The latest episode of Friday Night SmackDown had some exciting segments as it marked the final show ahead of WWE’s first premium live event of the year– Royal Rumble. Aired on January 26, the show opened with Randy Orton, who seemed desperate to become a 15-time World Champion by winning the scheduled Fatal Four-Way match at Royal Rumble. AJ Styles and LA Knight, who are also set to feature in the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match, also marked their presence on SmackDown. The trio engaged in a war of words before Knight announced himself as the “biggest threat” to Roman Reigns.
After the opening segment was wrapped up, Santos Escobar took on Carlito while Kayden Carter and Katana Chance put their Women’s Tag Team Championship on the line. The other fights saw Austin Theory square off against Carmelo Hayes and LA Knight go head-to-head against Solo Sikoa.
Let’s take a look at the results of these battles:
Santos Escobar vs Carlito
Carlito took the early control as he smashed Santos Escobar into the turnbuckles as soon as the bell rang. The Legado del Fantasma appeared at ringside and tried to distract Carlito. It helped Escobar gain momentum and launch an armbar. Carlito countered with a vertical suplex, which was followed by a spinebuster. While all of these were going on, Elektra Lopez and Zelina Vega were engaged in an altercation at ringside. Taking advantage of the situation, Escobar rolled up Carlito with the folding press to secure the win.
WWE Women’s Tag Team Title match– Kayden Carter & Katana Chance vs Asuka & Kairi Sane
The champions pulled off a great start to the title defence, with Asuka and Sane being thrown out of the ring. Cartan stepped down and attacked both opponents with a dropkick and a splash. Sane tried to go for the elbow drop but ended up hurting her arm. After being tagged in, Asuka immediately received a facebuster. Sane then dragged Chance outside before driving her to the announcement desk. She came back with an insane elbow on Carter to become the new title holder.
Austin Theory vs Carmelo Hayes
Austin Theory started the fight with a big dropkick on Carmelo Hayes followed by some chops. Melo then received the A-Town Down but somehow managed to reverse it. The duo exchanged some strikes before Theory used a rope-assisted pin to pick up the victory. Once the match was over, Waller joined hands with Theory to attack Hayes. Williams interfered to save Melo. The duo is set to clash in the Dusty Cup finals at NXT Vengeance Day.
Solo Sikoa vs LA Knight
Solo Sikoa got some early blows before LA Knight came up with a spear. He then sent Sikoa into the ring post before launching some big strikes and a DDT. Sikoa then received a brutal running knee to his head. AJ Styles came into the ring and took out Knight with a Phenomenal Forearm before the match ended via DQ.
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