7 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (10 Jan - Results & Review)
WWE produces a tight wrestling show and Triple H gets the 3 hour SmackDown format right.
If SmackDown is going to stick to the three hour format, then it's important Triple H finds some better balance than he did on last week's show. Don't get it wrong: Last week wasn't a terrible TV show. In fact, it was notable for Tiffany Stratton's cash in and title win, some Drew McIntyre-led storytelling, and more. Ironing out some wrinkles was always going to be necessary though.
Now for the good news.
This week's show was a much improved watch from beginning to end. Sure, familiar WWE tropes like stretching out entrances (those entrance > ad break > recap package > entrance sequences are a little painful when watching live) remain, but several lengthy matches and increased emphasis on some of the midcard pack definitely helped soothe that. At times, SmackDown was the show Raw's Netflix debut should've been.
Jacob Fatu looked every bit a WWE headliner in the making, Tiffany found out who her first title challenger is, Kevin Owens continued being the bane of Cody Rhodes' life, and a pair of surprisingly slick tag-team bouts added loads to the night. When was the last time anyone could say that about Los Garza or A-Town Down Under?!
Elsewhere, Paul Heyman declared Roman Reigns for the 2025 Royal Rumble, LA Knight battled Shinsuke Nakamura for the United States Title, and Chelsea Green...badly needs to move on. There were negatives, yes, but some of them are paper thin when stacked up next to the glowing praise this week's blue brand deserves.
Here's all the good and bad.