6 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE SmackDown (17 Jan - Results & Review)

Elements of Friday's sneakily great SmackDown episode felt like a WWE PLE.

Kevin Owens Rey Mysterio
WWE.com

The third three-hour long SmackDown was yet another winner of a show for Triple H and company. 'The Game' did say that Smackers might not be this length permanently, but those who crave as much good wrestling as possible every week will be hoping it does. Of course, WWE can still squeeze a few lengthier bouts into the traditional two-hour format too. They have that power!

Friday's offering saw mega matches like Kevin Owens vs. Rey Mysterio and Tiffany Stratton vs. Bayley take centre stage. Those delights were ably backed by a couple of banging tag-team scraps, a lowkey stomper between Jimmy Uso and Carmelo Hayes, and some nice storytelling that fed into upcoming pre-Royal Rumble business on the next Saturday Night's Main Event.

Charlotte Flair's return was announced, KO continued being the best troll (with an edge) in the industry, creative humanised somebody who badly needed that more than lazy laughing promos, and the whole evening just raced along with a neat pace to it. The only downsides were minor, but are defo worth examining; one match didn't stand a chance when stacked next to others, and this writer is scratching his head over what Trips hopes to achieve with a lower card straggler.

Good outweighed the bad by a metric crap ton though. WWE know they can crank out an episode like this every now and then. Y'know, one that doesn't break the internet but keeps everyone entertained due to the strength of the roster. Little sprinklings of story helped keep things purring anyway.

Here's the review!

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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.