Friday Night Smackdown – Jan 13th 2023: Results & Review
Welcome to this review of this past Friday’s episode of Friday Night Smackdown, right here on Nerdly. Let’s see what went down on the show!
Match #1: Intercontinental Championship Match – Gunther def. Braun Strowman
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
The Ring General and The Monster of All Monsters absolutely pummeled each other. Fitting that this title match was occurring in Title Town as the two showed the grit necessary to come out as champion. Wearing special boots designed with the help of the Green Bay Packers, Strowman put said boots to Gunther, using them to derail the Intercontinental Champion and send him over the announce table. Even though they were sent to the backstage area by Gunther before the match, the rest of Imperium emerged, forcing Strowman to fend them off before delivering a menacing powerslam to Gunther that could only garner a two-count. Gunther continued the match with a plan, targeting Strowman’s injured shoulder, but Strowman kept fighting back. Gunther just barely edged Strowman to retain his Intercontinental Title after hitting a monstrous Powerbomb on The Monster of All Monsters.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #2: Tegan Nox def. Xia Li
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
After costing Tegan Nox a chance to win the WWE Women’s Tag Team Title a few weeks ago, Xia Li battled Nox. Nox was out for payback and showed Li no mercy, taking out Li with the Shiniest Wizard.
My Score: 1.5 out of 5
Match #3: Raquel Rodriguez def. Liv Morgan
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
After slapping her earlier in the evening, Liv Morgan got her wish and took on Raquel Rodriguez looking for a huge win heading into the Royal Rumble event. Both women tried throwing each other over the top rope, with Rodriguez tossing Morgan first. Morgan continued to tap into her more extreme side, setting up Rodriguez on a table to try and drive her through it, but Rodriguez moved out of the way. This led to Rodriguez snapping, hitting Morgan with the Tejana Bomb and gaining the momentous win.
My Score: 2 out of 5
Match #4: Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens (No-contest)
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens rekindled their legendary rivalry with more intensity than ever, as The Master Strategist looked to prove he could handle The Prizefighter by himself. The two battled each other for nearly 20 minutes, pulling every move out of their respective playbooks with Zayn hitting Blue Thunder Bombs and Owens landing swanton bombs aplenty. A huge suplex from KO to The Honorary Uce from the top rope nearly splintered Zayn in two and left both combatants on the ground. Just as Zayn was about to deliver a Helluva Kick to KO, The Bloodline erupted on the scene, causing a no-contest between the two fierce rivals and shocking Zayn into disbelief. The Bloodline put the boots to The Prizefighter with Solo Sikoa delivering a humongous splash onto KO through an announce table.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Final Verdict: 2.5/5
Good god, outside of the opening and closing matches, this week’s Smackdown was dull. I honestly never thought you could get a bad match out of Tegan Nox but this episode proved me wrong, and the Liv Morgan/Raquel Rodriguez match wasn’t much better. I honestly don’t get the Charlotte/Sonya stuff, it’s not like Sonya is so high profile in terms of match wins that she should already be in contention for a title shot. Bray Wyatt once again delivered; thankfully he’s still getting to tell his story his way – though, like many others, I’m anxious to see where it’s going and sometimes the pace feels a little too slow. But I’m invested in the journey in much the same way I am/was with the Sami & Bloodline story, which seems to now be taking a turn. All in all this was a show that was literally saved by the first and last match, the rest of the card you could easily watch clips of online instead TBH.
