Match Ratings For WWE Smackdown 1/17/19 From Sean Ross Sapp

Team Hell No!!

• Kane comes out in full gear to speak about how happy he was to hurt so many people in the Royal Rumble match.
• Bray Wyatt appears on the TitanTron and says it’s not nice to make fun of hurting. Bray says that The Fiend and Kane GOT IT ON. Okay, man.
• There’s a nice, quick graphic about the history of Bray Wyatt and Kane. Bray says The Fiend will never forget Kane.
• The lights go out, and Kane is outside the ring. Fiend comes up through the ring and is waiting on Kane.
• Kane asks what took so long, and Bryan attacks the Fiend. Team Hell No forever!!! Kane hitting Fiend with the Beverly Hills Cop 2 Judge Reinhold “WHAT TOOK U GUYS SO LONG” is peak Smackdown on Fox.
• Fiend retreats under the ring.
• Team Hell No celebrates in the ring.
• Backstage, Daniel Bryan challenges The Fiend to a strap match at the Royal Rumble.

John Morrison (w/ Miz) defeated Big E (w/ Kofi Kingston)
5.5/10

• John Morrison and Miz fit way better together now than they did when they teamed the first time around.
• Shit, we gotta get the parkour explanations. Big E should do parkour in this match with Morrison.
• Morrison has his slow mo entrance back.
• A lot of this is establishing that Morrison can in fact, flip. It also establishes that Big E can suplex.
• Kofi Kingston has new blonde hair. Morrison hits Kofi with a flipping knee after Miz gets pushed into the steel stairs. This is an incredible spot.
• Miz keeps Morrison from eating a YOLO Dive.
• That lame looking running knee of Morrison’s lands, but Starship Pain barely does.
• John Morrison was the first person I ever saw do a standing star press.
• This would have easily hit 6/10 if the offense actuallY hit for Morrison. Everything else was good.

The Usos defeated The Revival
5.75/10

• Roman Reigns pumps up the Usos before the match. It’s great to see them together.
• Usos seem reinvigorated. Early on it’s really a showcase for them.
• Dash Wilder got some air on that Samoan Drop. He also gets flapjacked on a tornado DDT attempt.
• Superkicks, Uso Crazy (a bad one) and Uso Splash gets the win.
• Clean win.
• I expect many matches like this for The Revival over the next few months. At least the other people in them have willing, capable dance partners who won’t hold it against them.
• The Revival say WWE doesn’t care about the tag division.

Lacey Evans defeated Bayley
5.75/10

• Sasha Banks is seen on the ground, and Lacey Evans and Bayley are battling it out. Bayley and Sasha Banks are in the trainer’s room.
• Adam Pearce tells Bayley she’ll face Lacey tonight, instead. She’s not happy.
• Adam Pearce kicked ass in his spot on Smackdown. That was good Like, he wasn’t necessarily an authority figure, but clearly had some kind of authority, and wasn’t over the top one way or another about it. Very grounded and firm. I really enjoyed that segment.
• Lacey has improved a lot in the ring. I wouldn’t call her a standout or anything, but she seems much more comfortable. There’s a nice spot where she rolls over Bayley’s back into the ring.
• Bayley also seems much better as an over-the-top heel.
• They rely heavily on turnbucks spots, which are safe when you’re working with someone a little more green, but it’s good.
• They go from one into a Women’s Right.

Backstage Crappenings

• Chad Gable is backstage being interviewed when Sheamus interrupts him and makes fun of him for being short. Gable tackles him and they fight. It sounds like every real fight Sheamus has been in.
• Braun Strowman declares for the Royal Rumble, but also declares he wants an IC Title shot.
• Elias is out to sing a dumb song and the Artists are out. Sami Zayn rants and says that everyone is on notice. Strowman ends up making the save. “Cesaro would have been eliminated if it were the Royal Rumble, right there.”
• Bayley vs. Lacey Evans, Shorty G vs. Sheamus are both added to the Royal Rumble.

Alexa Bliss (w/ Nikki Cross) defeated Sonya Deville (w/ Mandy Rose & Heavy Machinery)
SHORT

• Sonya Deville asks Mandy Rose to get Otis to be ringside for her match tonight.
• Otis is in her corner, in fact.
• Mandy Rose gets involved, and Otis catches her when she’s knocked off the top rope.
• Sonya Deville is pinned off the distraction.

Tables Match
If Roode wins, Corbin picks the stipulation for his match against Reigns. If Reigns wins, he picks
Roman Reigns defeated Bobby Roode
4.75/10

• King Corbin and Dolph Ziggler give Robert Roode a pep talk backstage.
• They go through a barricade early and Baron Corbin comes out.
• They tease a superplex through a table. Then a powerbomb, Glorious DDT, Samoan drop.
• Why aren’t the Usos helping Reigns? Corbin distracts and Ziggler hits a superkick.
• Why are they beating him up and not just putting him through a table?
• LMAO we all know Bobby Roode wasn’t about to jump from the top rope through the announce table. The Usos show up and take him out.
• Ziggler is put through the announce table with a neat double splash.
• Roode gets speared through the table in the ring. Roman Reigns wins.
• This was fine, but too much of it didn’t make sense.
• Reigns picks Falls Count Anywhere.

Rating Guide
10- Perfect, 9- MOTY Territory, 8- Excellent, 7- Great, 6- Good, 5- Average to above average, 4- Slightly below average, 3 or below: Poor

Each match starts at a 5 and slides up and down based on entertainment, execution, time, environment, reaction and stakes. The ratings are in no way an indication of a “star rating,” which is a completely different system. A standard, non-offensive “TV match” lands at a 5. The gap between 5.75-6 is generally the largest, with anything reaching 6 being recommended viewing.
These are opinions, and incredibly inconsistent ones that may change upon a second viewing, or sitting on the match for a period of time. Don’t take them too seriously, and have (and share) your own!