Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE SmackDown," the show that, this time next week, will have presented it's first three-hour episode! That means this will likely be the last of our "SmackDown" reviews for a long time to come anywhere close to covering the entire show we'll do our best here, though obviously the main takeaway from the blue brand's 2024 finale is Cody Rhodes challenging Kevin Owens to a ladder match at Royal Rumble.
We'll cover that, plus the show-opening six-woman tag, ChelseaGreen's first address as WWE Women's United States Champion, WWE's inexplicable use of BraunStrowman, and some shaky logic in the tag team division, along with the whole "this show getting an extra hour" thing. If we missed anything, you can probably read about it by going over to our "SmackDown" results page, but the WINC staff not covering an entire blue brand episode via our strongest opinions is about to be very much the norm, so enjoy the more-or-less comprehensive nature of this last one while it's still here! These are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 12/27/24 episode of "WWE SmackDown."
Friday's episode of "WWE SmackDown" marked the last night of SmackDown's traditional two-hour programming. This means that, starting on the January 3, 2025 episode of "SmackDown," the blue brand will occupy a three-hour block on USA Network.
Just how on Earth are we going to fill in those three hours?
I am 100% convinced that this was a move made by USA Network to get more eyes on their ads, because there is no way anyone in WWE creative with half a brain thinks this is a good idea. "WWE Raw" used to be a three-hour show (and it will be again, once it comes to Netflix pray for us all, dear readers), and it was an absolute slog to get through. The amount of times I've said "I can't believe we have two hours left" should qualify me to a psychiatric evaluation, if not a referral to a memory expert. That's with a roster that's approximately one third larger than "SmackDown." If "Raw" can barely put out three hours of compelling programming ads included with 33% more people on their roster, what on Earth makes WWE and USA Network that "SmackDown" will do the same with less than 50 active competitors?
There could be some positives to this. Just a small stroll through the blue brand's roster will show some talent that have not really been given legitimate feuds Blair Davenport, Giovanni Vinci, and both Pretty Deadly boys (although they've been getting some backstage time). An expansion into a three-hour timeframe could give them the opportunity to have some television time, given that WWE doesn't decide to dedicate that extra hour to 30-minute promo segments with top stars like they do on the red brand (exaggerating, but the point stands). Hopes for underrated stars to be showcased more under these new broadcasting bandwidths are valid ones, and honestly, logical.
They're logical if we don't consider WWE's track record with these three hour shows. So seldom does run time go to the advancement of underrated stars. Rather, I find that the extended run time go to more ads. Whether that is mathematically true or not, just the feeling of a three-hour show being mostly ads should worry you. Why do we remember sitting through ads and not the actual content of the show? It's because the booking is not inspired enough, not entertaining enough, for us to remember. So, we just remember the ads, because at least those are flashy.
My point is: "Raw" can barely create three hours of memorable programming with nearly 70 wrestlers what makes you think that "SmackDown" can do the same with less than 50? WWE thinks this makes them a big deal, but ratings trends are already in the negatives, creative is no way equipped to handle an extra hour of writing, and WWE fans are getting tired of two hours of programming, let alone three.
The only people benefiting from this are advertisers.
Written by Angeline Phu
The final "SmackDown" of 2024 kicked off with a six woman match featuring the tag champions, Bianca Belair and Naomi, along with Naomi's friend (and Belair's nemesis), Bayley. They took on WWE Women's Champion, Nia Jax and her crew of Tiffany Stratton and Candice LeRae. Prior to the match, Jax accused "The EST of WWE" of being behind Jade Cargill's attack. She also insulted Stratton by implying she's too dumb to orchestrate an attack on someone.
The match featured a lot of hard hitting action and they all looked good. The defining moment of the match came when everyone was down, including Jax. Stratton wanted to cash in her briefcase on her mentor, but was stopped by LeRae. Stratton shouted she wants to be champion. The distraction allowed Naomi to pin LeRae.
Stratton has teased a cash in multiple times. They're likely saving it to set up a WrestleMania match or she cashes in at 'Mania. If it's happening at 'Mania, they'd be wise to spread the teases out so it's not so overdone. When the actual cash in finally happens, the payoff is going to be worth it.
Belair and Naomi holding the tag titles while Cargill is out of action plants just enough doubt that one of them could be behind it (though a returning Charlotte Flair is highly likely). Cargill's attack hasn't been forgotten and there's plenty of options for the "whodunnit" angle. This match got time, had great in-ring work, and moved two big storylines in the women's division forward heading into the new year. We love to see it.
Written by Samantha Schipman
Braun Strowman is only recently returned from injury, but I'm already wondering where on Earth WWE is going with him after the last few weeks. I thought we were getting away from him facing Carmelo Hayes, with Strowman defeating Austin Theory on "SmackDown" tonight, and Hayes in an excellent (until the end) main event match against Sami Zayn, but, it appears as though WWE is going back to that well. When I really thought about it, I suppose it makes sense somewhere along the line, because with Bronson Reed now out with injury post-WarGames, there aren't too many big men to feed to Strowman.
Apparently, WWE thinks Solo Sikoa is a good fit for that, however, despite Sikoa finally getting a singles match against Roman Reigns in a Tribal Combat match on the debut of "WWE Raw" on Netflix here very soon. What I really hated about all of this, however, is the fact Strowman interrupted an excellent main event, and from there, it all went to hell. Hayes was bailing on Zayn and seemed to be heading to the back, but Strowman's music hit, and he grabbed him, brawling to the back before the new Bloodline came out for Zayn. Hayes and Strowman didn't stay in the back for long, though, and Strowman just came out, dumped Hayes on the stage, and then made his way to the ring to take on the new Bloodline. Strangely, commentary mentioned that he had history with the Bloodline, which we don't think is exactly true. Strowman has history with Reigns, who beat him for the championship, THEN the Bloodline storyline started to unfold, so that didn't make much sense, and confused those of us here working "SmackDown."
This all ended pretty abruptly and very lame, as well. Strowman was beaten down by the Bloodline before Zayn got back into the thick of it. He was taken out by a Samoan Spike, then Kevin Owens' music hit, and all the men in the ring, outside of General Manager Nick Aldis, just kind of rolled out for "SmackDown" to move on to the real main event segment Owens and Cody Rhodes facing off. Just watching them all roll out under the bottom rope, and assumably slink to the back, was kind of silly. It might still be too early to tell, but I'm not sure WWE is going to be booking "The Monster Among Men" too strongly this time around. Hey, at least he isn't teaming up with a child and holding the tag team titles yet, I guess.
Written by DaisyRuth
Ever since winning the Women's United States Championship at Saturday Night's Main Event, Chelsea Green has been an absolute national treasure. Did we really expect anything else from the first-ever Women's US Champion? From the most glamorous Women's US Champion? From the tallest Women's US Champion? From the
Green was ushered in to her championship celebration by a dressed-to-the-nines Piper Niven, and her commitment to her character was a blue brand highlight. She beautifully changed her typically nasally, pretentious tone to one of an eloquent (yet still entitled) stateswoman, and threw in some clever and appropriate Green puns, such as changing "the White House" instead "the Green House." All the while, however, she never lost what makes her Chelsea Green: her utter sense of ego and self-centeredness (and I mean that in the most positive, commendable way I can). She teased an acknowledgement of her right-hand woman (vice president?) Niven, but in classic Green fashion, redirected the praise to herself. She is such a good and entertaining heel, you can't even be mad at her silly antics. She understands her character so well, and pulls it off so naturally that there is nothing to do but applaud her for her commitment.
Green has always been kind of ridiculous, which at first made me ever-so-slightly worried about the legitimacy of the Women's United States Champion not because Green needed to adopt a more serious character, but because I didn't want the women's midcard title to be treated as a joke, or otherwise not seriously like some titles we know (cough cough, WWE Women's Tag Team Championships). Instead, Green is making this title look like a crisp stack of Benjamin Franklins right now; that championship is not wearing her, she is wearing that championship.
Green's ability to simultaneously have fun with her character (there is no way she's not having fun with this current WWE run) and legitimize a brand new title speaks volumes to her ability and knowledge of the business. In playing the airheaded villainess, Chelsea Green shows us all how incredibly intelligent she is in the ring, on the microphone, in creative all of it. It is not easy for a joke character to break into serious title contention, nor is it easy for a championship-holder to not allow their character to clash with or fall victim to the power of their championship. Green has to have a very strong understanding of her character, and not just the broad strokes. No, she has a grasp over every aspect of her performance, from her outfits to her reactions to her ad-libs every minute detail is fully understand and performed to the best of her ability. This character was given to her by WWE creative and was not from her (lovingly) twisted mind, but it doesn't feel like it. Green intimately knows her character, and can put it up against the power of a championship to elevate both aspects of her performance.
Let's add the smartest US Champion to her list.
Written by Angeline Phu
There's bound to be a lot of people involved in storylines in the tag team division due to the multi-person nature of it, especially if it's one that involves more than two parties. However, that doesn't mean that nonsensical decisions should be made to set up multiple Number One Contenders on "SmackDown" for the WWE Tag Team Championship to the point where it leaves the audience confused and dumbfounded as to why what's happening on television is happening. That's the exact situation that WWE booked themselves into tonight.
The Street Profits and B-Fab had absolutely no reason to believe Pretty Deadly's claims that Los Garza launched an attack on them in order to prevent them from challenging then-champions Motor City Machine Guns for the WWE Tag Team Championship on December 6. Not only was Johnny Gargano close enough by the attack on that show to request that him and Tommaso Ciampa take their spots in the title match, but Elton Prince very clearly said his name before opting to instead say that it was Los Garza thanks to dirty looks from #DIY. It made Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins look incredibly stupid for believing him, especially considering that Pretty Deadly are meant to be heels rather than babyfaces. Furthermore, there was no reason to then have Motor City Machine Guns approach The Street Profits later and remind them that they want to get their hands on #DIY and are subsequently looking to get a shot at the WWE Tag Team Championship in a plot point that's already pretty obvious to the audience. The whole thing was pointless, and there were plenty of other, more efficient ways to have set up the match between The Street Profits and Los Garza.
Written by Olivia Quinlan
Kevin Owens has been a revelation in his work as a heel in recent months and this week's show continued to follow that vein with the battle lines drawn between he and Cody Rhodes for a Royal Rumble rematch. Going into the show, Nick Aldis made it clear that despite Owens' claims to the contrary, having stolen the Winged Eagle WWE Championship, he had no rightful claim as champion following his loss to Rhodes at Saturday Night's Main Event. He then served Owens the ultimatum: return the title or face the consequences.
Owens finally emerged to address that demand in the main event, catching Aldis off-guard having just had to deal with a Bloodline attack on Sami Zayn in itself an interesting convergence of arcs if only momentary and setting out his counter-arguments. He put it straight, he had the champion beat had it not been for the referee being indisposed, and he deserved a rematch. The very fact this is true gives a compelling edge to Owens as a character, affirming his belief that Rhodes is the "Golden Boy" with preferential treatment from management, and Aldis himself re-affirmed that when he reiterated that he was not going to negotiate. The segment was very clearly heading towards Owens doing something to Aldis, and there was a palpable tension to that and provided the perfect moment for Rhodes to then interrupt. When he emerged, he cut a promo to get the crowd behind him, but the good bit came when he went against management and medical advice to call for a ladder match.
Now, this works even better provided KO wins the title at the Royal Rumble, but nevertheless this strikes as an important moment in the story between them. Rhodes is 2-0 over his rival but both come with their own asterisks, first with the idea that he and Owens were still friends and thus "not trying to hurt one another," then the whole referee mishap, so the stipulation for the threequel should serve to put a definitive end to things. This will be Rhodes' first ladder match since his last match with AEW, where he similarly fought to ascend and claim two title belts representing one championship. He lost that night to Sammy Guevara, and it marked the end of his journey with the company. That would be an excellent parallel should Owens prove successful in his own first ladder match in years, but at the very least serves as a point of reference for how well he works under the format. All in all, it was a great angle to close the show, progress the story to its crescendo, and get the road to the Royal Rumble properly started.
Written by Max Everett
