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With just one week to go for the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view, SmackDown had some big matches and segments planned for this episode. Big E was scheduled to defend his Intercontinental Championship against Apollo Crews during the show.
The WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions arrived for a tag team match against The Riott Squad on SmackDown. SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks, on the other hand, had a good intergender match against Carmella’s associate, Reginald.
Roman Reigns was expected to show up during the show and express his displeasure at what had happened last week. One of the best segments of the night saw Sami Zayn handcuffing himself to the barricade in protest, only to then interfere in the Intercontinental Championship match to remain a part of the title scene.
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Let's take a look at the five things WWE SmackDown got right on this week’s show.
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#5 Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman opened up WWE SmackDown
WWE SmackDown opened with a video package recapping what had happened on last week’s show. The video showcased how Adam Pearce outsmarted the WWE Universal Champion and inserted Kevin Owens into the Royal Rumble match in his place.
Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman made their way out to the ring and spoke about how Owens and Pearce may have gone over The Tribal Chief for once. Reigns then revealed that he did not believe in the mentality of the 'Card subject to change' trick that Pearce pulled-off against him.
The Tribal Chief claimed that his back was starting to hurt from carrying WWE for all these years. Pearce came out and claimed that things were getting out of control and something had to be done about it.
Reigns, on the other hand, claimed that the only thing that was out of control was Owens being in the title match at Royal Rumble. The Universal Champion felt disrespected and unleashed Heyman on Pearce.
Heyman used his great mic-work to build the situation and then challenged Pearce to a match later on SmackDown. The WWE official gladly accepted the challenge.
The segment helped continue the great storyline between Reigns, KO, and Pearce. Pearce is transforming into an excellent on-screen authority figure who is using his knowledge to great effect. The Tribal Chief also got more time on the microphone to express his displeasure, and the absence of Jey Uso helped Reigns stand out this week.
#4 The WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions and The Riott Squad got a match on SmackDown
Billie Kay has forced her way into the Riott Squad, and both Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott don’t seem to be too happy with that on WWE SmackDown. Morgan and Riott got a match against Asuka and Charlotte Flair this week on SmackDown following their loss on WWE RAW a few weeks ago.
Kay was in the corner to cheer on The Riott Squad as the two Superstars took the fight to the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. Asuka was aggressive throughout the contest, and it looked like the RAW Women’s Champion was waiting for a match to perform in for some time.
A distraction from Kay helped Morgan take down Charlotte with a dropkick. However, she could not pin the former SmackDown Women’s Champion. Late in the match, Riott had Asuka pinned but Kay accidentally distracted the referee.
This angle allowed The Queen to tag in and hit Natural Selection to pick up the victory. While the Champions picked up the win, it was the developing story between The Riott Squad and Kay that is making things more entertaining on SmackDown. The aforementioned storyline also allows Morgan, Riott, and Kay to get some screentime on the Blue brand.
#3 Sami Zayn made things more exciting on WWE SmackDown
Don’t you think Sami Zayn was robbed on WWE SmackDown? The Great Liberator himself certainly thinks so. Zayn has been filming a documentary with his own camera crew and decided to take matters further this week.
Zayn came out early on SmackDown and handcuffed himself near the stage in protest. The Superstar held up a sign as his camera crew recorded everything. After providing some hilarious moments on SmackDown, Zayn decided to uncuff himself and interfere in the Intercontinental Championship match.
It seems like The Conspiracy Theorist will be entering the Intercontinental Championship picture once again. Fans can expect a Triple Threat match between Big E, Apollo Crews, and Zayn at the Royal Rumble.
Zayn has been doing a phenomenal job on SmackDown. Fans have been praising Adam Pearce, Roman Reigns, and Kevin Owens for uplifting SmackDown, but it’s Zayn who is carrying the middle portion of the show.
Zayn is great on the mic and in the ring. WWE seems to have finally seen his potential, and it looks like the Superstar is ready to become a future World Champion for the company.
#2 Cesaro and Dolph Ziggler showed the locker room how things are done on WWE SmackDown
If viewers weren’t impressed by Cesaro’s performance against Daniel Bryan on WWE SmackDown last week, The Swiss Cyborg decided to prove his worth in the ring once again. After Shinsuke Nakamura got his time to shine on SmackDown a couple of weeks ago, it seems like WWE is looking to build Cesaro as an individual star too.
Bryan came out this week to talk about the Royal Rumble event and how he had never won the Rumble match in his career. Cesaro came out next to rub in how he defeated Bryan on last week’s SmackDown.
The Swiss Cyborg then issued an open challenge that was answered by Dolph Ziggler. The two men had a great match where they showed that they are indeed some of the best wrestlers in the industry.
Cesaro used his strength to stay on top for most of the contest and delivered some lethal uppercuts followed by the Cesaro Swing. He finally caught The Show Off and hit the Neutralizer to pick up the victory.
This was by far the best match of the night, and possibly the entire week. Both men showed how incredible they are in the ring. Ziggler and Cesaro deserve individual runs with the top title in WWE before they call it a day.
#1 Roman Reigns hijacked one of the most intriguing main event matches of the month on WWE SmackDown
Earlier on WWE SmackDown, Paul Heyman challenged Adam Pearce to a one-on-one match on the show. One of the most intriguing matches of the month was set to main-event SmackDown this week.
Fans were waiting to see where this segment would go as it was evident that Heyman had something up his sleeve. However, Roman Reigns told Heyman to take care of his own business earlier in the night to make things more interesting.
Heyman made his way to the ring for the match but feigned a leg injury just like Pearce did last week. Reigns then made his way to the ring as Heyman’s replacement to get revenge for last week's bait-and-switch.
The Tribal Chief nailed Pearce with a Superman punch and beat down the WWE official. While it seemed like no one could stop what was going on, Kevin Owens made his way out to help Pearce. The former Universal Champion had been barred from entering the arena earlier, but he made his way through.
The two rivals beat down each other, and KO hit Reigns with a Stunner. He then power bombed Reigns through the commentators' table to make an impact.
SmackDown did a good job with this segment and helped fuel the rivalry between all the parties involved. It seems like Reigns’ problems with Pearce are far from over, while KO managed to leave a mark just in time for their Royal Rumble match.
