WWE SmackDown results and highlights (Jan. 10): Bayley is new No. 1 contender for WWE Women's Championship

WWE's new longest-running cable TV show had some big shoes to fill after Monday's "WWE Raw" debut on Netflix. Even though there weren't any major surprise legends appearances — we're not looking at you, Hulk Hogan — "SmackDown" did a really solid job in following up a historic show.

Here's what went down across all THREE hours of action on Friday night.

🇺🇸 Red, White and Two 🇺🇸

We were treated to two United States Championship rematches on Friday night, one for the men and one for the women. Both matches were really strong and illustrated the continued benefit of having a mid-card women's championship and frequent television defenses on the men's side of things.

Michin and Chelsea Green renewed their rivalry in a rematch of their Women's United States Championship tournament finals at December's Saturday Night's Main Event revival.

These two showed off strong chemistry, and even though the finish was a bit predictable, both women came out of this match better off than they were coming in.

Chelsea Green remains the right choice to hold the belt, but Michin appears poised to have a massive 2025, with a championship reign coming sooner rather than later.

On the men's side, we got LA Knight and Shinsuke Nakamura in a reprisal of their relatively underwhelming Survivor Series clash in November.

This match was far and away better than their previous United States Championship meeting and was just hitting its crescendo when Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga interfered. (Knight kicked them out of the building earlier in the night, so there was some legitimate kayfabe beef here.)

I understand the need for the attack to protect both Knight and Nakamura, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. This match was excellent, but as good as it was, it illustrated why we need to end this program.

WWE has built Nakamura into a quasi-supernatural force and should want to give him an extended, dominant championship run. Narrowly escaping and getting help from outside factions doesn't help that. Knight is a megastar (pun intended) so he could have — and should have — lost clean and still been a credible threat in the Royal Rumble and an entrant into the Elimination Chamber as we barrel toward WrestleMania.

There's still time for that to happen, so I won't let my opinion take away from a stellar TV match.

We love you, Jacob

The Bloodline Civil War may be over — we think — but Fatu's ascent is just beginning. The Samoan Werewolf has been a revelation since debuting in WWE last year, and there was a moment early in Friday's show where he was in the ring alone with Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes — and it felt like a preview of a PLE main event.

Fatu and Tonga ran rampant throughout the show, resulting in a main event tag-team match between them and Jimmy Uso and Rhodes. It wasn't the best match of the night or had the most stakes (this show was loaded with great wrestling), but it might have had the best promo, courtesy of none other than Fatu himself.

Fatu and Tonga were able to stand tall at the end of the show thanks to interference from Kevin Owens that pulled Rhodes out of the match. Fatu's star power, violence and ability helps keep the New Bloodline (are we even still calling it this?) a major player on "SmackDown."

Clock ticking on Tiffy Time?

After finally cashing in her Money in the Bank briefcase, Tiffany Stratton made her debut as WWE Women's Champion on "SmackDown" Friday. Her initial promo was solid, if a little weird.

Successful MITB cash-ins don't just immediately make you a top champion, but they almost always give you some babyface pop with the crowd, and that happened for Stratton. Even when she tried to say she was better than the fans' favorites and explain her master plan to turn on Nia Jax, the crowd didn't fully buy her as a heel. The initial wonkiness will wear off and Stratton will be more than fine, it's just the inherent logistics of the popular stipulation.

Soon after, Jax, Bayley and Naomi all made their way to the ring, cutting promos about why they deserve to be first in line for Stratton's title. Bianca Belair accompanied Naomi, and while she didn't speak, she was put into a Fatal Four-Way to determine the No. 1 contender, a match which earned the ...

👑 Uncrowned Gem of the Night 👑

Here's where I go back-and-forth on "SmackDown" being three hours long (which allegedly won't be a permanent change). On one hand, I believe this match was worthy of being the main event on any two-hour episode of "SmackDown." On the other hand, would these four women have gotten 20-ish minutes with an hour less of airtime? Maybe, maybe not.

This match had an impressive Tower of Doom spot — with Bayley taking an avalanche Samoan Drop — and featured non-stop action, including a breakneck segment between Belair and Bayley that immediately makes me want a singles match between the two. In addition to that, we got a tease of Belair vs. Naomi, which the crowd buzzed significantly for.

Bayley was the ultimate winner thanks to an inadvertent hair whip on Naomi from Belair (story progression!) and will get a shot at Stratton next week on "SmackDown."

Rejuvenated Tag Division

It's no secret — we like the Motor City Machine Guns here at Uncrowned.

Friday was a perfect example of why.

As Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley continue to chase DIY and their WWE Tag Team Championships, the life they have helped breathe back into the division is remarkable. This isn't a knock on how things were before MCMG's arrival, it's more of a statement of how fresh everything feels now.

Friday night we got two strong tag matches, Los Garza vs. Pretty Deadly and MCMG vs. A-Town Down Under. Los Garza and MCMG came out on top in their respective showdowns and will meet next week on "SmackDown" to determine the No. 1 contender to face Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano.

Tag wrestling has sometimes been a sore point for WWE — just look at Judgment Day's run with the belts on "Raw" in 2024. It's great to see "SmackDown" really leaning into it and the action reciprocating that faith.

Smack Talk 📣

1. When the calendar turns to January, we officially hit the home stretch for WWE's "season," which culminates in WrestleMania each year. We'll know a whole lot more about the WrestleMania 41 card itself after the Royal Rumble in early February, but it's no secret that there's a trilogy match to be had between Rhodes and Roman Reigns.

Paul Heyman opened the show by inviting Rhodes to the ring and stating that Reigns was declaring himself an entrant for the Royal Rumble match and would win to challenge Rhodes. Great. Except for the fact that Rhodes faces Owens in a ladder match in three weeks at the Royal Rumble. I can't help but feel as if looking ahead that far takes away from this really solid rivalry.

To help make my point about the intensity of the Owens-Rhodes feud, here's how the show closed:

2. While we're on the topic of the Royal Rumble — I really don't like stars declaring for it. I'll give John Cena the pass here because it's his final one, but c'mon, did we really think the newly crowned Tribal Chief wasn't going to be in the match?

Lock in spot No. 1 and spot No. 30 and let everything else be a surprise — that's the fun in it after all.

👑 Even with the three-hour runtime, this show didn't drag at all thanks to a really strong and diverse slate of matches. Everything felt like it mattered and advanced an angle or feud. 9/10 crowns. 👑