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From appearances by RAW Superstars to a chaotic main event, this week's edition of WWE SmackDown featured many contrasting moments.
The Blue brand's last show before the Royal Rumble event had an unusual flow to the episode as a whole. There were a few interesting moments in the first half of last night's SmackDown, but the show took an unnecessary turn in the latter half to build up to the Royal Rumble.
Which show was better this week, RAW or SmackDown? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Here are the five biggest news stories from this week's episode of WWE SmackDown (January 29, 2021).
#5 Dominik Mysterio lost to King Corbin for a second consecutive week on WWE SmackDown
Rey and Dominik Mysterio's feud against King Corbin continued on this week's WWE SmackDown.
After Dominik Mysterio lost to King Corbin last week, he faced-off against Corbin in a singles rematch. Rey Mysterio was on commentary for this bout, and it became clear that Dominik Mysterio's inexperience is now going to be a recurring part of WWE SmackDown.
Rey Mysterio highlighted how Dominik Mysterio was not following his advice, which resulted in another loss for his son against Corbin this week. After the match, the legendary luchador was able to put down Corbin near the ringside area.
Dominik Mysterio hasn't won a single match since September 7, 2020. One may see that as a negative outcome, but there is reason to believe that this particular angle is beneficial for all parties involved.
Rey Mysterio's son is surely one talented individual in the ring, but his current situation seems to be a realistic one. After all, WWE fans often forget that Corbin was a former Golden Gloves boxer. Despite Corbin's somewhat silly onscreen shenanigans, more legitimacy is added to his character when he gets to beat up Dominik Mysterio with relative ease.
Moreover, a greater conflict is created for Dominik Mysterio if he keeps on losing every week. This means that there are actual stakes being created for Rey Mysterio's son, while King Corbin gets to showcase his dominance at the same time.
It will be interesting to see if this storyline plays out in the Men's Royal Rumble match this weekend.
#4 Bianca Belair earned an impressive victory over Bayley before WWE Royal Rumble
Bianca Belair won last week's obstacle course challenge over Bayley on WWE SmackDown. The Role Model lashed out at The EST of WWE after the challenge was over, which lead to a singles match between Belair and Bayley on this week's episode.
Both women fought in a good match, as expected. In the end, Belair was able to overcome her current rival on WWE SmackDown.
The EST of WWE was also interviewed near the stage after the match was over. Belair said that picking up a victory against a record-breaking SmackDown Women's Champion was a huge accomplishment for her, but the only other accomplishment that could top her aforementioned victory would be to win the Women's Royal Rumble match.
Those who have been following the Royal Rumble speculation know that Bianca Belair is one of the favorites who could win the Rumble this weekend.
All the attention seems to be on Bianca Belair at the moment, which could lead to a predictable victory for her at Royal Rumble. The fact that WWE has now acknowledged and showcased Bianca Belair's chances of winning the said match indicates that perhaps this could all be one big red herring, and someone else could win the Women's Royal Rumble instead.
#3 Roman Reigns provoked Kevin Owens by mentioning his family in their last segment before WWE Royal Rumble
Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens' WWE feud has been one exhilarating ride that consisted of some great matches, and all of it will culminate at this year's Royal Rumble.
The Universal Championship feud didn't seem like the main focus of this week's WWE SmackDown, as Reigns and Owens' segment occurred from two different backstage locations via satellite.
It was still a good final exchange of words between both men, as Reigns highlighted how WWE is a big chessboard, and he is the king of the entire landscape. All the other pieces on the board move according to the king's convenience, and Owens is just a pawn in the big scheme of things.
Roman Reigns also triggered Kevin Owens by taking shots at The Prizefighter's family. Reigns believed that Owens' father and his grandfather would all look like fools if the babyface doesn't give up his foolish and unattainable conquest against The Tribal Chief.
Even though Owens showcased his good acting chops in this segment, he eventually fell for Reigns' bait and blew up towards the end of their war of words. Reigns turned off his feed when Owens lost his composure, just to keep his own superiority intact ahead of WWE Royal Rumble.
While the odds are still stacked against Kevin Owens in what seems like a predictable Royal Rumble outing against Roman Reigns, both of these men could steal the show at the upcoming pay-per-view.
#2 WWE RAW's AJ Styles appeared on SmackDown to set up a match against Daniel Bryan
The final episode of WWE SmackDown before Royal Rumble saw appearances from several members of the RAW roster.
Daniel Bryan kicked off this week's WWE SmackDown to talk about his Royal Rumble aspirations, but he was soon interrupted by AJ Styles and Omos. The Phenomenal One has been crushing Royal Rumble dreams for other stars on RAW. So it made sense when Styles aimed to crush Bryan's Royal Rumble dreams on the final stop before this Sunday's pay-per-view.
The brand-to-brand invitational rule seems to be in effect, once again. Aside from Styles, The Miz and John Morrison were also featured on SmackDown. The Dirt Sheet duo brawled with Big E in a backstage segment on this week's episode.
While AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan were set to take on each other in what was supposed to be a great main event, the situation soon got out of hand in a lengthy series of shenanigans.
Cesaro was on commentary for this match. Big E and Sami Zayn's appearances created a volatile situation that led to a disqualification finish for Styles vs. Bryan.
#1 An overbooked main event led to the return of Braun Strowman on WWE SmackDown
When AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan's main event clash went awry, Shinsuke Nakamura also entered the scene to lead to a chaotic six-man tag team main event on WWE SmackDown.
Cesaro, Sami Zayn, and AJ Styles teamed up against Shinsuke Nakamura, Big E, and Daniel Bryan. Nakamura's appearance felt justified due to an earlier backstage segment, where The King of Strong Style refused to join forces with Zayn and his conspiracy theory agenda. It looks like Cesaro and Nakamura are no longer a tag team, as they were on opposite sides in the main event. This was an important takeaway that was overshadowed by the chaos that followed.
The six-man tag team match seemed like a standard go-home main event until The Miz and John Morrison interrupted as a result of their pre-established confrontation with Big E, which led to another disqualification finish on WWE SmackDown. Another important takeaway occurred when Otis appeared and re-established his rivalry against Miz and Morrison, but there was more chaos to follow.
A five versus four handicap match was then booked, as the babyfaces were outnumbered. WWE RAW's Sheamus soon arrived to even the odds. The Celtic Warrior earned a victory on behalf of the babyface team.
During the 10-man tag team main event, everything fell apart and no one could keep track of what was going on inside the ring. All of the aforementioned plot points were overshadowed when Braun Strowman returned to WWE after the match and wiped out the heel Superstars to end the show.
Just like Edge's return on RAW, Strowman's comeback ahead of the Royal Rumble was probably booked to encourage more WWE fans to tune in for the upcoming pay-per-view.
There were some notable plot developments that occurred throughout the main event, but the entire sequence was overbooked to a point where the viewers may have forgotten everything else that preceded Strowman's return on WWE SmackDown.
Do catch SK Wrestling experts Rick Ucchino and Denise Salcedo with special guest Michael Morales Torres from Lucha Libre Online, as they share their thoughts on all that went down during last night's WWE SmackDown in the video linked above.
