WWE SmackDown Grades: The Man Earns A Match With The Empress At The Rumble

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The Jan. 8 edition of WWE SmackDown is only the second SmackDown of 2019, but it set the bar quite high for the rest of the year and it could be hard to top moving forward.

Last night’s WWE SmackDown was one of the better episodes of the blue brand in quite a while with some of the best normal TV in-ring work that the WWE has seen in a long time.

Plans for the Royal Rumble were also solidified last night as well with the January tradition less than three weeks away.  Let’s take a look at a few grades from the Jan. 8 edition of WWE SmackDown.

5. Opening Segment

Many were rightfully questioning the decision to turn Daniel Bryan heel a couple of months ago after so much success as a babyface.  However, those doubters have been silenced and The New Daniel Bryan has already developed into arguably the top heel in the entire WWE.

Bryan has been a preachy, stuck-up heel that tries to tell fans how to live, but he took it to another level last night when he opened up SmackDown in the concession area.  He took offense to the WWE universe cheering for AJ Styles, who will challenge Bryan for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble.  However, his tirade didn’t end there.

He made it clear to everyone that he believes they’re ruining the earth with plastic bottle consumption and non-healthy food of sorts.  It went farther when he took a fan’s hot dog and threw it on that fan, in addition to taking a fan’s souvenir cup of soda and tossing it on the fan as well.  Bryan made his way back in the arena where he was set to face R-Truth, who attacked Bryan before the match.

The match was short and Bryan got the win, but Styles intervened after it was over and tried attacking Bryan before the WWE Champion got away.  This was a great opening segment, especially the part where Bryan was in the concession area.  Even though there was technically a match and post-match attack, it was so short that it basically was just a carry-over from the concession segment.

The New Daniel Bryan continues to preach it’s his way or the highway, and he took it to another heelish level last night in a great segment.

Final Grade: A