WWE SmackDown: Braun Strowman returns

All bets are off heading into Sunday’s Royal Rumble.

The WWE Royal Rumble is a few short days away. The road to WrestleMania starts with a 30-man and 30-woman battle royal with the winner getting a shot at the title of their choice at the biggest show of the year. But to get there, the stars of SmackDown had to get through one more night of action leading into the big PPV.

Bianca Belair and Bayley started out the night with a singles match. Bayley tried to use her experience early in the match, but Belair was more than ready to throw her around. While that started out fine, it was not long until Bayley took control, grounding the stronger woman. While that worked for a little while, the advantage did not last forever. Even as Belair continued to fight back, Bayley stayed on top of her, keeping the new contender in check.

Belair looked like she was struggling in the match until a counter in the corner allowed her to life Bayley up into the Kiss of Death, finishing off the former champion via pinfall.

King Corbin beats Dominick Mysterio again

King Corbin was out next but before he could even get to the ring Dominick Mysterio was all over him for payback from last week.

When the match kicked off, Mysterio kept Corbin on the back foot, eventually knocking him from the ring. That momentum only lasted until Corbin was able to get his hands on the smaller man, planting him with a belly-to-back suplex. Mysterio kept trying to out-quick Corbin, but every time the bigger man was able to put his power into play Mysterio was smashed into the mat. The back-and-forth continued until Corbin landed the End of Days, pinning Mysterio for the second time in two weeks.

The big match of the evening was a singles match between AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan.

Styles and Bryan are considered two of the best wrestlers in the world and they showed it during the match, exchanging holds and maneuvers at every moment. Bryan was rolling early, but it was a distraction Sami Zayn that helped Styles take control early in the match. Styles used that opportunity to ground the former champion, nearly finishing him off with the Calf Crusher via submission.

The action outside the ring would be the takeaway, as Cesaro, Big E and Zayn got into a fight outside the ring that spilled inside, causing a disqualification. The result was a restart into a six-man tag match between the men in the ring.

The six-man tag was more of the standard variety of tag matches, with the six men exchanging offense. Zayn was able to give his team the early advantage, attacking Bryan’s knee and isolating him on their side of the ring. Bryan struggled to overcome Cesaro, Styles and Zayn who continued to tag out, keeping the fresh man in the ring. Bryan eventually made the tag to Big E who went on a rampage in the ring until Cesaro got his hands on him. Yet another disqualification occurred with the Miz and John Morrison appeared, attacking Big E.

This led to a five-on-four tag match and once again Bryan was isolated on the wrong side of the ring. The odds were eventually evened when Sheamus ran out to join the fray. It was Sheamus’s presence that put his team over the top. He landed a stiff Brogue Kick to Zayn, pinning him in the middle of the ring. The fight continued until Braun Strowman returned and destroyed everyone in the ring, standing tall.

WWE SmackDown

• Bianca Belair defeated Bayley via pinfall
• Baron Corbin defeated Dominick Mysterio
• Sheamus, Daniel Bryan, Otis, Big E and Shinsuke Nakamura defeated AJ Styles, The Miz, John Morrison, Sami Zayn and Cesaro via pinfall