{"id":111012,"date":"2021-01-08T10:01:03","date_gmt":"2021-01-08T16:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=111012"},"modified":"2021-01-08T10:01:03","modified_gmt":"2021-01-08T16:01:03","slug":"wwe-friday-night-smackdown-primer-1-8-apollo-with-big-intercontinental-challenge-dolph-roode-want-the-smoke-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2021\/01\/08\/wwe-friday-night-smackdown-primer-1-8-apollo-with-big-intercontinental-challenge-dolph-roode-want-the-smoke-gold\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER 1\/8:  Apollo with Big Intercontinental Challenge, Dolph &amp; Roode Want the Smoke &amp; Gold"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-4009940020\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><h3>WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER<br \/>\nJANUARY 8, 2021<br \/>\nTAMPA, FL. IN THE THUNDERDOME AT TROPICANA FIELD<br \/>\nAIRS ON FOX NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EST<br \/>\nBY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR<\/h3>\n<p><em>Announcers: Michael Cole and Corey Graves<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Match Results and Segments from Last Week<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Universal Champion Roman Reigns opened the show alongside his cousin Jey Uso and council Paul Heyman. He talked about what he did for his cousin as well as Heyman, until recent rival Kevin Owens interrupted. Kevin said the Big Dog has become the Big Bitch and said he would fight Jey later in the evening. Later, Kevin would petition Adam Pierce to make the match. Reluctant at first, Pierce would eventually grant the match.<\/li>\n<li>Intercontinental Champion Big E defeated King Corbin via DQ when former champion Sami Zayn got involved. Steven Cutler &amp; Wesley Blake (Knights of the Lone Wolf) also got involved until Apollo Crews came out to help Big E. This led to a tag match where Big E &amp; Apollo defeated Corbin &amp; Sami. Corbin and his knights walked out on Sami. Later, with Apollo backstage, Big E would pay tribute to the late Brodie Lee and then issue an open challenge to the Intercontinental Championship. This was accepted by Apollo right away.<\/li>\n<li>The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott &amp; Liv Morgan) defeated Natalya &amp; Tamina.<\/li>\n<li>Bayley &amp; Carmella defeated Smackdown Women\u2019s Champion Sasha Bansk &amp; Bianca Belair. Carmella pinned Sasha.<\/li>\n<li>Sonya Deville made her return by just walking through backstage but didn\u2019t say a word.<\/li>\n<li>Smackdown Tag Team Champions the Street Profits (Montez Ford &amp; Angelo Dawkins) held a New Year\u2019s Smoke-tacular. This would eventually be interrupted by Dolph Ziggler &amp; Robert Roode.<\/li>\n<li>Daniel Bryan &amp; Otis (with Chad Gable) defeated Shinsuke Nakamura &amp; Cesaro.<\/li>\n<li>Kevin Owens defeated Jey Uso. They brawled afterwards into the Thunderdome. Eventually Roman Reigns showed up and threw Kevin off the stage and onto a table.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here are some WWE exclusives following last week\u2019s show, including Billie Kay because I know some of you like her schtick:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Carmella and Bayley celebrate a strong start to 2021: SmackDown Exclusive, Jan. 1, 2021\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5dbCBFP0Jh0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Billie Kay fancies herself capable of helping any tag team: SmackDown Exclusive, Jan. 1, 2021\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/p3h9omKNgaw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h4>Items Advertised by WWE<\/h4>\n<p>Smackdown delivers two championship matches tonight as the new year continues to unfold and we head towards the Royal Rumble. People continue to declare via various methods including on TV, social media, etc. WWE\u2019s official preview is not up as of yet, but two matches have been advertised for tonight:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Street Profits take on Dolph Ziggler &amp; Robert Roode in a SmackDown Tag Team Title Match.<\/li>\n<li>Apollo Crews to challenge Intercontinental Champion Big E next week on SmackDown.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>SmackDown Tag Team Championship: Street Profits (champs) vs. Dolph Ziggler &amp; Robert Roode<\/h4>\n<p>Dolph Ziggler &amp; Robert Roode once again challenge the Street Profits for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship. They\u2019ve had a few shots, one of which was the first night post-draft and a few weeks ago but came up short both times. They own a non-title victory over the Profits from the end of the November.<\/p>\n<p>As part of last week\u2019s attack, Montez\u2019s knee was \u201cinjured\u201d and WWE is playing up that issue, questioning whether they can retain despite this issue. The Profits have been champions since February when they defeated Seth Rollin &amp; Murphy for the Raw Tag Team Championship. They \u201cswitched\u201d titles with New Day when they were drafted to Raw and the Profits to Smackdown. Ziggler &amp; Roode are one-time holders of the Raw Tag Team Championship. Apparently, they are the Dirty Dawgs now:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u201cwe have all the characteristics of a human being: flesh, blood, skin, hair; but not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed and disgust\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/dawgs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#dawgs<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7QQULQfjW9\">pic.twitter.com\/7QQULQfjW9<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Nic Nemeth (@NicTNemeth) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NicTNemeth\/status\/1346865294669537287?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 6, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: I was personally glad when Ziggler &amp; Roode interrupted the segment last week. They were serious and meant business which is what you want to see out of a heel team, despite what you may think about these men and how they\u2019ve been pushed. I liked how they presented themselves in the interview afterwards despite Ziggler doing his typical yelling. I could see a title change tonight.<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Intercontinental Championship: Big E (champ) vs. Apollo Crews<\/h4>\n<p>I talked about what led to this match in the recap section of the report. In 2020, Apollo Crews finally realized WWE gold when he won the U.S. Championship defeating Andrade (remember him?) on a Raw episode in May. He lost the title to current champion Bobby Lashley at Payback in August. Big E won his first singles title since 2014 when he won the Intercontinental Championship from Sami Zayn in a lumberjack match.<\/p>\n<p>Tonight, Apollo looks to regain gold as he challenges Big E for the Intercontinental Championship. Here\u2019s Apollo in a WWE exclusive:<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2067856168\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Apollo Crews says that all is fair when it comes to titles: SmackDown Exclusive, Jan. 1, 2021\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Zlm0niSzDes?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: I don\u2019t see a title change, but rather a vehicle to lead to whatever they have planned for Big E. I could see Sami getting involved and wanting a rematch. Corbin could get involved as well. They\u2019re so start\/stop with Apollo that it\u2019s hard and not worth predicting what they may do with him.<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Other Expectations and Final Thoughts<\/h4>\n<p>It looks like the feud is not over between Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns, so we\u2019ll see what they have in mind. I don\u2019t see Owens as a Royal Rumble winning candidate, so another title match at the event could be in order. Having brawled outside the ring and into the Thunderdome could indicate a Falls Count Anywhere match could be in the offing. I\u2019m curious if another title match between Sasha Banks and Carmella is in the cards, with Carmella pinning Sasha last week. Outside of the perpetual issues on WWE television, Smackdown continues to be the show to watch. I look forward to seeing how things play out on multiple fronts.<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Thank you for reading!<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-3825983195\"><div id=\"pwtor-2229060651\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER JANUARY 8, 2021 TAMPA, FL. IN THE THUNDERDOME AT TROPICANA FIELD AIRS ON FOX NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EST BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR Announcers: Michael Cole and Corey Graves <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2021\/01\/08\/wwe-friday-night-smackdown-primer-1-8-apollo-with-big-intercontinental-challenge-dolph-roode-want-the-smoke-gold\/\" title=\"WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER 1\/8:  Apollo with Big Intercontinental Challenge, Dolph &amp; Roode Want the Smoke &amp; Gold\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":111017,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,52,4403,27,5893,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prowrestlingnews","category-opnionandanalysis","category-smackdown-primer","category-specialists","category-tvprimers","category-news_wwe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2021\/01\/20210101_SDPrev_BigECrews_FC_Friday-b291bd467f1e682af868f561b72a3a6c-2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111012"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111012\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111018,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111012\/revisions\/111018"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}