Kevin Owens VS Santos Escobar: United States Championship Number 1 Contender’s Tournament Final
After Roman Reigns arrived at the arena and laughed off Kayla Braxton’s question regarding The Rock, the special “New Year’s Revolution” of Friday Night SmackDown kicked off with Kevin Owens and Santos Escobar colliding in the Final of the United States Championship Number 1 Contender’s Tournament. Before the match could even begin, the United States Champion Logan Paul arrived to join commentary whilst The LWO’s Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde appeared and went brawling to the back with Angel and Humberto. I thought this was a pretty decent contest that got plenty of time which is a good thing as both Kevin Owens and Santos Escobar are top-level competitors. Logan Paul also did a good job on commentary which is to be expected, and in the end, after a pretty competitive bout, Owens dropped Escobar with both the Pop-Up Powerbomb and a Stunner to get the victory. After the match, Paul trash-talked KO before Kevin dropped with a right hand. A totally solid and acceptable way to start the show.
Grade: C+
Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits Promo, Iyo Sky VS Michin: WWE Women’s Championship, Butch and ? VS Pretty Deadly
Cameron Grimes confronted Logan Paul backstage before he got into a bit of an argument with Austin Theory and Grayson Waller. We then cut to the ring to see Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits in fancy suits as it was time for them to cut a promo. Bobby talked about how difficult his 2023 was, but also that both he, Montez Ford, and Angelo Dawkins are all going after Championship Gold this year. A ticking clock then appeared on the big screen as Karrion Kross, Scarlett, and Paul Ellering (!) came out before The Profits were attacked from behind by none other than A.O.P! Kross, Akam, and Razar then laid waste to their new rivals, and yeah, this was cool and I think Karrion’s’ new group has the potential to rule!
Grade: B
It was then time for a Championship match as Iyo Sky put her WWE Women’s Championship on the line against Michin. This was actually a pretty decent encounter that got plenty of time and allowed Iyo and Michin to showcase their talent. It was particularly nice to see (the former) Mia Yim shine as she doesn’t really get to do that that often, but in the end, Sky hit Over the Moonsault on Michin to get the victory. This was easy-to-watch stuff.
Grade: B-
Paul Heyman said The Rock isn’t being invited to “The Island of Relevancy” any times soon before Damage CTRL got all excited in the back as Bayley talked about her grand plan. Bianca Belair then walked over and said that’s not going to happen as she’s going to win the Royal Rumble (she’d better not) before Dakota Kai told Bayley that as the leader, she has to be the one to take care of Belair. Pretty Deadly then made their way down to the ring as it was time for them to take on Butch and a mystery partner. That mystery partner was none other than Tyler Bate which was cool as I’ve been saying that should happen for a while now, and yeah, this was another decent match that showed the Main Roster audience who Tyler Bate is. Pretty Deadly also always looks great, but my one criticism of this match is it didn’t feel particularly important, especially as I’ve already seen Butch lose to Kit Wilson and Elton Prince about 7 times now. Still, this was totally fine and it resulted with Bate getting the victory on his SmackDown debut.
Grade: C+
Undisputed WWE Universal Championship Number 1 Contender’s Triple Threat: AJ Styles VS Randy Orton VS LA Knight
In the Main Event of SmackDown: New Year’s Revolution, AJ Styles, Randy Orton, and LA Knight collided for the right to face Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble. This was a solid Main Event that had some good moments, including both AJ Styles and LA Knight making contact with the referee to stop their opponents from winning the match. Ultimately, though, it didn’t matter much as Roman Reigns’ music then hit and The Tribal Chief as well as Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa arrived and beat up Styles, Orton, and Knight to the point that the match was called off (at least that’s what I think happened). As Roman and Paul Heyman seemed delighted with themselves, “SmackDown General Manager” Nick Aldis came up to The Wiseman and told him that Reigns will now have to defend his Championship at the Royal Rumble in a Fatal 4-Way! Cool, that should be fun.
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