WWE SmackDown: 5 Biggest news stories - Bianca Belair carries Otis, Roman Reigns gets ambushed (January 22, 2021)
From an intergender match to Sami Zayn's protests against an alleged conspiracy, this week's edition of WWE SmackDown featured many contrasting moments.
Last night's SmackDown was quite an interesting show for fans who prefer segment-heavy episodes. WWE storylines progressed in creatively enticing ways through the medium of segments and promos, even if it meant that the in-ring product was slightly overshadowed this week.
Which show was better this week, RAW or SmackDown? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Here are the five biggest news stories from this week's episode of WWE SmackDown (January 22, 2021).
#5. Cesaro impressed WWE viewers for a second consecutive week on the Blue brand
On the heels of Shinsuke Nakamura's impressive performance in a gauntlet match, Cesaro seems to have picked up some huge momentum as well.
The Swiss Superman defeated Daniel Bryan in an impressive match on last week's WWE SmackDown. Bryan came out this week to talk about his Royal Rumble aspirations.
However, he was eventually interrupted by Cesaro. The Leader of the 'YES' Movement challenged Cesaro to an impromptu rematch, but The Swiss Cyborg had no desire to face someone who he had beaten in the previous episode.
Instead, Cesaro issued an open challenge to anyone except Bryan. Dolph Ziggler answered the challenge, which led to an impromptu clash that resulted in Cesaro's second straight singles victory on WWE SmackDown.
It was a bit strange that a bad guy like Ziggler, who is currently a SmackDown Tag Team Champion, would answer a heel Superstar's one-on-one open challenge right away. Moreover, the clash did not benefit The ShowOff as he eventually lost against Cesaro.
The Swiss Superman seems to be on an upward path to success. The same goes for Shinsuke Nakamura, even if he wasn't featured on the show this week. It will be interesting to see if both of these tag team partners will somehow collide against each other in singles action down the road.
Later in the night, Ziggler was seen talking to Sonya Deville backstage. While the details of their conversation weren't revealed, it might not be a coincidence that Deville advised The Street Profits to take a break from in-ring action - due to Montez Ford's injury - soon after. Moreover, backstage politics would make sense in this case since Ziggler and Deville already have an established history with each other.