{"id":112320,"date":"2021-01-29T10:05:50","date_gmt":"2021-01-29T16:05:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=112320"},"modified":"2021-01-29T14:40:25","modified_gmt":"2021-01-29T20:40:25","slug":"wwe-friday-night-smackdown-primer-1-29-final-royal-rumble-hype-last-stand-for-kevin-and-the-head-of-the-table-expectations-for-other-current-feuds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2021\/01\/29\/wwe-friday-night-smackdown-primer-1-29-final-royal-rumble-hype-last-stand-for-kevin-and-the-head-of-the-table-expectations-for-other-current-feuds\/","title":{"rendered":"(Updated) WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER 1\/29:  Final Royal Rumble Hype, Last Stand for Kevin and the Head of the Table, Bianca vs. Bayley, Expectations for Other Current Feuds"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-2435166203\" 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 29, 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>Adam Pearce confronted Universal Champion Roman Reigns and his council Roman Reigns during their opening promo. It was made known that Roman would not allow his Royal Rumble opponent, Kevin Owens in the building. They set up a match between Pearce and Paul Heyman to take place later in the show. Later, Owens cut a promo talking about his family and love for WWE. When the match between Pearce and Heyman turned into Pearce vs. Roman, an incognito Owens appeared and attacked Roman.<\/li>\n<li>Former Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn barricaded himself on the entrance and held up a sign #justiceForSami.<\/li>\n<li>Women\u2019s Tag Team Champions Charlotte &amp; Asuka (Raw Women\u2019s Champion) defeated Ruby Riott &amp; Liv Morgan. Billie Kay was yelling at the referee during a pinfall attempt by Ruby on Asuka. When Billie tried to apologize to Ruby and Liv later, Ruby said there was no \u201cus,\u201d meaning Billie being part of the Squad.<\/li>\n<li>Cesaro defeated Dolph Ziggler, \u00bd of the current Smackdown Tag Team Champions.<\/li>\n<li>Smackdown Women\u2019s Champion Sasha Banks defeated Reginald.<\/li>\n<li>Big E defeated Apollo Crews via DQ when Sami Zayn got involved to retain the Intercontinental Championship.<\/li>\n<li>Sonya Deville advised the Street Profits in so many words to sit things out until Montez Ford\u2019s knee injury is heeled, and then they will get a chance at the Smackdown Tag Team Championship.<\/li>\n<li>Bianca Belair defeated Bayley in an obstacle course. Bayley attacked Bianca after the proceedings.<\/li>\n<li>King Corbin defeated Dominic Mysterio. Before the match when Dominic insisted on doing things his way. Rey said if things go wrong, they\u2019re doing things his way next time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here are the WWE exclusive interviews from last week:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sasha Banks sets The Blueprint for Royal Rumble: SmackDown Exclusive, Jan. 22, 2021\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NM6GIyCGkoM?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=\"King Corbin barely broke a sweat: SmackDown Exclusive, Jan. 22, 2021\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5OIOCOskj9c?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=\"Asuka &amp; Charlotte Flair all smiles after blue brand win: SmackDown Exclusive, Jan. 22, 2021\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EOj63ekV728?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 edition of Smackdown will be the final episode of WWE television before the Royal Rumble.\u00a0 In a significant development on Monday, WWE Hall of Famer Edge declared for the rumble.\u00a0 We\u2019ll see if any more names are entered tonight.\u00a0 They played a hype video on TV focusing on the feud between Kevin Owens and Universal Champion Roman Reigns heading into their Last Man Standing match for the title slated for the Royal Rumble PPV:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens make one last stand this Friday\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fYRGiac37zM?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><strong>Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns and a War of Words<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>This Sunday, Kevin Owens gets one more crack at the Universal Championship by challenging Roman Reigns in a Last Man Standing match.\u00a0 WWE official Adam Pearce had won a Gauntlet match several weeks ago, with the assistance of Roman and his cousin Jey Uso, to be the initial challenger.\u00a0 One week later, Pearce backed out and slotted in Kevin utilizing his powers as a member of WWE management.\u00a0 Refer to the recap earlier in this report for what happened last week.<\/p>\n<p>Tonight\u2019s episode will feature a \u201cwar of words\u201d between Kevin and Roman as they get ready for their match on Sunday.\u00a0 As I\u2019ve mentioned, there is history between Kevin and Roman over the Universal Championship going back to later 2016-\u201917.\u00a0 The roles were reversed as Kevin was the heel champion with Roman in pursuit.\u00a0 Needless to say, things are much different years later.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a little trash talk from Roman on Twitter:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FightOwensFight?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@FightOwensFight<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>Final trip to the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/IslandOfRelevancy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#IslandOfRelevancy<\/a>.<br \/>Enjoy it and use it wisely. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/2aatsYyvVF\">https:\/\/t.co\/2aatsYyvVF<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Roman Reigns (@WWERomanReigns) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWERomanReigns\/status\/1352400111649828869?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 21, 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: Greg Parks and I talked about this on Wrestling Night in America. My concern is what\u2019s next for Kevin. He won\u2019t come out of this with the Universal Championship, which is fine, but where does he go? As I said on the show, part of me thinks he will be rewarded down the line having performed so well in this program. Another part of me worries they\u2019ll just forget and park him in the midcard. He deserves much better. What I absolutely love in this program is it seems everyone involved (Paul Heyman, Roman, Kevin, Jey, and Pearce) are 100% invested.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Bianca Belair vs. Bayley<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2750463248\" 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>Because of what happened in the obstacle course competition last week, Bianca Belair will go one-on-one with Bayley.\u00a0 This will not be their first match, as they faced each other shortly before Christmas Because of what happened in the obstacle course last week, Bianca Belair will face Bayley tonight.\u00a0 This will not be their first one-on-one encounter, as they faced each other shortly before Christmas which saw Bayley come out on top.\u00a0 On the New Year\u2019s Day episode, Bayley teamed with Carmella to defeat Bianca and Smackdown Women\u2019s Champion Sasha Banks.\u00a0 Another occasion saw Women\u2019s Tag Team Champions Charlotte Flair &amp; Asuka defeat Carmella &amp; Bayley and Bianca &amp; Sasha in a triple threat elimination match.\u00a0 The obstacle course was set up two weeks ago on the debut episode of Bayley\u2019s show Ding Dong, Hello.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis:\u00a0 Both women are favorites to win the rumble to me, although them being embroiled in a feud tells me they could cost each other and keep things going after Sunday.\u00a0 I feel like the winner of the women\u2019s rumble is going to be a surprise, but I don\u2019t feel completely strong.\u00a0 I like that I don\u2019t know for sure who could be winning.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Other Expectations and Final Thoughts<\/h4>\n<p>I expect follow-up on the other feuds happening:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>King Corbin and the Mysterios: It looks like we\u2019re headed towards issues between Rey and Dominic, right? Corbin is the guy they\u2019d love to drive the wedge between father and son.<\/li>\n<li>Big E, Apollo Crews, and Sami Zayn: I expect all three men will circle around the Intercontinental Championship, currently held by Big E. This has been interesting because I don\u2019t feel Big E\u2019s reign has gotten off to a strong start, no fault of his though.<\/li>\n<li>Sasha Banks and Carmella: Carmella will get another Smackdown Women\u2019s Championship match, even though Sasha beat Reginald last week. This reeks of a pre-show match at the Royal Rumble, but I could be wrong. It\u2019ll happen when it happens. I have no strong feelings.<\/li>\n<li>The Riott Squad and Billie Kay: I think if Billie dresses up in the infamous Bernie Sanders mittens, she\u2019s a lock to join Ruby Riott &amp; Liv Morgan. It\u2019s a no-brainer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I hope they emphasize the Royal Rumble is Sunday, and wrestlers talk about what it means to win the event. If I didn\u2019t know any better, I would not have known the show was Sunday until Edge came out and declared. I would think they\u2019d hyped up the show tonight.<\/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-4090941791\"><div id=\"pwtor-1554716543\"><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 29, 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\/29\/wwe-friday-night-smackdown-primer-1-29-final-royal-rumble-hype-last-stand-for-kevin-and-the-head-of-the-table-expectations-for-other-current-feuds\/\" title=\"(Updated) WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER 1\/29:  Final Royal Rumble Hype, Last Stand for Kevin and the Head of the Table, Bianca vs. Bayley, Expectations for Other Current Feuds\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":112326,"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-112320","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\/004_SD_10302020EJ_28492__4091760f7a8f160e355cd79ddd14effd.0.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112320","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=112320"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112343,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112320\/revisions\/112343"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}