FEEDBACK: WWE SmackDown 1/8/21

What did you think of WWE SmackDown?

Patrons, join us live at 10:15pm ET here.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10

0 voters

Andy from London

WWE is just maddening sometimes - outstanding wrestling TV and idiotic wrestling booking all rolled in to one!

Roman Reigns was awesome in the opening, once again, and had me hyped for the rest of the show! But what then followed had me pulling my hair out. Why is Big E being visually pinned for his title 2 weeks after winning it? On the UK stream we didn’t even get a replay of the pin, just a black screen with Cole & Graves chatting over it, so it just looked like Apollo got the pin rather than the double pin bullshit - and then Big E was willing to just accept the draw and run off with his title until he gets slapped in to restarting the match - way to book one of your top baby faces.

And then the segment after they just burst the Sonya Deville cool badass bubble in about a minute - I was so hyped after last weeks brief appearance, and then here she opens her mouth and sounds like a complete geek - reminding us of her being a loser last year and thanking Adam Pearce for the opportunity - surely they can do better than this!

To be fair the rest of Smackdown was decent; good wrestling in the tag match and I loved the booking of the Gaunlet match - Nakamura is revived, the mini dream match of Nakamura vs Bryan was cool and Adam Pearce winning in the way it went down is a fun next step in this mesmerising Roman Reigns story. Everything Roman touches is sensational; if only they gave the same care elsewhere.

Roman Reigns 9/10, the rest of Smackdown 6/10

Final side note - why is Orton vs McIntyre non title booked for Raw?!? Someone stop the madness please!

Erin from Brampton

Just when I think we’ve seen the best of Roman on the mic, he manages to top himself. Aside from that overly long video package, that opening segment was damn near perfect. Both Roman and Pearce did an incredible job at making that situation feel uncomfortably tense.

I thought that gauntlet was a fun way to end the show, and I’m curious to see where this Roman-Pearce feud ends up. Do you guys think they’ll actually go through with the match? Or will they find a way for KO to take his spot?

Really enjoyed this week’s Smackdown. Can’t praise Roman Reigns promos enough lately, I almost forget Paul Heyman is there sometimes.
Didn’t really understand what the idea was with the Big E match and the tag team titles have been pointlessly taken off Street Profits.
I could see where the main event was going and I enjoyed watching it play out. The only thing I would have changed is if they’re going with Bryan vs Reigns at mania I would have had Bryan be beat down by Reigns at the end. Either way Smackdown is killing it as always. 7/10

1 Like

Smackdown dangled a Roman Reigns vs Shinsuke Nakamura match only for it to be taken away for an easier match vs Adam Pearce thanks to Roman’s manipulation. That said, the Gauntlet match did Shinsuke a world of good. It was very fun seeing him and Bryan go at it and I do hope that he goes babyface coming out of it.

(Hey guys, I unfortunately won’t be able to call in live this week, but was hoping to ask a non-SD related question if there’s time during the second half of the show)

I’m curious as to your guys’ take on Sanada’s future in NJPW. I’ve been a big believer in him for many years, and even had him penciled in as my 2020 G1 winner for a brief minute, but after a lacklustre WK performance, even I’ve had to admit that his current position is perhaps his ceiling. For every moment like his incredible last-second win over Okada in 2019’s G1, there have been multiple missed opportunities like his match with Evil this past week. You had the English announce team openly begging him to show some fire and demonstrate that the blowoff to what should be a very personal storyline actually mattered to him, to no avail. Factor in a perhaps too polite challenge to Ibushi, and I’ve come to believe that his quiet reserve is holding him back, rather than adding mystery and dimension to his character. Where do you see Sanada’s fortunes taking him in 2021 after a presumable loss to Ibushi? Will Shingo continue to outshine him if he stays in LIJ? Would a move to a different faction or even a different company refresh him, or is a Goto-like career in midcard purgatory now the best that can be expected?

Great episode. Very good matches and a very good main storyline throughout the show.