SmackDown airs tonight (Jan. 23) with a live show emanating from Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. This is the eighth episode of SmackDown during the nine week build to Royal Rumble, which takes
place on January 31 in Saudi Arabia.
It’s time for Wyatt Sicks to lose the WWE tag team championship
The Wyatt Sicks are scheduled to defend the WWE tag team championship tonight against MFT. This title match came about after Solo Sikoa stole the family lantern en route to a win over the Wyatts in an 8-man tag team match two weeks ago in Germany.
Uncle Howdy and his misfits tried to get revenge on Sikoa last week by putting the lights out to cost him a WWE championship contender match against Damian Priest. Howdy briefly had the lantern back in his possession amid the chaos, but the tallest Tonga of them all, Talla Tonga, made his presence known to secure the lantern back in the hands of MFT. In some sense, it’s like tonight’s match has winner-take-all stakes for the lantern and the titles.
The Wyatts won the belts back in July and have been champions for more than half of a year. Their run with the gold hasn’t really amounted to much, and it feels like it’s time for change. The belts were just never a good fit for this group given that it made their supernatural and spooky sensibilities become a secondary characteristic. MFT isn’t exactly setting the world on fire, and the group does need to win a championship at some point to really get going.
If there’s one thing that may cost MFT in this match, it could be related to Tama Tonga’s recent backstage interactions with Shinsuke Nakamura. It appears that Nakamura is in the guy’s head. However, their chat came in the context of Tama’s pursuit of the United States championship. In other words, Tama might not even be in this title match tonight. I’m not sure if WWE has made it clear which two members of MFT will be in the ring to challenge Dexter Lumis and Joe Gacy tonight. If the two members chosen are JC Mateo and Tonga Loa, then I’ll be sure to change my mind about which team is likely to win.
Is it time for MFT to win a championship in WWE by dethroning the Wyatt Sicks? Tune into SmackDown to find out.
The rest of the card
Tonight’s show features a 3-way tag team match to determine the next number one contender for the WWE women’s tag team championship. The teams are Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss, Nia Jax & Lash Legend, and Kiana James & Women’s United States Champion Giulia. Will James and Giulia try to get revenge on Flair and Bliss for beating them last week, making it more likely that Jax and Legend win this match? If one of the heel teams win, it may be a sign that Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY will retain the belts against Roxanne Perez and Liv Morgan this weekend at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Damian Priest, Randy Orton, Trick Williams, and Sami Zayn all won qualifying matches last week and will compete in a 4-way match at Saturday Night’s Main Event to determine who challenges WWE Champion Drew McIntyre at Royal Rumble. Priest and Williams crossed paths backstage afterwards and are now set for a singles match tonight. WWE probably doesn’t want to beat either guy on the eve of the 4-way at SNME, so we may be looking at a DQ finish where Orton and Zayn also get involved.
Nathan Frazer vs. Johnny Gargano is also booked on the show. Do Johnny and Candice LeRae need a new ally by their side to deal with Fraxiom now that Tommaso Ciampa is leaving WWE?
Finally, AJ Styles has accepted GM Nick Aldis invitation to come to the blue brand for a friendly chat. Does Aldis have a special offer for AJ to consider before he puts his career on the line against GUNTHER at Royal Rumble?
WWE says Cody Rhodes will “sit down for an exclusive interview” tonight, ahead of his match against Jacob Fatu this weekend at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Does Cody want to talk about all the things he plans to do to Jacob’s ass at SNME, or is he already looking ahead to the Royal Rumble match?
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– Jacob Fatu has yet to cut a promo on Drew McIntyre to explain why he keeps attacking him since returning to WWE. It’s reasonable to assume Fatu thinks Drew is the mystery man who attacked him backstage in October and knocked out his teeth, but Drew denies it was him. If Fatu doesn’t get any promo time tonight, will he at least get a tune-up match against a low card guy for an easy squash win? Or is he more likely to beat Cody at SNME if that’s his WWE return match?
– It looks like Jordynne Grace is on a collision course with WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill. Chelsea Green accidentally collided with Cargill and knocked her off the ring apron last week. How much of an ass whooping is Green in for tonight at the hands of That Bitch?
– Does United States Champion Carmelo Hayes plan to issue another open challenge for his belt tonight in Montreal? Is Ilja Dragunov interested in a rematch after dropping out of the WWE championship mix last week?
– Kit Wilson laid out Matt Cardona last week. Is this the start of Kit’s big push towards a Royal Rumble victory and WrestleMania 42 main event?
– Several Raw stars finally declared for the Royal Rumble match after Cody Rhodes opened the floodgates last week. Which SmackDown stars will follow suit tonight?
– Where the f*** is Santos Escobar? It turns out he’s now in AAA. But where the f*** are the Street Profits?
What will you be looking for on SmackDown?
