5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (30 Jan - Results & Review)
WWE teased fascinating title matches on an uneven night before Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia.
A fascinating gaffe might need tidied up come Saturday night's Royal Rumble PLE. On SmackDown, a full 24 hours before the big event, WWE flashed an unfortunate graphic up on screen revealing that The Vision's Bron Breakker is #1 in the 30-man match. Oops! Big pop if Paul Heyman's attack dog comes out as #2 in Riyadh.
That might actually happen, y'know.
Something else happened: SmackDown. It wasn't the most essential episode of WWE telly you'll see in 2026. In fact, at times, it was blatantly obvious that the creative team were running low on ways to fill the 3 hours of screentime they needed to. Fingers crossed fans in Saudi got discounts on those tickets if they doubled up with a Rumble one!
Being fair, the roster on hand did work hard to entertain them. None of the matches on the card were bad by any means, but tedious setup and one of the most pointless segments you're ever likely to clap eyes on (which incredibly featured 2 world class talents!) cheapened the occasion - Triple H and his staff did everything in their power to elongate entrances and chew up time.
At its best, that worked, but at its worst SmackDown was...lifeless and akin to a fluff-filled 'Kickoff Show' that airs video packages as various talking heads discuss a whole load of nothing. The opening segment, that aforementioned clanger of a skit, and some other bits and bobs combined to make Friday's show more like a preview or recap than anything else.
Here's all the good and bad from it.