Although this week’s Raw was a better show than it usually is, Smackdown Live still managed to outdo the red brand. Sure, the show wasn’t entirely focused on building towards the Rumble, but feuds and storylines once again advanced well, with effective segments leading to a strong show.
Shane McMahon opened the show with a big announcement, but AJ Styles, John Cena and The Miz made their presence known.
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AJ Styles and The Miz clashed after tensions boiled over between the two earlier on, with John Cena standing tall post-match after getting involved while on guest commentary.
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Nikki Bella called out Natalya, with another chaotic brawl taking place between the former friends.
Dean Ambrose and Randy Orton faced off in a fresh matchup, with the bad blood between all three members of the Wyatt family increasing even more after Harper cost Orton the match.
Jerry Lawler returned with an edition of the King’s Court, but Dolph Ziggler’s new vicious attitude soured the King’s return. A teaser of a JBL-Ziggler showdown was also a takeaway from this segment.
Alexa Bliss and Becky Lynch main evented the show with a Steel Cage Match, although a returning Mickie James disguised as La Luchadora once again helped Bliss retain.
These segments contributed to another good showing for the blue brand, who continue to produce strong weekly television.
So, which segments stole the show? Let’s find out, as I Analyse and Grade Each Segment from the January 17th edition of Smackdown Live.
#1 Shane McMahon opens the show:
Grade: 8/10
This was a strong way to open the show, with the opening match smartly set up here between Styles and Miz.
Shane-O-Mac announcing that the WWE Championship will be defended inside Elimination Chamber at the PPV in February was great, with excitement already brewing for the PPV even though the Royal Rumble PPV hasn’t even happened yet.
The announcement was also a smart way of planting the seeds for potential tension between AJ Styles and Shane McMahon who have been rumoured to be possibly clashing at Wrestlemania 33. If AJ were to lose the title inside the Chamber, he has the perfect reason to go after Shane O-Mac.
The electricity from the crowd when Cena and AJ were in the ring was awesome, with duelling chants of ‘AJ Styles’ and ‘Let’s go Cena’ showing how hot fans are for this rivalry.
The Miz making his presence felt among the main eventers was a wise choice, as he deserves to be alongside the main event stars of SD Live. A future main event run for him was teased here, as was a potential full-blown rivalry with Styles.
Cena was also hilarious here, as he attempted to increase the tensions between Miz and Styles as the antagonist of the situation.
Overall, a good opening segment that set up the Miz and Styles match for the next part of the show.
Check it out here:
#2 AJ Styles vs The Miz (with John Cena on Guest Commentary):
Result: The Miz defeated AJ Styles by DQ.
Grade: 7.5/10
This was a decent match, although their previous matches from 2016 were better in comparison to this one. Rather than focusing on the in-ring action, this match was used more as a way to build towards the Cena/Styles match at the Rumble.
While Cena was a bit too Super-Cena by taking out both men with Attitude Adjustments, he needed a momentum boost after a few months of losses throughout 2016.
Where Miz goes from here is intriguing, as a main event push should not be out of the question heading into Wrestlemania season.
Overall, a solid match, and a wise way of building towards Cena/Styles at the Rumble.
#3 Nikki Bella calls out Natalya:
Grade: 7.5/10
This was a good follow-up from last week’s segment, with another chaotic brawl between the two women continuing to make their rivalry more personal.
However, both women are incredibly bland on the mic. Neither shows any emotion, and this leads to a lack of options for the rivalry moving forward.
While the brawl had the crowd hot and was a hard hitting, chaotic scuffle, it did little to enhance this feud, with the whole rivalry feeling like a temporary one until Wrestlemania season comes around.
A different twist to this angle would be great to spice things up, with a clash at the Rumble PPV between these two now feeling certain.
Overall, a solid segment that saw the Bella/Natalya feud intensify a bit more, however, the rivalry needs a new aspect to become more interesting.
#4 Dean Ambrose vs Randy Orton:
Result: Dean Ambrose pins Randy Orton.
Grade: 7.5/10
This was a solid match, although these two are capable of much better action than this.
However, once again, the in-ring action wasn’t the focus here, but rather the tensions between the Wyatts. Orton and Harper continue to not get along, with Wyatt suffering because of it as he tries to control both men.
After a slowly built story, the bad blood looks set to explode, with a match between Orton and Harper set for next week.
Where this story is taken now would be very interesting, with all three men being in the Royal Rumble match now as well. The eventual implosion may take place during that matchup, but for now, it is continuing to be built up in strong fashion.
However, one weak part of this segment was the lack of continuation between The Miz and Dean Ambrose’s feud. The two didn’t clash even once on the episode, even though here would’ve been the perfect segment to include a face-off between them.
Still, a solid match, with a strong post-match angle that saw the dissension between Wyatt Family members continue.
#5 The King’s Court with Dolph Ziggler:
Grade: 8/10
This was a great segment that saw Ziggler continue to embrace a darker persona, with boos successfully being drawn by the Showoff from the crowd.
While some may say that it was wrong to exploit Lawler’s heart attack here, he knows what is best for storylines, and he must have known it was necessary (and okay) to use in this case.
Ziggler was much better here as the slow-talking, vicious heel, with boos directed at him from the crowd hopefully continuing in coming weeks. The superkick to Lawler’s chest was also a strong way of giving the fans even more reasons to boo The Showoff.
JBL coming in to aid his friend Lawler was excellent (even if he did trip) and made the whole situation feel much more realistic. Could we see JBL facing off against Dolph Ziggler at WrestleMania 33? Maybe.
Whether this leads to anything is yet to be seen, but for now, it was a great angle to get Ziggler some significant heat.
#6 Alexa Bliss vs Becky Lynch (SD Women’s Championship, Steel Cage Match):
Grade: 8/10
This was a very good match that saw Lynch and Bliss succeed in the main event slot. The in-ring psychology was strong, with Bliss attempting to escape more often than Lynch.
It was great to hear a ‘This is Awesome’ chant from the crowd, as they obviously respected what both women had put in to receive the high-profile match they were in.
While Mickie James being revealed as La Luchadora was certainly predictable, it was a wonderful sight nonetheless. Her eventual clashes with Lynch should lead to some awesome matches, and this could lead to a potential way of moving Lynch out of the title scene while someone else steps up.
The Bliss/James partnership, while odd, will work well, even if it is hard to see James working as a heel. It could also lead to a shake-up in the Smackdown women’s scene, especially the Bliss/Lynch feud which has run its course as a one-on-one rivalry.
Overall, a great match that saw Bliss and Lynch deservedly make history inside a Steel Cage, with the new aspect of Mickie James allowing for a strong continuation of the otherwise overdone Bliss/Lynch feud.
Check out the match here:
Overall Grade for SD Live January 17th: 7.5/10
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