5 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE SmackDown (23 Jan - Results & Review)
WWE sets up things to come at Saturday Night's Main Event; Jacob Fatu tells Cody Rhodes how it is.
Friday's episode of SmackDown had a clear goal in mind: Hype this weekend's edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, and paint the show as a possible game-changer for Royal Rumble. Did it achieve that? On one hand, absolutely. On the other, things look a little meh. A few of the matches at SNME could prove tricky, but at least we'll get a new WWE Title contender out of it.
As the equal share suggests, this was a middle of the road SmackDown. WWE content is rarely outright awful these days, but the writing team never threatened to reach the heights they did with last week's blue brand offering. That 16 January edition had a lot to brag about. The 23 Jan one...not so much. A trio of inspired matches and a fabulous face to face did serve up bags of entertainment though.
The 'Downs' may seem a tad nitpicky to some. Fair enough, but they're just one guy's opinion and come from a good place. This fan wants everybody on the WWE roster to look good, and it's just a pity that some of the material they're asked to work with is paper thin or (worse) falls apart quickly. Hopefully, that'll change due to the hyper-charged interest the Rumble-WrestleMania season typically creates.
On the plus side, it was a star-enhancing episode for Jacob Fatu, Jordynne Grace, Kiana James and (at times) Trick Williams. Triple H might need to think twice before booking that main event again, right enough! Here's all the good and bad.