WrestleRant
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Store
  • About
  • Contact
Picture

WWE SmackDown Live Review - January 23, 2018

1/23/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
By Graham "GSM" Matthews

WWE Champion AJ Styles Interrupted Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn

It's almost unbelievable that a feud involving Styles, Zayn and Owens could be so underwhelming. I say "almost" because this is WWE after all. Everyone played their roles just fine in this segment, but I feel like we've heard it all before. And the booking of this program from the get-go has been beyond lazy. Styles challenging Owens and Zayn to one-on-one matches later on in the show ahead of their Royal Rumble WWE Championship match was hardly a hook for me.

Chad Gable def. SmackDown Tag Team Champion Jey USo

Gable tends to shine in singles matches and this was no different. The Usos don't usually intrigue me when they're wrestling on their own, but this was a nice little match to allow Gable and Shelton Benjamin to continue building momentum before they get their next shot at the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at the Rumble. I'd put the belts on them, but with Gable winning here, Booking 101 dictates The Usos will retain.
Picture

Naomi def. Liv Morgan

The 50/50 booking of the women on SmackDown Live continues. For those keeping track at home, The Riott Squad won a six-woman tag team match three weeks ago, Riott then lost to Becky Lynch last week, Riott Squad won another six-woman tag team match last week, and now Naomi beat Riott Squad's Liv Morgan. And the company wonders why no one has any momentum heading into the first-ever women's Royal Rumble. The match was fine enough and not nearly as bad as it could have been, but it did nothing to get me excited about the women's Rumble. It would be nice if Lynch was thrown a bone and won it, but I know that isn't too likely.

Shinsuke Nakamura def. Baron Corbin by Disqualification

Both of these guys have been doing a whole lot of nothing since Clash of Champions last month, so I was happy they had their time to shine before they participate in the Rumble. They haven't had the strongest chemistry in the past, and the first half of this wasn't incredibly exciting, but it turned into a damn good match down the stretch. Orton's RKO was truly out of nowhere and honestly might have been one of the best I've seen him deliver. Anyone one else think he was extra fired up because he wasn't asked to be a part of Raw 25 on Monday?

United States Champion Bobby Roode and The New Day def. Jinder Mahal, Rusev and Aiden English

Before the bout, New Day announced that they will be entering the Rumble match. I like them and all, but I feel like one of them taking part in it would be enough. That's two spots too many. At any rate, this was a fun six-man tag team match while it lasted, and I was glad Roode was given some time to talk beforehand about winning the United States Championship last week. Mahal is a total afterthought at the moment, but hey, I'm not complaining.

WWE Champion AJ Styles def. Kevin Owens (Non-title)

Initially, I was stunned and slightly disappointed this was so short because I know they are capable of better, but then I remembered that Owens has been legitimately hurt for a few weeks now. Thus, keeping this as brief as possible was smart. Owens could have gotten himself intentionally disqualified and softened up Styles before Zayn faced him, but that's merely nitpicking. By the way, Owens was selling his injury during Styles vs. Zayn, otherwise Styles wouldn't have attacked him.

Sami Zayn def. WWE Champion AJ STyles (Non-title)

These two had an entertaining encounter on the first SmackDown of 2018, but like Styles and Owens, they could have done so much better. That said, I was thrilled they were allowed to go all out here and produce an above-average main event. This feud has been lacking that special something, so this was a nice treat. More importantly, Zayn won in relatively clean fashion, which was a wise booking decision to make it look like the heels have a chance of capturing the championship on Sunday.

Overall Show

Last week's edition of SmackDown was just a dreadful effort, and considering how ineffective Raw 25 was in building excitement for the Royal Rumble pay-per-view (though I still maintain it was a quality anniversary show), this was an improvement and a solid show on the whole. The main event is well worth seeking out, but most of the other matches were enjoyable as well.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.


    Categories

    All
    #AskGSM
    Battle Of The Belts
    Cruiserweight Classic
    Halftime Heat
    Hidden Gems
    Interviews
    Lists/Rankings
    Mae Young Classic
    Mixed Match Challenge
    News
    NJPW
    NWA Shockwave
    NXT PLEs
    Opinion
    Previews
    Retro Reviews
    Reviews
    RJ's Two Cents
    Satire
    Slammy Awards
    SNME
    SummerSlam Recall
    The Deadly Draw
    The World Is A Vampire
    Tribute To The Troops
    Women's Eliminator
    Worlds Collide
    WrestleMania Recall
    WWE Draft
    WWE Network Specials
    WWE PLEs
    WWE Starrcade


    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    RSS Feed

©2025 WrestleRant. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Store
  • About
  • Contact