Smackdown was filmed on Tuesday night from Austin, Texas. Airing on Thursday night, the show represents WWE's final opportunity to sell Sunday's Royal Rumble show. Daniel Bryan opened the show and reintroduced the "fired" superstars, who had been reinstated to their jobs after John Cena defeated Seth Rollins on Raw. Erick Rowan talked first, which did not go down well with the crowd. Before Ryback or Dolph Ziggler could get a chance to address their firing, Kane turned up with Jamie Noble, Joey Mercury, Big Show and Seth Rollins. It was revealed that the newly rehired talent would need to win Royal Rumble qualifying matches on tonight's show. Dolph Ziggler was first up against Bad News Barrett. Unsurprisingly, Dolph won. The finish was with the Zig Zag. Ziggler will definitely be one of the better performers in the Rumble this Sunday. Roman Reigns did an interview with Renee in which he said he'd win the Royal Rumble. There's definitely a very good chance of that, although his momentum has slightly dipped in the last few weeks. Ryback defeated Rusev when the Russian bailed out, meaning that it was only a DQ loss. Brie Bella defeated Naomi in a short match. Natalya and Paige were on commentary, meanwhile Nikki was at ringside. Luke Harper beat Erick Rowan, following a missed top rope splash. That means Rowan is not in the Rumble match. It sort of made sense to have at least one guy missing out in the qualifying matches. It gives it a little bit more of a substance to the show. Miz and Mizdow did an interview. Miz was angry at Mizdow for the X-Pac impersonation from Raw. The tension is slowly building for an eventual split. The main event of the show was Daniel Bryan vs Kane in a No DQ Match. The stipulation was that Bryan needed to win to keep his Rumble spot. Of course, Bryan won. In the post-match, the entire locker room emptied out for a show closing brawl. It is an overdone visual, but it works pretty well for pushing into the Rumble. This weekend has been built fairly well and this show helped the sell with its series of entry stakes matches. Bryan and Reigns are by far the favourites for winning the 30 man match. It is interesting, and a little worrying, to notice that Bryan hasn't dramatically changed his ring style at all. The Yes Movement is back and could be heading straight for the main event of WrestleMania 31.
