Now that the Royal Rumble PPV is over, it was time for the Smackdown Live brand to move forward to the biggest event of the year. We got hints of what to come at next PPV from the blue brand, Fastlane alongside the fallouts from the bygone PPV.
Check out the results from the show that took place at the Wells Fargo Center at Philadelphia in Pennsylvania.
WWE Smackdown kicked off with the Royal Rumble winner, Shinsuke Nakamura who talked about the dream match against AJ Styles at the upcoming Wrestlemania. He was interrupted soon by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn who complained about getting robbed at the bygone PPV.
However, AJ Styles arrived on the scene to start a brawl alongside Namakura against the two heels. They stood tall to close the opening segment.
The fatal-four-way match to determine the number one contender for the United States (US) title took place among Rusev, Jinder Mahal, Kofi Kingston and Zack Ryder. Mahal was leveled by the Rough Ryder after which Rusev took control by hitting a kick to Ryder and locking in the Accolade on Kofi. The latter one tapped out letting Rusev become the winner.
The Usos addressed the position of the Smackdown tag-team division following Royal Rumble. They are still the champs and deserved some respect from the crowd. While leaving, the Bludgeon Brothers interfered them. They had another match with some local talents to squash them.
Tye Dillinger was looking for retribution after getting ambushed by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn at Royal Rumble. He was interrupted by Baron Corbin at Shane McMahon’s office to set up a singles contest. Corbin hit the chokeslam backbreaker and the End of Days, consecutively to register a dominant win.
Charlotte Flair addressed the women’s division situation heading into Wrestlemania. The Riott Squad interrupted him with Ruby Riott cutting a big promo before attacking Charlotte. She was laid down paving the way for Carmella to cash in Money in the Bank briefcase. But, Carmella hit the referee, accidentally and decided to run away instead of cashing in.
Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable had a backstage confrontation with Breezango. They blasted the fan favorite team with nasty comments to set up a tag team match. Breeze missed a Hurricanrana to be pulled up by Benjamin – to set up their finishing move. Gable and Benjamin executed it successfully to pick up the win.
In the main event of Smackdown Live, AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura teamed up to take on Owens and Zayn.
In the middle of the match, a fallout broke out between the two heel superstars. After this, Zayn left Owens high and dry in the match.
Concluding Nakamura received a hot tag and delivered the Kinshasa on Owens to pick up the win. He and Styles celebrated to end this week’s Smackdown.