WWE SmackDown Notes: Joe Tessitore Moved to SD Commentary, Roman Reigns Declares for Men’s Royal Rumble, Bayley Wins #1 Contender Match for Shot at WWE Women’s Title, 1/17 Show Card

WWE
Jan 10, 2025

Joe Tessitore Moved Over to SmackDown Commentary Team

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon featured RAW brand commentator Joe Tessitore making his official debut on to WWE’s SmackDown commentary team.

Tessitore joins current SmackDown color commentator Wade Barrett as the current commentary team for the SmackDown brand going forward.

Roman Reigns Officially Declares for Men’s Royal Rumble

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show also featured Roman Reigns officially declaring for this year’s Men’s Royal Rumble match.

During the show, Paul Heyman came out to the ring and talked about Reigns defeating Solo Sikoa to regain the ula fala and become the only “one reigning, defending, undisputed Tribal Chief of the WWE Universe.” After some more words, Heyman stated that Roman authorized him to let everyone know what he intends to accomplish next. Heyman then stated that he will not just share this with everyone here tonight and wants to share it with one man in particular and called for Cody Rhodes to come out to the ring.

This led to Rhodes coming out to the ring and after some words of praise about Rhodes’ reign as Undisputed WWE Champion and his importance to WWE’s growth, Heyman stated that Roman wants his title back. Heyman then stated that Roman officially declared for the Men’s Royal Rumble match with full intentions of winning and going to WrestleMania and them fighting again for the title. Heyman then asked Rhodes what he wanted to talk about.

This led to Kevin Owens interrupting and started ranting about just when he thought Cody could not get any worse, it actually does get worse. Owens ranted about Cody shaking The Rock’s hand and now he shook Heyman’s hand. Owens then talked about how right after Cody shakes his hand, Heyman tells him that Roman wants his title back and that is Cody’s fault. Owens stated that he should have let The Bloodline rip Roman to shreds but Cody didn’t let him do that. This led to Rhodes running out of the ring and through the crowd to where Owens was and engaged in a brawl.

This led to The Bloodline’s Tama Tonga & Jacob Fatu running out to the ring and attempted to attack Heyman only to be interrupted by Jimmy Uso who ran out to save Heyman. This led to a brawl breaking out and security running out trying to stop it only for Fatu to lay out several of them instead.

This then led to Rhodes running back out from the crowd and into teh ring and cleared it of the Bloodline.

Reigns joins Jey Uso, CM Punk, John Cena, and LA Knight as those who have officially declared for this year’s Men’s Royal Rumble match at Royal Rumble 2025, which takes place on February 1st at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Bayley Wins #1 Contender Match for Shot at WWE Women’s Title

Friday’s WWE SmackDown match also featured Bayley defeating Naomi, Bianca Belair, and Nia Jax in a Fatal Four-way match to become the new #1 contender for the WWE Women’s Championship.

This match was setup following Jax, Bayley, Naomi, and Belair all interrupting Tiffany Stratton’s championship celebration promo segment and engaged in a brawl that ended with Stratton leaving the ring and standing tall. This led to SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis coming out and making an impromptu #1 contender match to determine the next official challenger for Stratton.

As a result of her victory, Bayley will officially face Stratton for the WWE Women’s title at next week’s SmackDown show in San Diego, California.

Current Card for Next Week’s Show

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show also featured two new matches and one new segment announced for the card of next week’s show on January 17th in San Diego, California.

These matches were setup following promos, storyline angles, and match card graphics throughout the show.

Current card for January 17th WWE SmackDown show:

  • WWE Women’s Championship – Bayley vs. Tiffany Stratton (c)
  • Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) vs. Los Garzas (Angel & Berto)
  • Solo Sikoa to return
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