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The final episode of WWE SmackDown this year was quite an interesting one. Between a title change and a couple of title defenses, the Blue brand delivered an entertaining show. We also saw a top Superstar getting his revenge against one of the top heels in the company. It was an engaging show and allowed WWE SmackDown to end this year on a promising note.
In this article, we will take a look at four Superstars who impressed us on WWE SmackDown and one who didn’t.
#1 Impressed on WWE SmackDown: Roman Reigns
In less than a week after their gruesome battle at TLC, Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens once again locked horns for the Universal Championship. Only this time, it was inside a steel cage to kickstart this week’s WWE SmackDown. Unlike their previous encounter, this title match was fast-paced right from the start.
A determined Kevin Owens went after Roman Reigns with every bit of resilience inside of him, but the champion successfully reversed those hard-hitting moves brilliantly. Despite taking a lot of punishment inside the ring, Reigns picked his opportunity to pin Owens to a corner of the cage and battered him mercilessly on WWE SmackDown.
It was evident that Reigns was fighting hard to keep his control over this Steel Cage match on WWE SmackDown. Unlike his usual self, Reigns did not take long breaks to trash talk his opponent. Instead, he focused solely on overcoming Owens inside the ring. This match ended up making up Reigns look extremely strong.
In the closing moments of the match, Reigns tried to escape, but Owens used the door of the cage to keep his opponent from leaving. He then viciously attacked Reigns that kept the champion down for several minutes. This looked like a big chance for Owens to seal his victory on WWE SmackDown. Unfortunately, he was handcuffed by Jey Uso on the side that allowed Reigns to walk out of the steel cage and retain his Universal Championship.
Overall, this match on WWE SmackDown successfully lived up to the hype surrounding this encounter. It was interesting to see Jey Uso trying to interfere yet again. That said, the ending allowed Reigns to stand on his own and pick a huge victory to end his year on a high note. It will now be interesting to see if this rivalry between Owens and Reigns will continue following this week.
#2 Impressed on WWE SmackDown: Big E
Over the last few weeks, Big E was feuding with Sami Zayn on WWE SmackDown. Both Superstars were involved in several backstage altercations that also led to a match between them. This week, Big E finally got a shot at Zayn’s Intercontinental Championship when both the Superstars locked horns in a Lumberjack match.
Throughout the match, Zayn tried to outsmart Big E while the latter relied on his strength to gain the upper hand in the match. At one point, we even saw all the heels on the ringside laying an ambush on Big E that allowed Zayn to take complete control over the match. However, that was not enough to rule out Big E from this critical moment on WWE SmackDown.
The match's closing moments saw Zayn trying to escape from the ring, but he was caught by all the babyfaces who were part of the Lumberjack match. Back inside the ring, Big E hit Zayn with a Big Ending to seal his victory. Finally, he ended up lifting the title and celebrated with his friends as this year’s episode of WWE SmackDown came to an impressive end.
#3 Impressed on WWE SmackDown: Daniel Bryan
This week on WWE SmackDown, Daniel Bryan got a chance to seek revenge against Jey Uso. The latter had attacked Bryan in the past, and he was ruthless in those beatdowns. Finally, Bryan knew what he wanted inside the ring and made the most of his opportunity when he locked horns with Jey Uso in a brutal match.
Even before the match started, Jey Uso attacked Daniel Bryan to gain the upper hand. Both Superstars then entered the ring and went right at each other’s throat after the first bell. They exchanged hard-hitting blows, taking turns to control this bout. This match also ended up making Jey Uso look better than ever on WWE SmackDown.
Ultimately, Bryan managed to hit Jey Uso with a devastating Running Knee that allowed him to pick a much-deserved victory on WWE SmackDown. It appears that Bryan has now decided to put this rivalry behind him and is entirely focusing on Royal Rumble – something that he has never won in the past.
#4 Impressed on WWE SmackDown: Kevin Owens
At this point, it seems borderline criminal not to appreciate WWE SmackDown Superstar Kevin Owens and his dedication towards the craft. Despite being dragged through hell at TLC, Owens put up a commendable fight against Roman Reigns in their Steel Cage match on the Blue brand this week. Though he was unsuccessful in winning the Universal Championship match, KO managed to steal the show with his resilient performance.
He faced a more vicious Reigns inside the steel cage at his brutal best right from the match's start. However, there was nothing that Reigns could do that would keep KO down for a long time. The latter kept coming back and shocked every single viewer with his determination to go after the champion on WWE SmackDown.
In the end, it was Jey Uso’s predictable interference that stopped Owens and allowed Reigns to retain his title. The latter stepped out of the cage only because KO was handcuffed to the steel structure. It was great seeing Owens in the title picture on WWE SmackDown, and given that Reigns still didn’t get a clean victory, we might see KO go after the title once again.
#1 Flopped on WWE SmackDown: Bianca Belair
Don’t get this writer wrong, Bianca Belair is an incredible athlete, and she was good inside the ring on WWE SmackDown. However, her booking on this week’s episode did not help the rising Superstar’s recent push on the Blue brand. Belair teamed up with Sasha Banks to challenge Charlotte Flair and Asuka for the women’s tag team championships in a triple-threat elimination match. The third team saw Carmella and Bayley align forces to challenge for the gold.
Overall, the match was good as several secondary storylines were running parallel to each other. It was particularly good to see Banks and Belair working so well inside the ring. Unfortunately for Belair, all the momentum on her side couldn’t help her in the final moments of the match. Instead, she was the one who got pinned as Charlotte Flair retained the tag team titles for her team on WWE SmackDown.
While some may argue that this did not make Belair look weak, it is important to note that this is not the first time this month when she has been pinned in a clean fashion. WWE SmackDown desperately needs new faces to step up and pose a serious threat to the women’s championship. Such booking would only compromise the build-up for someone like Belair. On the other hand, Bayley or Carmella wouldn’t have suffered much if Charlotte Flair pinned them.
