7 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Jan 13)
Sami Zayn's Bloodline exit gets closer; Bray Wyatt brings back an old gimmick; GUNTHER retains.
That Bloodline, eh? What they like?! Bunch of cheeky scamps.
Even Sami Zayn doesn't really get clued in on faction business these days, but that's just the latest wrinkle in a story that kicked the sh*t out of 2022 and has continued it's peerless march into the new year. This week, Zayn wrestled what might be his 8,425th match vs. old pal Kevin Owens - as Sheamus and Drew McIntyre might say, it was a "banger".
No surprises there then, and it wasn't the only treat on tap for those seeking a rugged wrasslin' fix on Friday night. GUNTHER vs. Braun Strowman proved to be one of the latter's best WWE matches ever, and now Imperium cast a glance at the upcoming Royal Rumble pay-per-view. Could GUNTHER be a dark horse for that 30-man match?
Elsewhere, the women's division on Smackers is in a right state. Charlotte Flair's babyface run is already sucking wind, and the rest of the chasing pack...can't really be considered a viable chasing pack. Also, Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler have pretty much disappeared from weekly TV after dominating the latter part of 2022.
Here's all the good and an unhealthy chunk of bad from Friday.