WWE Friday Night Smackdown 1/1/2021

 WWE Friday Night Smackdown 1/1/2021

 I reviewed the 1/8/2021 edition of Smackdown with pics and gifs here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2021/01/wwe-friday-night-smackdown-182021.html

 Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/wwe-friday-night-smackdown-12252020.html

Brodie Lee got a graphic.

Roman Reigns came out. It took 7 minutes and 41 seconds into the show to get to this.

Reigns said 2020 was a bad year but he made it work because he is the head of the table. Reigns said Paul Heyman was the most genuine and honest man he's ever done business with. He said Jey can't lose now that he acknowledged Reigns as the tribal chief. He said he is "Main Event Uso", then Kevin Owens interrupted.

Reigns said nobody wants to hear from K.O. and said he was embarassing. K.O. said Reigns and his family failed because he's still here. Owens said "the big dog is long gone and he's been replaced by a giant b*tch". Owens said he wanted Jey Uso tonight. He said Jey will pay for getting him screwed last week and said when he is done with Jey, Roman's family will have nothing to celebrate.

They recapped Big E winning the IC title last week.

Big E. Langston vs King Corbin

Sami Zayn is at the booth and Big E threw a shirt at him. E leapfrogged Corbin and gator rolled him. Corbin came back with a clothesline. Corbin beat up on E with elbows and punches. E hit a quick big ending and Zayn interfered before the pin. Baron's buddies Blake and Cutler then jumped in and Apollo Crews made the save. Either Blake or Cutler took a bump over the top. Zayn then got thrown on Corbin's crew. This was super quick and a waste of time.

We came back from break and we were told Adam Pearce said it is now:

Sami Zayn and Baron Corbin vs Apollo Crews and Big E. Langston

Zayn takes a big dropkick to start. Zayn and Crews exchange punches. Corbin hits a big lariat on Crews and the Knights of the Lone Wolf outside get a free shot on Crews. Back in and Crews gets a nice powerslam on Zayn. Corbin takes 2 overhead belly to belly's and a regular belly to belly. E splashes him. Corbin hits a Deep 6.

Zayn almost face kicks Corbin but stops himself then they argue. Corbin and his buddies left. Crews hit a backdrop into a powerbomb which looked like it sucked right after to win.  This whole thing was a mess and a waste of time.

Pearce and Owens met backstage. KO said he's fighting him one way or the other. Pearce said he couldn't do it but he could get him a match with anyone else. KO said he wants Roman then. Pearce said no then agreed to KO vs Jey Uso.

E said everyone is loving him across the country and he will be a fighting champ. He said he will issue an open challenge and Crews agreed. Crews said E might not be so lucky next time when he doesn't have his back. 

The Riott Squad vs Natalya and Tamina

They said Kay was looking for a partner to beat The Riot Squad with, then Natalya came out along with Tamina and she was left out. The girls botched their first major move when Natalaya couldn't get up on a wheelbarrow. The Riott Squad then dropkicked Natalya but the camera missed it. These camera cuts are atrocious.

Morgan blasts Natalya off the apron and gets a good flurry on Tamina. They double russian legsweep Tamina. Kay tries to give the Riott Squad advice which Ruby doesn't like and Liv gets thrown by Tamina. Liv then rolled up Tamina for the win in an unusual match and situation.

Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair vs Bayley and Carmella

Carmella gets lifted up and tags out. Bayley then gets thrown out and Carmella goes on the apron. Banks assists Bianca for a dive on the apron and we go to break. Bayley bodyblocks Bianca.

Bianca suplexes Bayley and Carmella gets in and knocks Sasha off the apron with a good forearm. Sasha hits some double knees on Carmella. Bianca tries to use her hair for a tag, but Bayley grabs it and gets whipped into the post.

Carmella gets put in the Banks Statement but Reginal pulls Carmella to the ropes. He gets in the ring, the ref doesn't care and he rolls backwards out, then he gets back on and backflips out. Sasha nails Reginald who takes a great bump then Carmela hits an ugly floatover x-factor for the win. This was super fast and not too bad at all.

Roman saw the Jey/KO match on the graphic and wasn't happy. Roman said he wants to know who made that match and doesn't appreciate him. 

The Street Profits were coming out to talk but then we saw Sonya Deville arriving as everyone was surprised. 

The Street Profits New Year's Day Smoke-Tacular

I'm really surprised they allowed this to be called the "Smoke-Tacular". They said 2020 needs to go away. Ford said it wasn't all bad though because they won the tag titles and Slammy awards.

They revealed a drum set which Dawkins played and they made predictions. They predicted the "I was IC champion" t-shirt they made for Zayn would be a best seller. They predicted Dolph Ziggler would become known as "The Heartache Kid". Then Roode and Ziggle attacked them. Roode used a chair on Dawkins and banged Ford's leg off the post. They used a chair with his leg on the post, but you could tell they hit the steps mostly. Then they chaired Ford's leg.

Roode and Zig were interviewed. They said they've been provoked for months. Roode said the Profits are all about fun and games and asked if they were having fun. Roode said he wants their tag titles.

We saw clips of Cesaro and Nak watching DB and Otis train for the Rumble. Otis did pelvic thrusts and Cesaro and Nak said the idea of either winning the Rumble was funny.

Daniel Bryan and Otis with Chad Gable vs Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura

 

DB monkey flipped Cesaro. DB dove on Cesaro on the outside but got caught and uppercutted and we went to break. DB got thrown outside and Nakamura kneed him as he was hanging off the apron. Nakamura then was thrown over the top.

Otis threw Cesaro overhead and spinning clotheslined him. Otis did his caterpillar into an elbow and missed a Vader Bomb. Otis pop-up flapjacked Nakamura and DB got in. Nakamura tried an armbar but Otis broke it up. Cesaro took double knees and DB tapped Nakamura with the Yes Lock.

Another really fast match with everyone rushing to get anything in.

 

Roman told Jey to go out there and show KO why he is the Main Event Uso.

 

Kevin Owens vs Jey Uso

Owens takes down and pounds Jey to start. Some nice brawling and then KO lariats Jey on the outside and senton's him. Owens and Jey trade forearms and Jey does a nice sell. Owens keeps working on the leg and slams it over the apron.

Jey superkicks Owens. He jumps off the steps and Owens misses a superkick but they still sell it. Owens throws him over the announce table as we go to break. Jey goes for something from the top but lands on his hurt leg. Owens then wins with a stunner with a nice sell from Jey.

Again, this was a pretty fast paced match but I really liked this. They showed hate here and made the most of the time they had.

Owens then started beating Jey up and stunnered him, wanting Roman to come out. Owens grabbed Graves' headset and told him to come out. He then handcuffed Jey ala last week when Owens was handcuffed to the cage.

Owens took the handcuffs off the ropes and then handcuffed both hands of Uso. He said he was bringing Jey to him.

Owens bashed him into the tv monitors and got jumped by Reigns. Reigns and Uso hit Owens with chairs then banhed him off the LED screens. Then they threw Owens off the stands onto a table to end the show in a pretty good angle.

Overall thoughts: It felt like a rushed show and the first half was mostly a waste of time, but the Owens/Reigns/Uso stuff was really good and made up for it.