This week’s SmackDown started as the Bloodline was seen scattering things all over the commentary position just like they did on back to back episodes of Monday Night RAW. The music of Roman Reigns hit and here comes the WWE Undisputed Universal Heavyweight champion Roman Reigns.
Roman Reigns talked about their defeat last week on Friday Night Smackdown against Kevin Owens and John Cena. He accused Sami Zayn for the loss and started shouting at him. He said that he was never been pinned so it was on Sami. Kevin Owens interfeared and said that Roman’s problem was actually with him and not with Sami. And ultimately he challenged Roman in a match at Royal Rumble.
WWE SmackDown 06.01.2023 Results & Ratings
Match 1 – Santos Escobar defeated Kofi Kingston
This match was booked for seven minutes and it was a good match. The match was mostly dominated by the former WWE Champion but ultimately the former NXT Cruiserweight champion snatched a cheeky victory. He pinned Kingston after hitting a Samoan Driver.
Backstage Sami Zayn was trying to get into the locker room of the Bloodline but Paul Heyman and say that it was not the right time. The Usos went inside the locker room. Sami try to talk to them but nobody gave any attention to him. Heyman said that he did not have to be worried much.
Match 2 – Scarlet and Karrion Kross defeated Madcap Moss and Emma
The match was booked for only three minutes and it was an easy win for the heel side. Scarlett was still a little shaky in the ring but we believe she will improve with time. Karrion Kross earned a submission victory over Madcap Moss after he locked the Kross Jacket.
WWE SmackDown Women’s champion Charlotte Flair came out to the arena. She talked about her win last week over Ronda Rousey and expressed her happiness. Sonya Deville interrupted her and challenge her for a title shot. Charlotte Flair accepted the challenge and the match started instantly.
Match 3 – WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship – Charlotte Flair defeated Sonya Deville to retain
The match was booked for less than five minutes and it was an easy win for Charlotte Flair. The match was not very competitive either. It was more of a routine win for Charlotte and a routine defeat for Sonya Deville. Charlotte made Sonya submit with the Figure 8.
Match 4 – Royal Rumble qualification match – Ricochet defeated Top Dolla
The match was even shorter than 2 minutes and it was a pretty easy win for Ricochet. The former WWE Intercontinental Champion pinned Top Dolla with a Shooting Star Press. After the match, Hit Row turned heel and attacked Ricochet. Braun Strowman came out and saved Ricochet.
Backstage Sami Zayn finally got to meet Roman Reigns. Roman said that Owens was right. He was actually mad at him and not at Sami. He was just taking out his frustration on Sami. So it was him who needed to apologize. He then asked Sami to sit by him and watch the Tag Team Championship match.
Match 5 – WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championship – The Usos defeated Sheamus and Drew McIntyre to retain
This match was booked for over 10 minutes and it was a very good main event. This was the only good match of the night to be honest. But the most disappointing about the match is, The Usos or Roman Reigns just could not win a match by themselves. They need outside interferences everytime to win. This just hampering brilliant matches.
The match was mostly dominated by the babyface side. But at the end of the match, when the faces were taking the control of the match, Solo Sikoa interfered and took out Drew. Sheamus was double teamed by The Usos and Jimmy Uso pinned him with the help of an outside interference from Jey. The Tag Team Champions celebrated as this week’s SmackDown went off year.
Overall it was a pretty weak episode of Smackdown. Even the last match was booked for over 10 minutes, the ending was a big drawback. The rest of the matches were nothing but fillers. And there were too many pre taped footages that wasted a lot of time. WWE should introduce a lower mid card title to fill this void. We give this week’s SmackDown 1.5 out of 5.
Sportzwiki Ratings – 1.5/5