3 Interesting observations from this week's SmackDown Live (January 1, 2019)

From Mandy Rose's risqué segment to John Cena's return, the New Year's special episode of WWE SmackDown Live (1st January 2019) featured a lot of contrasting moments indeed.

Both RAW and SmackDown Live episodes this week were pre-taped, and I personally preferred SmackDown Live over RAW simply because of the wide range of segments and angles we saw last night, as opposed to RAW's frequent habit of leaning towards a more monotonous theme from time-to-time.

However, that does not mean RAW was a bad show this week. Leave your thoughts in the comments section below regarding your thoughts on last night's SmackDown Live.

Now that we are officially part of a brand new year, let us take a look at some interesting observations from this week's New Year's special edition of SmackDown Live...

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#3 The New Day Reference-O-Mania' to kick off a brand new year in WWE

Whether you like it or not, The New Day have established themselves as a mainstay WWE act

Humour is subjective. Sometimes, it can make you laugh out loud, it can make you cringe, and in several cases, it can make some people type a long social media post explaining why bad humor is one of the many reasons why WWE's ship is sinking...

Regardless of whether you liked or hated New Day's segment from last night, they made a lot of references to kick-off a brand new year in WWE right before getting to the point.

Surprisingly, Big E made a 'Steiner-math' throwback before his teammates could stop him from proceeding any further. There was even a Bumblebee reference, which is the latest installment in the Transformers franchise (with a certified fresh Tomatometer score of 93%) starring John Cena.

Additionally, Xavier Woods put on a blindfold to emphasize on his New Year's resolution, only to be reminded by Big E that he was stating the plot of 'Bird Box'.

After all, Big E wearing adult diapers in the ring whilst pulling out pancakes from his crotch and throwing them towards the crowd is exactly the type of humor one should expect from The New Day; it's a wrestling show, don't expect anyone to make observational witticisms like Seinfeld...

#2 Why are we getting AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan one more time?

AJ Styles won a Fatal-5-Way match last night to become the #1 contender for the WWE Title

AJ Styles went on to pin Randy Orton in last night's Fatal-5-Way match in order to become the #1 contender for Daniel Bryan's WWE Championship.

But the question remains, after witnessing Styles and Bryan go at it several times before, why did WWE choose to feature both of these superstars for the WWE Championship match at Royal Rumble once again?

Don't get me wrong, the match will be fantastic, as always. Perhaps the main reason why we are getting this matchup is that Vince McMahon's character has an obsession over bringing out the REAL AJ Styles.

As mentioned for both this week's RAW and last week's SmackDown Live, the McMahons have developed a habit of provoking their top babyfaces for some reason.

Maybe this time around, we get to see AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan at Royal Rumble with the former finally breaking out from the shackles of a traditional babyface to take it one step further, thanks to Vince McMahon's intentional plan to instigate The Phenomenal One's temper...

#1 Ironically, John Cena predicted exactly how he would be insulted a few minutes before it actually happened

Becky Lynch and Zelina Vega did exactly what John Cena predicted them to do

"...But the great thing about SmackDown Live is in 30 seconds, they're gonna play somebody's music and some man's gonna walk down here & try to tell me that I'm an old, broken down, part timin' Hollywood wannabe that should just get a haircut and leave WWE faster than Nikki Bella left me..." - John Cena

As it turns out, not a man, but THE MAN, Becky Lynch, would come out and talk about how she will take John Cena's spot as WWE's most commercial superstar for the past 16 years.

Ironically, a few moments later, Lynch would go on to comment that if John had any problem with THE MAN taking his spot, then Nikki Bella wouldn't be the only woman to drop him 'this year' (the show was pre-taped).

Now read John Cena's words as listed in the above quote once again. Not only did he foreshadow the exact way how he would be insulted, but what shows that John Cena has truly mastered the 'art of a promo' is how he subtly mentions that it will be a man who would come out to interrupt him...

Similarly, Zelina Vega came out with Andrade Cien Almas a while later, and used the same 'John Cena is old' argument to establish her character's agenda to mention that Andrade is WWE's future, while the leader of the Cenation is an old relic from the past...

Just like this week's Monday Night RAW, the fans should ask themselves one question over and over again, "Is this the fresh start we deserve?"

Thanks for reading this article and share it around to spread the word. Leave your thoughts in the comments section below. Happy New Year!