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WWE SmackDown comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Jan. 24, 2020) from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, featuring all the latest build to the upcoming Royal Rumble pay-per-view (PPV) scheduled for this Sunday night in Houston.
Advertised for tonight: A Universal title contract signing, Roman Reigns & The Usos vs. Baron Corbin & Bobby Roode & Dolph Ziggler, and more!
Come right back here at 8 p.m. ET when the SmackDown live blog kicks off once the show starts on USA. It will be below this line here. (REMINDER: NO GIFS OR PICS ARE ALLOWED IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. OFFENDERS WILL BE BANNED.)
WWE SMACKDOWN RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR JAN. 24
I’ve been trying, there’s no denying. It’s sending me out of my mind. I’ve seen reason change to treason, it’s losing its sense of all kind. How much longer will it take for the world to see? We should learn to live and simply let it be, but in the meantime, I’m liveblogging this here pro wrestling show for y’all.
The show opens with the Usos making their entrance, followed by Roman Reigns.
A recap of last week’s main event plays.
King Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, & Robert Roode vs. Roman Reigns & the Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso)
Ziggler and an Uso to start, back elbow from Dolph in the corner. Side headlock, reversed, shot off, shoulder block, big chop and a tag to his brother. Whip, back elbows into double elbow drop, only two. Ziggler tags Roode in, collar and elbow, Uso with a wristlock, Robert backs him into the corner and beats him down. Right hands from Jimmy, charging in, back body drop sends him to the floor and Dolph runs him into the steel steps hard!
Referee Danilo Anfibio checks on Jimmy and calls for a trainer, saying it’s his knee. Trainers arrive and help him to the back to send us to break.
Back from commercial and Reigns backs Ziggler into the ropes, right hand, tag to Uso. Jey comes in, punch to the midsection, snapmare, off the ropes, falling headbutt gets two. Dolph drags himself up the ropes, back elbow and a tag to Corbin. Rake of the eyes, Uso blocks a right hand and fires his own back, whip reversed, slide low, sidestep the charge, out and back in, back elbow, Jey up top.
Perched... Baron steps under the crossbody and catches him with Deep Six... NOPE! Uso out to the floor, tag to Roode, he rams him into the apron and passes him back inside. Cover for two, drag Jey over, tag Ziggler in. Stepping on Uso’s throat, dropping an elbow, just a two count. Tag to Corbin, overhead elbows, quick tag back to Robert.
Right hands, Jey slips away, enzuigiri connects and the path is clear... BUT BARON YANKS ROMAN OFF THE APRON TO BLOCK THE TAG! He beats Reigns down and throws him over the barricade into the crowd and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Uso passes Corbin into the corner hard, still looking for that tag... TAGS MADE! Reigns running wild, whip reversed, big lariat sets Ziggler up for the corner lariats! Off the ropes, finish with the big boot, calling for it... Roode runs interference and lets Corbin grab the Big Dog’s hair for the distraction! Dolph hits the superkick... NOT ENOUGH!
To the floor, Ziggler jawing, back inside, Heartstopper gets another nearfall! Corbin tags in, they keep working the Big Dog over, tag to Roode, he goes for the Glorious DDT but Roman reverses into the one-arm sitout powerbomb! Crawling for the tag... this time Dolph yanks Jey off the apron and puts him hard into the barricade! Heels keep working Roman over, Ziggler tuning up the band... SUPERMAN PUNCH COUNTERS!
Nobody there for the tag... BUT JIMMY USO IS BACK AND MAKES THE TAG! He comes in hot, Samoan drop, Corbin to the floor... SUICIDE DIVE! Back in, diving crossbody on Roode... BARON CUTS HIM OFF! End of Days blocked, Superman Punch runs the Lone Wolf to the floor and Roman follows with right hands! Uso getting himself back together while Reigns and Corbin fight deep into the crowd!
Jimmy heads up top, Ziggler tries to cut him off, Roode jockeying for position but he gets knocked down...
Roman Reigns & the Usos win by pinfall with a diving splash from Jimmy Uso on Robert Roode.
We get a recap of the Daniel Bryan / Bray Wyatt stuff.
Lacey Evans is doing a photoshoot backstage to send us to break.
Back from commercial, we get a recap of last week’s match between Bayley and Lacey Evans.
Lacey Evans is interviewed.
She says she was tired of sitting in the back and hearing Bayley and Sasha Banks disrespect the women’s division and she learned early on to fight back against bullies. She talks about dealing with her father losing his battle against depression and says it doesn’t matter what cards you were dealt, you can stack the deck and play however you like.
She gets emotional as she continues in that vein before saying she’ll be a champion that inspires people to accomplish their goals. A video clip of her daughter being accosted is played and Lacey says it makes her upset and people didn’t see her backstage crying afterward as her mom explained to her that this is her job and what she does.
Last week she put Sasha on the shelf, and come Sunday—
BAYLEY BLINDSIDES HER AND BEATS HER DOWN! Referees pull her off while the champ screams “Where’s your daugher now?!” at Lacey.
Carmella and Dana Brooke are interviewed backstage.
Carmella lays out her case for being the favored pick to win the women’s Royal Rumble and Dana says we’ve all seen her Wikipedia page, but at the Royal Rumble, anyone has a chance to take big swings against anyone. She might be perceived as the underdog, but she knows what she’s worth and what she needs to do.
As Brooke continues, Lacey and Bayley come brawling back. Evans puts the champ hard into a road case and attacks Bayley with one of her high heels as everyone tries to pull her off and we go to break.
Back from commercial we get some hype for some kind of football business.
Fire and Desire get a backstage segment where Sonya Deville apologizes for trying to involve Otis for her benefit.
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. Fire and Desire (Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville)
Waistlock applied, the match immediately breaks down because Bayley and Lacey come down brawling...
The match goes to a no-contest, presumably.
The women brawl in the ring as a preview of the women’s Royal Rumble.
Elias is playing guitar backstage when Braun Strowman rolls up to tell him to go to work.
Back from commercial, Elias is in the ring to do his schtick for us.
He plays a song about everybody he’s gonna eliminate in the Royal Rumble on his way to winning it and brings Braun Strowman out halfwway through it.
(RRROOOAAARRR!)
Braun comes down and Elias apologizes for springing this on him, but he wants to sing a duet. Strowman polls the crowd and they move on to their duet, but they get interrupted by their opponents right away.
Braun Strowman & Elias vs. the Artists (Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura)
Elias and Cesaro to start, the Drifter working holds but Cesaro gets away with uppercuts, whip across, hip toss blocked. Elias picks him up, Snake Eyes! Brawling in the corner, knucklelock, jockeying for position, Cesaro shoves him away and clocks him with a huge lariat! Dumping Elias to the floor, we go to break.
Back from commercial, Cesaro in control of Elias, whip into the corner but the Drifter gets a boot up. Clear the apron, mule dropkick out of the corner and the path is clear. Kick Cesaro away, Nakamura makes the tag and comes in with a stomp to the back. They dump Strowman to the floor and Shinsuke clocks Elias with a spinning wheel kick! Calling for it... ELIAS CUTS HIM OFF WITH A KNEE OF HIS OWN!
Braun back in position for a tag and he gets it! The monster cleans house, Stinger Splash sets up a huge biel and he follows with another Stinger Splash and a clubbing blow! Nakamura back with a kick, another one, tag to Cesaro, double teams, double back suplex and a sliding knee... NOPE! The match breaks down, running powerslam, tag made...
Braun Strowman & Elias win by pinfall with a diving elbow from Elias on Cesaro.
We see Daniel Bryan backstage steeling himself for his contract signing.
Big E is backstage greasing himself up and a dude comes by to try and lift him, failing.
Kofi Kingston rolls up to ask what the hell is going on, and E says if he’s greasy, eliminating him can’t be easy. They talk about Kofi Kingston’s impending match against John Morrison and how they’ve been backing up their tag titles for months.
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get a recap of our opening match.
Baron Corbin is interviewed backstage.
He’s contemptuous of the interview and uses it as a platform to talk about how bad he’s gonna beat Roman Reigns on Sunday, and how he’s gonna go on to be crowned Universal Champion at WrestleMania.
Thence we go into our annual Royal Rumble by numbers video.
New Day make their entrance and we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get another Sheamus vignette.
Miz makes his entrance alongside John Morrison.
He cuts a promo asking why his buddy didn’t get the big comeback pop and talks up how he’s gonna beat everybody.
John Morrison vs. Kofi Kingston
Back and forth, very athletic ducking and dodging, Morrison with the whip across, Kingston with a monkey flip to cut his momentum off! Whip, dump Kofi to the floor, tornillo... NOBODY HOME! John lays Kingston out and their seconds get in each other’s faces and we go to break.
Back from commercial, the action is back in the ring. Morrison with an uppercut, whip across, Kofi with the gamengiri from the apron, sunset flip but John rolls through and kicks him in the face! Posing, Starship Pain... NOBODY’S HOME! Kingston draws himself up, big chops, springboard Frankensteiner! Pop-up double stomp gets two, off the ropes, Boom Drop connects!
Morrison counters Trouble in Paradise with a crescent kick of his own... STILL NO! Drawing Kofi up, putting him up top, thumb to the eye... SPANISH FLY OFF THE TURNBUCKLES CAN’T PUT KINGSTON AWAY! Kicks, Kofi hits the SOS but it’s only good for two! John with a folding press, feet on the ropes for leverage but Big E saves the match for his partner!
Miz attacks E, Big gives chase and Kofi drops Miz off the apron with Trouble in Paradise! Morrison with a forearm to the back of the head, up top...
John Morrison wins by pinfall with Starship Pain.
We see Daniel Bryan walking backstage to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Michael Cole is in the ring to MC our contract signing.
He explains the rules of a strap match and introduces our participants, Daniel Bryan first and Bray Wyatt after. But Wyatt doesn’t make his entrance, he appears on the Firefly Fun House set trying and failing to fax the contract over. He crumples it up and throws it out, saying it may actually be a blessing in disguise— why would you ever willingly tie yourself to Him?!
Bray calls customer service and asks for translation from ancient Sumerian, which leads to Bryan calling him out and demanding he get himself to the ring to sign the contract. Wyatt says his attorney, Mercy the Buzzard, has advised him to stay here, and Bryan says the truth is, all Bray does is run from his past and from his mistakes. This Sunday, he’ll be tied to the Fiend and he won’t be able to run or disappear.
Wyatt asks if Bryan just said mistake and fanfare plays because mistake is the word of the day. Bryan never did learn his lesson, he betrayed him and he’s a liar, and he’ll get his. Oh, and since he won’t be competing against him, it’s only fair that the Fiend sign the contract.
The lights go out and when they come back up the Fiend is in the ring! Dan attacks and Wyatt gets the Mandible Claw locked on him, screaming! Bryan passes out... SISTER ABIGAIL! He tears the American Dragon’s shirt off and whips him with the leather strap! The Fiend then sits at the table and stabs his hand with the pen! He wrenches it in and signs the contract in blood!
He takes it to Bryan and drops it in front of him, and the lights go out again.
When they come back up, Dan, his back covered in welts, stares at the bloody contract.
That’s the show, folks.