My WWE SmackDown, 25th January 2013 Recap

Will Punk still be holding the strap come Monday? Photo credit: WWE.com

Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan & Kane) came out to address the rumours that they've somehow gone soft after their (brilliant) Anger Management Graduation ceremony from this week's Raw. Kane then went on to claim that he will win the Royal Rumble match this Sunday, to which Bryan naturally argued with him about, also claiming that he will be victorious in said match.

Big Show then joined them and warned the tag team not to challenge him at WrestleMania if they do happen to win the Rumble after predicting a World Title win against Del Rio this Sunday. Team Rhodes Scholars (Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes) also came out and told Team Hell No to be more concerned with their Tag Team Title defence against them rather than the RR. As Rhodes Scholars and Show were about to then take on the tag champs, Alberto Del Rio evened the odds in their favour and faced off with the giant. GM Booker T then (in a blue brand tradition) booked a six-man elimination tag match with everyone in the ring.

Sheamus defeated Wade Barrett in a fair, if a bit of a drab contest. The match had some decent moments towards the end, but the first half was fairly lacklustre. I just felt like I'd seen it all before between these two. Pretty unmemorable on the whole.

Natalya forced Rosa Mendes to submit in a mediocre affair. I'm not quite sure why this even took place except to fill up some time that I'm sure could've been better used on other talent. The match was also overshadowed by the guest commentary of Khali, Hornswaggle, Epico and Primo, with JBL getting in a few cracks at Hornswaggle's expense.

WWE Champion CM Punk came out and admitted that he was afraid of his own potential after his momentous title reign, and also of the fact that The Shield could cost him his strap if they interfere in his bout this Sunday against The Rock after Vince McMahon added the stipulation this Monday. So to clear things up and prove that he wasn't affiliated with them, Punk called out the trio of Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, and sure enough they soon joined the champ. Punk simply told them all to stay out of his match at the Rumble, and without a word The Shield then left.

A cocky champion then once again stated that he will retain his title come Sunday because much like all the fans, Rocky is "inferior" to him. This cued The Rock's iconic theme and out stepped 'The Great One' to join Punk in the ring, where he warned his future opponent that when he hits the Rock Bottom in their clash time will stand still and he'll realise that "It's over." For me it was the strongest promo he's given in his feud with the WWE Champion.

Randy Orton won via disqualification versus Drew McIntyre after Jinder Mahal ran in to try and help his fellow 3MB member, unfortunately for him and Heath Slater it didn't work as 'The Viper' RKO'd them both. The match itself was brief and forgettable, but it did its job in pushing Orton as a possible Rumble winner I guess, which could very well happen.

The Miz bested Darren Young in an average bout, with passable action but little interest to be had. Fortunately it was kept relatively short. It wasn't terrible by any means but I wouldn't blame you for skipping it. Afterwards Miz faced off with his opponent this Sunday Antonio Cesaro, who'd provided guest commentary.

Alberto Del Rio and Team Hell No defeated Big Show and Team Rhodes Scholars in a highly enjoyable and engaging six-man elimination tag contest. Del Rio was the stand out performer for me, putting in a terrific and exciting display here. He really has taken on his face role well too.

Damien Sandow was first eliminated after receiving a Chokeslam from Kane, then Kane via count out after receiving a KO punch from Show, ditto for Bryan, then Del Rio gave Big Show some of his own medicine by kicking him whilst on the ropes, causing the giant to tumble out and also be eliminated via count out. Finally Del Rio then won via pinfall on Rhodes after applying an enzuigiri.
Afterwards an angry Big Show then speared and KO punched Del Rio, following up by tipping the announce table over him. He then counted to ten (they will be competing in a Last Man Standing match at the Royal Rumble). It was a nice ending I thought, good set up to their title bout.

It was an enjoyable SmackDown at parts, with solid promos from CM Punk and The Rock and a great main event, unfortunately no match (bar the six-man tag) felt particularly worthwhile at all, but more like filler. I'll take it though, after the show had ended I felt satisfied (which can be rare for the blue brand nowadays) and that bit more hyped for the Royal Rumble, so as far as I'm concerned it was a success, just don't expect much from most matches.