Let's close out the week looking at Smackdown:
-The Bloodline holds the show hostage-Great, more of this, which is really starting to wear out the welcome doing this constantly between the two shows. However, after losing last week this has a bit more prominence with Roman holding court over Sami for losing the match and starting to berate him for the loss before KO shows up to officially challenge at the Rumble. I don't mind the story but let's stop with the chaos at the top of the show which is getting tired.
-Kofi Kingston vs. Santos Escobar-Really fun stuff here, playing off the theme of all the shots essentially being eliminations if it were being done at the Rumble but not mattering here since it's just a regular match. That leads to some fun lighthearted moments with the factions at ringside having some say in the spots for a decent time here.
-Sami wants to talk to Roman-Not much to really say here but looks like the culmination of the interrupted berating from earlier might happen backstage instead of in the ring.
-Liv Morgan hyped the Rumble-A short bit announcing more of Liv's crazy side heading into the upcoming event.
-Emma/Madcap Moss vs. Scarlett/Karrion Kross-Well, they're trying but I'm still not into Kross. This was his best match as he got to look imposing over Moss while Emma got to handle Scarlett. She too looked good here so I'm not too upset but Kross still playing into Mysterio doesn't do much for me.
-Drew and Sheamus down a pint-Fairly brief but funny bit highlighting their history and bond going forward as a means of getting them ready for their tag match later on.
-Charlotte in the ring/Charlotte vs. Sonya Deville-Wow, I don't know why but this time around face Charlotte doesn't but me. She played to the crowd, got some decent responses, and didn't come across like a condescending heel mocking everyone for liking her by acknowledging that stuff. Some facial expressions did creep in but might be a force of habit for when she turns in the future so we'll see but I'm not mad or bored at this yet.
Sonya coming out to challenge her saying Ronda was beaten down and how would she do with a fresh challenger is a nice touch that a true heel would capitalize on and sets up the match nicely. That wasn't too bad, a bit more competitive than expected but still a decidedly easy win for Charlotte who got a better pop for the win than I thought so this face run might not be a bad thing.
-Lacey Evans fights Marines for next week-Looks like the Marine Corps 3.0 version of Lacey is coming, I just hope we see it through as this should be her last shot or else I don't know what they'll do with her. I just want something here.
-Ricochet vs. Top Dollar-A nice bout in the brief amount of time we got, some hard-hitting stuff but Ricochet's aerial mastery leads to an easy win and entrance in the Rumble. We know two for sure, maybe one more and that should be it as I prefer surprises. The postmatch beat down and heel turn could be something from Hit Row who have a solid motivation here if they play into them coming back and not wanting to be mocked by lesser performers which could be fine if they potentially lean into it so we'll see. The Strowman save is fine for their friendship although does that spread him too thin with the Gunther stuff next week? Possibly this could be how he loses there which gets Gunther past him for someone else but I don't want to speculate too much.
-Sami and Roman meet in the locker room-So, the verbal assault long suspected turns out to not happen as Roman instead apologized to Sami for losing his temper and not keeping his emotions in check which is a fantastic bit of reverse psychology that I didn't see coming. All of this is fun, from the insistence on putting that aside for Sami's match next week to patching things up with Roman going forward and even staying to match Jimmy and Jey to defend the titles. Great work overall by everyone.
-Drew and Sheamus vs. The Usos-Great stuff overall here, four veterans who know their part and play this kind of setup quite nicely. Some hot moments, great near-falls, a nice bit of chicanery with Solo getting involved, and the cutbacks to Sami enjoying popcorn with Roman and Heyman were fantastic all around. Solid way to end the show.
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