WWE SmackDown Results: January 7, 2016By Cassidy| January 8, 2016 WWE SmackDown Previous Page Detailed Results After the introduction of a new announce team as Byron Saxton and WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler welcome veteran combat sports announcer Mauro Ranallo to the announce position, the first SmackDown of 2016 would kick off with a rare SmackDown appearance from fifteen-time former World Champion John Cena. Cena says that, on SmackDown’s big move to the USA Network, they are missing one thing and that is the U.S. Champion Alberto Del Rio. Cena then says that it’s a new year so they should try for a “fresh start” before Cena actually introduces United States Champion Alberto Del Rio. Del Rio makes his way to the ring, accusing Cena of trying to “weasel” his way into another championship match that he doesn’t “deserve”. This leads to Cena getting the crowd fired up for a United States Championship match before Del Rio tells Cena to “shut up”, saying that there is “no way” that he is putting his title on the line tonight. However, the champion says that he will fight anyone right here, right now, but he won’t be fighting John Cena. Cena then says that, if he is out of the picture, then he thinks that Del Rio should do what a champion should do and that is give someone an “opportunity”. Cena continues, saying that he has the perfect opponent for the United States Champion, saying that this individual spent the majority of 2015 creating shocking moments before Cena brings out Kalisto! Kalisto makes his way to the ring to accept the challenge, but Alberto Del Rio doesn’t take the smaller competitor seriously, calling Kalisto “little man”. However, Kalisto snatches the microphone out of the United States Champion’s hand, saying he’s going to beat Del Rio right now. Del Rio would then slap the high flyer, but Kalisto would fight back, sending Del Rio out of the ring. With John Cena in his corner, Kalisto would get the opportunity to make a major impact to kick off 2016 as the opening match of the night would see Kalisto square off with United States Champion Alberto Del Rio in a non-title match. During the match, Alberto Del Rio would have the match well in hand and the champion would take the time to get in the face of John Cena on the outside, but the referee would keep Cena at bay as the match continues. Shortly after this, Del Rio would take the time to taunt Cena again before going for the cross armbreaker on Kalisto, but Kalisto would counter with a hurrincanrana, keeping Del Rio down for the three-count to pick up the upset victory! After the match, Kalisto would celebrate on the outside with John Cena as a livid Del Rio looks on. The Miz would then make an appearance on SmackDown to present a special Royal Rumble edition of Miz TV. The Miz first reminds everyone that this year’s Royal Rumble Match will be for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, but before The Miz can continue, he is interrupted by the WWE Tag Team Champions as The New Day makes their way to the ring. After expressing their disdain for the comments made by Chris Jericho on RAW, The New Day is interrupted by Dolph Ziggler as Dolph tells the four men in the ring to leave the Royal Rumble Match to him. Goldust then makes his way to the ring, saying that only one Superstar can win the Royal Rumble Match but he will gladly give them all a pair of “Golden Globes”. The interruptions continue as Neville comes out, saying that The Miz can have whatever he wants as long as he never talks again. The Miz then begins to respond before he is interrupted by R-Truth and, as usual, Truth is confused about what’s going on as Truth says that, if anyone is going to face Alberto Del Rio tonight, it’s going to be him. The Miz then informs R-Truth that the match already took place before telling Truth that they are discussing the Royal Rumble Match and, naturally, R-Truth asks Miz how he can be a part of the Rumble. As Xavier Woods sits down with some popcorn and the rest of the Superstars watch the argument, The Miz offers to give R-Truth a dollar so he can “buy a clue”. This leads to R-Truth popping The Miz with the microphone, sparking a brawl in the ring that ends with Neville, R-Truth, Goldust, & Dolph Ziggler isolating Xavier Woods, tipping Xavier over in his chair before Woods regroups with his New Day cohorts on the outside. After Miz TV descended into a brawl moments earlier, an impromptu match would be made as “The Show Off” Dolph Ziggler would team with Neville, Goldust, & R-Truth to face The Miz and WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day in an 8-Man Tag match. In the end, it was Dolph Ziggler catching The Miz with a super kick, pinning Miz to pick up the win for his team. However, after the match, Dolph Ziggler would decide to send a message regarding the Royal Rumble Match as “The Show Off” would blast R-Truth with a super kick before tossing Goldust over the top rope to the outside. Ziggler then apologizes to Goldust, explaining that it’s going to be “every man for himself” at the Rumble and he is going to be the last man standing before Dolph exits the ring. After viciously attacking her now former best friend Becky Lynch on RAW, Charlotte would once again have her father Ric Flair in her corner as she would defend the Divas Championship against Becky Lynch. During the match, both champion and challenger would find themselves on the outside and that is when Ric Flair would get involved as the two-time Hall of Famer would stand in Becky’s way, giving his daughter time to recover before Charlotte cheap-shots Becky with a boot to the face. Later on in the match, Becky Lynch would lock in the Dis-Arm-Her on Charlotte, but behind the back of the referee, Ric Flair would again get involved, putting his daughter’s foot on the bottom rope and, while Charlotte would tap out, the referee would spot the foot on the rope and would wave off the submission. Shocked and angry, Becky would argue with the referee before confronting Ric Flair, who was on the ring apron, and Charlotte would be quick to take advantage, rolling Becky up and putting her feet on the ropes for the illegal advantage to keep Becky down for the three-count, successfully retaining the Divas Title with a huge assist from her father. Then it was time for the main event as, in a rematch from WWE TLC, “The Lunatic Fringe” Dean Ambrose would put the prestigious Intercontinental Championship on the line against former champion Kevin Owens. During the match, the action would spill to the outside with Dean Ambrose throwing Kevin Owens over the announce table before tossing Owens over the ringside barricade. As the referee reaches his ten-count, ending the title match by double count-out, Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens would fight through the crowd all the way up to the stage. Once up on the stage, Ambrose would send Owens face first into the WWE logo on the stage before diving off of the stage onto Owens! Both men then make it to their feet before Owens uses a laptop, waffling it on the back of the Intercontinental Champion before putting Ambrose on a set of anvil cases. Owens would then look for a powerbomb on Ambrose, but Ambrose would backdrop Owens onto the heavy cases. As referees gather to try and break up the fight, Ambrose would dive at Owens, sending both men careening off of the anvil cases and through two tables stacked with boxes, leaving both Ambrose and Owens laid out amongst the rubble as referees check on the two rivals! What did you think of the first SmackDown of 2016? Post your comments in the box below.
