4 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (13 Dec - Results & Review)

2. Tribal Combat Is Coming

Pre-taped vignette-style promos can be tough sledding. They've worked well for someone like Solo Sikoa whilst finding his feet as a would-be 'Tribal Chief', but they don't always get the job done when wrestlers are looking to announce something huge. Leave it to Roman Reigns then. The 'OTC' delivered an emotive and rousing speech on SmackDown before challenging Solo to 'Tribal Combat' on Raw's Netflix bow in early January.

Before getting to that, Reigns expertly set the table by talking about how Solo stole the ula fala, whereas it was gifted to him by family elders because they figured Roman was the right man to lead everyone. That kinda dances around his tyrannical approach from 2020 onwards, but it is what it is. Reigns calling Sikoa's bluff by pitching a strictly one on one match sounds like good fun, and it feels noble from someone who was previously anything but.

WWE is presenting 'Tribal Combat' as a means to end The Bloodline story. Not a chance that happens. Someone else will debut, or The Rock will get things rolling heading into WrestleMania season. Either works. It's also worth pointing out that Rocky still isn't locked in for 'Mania 41 as things stand. Triple H is keen to come up with a strong contingency plan if 'The Great One' is too busy with his other ventures.

Well played to Roman. Creating energy out of nothing with a dry on-location pre-tape is pretty difficult, but he didn't try to get too shouty or 1980's Ultimate Warrior about it. Instead, Reigns calmly vowed to take back what's rightfully his and shut Solo's mouth in front of a massive Netflix audience.