WWE SmackDown 01/17/2025: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE SmackDown," the show that officially cemented the start of "Tiffy Time" as Tiffany Stratton won her first defense of the WWE women's title. We'll talk about that, and actually all three of the women's matches on the blue brand this week, along with everything that went down between Kevin Owens and Rey Mysterio, Solo Sikoa coming out to say nothing, and the total absence of United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura (sorry tag division, you didn't make the cut this week).

As always, you can check out our "SmackDown" results page to get the details on anything you may have missed Friday night. For the opinions and analysis of the WINC staff, this is the place to be. Here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 1/17/25 episode of "WWE SmackDown."

In terms of the actual work performed by Bianca Belair, Naomi, Candice LeRae, and Nia Jax in their tag team match on "WWE SmackDown," I don't really have anything bad to say. The match was good — but the matches between these four have been good for a while now, which is kind of the point. Considering Belair and Naomi defended their tag titles against Jax and LeRae on the December 13 episode of "SmackDown," then teamed with Bayley to defeat Jax, LeRae, and Tiffany Stratton on the December 27 episode, I figured the only reason for yet another match between the two teams would involve some kind of storyline advancement. But no, Belair and Naomi just won again, leaving the viewer with the sense of having watched a perfectly cromulent but ultimately pointless wrestling match.

I think the biggest problem here is that the Belair/Naomi/Jade Cargill storyline, wherever it's going, is taking way too long to get there. WAY too long. It's actually legitimately insane that Belair, in particular, has been stuck in this vortex for nearly a year now, and at this point I'm just ready for ANYTHING to happen. But no, there's no leads on who attacked Jade, there was no follow-up on the recent mild Belair/Naomi tension, they just went out and wrestled the same people they've been wrestling for months now and won again. Meanwhile it's equally unclear why Jax and LeRae are in this match, since Jax was last seen over on "Raw" and is still somehow the only person who's declared for the women's Royal Rumble. There's a lack of connective tissue here that made the in-ring product, as competently performed as it was, feel hollow and empty.

Written by Miles Schneiderman

Things were looking to be on the up when Shinsuke Nakamura beat LA Knight for the United States Championship last November, starting his fourth reign with the title — his first title win in two years — after returning re-packaged and seemingly renewed. Since then, however, there's been much left to desire. Nakamura has made just the one title defense in the 49 days he has been champion; that rematch against Knight came last week and ended in disqualification as Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga cleared the field. They might as well have been trampling over Nakamura's title reign, and that feeling was only exacerbated this week with the champion not on the show. Meanwhile, Knight was involved in a melee with Fatu and Tonga, with Braun Strowman emerging to join Knight's side. That's easily four potential title challengers for Nakamura who seemingly have no care for the champion at all, and it's indicative of the afterthought booking that has plagued WWE-era Shinsuke Nakamura.

On paper, he is a four-time United States Champion, but at the same time there is a worthy challenge in choosing a single outstanding moment from any of those reigns. The issue can only be resolved by actually involving Nakamura in the storylines, especially as he is a champion and thus supposed to be an anchor for the contender's pool. But he wasn't on the show either in person or via vignette, and neither was he even brought up in a substantial way. It might be an old-fashioned way of looking at things, but when a show is airing for three hours a week the least you would expect is the champions to be represented in some shape or another. Without the midcard champion present it really does feel as though the midcard loses its purpose, and unfortunately that is the recurring theme of Nakamura's title reigns — he wins the title after a sustained push only to rarely appear with said title.

Written by Max Everett

I will personally never complain about Jacob Fatu getting time on the microphone in WWE, especially given how he's been positioned as the silent killer of Solo Sikoa who will take out anyone and anything. With that being said, he didn't really say anything with the time on the microphone that he was given, and that only scratches the surfaces of the issues with the overall segment involving him, Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, LA Knight, and Braun Strowman.

Having Sikoa storm out of the Pechanga Arena San Diego after looking to speak due to the hailstorm of boos coming from the audience was a good idea in theory, but in it's execution, there was a major gap after he had left the building. This was the perfect opportunity for Fatu or even Tonga to say their piece about Roman Reigns defeating Solo Sikoa in their Tribal Combat match, but that was evidently not the case with Fatu instead chastising fans for their treatment of Sikoa. It just didn't feel like an effective use of time and seemed like a way to eat up television time more than anything.

On top of that, Knight and Strowman's involvement in the segment felt so unnecessary and out of the blue. Yes, they technically both have beef with the new Bloodline, but it seems so inconsequential especially when you consider that the group had just attacked Jimmy Uso indicating that there was still more to be done with him (as well as potentially Jey Uso and Sami Zayn). It was all so random, and felt like a waste of a segment more than anything when time could've either been cut down or something more effective could've taken its place.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

A match doesn't need to be long to be effective, and if you need any proof of that, look no further than Piper Niven and B-Fab squaring off against one another on Friday's show.

While squash matches in WWE feel as though they've been overdone time and time again as a way to build up a wrestler's credibility, this case was an exception to the rule. The in-ring action was simple and effective, but yet entertaining to watch and engaging throughout the entire thing despite the limited time that it was given.

While B-Fab has been a consistent figure on television due to her partnership with The Street Profits, she hasn't been given a ton of time to actually compete in the ring. This was the perfect opportunity for her to showcase that she's been putting in the hours in training, and she did just that while helping to get Niven over as both a dominant force in the women's division and as the muscle of Chelsea Green. It was a rare case of a squash match being used effectively, working to both get someone over without weakening their opponent too much by taking a quick loss and showcasing their skills.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

Just when I thought the Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens storyline was starting to lose me a bit before their big ladder match, "SmackDown" pulled me right back in this week, starting with Owens and Rey Mysterio opening up the show. Owens being in his full delulu era (I'm kidding, the man knows exactly what he's doing, and it's excellent) and practically begging Mysterio to choose him if he wins the Royal Rumble, because Mysterio is his next dream match after "Stone Cold" was just gold. I was initially a bit confused when I saw the report that this match was happening, before I realized the show was in Mysterio's home town, but the set-up, and the match itself, were both great. The ending of Owens versus Mysterio led to the set up to a package pile driver, the move to took Rhodes out on a stretcher at last Saturday Night's Main Event, so of course Rhodes got involved and ran off Owens to protect the legend.

Another ongoing thing throughout the night when it came to these two "champions" was the fact Nick Aldis wanted them to sign an amended contract for their match. They were locked in a stalemate, however, with neither Rhodes nor Owens wanting to sign it until the other had. Aldis finally put his foot down after Rhodes got involved and prevented the piledriver – which I thought was just a bit strange, because I don't necessarily think Aldis would want Owens to take out a Hall of Famer, but, okay. Aldis told Rhodes that the pair would not just be signing the contract at Saturday Night's Main Event next weekend, but also relinquishing both the belts to be suspended above the ring at the Rumble. And, my favorite part, that he wouldn't be the one moderating, but rather, the Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels would be stepping in, as the event is in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas. It's been a minute since Michaels was on main roster television, and I will never not mark out for him, so this was exciting. I think it will also benefit SNME, which needed a little something extra, outside of a few matches being thrown together and put on the card. (Poor GUNTHER, but that's a story for another day.)

Owens really committing to the bit of being a champion and asking Mysterio to choose him for his WrestleMania match was the highlight of the night for me, as silly and small as it seems on such a long show. He plays the heel part so well and this opening was just so witty, I enjoyed it. And, since I don't think Owens is walking out of the Rumble with either championship, I'm glad he at least got his dream match against Mysterio on an episode of "SmackDown."

Written by Daisy Ruth

"SmackDown" featured three women's matches, including the main event. Tiffany Stratton had her first big test as champion when she faced seven-time champion Bayley in her home state. Bayley was on a mission to become champion once again and didn't go easy on Stratton at all, but the champion was -– in her words -– at the Tiffy Top of her game. She went toe-to-toe with Bayley and ultimately picked up the victory. The women got roughly 20 minutes in the ring and the match felt like a big deal, and was presented as such.

WWE has put a lot of effort into building up Stratton the main roster, and it's paying off. Having her befriend former champion Nia Jax while she carried the MITB briefcase and cashing it in on her in a surprise moment was really smart. Fans are considering it one of the top cash-ins and Stratton needs to keep that momentum. Starting her off with a clean win over a beloved former champion like Bayley shows that WWE are taking Stratton's title run seriously.

They also teased a potential future opponent for Stratton. Prior to the women's title match, a vignette aired for Charlotte Flair, who missed all of 2024 due to injury and has been teasing a return for several months. "The Queen" is a 14-time world champion and, like Stratton, is a proponent of the moonsault. With WrestleMania season getting closer, the champion will have a lot of women vying for her attention, but it looks as though Bayley may not be the only Horsewoman Stratton has to defend against in 2025. Fortunately, she's already started proving that she can hang with them in the ring.

Written by Samantha Schipman