Bianca Belair defeated Bayley
6/10
Bayley hearing and yelling at Michael Cole was even funnier with the additional piped in audio. Bayley ends up doing a really great flying elbow drop to the back of Bianca Belair's neck. I was watching in terror as Bianca started to bridge up, but Bayley was standing on her pony tail. Bianca Belair wins clean as a sheet with the KOD. This should have been the match that they built up to all along. We did not need the first loss to Bianca Belair to tell this story. Bayley could have racked up wins in the mean time. Instead, Bayley's only singles win after Summerslam was the Bianca match. After the match, Bayley looks on angry as Bianca Belair says this was the biggest win of her career.
King Corbin defeated Dominik Mysterio (w/ Rey Mysterio)
4.75/10
Dominik attacks a Forgotten Sonless Corbin on the ramp. Dominik does pretty well. Eventually he gets beaten clean with End of Days. Did we really need this rematch? Corbin won clean last week.
Brand to Brand?
So uhh...why are Miz and Morrison on Smackdown? Well, Miz says it's because he might cash in Money in the Bank. I'm a stickler for the brand split, but Miz isn't like, banned from the building or anything. Dude works there. But I'd imagine they're wrestling tonight. Especially after they attack Big E while he was trying to bribe Sonya Deville with a dollar. Whole roster got brand-to-brand invited huh? Just say "It's a special SUPER SMACKDOWN" and don't insult our intelligence. It's Rumble weekend, we'll let the shit slide.
Other stuff
- Sasha Banks has a hilarious villain laugh. She goes at it with Reginald verbally when he tries to give her champagne from Carmella to celebrate her eventual title loss.
- Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens have their final words before Sunday. Roman Reigns brings Owens' family into it. Kevin Owens screams at Roman Reigns, who turns his screen off.
- Sami Zayn asks Nakamura for help in the Royal Rumble, playing off their history. He thinks it's weird that Raw wrestlers are popping up all over Smackdown.
- Jey Uso was not featured on the Royal Rumble graphic tonight despite being added to the match a few weeks ago
Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles ends in a no contest or something
5/10
Daniel Bryan comes out and says that he doesn't know how many more WrestleMania moments he has, so he's going to win the WHOLE HECKIN THING. AJ Styles comes out....but he's a WWE Monday Night Raw Superstar! I'm going to use the Omos "QUARTERLY BRAND TO BRAND INVITATIONAL" sound byte any time I talk about it now. They hadn't used this since early October. How convenient!! Either way, they're having a match tonight, and that's pretty cool. I'd been told before this show that a particularly long segment was set for hour two.
Sami Zayn comes out to distract Daniel Bryan, Cesaro is on commentary. Big E comes out to event the odds. Zayn causes a DQ and Nakamura comes out to make the save. He and Cesaro square off and they bump into each other and it's a SHMOZ. Six man tag coming up. Okay then.
Big E, Daniel Bryan & Shinsuke Nakamura defeated AJ Styles, Sami Zayn & Cesaro via DQ
4/10
Well, this match ends in a DQ when Miz and Morrison interfere and Otis makes the save. This is a mess. Very unSmackdown like. This is Raw quality. They need to do contact tracing on this shitty Smackdown booking. Quarantine the Raw guys if this is the way it's gotta be. Great performers in this match in some shit that does not matter at ALL.
Sheamus, Daniel Bryan, Otis, Big E & Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Miz, John Morrison, AJ Styles, Sami Zayn & Cesaro
3/10
A........nine man tag match. Make this shit make sense. Please. This is so fucking stupid. Everybody FOR SURE getting thrown over the top rope in a few minutes "JUST LIKE AT THE ROYAL RUMBLE THIS SUNDAY!" Sheamus shows. Please, just have a segment where Sonya Deville says she allowed all this goofy shit because she's in charge and wanted a wild Smackdown before the Rumble. It's dumb, but make it make sense. This is one of the most overbooked, terrible hours of WWE I've seen in a long time.
Sheamus won a match he wasn't in that evolved from a match he wasn't in that came from a match he wasn't in, on a brand he isn't on.
Braun Strowman, another Raw guy is back. He wrecks shop.
Rating Guide
10- Perfect, 9- MOTY Territory, 8- Excellent, 7- Great, 6- Good, 5- Average to above average, 4- Slightly below average, 3 or below: Poor
Each match starts at a 5 and slides up and down based on entertainment, execution, time, environment, reaction and stakes. The ratings are in no way an indication of a "star rating," which is a completely different system. A standard, non-offensive "TV match" lands at a 5. The gap between 5.75-6 is generally the largest, with anything reaching 6 being recommended viewing.
These are opinions, and incredibly inconsistent ones that may change upon a second viewing, or sitting on the match for a period of time. Don't take them too seriously, and have (and share) your own!