Friday Night SmackDown Review - January 27, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Rey Mysterio def. Karrion Kross

This feud has been a fine use of both guys before Mysterio reignites his rivalry with Dominik heading into WrestleMania 39. I have no idea where Kross goes from here, but I think he'd benefit from being featured on SmackDown more consistently because he clearly isn't over at the moment. This was an enjoyable opener with a lively crowd and a surprising result. I don't think Kross should have lost clean here, but this very well could have been the end of their short-lived storyline.

United States Champion Austin Theory, The New Day and The Miz Vowed to Win the Men's Royal Rumble Match; Brock Lesnar Attacked Bobby Lashley

The Brand Split has been dead for a while now, so seeing Theory and Miz pop up here the night prior to Royal Rumble despite them being Raw Superstars wasn't much of a shocker. Xavier Woods acknowledging that Raw is a three-hour show and that SmackDown is much more efficient with less filler promos was hilarious. The rest of the segment was fairly basic before Lesnar laid out Lashley and declared himself for the men's Rumble. That makes matters more interesting. Obviously, he won't win, but I'm looking forward to his next interaction with Lashley and whoever else.

Lacey Evans def. Jazmin Allure

It's pretty cool Allure was able to use her real ring name here. The "local athletes" are usually given new names by WWE, so Allure getting to keep hers was a pleasant surprise. She's been a regular on the AEW Dark shows over the last few years. Anyway, this was the official reintroduction of Evans, who has been getting the vignette treatment in recent months. This was a fine re-debut for Evans, but personally, I can't bring myself to care about her.

Braun Strowman and Ricochet def. Hit Row (Top Dolla and Ashante "Thee" Adonis) in a SmackDown Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Tournament Semifinal Match

Hit Row were originally scheduled to face Drew McIntyre and Sheamus in the semifinals, but The Viking Raiders brawling with McIntyre and Sheamus beforehand led to Adam Pearce replacing them with the makeshift team of Strowman and Ricochet. To be fair, Strowman and Ricochet have an established alliance and had a run-in with Hit Row a few weeks ago, so this isn't completely random. Logically, Hit Row should have gotten an automatic bye to the finals, but oh well. This was decent albeit brief.

Bray Wyatt Interrupted LA Knight

Knight coming out to "Live in Fear" was really cool. I genuinely never thought we'd hear that song again on WWE TV since Wyatt said in an interview this week that he doesn't intend to bring back that version of his character, but they got around it with Knight cosplaying as him instead. This was kept short and sweet and both guys played their roles nicely. I have no idea what this Pitch Black match is going to be, but I'm definitely ready for this rivalry to be over.

Imperium (Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci) def. Legado del Fantasma (Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde) in a SmackDown Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Tournament Semifinal Match

Both teams are heel, so it was definitely going to be tough for them to get the crowd into the action. Despite that, the crowd came alive halfway through with Legado playing the underdog role. This was well wrestled and Imperium advanced to the finals of the tourney as I expected them to. I really hope Vinci wasn't seriously hurt in the closing moments because that would be a massive bummer.

Kevin Owens vs. Solo Sikoa Ended to a No Contest

I've been excited for this match for a while and I'm glad it was saved for SmackDown's go-home show before the Rumble. There was no way either guy should have lost so close to the pay-per-view, so I was fine with the non-finish. This was an above-average main event and I loved the storytelling with Sami Zayn disobeying Roman Reigns' orders by showing up and protecting Sikoa from losing. This was a hot ending.

Overall Show

The road to Royal Rumble both on Raw and SmackDown has been lacking in my opinion, but I appreciate that the final push for the pay-per-view this week was strong. The crowd's energy helped a lot, there were some quality matches, and the Rumble hype was well done. My only complaint is that the women's division didn't get a whole lot of love. That remains the blue brand's biggest Achilles heel right now.

SEE MORE: SmackDown Reviews