WWE Friday Night Smackdown 1/15/2021

WWE Friday Night Smackdown 1/15/2021

Last week's show with pics and gifs is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2021/01/wwe-friday-night-smackdown-182021.html

We had a long recap of the Pearce and Roman stuff last week.

Roman and Heyman read over the contract for the Royal Rumble. Heyman said all contracts are the same and said the match needs a stipulation so that Reigns can teach Pearce about fear and respect. Heyman said he would take the contract to Pearce.

Jey Uso came out. He said he and Reigns run this show. He said everyone should thank Roman. He said he was declaring for the Rumble...which you can apparently only do if you aren't Drew Gulak. He said he would challenge for the Raw title if he wins the RR.

He said Nakamura did good at the RR but him and Roman put him down last week. He said Nak should thank them for letting Nak survive. Jey said if Nak is the king of strong style, let's see how strong he is. He said he will make him leave the Thunderdome in a stretcher if he disrespects his family. Nakamura then came out.

Nakamura said Roman Reigns is the big dog and that makes Jey his little puppy. Jey then attacked but got headkicked as Nakamura posed.

Jey Uso vs Shinsuke Nakamura

Jey stops Nak with a back elbow early and dropkicks him, then gets a 2 count after a slam. Nak misses a high kick but nails a spinning heel kick. Nak puts a chinlock on Jey Cesaro's music hits. Nak baseball slides Uso into the table then throws him into the post as we go to break.

Jey does an enzugiri as Nak stands on the apron. The announcers grilled Cesaro on where he was last week during Nakamura'a beatdown but he said he couldn't make it in time. Cesaro said he was entering the RR. Jey pounds on Nak in the corner but Nak comes back with a flying kick.

Nak hits a knee then a sliding knee. Nak does a backwards roll then slides under the bottom rope into a german on Jey in a cool spot. Jey comes back with a samoan drop for 2. Jey does a backdrop into a neckbreaker but can't capitalize. Nak hits a flying knee from the 2nd rope for 2 and charges in but gets a superkick. Jey does a splash from the top but Nak's knees are up. Nak charges into the corner and gets the post. Jay rolls him up but his feet are on the ropes and Charles Robinson calls off the pin. Nak then rolls him up with a kinshasha for the win. This could have been longer but was a fun back and forth match. Jey continues to show that he is atleast a semi-main event singles guy.

In the back, Sonya and Pearce talk. Heyman comes in. He gives Pearce a contract from Reigns. Heyman says Pearce has a shot at the title and the biggest star in wrestling, Roman Reigns. Heyman says the rules for the match will be No DQ. Pearce says its ridiculuous and he knows it won't be in favor but he will sign it anyway.

Jey is yelling at Charles Robinson in the back and tells him to do his job. Charles said he did but Jey's foot was on the ropes.

This week's Match Flo showed clips of Ziggler and Roode's feud with the Street Profits.

Kayla Braxton interviewed The Street Profits. She asked if it was wise for them to put the tag titles on the line last weeks. They said they aren't scared and it would be disrespectful to their legacy if they turned down the challenge Roode and Ziggler made. Dawkins called them E.D. - Entertainment Dysfunction. Dawkins said Ford was family and Ford said they are up even though they are down.

Reigns talked to Apollo Crews in the back. He said it was all about control about an unknown topic. Heyman then gave Reigns the contract to sign. Reigns said he wouldn't sign it because he didn't want a No DQ match. He said he wanted a Last Man Standing match. Heyman said Pearce wouldn't accept it, but Reigns said Heyman will make him sign it in the ring tonight.

 Liv Morgan with Ruby Riott vs Natalya Neidhart

Billie Kay joins the commentary booth and poses with Liv and Ruby. Billie said she had an unofficial official tryout for the Squad. Liv hits a nice hurricanrana and backsplashes her in the corner. Liv and Nat lock arms and roll then Liv gets her throat dropped on the ropes. Then Nattie pounds on her. Nat kicks her in the back and goes for a suplex, but Liv rolls it into a pin attempt.

Nat does an over the shoulder backbreaker on Liv. Liv fights Nattie while she's on the apron and sunset flips her. She hits a step kick on her then enzugiri's her. Liv steps on Natty's hair on the bottom rope then stomps her with the other foot. Nat then clotheslines her.

Billie Kay gets up from the booth and bugs Ruby. Liv then hits a single arm codebreaker type of move. Billie gets Natalya and Tamina chases her. She runs in the ring to get away from her and interrupts Liv, costing her the match as Nattie rolls Liv up. This was better than I expected.

Rey Mysterio with Dominic vs King Corbin

Corbin pops-up Rey, but he hurricanrana's Corbin. He gets thrown into the corner and Corbin clubs him in the back. Corbin backdrops Rey and eats a bulldog on another attempt. Corbin throws Rey under the bottom rope and he rolls into the table then gets lariated down. Corbin goes over to Dominic and Dominic stands up and is pushed back into the chair.

Corbin yells at Dominic as he stands on Rey near the ropes. Rey misses a knee dropkick but Corbin sells it anyway then Rey hits a top rope la silla. Rey goes for a springboard crossbody but gets caught. He then ends up in the electric chair position and hurricanrana's Corbin, who then deep six's him. Corbin goes outside and Rey follows. Corbin talks trash to Dominic again and drops him with a punch. He grabs him and Rey does a lower rope 619. Dominic jumps in and Rey gets him out, but Corbin pushes Rey into him and then wins with an End of Days. This was pretty short and had a lot of shenanigans going on.

Pearce and Heyman cross paths in the back. Heyman says Reigns did not sign the contract. Heyman says Pearce and Reigns will be Last Man Standing and gives him the new contract. Heyman says Pearce can sign the contract in the ring with Reigns later.

Rey and Dominik talk in the back. Dominik tells Rey not to back down but Rey says they need a plan to do this. Rey says he knows someone to talk to in order to take care of Corbin.

Ding Dong Hello! with Bayley and Bianca Belair

Bayley makes Bianca ring the door bell and welcomes her in. Bianca then takes her seat. Bayley says she will stand as she needs to get her legs ready for the Rumble.

Bayley has a special sneak preview of the Rumble which is from a match from last month where she beat Bianca. Bayley says that wasn't the right clip. She asks Bianca why she calls herself the "EST". Bianca says its due to her accomplishments before WWE but Bayley cuts her off. Bayley said she's the best because she beat Bianca so she's the best. Bianca challenged her to a match right now but Bayley refused it. Bayley then said they should an obstacle course next week to see who the best athlete is. Bianca liked the idea and told Bayley to "ding dong that" at the end of the segment.

We saw clips of the Alpha Academy training and Kayla Braxton came in. DB said he liked training with Otis and Gable.

DB was asked if the loss to Nakamura hurt his confidence, but he said it didn't. Cesaro then came out. He said Nakamura shook his hand because he felt sorry for him. Cesaro doubted American Alpha's training, saying they are teaching him to do the macarena and DB said let me show you how well the training did leading to a match.

Daniel Bryan vs Cesaro

DB hits an armdrag on Cesaro. Cesaro puts DB in the corner and back elbows him then euro uppercuts him. DB hits some corner kicks then a running kick to Cesaro's head. DB does a nasty hammerlock on Cesaro but ends up getting slammed. DB fights back with elbows and takes something like an STO. DB bridges, Cearo gets on him then Cesaro gets monkey flipped into the ropes. Cesaro rolls outside and DB dives on him from the top.

Cesaro is near the post and DB hits some kicks. Cesaro ducks and DB kicks the post, hurting his leg. We go to break and Cesaro is working over DB's leg when we get back. DB and Cesaro trade shots. DB runs up and flips out of the corner then hits a cool la mistica into the yes lock on Cesaro. Cesaro hits the big swing and sharpshooter's DB.

DB goes for another yes lock and Cesaro hits the ropes. Both men go up top and DB goes for a top rope hurricanrana. Cesaro turns it into a cool twisting superplex. DB tries a back bodydrop but Cesaro flips out. DB hits a buzzsaw kick. Cesaro then pops up DB and euro-uppercuts him before Cesaro hits the neutralizer for the win. Not a bad match at all though they didn't have a ton of time to work with here. DB gets busted upon near the end and bleeds on Cesaro's head.

 

Kayla Braxton is in the back and interviews Carmella with Reginald. Carmella says she has more natural talent than Sasha and that she hasn't seen Sasha since she proved she was better. Sasha then jumps in and pushes her. Sasha says Carmella can have a title match if she gets Reginald in a match first.

They show clips from Talking Smack. Heyman said Crews let his emotions get the best of him. Heyman said Crews isn't a loser and come back and win the IC title like a man.

Apollo Crews vs Sami Zayn

Big E is laying on a sofa outside doing commentary. Crews nails Zayn with a dropkick to start and they trade shots. Crews does an overhead belly to belly. Zayn the clotheslines him over the top rope. Crews and Zayn battle in front of E and then Crews moonsaults off the announcers table. Zayn hits an elbow from the top onto a standing Crews. He tries it again but takes a german suplex.

Crews gorilla presses Zayn into a buckle then standing moonsaults him. Zayn rolls him up and grabs the tights and the female ref stops it. Zayn exploders Crews in the buckle, then Crews rolls him up by thepants for the win. We even get a Zayn buttcrack shot which I could have gone without seeing.

Crews grabs E's title on the couch. E says it will never be his and they trashtalk.

Pearce walks in the back.

They announce Big E vs Apollo Crews for the IC title next week and Bayley's Obstacle Course Challenge for Belair.

 Contract Signing with The Roman Empire and Adam Pearce

Pearce careful sits down. Jey kicks Pearce out of one of the chairs. Pearce signs the contract and Reigns does too with a smile on his face. Pearce says he waited all night for Roman to do this. Pearce then starts limping hard as he exits. He said standard WWE Contracts all the same thing - card subject. He then said he has the right and says he won't be medically cleared to fight. But he has a suitable replacement and it's Kevin Owens. Owens then signs the contract

Overall thoughts: The Pearce story made sense which was the crux of the show and a lot of the wrestling is secondary. It wasn't a great show as wrestling was kind of on the backburner here but nothing was really bad.