5 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Jan 26 - Results & Review)

Titles change hands; NXT stars debut on SmackDown; WWE hypes Royal Rumble.

by Jamie Kennedy
Carmelo Hayes Trick Williams
WWE.com

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.

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Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.