SmackDown this week was a lot like last week with the exception that we did get one match. The match centered around the storyline of Billie Kay “joining” the Riott Squad as Liv Morgan faced Natalya. Kay joined commentary while Ruby Riott was at ringside for Morgan and Tamina for Natalya. Kay said she was unofficially officially a member of the Riott Squad. She is in a trial period.
Natalya defeated Liv Morgan
This was a solid little match. If you have been paying attention to what has been happening off-screen, Natalya and Morgan do often train together. A longer match between these two is something I would love to see. Natalya took this win thanks to the misjudgment by Billie Kay.
Kay became highly invested in the match when the referee wasn’t counting fast enough for her to grant Morgan the win. She made her way over to Tamina’s side of the ring. Tamina, wondering why Kay was on her side, walked Kay back over to the other side. Trying to get away from Tamina, Kay entered the ring as Morgan was attempting to put Natalya away. This caused Morgan to stop in her tracks and Natalya rolled her up to get the victory.
In the first-ever “Ding Dong, Hello!” – Bayley welcomed Bianca Belair as her guest. The segment showed how well these two play off of each other. I have really enjoyed their chemistry and mic work. Bayley asked Belair why she is known as the EST and then of course rubbed it in Belair’s face that she beat her last month.
I would definitely be okay for this “talk show” to be a thing going forward. What I am concerned about is what is happening next week. Bayley and Belair will partake in an obstacle course challenge. Flashbacks of the ridiculous segments between The Street Profits and The Viking Raiders are haunting me. We’ll see how this goes next week.
Lastly, we have Carmella doing an interview backstage with Reginald by her side. In the interview, Carmella says she hasn’t seen the SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks since she pinned her two weeks ago. Banks then shows up and shoves Mella which gets Reginald involved. He gets in between the two to stop Banks.
Banks says that Carmella can have another title match with her. In order for that to happen though, the champ wants a match against Reginald first.
Let’s get into the Winners & Losers of the week from SmackDown.
WINNER: Natalya
Natalya spent many weeks losing matches at the end of 2020. This win for her is a good start for the new year. Although commentary made it sound like it would be an upset if Liv went over in the match, Liv has been winning a lot recently. At first, I was wondering why the pairing of Nattie and Tamina was still happening but now I kind of like it.
After seeing this Network Exclusive, the pairing of two women who have the lineage in wrestling just makes sense. They were asked if they could be contenders for the tag titles and I kind of like that idea. Both of these women are the longest-tenured women on the roster and it doesn’t appear that either is going to get a singles title anytime soon. Winning the Women’s Tag Titles would be a great thing for both their careers. Plus I would like to see Charlotte and Asuka face them.
WINNER: Bayley
Bayley continues to excel in her heel role and this talk show was a good idea. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea but I thought it was good. I do kind of hope that she would have another match or two with Bianca prior to the Rumble match though. I think Bianca getting a win over her would give her more of an edge heading into the Rumble.
LOSER: Liv Morgan
The reason that makes Natalya a winner this week is why Liv is on the loser list. One loss isn’t going to necessarily derail her or The Riott Squad…but they really should be the next in line for the tag titles.
What did you think of this week’s SmackDown? Who were your Winners & Losers? Leave your thoughts below! :)
