WWE SmackDown 1/12/2024: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved
Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE SmackDown," the show where these days Roman Reigns won't even come around to team with his cousins anymore! That dude might need to get his priorities in order. Anyway, we have plenty of Bloodline stuff to talk about in this edition of the column, along with new feud developments, injury scares, and most importantly, Pete Dunne possibly getting his name back! Of course, we're not going to talk about everything, but you have our live coverage/results page for that. This is where we zero in on the things (both good and bad) that particularly stood out to us.
With the Royal Rumble on the horizon, wrestling opinions are at a premium these days, and the WINC writing and editorial staff have opinions for days. Here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 1/12/24 episode of "WWE SmackDown."
Loved: Nick Aldis is not backing down from anybody
Nick Aldis' authority is undeniable, and after three years of Roman Reigns running "WWE SmackDown" like his personal playground, seeing somebody exercise their power over "The Tribal Chief" is a breath of fresh air.
Aldis is the executive figure recent WWE programming has needed. Adam Pearce has been shown to put his foot down when it matters, especially during his investigation of former General Manager Sonya Deville, but he has been more of an amicable figure who does Rick Rolls in his spare time. Deville abused her power, and didn't do much besides antagonize former talent Naomi and then-"Raw" Women's Champion Bianca Belair. Aldis, on the other hand, is polite but firm — he's on the opposite side from the villain, but he feels less like a hero and more like the embodiment of officialdom. He's not offensive, but is clearly here to be a lawful neutral figure in a locker room full of chaotic evils and neutral goods.
Aldis' impartial judgment, combined with his sovereign hand over the "WWE SmackDown" locker room, is refreshingly effective against Reign's tendency to worm his way out of situations via The Bloodline. He's doing what Pearce and other authority figures in WWE couldn't: teaching Reigns and The Bloodline that yes, their actions have consequences. Aldis' firm insistence on Reigns participating in a fatal four-way match is like watching a spoiled child get their first reality check. It feels like justice.
I would be remiss if I didn't talk about Aldis' much-needed on-screen presence without mentioning his chemistry with Paul Heyman. The two work wonderfully together, and make their interactions feel hostile when there is not a single hand raised (though I did wish that Heyman had been the third person in the six-man tag match). Objectively, they are merely negotiating, as businessmen and authority figures are known to do. However, the way that Aldis prevents Heyman from fully holding the microphone, and the way Heyman bares his teeth at Aldis like a hyena — it's incredible to watch two people make a compelling storyline, in a wrestling ring, without wrestling.
Given that Aldis is objectivity incarnate, there may come a day where he plays the bad guy in his relentless application of laws and regulations against a beloved babyface. For now, though, Aldis is the hand of order against a chaotic landscape, burned and barren by the carelessness of The Bloodline. It's so interesting to watch The Bloodline's biggest obstacle be somebody who will (probably) never throw a punch at them.
Written by Angeline Phu
Hated: Cameron Grimes vs. Grayson Waller didn't happen
After exchanging words on the "New Year's Revolution" episode of "WWE SmackDown," last week, a match between Cameron Grimes and Grayson Waller was scheduled for this week.The show opened with Waller making his way down to the ring, flanked by Austin Theory, but as Grimes was making his way to the ring, Solo Sikoa ambushed him with the Samoan Spike. The Bloodline continued to attack Grimes, much to the amusement of Waller and Theory — though they wisely left the ring when they found themselves in the sights of Sikoa and Jimmy Uso.
Grimes last competed on "WWE SmackDown" in November, losing to Waller in under three minutes. He also wrestled on "WWE NXT" later the same month in a No. 1 contender's match for the North American title against Bronson Reed, Johnny Gargano, and Wes Lee, which he also lost, and he hasn't had a televised match since. That was supposed to change Friday night, but instead, Grimes was sacrificed to the ever-hungry maw of The Bloodline's TV time.
Grimes was given a monster debut on "WWE SmackDown" when he was first called up, but WWE has never followed up. He should be in a much better position than he is now. Not letting this match happen makes it feels like the company is continuing to stall him, and he deserves better.
Written by Samantha Schipman
Loved: What's in a name?
If you've been saddled with "Butch" for almost two years now, the answer is everything.
If I may peel back the curtain for a moment, I must admit that I was a little behind on "SmackDown" tonight. So when my 15-year-old son burst into my office tonight, assuming I wasn't behind, yelling, "Yeah! Pete Dunne is coming back!" I didn't have much of a reaction other than him scaring the s*** out of me, as I was watching an insurance commercial at the moment.
That the moment, as it happened, was ruined, is no matter. (Thank you, contemporary television technology, for allowing live rewind and such.) After all, we've been saddled with "Butch" for almost two years now. What does matter is that it appears to be happening. It's finally happening. And the best part is that it's happening even though it didn't happen right away, even when other similar name tweaks were happening. Folks like Austin Theory and Tommaso Ciampa got their first names back. Apollo added back the Crews surname. Doudrop righteously ceded to Piper Niven; Max Dupri died so LA Knight could live.
And yet, for some reason, "Butch" endured.
But all's well that ends well, and these days in WWE, we don't mind being patient. We like to tell long term stories. Everything counts, and things actually make sense! Tyler Bate's debut last week set things up perfectly, and the vignette featuring he and the-soon-to-be-artist-formerly-known-as-Butch was perfect, with the former imploring the latter to remember who he was and decide what his name is going to be. (And did I catch a Blackpool reference? Hmmm.)
Butch didn't answer his friend, but we all know what he was thinking. Dunne ain't done after all.
Written by Jon Jordan
Hated: The Bianca Belair-Damage CTRL feud
Don't get it twisted: I think Bayley and Bianca Belair are two of the most talented performers in the women's division. In fact, I thought they put on a really good back-and-forth match Friday night, and appreciated the fact that they were given the time to do so.
That being said, there was one glaring thing that personally tainted my enjoyment of the match: the feeling that this whole feud between Belair and Damage CTRL is growing quite stale. This has been an ongoing story for a number of months now, and yet, it feels as though things are at a standstill since the Women's WarGames match at Survivor Series, with there being no progression made storytelling-wise or any upping of the stakes. What's worse, there's already a much more intriguing angle in play — that being the slow implosion of Damage CTRL and Bayley being inevitably ousted as the leader of the group.
The Women's WarGames match was the perfect place to end the program between Damage CTRL and Belair, with the face team coming out on top in a feel-good victory and the two parties moving into other feuds after. Instead, it feels like Belair is stuck in somebody else's story.
Written by Olivia Quinlan
Loved: Paul Heyman's recruitment drive
Paul Heyman isn't just one of my favorite figures in wrestling (and has been for years and years); he's probably one of my favorite actors on television. His facial expressions and mannerisms, both in the ring and in backstage segments, are unparalleled by any other wrestling manager in history, if you ask me, and this week was no different. With Roman Reigns not on the show and Nick Aldis making a match with "all three" Bloodline members against Randy Orton, LA Knight, and AJ Styles in the main event, Heyman was stuck trying to find a partner for Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa throughout the night. And the antics that followed were fantastic.
Heyman was trying to recruit a third tag team partner the entire evening. It started off with him trying to tempt Carlito, who had just been in a brawl with Santos Escobar. Heyman came out of the Bloodline's locker room with an apple, saying "Don't take this as Adam tempting Eve with an apple," which was a witty, kind of dumb line that made me laugh. What really popped me, though, was Pretty Deadly approaching Heyman, trying to get in the match, but not really understanding. Kit Wilson and Elton Prince addressing Heyman as "my liege" and "my lord" was hysterical. The fact they didn't understand that the Bloodline only needed one partner, against all three big names of Orton, Styles, and Knight, was great. Heyman also tried to recruit Bobby Lashley, to no avail.
By the end of the night, just before the main event, Heyman called off the "auditions" and said he wasn't worried. Uso said he was, but Sikoa wasn't. And why should he be? That's Solo-freaking-Sikoa, master of the Samoan Spike, he has absolutely nothing to be scared of. I'm a sucker for a great, ongoing segment throughout the night, and when you add the genius that is Heyman, it's a true key to success for any episode of "SmackDown." Heyman really keeps the Bloodline together and their storylines flowing when Reigns isn't on TV, and for that, he deserves all the recognition.
Written by Daisy Ruth
Hated: Injuries suck
I legitimately hate seeing people get hurt. Having been on the shelf all too often in the last couple of years, making me question what's left of my "old man hockey" career, I've never hated it more. What's worse than someone getting hurt? Two people getting hurt, which is what happened with Carmelo Hayes and Austin Theory in their match tonight.
In what looked like some sort of modified Spanish Fly, which to these never-having-taken-even-a-back-bump eyes could be a bad guess (though I definitely knew it was amiss from the setup), Theory pulled Hayes off a seated position from the top rope, and as they rotated, it looked like the back of Hayes' head landed square on Theory's forehead. The referee went right to Theory to check on him and threw up the X, so at first, I thought he got the worst of things. But ultimately, it appeared as though the doctor who hit the ring was spending more time on Hayes. In the end, we all hope both men are just fine, and that we have the latest positive instance of a WWE official stopping a match without even allowing an "if" or a "maybe" to halt his decision.
And that's where this Hate becomes a Love.
Kudos to WWE for instituting this level of staunch protocol. Just a couple of weeks ago, a similar situation occurred with Giovanni Vinci on "Raw," and he remains in concussion protocol. Again, let's hope that Hayes and Theory are both just fine, but all the props go to the official involved, the doctor, and the organization for taking no chances. We know too much these days to allow for anything less — and the whole industry would do well to take notice and fall in line.
Written by Jon Jordan