{"id":111880,"date":"2021-01-22T12:48:24","date_gmt":"2021-01-22T18:48:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=111880"},"modified":"2021-01-22T12:48:24","modified_gmt":"2021-01-22T18:48:24","slug":"wwe-friday-night-smackdown-primer-1-22-continued-hype-for-the-royal-rumble-big-e-vs-apollo-for-the-ic-title-one-more-time-obstacles-for-bayley-and-bianca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2021\/01\/22\/wwe-friday-night-smackdown-primer-1-22-continued-hype-for-the-royal-rumble-big-e-vs-apollo-for-the-ic-title-one-more-time-obstacles-for-bayley-and-bianca\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER 1\/22:  Continued Hype for the Royal Rumble, Big E vs. Apollo for the IC Title One More Time, Obstacles for Bayley and Bianca"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-32153369\" 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 22, 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>Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Jey Uso with Cesaro as a guest commentator.<\/li>\n<li>Apollo Crews was seen conversing with Universal Champion Roman Reigns. He later defeated Sami Zayn and had some heated words with Intercontinental Champion Big E.<\/li>\n<li>Natalya defeated Liv Morgan.<\/li>\n<li>King Corbin defeated Rey Mysterio due to inadvertent interference by Dominik.<\/li>\n<li>Bianca Belair was a guest on the inaugural episode of Ding Dong, Hello hosted by Bayley.<\/li>\n<li>Cesaro defeated Daniel Bryan.<\/li>\n<li>Throughout the night they weaved elements of the contract signing between Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Adam Pearce. One point that was emphasized several times was that the contract was standard and contained all of the expected language. Roman wanted a stipulation for their match at the Royal Rumble. Initially it was a no DQ, but then he wanted Last Man Standing. During the closing segment, they made their way out for the signing. After Roman signed, Pearce left the table and made his way up the ramp. He displayed a knee injury and said it\u2019s in the contract that management can find a suitable replacement opponent in any match. He introduced Kevin Owens as that replacement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here are the exclusive interviews from last week:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Shinsuke Nakamura is targeting Roman Reigns: SmackDown Exclusive, Jan. 15, 2021\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-YBjkYIj2Gw?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=\"Liv Morgan isn&#039;t in the mood for Billie Kay &amp; Ruby Riott arguing: SmackDown Exclusive, Jan. 15, 2021\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CNybOqbbqQs?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=\"Cesaro know what he plans to do with his momentum: SmackDown Exclusive, Jan. 15, 2021\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qVDBL9du2YQ?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=\"Natalya and Tamina put the tag team division on notice: SmackDown Exclusive, Jan. 15, 2021\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WTIczWNyTqM?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>Tonight\u2019s episode of Smackdown will be one of two more as we make our way to the Royal Rumble. Both championship matches have been set and we\u2019re getting more entrants into both men\u2019s and women\u2019s rumbles. Here\u2019s what\u2019s advertised for tonight in their preview:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Big E to battle Apollo Crews in an Intercontinental Championship Match<\/li>\n<li>Bianca Belair to compete in Bayley\u2019s Ultimate Athlete Obstacle Course Challenge<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Intercontinental Championship: Apollo Crews (champ) vs. Apollo Crews<\/h4>\n<p>Tonight, we get a rematch between Big E and Apollo Crews for the Intercontinental Championship. Two weeks ago, Big E defeated Apollo, but not before there was a double pin in the middle of the match. Apollo demanded the match be restarted and went so far as to slap Big E.<\/p>\n<p>I mentioned Apollo conversing with Roman Reigns. This was week after Paul Heyman was giving him a pep talk on Talking Smack. It\u2019s hard to know where things are headed, but the good-wrestling smiling Apollo may be a thing of the past. Big E looks to retain the title he won Christmas night in a Lumberjack match against Sami Zayn with some big assistance from, Apollo.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: I could see Apollo either joining Roman\u2019s faction, or just changing his ways and becoming more aggressive. Whether that means he turns heel or just gains an edge remains to be seen. Either way, it\u2019s good that Apollo is getting TV time and I\u2019ve always believed he\u2019s a valuable asset to the product.<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Obstacle Course: Bianca Belair vs. Bayley<\/h4>\n<p>Bayley debuted her new show Ding Dong, Hello last week with Bianca Belair as her guest. Bayley showed video of her beating Belair several weeks ago on Smackdown. Bianca challenged her to a rematch, but Bayley rejected the request saying she already proved himself. She then challenged her to an obstacle course.<\/p>\n<p>The last time we saw an obstacle course was back in 2018 between Sami Zayn and babyface Bobby Lashley. Here\u2019s a little exchange on Twitter:<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3900140210\" 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<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">You\u2019re done for little girl <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jkUTm14UfW\">https:\/\/t.co\/jkUTm14UfW<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/VHa2Yh8Ez0\">pic.twitter.com\/VHa2Yh8Ez0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Bayley (@itsBayleyWWE) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/itsBayleyWWE\/status\/1352636331772567556?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 22, 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 don\u2019t have much to analyze here as I anticipate your typical WWE comedy. They\u2019re just keeping the feud going without doing another match. I\u2019m not sure I understand the decision to have Bayley beat Bianca after Bayley lost to Natalya. That said, things could change come the Royal Rumble as both women would be at the top of my list as candidates to win.<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Other Expectations and Final Thoughts<\/h4>\n<p>Outside of seeing how the Roman Reigns-Kevin Owens story plays out as well as Big E-Apollo, I\u2019m curious where they\u2019re going with Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro. Both men are immensely talented, and I believe there\u2019s still plenty of ground to mine if you book them properly. Sometime today, the latest episode of WWE Then and Now will drop where Tyler Sage from the Podcast of Honor joined me to review the 2005 Royal Rumble and where the characters went from there. This Sunday, I will join Torch columnist Greg Parks on Wrestling Night in America to preview the Royal Rumble. I hope you all will listen and feel free to give feedback to me on social media!<\/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-1643968539\"><div id=\"pwtor-3183184182\"><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 22, 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\/22\/wwe-friday-night-smackdown-primer-1-22-continued-hype-for-the-royal-rumble-big-e-vs-apollo-for-the-ic-title-one-more-time-obstacles-for-bayley-and-bianca\/\" title=\"WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER 1\/22:  Continued Hype for the Royal Rumble, Big E vs. Apollo for the IC Title One More Time, Obstacles for Bayley and Bianca\">[&#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-111880","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\/111880","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=111880"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111886,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111880\/revisions\/111886"}],"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=111880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}