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PWTorch editor Wade Keller presents a special Thursday Flagship edition of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast featuring a WrestleMania 36 Preview with ex-WWE Creative Team member and professional stand-up comedian Matt McCarthy.
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WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER
JANUARY 31, 2020
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TULSA, OKLA. AT THE BOK CENTER
AIRS ON FOX NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EST
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH SPECIALIST
Announcers: Michael Cole, Corey Graves
Royal Rumble Results Pertinent to Smackdown
Sheamus defeated Shorty G on the critically acclaimed kickoff show.
Roman Reigns defeated Baron Corbin in a Falls Count Anywhere match.
Bayley defeated Lacey Evans to retain the Smackdown Women’s Championship.
“The Fiend” Bray Wyatt defeated Daniel Bryan to retain the WWE Universal Championship.
Arena, Top 10 Moments of Last Week’s Show
WWE Smackdown returns to the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla. after appearing in May of last year. The building opened in 2008 and for the most part has been a frequent host for WWE events. Here is the YouTube clip of the top 10 moments of last week’s show:
We continue to move away from the Royal Rumble, and head towards multiple shows. We have Super Showdown on February 27 emanating from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Philadelphia, PA. gets ready to host Elimination Chamber on March 8. Finally there’ll be NXT Takeover: Portland on February 16, and WrestleMania two months away. Here’s what’s on the menu for tonight thus far:
Fatal four-way Tag Team Match set for Super Smackdown
Shorty G takes on Sheamus in Royal Rumble rematch
Braun Strowman to face Shinsuke Nakamura for the Intercontinental Title
Roman Reigns and King Corbin gather their troops for rematch
Fatal Four-Way Tag Match to Earn Championship Match at Super Showdown: Heavy Machinery vs. Lucha House Party vs. the Revival vs. Miz & Morrison
The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) will defend their Smackdown Tag Team Championship at Super Showdown. The question to be answered is who are their opponents.
The Miz & John Morrison back in the late 2000s had runs with the WWE Tag Team Championship (created for Smackdown back in 2002) and the World Tag Team Championship (the original tag titles). They recently reformed their team after breaking up in 2009 and Morrison returning to WWE. Morrison has logged victories over both members of New Day during the past two weeks. The Revival (Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder) are no strangers to gold, holding both the Raw and Smackdown titles on different occasions over the past few years. Let’s not forget their time as NXT champs. They have suffered losses recently including one to Heavy Machinery (Otis & Tucker) back around Christmas time in the Miracle on 34th Street Fight. There’s also the Lucha House Party.
Miz & Morrison, Revival, Heavy Machinery, and Lucha House Party go at it in a fatal four-way match to determine who gets a date with New Day at Super Showdown.
Frank’s Analysis: You didn’t expect me to expound on Lucha House Party, did you? Anyway, I don’t see how this isn’t set up for Miz & Morrison to win. They’re not going to Revival vs. New Day again. I wonder if Revival will cut another “the company doesn’t care about us” promo again. Heavy Machinery maybe surprises us if Mandy Rose gets involved and helps them out somehow. That would set up face vs. face, but WWE could pull it off. Don’t even bother with Lucha House Party (watch them win now that I type this).
Sheamus vs. Shorty G
Not to be a wise guy, but this will be the shortest part of my primer. Sheamus defeated Shorty G on the Royal Rumble kickoff show. Tonight, they have a rematch.
Frank’s Analysis: I didn’t watch this match on Sunday. I had it on in the background while I was cooking in preparation for our friends coming over. I’m not rewatching it. I’m sorry but I don’t need Shorty G talking about embracing himself as a short person. I don’t need them calling him Shorty G to begin with. He has to be called that because the name Chad Gable bores Vince? Please, ok and I also don’t need Sheamus talking about Smackdown being weak and making fun of Gable being short. Didn’t we hear that enough from King Corbin a few months ago? Give me a break. Anyway watch Shorty G win this because you know, they have to do their standard mid-card 50/50 booking!
Intercontinental Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura (champ) vs. Braun Strowman
Braun Strowman has made numerous requests to face Shinsuke Nakamura for the Intercontinental Championship, only to be rebuffed by Shinsuke’s liberator Sami Zayn. Last week on Smackdown, Strowman paired with former rival Elias and defeated Shinsuke and Cesaro. Strowman hit Cesaro with his running powerslam and Elias followed up with a flying elbow to get the pin.
Apparently Sami can resist no more as Strowman finally gets his wish and gets an Intercontinental Championship match against Shinsuke. He defeated him in a non-title match back on the January 10. This is not Strowman’s first go at a single’s title. He failed in numerous attempts to win the Universal Championship during his time on Raw. He did however win the Raw Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 34 with his then pre-teenage partner Nicholas.
Frank’s Analysis: I think they’ll end up pulling shenanigans and keep the title on Shinsuke. They typically don’t put the IC title on big men, although Big Show, Rikishi, and Umaga have held the gold. Maybe I’m missing a few others. I’m not ruling out a Strowman win but it doesn’t feel like a title change is in order. Perhaps they do something to set up a rematch and then Strowman wins. I would think they would give him a single’s title at SOME point, but it’s not something I’m pounding my fist on the table about.
Roman Reigns & The Usos (Jimmy & Jey) vs. King Corbin & Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode
Tonight we get a rematch of the opening match on Smackdown. Roman Reigns and the Usos defeated King Corbin & Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode. The match went about 25 minutes and they ran an injury angle when Ziggler threw Jimmy Uso into the steps. He was helped to the back, but came back later to get the hot tag from Roman. In the end, Jimmy hit the Uso splash on Roode for the win.
This past Sunday at the Royal Rumble, Roman defeated Corbin in a Falls Count Anywhere match. Roode & Ziggler got involved and attacked Roman, who was rescued soon thereafter by the Usos. Eventually Roman speared Corbin on top of the dugout and struck him out. I mean pinned him for the win.
The root of this feud is Roman and Corbin and has been going on since before TLC. The returning Usos, Roman’s cousins, have gotten involved recently to counteract Corbin’s apparent alliance with Ziggler and Roode. Everybody links up again tonight for a six-man tag match.
Frank’s Analysis: Given that Roman and Corbin didn’t cross paths in the Royal Rumble match itself, I thought they were moving away from this feud. This is just a hunch, but somehow I get the sense this match isn’t happening or some shenanigans happen to set up whatever they’re planning in another direction. I was thinking the Fiend’s music plays at some point and he attacks Roman to start setting up their rumored match at WrestleMania. That’s just me speculating.
WWE Exclusives
Here are WWE exclusives with Daniel Bryan and Smackdown Women’s Champion Bayley following the Royal Rumble:
Other Match Results and Segments from Last Week
· Michael Cole interviewed Lacey Evans ahead of her eventual loss to Bayley for the Smackdown Women’s Championship. She’s a marine and a mother if you didn’t know.
· Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross fought Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville to a no-contest.
Final Thoughts
I am thrilled to be cohosting the Smackdown post show with Wade Keller tonight. I look forward to interacting with callers, discussing emails, and hopefully talking to an on-site correspondent. From the Smackdown side of the pond, we’ll see what they do on the official “road to WrestleMania.”
Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Questions and discussion are welcome. Thank you for reading!
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