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Arran Hill

WWE Smackdown review 19/1/24




It’s a big week as Roman Reigns is back, this time for the four way contract signing for the Royal Rumble title match. That alone should be enough to carry the show, though we still have the rest of the Smackdown side of the card to be set up.


That should include some new Rumble participants, which can make for some interesting moments. Let’s get to it.



We open with a recap of last week’s main event, with Randy Orton showing up at the end to score the win.


The Bloodline welcomes Roman Reigns, who says he’s here to fix things. With Reigns gone, Solo Sikoa says he’ll fix everything.



Here is Nick Aldis to emcee the contract signing, meaning we get AJ Styles (who signs before anyone else can come out), LA Knight (signs as soon as he comes out), Randy Orton (three signatures) and….well Paul Heyman, who wants to look over the contract before Roman Reigns signs. Aldis says that’s fine, because the three who have signed can wrestle for the VACANT WWE Universal Title.



Heyman gets on the apron to say he admires the mediocre job that Aldis has done. He praises Aldis’ fashion sense but says no one can sell this kind of decision to anyone, because Reigns should be defending the title in a one on one match.


Knight cuts it off and says that one on one match should be his, because the Bloodline cost him the title at Crown Jewel. Styles says Knight walked over him to get the title shot and the fight is on, leaving Orton to grab Heyman by the tie.


Orton promises to take out Solo Sikoa tonight and then go on to RKO Reigns at the Royal Rumble. Good stuff here and it set up at least one match tonight.



Post break, AJ Styles gets a match with LA Knight made for tonight.



Match 1 LWO vs. Legado del Fantasma


Zelina Vega is here with the LWO. Escobar bails from Carlito to start, allowing Angel to get in a cheap shot from behind.


Del Toro comes in and springboards onto Angel, with Wilde coming in to take over. Humberto comes in and the LWO hit stereo dives to the floor as we take a break.


Back with Wilde in trouble and being dragged into the wrong corner so Garza can hit a running dropkick to the ribs. Wilde manages to flip into the air for a DDT (that was sweet and left Escobar stunned), allowing the hot tag off to Carlito.


House is cleaned but Humberto hits a nice springboard spinning kick to Carlito’s face. Back up and Carlito hits Humberto with a chokebomb into the Backstabber. Escobar makes a blind tag though and rolls Carlito up for the pin at 8:25.


Official Result Legado Del Fantasma wins


Rating: C+. They kept this moving as you might have expected but it still feels like they’re just killing time until we get to the big Escobar vs. Rey Mysterio showdown.


Bringing back Legado is a good thing as there’s already a history to the team and we could get a nice variety of matches out of the thing. This was a good start and Carlito can take a bunch of losses without really being hurt.



Pretty Deadly is ready to face Tyler Bate and Butch.


Bobby Lashley and the Street Profits are ready for the Final Testament. Just name the time and the place.



Match 2 Pretty Deadly vs. Tyler Bate/Pete Dunne


Yes Pete Dunne as the long awaited name change has FINALLY come through. Bate takes over on Wilson to start and hands it off to Dunne for some finger cranking. An armbar and leg stomp have various parts of Wilson in varying degrees of pain, followed by Bate’s airplane spin to the floor.


We take a break and come back with Bate getting caught in the corner for a running uppercut. The chinlock doesn’t last long though as Bate gets over to Dunne for the tag to initiate the house cleaning. Bate takes out Wilson, leaving Dunne to give Prince the Bitter End for the pin at 7:22.


Official Result Tyler Bate & Pete Dunne win


Rating: C+. This was all about one thing and it worked well, as this was the more aggressive Dunne, who looked good in his return. It’s not some huge change from Butch but there is a certain edge to him that wasn’t there before.


Thankfully they’ve done what should have happened a long time ago and Dunne clearly still knows how to be his old self.



We recap Logan Paul vs. Kevin Owens, with Paul threatening Owens with a lawsuit over a shot with the cast.


Pretty Deadly is livid over it being Pete Dunne instead of Butch and swear no more.



Here is Kevin Owens for the KO Show. Owens isn’t happy about it but introduces his guest: Logan Paul. Cue Paul, who says he would be honored to be here but he isn’t. It’s his show now because he is the show.


Owens might not know it, but he is the reason Paul is in WWE. We see a clip of Owens Stunnering him at Wrestlemania XXXVII, which made 70,000 people cheer. That was when he realized he needed to show the world he could do this, though Owens says he barely remembers it.


Paul was just one of the people Owens Stunned, but yes Paul did become really good at this. At the end of the day though, Paul isn’t one of them and certainly isn’t a Kevin Owens.


Paul: “Thank God!” Paul talks about everything he has done and everything he has accomplished, while Owens is just himself. Owens: “I don’t know what any of that meant.” He calls Paul a joke and that joke will end at the Royal Rumble.



Paul says he wasn’t listening to any of that and we hear about their knockout abilities. He’s ready to KO KO, who reminds Paul of how much punishment he can take.


Owens goes to take off the cast but Paul decks him, setting off the brawl. Paul gets in another cheap shot and stands tall to wrap it up. The match and story are already set so it’s nice to see some extra building, with Paul having a motivation of his own.


Roman Reigns yells at the Bloodline but Solo Sikoa steps up to say last week was on him. Tonight, he’ll fix things.



Match 3 Women’s Tag Team Titles: Kayden Carter/Katana Chance vs. Unholy Union


The Union (Alba Fyre/Isla Dawn) is challenging and Damage CTRL is on commentary. Carter gets jumped to start and a running knee gives Dawn two. A superkick gets the same but Carter gets back up and takes Dawn into the corner.


Chance hurricanranas Dawn down onto Fyre for two but Dawn gets in a cheap shot. Fyre’s rollup gets two but it’s a Canadian Destroyer into into the assisted spinning moonsault for the pin to retain at 2:52.


Official Result Kayden Carter & Katana Chance Win To Retain Women's Tag Titles



Post match the Kabuki Warriors take the title belts and seem to get a title shot.


We get a quick tribute to Pat Patterson, who started the Royal Rumble and would have turned 83 today.


The Final Testament is ready to hurt Bobby Lashley and the Street Profits next week.


We look at Carmelo Hayes vs. Austin Theory ending in a no contest last week.


Hayes says he’d love to face Theory again so here is Theory to say…well he doesn’t want to do it again next week. Grayson Waller accepts for him, with Theory saying Waller has to quit doing that.



Match 4 AJ Styles vs. LA Knight


Knight slugs away to start and hits a quick belly to back suplex. Styles grabs a rather hard headlock on the mat though, with Knight having to send him into the corner. Back up and Styles strikes away, only to have Knight punch his way out of trouble.


Knight’s powerslam connects but Styles avoids a running knee in the corner. Styles sends him into the barricade, only to have Knight drive him face first into the announcers’ table instead. Cue Jimmy Uso for a distraction, with Solo Sikoa coming in to Spike Knight for the DQ at 4:45.


Official Result LA Knight Wins by DQ


Rating: C. They started fast here but the match was more of a way to set up the main event than anything else. You don’t want one of them taking a fall on the way to the Royal Rumble so having Sikoa Spike one of them for the DQ was the smart way to go. Not much of a match, but they’re saving the big stuff for the Rumble.


Post match Sikoa Spikes Styles as well before saying “two down and one to go”. He wants Randy Orton out here night, but we’ll have to wait for a break.



Match 5 Randy Orton vs. Solo Sikoa


Nick Aldis, with contract, is at ringside. The beating is on fast and Orton is knocked into the corner. The running hip attack connects and Orton is sent outside as we take an early break. Back with Orton throwing Sikoa over the announcers’ desk and hitting the hanging DDT.


Cue Jimmy Uso but LA Knight cuts him off, sending Uso running…right into AJ Styles. That brings Styles to the ring, allowing Sikoa to load up the Spike. Orton isn’t having that though and RKO’s him for the pin at 5:18. Not enough shown to rate but the last two matches were pretty much all one big angle.


Official Result Randy Orton Wins


Post match Knight drops Styles but gets RKO’ed. Styles gets one of his own but Reigns comes in with the Superman Punch to Orton. Reigns signs and drops the contract in front of Aldis. The spear is loaded up…and countered into the RKO to end the show.


Overall Thoughts




This definitely wasn’t a week about the wrestling, but the focus on the four way throughout the night was a good way to go and the Dunne reveal/return in the middle was a nice bonus. They threw a bunch of stuff out there in one night, though a good deal of it didn’t quite feel like it mattered. They got the important part though and if they don’t screw anything up next week, the Smackdown half of the Rumble is pretty set.

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