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6 Takeaways From WWE SmackDown (1/9)

shane mcmahon daniel bryan smackdown

Written by

Robert Lentini

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The January 9th, 2018 episode of WWE SmackDown aired live from the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, AL. Here are 6 takeaways from this week’s episode of SmackDown:

Shane McMahon Announced A Handicap Match Of His Own

Photo Credit: WWE.com

WWE Champion AJ Styles was interviewed by Renee Young in the ring to kickoff this week’s episode of SmackDown. Styles was asked if he thought defending his title in a Handicap match against Owens and Zayn at the Royal Rumble was fair or not. Styles stated that he was being sarcastic last week and wouldn’t have said it if he thought Daniel Bryan was going to take him seriously.

AJ added that there is a chance he will lose his title at the Royal Rumble and there is also a chance he can beat both Owens and Zayn ass at the PPV. Renee Young once again asked AJ if he thought the match was fair and finally Styles said that he didn’t think it was fair.

Renee followed up and asked if AJ thought if Daniel Bryan was playing favorites and the crowd chanted “yes!”. AJ refused to answer the question and then refused when asked if he thought Shane was playing favorites. Styles said that he cannot allow those two idiots to take the WWE Championship from him at the Royal Rumble.

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens interrupted and came down to the entrance ramp to a chorus of boos. Owens sarcastically asked the crowd to give it up for the Phenomenal AJ Styles. Owens claimed that AJ was doing everything he could to backtrack and take his words back last week. Owens told Styles that he had no chance of walking out of Royal Rumble with the WWE Championship and Sami added “yep!”. Owens stated that he and Zayn will become the first ever co-WWE Champions.

SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon joined the party and agreed with Styles that it wasn’t fair that he has to defend the WWE Championship in a Handicap match. Shane stated that he was baffled at SmackDown GM Daniel Bryan’s decision to give Owens and Zayn another chance. Shane McMahon announced a Handicap match for the main event tonight. Orton, Nakamura and Styles will face Zayn and Owens in the main event.

Shane and Daniel Bryan had a brief conversation backstage. Bryan said that Shane made a hell of a main event tonight and extended his hand. Shane and Bryan shook hands and before the SmackDown commissioner walked away.

Shane McMahon is clearly still not on the same page with Daniel Bryan, but claimed to support the GM’s decision to make the Handicap WWE Championship match for the Royal Rumble. He then called Bryan unstable later in the evening, so I’m guessing Shane has something planned to even the odds for AJ Styles at the PPV on January 28th.

Becky Lynch Will Be In The Women’s Royal Rumble

Ruby Riott faced Becky Lynch tonight on SmackDown. Before the match, Becky announced that she will be in the first ever women’s Royal Rumble later this month at the PPV. Charlotte and Naomi came down to the ring to be in Lynch’s corner. Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan were in Riott’s corner. Becky controlled the match early and threw Riott out of the ring as SmackDown went to a commercial break.

When SmackDown returned, Riott had taken control of the match. Riott charged at Becky in the corner but Lynch got out of the way. Ruby grabbed Becky by the hair and slammed her to the canvas for a two count. Riott kneed Becky in the midsection a couple of times while taunting Charlotte and Naomi outside the ring.

Becky connected with a flurry of right hands and then delivered a massive uppercut that knocked Riott to the mat. Becky connected with two Exploder Suplexes but Riott responded with a boot to the ribs. Becky quickly applied the Dis-Arm-Her in the middle of the ring and Riott had no choice but to submit. Charlotte and Naomi joined Becky in the ring as the Riott Squad retreated.

Becky Lynch got some revenge on the Riott Squad tonight by defeating their leader. If Becky Lynch were to win the women’s Royal Rumble match, that would set up a bout between her and Charlotte at WrestleMania 34. That is a match that would be awesome to see go down at WWE’s biggest show of the year.

The Bludgeon Brothers Took A Step Forward As Rusev Day Suffered A Setback 

Bludgeon Brothers
Bludgeon Brothers. Photo Credit: WWE.com

The Bludgeon Brothers faced The Ascension tonight on SmackDown Live. The Ascension were under the impression that Breezango would have their backs tonight but Breezango informed them that they had a match against Rusev Day.

Harper and Rowan immediately knocked Konnor off the ring apron and teamed up on Viktor in the ring. The Bludgeon Brothers won the match in under a minute. Konnor got back into the ring to check on his tag partner but Harper and Rowan attacked him from behind.

Aiden English and Rusev faced Breezango later on SmackDown. English and Rusev announced that they will be in the Royal Rumble before the match. English referred to the Royal Rumble match as the “Rusev Rumble match”.

Breezango controlled the match for the first 10 seconds as SmackDown quickly went to a break. When SmackDown returned, English had Tyler Breeze in a Chin Lock in the middle of the ring. Breeze broke free and tagged in Fandango. Fandango planted English with a Back Body Drop. Rusev tagged himself in and leveled Fandango with a couple of kicks to the face. Rusev booted Breeze in the face and then Fandango rolled up Rusev for the pinfall victory.

Rusev Day lost to Breezango tonight, despite the crowd being behind them. I have no faith that WWE is going to build Breezango up as a viable team, so this loss for Rusev Day seemed pointless. The crowd is responding to Rusev and English, I don’t get why WWE would want to portray them as weak right now. On the other hand, WWE is clearly building up the Bludgeon Brothers and they should be in the SmackDown Tag Team Championship picture in the near future.

Mojo Rawley Advanced In The US Title Tournament

Mojo Rawley faced Zack Ryder in the first round of the United States Championship tournament. Bobby Roode took a seat next to the announce table for the match to see who his second round opponent will be. Mojo Rawley came down to the ring with entrance music that reminded me of a soundtrack for a game on Sega Genesis.

Ryder connected with a Dropkick to start off the match for a one count. Mojo got pissed off and drove Ryder into the corner. Mojo started taunting Ryder and slammed him into the turnbuckle again. Mojo shouted that Ryder didn’t have the killer instinct and drove his knee into Zack’s chest.

Mojo went for a Suplex but Ryder countered into a Neckbreaker. Ryder knocked Mojo into the corner and went for the Broski Boot but Mojo got out of the ring. Ryder brought Mojo back into the ring after kicking him in the face. Mojo delivered an inverted Atomic Drop and then drove Ryder shoulder-first into the ring post. Mojo then sprinted to the corner and blasted Ryder in the face (running elbow smash) for the pinfall victory. Mojo Rawley will now face Bobby Roode in the second round of the United States Championship tournament.

After the match, Roode and Rawley had a stare down in the ring. Mojo pointed at Roode with a grin on his face and then backed away as Roode’s theme hit. Jinder Mahal then cut a promo backstage. Mahal bragged about his WWE Championship reign and said that he now has his eyes on a new prize, the United States Championship. Mahal will face Xavier Woods next week in the second round of the United States Championship tournament.

I’m not really sure what exactly Mojo Rawley’s character is supposed to be now. His theme is a generic techno mix, is he an angry frat boy? It is difficult to take him seriously and that makes it impossible to generate any hatred towards him as a heel. Zack Ryder doesn’t have anything to do on SmackDown right now. There was a time where the crowd was behind him but those days are long gone. I’m expecting the finals of the United States Championship tournament to be Jinder Mahal versus Bobby Roode. That is the only match that makes any sense to me at this point.

Gable & Benjamin Will Get Another Shot At The Titles At Royal Rumble

Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable came down to the ring to complain about their loss against The Usos last week on SmackDown. They won the match, but the decision was reversed because they pinned the wrong Uso brother.

Gable asked the crowd if they knew the sacrifices it took to be a winner. Shelton said that just because Alabama won the National Championship that doesn’t make any of the people in the crowd winners. Benjamin claimed that Georgia was robbed due to a bad referee call, just like they were robbed of the SmackDown Tag Team Championships due to a bad call from the referee.

Gable then shushed the crowd, which prompted them to chant “Roll Tide!”. Benjamin and Gable complained about another referee showing up last week to reverse the decision. They accused the referee of being jealous of them because he doesn’t know what it takes to be a winner. Gable called the referee a rat and demanded justice for the crime that was committed last week. Gable stated that they didn’t lose to The Usos last week, they lost to instant replay. Gable demanded that the referee come out from the back and Daniel Bryan came down to the ring instead.

Bryan stated that he understood the pain of working hard for something and then it gets taken away from them. Daniel said that the referee’s decision is final and Shelton Benjamin interrupted and said that the referee counted to three last week. Bryan said that the referee did the right thing by reversing the decision and Gable continued to complain. Gable asked if he wanted them to beat The Usos twice in one night and Bryan shouted “that’s it!”. Bryan announced that The Usos will defend their SmackDown Tag Team Championships against Gable & Benjamin in a 2 out of 3 falls match. Gable and Benjamin didn’t seem pleased with the SmackDown GM’s decision.

This promo dragged on a bit but the end result was a good one. Gable & Benjamin are capable of putting on an awesome match and hopefully we get to see that at the Royal Rumble PPV later this month. There is also a possibly that this match winds up being relegated to the Kickoff Show even though the Royal Rumble PPV is four hours long.

Shane McMahon Once Again Got Involved In SmackDown’s Main Event

Orton and AJ Styles had a discussion backstage. Orton said that after he wins the Royal Rumble match, he is coming after the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. Shinsuke Nakamura interrupted and said “not so fast” and pointed at the WWE Championship. Nakamura then touched the WWE Championship and said “good talk” as the segment concluded.

Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan had another conversation backstage. Shane said Bryan’s decision making has been irrational in regards to the two matches he has made for the Royal Rumble. Shane added that Gable and Benjamin shouldn’t have another oppurtunity at the SmackDown Tag Team Championships after losing last week. Shane stated that Bryan is coming off as a little unstable. Bryan said that he could say the same about Shane McMahon, especially given his gene pool. Bryan added that Shane is likely to make more irrational decisions in the future because that is just who he is. Shane stated that they will just have to agree to disagree and walked away.

Nakamura, Randy Orton and AJ Styles faced Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens in a Handicap match in the main event of SmackDown. Orton beat the hell out of Sami Zayn to start out the match and then tagged in Nakamura. Shinsuke continued the beatdown of Zayn and connected with a kick to Sami’s face.

Owens and Zayn tried to get themselves counted out and Shane McMahon came down to the entrance ramp. Shane announced that the match was to be restarted with no count-outs allowed. Styles and Nakamura attacked Owens and Zayn on the entrance ramp as SmackDown went to a break.

When SmackDown returned, Owens and Zayn were in control of the match and had Styles trapped in their corner. Graves and Saxton argued about Shane McMahon having a personal vendetta against Owens and Zayn as Owens had AJ in a Chin Lock. AJ broke free and planted Owens with a Neckbreaker.

AJ tagged in Orton and Owens tagged in Zayn. Orton connected with a Powerslam to Zayn and followed it up with a DDT as Sami was caught up in the ropes. Orton went for an RKO but Owens attacked Orton with a chair. Owens stuck Styles with the chair and then taunted him as they retreated up the entrance ramp.

Shane McMahon came down to the entrance ramp and announced that the match will restart as a No DQ match. The bell rang and Styles bashed Owens in the back with the steel chair. AJ chased Owens backstage with the chair. Orton and Nakamura surrounded Zayn and caught him by the barricade. Nakamura and Orton slammed Zayn into the ring post.

Orton grabbed the steel steps and slammed it into Sami’s face. Orton dropped Sami on the announce table as Shinsuke got back into the ring. Nakamura connected with the Kinshasa and Orton followed it up with an RKO to Zayn for the pinfall victory.

I enjoyed this storyline much more when the WWE Championship wasn’t involved. The power struggle between Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon was an entertaining way to kill time during the build to Clash of Champions. At this point, it has completely taken over the entire show every week and there is no end in sight. Next week, Daniel Bryan will make another “puzzling” decision and Shane McMahon will once again respond to it.

SmackDown has now become RAW when The Authority controlled everything. I want to see a WWE Championship match at Royal Rumble. I don’t have any interest in a match where Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan are bickering and taking attention away from the action in the ring. We already saw that at Clash of Champions and it was ridiculous. I’d like to think that all of this somehow gets resolved at Royal Rumble. It seems far more likely that there will be another controversial finish and SmackDown will continue to be dominated by authority figures following the PPV.

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