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This week's episode of WWE SmackDown opened with a tribute to the late Jon Huber (fka Luke Harper). Right after, fans watched a recap of last week’s Steel Cage match between Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens for the WWE Universal Championship.
That set the tone for the rest of the night where the major development was the ongoing rivalry between Reigns and Owens. Apart from that, SmackDown looked to build towards some big matches for the 2021 Royal Rumble.
The Street Profits hosted a New Year’s party in the ring, but they were attacked by Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler who left the two men in a heap. That wasn’t all, as Big E kicked off the year with his new Intercontinental Championship.
Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair teamed up on SmackDown and this allowed The EST to show her talent to the WWE Universe once again.
One of the biggest spots saw the return of Sonya Deville to SmackDown. In this article, we will look at the five things WWE SmackDown got right this week.
#5 Roman Reigns kicks off WWE SmackDown in 2021
WWE needed to kick off 2021 the right way, and they did exactly that by bringing Roman Reigns to the SmackDown ring to get the party started. Reigns has proven to be the most impressive man on the mic, and he managed to cut another great promo to get SmackDown going.
The Tribal Chief was accompanied by Paul Heyman and Jey Uso, and he kicked off his promo stating that everything he touches turns to gold. The Big Dog went on to claim that Heyman had been discarded and he saved him. This was a bold claim considering the fact that Heyman has been instrumental in saving many Superstars’ careers and building them.
Reigns also took credit for allowing Jey Uso to have the best year of his career under him. Kevin Owens came out to the middle and Reigns wasn’t too happy with his arrival. He told The Prizefighter that no one wanted to see him around and that he had already beaten him twice.
KO claimed that he was still standing, and wanted a match against Uso later in the night. The overall segment was a great way to kick off the Blue brand. Reigns was great on the mic yet again, and KO returned to continue his rivalry against The Tribal Chief. Things only got much better as the night progressed.
#4 Otis and Daniel Bryan team up on WWE SmackDown
Former SmackDown Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura competed against Daniel Bryan and Otis this week on WWE SmackDown. Otis has been under Chad Gable’s training for some time now, and the results have started showing already.
Cesaro used his strength to work over Bryan early in the match. Their short exchange was fantastic and showed just how good The Swiss Cyborg is in the ring.
Nakamura tagged in soon after, and both the heels continued to work on the former WWE Champion to retain the advantage. Bryan finally made a tag to Otis who burst into the match and threw Cesaro around.
Otis managed to hit his signature Caterpillar on Cesaro, and the babyfaces took control before Nakamura got back in the match. The Artist almost took down Bryan, but Otis broke up an armbar to help his teammate out. Bryan finally locked in the Yes Lock on Nakamura to pick up the victory.
This was a fun contest that allowed Otis to work with three major stars. While many fans would like to watch Nakamura and Cesaro work in top rivalries, it’s unfortunate that they’re still competing in mixed bookings.
#3 Big E and Apollo Crews score a big win on WWE SmackDown
Big E ended 2020 on a high by winning the Intercontinental Championship from Sami Zayn on WWE SmackDown. The former New Day member kicked off 2021 by having a non-title match against King Corbin.
Zayn joined the commentary team as the two big men got down to action in the SmackDown ring. Corbin managed to take control in the match as Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler watched on from ringside.
It did not take long for Big E to catch Corbin and deliver the Big Ending. However, Zayn attacked Big E as he went for the pin, causing a disqualification in the process. Blake and Cutler joined in the beatdown, but Apollo Crews arrived to take out the heels.
Big E and Crews then teamed up to compete against Zayn and Corbin.
After the two teams traded some big blows, Crews hit his signature powerbomb on Zayn to pick up the victory for his team. It was great to watch Crews get a big match on SmackDown where he was allowed to pin a former Intercontinental Champion.
Later in the show, it was announced that Apollo Crews will challenge Big E for the Intercontinental Championship on next week's episode of SmackDown.
#2 Bayley and Carmella pick up the victory on WWE SmackDown
Bayley and Carmella teamed up on WWE SmackDown last week. Even though they went on to lose their match, the two Superstars showed great chemistry in the ring. This earned them another tag team match against Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair this week.
SmackDown fans watched as Belair worked on Carmella early in the match and tried to injure her arm. Bayley tagged in and managed to outdo The EST to get back in the match.
Banks and Carmella taunted each other and The Boss tried to show Carmella what the SmackDown Women’s Champion is capable of.
While Banks locked Carmella in the Bank Statement late in the match, Reginald pulled her out of the ring to make the save. The Boss went after Reginald, and this allowed ‘Mella to hit her finisher to pick up the victory for her team.
This was a fine match that allowed Bayley and Carmella to shine again. Belair was the strongest Superstar in the match again and managed to show her talent in a ring with three former SmackDown Women’s Champions.
The team between Bayley and ‘Mella could actually turn out to be a big deal in WWE if the creatives take them seriously enough.
#1 Roman Reigns destroys Kevin Owens on WWE SmackDown
Kevin Owens pushed Adam Pearce to book a match between him and Jey Uso on WWE SmackDown this week after the opening segment. The two men got in the ring, and KO went right after Uso as soon as the bell rang. Uso suffered the wrath of Owens for the early part of the match and struggled to get any offense in.
KO kept telling Uso that none of this was his fault as he continued to beat him down throughout the match. He wanted Uso to blame Roman Reigns for the beatdown. Owens worked on Uso’s leg to keep him down and tried to injure him.
It did not take long for Owens to hit the Stunner on Uso to pick up the win on SmackDown. However, The Prizefighter did not stop there and continued to beat up Reigns’ cousin.
He handcuffed Uso to the top rope and beat him down in hopes of drawing The Tribal Chief out to the middle. KO set up Uso near the stage and climbed the set to deliver a big splash. However, Reigns appeared to attack the former Universal Champion, and then the two heels beat him down with steel chairs.
The beatdown went all around the arena before Reigns tossed Owens through a table from 15 feet up. The show came to an end with Reigns standing tall once again on WWE SmackDown.
The final segment of SmackDown was even better than the first one and continued a successful pattern to make this rivalry even better. KO will likely get his hands on Reigns once again, and fans might get a match between them at the Royal Rumble.
While Reigns has received a lot of praise for his work, KO has also done a phenomenal job to make this rivalry so much better.
