Friday Night SmackDown – Jan 29th 2021: Results & Review

Welcome to this week’s Friday Night SmackDown review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have the go-home show for the Royal Rumble to get to, so shut up and let’s get to…NINJAS! Ninjas: Hiya! Me: Come here you little squirts! Gonna pound you into dog s—! Ninjas: Hiy…NOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Me: You can’t come here and f— with the review! I am a journalist! I am covering the vaunted program of World Wrestling Entertainment! You shall respect my authoritay! Ninjas: Hiy…OWWWWWWW!!!!!! Me: Oren Ishii! Oren Ishii: I’m a b—-! Head Ninja: KOSAYA!!!!!!! Me: F— you! (chops head off of Head Ninja) Head Ninja: I’M DEADAAAAAAAA!!!!!! Oren Ishii: Kill ass-hole! Me: (shoots gun at every-body) Oren Ishii: Ow. (she’s dead) Me: This isn’t a squirt gun at all! What kind of world is it coming to when McDonald’s can’t even guarantee what is in the Happy Meal?! Also, it might have been a gun shop. Anyway, let’s get to SmackDown!

Match #1: Bianca Belair def. Bayley

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

After Bayley attacked Bianca Belair for showing her up in the “Ultimate Athlete Obstacle Course Challenge” last week, The EST of WWE went one on one with The Role Model in an effort to knock her adversary off her high horse. Bayley took full advantage of the arm injury that Belair suffered during last week’s assault, but the resilient Superstar fought though the pain. Belair caught a charging Bayley and dropped her face-first into the top turnbuckle. She then picked up her opponent to execute the K.O.D. to score the biggest win of her career. After the match, Belair rejoiced over her huge victory and pledged to will the Royal Rumble Match en route to WrestleMania.

My Opinion: 6 out of 10

Match #2: King Corbin def. Dominik Mysterio

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

After coming up short against the King Corbin last week, Dominik once again took on the sadistic monarch. Dominik attacked his opponent before the bell and sent a clear signal that he was determined to prove he has what it takes to face larger opponents like Corbin. Despite an aggression and determination that nearly overcame his royal opponent, Corbin dropped him on the top rope before finishing him with End of Days.

My Opinion: 3 out of 10

Match #3: Daniel Bryan def. AJ Styles by disqualification

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

Before entering Sunday’s Royal Rumble backed with his newfound Alpha Academy training, Daniel Bryan engaged in a one-on-one matchup against AJ Styles, with Cesero joining SmackDown commentary to scout the Royal Rumble Match competition . Eventually, Sami Zayn and his documentary crew emerged to protest his recent “treatment” by WWE. Soon, Zayn changed the protest sign he was holding to an anti-Big E protest sign. This eventually inspired the Intercontinental Champion to take down Zayn with a clothesline. He then launched The Master Strategist over the announce table and nearly hit Cesaro on commentary. Before long, Cesaro, Bryan and Styles had all gotten involved as well as an emerging Shinsuke Nakamura. Bryan technically won the match ending in disqualification, but the contest was restarted as a Six-Man Tag Team Match.

My Opinion: 6 out of 10

Match #4: Daniel Bryan, Shinsuke Nakamura & Big E def. AJ Styles, Cesaro & Sami Zayn by disqualification

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

In the final moments of an impromptu Six-Man Tag Team Match, Miz & Morrison suddenly slid in and jumped Big E when everybody else was down and brought an end to the match by disqualification. Their disruption soon brought Otis to the ring to target the Dirt Sheet pair. Before long, all nine Superstars were brawling, and the match was once again restarted to include all of them.

My Opinion: 5 out of 10

Match #5: (Main Event) Daniel Bryan, Shinsuke Nakamura, Sheamus, Big E & Otis def. AJ Styles, Cesaro, Sami Zayn, The Miz & John Morrison

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

Following a pattern of continued turmoil, nine Superstars competed in what began as a Handicap Match until Sheamus eventually joined Bryan’s team to make it a 10-Man Tag Team Match. The bout once again descended into madness with Superstar after Superstar executing their finishing maneuvers. The last to do so was Sheamus, who hit Zayn with a Brogue Kick for the pinfall.

My Opinion: 5 out of 10

Final Verdict: 6/10

This was a weird show to review. You get a lot of wrestling, but not necessarily from the matches being structured well. Does that make sense? The opener worked out fine and was the best complete match. Bayley felt like a true star here and when she lost to Bianca, it felt like a big deal thanks to the former giving the latter the right kind of victory. You had some consistent athleticism from both fighters and when Bianca had her emotional post-match speech, it felt earned not only for the moment itself, but because it was earned through a believable contest of a certain kind. Corbin and Dominik had some decent action get marred by Corbin badly tossing Dominik over his head into the turnbuckle and getting the latter’s legs to crash into the ropes. Corbin is getting better, but he shouldn’t be on TV yet and this mistake is proof of why. If Corbin had his head on right, he would never have attempted that spot without being so accomplished at it that it would have been practically guaranteed to succeed. In any case, they both tried to make the match work and they weren’t very successful, but they did try.

The last three matches were like a running stream of consciousness that sort of flowed into each other. Bryan and AJ was going well until they got cut-off by a bad finish (and some bad camera-work). The next match was an impromptu extension of the previous one and, while it offered some fine action, it was also lacking in importance. Then, it got screwed over by another bad finish, which leads us to the main event, so to speak. As impromptu as the last match, the main event lacked the importance of the Bryan/AJ bout, but it did offer more fine wrestling action and an actual finish this time. It’s nice to have a main event actually end on its own accord, but it would have been nice to have the main event be announced before time. I get what they were going for but this booking-by-the-seat-of-your-pants routine only works when it’s a match that everyone has been clamoring for. When all is said and done, this show will be best remembered for the promo between Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens, which got to the emotional core of the feud and clearly illustrated the stakes both men have in the prize fight for the Royal Rumble. While not great in individual parts, this show was actually pretty fun in its way. Also, Braun Strowman came back and beat the s— out of lots of people, so that’s that.