7 Ups & 2 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Jan 23)

1. Little Rumble Focus

Carmella Liv Morgan
WWE.com

While it'd be a stretch to call WWE's Royal Rumble build 'lacklustre,' the company haven't put much time into hyping the big event. This has a lot to do with Raw 25, which received a far stronger marketing push than the pay-per-view, and it's disappointing. The Rumble remains many fans' favourite show of the year. It has a unique appeal, and although the past few years have been peppered with disappointment, even the 'bad' Rumbles tend to deliver at least a handful of enjoyable moments.

This explains the lack of focus. WWE assume fans will be excited simply because it's the Rumble, and while they're technically correct, it still would've been nice to see a stronger focus on this week's programming.

SmackDown saw a retread of Raw's women's angle, only with Naomi and a devious Becky Lynch standing tall instead of Asuka. On the men's front, Shinsuke Nakamura cut a quick interview, Tye Dillinger and The New Day entered the bout, and Randy Orton returned "outta nowhere" (groan...). Selling the PPV wasn't SD's priority, but such is life in the Network era, when go-home shows are as redundant as any other episode.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.