Welcome back to the Uso Penitentiary!

Jimmy & Jey made their return in rescuing Roman Reigns from Baron Corbin! But now, the King and his court (jester) take the Usos on in tag team action!

OFFICIAL RESULTS

• Kofi Kingston w/ Big E VS The Miz w/ John Morrison; Miz wins.
• Mandy Rose w/ Sonya Deville VS Alexa Bliss w/ Nikki Cross; Rose wins.
• Lacey Evans VS Sasha Banks w/ Bayley; No Contest.
• Braun Strowman VS Shinsuke Nakamura w/ Sami Zayn; Strowman wins.
• The Usos VS Baron Corbin & Dolph Ziggler; Corbin & Ziggler win, by disqualification.

PLAY BY PLAY

SmackDown is AWESOME!

Because it opens with the Most Must-See WWE Talk Show, Miz TV! The Miz makes his way out to the ring, in a much better mood than he was last week after losing to Kofi Kingston. Fans are divided given those actions, but Miz welcomes us all to the show all the same. “Since last Friday on SmackDown and the incident with Kofi Kingston, poeple have said I’ve changed.” Miz says he was just having a bad day. Everyone has a bad day. Kofi’s positive energy was just annoying to him, because sometimes you just don’t want to smile. Do not cheer, because Miz knows he let his temper get the better of him. So Miz says to Kofi, “I am sorry.”

But he wants us to understand, he has been going through a lot. The Fiend threatened his daughter, Monroe Sky. And when Miz went to take the title away from Bray Wyatt, he failed to get that shot. But the one bright spot is the return of a friend, a brother and the Guru of Greatness, the biggest guest in MizTV history… JOHN MORRISON! And he even has his old theme and pyro back! Morrison joins Miz in the ring and the two bro hug. They take their seats and fans cheer, “Welcome Back! Welcome Back!” Miz is fired up, too, to have Morrison back. Miz says this a lot, but this truly is AWESOME. Miz, Morrison and the WWE. The greatest tag team of the 21st century is reunited! And for those who forgot about those days, Miz has the “sizzle reel.”

“I am John Morrison!” The Shaman of Sexy, the Guru of Greatness and the crown prince of parkour pro-wrestling fusion, Morrison did insane things as a three-time Intercontinental Champion and five-time Tag Team Champion. The Friday Night Delight is back on Fridays!

From the bottom of Miz’s heart, he welcomes Morrison back. Morrison loves being back under the lights with Miz and isn’t sure what else to say. WWE Chronicle was leading up to this, a new Rumble entrance and everything. It was going to be epic. But then, when Morrison saw what his friend was going through, and them talking on The Bump, it was more important to be there for Miz than for the Rumble. Morrison is back already, and after what happened with Kofi, Morrison realized… “That I’m disappointed.” In the fans. Miz has one bad day and they turn on him? Miz doesn’t want to talk about this so Morrison will. Miz has worked harder for 15 years than anyone else on this roster. No one thought he’d make it, but Miz worked his way into being a champion! And still, he’s only Papa Miz’s 4th favorite wrestler? No, 5th, Kofi is above Miz.

But one bad day and a short temper, all of that hard work is ignored. But fans don’t get it. Miz doesn’t do this for his dad, or even himself, but for the fans! The fans don’t appreciate it because they’ve never been in the ring. What would fans chant if these “turd cutters” like themselves were in the ring? Miz tries to calm Morrison down but AWWWWW Indy~! The New Day is here! Big E and Kofi have pancakes and mics and want everyone to be patient. Who are Miz and Morrison trying to fool? Who who who? They’re trying to say it’s the fans’ fault? And they don’t buy that apology. Miz isn’t that good as an actor. He isn’t even good enough to be the back end of a Human Centipede. Nasty. Kofi would’ve respected Miz more if he would’ve stopped at “I had a bad day.”

But all this crying and whining, that’s too much. Stopping at “I had a bad day,” that would’ve been respectable. Miz respects that Kofi was THE WWE Champion for six months. The most prestigious title in the entire company for half a year. But then it took six seconds to lose it. And that Kofi chooses to smile and ignore that he didn’t go after Brock Lesnar right after. That’s something to “respect.” Well it was 8 seconds, not 6. And Miz is changing. Based on what Miz has said with these comments, Miz is changing from Cool Miz to Obnoxious Miz. That means that the people are right: You suck. But enough talk, time for a rematch! Will Kofi get Miz again? Or will Miz turn things around to actually be in a good mood?

Kofi Kingston w/ Big E VS The Miz w/ John Morrison!

SmackDown returns and Big E and Morrison are on commentary while the match begins. Kofi and Miz tie up and go around and end up in a corner. Kofi powers out but Miz puts him in another corner. Kofi slips out to kick then back off. Morrison defends that this is still the same Miz as always, it’s the fans that have changed. Kofi dodges Miz’s kicks to give kicks then wrenches Miz to bring him down. Miz rolls and endures as Kofi has the wristlock. Kofi hammerlocks but Miz swings. Kofi ducks and dropkicks Miz down!

Kofi has fans rallying as Big E says that the New Day’s 7-time outdoes the 5-time Morrison has. Miz knees Kofi low and clubs him down. Miz brings Kofi up to whip but Kofi ducks and dodges to leap. But Miz blocks the flip only to get rolled up! TWO, and Kofi whips. Miz reverses and knees low! The kitchen sink takes Kofi down but fans are still divided. Miz runs and basement BOOTS Kofi down! Cover, TWO, but Miz clamps on with a chinlock. Kofi endures and fans rally up. Miz holds on tight but Kofi powers out. Miz runs Kofi over and glares at the fans. Things speed up, Kofi leaps up and over to back elbow! Big E is fired up as Kofi throws Miz out. Kofi builds speed to fake Miz out! Miz scowls as Kofi waits. Miz gets back in to be clothesline’d back out! Kofi DIVES to take Miz down!

Big E and the fans are fired up with Kofi but Morrison shrugs it off. Kofi brings Miz up but Miz shoves Kofi into Big E! Big E is mad but Morrison hurries to back Miz up. Things are tense as SmackDown goes to break.

SmackDown returns again as Kofi fights out of a chinlock. Kofi back suplexes and drops Miz down! Morrison and Big E are now directly ringside and coaching their friends on. Fans rally for Kofi and Kofi stands first. Miz stands for Kofi to CHOP him down! And then dropkick! Kofi runs to leap and lariat! Fans fire up as Kofi hits the NEW~ DAY~ Boom Drop! Kofi aims from a corner and fans clap along, “NEW! DAY ROCKS!” Miz rises, Kofi spins but no Trouble, code breaker to the knee! Miz has the leg but Kofi kicks him away. Kofi runs at Miz but Miz dodges. Kofi goes up and up and crossbodies! Cover, TWO! Miz kicks low for a basement DDT! Cover, TWO! Kofi survives but Morrison has confidence in Miz. Miz looms over Kofi and gives him It Kicks!

Fans rally for Kofi as he takes kick after kick. Miz powers up but the buzzsaw misses! Miz avoids SOS but Kofi avoids the Finale, roll up! TWO, and Miz runs into SOS! Cover, TWO!! Miz lives but Kofi keeps his cool. Big E coaches Kofi on as he stands back up. Kofi drags Miz up but Miz shoves him away. Kofi goes to boot but Miz puts the leg on the rope to kick it! Miz runs corner to corner to hit a big knee! And then again for another knee! Kofi kicks the A-List Lariat away! Kofi climbs up but Miz chop blocks him out of the sky! FIGURE FOUR! Kofi endures, flails, and reaches for ropes! Fans rally as Miz cranks on the foot, but Kofi gets the ROPEBREAK! Kofi is free and flops out of the ring but Miz scuffs Big E on the way out. Big E is mad but Miz puts Kofi in. Big E gets in Miz’s face, Morrison PARKOUR LEAPS onto Big E! Kofi is mad, he gets caught in the FINALE! Cover, Miz wins!!

Winner: The Miz, by pinfall

The Guru of Greatness gives Miz a great assist! Will the combination of Miz and Morrison once again be AWESOME?

It’s a new episode of the Firefly Fun House!

“Psst. Hey. Fireflies. C’mere. Don’t be scared.” Closer. Closer. Bray Wyatt wants to tell them something. “I love you.” YOWIE WOWIE that felt good to say. Because love is so special! But not everyone deserves love. That means you, Daniel Bryan. The opposite of love is how “he” feels about Bryan. And Bray can’t blame him. Bryan’s been real naughty. Bryan is in a heap of trouble at the Royal Rumble. First, he just wanted Bryan to remember. The days when Bryan ruined the Wyatt Family. And then, The Fiend wanted to change Bryan. By pulling out his hair. But Bryan wanting to take the title away from them, now The Fiend just wants to hurt Bryan. Okay bye~! See you in Houston! Love you~! Not Bryan, though. Will Bryan come to feel the opposite of love for Bray Wyatt, too?

Fire & Desire are focused.

At least, Sonya Deville is. She will support Mandy Rose tonight. is Mandy ready? Um, Mandy? Right, sorry. Yes, she is ready. But hold on, she has something to take care of first. Okay, see you ringside. Mandy pulls out a gift box, and takes a peek. It seems to be what she wanted, but what is it? And who is it for?

Ladies and Gentlemen: Elias.

Who Wants to Walk With Elias?! Evansville does! Well then, Elias has a song titled “The Road to the Rumble, so clap along.” They do and he plays. “Roman Reigns winning the Rumble. Not if Elias has anything to say. See, I got nothing against the Big Dog. He’s gonna lose like Randy, AJ and Ricochet. Let’s not forget, about Erick Rowan. Whatever’s in that cage, it can escape. It’s gotta be pretty horrifying to look at. Could it be worse than a Lana-Lashley sex tape? Probably not. Brock Lesnar thinks the roster is unworthy~. He made that much clear. Well, Brock, it’s easy to hide behind that opinion. Especially given the fact that, you’re never here! How does Elias compare to a guy like Brock? Well for one, I’ve got a personality. And unlike him, I’m not afraid to talk. So when I beat him for the title, oh I’ll gladly show Brock the door. But first when it comes to the Royal Rumble, I’m going to show ’em what WWE stands for.” Thank you for Walking With Elias!

Tucker Knight knows how Otis Dozovic feels.

But he has to let Mandy Rose go. The Rumble is coming! Oh wait here is Mandy now. Tucker doesn’t want to deal with her but Mandy is here to apologize for what Dolph Ziggler did to the fruitcake. this is an apology to Otis and Mama Dozovic. It’s a blue “I’m sorry” cake! Mandy hurries off for her match, but Otis seems to accept the apology. Is there still a spark there between the Golden Goddess and Dozer?

Mandy Rose w/ Sonya Deville VS Alexa Bliss w/ Nikki Cross!

Someone check Corey Graves’ pulse, he might’ve died and gone to heaven. The Golden Goddess and the Sassy Goddess square off to see who is more divine! Plus, it will help prove which duo is more worthy of going after the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships. Who takes one step closer to facing the Kabuki Warriors on this Road to the Rumble?

The bell rings and the goddesses circle. They tie up, Mandy puts Alexa in the corner. She lets up but then gives a pie face! Alexa glares as Mandy eggs her on. They tie up again, Alexa headlocks but Mandy powers out. They bump shoulders but Mandy doesn’t budge. Mandy pushes Alexa around but Alexa grins before she SLAPS back! Alexa bumps Mandy off buckles and stomps a mudhole in! Alexa backs off to egg Mandy on. Then she baits her into a drop toehold and another SLAP! Alexa brings Mandy up but Mandy tackles her into a corner! And rams her shoulder in over and over! Mandy backs off at the ref’s count, but Alexa puts her on the apron. Alexa dodges the shoulder to SLAP Mandy again! Sonya checks on Mandy while fans fire up for Alexa. Alexa wrecks Mandy with a dropkick!

Alexa puts Mandy back in as Sonya protests, but then Sonya gets on the apron. Nikki runs over, Sonya kicks Nikki. Alexa boots Sonya but Mandy gives Alexa a Knee from a Rose! Cover, TWO, so Mandy rains down rights in frustration. Mandy soaks up the cheers and jeers before she chokes Alexa on the ropes! Mandy lets up to snapmare and chinlock Alexa. Alexa endures as Mandy thrashes her around and fights her way up. Alexa fights out and arm-drags Mandy away. Mandy and Alexa both boot! Then both SLAP! Mandy kicks again, underhooks but Alexa powers out, double clotheslines take them both down! Sonya and Nikki rally for each of their friends, but Alexa is the one who rallies on Mandy! Counter SLAP and a DIVINE RIGHT! Then a basement dropkick! Fans are thunderous for Insult2Injury!

But wait, Heavy Machinery is heading to the ring?! Otis has the cake! Mandy catches Alexa off guard with the roll-up, Mandy wins!!

Winner: Mandy Rose, by pinfall

It wasn’t Sonya this time but Otis that helps Mandy find a way to win! Otis eats the cake while gazing upon his Golden Goddess. But is this turning out to be tainted love?

Lacey Evans VS Sasha Banks w/ Bayley!

The Sassy Southern Belle finally gets to go 1v1 with the Boss to see who really is boss around here! Will Lacey use her Woman’s Right to shut down the “locker room leaders?” Or will Sasha make an example out of her instead?

When Sasha doesn’t make her entrance right away, Lacey has her head on a swivel. But Bayley talks on the titantron. Bayley will put this in a way Lacey can understand: Sasha is AWOL! She went to a real city, Los Angeles, so she can finish her rap album. Bayley is stuck here out of contractual obligations. Lacey gets a mic and says she isn’t shocked Sasha is avoiding her. This is just the difference between women like Sasha and women like Lacey. Lacey is ready to fight any time, any where, and especially in the heartland of America!

The chant of “USA! USA!” gets Lacey thinking. If Sasha is nothing but a nasty no-show, and Bayley is talking smack as a “fighting” champion, then maybe Bayley puts up the title! Lacey can pander all she wants, and bark orders like the overbearing mom that she is, but Bayley ain’t your snot-nosed brat! Well then, Lacey will just go to Bayley! The Model Soldier marches to the back and Bayley waits for her. Will things go down backstage here tonight?

Lacey finds Bayley’s dressing room but gets jumped from behind! Bayley hammers and clubs Lacey to the floor! “Why don’t you put on your mom jeans and go home?!” Bayley goes to leave Lacey behind but Lacey comes back for more! Lacey rains down rights and stomps! Lacey shows the right hand but Bayley runs away! Referees keep Lacey back, wanting her to save this for the ring. Will Lacey ever get even with the Boss ‘n’ Hug Connection?

Backstage interview with Daniel Bryan!

Bryan heard Bray Wyatt’s message about remembering, changing and hurting. His response: “The Fiend sure does want a lot of things, huh?” Bryan remembers the Wyatt Family. What The Fiend doesn’t like is that Bryan outsmarted him. The Fiend did change Bryan, at least in his looks. And he’s changed Bryan for the better. So now The Fiend wants to hurt Bryan? That will definitely happen. What The Fiend doesn’t like is that he can’t break Bryan! And The Fiend acts like he can’t be hurt or beat, but he knows that Bryan knows that he can be beat and hurt. And it’ll happen for the title.

But Ramblin’ Rabbit communicates from the TV screen! Ramblin’ is a huge fan but he has to make this quick. Bryan is right: The Fiend can lose! Ramblin’ has the secret weakness! But Bray silences Ramblin’! “Remember kids: Snitches get stitches.” Bray still wants Bryan to #LetHimIn. But will Bryan take him out instead?

Braun Strowman VS Shinsuke Nakamura w/ Sami Zayn & Cesaro!

The Monster Among Men still hasn’t gotten that gift Sami Zayn promised. Will Strowman force the issue when he #GetsTheseHands all over the Intercontinental Champion tonight?

SmackDown returns as Shinsuke makes his entrance, with Team Sami behind him. The bell rings and Strowman puts Nakamura in a corner! Strowman throws hands then throws Shinsuke! Sami protests but Strowman runs corner to corner! Nakamura gets clear and fires off kicks and fast hands! Nakamura runs, dodges and ducks, but runs into a BOOT! Sami coaches Shinsuke up but Strowman drags him up to CLUB him down! Strowman kicks Shinsuke while he’s down and Sami protests again. Strowman puts Nakamura in a corner and fans fire up as he clubs Nakamura more. Nakamura sits down but Strowman brings him up to whip corner to corner hard!

Fans fire up as Strowman runs in corner to corner and hits the corner splash! Nakamura sits down again as Strowman glares at Sami. Strowman runs corner to corner again but Sami still gets Nakamura to safety. Fans boo but Strowman heads out after them! Sami and Cesaro hurry away and Strowman stomps Nakamura. Strowman chases Sami into the ring, but Cesaro shoves Strowman into the post! Nakamura dropkicks Strowman into the timekeeper’s area! Team Sami takes control as SmackDown goes to break.

SmackDown returns again and Nakamura gives Strowman some Bad Vibrations! Nakamura goes corner to corner but is put on the apron! Nakamura kicks back then climbs up, and flying knees! Strowman is down, Nakamura covers, TWO! Nakamura keeps on Strowman with a sleeper hold and grinds him down. Strowman endures and pries at the hold, but Nakamura drags him down further. Fans rally up and Strowman fights back up. Strowman lifts Nakamura as a backpack to throw him off! Nakamura swings, misses but gets Strowman with the heel! Sami talks trash as Nakamura climbs up again. Strowman catches Nakamura! And LARIATS him down!

Strowman runs Nakamura over, and over, and then corner splashes! Strowman roars as he CLUBS Nakamura down! Cover, TWO!! Shinsuke survives and Sami is relieved. Strowman scoops but Nakamura slips out to Dynamic Dropkick! Running knee! Cover, TWO!! It wasn’t quite the Kinshasa, but Nakamura goes after Strowman with other knees! And palm strikes! Nakamura runs but into a SPINE BUSTER! Fans rally but Sami distracts the ref! Cesaro has a chair but gets caught! The ref tells him to get out and Cesaro pleads with him. But then Strowman knocks Cesaro out of the ring! Sami gives Nakamura the title! Nakamura swings but misses! Scoop, MONSTER SLAM! Cover, Strowman wins!!

Winner: Braun Strowman, by pinfall

And Sami is furious! The Monster pins the King of Strong Style and gets a shortcut to the title! Speaking of the title, Strowman picks up the title belt and gazes upon the gold. Fans cheer as Strowman raises the belt over his head! But then Sami snatches it away and runs up the ramp! Strowman shouts that it is only a matter of time. When will Strowman #GetTheseHands on the title?

Sheamus speaks.

“Rise over size. Embrace who you are.” Shorty G sure says a lot of things. But he didn’t say anything when Sheamus met “that little rat” in the ring to show everyone how things are going to change. Sheamus booted Gable down and Gable didn’t get up. Gable represents all the “ills” that have “infested” SmackDown. Small isn’t something to be proud of. It is something to be exterminated! Sheamus proved that size DOES matter. If we’re to embrace who we are, then Sheamus agrees. Because Sheamus is ready to embrace the chaos. What new order will the Celtic Warrior establish with that chaos?

Daniel Bryan finds a present backstage.

A red box with white ribbon… Bryan opens it up, and goes through the tissue paper to find… A mutilated Ramblin’ Rabbit. Disturbing to say the least. But will such mind games get to Bryan?

Roman Reigns is here!

The Big Dog is in Indy after being saved by his cousins. Roman has a mic now to speak. “2019, it was a blessed year. But it ended a bit ruff.” If you’ve been watching, you know the deal: he was outnumbered and jumped to being embarrassed by Corbin’s crew. Roman used to have back-up. This time, it wasn’t about friends helping him, but family. And last week, his family came back in a major way. That makes 2020 Roman’s year! Roman is going to win the Royal Rumble, main event WrestleMania again, and do that with his family by his side. The boys who have been by his side since Day One, the Usos! And the Usos make their entrance! Fans are fired up to see Jimmy & Jey again as they join Roman in the ring. Jimmy & Jey also get mics to speak.

“Yo, yo! Real talk! Uce, it feel good to be back on the Blue Brand!” Friday Night SmackDown is gonna be #FridayNightLockdown. But for the past 5 months on the sidelines, that was rough. But what was rough was watching Big Dog defend himself against Queen Corbin and his Kingdom. “And Queen, nice touch with the dog food.” But doing that disrespected Roman. And when you disrespect him, you disrespect Jey. when you disrespect Jey, you disrespect Jimmy. Now time to get real disrespectful. Kingdoms come and go but blood is forever!

But speaking of kingdoms, Baron Corbin rides out on his sedan and tells them “You’re really gonna do this, huh, Roman?” Roman’s pawning his beating off on his cousins. This is the beating Roman deserves after screwing Corbin out of his title shot! And that’s because Roman is hiding from Corbin! But if anyone is winning the Royal Rumble, it’s the King of the Ring! Corbin thinks Roman is scared? Roman would love to whoop Corbin’s ass twice in one night. So before the Rumble, how about going 1v1? And then Roman can throw Corbin out of the Rumble and point at the WrestleMania sign. Then Corbin will know who the man on SmackDown is. Corbin accepts that challenge! But after tonight, Roman won’t have his family! Because the King’s Court is about to handle the Big Dog’s “two little b*tches.” The Usos FLY out onto the court! Will Corbin be the one turning tail after tonight?

BREAKING NEWS!

After what went down with Kofi and Miz, Big E and John Morrison will face off 1v1! Will the Guru of Greatness make an AWESOME WWE in-ring return?

The Usos VS Baron Corbin & Dolph Ziggler!

SmackDown returns once more, and Ziggler starts with Jimmy. The two circle, Ziggler gets a leg but Jimmy blocks with a facelock. Ziggler slips out to headlock but Jimmy headlocks back. Ziggler powers out but Jimmy runs him over! Jimmy drags Ziggler up, wrenches and tags to Jey. The Usos whip and elbow Ziggler down, double elbow drop! Cover, TWO! Ziggler scrambles away to tag Corbin. Fans boo Corbin as he swings on Jey but Jey uppercuts back! Corbin knees low then whips Jey corner to corner, but Jey slides to a stop. Corbin slides out, then in then LARIATS! Cover, TWO! Corbin taunts Jimmy then goes after Jey.

Tag to Ziggler, Ziggler stomps a mudhole and scrapes Jey’s face. Then he dropkicks Jey down! Cover, TWO! Ziggler keeps on Jey with a sleeper hold and body scissors! Fans rally for Jey as he fights his way up. Ziggler pulls Jey back and to the corner, tag to Corbin. Corbin mugs Jey and clubs Jey down. Corbin taunts the fans but fans boo. Corbin drags Jey up, Jey slips out o the suplex and Jimmy tags in! Mule kick and uppercut! Jimmy is on Corbin in the corner with a rain of rights! Corbin stops that at 7, slides out then in, but Jimmy kicks. Corbin blocks and spins Jimmy, to get the Dragon Whip!

Jimmy hurries up top but “SAY YEAH!” The Revival are also part of the King’s Court! They distracts, Corbin shoves Jimmy down and Ziggler throws Jey to the crowd! Corbin’s court (jesters) help out again, but here comes Roman! The Big Dog returns to SUPERMAN PUNCH both #TopGuys down at the same time! Corbin is worried as SmackDown goes to one last break.

SmackDown returns one last time, and hot tag to Jimmy! Jimmy rallies all over Corbin and Ziggler! Uppercut and Samoan Drop! Zigger gets to a corner, Jimmy runs in for the hip attack! SUPERKICK for Corbin! Jey gets in and FLIES onto Corbin, but Corbin catches him! And throws him into Roman! Ziggler rolls Jimmy up, TWO!! SUPERKICK for Ziggler! Jimmy hurries up top and leaps, USO SPLASH! But Corbin throws Jimmy into a post! Corbin throws Roman into barriers! Corbin puts Jey in but Roman SPEARS Corbin!!

Winner: Corbin & Ziggler, by disqualification

The Bloodline’s blood is boiling! Roman clears the announce desk and drags Corbin over! Roman reels Corbin in, powerbomb lift but ROBERT ROODE attacks! The GLORIOUS One is back and he RAMS Roman into a post! Then hits a GLORIOUS DDT! Jey gets a DEEP SIX! Ziggler hobbles over and Roode feeds Jimmy to Ziggler’s SUPERKICK! Corbin drags Roman up and his Glorious “knights” are fired up. “Look at your family!!” They bring Corbin over, whip to Roode, GLORIOUS SPINE BUSTER on the desk! The desk doesn’t break, so Ziggler climbs up to elbow drop through the table!!

But the King’s Court is not through with Roman yet as they bury Roman in the rubble! Direct payback for what Roman did to Roode! The Wolf King stands tall over the Bloodline, stronger than ever. Will they continue to reign with iron fists? Or will this only strengthen the rebellion?

My Thoughts:

This was a fairly good episode, but it was definitely a fast-moving episode with basically no filler and a good amount of story progress in each of the stories SmackDown has been building. We got a really solid Miz TV segment with Morrison helping explain the motivation of the turn, and we got a good rematch from Kofi VS Miz. The one thing this match didn’t need was as many cuts to Big E and Morrison on commentary. If we can hear them, we don’t need to see them, especially when things moved to have them ringside anyway. And Big E VS Morrison next week, that will be a real good match for Morrison’s WWE in-ring return. I’m pretty sure things are moving so that this is the SmackDown Tag Team Championship match at the Royal Rumble, and I feel like Miz & Morrison could find a way to win that match.

The Mandy-Otis story is going interesting places. It was very sweet for Mandy to give Otis that cake to apologize, and Heavy Machinery is doing very well with their part of the segments. It was interesting for them to play into Rose VS Bliss, but it does add a new wrinkle that maybe this is just a deeply cerebral plan to use Otis as a trump card since it’d be too easy for Sonya to interfere. In the end, I’m still hoping this all culminates on Valentine’s Friday, and I can see Otis coming out incredibly strong and on a roll regardless of the outcome. I am a little disappointed that we didn’t get Lacey VS Sasha, but the brawl of Lacey and Bayley was pretty good. Maybe we still get Lacey VS Sasha next week and that still leads to Lacey VS Bayley for the title at Royal Rumble.

Elias has a good Rumble themed song that doesn’t really pick on one side over the other (Faces or Heels, that is). I think as long as Elias is in the Rumble a long time and maybe eliminates a couple Heels, that’s a good Rumble performance for him. The story of Bryan and Bray took another step in the right direction with the Firefly Fun House segments and Ramblin’ Rabbit once again “dead.” Though it was a bit obvious the puppet was in the box for Bryan to find, it was still a good move. Sheamus’s promo of course makes Gable the face of his “anti-weakness” angle, and he delivered it well enough. I would hope Gable gets at least get one win in the feud just to rub it in Sheamus’s face.

Strowman VS Nakamura, even with Sami and Cesaro lurking around, was a good match, and naturally Strowman gets his win on the champ. I almost feel like they should have this title match before the Royal Rumble, so that both men can be in the Rumble. If Strowman wins, Team Sami will want revenge on Nakamura’s behalf. If Nakamura wins, then at least Strowman can take it out on everyone in the Rumble, and maybe even Lesnar. Everything with The Bloodline and Corbin’s Court was good, and Roode’s return was used very effectively. They leave Roman & The Usos down, and I sense we are getting a Six Man Tag after all.

Roman VS Corbin at the Royal Rumble before the Rumble match has been set, and I dread it will be the rumored Dog Food Match, so that’s going to be awful one way or another. But putting it before the Rumble, I wonder if Roman wins to humiliate Corbin so bad that Corbin won’t want to be in the Rumble match. Though, Corbin will probably want to attack Roman back to make sure Roman doesn’t win the Rumble, which could take a highly favored SmackDown superstar out of the running. That could open up something big for a Raw superstar, or an NXT superstar if WWE wants to really shake things up. That might be the irony of this Roman VS Corbin feud: it keeps these two busy so that we aren’t going back to the days of “LOL Roman Wins” and fans being upset no one else is getting the top title opportunities.

My Score: 8.1/10