WWE SmackDown Live Results – January 22, 2021

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WWE SmackDown Live Results – January 22, 2021
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WrestleTalk is here to provide live coverage of WWE SmackDown. SmackDown has been on a real roll of late. People have been loving the Roman Reigns story. Big E and Apollo have been getting a bit of a push as well. Will we see more development tonight in the relationship between Apollo and Roman?

Here’s what is advertised for the card tonight:

  • Big E to battle Apollo Crews in an Intercontinental Championship Match
  • Bianca Belair to compete in Bayley’s Ultimate Athlete Obstacle Course Challenge

WWE hasn’t announced much, but we’re sure to see Roman’s reaction to Adam Pearce replacing himself with Kevin Owens for next week’s Royal Rumble.

9:51pm

Pearce vs. Heyman

Heyman comes down to the ring and trips coming up the steps. His knee is hurt. I guess all cards are subject to change.

So, Heyman’s out. Roman’s in. So, Pearce is facing Roman instead of Heyman.

Roman comes down to the ring. It was a set up all along. Roman used Pearce’s own trick against him.

Reigns immediately hits a Superman punch on Pearce. Pearce rolls out of the ring and fights back. Reigns continues the attack.

Roman beats Pearce up the ramp and slams him into the Thunderdome monitors. I’m not sure why the ref isn’t counting them out, but it doesn’t matter.

Kevin Owens is here and attacks Reigns. Owens delivers a big Stunner to Reigns.

He continues to take the fight to Reigns. He hits another stunner. He leaves Roman lying on the floor. Owens puts Reigns through the table.

That’s it. Owens stands tall. This was probably my least favorite episode of 2021. That doesn’t mean it was bad, but just not as good as some of the others.

See you next week for Raw.

9:45pm

Corbin vs. Dominik

Dominik is wrestling in his first singles match on SmackDown. Corbin has some new gear. This match was fast.

Corbin puts him out in a matter of minutes. He hits the End of Days and there’s nothing else to say.

Corbin wins. Rey Mysterio wants Dominik to follow his lead and now it appears Dominik will have to.

Paul Heyman makes his way down to the ring for his match next.

9:34pm

The Obstacle Course Challenge

Bayley is up first. She can barely get the tire up. She then cheats in the military board section. She can barely finish the fireman’s carry section.

Bayley the est’s up the course for Belair. Bayley barely tried. She makes the hurdles taller.

When she gets to the fireman’s carry, Belair has to carry Otis instead of Gable. Belair then dunks on a goal that’s about 7 feet in the air.

If we are supposed to be impressed by Belair’s athleticism, this did not do that. This was purely a waste of time and an awful segment.

It wasn’t as bad as Lashley and Zayn, but it wasn’t good. Apparently, according to the internet, I was the only one who didn’t like it.

Up next, Corbin vs. Dominik. Whatever happened to Buddy Murphy?

9:24pm

Street Profits

Backstage, The Street Profits approach Sonya Deville. They want a rematch with Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode.

Deville says no. She wants Ford to recover from his injuries. Until then, Deville wants them to keep being funny and promoting SmackDown.

However, she won’t let them. She wants some new teams to get opportunities. That’s great. However, who exactly are these new tag teams?

Up next, we’re getting the obstacle course. Hopefully, this will be better than Lashley and Zayn.

 

9:13pm

Apollo Crews challenges for The IC Title

Apollo and Big E are going at it. The action gets underway quickly. Both guys are pushing hard in this one.

The match was going really well until Sami Zayn ended his protest. Zayn who was still handcuffed to the barricade freed himself and attacked Apollo Crews. He cost Apollo his shot at the IC Title.

I was looking forward to this match, but it was cut short. Other than this IC match, there hasn’t been a ton of action so far in the matches.

We then cut to a Kevin Owens promo. He was not able to get in the building because Roman prevented it from happening.

Kevin talks about his grandfathers and how they inspire him to be a fighter. They fought against life ending diseases. So, Kevin won’t stop fighting. This character for Kevin Owens is a really good fit.

9:00pm

Reginald vs. Banks

Reginald has brought flowers to Banks. He then tries to get a kiss on the cheek. Banks Slaps her.

Banks keeps trying to hit Reginald, but he just keeps flipping all over the place. Eventually, Banks makes some contact and hits a meteora.

Reginald has been a good opponent because he can hold Sasha and fling her all over. She looks even more athletic than normal. Not of women in the division can allow her to flip and flop all over.

After the match, Carmella was not happy.

Backstage, Heyman and Roman were talking. Roman says he didn’t want Heyman to challenge him to a match. He wanted him to rip him to shreds verbally.

Roman tells him if he doesn’t go handle his business then people will think Roman hired special counsel who isn’t a man. This would mean fans would think Roman’s not a man. So, he wants Paul to handle it.

8:51pm

Cesaro vs. Ziggler

Cesaro and Dolph Ziggler are in action. Cesaro locks in the Big Swing. Bryan is on commentary.

Seems like we are in a little mini-feud with Bryan and Cesaro and I’m down with it.  In a fairly short match, Cesaro hits the Neutralizer. Cesaro is on quite the winning streak.

He’s beaten Ziggler and Bryan in back to back weeks. WWE is booking Cesaro to look like an actual threat for the Rumble. I am unashamed to admit my fandom for Cesaro. This push however short it might be is making me very happy.

Up next, it’s Boss Time. Sasha Banks is fighting Reginald.  Graves says Sasha proved how confident she is by challenging a male sommelier. Yep, that screams confidence to me.

8:40pm

Daniel Bryan and the Royal Rumble

When we come back from the commercial, Billie Kay is talking about the rumble, but Ruby Riott kicks her out of the squad. Poor Billie.

Daniel Bryan comes down to the ring to hype the rumble and what it means to him. Daniel Bryan has to be a favorite for winning the rumble. Cesaro interrupts him.

Cesaro says he’s going to win the Rumble. Daniel Bryan asks for a fight, but Cesaro says no and issues an open challenge. Of course, Dolph Ziggle answers. What a let down. Otis? Gable? Nakamura? Nope. Freaking Dolph Ziggler.

 

8:27pm

Tag champs in action

Asuka and Flair are taking on The Riott Squad with Billie Kay. Riott Squad got no entrance tonight which means we were robbed of the brilliance of Kay’s entrance.

Sami Zayn is still cuffed. He’s mad because he got caught cheating last week.

In the continued sad booking of Asuka, Riott had her pinned in this one. Flair got a ton of action in this one. She was booked to be dominant, but Asuka was pinned while the ref was distracted. So, Ruby Riott almost pinned Asuka.

When the ref turned around Asuka hit a big knee. Tagged in Flair and the champs retained. The booking of Asuka has been criminal.

8:17pm

Sami Zayn is here

Michael Cole just announced we’re also getting The Majestic (Flair and Asuka) vs. The Riott Squad for the Women’s Tag Titles. I’m not sure if Majestic was an adjective or a team name. I like it as a team name though.

Then Sami Zayn comes out. In some form of a protest, Sami handcuffs himself to the barricade.

8:01pm

The opening of the show

Shocker…Roman Reigns is coming out to open SmackDown. While this angle has been good, Reign and Heyman have more or less opened every show for weeks. Roman makes fun of Pearce. I believe the word he used was “Puss.” I’m not sure that’s a word WWE would typically allow.

Anyway, Roman goes down the list of all the things that hurts on him. He says everything hurts including his back from carrying the company. Adam Pearce comes down to the ring and says this is all out of control.

Roman calls himself the Thoroughbred. Nice call back to NXT Roman. Roman says he’s angrier that Pearce went against him than he is that he got one over on him. Roman continues to run down Pearce. Heyman starts laughing. Pearce says he’s not taking that from Heyman. Roman wants Heyman to handle it.

Heyman then starts manning up to Adam Pearce. We’re about to get Paul Heyman vs. Adam Pearce in the main event.

 

 

7:08pm

Will Reginald respond tonight?

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