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

Mustafa Ali Promo On Samoa Joe

This match is going to be awesome, especially if this video package is any indication. Mustafa Ali’s promo gave me chills again, and this was one of his best yet. Samoa Joe treated Ali like “nothing” last week, as he didn’t even bother to have a real match with Ali, instead using him as a message to the rest of the locker room. And tonight, Ali is out to show Joe that he will beat him.

If you get a chance, look up that promo, because it was amazing. Ali is one of the best babyfaces and promos in the entire company, and I say that without any shred of doubt. He’s always been great at promos, and the main roster will give him an opportunity to show that to the uninitiated.

AJ Styles And Daniel Bryan Showdown

Vince McMahon is here to moderate this face-to-face between the WWE Champion and his challenger. Daniel Bryan had better destroy both AJ Styles and Vince here, and, no, the guy who loves the environment is not the heel here.

Bryan refuses to get into the ring, telling Vince that he won’t step into the ring with a sociopath (cue laughs as Vince and AJ look at each other, trying to figure out which one of them is the sociopath). Plus, he’s too embarrassed to step in the ring with AJ, who, in real life, appeared on an alt-right podcast last night.

AJ calls Bryan “fickle”, pointing out that he likely appeared in Wichita on a plane, even though he preaches protecting the environment. He then adds that Bryan is too afraid to step into the ring with Styles before cutting the rest of his generic promo.

Though Bryan tries to quote legendary astronomer Carl Sagan, Vince has heard enough chit-chat; he wants Bryan, The Planet’s Champion, to step inside the ring. Bryan ethers Vince, calling him and his generation of baby boomers the “parasites” of the planet, taking and taking but never giving back.

Bryan went IN. And he went in on AJ, too, telling Vince that only he could create a situation where someone as ignorant as Styles could be a champion. *Chef’s kiss*

Styles uses 20 words to say what he could have in 2 before meeting up with Bryan outside the ring to begin yet another brawl tonight. The Phenomenal One launched Bryan into the steel steps, but Bryan used Vince to avoid the Phenomenal Forearm inside the ring and hit the running knee. Bryan wisely crawled to his title outside the ring and gathered himself before exiting.

Grade: B, Nothing special here, with the exception of Bryan’s harsh words for Vince and AJ. THAT part was awesome, and Bryan, yet again, outclassed AJ on the mic. This championship reign absolutely needs to continue.