A Room with a Review: SmackDown 12/20/19

I’ve finally given in and decided to recap/review the televised WWE product. Depending on how it goes, I may add AEW and others at some point. Please enjoy the first edition of A Room with a Review, chronicling the 12/20/19 holiday edition of Friday Night SmackDown.

• The show starts with the New/Old Daniel Bryan realizing that he misses the Yes! Movement more than his hair or his beard (that were recently ripped out by The Fiend). He calls out Bray Wyatt but gets The Miz instead. Miz says that Bray threatened his family, so he gets first dibs. King Corbin comes out to gloat about his recent victories and calls Bryan and Miz bad dads. Before the Dad-Bod Squad can go after Corbin, they get jumped from behind by Dolph Ziggler and his contractually-obligated SmackDown baseball cap. I’m sure this won’t turn into a tag-team main event match.

• Next up is the annual Miracle on 34th Street Fight with Heavy Machinery taking on the Revival. Otis and Tucker are dressed like they are starring in Into the Santa-Verse. While lamenting the ham that was destroyed by Cesaro last week, Otis is surprised by his Secret Santa, Mandy Rose, who gives him a new ham and a kiss! Fans of Otis on social media will know how big a deal this is. Heavy Machinery fills that Bushwackers spot nicely (a comedy team that can go in the ring), and Otis is super over. After The Revival destroys Chekhov’s Ham, Otis gets mad and busts out a bag of Lego. He slams Scott Dawson onto them before hitting the Caterpiller and the Compactor for the win.

• Backstage, Mandy hugs Otis but walks away disgusted after his sweat stains her dress. It’s still better than the Rusev/Lana/Lashley angle.

• The Revival is still in the ring and complains about WWE, prompting Elias to come out and sing a song with a totally not dated Caitlyn Jenner “joke.”

• Sami Zayn runs into Braun Strowman in the locker room and tells Braun that he is his Secret Santa (do these people not know how Secret Santa works?). Braun wants an Intercontinental title shot for Christmas, but Sami says that Nakamura is already in a tag match tonight.

• The next match is Carmella vs. Sonya Deville. For a second, I thought they were going to let Deville shine here, but she tapped out instead in a match that was less than three minutes long. No shade on Carmella, but I think Sonya is good and needs an opportunity before Shayna Baszler gets called up and dominates the MMA/wrestler gimmick.

• After the commercial, we have Sheamus with a backstage promo (by candlelight, I think) about WWE getting smaller in his absence. I think he must have been watching the NXT invasion episodes.

• Next up is The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro w/ Sami Zayn. Nakamura is sporting that cigar-wrapper IC title and dressing like a Van Halen guitar. Watching Big E throw belly-to-belly suplexes makes me think that he somehow manages to be both Steiner Brothers at once. Kofi gets the win with a slow-developing inside cradle. The post-match beatdown of The New Day is interrupted by Strowman. I’d say expect a 6-man tag match next week, but I think WWE is allergic to having Sami wrestle. 

• In the locker room, Daniel Bryan and Miz argue over who hates the other more. It’s always nice to see actual continuity on WWE TV.

• Next is Dana Brooke vs. Bayley w/ Sasha Banks. Tonight, a much-improved Brooke is continuing the trend of WWE blondes dressing like Harley Quinn. It was a solid match, won by Bayley after that goofy replacement for the Bayley-to-Belly. It’s so weird seeing face Dana vs. heel Bayley, but it works. Speaking of odd alignments, Lacey Evans comes out to help Dana and challenges Sasha to a match. 

• We come back from commercial to Lacey Evans vs. Sasha Banks. The WWE having three women’s matches in one night is trolling AEW at this point, right? The contest ends in a double count-out as Sasha has too much fun beating up Lacey in front of her daughter, who took more than one swing at Sasha. I guess Izzy has gotten too big for Sasha to pick on.

• “Surprise” Main Event time: Daniel Bryan and The Miz vs. King Corbin and Dolph Ziggler. I love that Miz and Bryan still don’t like each other, as they argue over who gets to start the match. I think we might finally get our match at WrestleMania, with Miz finally going back to being a heel (assuming the new season of Miz and Mrs. is finished). Miz wins with the *checks notes* figure four?

• The show ends with a Fiend lighting tease and the announcement of a Triple Threat match between Bryan, Miz, and Corbin (that’s what you get for tapping, Dolph) with the winner to face Bray at an undisclosed future date (Royal Rumble?). It was a solid show overall and was one of the better ones they’ve had since the move to Fox. 

What did you think of the show? Let me know in the comment section below.

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