For two hours on Friday night's SmackDown, WWE fans were teased with the prospect of Royal Rumble winners Bianca Belair and Edge announcing who they would each face in championship matches at WrestleMania. Ultimately, those declarations did not happen because of outside forces butting their way into the process.
Belair came face-to-face in the ring with SmackDown women's champion Sasha Banks, but an interruption from Carmella and Reginald resulted in a brief scuffle instead of an announcement. Meanwhile, universal champion Roman Reigns was driven to rage by perceived disrespect from Edge, only to be left down and out after a stunner from Kevin Owens when he finally got Edge in the ring to close the show.
CBS Sports was with you all night, bringing you recaps and highlights of all the action.
Roman Reigns demands Edge's respect
Roman Reigns opened the show with a promo, quickly brushing aside his win over Kevin Owens at the Royal Rumble before shifting his focus to Royal Rumble match winner Edge. Reigns said that since Edge gets to challenge for the world championship in the main event of WrestleMania, he knows he's coming for the true main eventer. Reigns then took issue with being out first on the night ahead of Edge, saying the Royal Rumble winner was being disrespectful for making him wait. Reigns demanded Paul Heyman make Edge come to the ring, which Heyman attempted to initiate only to be told that Edge was not in the building. An incensed Reigns demanded to know why Edge was "playing games" and demanded he give a decision by the end of the night.
Edge, who had arrived in the arena earlier in the night, closed the show by coming to the ring for a promo. After discussing how his desire to regain a world title he never lost drove him to the Rumble victory, he turned his attention to the difficulty of choosing his WrestleMania opponent, saying everyone he asks gives him a different answer. Reigns, Heyman and Jey Uso then interrupted the promo, marching to the ring. Edge asked if Reigns was sweating him, bringing backup to the ring. Reigns dismissed Uso, telling him he would meet him at the bus. Reigns demanded Edge acknowledge him, walking forward as Edge smirked. Reigns was then spun around by Kevin Owens and hit with a stunner which left Reigns down as the show went off the air.
This was the first real business between Reigns and Edge, who seem to be destined to meet at WrestleMania. It wasn't entirely satisfying to not get an answer, but this will likely get dragged out a bit with Edge being used to grab ratings across multiple brands for as long as they can manage. Reigns and Edge do have some good chemistry, and the involvement of Uso and Owens could allow for some tag action or other ways for the two to get a feel for each other in a live match. Reigns remains, as he has been for months, an outstanding performer on the mic. Grade: B
Bianca Belair almost calls WrestleMania shot
Bianca Belair was interviewed backstage where she was shown footage of her parents celebrating her win at the Royal Rumble. When asked who she would challenge at WrestleMania, she said she was not going to listen to people telling her to be patient on choosing who to face and she would make her decision soon.
Belair came to the ring later in the show and said that if she truly wanted to put the "EST" in WrestleMania, she would have to do it her way. Before she was able to announce her decision, she was interrupted by Reginald. Reginald suggested that Belair could beat Asuka, but that she couldn't beat Sasha Banks -- or Carmella. Carmella then came to the ring and pointed out that she holds two wins over Banks and said she was certain she could do the same to Belair. This brought out Banks, who brushed off Carmella, before turning her attention to Belair, giving her credit for her Rumble performance. She said Belair may have it all, but she doesn't have the SmackDown championship. Reginald interrupted again and Belair whipped him with her hair, ending the segment without Belair making a final decision.
It's hard to not feel like this was a true waste of time. Belair was ready to make her announcement -- which is pretty clearly a match with Banks at WrestleMania -- but the interruption of Reginald and Carmella stopped that. It's just unclear why, if she was so ready to call her shot, quickly and easily dispatching with Reginald meant the segment had to immediately end with the tease rather than the announcement. Belair's talk about not wanting to wait and just do things her own way was great, it just would have been better to see that actually play out. Grade: C-
What else happened on SmackDown?
- Dominik Mysterio def. King Corbin via pinfall after a frog splash. Rey Mysterio hid under the ring prior to the finish to aid his son in getting the win.
- Cesaro def. Daniel Bryan via submission with a Sharpshooter.
- Bayley def. Ruby Riott via pinfall with a headlock driver. Billie Kay, who was ringside on commentary, tried to help Riott when she was caught in a submission. An ensuing argument between Liv Morgan and Kay caused a distraction leading to Bayley's win.
- Robert Roode & Dolph Ziggler def. Otis & Chad Gable via pinfall when Roode hit Gable with the Glorious DDT.
- Hulk Hogan appeared remotely to briefly discuss the anniversary of his loss to Andre The Giant on The Main Event 33 years ago. Hogan also warned Drew McIntyre and Reigns that whomever Edge faces at WrestleMania is in trouble.
- Intercontinental Championship -- Big E (c) def. Apollo Crews and Sami Zayn via pinfall after hitting Crews with The Big Ending. The match saw some impressive and creative offense throughout. Zayn thought he had the match won after hitting Big E with a Helluva Kick but the pin was broken by Crews. Zayn felt he had been cheated as part of his ongoing "conspiracy theory," but was tossed over the barricade by Crews. As Crews reentered the ring, he was hit by a Big Ending for the finish.
"results" - Google News
February 06, 2021 at 10:33AM
https://ift.tt/36O5FlV
WWE SmackDown results, recap, grades: Royal Rumble winners Edge, Bianca Belair face off with champions - CBSSports.com
"results" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2SvRPxx
https://ift.tt/2Wp5bNh
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "WWE SmackDown results, recap, grades: Royal Rumble winners Edge, Bianca Belair face off with champions - CBSSports.com"
Post a Comment