almost ready to rumble
Source @WWE, Twitter, Screenshot

It’s time for a snowy SmackDown In A Nutshell-at least for those of us in the northeast United States. The theme this week, is well…the blue brand is almost ready to Rumble!

If you were somehow under a rock, Saturday night gives us the annual Royal Rumble.

The Rumble, of course, is the first of WWE’s fabled “Big Four” PPV. Or, premium live events, whatever they are calling them now…

So, the blue brand is almost ready to rumble, because we are less than 24 hours away.

We know a lot of what to expect at this point, of course. 

In a marked departure from years prior, WWE has actually revealed a number of entrants that would have usually been kept as surprises.

Does that mean we have even bigger surprises yet to come?

Or is that it, and it’s going to be whatever it is?

Well, that’s the beauty of the go-home show…we don’t have to wait much longer!

We know about the big title matches-and Seth Rollins promised on RAW that he’d be paying Roman Reigns a visit tonight.

And of course, there are the two main attractions: the men’s and women’s Royal Rumble matches themselves.

So, with all that chatter, we are almost ready to rumble…so let’s get things moving.

It’s time for…

SmackDown In A Nutshell: Blue Brand Almost Ready To Rumble

Let’s get ourselves over the top rope and into the Nutshell!

Best Match of the night:

If I had to pick a match, I would take Big E and Kofi versus Corbin and Moss.

But, it’s my post and I don’t have to…

For me, the main event segment was the best part of the show.

Rollins pushing all of Roman’s buttons was great stuff.

blue ready

Source YouTube TV, App, Screenshot

Worst match of the night:

Saw this one coming, but Sonya versus Naomi.

ready to rumble

Source @WWE, Twitter, Screenshot

The best part of this match is that, after eons of teasing and build up, the two could finally get physical.

However…as I expected…it wasn’t worth the wait.

Crowd seemed to like it, Naomi winning and all…but in the end, we will see more of it tomorrow.

Deville, in losing fashion, entered herself into the Rumble too.

Star of the Night

1000% this one belongs with Seth “Freakin'” Rollins.

almost ready

Source @WWE, Twitter, Screenshot

That last segment, pushing all those buttons, his body language, all of it…was gold.

Spot of the Night:

Nothing notable. Shouldn’t be a problem tomorrow though.

Jobber of the Night:

No one was up to the task tonight.

Upset of the Night:

Not match-related really.

Deville was probably upset she lost in her return to the ring.

wwe

Source @WWE, Twitter, Screenshot

Naomi was probably upset she won, only to hear Deville enter herself into the Rumble.

Yep, Sonya is another one from the blue brand almost ready to Rumble.

Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:

Well, 24 hours ahead of the Rumble, WWE blows another possible surprise.

Sasha Banks has been out with an injury for a few weeks now. Some reports had made it sound like she’d miss the Rumble.

She came back at the beginning of the show. Rather than, you know…have her return tomorrow as a semi-surprise entrant.


Then again, she goes away and comes back with so much regularity, maybe having her as a surprise on Saturday wouldn’t be that big of a deal?

Botch of the night:

That mask that Ridge Holland wore was having issues tonight. Not a botch, per se…but…

blue brand

Source @WWE, Twitter, Screenshot

I feel like, too often lately, WWE is happy to have guys with broken noses back in there. Masks and all.

Look, I get it, they are tough. And, mask or not, maybe they got cleared.

The mask-as-a-weapon stuff has happened too much of late…and I feel like having someone who had a facial fracture in there is just asking for issues.

Like…if someone had a broken arm or leg, they wouldn’t be performing until the cast was off.

And, keeping on the Holland theme…there’s this:

LOL Moment of the night:

Aliyah’s shirt.

I suppose I can give them credit for trying?

But, while it’s a play off of the iconic Steve Austin shirt…it’s not really correct.

blue brand almost

Source @WWE, Twitter, Screenshot

Yes, she beat Natalya in a 3.17 seconds (not really, but OK).

However…it’s not displayed as 3:17. It would be 00:00:03.17…

Pedantic? Sure…but…I like accuracy.

Noteworthy Moment:

Sasha is back…again.

Sonya Deville made her not-long-awaited in-ring return…lost…and then entered herself into the Rumble.

And…I guess I missed the memo as I was prepping for our winter storm, but they did confirm that Big E is back together with Kofi on SmackDown.

almost

Source @WWE, Twitter, Screenshot

So much for that big singles push for Big E, eh?

Though, perhaps Rollins beats Reigns on Saturday…and then Big E wins the Rumble…and then main events and beats Rollins?

It could happen…

Overall lowlights:

So over Sonya and Naomi. Really not sure who sees what in this feud.

Maybe they are both talented…I am not saying they are not.

But…right now…there’s just nothing that makes me care about it.

And…I’ve said this a time or two…but WWE seems to be giving away too many entrants.

I mean, I know people will have the entire list compiled, and know precisely how many surprises we can expect.

However…we know there are not many…and we also know there are quite a few who have been revealed, who in normal years past, we wouldn’t know about until the match entry happened.

I hope we have a few legit good surprises still to come.

Overall highlights:

I feel like the opening segment with the women was good…but honestly came up just a hair short.

almost ready to rumble

Source @WWE, Twitter, Screenshot

Sasha being back is nice…but did not quite make that segment explode.

The middle of the show was not bad.

I think my favorite mid-show segment was actually the Rumble by the numbers package, honestly.

And then we closed the show. Both Rollins and Reigns were present, and barely had to get physical…but absolutely did a good job hyping tomorrow’s match.

After the final bell:

And just like that, we are almost ready to Rumble.

Not a terrible go-home show. We’ve had better, of course…but it was good enough as the blue brand is almost ready to Rumble.

At this point, there is nothing left to do but sit back, relax and enjoy the Rumble.

Share: 

Mentioned in this article:

More About: