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WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT
JANUARY 17, 2025
SAN DIEGO, CALIF. AT PECHANGA ARENA
AIRED ON USA NETWORK
Commentators: Joe Tessitore, Wade Barrett
Ring Announcer: Lilian Garcia
Attendance: WrestleTix reported as of show time 11,267 tickets had been distributed. The arena has a capacity of 16,100 spectators when configured for boxing.
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[HOUR ONE]
-After the Triple H-narrated “Then, Now, Forever, Together,” they cut to the arena. Joe Tessitore said it was a sold out arena. He plugged that Tiffany Stratton would be there. Tessitore and Wade Barrett walked through the concourse of the arena as fans cheered. “Of, if these walls could talk,” said Tessitore. He touted the big names who had appeared in that arena since it opened in 1966 from Muhammad Ali to Jimi Hendrix to Jon Jones to Bad Bunny. They walked among the fans toward the announce desk. They showed Tiffany arriving earlier as they hyped her first title defense later against Bayley. They showed Bayley arriving. Then they showed Jimmy Uso arriving in the parking lot earlier and Carmelo Hayes walking down a flight of stairs in the arena. Back live, Tessitore said the wrestler most deserving of opening the show is Rey Mysterio. Barrett touted him as “the home town Hall of Famer.”
(Keller’s Analysis: I love that opening. They’re in an older building – which I assume survived this long because San Diego hasn’t had an NBA or NHL team demanding to tear it down to build a more modern arena with luxury suites – and they embraced and celebrated it. I’m jealous because it reminds me of the old Minnesota North Stars home, the Met Sports Center, which opened in 1967 and it’d be great if that venue survived as long as Pechanga Arena. Having Tessitore and Barrett walk through the arena concourse into the crowd was a novel touch. It not only was cool, but it sends a clear message they’re not just phoning in these Smackdown’s on USA Network.)
-Rey Mysterio made his entrance. Fans chanted “619!” He greeted the crowd and said it felt great to be back home. He noted that his daughter was in the front row. He then announced that he was officially entering himself into this year’s Royal Rumble. He said he is getting ready to “do the impossible once again.” He talked about the time he won the Rumble and then went on to win the World Title at WrestleMania 22. He said the competition is heavy this year and he wants to be realistic. He mentioned Drew McIntyre, C.M. Punk, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and John Cena. “It’s going to be tough,” he said. He said back in 2006 when he won the Rumble, he did it for a friend they all know and love. Fans chanted, “Eddie! Eddie!” Kevin Owens’s music interrupted.
KO walked out as Tessitore said this is the second week he hijacked the opening segment. Barrett said he’ll be at the Rumble in a ladder match against Cody Rhodes. KO had the winged eagle belt over his shoulder. His t-shirt said: “Canadian Son of a Security Systems Technician.” KO apologized for interrupting Rey and said he means it. KO said there are a lot of people he respects quite a bit, but few he respects as much as he respects Rey. He upped it to saying he respects Rey more than anyone.
Owens said he has accomplished so many things he dreamed of as a kid including main eventing WrestleMania with Steve Austin and winning the WWE Tag Team Titles “with my then-best friend” at WrestleMania. He said he has won countless titles and now he gets to stand on Smackdown with the championship belt that he watched his idols win as a kid. He raised the belt and said he stands as the rightful WWE Champion. He said there is one thing left to accomplish so his career feels complete, and that is to step into the ring and have a match with Rey. He entered the ring and said he hopes he wins the Rumble. He said he can and will do it. “I can’t wait to see you beat all those other idiots,” he said. He asked Rey to promise him that he’ll be the champion he picks for the WrestleMania match so he can have his dream match against him at WrestleMania.
Rey told him that he is all about challenges and he loves competition, “but you’re not the champion.” KO hung his head. Rey said he meant that will all due respect. He said Cody is the actual champion. He said if he does win the Rumble and KO wins the title, he’ll gladly face him for the title. KO yelled that he is the champion and he earned it and deserves it. He asked what his problem is. He accused Rey of having bleached blonde hair under his mask that has seeped into his brain. “What is this crap!” he yelled. “Are you kidding me?!” Rey asked him to chill. He said he’s so delusional and he reminds him of his son Dominik. Fans laughed. KO took a swing with the belt at Rey. Rey blocked it and then set up a 619, but KO grabbed the belt and scurried away. Barrett said KO merely hijacked the belt and he isn’t actually champion.
-Backstage, Naomi approached Bianca Belair. Belair asked if she had talked with Nick Aldis about any leads on Jade Cargill. Naomi said he had no leads. Belair asked if they are good after what happened last week. Naomi said they are good. She added they’ll get some “get back” later in their tag match.
(Keller’s Analysis: That was some of Belair’s least convincing acting in a backstage segment, especially early where she was speed talking and making cartoon faces as Naomi talked. Geesh.)
-Nia Jax and Candice LeRae made their ring entrance. [c]
-Aldis told Rey he’ll give him a match against KO tonight. Cody Rhodes walked through a doorway and said he saw what happened. He said he was getting his physical to get cleared for tonight or else he would’ve been there for him. Rey said not to worry about it. He told Cody to let KO be his problem tonight, but he promised to leave something for him at the Rumble. Rey told him to heal up. Aldis told Cody to take his advice. Aldis said he has an addendum to the contract for his. match against KO for him and KO to sign. Aldis said he can’t let happen again what happened at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Cody said he’d sign if after KO does.
(1) NIA JAX & CANDICE LERAE vs. BIANCA BELAIR & NAOMI
Naomi’s ring entrance took place. Belair’s theme then played. They danced together on the stage and made their way to the ring. Tessitore and Barrett talked about Jax not being a fan of Tessitore and displaying her bad mood during the break as she approached Tessitore. The bell rang 24 minutes into the hour.
Jax took early advantage against Naomi. Belair and LeRae tagged in. Belair got the advantage and punched away at LeRae. Barrett said whoever attacked Jade Cargill won’t admit it or they’ll face the wrath of Belair. Belair pressed LeRae above her shoulders and threw her over the top rope onto Jax below at ringside. They cut to an early double-box break. [c/db]
LeRae took control during the break. She held Belair’s braid to prevent her from tagging in Naomi after the break. Jax tagged in instead and continued the attack on Belair. When LeRae tried to interfere, Belair sent her into the ringpost from the ring apron. Jax set up a second rope Samoan Drop, but Belair broke free and landed a top rope crossbody on Jax. Both were down and slow to get up.
Naomi tagged in and landed a split-legged moonsault. LeRae broke up the subsequent cover. Naomi threw LeRae out of the ring and then tagged in Belair. Belair speared Jax, but LeRae had blind-tagged herself in. LeRae landed a basement dropkick to stop Belair from landing her handspring move. Jax landed a senton. LeRae made the cover, but Belair kicked out at two. Fans chanted, “This is awesome!”
Belair launched LeRae into the top turnbuckle and then landed her springboard moonsault. Jax tried to legdrop Belair, but Belair moved so Jax legdropped LeRae instead. Belair tagged in Naomi who went after LeRae with a a sitout bomb into a leverage three count.
WINNERS: Belair & Naomi in 11:00.
-Tessitore plugged Jimmy vs. Carmelo and Rey vs. KO and touted the sellout crowd again.
-A commercial hyped “John Cena’s last ride in Toronto” at Elimination Chamber. [c]
-They showed the skyline of San Diego, Calif. as Tessitore said they were in a venue that has been around so long, it had an Elvis performance one day.
-Byron Saxton interviewed Bayley earlier in the empty arena. She said it’s a dream to main event Smackdown in a title match in her home state. She said a year ago, she won the Royal Rumble and had a guaranteed title match at WrestleMania against Iyo Sky. She said she doesn’t know if she fulfilled her potential in that title reign. She said she’s a perfectionist and loves it so much, she feels she was just barely winning her matches. She said her reign was cut short due to Tiffany helping Jax beat her. Clips aired from the Rumble, WrestleMania, and Summerslam. Bayley said she kind of respects that Tiffany turned on her best friend to get to the top, but another part of her wants to beat her that much more. She said tonight it’s personal. Saxton wished her luck.
-Tessitore plugged that match would happen later tonight.
-Michin told B-Fab that the Women’s U.S. Title should have been hers. -B-Fab told her she’ll get another chance. Piper Niven walked in followed by Chelsea Green. Chelsea said she’s the only women to successfully defend the Women’s U.S. Title in history, so they should stand in her presence. B-Fab said without Piper, she’d have never been champion. Piper stood and told her to not to take another step toward the champ or it’ll be her last. B-Fab said she will go talk to Aldis so they can handle things with each other tonight in the ring. Michin enjoyed it.
-They showed Jimmy Uso backstage promoting his match. He said his journey to earning a title match start tonight. The camera followed him through Gorilla onto the stage and then to the ring. [c]
-They showed scenes of San Antonio as Tessitore plugged the Royal Rumble’s Priory Pass.
(2) JIMMY USO vs. CARMELO HAYES
Carmelo walked out with a mic in hand. He said Jimmy is living in the shadow of his brother Jey who is living in the shadow of Roman Reigns. He asked how he’s going to get a shot when he’s relegated to the bench. Tessitore said that Carmelo often says he doesn’t miss, but he has lately when you look at his match results. Jimmy yanked Carmelo into the ring and the ref Charles Robinson rewarded the pre-match attack by calling for the bell 52 minutes into the hour.
Carmelo ducked a superkick and rolled to ringside. Jimmy put on Carmelo’s sunglasses. Barrett said Kobe Bryant missed more shots in the history of the NBA than anyone, so you have to take a lot of shots to make shots. Carmelo re-entered the ring and took control by snapping Jimmy neck over the top rope. A confused fan held up a sign that said, “I’m on Netflix.”
Carmelo stomped away at Jimmy and then chopped him. Tessitore noted that Carmelo had 32 televised matches in 2024, which was among the top ten most in WWE last year. Barrett said you can get guaranteed wins against weak opponent, but Carmelo isn’t facing a weak opponent tonight. Jimmy dove through the ropes and knocked Carmelo into the announce desk. They cut to a break at 2:00. [c]
[HOUR TWO]
The pace was rapid after the break and they exchanged big moves and near falls that the crowd was into. When Jimmy climbed to the top rope, Jacob Fatu showed up and on the opposite side of the ring. Jimmy stopped and stared. Tama Tonga shoved Jimmy from behind. The ref called for the bell.
WINNER: No contest in 12:00.
-Fatu and Tama attacked Jimmy after the bell. Carmelo stood and thanked them. Fatu clotheslined Carmelo. Barrett said he was trying to buddy up to two guys who simply don’t understand the meaning of that word. Fatu landed a hip attack on Jimmy in the corner. Solo Sikoa’s music then played and he walked out. Tessitore said they’d hear from Solo after the break. [c]
-Solo stood in the ring. Tessitore said throughout the break, the boos were so loud, the crowd wasn’t allowing Solo to speak a word. Solo dropped the mic and walked to ringside. He took off his red jacket and left through the crowd. Barrett blamed San Diego for costing them some answers from Solo. Tessitore asked what happened to the proud, boastful Solo. “Sometimes you’re never the same after a loss like that,” he said. Fatu and Tama remained in the ring, watching Solo walk away. Barrett said questions about the group are left hanging.
Fatu picked up the mic as fans sang “Na na na, good bye!” at Solo. Fatu said, “This is what it comes to, huh?” He said he’s tired of the hate and disrespect. He said he doesn’t give a damn if they cheer or boo them. He then said, “Shut the hell up!” (He apparently cares.) The crowd started What’ing him. He asked if they all thought he was crazy. He said the crazy part of this situation is that he’s just getting started. He threw down the mic. L.A. Knight’s music played. He jumped Fatu from behind and then went after Fatu. Barrett asked if Knight was out of his mind. He was soon overwhelmed by the two-on-one advantage Fatu and Tama had. Braun Strowman then came out to his music. Braun entered the circled Fatu. “Yes, please!” exclaimed Barrett. Tama dragged Fatu out out of the ring by his boot. Knight and Braun stood in the ring as Tama held back Fatu.
(Keller’s Analysis: I’m intrigued if they’re going to write Solo out for a while based on how that played out. A tag match with those four could be fun. The idea of Fatu vs. Braun popped the crowd.)
-Santos Escobar praised Angel and Humberto for exposing Pretty Deadly last week as the liars they are. Elektra Lopez said one win doesn’t make them champions yet, though. Escobar said they will take the next step tonight against the Motor City Machine Gunns. He said no one is giving them respect, so they have to take it. “That’s what Legado does, okay?” Santos said.
(3) THE MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNNS (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) vs. LOS GARZA (Humberto & Angel Garza)
Tessitore said the MCMGs held the TNA Tag Team Titles three times. He said that group is celebrating an official collaboration with WWE going forward. Barrett said it was industry-changing news. The bell rang 23 minutes into the hour. Tessitore complimented Aldis for how he set up these matches to try to create clarity among top tag teams. They cut to a break at 3:00 with Los Garza in control of Sabin. [c]
The MCMGs took over against Humberto. Shelley put Humberto in a figure-four. Sabin put a figure-four on Angel when Angel tried to interfere. Los Garza took over and landed a double-team move leading to a near fall on Sabin. All four were down and slow to get up. A “This is awesome!” chant rang out.
ANNOUNCED MATCHES & SEGMENTS
- Tiffany Stratton vs. Bayley – WWE Women’s Championship match
- Motor City Machine Guns vs. Los Garza – WWE Tag Team Championship #1 Contenders match
- Bianca Belair & Naomi vs. Nia Jax & Candice LeRae
- Carmelo vs. Jimmy Uso
- Solo Sikoa to return
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