, I give it a thumbs ever so slightly up for getting more good done than bad, but it wasn't a great show by any stretch of the imagination.
Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
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