WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights From January 10 – Bleacher Report
Welcome to Bleacher Report’s live coverage of WWE SmackDown on January 10.Following her successful cash-in of the Money in the Bank contract last week, Tiffany Stratton showed up to celebrate her first week as the women’s champion.Speaking of titles two were on the line this week. Shinsuke Nakamura put his United States Championship on the line against the former champion, LA Knight, and Chelsea Green put her United States Championship on the line against Michin.With the Royal Rumble less than a month away, WWE also spent some time setting up the show.Let’s take a look at everything that happened on Friday’s SmackDown.SmackDown opened with a quick recap of the Raw debut on Netflix before Paul Heyman came out to discuss Roman Reigns winning back his Ulafala and becoming the Tribal Chief again.Cody Rhodes came out but Kevin Owens showed up a few moments later. He insulted Rhodes until he lept over the barricade and went after him. Meanwhile, Heyman was alone in the ring when Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga showed up. Jimmy Uso tried to make the save but was taken down by Fatu.Rhodes eventually made his way back to the ring to help drive Fatu and Tonga away. After the break, Michin was in the ring waiting for Green to come out and defend her U.S. title.The challenger was aggressive right out of the gate. She was the one who Green defeated to win the belt, so she was hoping to right a perceived wrong. Unfortunately for her, Piper Niven was at ringside to give the champ an unfair advantage.This was a pretty average match. Green and Yim both looked good but this didn’t quite live up to their previous performance. Green retained with a pin, but you could tell Yim was not done with her.Result: Green defeated MichinGrade: B-Notable Moments and ObservationsKit Wilson and Elton Prince were in action this week against Legado Del Fantasma’s Angel and Berto.All four men started fighting before the ref could call for the bell. The high-flyers took control first and used their speed to keep Wilson on defense.While this was not a totally one-sided battle, Los Garzas definitely dominated most of the action. Wilson even tried to yell for DIY to come help them at one point.Angel and Berto scored a win thanks to a little help from Santos Escobar and Elektra Lopez. This was short and uneventful, but Los Garzas getting a win is never a bad thing. They are a great team with unlimited potential.Result: Los Garzas defeated Pretty DeadlyGrade: C+Notable Moments and ObservationsThe next match saw Nakamura defend his U.S. title against the man he defeated to win it, Knight.They kept locking up and finding themselves in a stalemate. They felt evenly matched in almost every way, which is always a fun dynamic for a match.Knight eventually found a way to take control and brought Nakamura out of the ring to slam his head into the announce table several times.These two have had a handful of matches and their chemistry has grown with each encounter. Nakamura’s versatility pushed Knight outside his comfort zone a bit.Unfortunately, this match ended in a disqualification when Tonga and Fatu interfered. Earlier in the show, Knight had helped lock them out of the building, so they were getting a little revenge.Jimmy and Cody came out to run them off and issued a challenge for a tag match that was accepted.Nakamura vs. Knight was fun but the ending kept it from being what it could have been.Result: No ContestGrade: BNotable Moments and ObservationsAfter a segment backstage with Nick Aldis and some of the SmackDown tag teams, a match was booked with Austin Theory and Grayson Waller taking on Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley.These two teams could not be more different. Shelley and Sabin are fast-paced wrestlers who work at breakneck speeds, but Theory and Waller are a little more methodical and employ more power moves.It’s always fun to see David fight the Goliath, but seeing it in a two on two match is not as common, so it created a fun dynamic.This match had a quick pace and a lot of great double-team action. MCMG played good underdogs who would get in short bursts of offense.Everyone was working well together and put on an entertaining performance, but in the end, it was MCMG that scored the win with Skull and Bones.Result: MCMG defeated A-Town Down UnderGrade: B+Notable Moments and ObservationsStratton came out after a break to celebrate winning the WWE Women’s Championship. She got a great reaction from the crowd, especially when Byron Saxton interviewed her.Nia Jax came out and called her ungrateful and threatened to end her life. The segment led to a fight that ended with Aldis booking a No. 1 Contender’s match to see who gets to fight Tiffy next.Bayley, Jax, Bianca Belair and Naomi were the competitors. The three babyfaces teamed up on Jax and drove her out of the ring almost immediately.Whenever Jax was in the ring, everyone else would fight her. As soon as she was thrown out again, Bayley and Belair would start going at it. These two have a lot of issues going back to 2023, so they weren’t holding back like Naomi and Belair did against each other.Candice LeRae eventually showed up to provide support for Jax, but it ended up not making a difference. Bayley scored the win with the Rose Plant on Naomi.Result: Bayley defeated Naomi, Belair and JaxGrade: B-Notable Moments and ObservationsThis week’s main event saw Jimmy and Cody team up to take on Fatu and Tonga. These four had been fighting on and off all night, so Aldis wanted them to finish it in the ring.Once the initial brawl settled down, Tonga and Fatu began to isolate Uso with quick tags and double-team moves. For a long time, Jimmy was struggling to gain any sort of momentum.The American Nightmare got the hot tag and turned the tide in his favor with a series of high-impact moves.Owens showed up and fought Rhodes to the back, which left Jimmy alone to fight both opponents. Fatu and Tonga were too much for him in the end.Fatu hit a moonsault for the pin to get the victory for himself and Tonga. This was an enjoyable but incredibly predictable match. Betting on KO showing up would have been the safest money in Vegas.KO and Rhodes ended up crashing through a table while fighting near the stage. The show ended with both men being looked at by officials.Result: Fatu and Tonga defeated Uso and RhodesGrade: BNotable Moments and ObservationsThis week’s SmackDown felt like a pretty run-of-the-mill show. It had some matches, some interviews, some backstage segments, a few fights, and a couple of storyline advancements.That being said, this week’s episode was a long three hours. None of the matches stood out as memorable, and with one title match ending without a real winner, it left a lot to be desired.Seeing Tiffy get such a warm welcome was great and a good indication of her babyface potential, but with Bayley as her next opponent, the champ may not be ready to take the high road just yet.Los Garzas and Pretty Deadly had a fun encounter, and MCMG and A-Town Down Under did some solid work. Next week, we will likely see Los Garzas and MCMG fight for the next shot at the tag titles.The blue brand being three hours is going to take some getting used to, but if the company wants it to do well, it needs to start putting in more matches than just two every hour.Grade: C+
