5 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Jan 26 - Results & Review)
Titles change hands; NXT stars debut on SmackDown; WWE hypes Royal Rumble.
NXT stars will be involved come Royal Rumble.
Brand GM Ava made that clear on Friday's go home episode of SmackDown. She wasn't the only NXT'er to make her presence felt - Trick Williams and Electra Lopez were also in the house. They took their main roster bows to varying results, but it looks like only one of them will be sticking around after the Rumble.
The ongoing (and thoroughly grim) drama surrounding Vince McMahon has overshadowed everything else WWE over the past 24 hours or so, but the writers and wrestlers still had a job to do here heading into the next big PLE. It's WrestleMania season, so the creative team's full focus had to go on business, not accusations about the ex-boss's appalling behaviour.
Roman Reigns skipped this week's TV though, which was certainly a choice. That meant all three of his challengers (and Bloodline heavies like Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa) had to do their able best to sell the four-way match on Saturday as must-see. It says everything for those guys that they almost managed to pull it off.
Here's all the yay and nay from SmackDown.