SmackDown airs tonight (Jan. 2) with a live show emanating from KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. This is the fifth episode of SmackDown during the nine week build to Royal Rumble, which takes place on January 31 in Saudi Arabia.
Moving back to three hours is bad for SmackDown
It’s a new year in WWE, and SmackDown is now back to being a three hour show, starting with tonight’s episode.
We’ve been here many times before, and three hours is just too long for a weekly wrestling show. People who like the change to three hours will often say it means
more TV time for talented wrestlers like Giulia, Motor City Machine Guns, or NXT call-ups. And while that may be true to some extent, the overall quality of the show will likely get worse, because it’s really hard to write three hours of compelling wrestling TV every single week.
Keep in mind that the reason why this change is happening isn’t because WWE suddenly feels the need to showcase new talent as a top priority; it’s because USA Network is paying WWE more money to produce more content. Money is the priority here, and everything else takes a backseat.
The average ratings for three hour SmackDown will be worse than the average ratings for two hour SmackDown. This always happens, because three hours is too long for the average viewer to watch. WWE will likely try to compensate for that by giving more TV time to its current stars, the ones who are theoretically there to draw ratings.
That means more filler talking segments for stars who are already regularly featured, before they wrestle later in the show. It means some of the matches these stars have that normally last two segments will now be extended to a third segment, just for the sake of killing time. It means extended entrance times, and more time spent on replays of things we just saw 30 minutes earlier. We’ve seen all of this before; the negatives of the three hour change will outweigh the positives on average, though not every single time.
With all of that in mind, it’s kind of fitting that the first main event for SmackDown’s move back to three hours is Damian Priest vs. Aleister Black in an Ambulance match. This feud has gone on way too long and just needs to end already. WWE commentators did hype this one up as if it’s the blow-off match to their story, so hopefully that’s the case, regardless of the winner.
When they last got physical, Black laid out Priest with a shovel backstage, so perhaps it’s time for the babyface to get more payback than what he already got when the Terror Twins recently reunited to beat Black and Zelina. There are no disqualifications in this sort of match, which means an outside party may affect the outcome, immediately giving one of these wrestlers a new feud waiting on the other side.
Which wrestler will be sent out of the building in an ambulance when SmackDown returns to three hours to kick off the new year? Tune in tonight and try to stay up an hour later to find out.
The rest of the card
WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill is scheduled for a non-title match tonight against Michin. However, WWE might have to cancel the match and/or change plans after Michin was injured in a house show match against Jade. Will they just fast forward to the part where Tiffany Stratton returns to come after the belt that Cargill took from her?
There’s also an 8-woman tag team match booked on this show. It will be Rhea Ripley, Alexa Bliss, Charlotte Flair, and IYO SKY against Lash Legend, Kairi Sane, Nia Jax, and Asuka. Will Rhea and IYO make a statement by pinning one of the Kabuki Warriors ahead of their WWE women’s tag team championship match on next week’s Raw?
GM Nick Aldis says he has a new opportunity this week for jobber Kit Wilson, which probably means Wilson is getting his ass kicked by someone. Could it be free agent Trick Williams or NXT Champion Oba Femi who gets to kick his ass?
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre will fight over the belt next week in Berlin in a Three Stages of Hell match. The problem for Rhodes this week is that he’s not above the law, so he’ll be stripped of the gold if he lays a finger on Drew before their title match. Will McIntyre take advantage of this fact and attack Cody again tonight? Will McIntyre reveal what type of gimmicks he is choosing for each of the three stages of hell?
– Carmelo Hayes is the new United States champion, but his celebration was cut short when he was attacked backstage by Johnny Gargano. Will former champion Ilja Dragunov stick around alongside Hayes to help the new champ fend off DIY?
– Now that it’s a new year and the Royal Rumble is coming up, will GM Nick Aldis suddenly find a clue about the identity of the mystery attacker(s) who took out Jacob Fatu and his teeth in October?
– Solo Sikoa thinks he has the whole world in his hands, and it’s just a matter of time until MFT win the WWE tag team championship from Wyatt Sicks. Will Uncle Howdy’s group of misfits do some super spooky shit tonight to remind Sikoa that he’s in way over his head?
– Will three hours of SmackDown result in more meaningful TV time for Giulia? She is still pissed off and wants to win back the women’s United States championship from Chelsea Green.
– Joe Hendry was featured in a big way on last week’s holiday show, where he performed an insult song on The Miz’s tiny balls, before teaming up with Santa Claus (Otis), an elf (Akira Tozawa), and the Easter Bunny (R-Truth) to humiliate the A-Lister even more. Will Hendry’s move to the SmackDown roster be made official tonight?
– Which wrestlers will be first to declare for the Royal Rumble match? How about Sami Zayn, or former Rumble winner Shinsuke Nakamura?
– Where the f*** is Randy Orton?
What will you be looking for on SmackDown?
