5 Talking Points from this week's SmackDown (22nd January 2021) - Owens destroys Reigns, Intergender match steals the show
The latest episode of SmackDown was an entertaining one. While the Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman laid out a masterplan to take down Adam Pearce in the main event, the Intercontinental Championship match ended prematurely.
WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Charlotte Flair and Asuka made their way to SmackDown this week to take on The Riott Squad. On the other hand, the Blue brand's Women's Champion Sasha Banks wrestled Carmella's crony, Reginald, in an intergender match.
Apart from that, Kevin Owens delivered an incredible promo and then made his presence felt by interfering in the main event. Cesaro continued his brilliant run on SmackDown by defeating Dolph Ziggler this week.
That said, let's discuss all the talking points from this week's SmackDown that has got the fans buzzing. Do share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section.
#5 Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman laid out a masterplan to trap Adam Pearce on SmackDown; Kevin Owens comes to his rescue
In the opening segment of this week's SmackDown, Paul Heyman challenged Adam Pearce for a match in the main event of the night. Though this booking decision made little sense when the announcement was made, it added to the ongoing saga between Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Pearce.
Heyman made his way to the ring but turned the tables on the WWE Official at the last moment. In a moment of brilliance, Heyman said the card is subject to change and introduced his replacement for the match, the Universal Champion Roman Reigns.
The Tribal Chief didn't waste much time and started brutalizing Pearce from the get-go. However, the Tribal Chief's Royal Rumble opponent Kevin Owens made the save and took him down. For the first time since their rivalry started on SmackDown, Owens found himself in a dominant position. While Jey Uso's absence from this week's episode can be attributed to that, it nevertheless showcased KO as a threat to Reigns and his title reign.
The promo KO delivered tonight about his family was very emotional. While it's still hard to believe The Prizefighter walking away as the Universal Champion, he's doing some of the best work of his career and certainly deserves to have a run with the title.
On the other hand, Apollo Crews had seemingly aligned with Reigns last week, yet he didn't show up to make the save. Has that storyline been dropped or, the previous week's mentoring session was a one-off thing? Maybe we could get an answer to this at the Royal Rumble.