WWE SmackDown Results, Highlights, And Grades For January 22, 2019

On tonight’s episode of WWE SmackDown, Andrade “Cien” Almas will get an opportunity to pin Rey Mysterio for a third straight week, while Naomi will finally get her hands on Mandy Rose.

WWE SmackDown has an absolutely stacked card tonight as the go-home show before the Royal Rumble Pay Per View. Of course, out of all the great matches on the show, the two-out-of-three falls match, which will most likely main event, between Rey Mysterio and Andrade has the most hype surrounding it.

That’s for good reason. Not only are Andrade and Rey two of the very best wrestlers in the world, they absolutely tore the house down in Birmingham, Alabama last week. It was almost impossible to keep track of their every move, as the counters were rapid and the moves were jarring. Mysterio and Almas can tell an even better story tonight with the two-out-of-three falls stipulation, and the onus will be on Mysterio to prove that he can hang with the rapidly-improving El Idolo.

Naomi’s match against Mandy Rose tonight has the highest stakes. Rose has tormented Naomi and her family for weeks, attempting to get inside the two-time SmackDown Women’s Champion’s head by making unwanted advances at her husband Jimmy Uso. Even Sonya Deville was upset with Rose’s actions, openly wondering what Rose’s true intentions were.

There will be more than just animosity on display in this match, and I really wouldn’t want to be Mandy right now; she’s headed for her day of reckoning against Naomi.

Mustafa Ali also has plenty of prove tonight against Samoa Joe, who treated Ali like dirt on SmackDown Live last week. The two were supposed to have a dream match, but Joe never intended to have a match with the new SmackDown Live superstar. He hit Ali with a cheapshot before the match started and beat him down for minutes, using the ring post and ignoring the desperate cries from WWE officials.

Joe may have wanted to make a statement against the other 28 men who will compete in the Royal Rumble match, but he picked on the wrong man here. Ali may be smaller, but he’ll show Joe how strong his “heart” is tonight.

Shane McMahon celebrated his birthday last week by hitting a Coast-to-Cake on Sheamus last week, and while Cesaro won’t be humiliated in this manner tonight, he will have to get revenge on Sheamus’s behalf when he takes on The Miz. With Shane and Sheamus at ringside for this singles match that hypes up Sunday’s SmackDown Tag Team Championship match, there will, once again, be no shortage of shenanigans.

AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan will battle for the WWE Championship on Sunday, and Vince McMahon will be on-screen to moderate a face-off between them. Though Vince brought the “real” Styles out a couple of weeks ago, Bryan should still be considered the favorite.

The more interesting SmackDown title match is, of course, the bout between Becky Lynch and Asuka. After Asuka one-upped Becky last week with a viciously quick win over Billie Kay, it will be interesting to see what The Man’s response will be.

Tune in to WWE SmackDown tonight at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network and check back here for live highlights, grades, and analysis for what looks like an absolutely loaded show!