WWE Smackdown 1/3/2025
Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/12/wwe-smackdown-12272024.html
This is the start of Smackdown being 3 hours on USA. I like it as a fan, but as a reviewer, it means more work. And on nights when I'm tired or not enjoying the show, it means it's going to be a long night. I hope it means the midcard develops more, I hope it means we get to see more wrestlers and I hope it means the matches go longer.
We are in Phoenix, AZ.
We see clips of the Nick Aldis/Cody Rhodes/Kevin Owens situation.
They have a blue ring mat which I think is new.
Cody Rhodes comes out to talk. He says timing is a funny thing in life and says WWE is changing everything. Cody says he's not cleared to wrestle, thanks to Kevin Owens. Cody talks about the ladder match with KO then Drew McIntyre comes out. Drew hugs Cody and Cody makes a face.
Drew says he's here to help Cody and not hurt him. Drew says Cody isn't on his list and says he's about to screw up his life's work. Drew says this is the best time in WWE and says Cody is leading it all. Drew says Cody wants to fight and Aldis is holding him back. Drew says WWE is promoting KO as a champ while Cody's neck hangs by a thread.
Drew says Cody needs someone to watch his back and Cody interrupts. Drew says he's just here to tell the truth. Cody says he doesn't believe Drew. He says he knows this situation will devolve. He asks if he wants to throw hands and tells Drew to come and get his shot at the title. Drew says he's here to help him, not hurt him. Drew says Cody needs to watch his back then Kevin Owens hits Cody from behind.
KO stomps him and Cody fights back. They fight and officials and guards try to break it up.
We see Bloodline, Andrade, Bianca and Naomi arrive.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs Andrade
SN = Shinsuke Nakamura
SN wrestled for Pro Wrestling NOAH on 1/1, beating Ulka Sasaki. They mentioned SN and Andrade fighting a decade ago in NJPW, which I also happened to cover here.
SN hits knees to the gut. He bends over and gets kicked. Andrade flying headscissors him then dropkicks him off the apron. Andrade 2nd rope moonsaults him and we go to PiP break. We return and Andrade hits forearms and back elbows. Andrade dragon screws him then flying forearms him.
SN knees him in the gut and spin kicks him in the head. They trade forearms. SN sliding germans him then 2nd rope flying knees him for 2. Andrade dropkicks him then corner meteora's him. Andrade does a top rope moonsault into a standing moonsault for 2.
SN spinning elbows him then Andrade spinning back elbows him for 2. Andrade's head is bamnged off the top of the post on a superplex attempt. SN kinshasha's him in the back of the head and wins.
Thoughts: I liked it. SN kept Andrade in check here and didn't let him do anything too crazy and they matched up okay.
LA Knight runs down after and attacks SN. He hits mounted shots. LA goes for the BFT and SN slides out.
LA gets on the mic. He says you steal his title and things go crazy. He says what goes around, comes around and it's him stomping SN's @ss to dust.
Pretty Deadly and Apollo Crews talk in the back. They call him, "Apollo Stooge" and say snitches do get stitches. Legado del Fantasma come in. Escobar calls them liars and PD says they aren't. Escobar says their lies will come back and beat the crap out of them. Los Garza grab PD and Nick Aldis breaks it up. Nick wants to talk to PD after.
Michin vs Piper Niven
Mich has her boot caught and is driven into the corner. Piper hits punches. Michin boots her out of the corner and headscissors her down. Michin flying headscissors her out. Mich then flying headscissors her off the apron. Mich jumps at Piper and gets thrown down on the floor.
We go to break and return. Mich bulldogs her off the casaodra. Piper corner splashes her. Piper misses a conrer cannonball then Mich hits her with one. Mich twerks for some reason then mule kicks and pele kicks Piper for 2.
Piper sitout slams Mich for 2. Piper goes for a vader bomb and Mich gets her feet up. Mich then wins with soul foot.
Thoughts: The ending was quick and surprisingly. I knew Michin would win but the soul foot isn't the best finisher ever. It was just average and nothing of note.
Paul Heyman arrives and avoids the metal detector for some reason.
We get a package on Naomi.
Paul Heyman comes out to talk. He say we will find out who the real tribal chief is on Monday. Paul says him and Roman taught Solo to become the tribal chief. Paul says Solo would have been tribal chief once Roman was ready to step down. He says Roman couldn't turn down the lust for revenge on Seth Rollins at Mania and Cody Rhodes took advantage of it to beat Roman. He says Solo stole the necklace and did not earn it.
Paul says there must be a winner and lose at tribal combat on Monday. He promises Roman will win. Solo then comes out as Paul goes to leave. Paul says he's 10 seconds away from peeing his pants. He says the last time they did this, Solo put him through a table. Solo holds his hand out and Paul gives him the mic.
Solo tells the crowd to acknowledge him. Solo says Paul owes Punk a favor but says to let him owe Paul a favor. He says he needs someone to hold the necklace during tribal combat. He says he needs someone who is trustworthy and loves his family. Solo says Paul can put the necklace around Roman's neck if he wins and Solo will acknowledge him. He says when he beats Roman, Paul will put the necklace around Solo's neck. Solo says then everyone will know he owns the necklace and Paul. He says Paul will be his wiseman forever and Roman will have to acknowledge him. Paul then leaves.
The Motor City Machine Guns do a promo. They say getting betrayed by a friend sucks, especially when it's someone who has experienced the same things as you. He says Johnny Gargano threw it all away for the tag titles. Alex says DIY forgot who they were. Alex says it took them 3 matches win the titles and only one to win them back.
WWE Tag Titles - DIY (c) vs The Motor City Machine Guns
JG = Johnny Gargano
Ciampa boots Sabin and wristlocks him. Sabin rolls, kips out and armdrags him. Ciampa takes a double team. JG takes a boot to the face and goes out. Ciampa takes a double team shot and Graves brings up M-Dogg 20 and Josh Prohibition. Sabin lariats Ciampa over the top then sends JG out. Sabin topes onto DIY between Alex's legs.
We go to PiP break and return. Sabin is making a comeback on Ciampa. He takes a boot then flying kicks Ciampa. Alex hits punches on JG then running forearms him. Alex neckbreakers JG for 2. MCMG hit stereo baseball slides on DIY then do stereo plancha's.
JG fights off both opponents. He takes knees, a legsweep and a double spin kick for 2. Everyone gets some offense in and all 4 men are down. Ciampa takes a double team sequence ending in a baseball slide. Pretty Deadly come down and MCMG get distracted. Ciampa pumping knees Alex. Alex takes a superkicks into an angel's wings for 2.
Angel and Berto chase Pretty deadly away. Alex does the border city stretch on JG while Sabin stf's Ciampa. Angel then beats up Kit in the ring and the match is thrown out.
Thoughts: It was a very fast paced match here at times as expected before the dirty finish. It was fine but nothing too great. I wasn't surprised DIY won here.
Nia Jax and LeRae talk in the back. Nia wants to know where Tiffany Stratton is. LeRae says she is here though. Nia tells LeRae to make sure Bianca stays out of her way tonight.
Sami Zayn talks to Carmelo Hayes in the back. Melo says he had him beat last week until Braun got involved. Sami said Melo almost got a kick to the face and then ran away. Melo says Sami and Braun can get this work anytime. The Uso's then walk up behind Melo and ask if there's a problem.
Sami tells Melo to tell him more about the work he's going to get. Melo then walks off without saying anything more. Sami says they got a big one and says let's get on the same page in a few minutes. Jey runs into Kevin Owens. Jey tells him to watch where he's going and KO says to watch his back.
Nick Aldis and Cody Rhodes talk in the back. Nick asks if he's okay. Nick tell him to put aside his hatred of KO and think of the big picture. He says Cody isn't doing that so he will do it for him. Cody says he has the right to call his shot. Cody says Aldis should tell Drew he's welcome to SD and says Drew has his attention. Cody says if he sees Kevin Owens or someone who looks KO, he will drop them on sight.
WWE Women's Title - Nia Jax (c) vs Naomi
Naomi dropkicks her and hits a back kick in the corner. Naomi hits leg kicks and Nia headbutts her over. Nia throws Naomi then corner lariats her. Nia is tripped into the buckles and takes kicks.
Naomi goes to springboard and is headbutted down to the floor. We go to break and return. Nia misses a butt drop and Naomi hits a knee lift. Nia swinging side slams her for 2. Nia slams her then elbow drops her for 2. Nia chinlocks her and sends Naomi into the post.
Nia hip attacks her against the post for 2. Nia hits a lariat after taking a victory roll. Nia gets stuck hanging from the ropes and Naomi double stomps her down. Naomi split drops her off the 2nd rope for 2.
Nia spears the post when Naomi moves. Naomi pulls her through down over the top rope. Naomi topes her. Naomi springboard kicks her then samoan drops her for 2. Nia puts her in tree of woe and hip attacks her there. Nia 2nd rope legdrops Naomi for 2.
Naomi tornado ddt's her. Naomi hits knees to the face of Nia then does a heatseeker piledriver variation for 2. We go to break and return. Naomi 2nd rope blockbusters her for 2. Naomi hits a crucifix bomb for 2. Naomi chinlocks Nia on the mat. LeRae gets on the apron and Bianca sends her into the rail. Bianca pounds on LeRae. Nia throws her title at Bianca's gut then sends her into the steps.
Nia is up top and Naomi high kicks her. Nia tries the 2nd rope powerslam again and Naomi flips her just like she did a few weeks ago. Tiffany Stratton comes out with a ref. She teases cashing in but pushes the ref over the rail. Tiff then hits Naomi with her MITB briefcase. Nia banzai drops Naomi and pins her.
Thoughts: This was a long one that got a lot of time. It took a few minutes to get going but was a decent match. It wasn't the best they could have done though. The finish was a surprise but it stops Naomi from losing clean.
Nia beats up on Bianca after. Nia goes to the 2nd rope and Tiff hits her with the MITB briefcase. She then sends LaRae into the buckles. Bianca hits a KOD on Nia, which looked like a dangerous spot. Tiff throws Bianca over the commentary table.
Tiff cashes in her MITB contract.
WWE Women's Title - Nia Jax (c) vs Tiffany Stratton
Tiff hits a double jump moonsault on Nia and pins Nia. Tiffany Stratton is the new champ!
Thoughts: Now that was a surprise. I wonder why Tiff helped out Nia just to turn on her though? That didn't make much sense.
Tiff poses on the commentary after with the title and gets a big pop, seemingly turning face.
Jacob Fatu tells Solo he loves him in the back and says it's the first thing he thinks of when he wakes up. He says he will show the world what happens when you don't acknowledge the one and only tribal chief. He says the whole world will acknowledge Solo when he beats Roman.
Byron Saxton interviews LA Knight. He says Nakamura has hell to pay. He says Nick Aldis asked why he attacked Nakamura. He says Nakamura blindsided him and got the US Title. He says Nakamura will get his head stomped in until he gets what he wants. He says he has a US Title match with him next week.
Sami Zayn, Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso vs The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga and Jacob Fatu)
The faces enter through the concourse in the arena and come down the stands. The Uso's had a super long entrance here.
All 6 fight in the ring to start. They pair off and the heels are sent out. We go to break and return. Jey hits Fatu's arm off the buckles. Tama double axe handles Jey. Tama is sent hard into the buckles. Sami elbow drops Tama. Sami 2nd rope double axe handles Tama. Solo pulls Jimmy's neck down over the top rope. Solo hits punches on Jimmy then headbutts.
Solo trapezus holds Jimmy. Sami gets in and hits punches on Solo. Sami running lariats him and Solo his a shot. Sami lariats Solo. Sami hits corner punches. Sami comes off the top and takes a uranage. We go to PiP break and return.
Solo samoan drops Sami for 2 and hits some shots. Tama pounds on Sami and flurries him. Fatu corner hip attacks Sami. Solo gets back in and takes a blue thunder from Sami. Jey gets in and hits shots on Tama. Jey uppercuts Tama and euros him. Tama takes a double enzugiri in the corner. Tama takes a double back elbow and a double elbow drop. Fatu is double lariated over the top and Jimmy goes over as well. Jey backdrop lifts Tama into a neckbreaker for 2.
Sami dives off the steps onto Fatu outside. Tama hits a jumping ddt on Jey for 2. Jey superkicks Fatu. Fatu takes corner hip attacks from all 3 faces. Sami and JEy do topes outside. Jimmy top rope splashes Fatu for 2. Fatu hits a top rope splash on Jimmy then double jump moonsaults him for 2.
Fatu takes a double superkick for 2. Drew McIntyre comes out. Jey topes Drew. Fatu pop-up samoan drops Jey for 2. Fatu misses a conrer hip attack on Jey. Jey superkicks Sol out and hits a fling spear on Fatu. Jey top rope splashes Fatu. Solo then samoan spikes Jey and pins him to win.
Thoughts: It was a long tag match. They took it easy here at times and didn't go too crazy for this one. It was okay but they could have cut time off of this one and not much would have been missed.
Overall thoughts: It was the first three hour Smackdown and it was a bit of a long show. Just like how WWE needed time to figure out the pacing for 2 hour Raw's again, they need to figure the pacing out for 3 hour Smackdown's. There were only 6 matches in 3 hours. They were definitely stalling for time when the faces entered during the main. A lot people weren't on this show. Tiffany winning the women's title was the best part of the show and was a surprise. The main was the best match of the night. I'm not sure if SD really has the roster for a 3 hour show at the moment but hopefully they make some new stars to fill up that time. I can't say I'm looking forward to another 3 hours of this next week. I'd give this one a 6 out of 10 but I wouldn't recommend it.
