The first SmackDown of 2021 certainly had a few surprises. We were treated to two matches, one being the advertised match between Carmella & Bayley vs. Bianca Belair & SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks. Before we get to that match result, the first match of the night involved The Riott Squad taking on Tamina & Natalya.
The Riott Squad defeated Tamina & Natalya (w/Billie Kay?)
For the past several weeks Billie Kay has been trying to find a tag team partner that will help her against The Riott Squad. She has lost two weeks in a row – first with Natalya as her partner and second with Tamina. This week she was supposed to bring in another partner to face Liv Morgan & Ruby Riott.
Tamina’s music hits making it seem like she would be Kay’s partner once again. Directly after comes Natalya’s music and it will actually be Tamina and Natalya to face The Riott Squad. This led to Billie Kay being the “manager” of this pairing…at least at first.
Midway through the match, Kay would jump to The Riott Squad’s corner and start cheering them on. This apparent switch happens when Morgan and Riott deliver a double Russian leg sweep to Tamina with Riott getting a near fall. This obviously confuses all the competitors in the match.
The end result is Kay distracting Tamina who had Morgan up on her shoulders. Morgan countered and stacked up Tamina to get the pin. Kay would then celebrate the win for The Riott Squad with everyone still confused in her actions.
Carmella & Bayley defeated Bianca Belair & Sasha Banks
In perhaps a surprise victory, Carmella & Bayley defeated Bianca Belair & Sasha Banks when Carmella pinned the SmackDown Women’s Champion. The match wound up having Belair and Bayley which had Banks distracted. Carmella rolled up Banks but got a near fall. This led to Carmella delivering a super kick to the face of The Boss. Carmella then misses in the corner and finds herself dragged into the center of the ring with the Bank Statment locked in.
Reginald quickly pulled out Carmella to avoid her from having to submit. He would then enter the ring and step up to Banks allowing Carmella to enter from the opposite side of the ring. Reginald would then exit the ring and with a smile on his face jumped on the apron to further distract Banks.
Carmella would then get caught from her superkick and Banks delivered a knee into a jackknife for a near fall. Reginald gets involved one last time as he hops back on the apron and Banks delivered a punch to knock him off. She turns around into a facebuster for Carmella to pick up the three count and the win. Carmella has pinned the SmackDown Women’s Champion.
Other than Carmella picking up the win, the other surprise of the night was the return of Sonya Deville. Although her return was just her strolling through the backstage area, it was enough to show that Daddy is back. I expect a good showing in the upcoming rumble match by Miss. Deville.
Let’s get into the first Winners & Losers of 2021!
WINNER: Billie Kay
Personally, Billie Kay is slaying in this role. It is comedy, it is fun, it is at this point more unpredictable then most things. Having her root for the team she has been feuding against is hilarious. I still won’t get over the break up of her and Peyton, however, at least with Billie they are letting her character shine.
And one thing is for sure, according to her Network Exclusive, she is undefeated in 2021!
WINNER: Carmella
Of course, it wasn’t without help for her victory but Carmella did pin the champion. Her working with Sasha has really made her work the best it has been, maybe ever. I am sure most people are going to complain about her getting the pin. In my opinion, it furthers the feud and does exactly what it should do. It feeds into Carmella’s character and has her look like a worthy opponent. I am all here for them getting another one-on-one at Royal Rumble.
WINNER: Sonya Deville
I know she didn’t really do anything, but she is BACK! So WIN! I really was hoping for her to be a surprise for the rumble itself. I hope to bring her back before it will mean there are some bigger surprises for the rumble. Her returning at the event would have been predictable anyway.
LOSER: Sasha Banks
Unfortunately for this week, The Boss, The Blueprint, The Standard winds up on the losing end of things. As I said with Carmella it is a good thing storyline-wise and in the long run, I don’t see it hurting her. If they have her drop the title before WrestleMania I would be kind of surprised at this point.
What did you think about this week’s SmackDown? Who were your Winners & Losers? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below!!