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Welcome to the Best and Worst edition of SmackDown before the 2021 Royal Rumble. Once again, I will be taking over for Riju Dasgupta - who will be back for the Royal Rumble PPV.
Let's jump right into the best and worst of the show:
#5 Best: The Dominik Mysterio losing streak on SmackDown
This might sound a bit odd, especially since Dominik Mysterio lost on SmackDown. While Dominik losing to King Corbin is a less-than-ideal situation, it's a good bit of storytelling. Rey Mysterio has constantly had to remind his son about the level he's competing at and the inexperience he has. Dominik's father constantly advises him, attempting to bring him down a peg or two.
Unfortunately for him, his 23-year-old son is a stubborn man. He attacked King Corbin before their match on SmackDown, and even that wasn't enough to put the former United States Champion away.
It only made it worse, and Dominik fell flat to King Corbin once again via The End of Days. It's a good thing that Dominik is losing now, as it adds an element to his character. While he did far better than expected against Seth Rollins at SummerSlam, he was still lacking a character apart from being Rey Mysterio's son.
Being a legend's son isn't a character, and Dominik's journey is only beginning. In all fairness to WWE, it only makes sense that they wouldn't want to push him to a high level right away. Dominik is a great name to introduce to younger fans, and he is years away from hitting his prime.
We forget that he only started to wrestle last year for WWE. King Corbin has a higher standing on the totem pole on SmackDown, and defeating Dominik gets heat on him.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out, but we consider the loss a best - purely for character-development purposes.
#3 Worst: Extremely random pacing and flow on SmackDown
What we didn't understand about SmackDown before the Royal Rumble was the random pacing that the show had and the overall flow - which just felt off. What we mean to say is that there were so many random things thrown into the episode, it had no actual consistency or method of keeping fans hooked on to SmackDown.
We had a bunch of RAW Superstars come over and make their presence known, and it was explained as the "quarterly brand-to-brand invitational". There were segments involving Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Cesaro, and after that, there was an interaction between Big E and The Miz and John Morrison.
All of it played out into a clustered main event (which we'll get to later). Usually, RAW is the show that lacks the pace, flow and structure, but this week, SmackDown followed that same route, for some reason. We hope that episodes aren't like this going forward.
The build to the main event of SmackDown seemed too thrown-together, and we wouldn't be surprised if it was all put together at the last minute.
#2 Best: Bianca Belair shines on SmackDown
In perhaps one of the best moments of the night, Bianca Belair finally got one over the SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley. Both Superstars are going to be in the Women's Royal Rumble match, and momentum is everything on the road to WrestleMania.
Bianca Belair had a solid showing and Bayley did great too. The former SmackDown Women's Champion put her over in a big way, and the EST Of WWE now seems ready for the Royal Rumble after her big win on the blue brand.
It's clear that Belair is being pushed not only as a future top star on SmackDown but WWE in general. Her potential was recognized early on, and the fact that she is a homegrown talent will serve to help her.
2021 may not be a guaranteed success for Bianca Belair, but as long as she continues to progress the way she is on SmackDown, it will be hard for her to be denied the opportunity. Bianca Belair is also considered as one of the favorites for the 2021 Royal Rumble Women's Match.
#2 Worst: The Roman Reigns-Kevin Owens promo battle on SmackDown
As much as we love Kevin Owens and his role on SmackDown, we have to admit that Adam Pearce or Shinsuke Nakamura would have made for more interesting Universal title challengers at the 2021 Royal Rumble.
Instead, Adam Pearce manipulated the situation with the "card subject to change" line, and Kevin Owens was handed a free spot. Now, we know that KO was deprived of a Universal title win on TLC and the Christmas episode of SmackDown, but at this stage, he isn't a fresh opponent for Roman Reigns.
The two SmackDown stars will compete for the Universal Title in a Last Man Standing match. While we don't doubt that it will deliver, the promo battle on SmackDown was a bit underwhelming.
It turned out to be one of those "Don't talk about my family" kind of promos from Kevin Owens. He did outdo Roman Reigns, however, prompting The Tribal Chief to take a remote and switch his side of the screen off.
Who will walk into SmackDown next week as the Universal Champion?
#1 Worst: SmackDown's clustered main event
The main event of SmackDown was originally going to be AJ Styles vs Daniel Bryan. While that's a solid headliner for the show, interferences ruined the match.
It was Sami Zayn and Big E who caused chaos at first, prompting a six-man tag team match where Daniel Bryan teamed up with Shinsuke Nakamura and the Intercontinental Champion to take on AJ Styles, Cesaro, and Sami Zayn.
Things only went from bad to worst in the main event of SmackDown as more interferences followed. Ultimately, it ended up being a ten-man tag team match on the SmackDown before the Royal Rumble, and we're not sure what purpose it served.
Perhaps it was WWE wanting to give a teaser of the Rumble on SmackDown with many Superstars in the ring. It seemed like the entire match was set up for the ending, but even so, the main event was a massive cluster, and it seemed chaotically booked.
Sheamus picked up the win for his team after hitting the Brogue Kick on Sami Zayn. He came out of nowhere and it didn't make much sense.
Best/Worst: Braun Strowman's return to SmackDown
Braun Strowman is back from his injury/suspension and went on a path of destruction on SmackDown right away. We're in two minds about The Monster Among Men's return. For one, it somewhat saved a lackluster main event and ended the show on a good note.
Another major positive is that Strowman looks to be in the best shape of his career. We're not sure whether this is indicative of a permanent move to SmackDown, but it could just be a part of the quarterly invitational - especially since the former Universal Champion was a RAW star before his injury/storyline suspension by Adam Pearce.
Either way, his path of destruction was a preview of what is to come at the 2021 Men's Royal Rumble. We don't believe that he's going to win, but Strowman is undoubtedly one of the favorites and adds a whole new dynamic to the match.
However, the reason we're torn about it is the fact that Braun Strowman could easily have been a surprise entrant at the Rumble rather than appearing on SmackDown. WWE already announced Edge, while either Tamina or Natalya will be taking the #30 spot in the Women's Royal Rumble.
The first and second entrants in the men's match is expected to be announced on WWE Backstage as well. So why is WWE choosing to deliberately avoid any surprise returns?
Riju Dasgupta will be back this Sunday for Best & Worst of Royal Rumble 2021.
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