WWEbegan to wrap up an incredible 2024 as SmackDown broadcasted the second of two shows recorded at the XL Center in Hartford, CT.Drew McIntyre and The Bloodline are considering joining forces to take out The OG Bloodline and Roman Reigns,respectively. Solo, Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga then went on to defeat LA Knight, Andrade and Apollo Crews with a little help from United States Champion, Shinsuke Nakamura. Alex Shelley would eat a defeat later in the night to Johnny Gargano, as DIY’s dominant resurgence continues.
Carmelo Hayes had an incredible week as he defeated Braun Strowman and laid him out backstage with a steel chair in retaliation to his loss to The Monster Among Men last week.Bianca Belair and Naomi successfully defended their Women’s Tag Team Championshipagainst Nia Jax and Candice LeRae in the Main Event of the evening. Tiffany Stratton watched on with her briefcase in hand, but she is yet to cash-in her Money In The Bank briefcase.
1Drew McIntyre and Solo’s Bloodline
An Unholy Union Beckons To Start 2025
We are about to enter a new year and a new era in WWE. Sure to come along with a new year will be new alliances. As the current Tribal Chief hyped hisTribal Combat match with Roman Reigns on the company’s opening night on Netflix,Drew Mcintyre made the bold decision to interrupt Solo Sikoa before reaching a truce. It was uneasy from the start, but things would get interesting and fast.
“I’m gonna make this quick because it makes me physically sick to be this close to you, and not beat you within an inch of your life” - Drew McIntyre to Solo Sikoa
This has been a very good 2024 for The Scottish Warrior, but rumors are circulating that Drew McIntyre is going to be a major player in WWE in 2025. His cut off leather waistcoat and look, the confident aura that he transmits, and asking Solo if he lies awake at night wondering when Drew is coming for him.Drew has declared to take out all of the OG Bloodlineand insists that Solo Sikoa should beat Roman before they finish their business. Drew’s threat is believable, despite Jimmy Uso arriving to smash him with a crutch to finish the segment, and Solo should keep this enemy closer than he keeps his friends.
2Naomi
Jade Cargill’s Absence Has Everyone Feeling The Glow
SmackDown’s Main Event was for the Women’s Tag Team Championship, andBianca Belair and Naomi successfully defended their titles against Nia Jax and Candice LeRae. As Nia Jax continues to take the ill-advised path of ostracizing Tiffany Stratton in favor of Candice, the appearance of Ms. Money In The Bank after LeRae patronized her for losing her United States championship qualifier was enough to cause a distraction leading to her “friends” loss. This story’s climax is surely coming soon.
As for the new champs, let it be known on December 20th, 2024, thatthis column suspects that Naomi is responsible for injuring Jade Cargill. Her suspicious nature when anything around this situation is mentioned and her little remorse for capitalizing on Cargill’s absence are causes for speculation. Belair and Naomi seems like a partnership of convenience more than conviction, despite being believable friends. Keep a close eye on how this develops.
3Jacob Fatu
In Praise Of One Of WWE’s Best Performers
It may be Solo’s Bloodline, butJacob Fatu has been unmissable since joining the WWE. Consider that most people watching WWE’s weekly product didn’t know The Samoan Werewolf existed just six months ago. He gets to share ring chemistry with the agility of Andrade and Apollo Crews and the personality of LA Knight in a fun 6-man tag team match to start the show, but his intensity and agility are still a novelty to behold on weekly television.
Solo Sikoa would get the pinfall victory after a pulverizing Samoan Spike on Crews, and a red-hot over with the crowd LA Knight would again be the victim of a sneak attack by Shinsuke Nakamura. Yet, even though he was far from the story in this match,Jacob Fatu is the man likeliest of these six to taste gold in 2025. The Bloodline remain one of WWE’s greatest threats, and Jacob Fatu is their greatest weapon. Believe that.
4Carmelo Hayes
A Big Performance On An Important Week For Melo
With his summer’s dance partner, Andrade, putting in an incredible display against The Bloodline, Carmelo Hayes wasted little time in making up for his flop on last week’s SmackDown. Braun Strowman awkwardly took part in The Grayson Waller Experience while dressed as jolly old Saint Nic,Santa Strowman would be interrupted by an incensed Carmelo Hayes, complaining that he was blindsided by their match. This would be just the start of Melo’s big night.
Getting a rematch and winning via count-out, Carmelo Hayes was still unsatisfied with his night’s work. Running out of the arena after his win, Strowman gave chase to Hayes and hunted the backstage area for the former NXT Champion.Hayes would blindside Strowman with a steel chair to comprehensively dominate himon this week’s show. Let’s hope this is a sign of things to come for Him in 2025.
5Kevin Owens
Another Week, Another Firestorm From KO
His righteous indignation has been captivating, his violence has been reprehensible, andKevin Owens ends 2024 as WWE’s most dangerous man. Following an update onhis heinous attack on Cody Rhodes after their match at Saturday Night’s Main Event,Owens held the Winged Eagle Championship and delivered a menacing message, in a dimly lit promo that echoed the gritty nature of an old-school ECW promo.
Every word and action that KO delivers is touching a nerve right now. It is everything you could possibly want from your company’s leading villain, and yet another reminder that Kevin Owens is one of the most talented performers of his generation. If Cody Rhodes has been the right man to boldly lead the WWE into the future,Kevin Owens is the right man to be WWE on Netflix’s first great villain.
“It can all get so much worse. You don’t want me to snap. What happens next is on all of you.” - Kevin Owens
6A-Town Down Under
Waller And Theory Continue To Teeter On The Brink
After a commendable title reign as Tag Team Champions and a few months of flirting with a break-up, A-Town Down Under have spent a lot of this year on the periphery of SmackDown’s major angles. Being used as a plot device for the feud between Carmelo Hayes and Braun Strowman,this segment did little for the team beyond making fans hope this union comes to an endin 2025. Not even Santa Strowman could save it.
Wrestling’s wider audience may be ambivalent or hateful towards Austin Theory, but Grayson Waller is one of WWE’s most underrated performers. Both in interviews and on SmackDown, Waller has a natural talent for antagonizing anyone who dares to breathe the same air as him. Even with scraps, his commending Strowman for throwing presents to “the poor people of Hartford, CT” got a belly laugh.It is time for both of these men to return to singles competition.
Grayson Waller’s last win on SmackDown came on June 7th, 2024. Austin Theory’s last win on SmackDown came in an A-Town Down Under match against The Street Profits on May 3rd.
7Alex Shelley
The First Great Misfire From Motor City Machine Guns
Even if you aren’t aware of the tag team’s legendary reputation, Motor City Machine Guns have made a name for themselves quickly in WWE. They stormed their way to the SmackDown Tag Team titles in no time at all, only lost the titles to the cheating shenanigans of the newly heel DIY, and have won crowds over every Friday night. The reaction tothis singles defeat from Alex Shelley felt like a misfirethough.
Let’s clear the air on this first. There is no shame in losing to Johnny Gargano. His nickname of Johnny Wrestling has been earned on canvases across the world in blood and sweat, and gripping Shelley’s tights was a dishonest way to claim a victory. It was morethe “hey, no fair” nature of his protest afterward that felt out of sortswith the more courageous nature of the company’s face bookings in 2024. The Motor City Machine Guns will be back in the W column in the near future, but this was a bad night at the office.
