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WWE

With the Royal Rumble just 48 hours away, WWE SmackDown hit the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas for the final weekly TV show ahead of the the first major pay-per-view of the year. With a contract signing set for Sunday's strap match between Daniel Bryan and "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt, it was obvious fans were in for a bit more action than two men putting pen to paper to make a match official. 

Also on the show, tensions continued to rise between two sets of feuding superstars. Roman Reigns and King Corbin brawled to set up their upcoming falls count anywhere match while Lacey Evans and Bayley battled their way through multiple segments, interruption plenty of other action along the way.

Let's take a look at what went down on the go-home show for the Royal Rumble and listen to our audio preview of the first pay-per-view of 2020 in the player below.

'The Fiend' brutalizes Daniel Bryan ahead of their match

The contract signing between Wyatt and Bryan was set to close the show, with Bryan entering the ring first. After Kane helped Bryan spring a trap for "The Fiend" on last week's SmackDown, Wyatt seemed poised to have his "Fiend" persona get some payback. However, Wyatt appeared on the Tron from the Firefly Fun House, attempting to fax his signed contract. He stated he had been advised to not appear for the signing in person.

Bryan demanded Wyatt come to the ring, saying they'd be tied to each other on Sunday and there'd be no way to run. Wyatt then said it wasn't him that would be competing Sunday, so it was only fitting "he" signed the contract, before the lights went out in the arena. When they returned, "The Fiend" was in the ring holding the strap. The Mandible Claw was immediately locked in, followed by Sister Abigail. Bryan had his shirt ripped open before being whipped with the strap. The champ then signed the contract in his own blood before disappearing from the ring.

Bryan and Wyatt have helped put together a compelling rivalry that largely hinges on Bryan's ability to resist being "broken" like previous Wyatt victims. That stayed true even after the whipping to end the show as the final show before going off air was a defiant Bryan crawling back to his feet while visibly angry. A strap match promises a brand of brutality not always built in to Bryan matches, which often hinge far more on high-end wrestling action. Everything has been combined in way that promises some degree of excitement, though the Fiend character has had some fumbled moments by the writing staff, so how things play out in the end remains very much up in the air. Grade: B+

What else happened on SmackDown?

  • Roman Reigns & The Usos (Jimmy & Jey) def. King Corbin, Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode via pinfall when Jimmy Uso hit Roode with a top-rope splash. Jimmy Uso suffered a knee "injury" early in the show-opening match, leaving the match as a two-on-three affair with Jey and Reigns against the trio of Corbin, Roode and Ziggler. That same strategy of taking out the man on the apron to isolate was the core strategy used multiple times by Corbin and his team. After Jey was taken out later in the match, Jimmy hobbled back to the ring and took a hot tag from Reigns, taking out everyone and almost getting the pin before Corbin broke it up and looked for End of Days only to be hit by a Reigns Superman Punch. Things eventually broke down when Reigns and Corbin battled through the crowd, foreshadowing Sunday's falls count anywhere match, and the Usos teamed up to get the win. Later in the show, Corbin said he planned to beat Reigns so bad in their match Sunday that he would not even be able to compete in the Rumble match.
  • Lacey Evans cut a promo at the top of the entrance ramp. Evans talked about her tough upbringing and her father's struggles with addiction and depression and cited that as one of the reasons she chose to take on "bullies" like Bayley and Sasha Banks. She also said she planned to be a leader who showed the example of how to work hard and achieve your goals. Unsurprisingly, given the placement of the interview, she was attacked from behind by Bayley, who beat Evans down while taunting her daughter.
  • Carmella and Dana Brooke cut a backstage promo citing the reasons they'd win the women's Royal Rumble match. Both also played up the "every woman for themselves" aspect of the match. They were then interrupted by Evans and Bayley brawling backstage.
  • Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville ended in a no contest due to interference. As the match kicked off, Evans and Bayley then ran into the ring still brawling and bringing the match to an immediate halt as all six women brawled.
  • Elias & Braun Strowman def. Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura via pinfall following an Elias top-rope elbow drop on Cesaro. Before the match, Elias cut a brief promo in the ring before performing a song, vowing to win the Rumble on Sunday in both before calling his teammate to the ring to help him sing. Before he could begin singing, Cesaro's music hit to cut him off. Strowman took out Nakamura and slammed Cesaro to set him up for Elias' match-ending elbow drop.
  • Big E was backstage greasing himself up when Kofi Kingston asked what he was doing. Big E said that in preparation for the Rumble, "if your boy is greasy, eliminating him can't be easy." Kingston talked about taking John Morrison out later and both vowed to win the Rumble in honor of their injured New Day teammate Xavier Woods.
  • Sheamus cut a pre-recorded promo talking about his rivalry with Shorty G and how he will "finish what he started" in their match on Sunday.
  • John Morrison def. Kofi Kingston via pinfall after hitting Starship Pain. Prior to the match, Miz and Morrison officially announced themselves as entrants for the Royal Rumble match. During the match, Big E helped break up an illegal pin, leading Miz to attack him. In the ensuring chaos, Morrison was able to lay out Kingston to hit Starship Pain for the win.