Friday Night SmackDown Review - January 7, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Universal Champion Roman Reigns Attacked WWE Champion Brock Lesnar

Reigns being cleared to return so soon after testing positive for COVID-19 was awesome news and I'm glad he seemingly had a fine go at it. I thoroughly enjoyed his face-off with Lesnar here as he, Lesnar and especially Paul Heyman all played their roles well. It legitimately came off like Heyman left one lover for another, but then again, Heyman always overreacts in that way and it just adds to the story. They heavily teased a title for title match, and while that is a possibility, I assume Lesnar vs. Reigns for the Universal Championship is still the plan for WrestleMania 38 and Lesnar will lose the WWE Championship before then.

Rick Boogs def. Sami Zayn

I still have no idea what the hell WWE is doing with the Intercontinental Championship picture. Zayn earned the title opportunity two weeks ago on the Christmas Eve episode, and while I know he's supposed to be booked like a vulnerable heel, why the hell would you have him lose to Boogs in a competitive match? I like Boogs and I thought he was impressive once again here, but that outcome was the wrong call. Johnny Knoxville surfaced afterward and tossed Zayn over the top rope, therefore qualifying for the men's Royal Rumble match. It was completely goofy and I still think he's a waste of a spot, but if they can have some fun with it and make headlines, more power to him and WWE.

SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair Announced Competitors in the Women's Royal Rumble Match; Flair def. Naomi (Non-Title)

This is probably the first time ever that WWE has announced multiple surprise entrants for a Royal Rumble match ahead of time. The Mickie James one especially took everyone by surprise because she's the current Impact Knockouts Champion and was acknowledged as such on social media and even on TV. I guess that's WWE's way of apologizing to her after what happened last year and I think it's cool WWE is working with IMPACT on something like that despite it likely being a one-off. I'm not sure why you give away a surprise such as Lita, though. The subsequent match between Flair and Naomi was pretty good. It wasn't the smoothest encounter, but I appreciated that Naomi got to hold her own against the champion for as long as she did despite Sonya Deville's constant (and eventually successful) attempts to cost her the win.

Happy Corbin Hosted Happy Talk with "Drew McIntyre"; Corbin and Madcap Moss def. The Viking Raiders

This is where the show completely lost me. I've been one of the few defenders of the Happy Corbin character for months, but I think I've officially abandoned ship. It's not his fault, but what WWE has him and Moss doing is just awful. The "comedy" during Happy Talk was downright deplorable. They wasted more time with a tag team match that also meant nothing. They're obviously building to Corbin vs. McIntyre when McIntyre is able to return, but Corbin and Moss may be better off in the tag team ranks exclusively at this point.

SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos def. The New Day (King Woods and Kofi Kingston) in a Street Fight

I have no idea what New Day did to deserve another shot at the tag titles after losing decisively at Day 1. I also don't know why this had to be a Street Fight other than to make it slightly sexier on paper and give this show an attractive main event. These teams always work well together and this was no exception, but I'd be content if we didn't see another New Day vs. Usos match for a very long time after this. I thought the Day 1 matchup was more exciting, but this was still enjoyable and there were some fun moments. SmackDown's tag team division is fairly weak, so I don't know who you have Usos feud with next. It's worth noting they won with the 3D again here (which they're calling the 1D for One and Done), so it will be interesting to see if that leads anywhere.

Overall Show

As the show went off the air, Seth Rollins confronted Reigns backstage, so that appears to be the direction they're going in for the Universal title at Royal Rumble. I'm looking forward to it, but I'm curious how they'll make sense of it. Maybe it will be explained that Rollins never got the one-on-one title shot he earned a few months ago? Either way, I had a blast being at this show in person, but it was certainly not the strongest show overall. The opening segment was great, the main event was a treat and the Mickie James announcement in particular was quite the shock, but everything else was subpar per usual. As I've said several times already, SmackDown has a serious roster depth issue at the moment and the timing couldn't be worse with WrestleMania season fast approaching. They were able to put together a mildly entertaining episode for their first of 2022, but I fear how they plan on filling the two hours every week going forward.

SEE MORE: SmackDown Reviews