5 Things We Learned From SmackDown Last Night

This week’s WWE SmackDown Live came on the heels of the (somewhat disappointing) RAW 25th anniversary show. With so much of WWE’s hype this week centered on the Monday night show, would SmackDown be able to put together anything memorable?

SmackDown certainly had more of a focus on wrestling versus RAW’s focus on short segments mostly focused on talking and getting as many legends on screen as possible. So if you were looking for some in-ring action, SmackDown was your show this week.

But did anything substantial happen, or was the show (still) in a holding pattern until we get to the Rumble? We’ll let you decide for yourself.

Here are five things we learned on this week’s SmackDown.

1. Styles vs. Zayn, Styles vs. Owens

One of the biggest cricticisms of RAW 25 was that the show was very light on in-ring action. SmackDown went the other direction immediately this week.

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens opened the show in the ring, and AJ Styles came out and interrupted them. Following Bryan joining Styles on the stage, Daniel announced that Styles would be wrestling Zayn and Owens in separate singles matches on SmackDown. Fair for Styles? No, but great for the fans to see the WWE champion wrestle two of the best performers in the company on the same show.

Shane McMahon announced just prior to the matches starting that if either man got involved in the other’s match with Styles on SmackDown, they would be fired on the spot.

Styles vs. Owens started and wasn’t much of a match. Owens sold a leg injury early and Styles defeated him with the Calf Crusher. For the rest of the show, Owens was on the outside receiving medical attention as Styles would admittedly attack him.

Most of the television time was reserved for Styles vs. Zayn, which was a fantastic television match. In the end, Zayn won clean following a Helluva Kick and Blue Thunder Bomb. The announcers sold the fact that we could see the first-ever co-WWE champions after this Sunday.

2. Is Kevin Owens Actually Injured?

With the angle they shot in Owens vs. Styles alluding to an injury to Owens, many have been speculating if Owens potentially has a real injury. In essence, the angle on SmackDown could have been shot as a way to explain a possible absence from the title match at the Royal Rumble.

Let’s hope not. Owens has been one of the best parts of WWE for quite some time now, and the Royal Rumble WWE title bout is one that he can really shine in as he works his way back to main eventer.

For Owens’ part, he denied any injury in a post-show interview.

3. They Are Still Doing The Backstage Cell Phone Bit

Despite getting blasted by virtually everyone (including this writer) last week for trying to recreate Mojo Rawley’s magic with the backstage cell phone recordings, they did it again this week. And once again, it was awkward and bad.

Tye Dillinger did it this week. Admittedly, his segment was a bit better than what last week offered, but it still came across as WWE producers trying too hard for lightning to strike twice. What Mojo did was great and off the cuff, this was too scripted and lacked the real emotion.

They are also employing this strategy with promos for the Facebook Mixed Match Challenge tournament, which it admittedly works much better for since, ya know, many people are watching that on their cell phones. Doing it for the Royal Rumble? Not so much.

Addendum: The New Day is better at this than most.

4. Two Contenders Square Off

Two men that are considered to have a chance at winning the Royal Rumble, Shinsuke Nakamura and Baron Corbin, squared off in the ring on SmackDown. While many feel Reigns is going to end up prevailing at the Rumble, others have heard that a SmackDown star has the best chance to emerge victorious. If that’s the case, Nakamura and Corbin would have to be near the top of the list.

Nakamura looked to have the match won as he got ready to hit the Kinshasa, but Randy Orton ran out and hit an RKO out of nowhere, leading to a DQ victory for Nakamura. He also hit Corbin with an RKO after the bell. They can’t be considering another Orton Rumble victory…right?

Note to WWE: Nakamura needs to win the Rumble and move on to a feud with Styles for the WWE championship, not languish in a feud with Randy Orton that nobody will care about.

5. Chad Gable Continues to Prove He’s A Future Main Eventer

Chad Gable wrestled Jey Uso in a singles match this week as a prelude to the tag title, best two-out-of-three falls match at the Royal Rumble.

Gable, as usual, was tremendous. He has the charisma and wrestling ability to be something very special for the WWE for a very long time. Plus, that rolling German Suplex is a thing of beauty.

Other Thoughts From The Show

• Naomi defeated Liv Morgan in a singles bout. Following that, virtually all of the ladies got into a brawl at ringside. Charlotte came out and wished them all best of luck at earning a title shot against her through the first women’s Royal Rumble on Sunday.

• Stop making Shinsuke Nakamura talk on television. He doesn’t need to.
• Bobby Roode, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods defeated Rusev, Aiden English, and Jinder Mahal in an off the cuff six man tag. No Samir Singh, who is dealing with a torn ACL.