WWE SmackDown Live – January 22, 2019 (Review)

What was your favourite moment from SmackDown Live?

Dylan Kapisky

“Look into my eyes”. Dear WWE, give us more of this please! On a show that featured Andrade vs. Mysterio, Becky Lynch being awesome, and Samoa Joe vs. Mustafa Ali, it was the latter’s promo that stood out most to me.

Set on a snowy sidewalk, Ali recalled his time as a police officer. He said that in that time he learned that “eyes never lie”, and that Joe’s eyes told him that Joe believed Mustafa did not belong in the ring with him. The Chicago native then set out to prove he does not fear Joe, and will prove that he belongs on SmackDown Live.

My words can’t do it justice, but that promo was absolutely excellent. It was unique, refreshing, and felt real.

Nate Craver

Samoa Joe and Mustafi Ali was the best thing about SmackDown for me. Ali’s promo was great. It felt different and fresh from the setting to the way Ali delivered it. However, it was wrestling promo 101. Ali got his opponent over, but also got himself over. Simple and effective.

Their match was great too. Wrestling does not have to be complicated. If a match is not a squash match, then the purpose is to make both guys look good. This one did. Joe looked like the dominant, dangerous man he is intended to be. Ali personified the scrappy underdog. He looked good in defeat. This was straightforward storytelling and good action in the ring.

Steven Lugo

Andrade vs Mysterio. You can take his last name, but you’ll never take Andrade’s wrestling ability. ‘The Greatest Mask of All Time’ Mysterio helped make this match magic, too, even with the screwy finish. Said finish factors into my worst part of SmackDown Live a little later.

As far as this feud goes, I hope Rey and Andrade get to build to a big PPV match. Throwing two great wrestlers into the ring together week after week is fine, but imagine what they could do with a legit program, and something on the line.

Kyle Payne

The two best moments from SmackDown Live came down to the opening and ending segments of the show. We started off with Becky Lynch cutting a promo, Charlotte Flair trying to steal her spotlight, and Asuka brawling with Becky. It’s amazing just how over Lynch is, the audience chanted her name in a resonating, deafening yell that had ‘The Man’ smiling.

The brawl between Lynch and Asuka was fantastic, each one of them looked strong until, ultimately, Becky stood tall. When we came back from commercial, they were once again engulfed in a brawl backstage and it was awesome. These women are two killers who more than likely will steal the show at the Rumble and all of this helped to build more hype and anticipation for their clash.

The ending segment of the show was a two-out-of-three falls match between Andrade and Rey Mysterio. Every time the two of them wrestle they create magic and tonight they stole the show. It’s amazing and impressive how good Rey still is and how willing he is to put his body on the line for everyone watching. Andrade is equally amazing and impressive with his athleticism and agility, as well as his strength and selling. The two of them put on a classic and the ending leads me to believe that we’ll see them go at again, hopefully on a grander scale.

https://twitter.com/BeckyLynchWWE/status/1087896290950893568

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