WWE SmackDown: Kevin Owens lays out Roman Reigns

WWE SmackDown: Kevin Owens lays out Roman Reigns.

Last week WWE SmackDown ended with Roman Reigns cursing Adam Pearce who opted out of their match at Royal Rumble and was replaced by Kevin Owens. Friday night, that angle and others continued as the first major PPV of 2021 inched closer every day.

The women’s tag team champions, Charlotte Flair and Asuka traveled to SmackDown to compete against the Riott Squad in non-title action. The champions were out to an early advantage but thanks to Billie Kay’s presence the Riott Squad were able to get things under their control. Liv Morgan was able to hold her own against Flair for a while and that transitioned to Ruby working over Flair after the tag was made.

Asuka’s entry to the match changed up the entire pace of the match as she started to dominate Morgan, nearly locking in the Asuka Lock. It looked like Ruby had Asuka pinned for a moment, but Kay’s interference caused the referee to miss the count. That led to Asuka and Flair landing tag team offense into the Natural Selection for Flair to get the pinfall.

Cesaro put out an open challenge which was answered by one-half of the tag team champions, Dolph Ziggler. As with his other matches, Cesaro’s power was on display, but that did not stop Ziggler from finding ways to get in his own offense. The two men continued to counter every move that they pulled out until Cesaro caught Ziggler in mid-air, hitting the Neutralizer for the victory.

Sasha Banks has continued to have issues with Carmella, but this week she wanted to deal with Reginald in a one-on-one match.

Banks chased Reginald around the ring who continued to show off his athletic ability at every turn. He could not stay away forever, eventually eating a Meteora on both the floor and thing once inside the ring. He tried to counter her once against off the Hurricanrana, but she turned it into the Banks Statement, forcing him to submit.

Big E was set to defend his Intercontinental title against Apollo Crews on Friday.

Big E started the match on the offensive, but both men had their swings including Crews landing an impressive moonsault off the apron to Big E on the outside. Just as the action picked up, Sami Zayn jumped into the ring and attacked both men, causing the disqualification.

Baron Corbin and Dominick Mysterio competed in a singles match. Mysterio attempted to use his speed to start the match but it was just a matter of tie before Corbin got his hands on the smaller man, slamming him around the ring. Mysterio did not put up much of a fight before taking the End of Days and being pinned right after.

The main event of the evening was a singles match between Adam Pearce and Paul Heyman. At least that was the idea until Heyman faked an injury, leading to Roman Reigns taking his place. As soon as Reigns stepped into the ring, he started his assault on Pearce, landing a Superman Punch before the bell even rang.

The brawl continued until Kevin Owens rushed in and attacked Reigns. They would then battle all around the ring, delivering blows back and forth. They fought until Owens landed the Pop-Up Powerbomb on Reigns, putting him through the announce table to bring a close to the show.

WWE SmackDown

• Charlotte Flair and Asuka defeated the Riott Squad via pinfall
• Cesaro defeated Dolph Ziggler via pinfall
• Sasha Banks defeated Reginald via submission.
• Apollo Crews defeated Big E via disqualification
• Baron Corbin defeated Dominick Mysterio via pinfall