WWE SmackDown: Results, Highlights and Grades for Jan. 17, 2020

But first, another interview … with Braun Strowman

Braun is excited for the Royal Rumble and declares for the match, but right now, he wants the Intercontinental Championship. After pinning Naka twice now, he wants his title match anytime and any place.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, Elias.

Who says he learned he is the “full embodiment of WWE,” but can’t do it by himself. He needs the WWE Universe to reach every arena around the world. Everyone needs to know the truth that “WWE stands for … Walk with Elias.” Then, he sings “Walking in Greensboro,” which quickly gets interrupted by a Sami Zayn promo to address Braun Strowman.

He says Shinsuke Nakamura does not back down from a fight, but because he and his crew call the shots, Braun won’t get a shot nine days before the Rumble. He warns the roster that Nakamura is declaring for the Rumble.

He tells Elias to go back to his song, but Elias insists Zayn and Co. stay out because he just wrote a song in his head called “Sami Zayn Needs to Shut His Damn Mouth,” and the chorus is, unsurprisingly, “Shinsuke Sucks.”

Furious, Zayn sicks Cesaro on Elias, telling him to show Elias what they do to “funny guys around here.” Nakamura, Zayn, and Elias all triple team Elias until Braun Strowman runs out to make the save to clean house.

Grade: C+

Not much different from the opener. In that it starts off slow but gets entertaining thanks to an intervening heel that eventually gets laid out by an intervening babyface. Although, because Elias is no Kane, because Strowman is no Daniel Bryan, and because Zayn (as much as I love the guy) is no Bray Wyatt, this segment is not quite as effective.