Smackdown Live Review 01/24/2017

Final Smackdown before the Royal Rumble! We have 21 announced participants for the Royal Rumble Match, the AJ Styles vs. John Cena feud really heating up and Mickie James made her shocking(Yes, I still consider it to be shocking) return last week costing Becky Lynch the Women’s Title, so this is yet another must-watch episode of Smackdown!

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WWE brings Smackdown Live to you from the Huntington Center at Toledo, Ohio.

The show starts with Daniel Bryan backstage about to eat an apple. The Miz walks in and calls Toledo a dump. He started whining about the locker rooms and the superstars not clearing the locker room for him, after a little dialogue about it, Bryan offered and Intercontinental Title rematch against Dean Ambrose tonight. The Miz was surprised and asked for a DQ match but Bryan said as he pays the roster’s salary, he would make it a lumberjack match.

Some clips played hyping the upcoming match between Luke Harper and Randy Orton and the tension they’ve been having for past weeks.

1) Randy Orton vs. Luke Harper.
Again, how good is Luke Harper? Randy Orton defeated Luke Harper by pinfall after an RKO.
After the match, Bray Wyatt entered the ring after he watched the match on his rocking chair and helped Luke Harper up before nailing him with Sister Abigail.
Opinion: Great match to be honest, I don’t know how WWE will keep this “feud” going if they do, but apparently Luke Harper is off to a singles run which he totally deserves, and if executed correctly, he’ll kill it.

A video recaps the Steel Cage Match between Alexa Bliss and Becky Lynch and Mickie James’ return last week.

Renee Young welcomed Mickie James to the ring, James pretty much hyped herself and said Becky and the rest of the women involved in the “Women Revolution” pretended that they were the first athletes in the history of WWE and just ignored all she had accomplished, she also said Alexa Bliss was the only one fighting back against their lies. Becky Lynch then came out and rushed to the ring and attacked Mickie James .James escaped through the crowd, Becky chased her and got blindsided by Alexa Bliss. Bliss and Micke take Becky back to the ring where Mickie hits a Roundhouse Kick on Becky and Alexa hits Twisted Bliss.
Opinion: It’s awesome to see Mickie James back on the main roster, she did a solid promo to explain herself and her partnership with Alexa seems interesting, it actually looks like it works.

A pre-recorded segment aired where Carmella takes James Ellsworth shopping. Ellsworth picks ridiculous outfits that Carmella turns down and then Carmella picks his outfit where he looked like he was on Jersey Shore and she loved it.
Opinion: I had some expectations for this segment and it was terrible. Simply terrible.

2) 10-man Battle Royal. Winner enters the Royal Rumble.
In 4 minutes Battle Royal, goddamn Mojo Rawley earned a spot in the Rumble.

An interview with Dasha Fuentes and Nikki Bella from before the show is played where Dasha asked Nikki about Natalya’s comments about John Cena, they talked about it until Natalya arrived and Nikki tried to hit Nattie but she ducked and then threw Nikki into the production truck.

Opinion: The Battle Royal only lasted 4 minutes so there wasn’t much to see but The Vaudevillians were eliminated in goddamn seconds, just give the guys a chance. Also, the Nattie attack was a good way to keep their feud going without actually having them wrestle.

Some videos are shown of John Cena hosting the Kid’s Choice Awards and Cena hitting AJ Styles with the Attitude Adjustment last week. AJ Styles came out and called out John Cena. Like each week, I could rephrase everything these two said to each other but trust me, it was brilliant. Styles called Cena a bad excuse for a wrestler, he said he took Cena’s spot and he’s taking a foot and shoving it in Cena’s ass. Cena said Styles was crying about the Rumble poster, that he’s been hot for six months but Cena carried the company for over a decade and ended by saying AJ only had the belt because Cena let him. Recognize.
Opinion: Again, fucking great segment from both workers. Styles gets better on the mic with every week and now that Cena talks a bit more confident and cocky, it just suits him so well. It’s impossible to not feel hyped for this match. I really want Cena to tie Flair’s record but I also really want to see Styles arrive as champ to ‘Mania.

Kalisto is in the ring as Dolph Ziggler makes his entrance with some footage on his attack to Jerry Lawler last week.

3) Dolph Ziggler vs. Kalisto.
In a 25 second match, Ziggler defeated Kalisto by pinfall after a Superkick.
After the match, Ziggler headed to ringside to grab a chair. JBL jawed with him and Apollo Crews attacked Ziggler from behind. Crews tried to hit Ziggler with the chair but missed and went on to check on Kalisto as Ziggler left.
Opinion: Ziggler’s heel turn should be something cool, Ziggler was awesome back in 2012 but it hasn’t worked. Maybe because of his midcard opponents, maybe because he still has his same music and gear, who knows, hopefully this turns out better for Zigglypuff.

Naomi makes her way to the ring. Natalya’s music hits but she did not appear. Live footage appear on the titantron of Nikki attacking Natalya backstage. Naomi grabbed a mic and said she came back because this was the land of opportunity and made an open challenge. Alexa Bliss came out and said she wasn’t answering the challenge but asked Naomi who does she thinks she is. Naomi said she was the next Women’s champion but Alexa backed away and told her to say hi to obscurity.
Opinion: Naomi worked sooo much better as a heel. Her face promos just seem all over the place, and I don’t think she is, entertainment-wise, ready to be champion.

Dean Ambrose was asked backstage about his strategy for the lumberjack match. He said he was going to trust his instincts, which are telling him to break The Miz’s nose and smash his head into the mat to retain his Intercontinental Championship. The Miz makes his way to the ring with Maryse followed by the lumberjacks.

4) Dean Ambrose vs. The Miz.
In a standard lumberjack match, Ambrose defeated The Miz in 15 minutes by pinfall with Dirty Deeds.
After the match, Ambrose celebrated in the ring to close out the show.
Opinion: Again, a regular lumberjack match with the big brawl with all the lumberjacks at the end to get the Royal Rumble feel in a regular match but these Miz vs. Ambrose matches are never truly bad so I guess no worries.

Final Thoughts:
That’s Smackdown Live! I expected more to be honest. The Styles vs. Cena was awesome as usual, the Orton vs. Harper match was also good and I enjoyed the Mickie James’ promo but Ziggler’s heel turn failing and the average main event didn’t help to make the show feel like a Go-Home for the Royal Rumble.
Final Rating: 7.9 out of 10.

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