WWE SmackDown: Sonya Deville returns to WWE
WWE kicked off its first SmackDown of the year with a violent fight between Kevin Owens and Jey Uso, plus the surprise return of Sonya Deville.
The New Year started with another edition of WWE SmackDown on Fox. Roman Reigns, Sasha Banks and others were set for another night of promos and matches as the angles continued, heading into the next WWE Network special.
The first match of the night brought out the new WWE Intercontinental champion, Big E. He was looking to continue the momentum after last week’s title victory. Baron Corbin was his selected opponent, and he had his Knights of the Lone Wolf in tow.
Big E was out to an early advantage in the match, but he ate a clothesline from Corbin that immediately slowed him down. Corbin continued to assault Big E, even bringing out counters for all the offense that E could muster. However, E almost picked up the win with a counter of his own until Sami Zayn and the Knights of the Lone Wolf jumped in to attack Big E, causing a disqualification.
However, that was not the end of things. Apollo Crews came down to help and Adam Pearce made this a tag team match, Crews and Big E against Corbin and Zayn.
Corbin and Zayn controlled Crews for the majority of the match, even as they argued amongst themselves. He would get the tag to Big E who came in to put a wealth of hurt on Corbin. That was until Corbin caught Big E coming off the ropes with the Deep Six. Zayn tagged himself back in but kept arguing with Corbin so much that Corbin and his henchmen walked away from the ring, leaving Zayn alone to take the sit-out powerbomb from Crews to get the win.
The Riott Squad were up next for more tag team action. Billie Kay continued to look for a partner to help her defeat them and this time she pulled out a trick. Kay brought out Nataly and Tamina to face the Riott Squad instead of getting in the ring on her own.
Kay’s chatter outside of the ring did not do much to help the team she represented, as it kept distracting them from the work at hand. Tamina lifted Morgan up to finish her off with the Samoan Drop but Morgan rolled through to pin Tamina and get the win for her team.
Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair looked to get some revenge against Bayley and Carmella in tag team action.
Carmella tried to match power with Belair early, but found herself at a disadvantage, running from the ring. Belair was doing great in this match until Carmella and Bayley were able to isolate her on their side of the ring. Banks made the tag and started assaulting Carmella both inside and out of the ring. Banks rolled Carmella into the Banks Statement, but Reginald pulled her from the to keep the submission from not happening. But his distraction played into the outcome as Banks knocked him off the apron and turned right into an X-Factor from Carmella, pinning her for the win.
Daniel Bryan and Otis teamed up to compete against Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura and Cesaro were in control early in this match by isolating Bryan and pummeling him while making quick tags. Bryan was able to dump Nakamura over the top rope, finally crawling across the ring to tag in Otis. Otis came in and cleaned house before having to tag back out Bryan. Bryan laid out Cesaro with the running knees, but Nakamura tried to steal the pin. That allowed Bryan to roll into the LaBell Lock for the win.
Kevin Owens and Jey Uso did not come to the ring to have a wrestling match in the main event, it was a full-on fight between the two men. Owens did not let Uso get any space, beating him up every time he could get his hands on him, while calling out for Roman Reigns. Uso fought back for a moment, but he still ate the Stunner and was pinned in the middle of the ring.
WWE SmackDown results
- Big E defeated Baron Corbin via disqualification
- Big E and Apollo Crews defeated Baron Corbin and Sami Zayn via pinfall
- The Riott Squad defeated Tamina and Natalya via pinfall
- Daniel Bryan and Otis defeated Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura via submission
- Kevin Owens defeated Jey Uso via pinfall