‘WWE Smackdown’ Review (Jan 10th 2025)
Welcome to this review of this past Friday’s episode of Smackdown, right here on Nerdly. Let’s see what went down on this week’s show!
Match #1: Women’s United States Championship – Chelsea Green def. Michin
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Chelsea Green competed in her first Women’s United States Title defense when she took on Michin, the same competitor she defeated to win the championship at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Michin put up a good fight, but Piper Niven continued to get involved, forcing Michin to take out Green’s partner with a top-rope dive. Michin leaped off the top rope onto Green, but the champion reversed it and grabbed a fistful of tights to pin Michin.
My Score: 2 out of 5
Match #2: Los Garza def. Pretty Deadly
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Stemming from last week’s hostilities, Pretty Deadly and Los Garza collided for the chance to get one step closer to challenging WWE Tag Team Champions #DIY. After both teams attempted to cheat to win, Santos Escobar and Elektra Lopez interfered, allowing Angel and Berto to hit MTY to win the match.
My Score: 2 out of 5
Match #3: United States Championship – LA Knight def. Shinsuke Nakamura (DQ)
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
LA Knight came in with enormous confidence as he took on United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura looking to win back the title he lost at Survivor Series. Nakamura hit a Kinshasa, but The Megastar got his foot on the rope before the referee could count three. An enraged Nakamura tried to take out Knight by using an exposed turnbuckle, but Knight sent him knee-first into the unlikely weapon. Knight capitalized with the BFT, but his potential victory was taken away by The Bloodline. Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga hit the ring to attack Knight, spelling the end for The Megastar’s attempt to win back the U.S. Title.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #4: Motor City Machine Guns def. A-Town Down Under
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
A potential title match against WWE Tag Team Champions #DIY was on the line as The Motor City Machine Guns battled A-Town Down Under. The two teams left everything on the mat in a grueling contest, but Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley hit the Skull & Bones to win.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #5: No. 1 Contender’s Fatal 4-Way Match – Bayley def. Nia Jax, Bianca Belair & Naomi
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Bayley, Nia Jax, Bianca Belair and Naomi collided in a Fatal 4-Way Match to determine who would challenge WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton. Candice LeRae made her way down to ringside to try to help Jax win the match. LeRae stopped The EST from getting the win, even making Belair use her braids against her tag team partner Naomi inadvertently. As Belair and Jax spilled over the announce table, Bayley used the fracas to hit the Rose Plant on Naomi to become the new No. 1 Contender.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #6: Jacob Fatu & Tama Tonga def. Cody Rhodes & Jimmy Uso
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga kept Jimmy Uso away from Cody Rhodes until The American Nightmare finally tagged in and ambushed The Bloodline with his explosive offense. Rhodes hit a huge Cody Cutter before Jimmy connected with an enormous dive onto Fatu, but before The American Nightmare could capitalize, Kevin Owens came out to distract the Undisputed WWE Champion. This left Jimmy alone in the ring with Tonga. Following an Uso Splash onto Tonga, Fatu broke up the pinfall before sending Jimmy back into the ring. Fatu hit an Impaler DDT followed by a moonsault on Jimmy to win the match for his team.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Final Verdict: 3/5
An improvement over last week’s Smackdown, this episode still suffered from some issues – namely the two less-than-stellar opening matches. Thankfully things turned around somewhat and we ended up with some decent matches, none more so than the women’s 4-way, which outshone the rest of this card by a mile. The weirdest thing? The entire episode was essentially the Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga show as the pair kept popping up throughout the night, eventually main-eventing and grabbing the win over Cody Rhodes and Jimmy Uso.
