By: Keila Cash
Date: 1/23/2018
Location: Capital One Arena in Washington D.C.
Prelude to the Royal Rumble: It’s a bird…It’s a plane…It’s an RKO out of nowhere!
· SD Live kicked off with a needlessly long opening segment featuring Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and AJ Styles arguing about who has the advantage heading into the 2-on-1 Handicap Match for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble on Sunday.
· Styles showed confidence heading into the title bout, but Owens and Zayn wanted to soften him up by using Styles’ words against him. They tossed to a video clip of Styles stating that he was willing to fight both men on the same night during an in-ring interview with Renee Young two weeks ago.
· KO and Zayn wanted Styles to be a man of his word. Before he could respond, Daniel Bryan appeared on the main stage. Bryan was about to wax poetically on Styles’ behalf, but Styles cut him off mid-sentence. Styles didn’t trust Bryan’s motives and decided to accept Owens and Zayn’s challenge to fight them in back-to-back matches as the opening segment came to an end.
· Zayn’s over-the-top character saved this segment from being a total bore and that’s all I have to say about that.
· Chad Gable defeated Jey Uso with a German Suplex in a solid match. Gable’s amateur wrestling came into play early on until Jey turned up the volume after the commercial break when he laid out Gable with a dive.
· Jey went for the Splash, but Gable moved out of the way. Jey countered with a Samoan Drop only for Gable to catch him with a sick rolling kick followed by the German Suplex for the win. This was a nice way for Gable and Shelton Benjamin to build momentum heading into their 2-out-of-3 Falls Match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at the Rumble on Sunday.
· Naomi defeated Liv Morgan with a Sunset Flip in a decent match. It was rough in spots, but I got a kick out of Morgan dodging Naomi’s enzuigiri like a human windmill before getting kneed in the face.
· After the match was over, Ruby Riott and Sarah Logan attacked Naomi from behind. Becky Lynch made the save as Natalya, Carmella, and Lana joined the fray as the ladies offered a preview of the women’s Royal Rumble match. Natalya was the last woman standing until Naomi and Lynch made her leave the ring.
· In a surprising turn of events, Lynch tried to throw Naomi over the top rope, but her plan backfired as Naomi caught herself on the ring apron. Both ladies exchanged a glance as Charlotte appeared on the main stage.
· The Queen admired Lynch’s moxie and warned the ladies that friendships and alliances are thrown out the window when it comes to getting an automatic title shot at WrestleMania. Charlotte wished them good luck as the segment came to an end.
· Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin ended abruptly when Randy Orton nailed Nakamura with an RKO out of nowhere in an incredible spot. Nakamura was about to hit Corbin with the Kinshasa when Orton hit him with his finisher in mid-stride. The crowd went insane as Orton sailed into the air like a gazelle.
· Corbin suffered the same fate as Orton put the SD Live roster on notice that he was going to win the Rumble in back-to-back years.
· Before the batshit crazy finish, Nakamura and Corbin were having a good match. It started off slow, but the action picked up after the commercial break. This was one of their better matches as the near falls were on point down the stretch. The non-finish helps both men save face heading into the Rumble despite getting owned by Orton. Will The Viper become a three-time Rumble winner? The Magic 8-Ball says: “Very Doubtful”.
· The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) & Bobby Roode defeated Jinder Mahal, Aiden English, & Rusev when Woods pinned English with an Elbow Drop. The match was short, but fun while it lasted.
· AJ Styles defeated Kevin Owens when he made Owens tap out to the Calf Crusher in a quick match. Owens has been working a reduced schedule in order to nurse some nagging injuries over the past couple of weeks. This was WWE’s way of giving KO an out heading into Sunday’s PPV which should give him enough time to heal up.
· Sami Zayn defeated AJ Styles with the Helluva Kick-Blue Thunder Bomb combo in a good main event match. It was fairly one-sided as Zayn dominated the action until Styles made a babyface comeback towards the end.
· Owens was being treated by medical personnel at ringside while the match was going on. Styles took a cheap shot at Owens that cost him early on when Zayn laid him out with a clothesline.
· Towards the end of the match, Styles decided to leave the ring on his own power and flip Owens off the stretcher which set up the finish moments later. Styles’ overzealousness got the best of him which puts the Phenomenal One at a serious disadvantage on Sunday.
· SD Live went off the air with Owens and Zayn standing over Styles as the prospect of them becoming co-WWE Champion is damn near plausible. I doubt it’s going to happen, but all three men will deliver the goods on Sunday if they are given enough time to shine.
· As for Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon, their power struggle was on full display as McMahon questioned Bryan’s ability to do his job as General Manager. Expect both authority figures to play a role in the 2-on-3 Handicap Match on Sunday. Who’s turning on who? We shall find out soon enough.
· Overall, I thought tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live was decent at best. This show was miles better than the dreck that aired last week. The in-ring action was solid as WWE hammered home the key matches taking place at the Royal Rumble on Sunday.
· The hype for this year’s Rumble has been disappointing. The company has been shilling the card for weeks, but there are no clear front-runners on the men and women’s side at the moment. Maybe the creative team is banking on a few surprise entrants from both matches to justify the so-so buildup thus far. In any event, it should be a good show if it’s timed properly. The Royal Rumble sells itself, but it would’ve been nice if the E put in more effort from a promotional standpoint.
· Selfie videos can only do so much when it comes to securing one of two spots at WrestleMania. Everyone else is fighting for scraps on the table which should make the scrum towards Fastlane exciting to watch come March. Here’s hoping SD Live delivers compelling television in the weeks to come because the show has been duller than dishwater as of late.
On that note, this wraps up another edition of The SmackDown Files. I hope you enjoyed it and I will be back next week with a brand new installment of The Raw Exposé. See you later, boys and girls!
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