WWE SmackDown Live: 5 things we learned from this week's episode (January 22, 2019)
The go home episode of SmackDown Live tried to hit it out of the park yet again but did falter on a few occasions this week.
Becky Lynch and Asuka kicked off the show in great fashion, after which Charlotte walked out to provoke a brawl between the two women. The brawl helped build up the rivalry between the two women heading into the big event.
The Miz had a good match with Cesaro where Cesaro came out on top, which was followed by The Bar driving Miz and Shane McMahon through the announce table.
Naomi and Mandy Rose were not so lucky, as their match went from bad to worse and completely watered down a good rivalry that was brewing between the two women.
Rey Mysterio and Andrade put on another good match, but it did not reach a conclusion thanks to the interference of Samoa Joe, which could have been avoided.
An overall good show with a few weak spots took SmackDown right to the doorsteps of the Royal Rumble, where we will see four championship matches from the blue brand along with participation in both the Royal Rumble matches which could see at least one victor from the blue brand.
Take a look at the 4 things we learned from the episode before the Royal Rumble and share your thoughts on the episode in the comments section below!
#5 SmackDown haven’t built up their Royal Rumble contenders like Raw
Raw has used their previous two episodes well to build up their contenders for the Royal Rumble match. We have seen men like Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins, Elias, Dean Ambrose, and others work well to show that they are real threats for the match.
However, SmackDown has been focused on the internal feuds in the roster more than the Royal Rumble match, and therefore we haven’t seen too much build up.
Only this week did we see Randy Orton return only to remind that fans that he is still active and will be a part of the Rumble through his attack on Samoa Joe.
Joe, on the other hand, awkwardly tried to prove his dominance for the match after interrupting Rey Mysterio and Andrade's match.
Joe could have easily done so after defeating Mustafa Ali, but waited until the end of the night, after which Orton attacked him and laid him flat on the mat.