Winners, News And Notes Amid Vince McMahon’s Return

WWE SmackDown emanated from Memphis, Tenn. but that’s hardly the biggest story of the day, let alone the young year. Vince McMahon has successfully completed his comeback, returning to the WWE Board of Directors alongside ex-WWE Presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson.

“The only way for WWE to fully capitalize on this opportunity is for me to return as Executive Chairman and support the management team in the negotiations for our media rights and to combine that with a review of strategic alternatives,” read a press release from Vince McMahon.

“My return will allow WWE, as well as any transaction counterparties, to engage in these processes knowing they will have the support of the controlling shareholder.”

WWE and McMahon’s public statements since Vince’s return have suggested that WWE may be negotiating a sale, with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia emerging as a potential buyer. McMahon taking the company private also remains an alternative. At the very least, the promotion is up for a massive television rights increase in 2023 WWE held an employee meeting earlier today to ensure staff that McMahon’s return will not affect day-to-day operations. Of all the people who are familiar with Vincent Kennedy McMahon, I don’t think any of them believe that.

Last week’s broadcast of WWE SmackDown drew an impressive 2.679 million viewers for John Cena’s return. The number was SmackDown’s highest viewership in two years.

WWE SmackDown Results | January 6, 2023

• Santos Escobar def. Kofi Kingston
• Karrion Kross and Scarlett def. Madcap Moss and Emma
• Charlotte Flair def. Sonya Deville | SmackDown Women’s Championship
• Ricochet def. Top Dolla to qualify for WWE Royal Rumble 2023
• The Usos def. The Banger Bros. | WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championship

WWE SmackDown Ratings

• December 30, 2022 | 2.679 million
• December 23, 2022 | 2.376 million
• December 16. 2022 | 2.191 million
• December 9, 2022 | 2.306 million
• December 2, 2022 | 902,000 (Aired on FS1)

• WWE SmackDown Venue: FedEx Forum (Memphis, Tenn.)
• WWE SmackDown Tickets Distributed: 9,061
• Available Tickets: 280

WWE SmackDown Winners and Match Card

Roman Reigns Scolds Sami Zayn

Roman Reigns was rambling before going from zero to 100 with a tirade against Sami Zayn for losing last week.

Kevin Owens challenged Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble, Owens seemed to decline, but WWE later announced the match was indeed happening.

Santos Escobar def. Kofi Kingston

During a backstage segment, Santos Escobar complimented Kofi Kingston’s legendary Royal Rumble highlights without mentioning his slip-up last year. Very uncharacteristic of WWE to not bring up old wounds like that.

Throughout the match, Kingston practiced his Royal Rumble stunt for 2023, probably to make damn sure he nails the spot.

Santos Escobar’s win was played up like a big deal and a massive upset, which it is. Unfortunately, WWE has not booked Kofi Kingston at a WWE-title level in quite some time.

Karrion Kross and Scarlett def. Madcap Moss and Emma

Karrion Kross teased going after Emma, only for Madcap Moss to fight for her honor and lose.

Karrion Kross put a Rey Mysterio mask on Madcap Moss to continue to build up their feud. The fact that Kross is still in the midst of a top feud with a WWE Hall of Famer tells me Vince McMahon hasn’t quite taken over creative just yet.

Charlotte Flair def. Sonya Deville

Charlotte Flair’s new theme music is awful.

Charlotte paused for “thank you Charlotte” chants, then abruptly resumed her promo to cut off the chants of “whoop that trick.” The chants returned during a Sonya Deville promo, and both women were eventually able to adjust to them.

Sonya Deville received massive heat for calling this Memphis crowd “hillbillies.”

This match had very good heat stemming from the chants. Charlotte Flair and Sonya Deville were too close to a hot mic during the finishing sequences, as they could be heard calling spots.

Ricochet def. Top Dolla

Top Dolla’s entire character is being built around his botch from last week. Hit Row even turned heel after the match because of it.

Perhaps WWE is ignoring Kofi Kingston’s botch from last year because this storyline is already being built around a botch.

After Ricochet’s win, Wade Barrett said the only thing that might be bigger than Ricochet’s SmackDown win was a Royal Rumble win. Michael Cole responded with “might?!”

The Usos vs. Sheamus def. Drew McIntyre (The Banger Bros.)

“Banger Bros.” was trending shortly after Sheamus coined this term, and rightfully so.

Backstage, Roman Reigns apologized to Sami Zayn now that he needs Zayn’s help to soften Kevin Owens.

Sheamus clobbered Jey Uso with 20 Beats of the Bodhran, and the crowd loudly counted along with every single one of them.

Backstage, Sami Zayn offered Roman Reigns popcorn and Reigns declined. When they cut back to Zayn, Paul Heyman and Reigns later on, they each had a bucket of popcorn.