WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from January 29

The winter storm that crippled the northeast this past week and caused a rare cancellation of Monday Night Raw also led to the postponement of the WWE SmackDown tapings Tuesday night.

As a result, Thursday's broadcast was live from Hartford, Connecticut, and it was headlined by a huge pay-per-view quality Casket match pitting Daniel Bryan against the Big Red Corporate Demon (from Hell), Kane.

Having been eliminated from the Royal Rumble match fairly early, Bryan was sure to be fueled by frustration and anger. What would that mean for Kane, who has suffered many a loss to his former tag team partner over the last year?

Roman Reigns made his first appearance in front of a live audience since Sunday's monumental Royal Rumble victory. Did they greet him with a more favorable response than the fans in Philadelphia did as he stood triumphantly inside the squared circle this past weekend?

What would "Mr. Money in the Bank" Seth Rollins have in store for a WWE Universe that saw him turn in the performance of his career in a losing effort at the Royal Rumble, falling just short of a WWE World Heavyweight Championship win in a Triple Threat match against John Cena and Brock Lesnar?

Questions abounded as the Superstars and Divas of World Wrestling Entertainment stepped back inside the arena for this week's episode of SmackDown.

Fans would get their answers by the time the two-hour broadcast concluded.

What went down on the special live edition of the Thursday night program?

Take a look for yourself.

Triple H Promo

Triple H kicked off the evening's broadcast, welcoming the Hartford fans to the show, running down the craziness that ensued because of the snowstorm that hit the state earlier in the week. He took the National Football League to task for the controversy surrounding the New England Patriots' balls.

Then, he went over the events of the Royal Rumble, applauding the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match and addressing the controversy that surrounded Roman Reigns' victory in the night's headline bout.

He then vowed to make an announcement on Raw that is "likely to shake WWE to its core."

Reigns' music played and the Rumble winner made his way to the ring to a mostly mixed reaction. He downplayed The Game's claims of controversy surrounding the win.

"I won the Royal Rumble, and I'm going to WrestleMania," he stated.

"Indeed you did," Triple H started. "Let's see if you win this one."

Big Show's music played and the show headed to the first break of the night.

Highlight

Triple H put Seth Rollins over while praising the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match, definitively declaring him the future of the company.

Grade

D-

Analysis

The only thing saving this segment was Triple H's announcement of some sort of grand revelation at Raw that could change the course of WWE.

Otherwise, one is left to wonder whether the COO is a heel or babyface, underhanded and corrupt businessman or pandering hero.

He welcomed the fans to the show, made fun of the NFL and spoke on the tremendous WWE World Heavyweight Championship match from the Royal Rumble.

He was not angry that Seth Rollins lost or that the Authority did not reign supreme. That may have something to do with the Money in the Bank briefcase, but it still made little sense.

That he called Roman Reigns' victory in the Rumble controversial was ridiculous because, at the end of the day, he did not cheat to win the bout.

The whole segment felt completely out of place, went against everything the audience has been told and once again saw Triple H forgetting that he has to be the most despised man on the roster.

Roman Reigns vs. Big Show

The crowd was very mixed to start, with a "let's go Roman" chant breaking out and a very vocal portion of the audience attempting to drown them out with boos.

Big Show used his considerable strength to wear down Reigns, sending him crashing into the turnbuckle. A brief flurry of hard rights was met with a shoulder tackle that took Reigns to the mat.

The World's Largest Athlete pummeled and punished his opponent as Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole questioned whether this was Triple H punishing the Rumble winner.

A massive clothesline sent Big Show over the top rope and to the arena floor as we headed to the second break of the evening.

During the commercial, the giant caught Reigns with another shoulder block, retaking control of the bout. He worked over the leg of Reigns, attempting to put him out of action.

Reigns fought out of the hold by delivering a headscissors that sent Big Show over the top rope. (Author note: Yes, you read that correctly.)

A one-legged Reigns mounted a comeback, blasting Big Show with a leaping clothesline and a Samoan Drop that sent the mammoth competitor scurrying outside the squared circle to recover.

Big Show caught Reigns during a Superman Punch attempt and delivered a Chokeslam that netted him a two count. The giant headed to the top rope and Reigns caught him twice with his trademark strike.

A slam off the top rope and a big spear won Reigns the hard-fought match.

Result

Roman Reigns pinned Big Show

Highlight

Reigns' headscissors was completely out of place and indicated that the second-generation star will put in the work to try to win the crowd over and prove he is deserving of the push that he is currently in the midst of.

Grade

B+ 

Analysis

There has been a ton of criticism directed at Roman Reigns this past week—some due, most not—but there is no denying he proved on Thursday night that he will work to win the trust and support of the audience.

He got a very good heavyweight match out of Big Show—something few have been capable of over the last year. By the time he tossed the mammoth former WWE champion off the top rope and exploded across the ring with a spear, he had won most of the crowd over.

Consistently putting in the work he did Thursday, against opponents both big and small, will only further endear him to an audience whose biggest question is his readiness to succeed at the next level.

Seth Rollins Promo

Seth Rollins made his way to the ring for some action but first took the time to address the WWE Universe.

He proclaimed his greatness and ran down the events of Sunday's WWE title match.

"I dare you to come out here and test me," he stated in an open challenge to anyone in the locker room. After a brief pause, "Feed me more" sounded over the PA system and Ryback made his way to the ring.

The Big Guy found himself on the receiving end of a beatdown, courtesy of Rollins and J&J Security.

Erick Rowan attempted to make the save but caught a kick to the face. Finally, Dolph Ziggler hit the ring, sending Mr. Money in the Bank and his flunkies scurrying up the ramp to safety. 

Highlight

Rollins narrowly escaping a beating, just as all great heels do

Grade

C

Analysis

Unless the idea is to set up a Six-Man Tag Team bout between Ziggler, Rowan and Ryback and Rollins, Noble and Mercury, this felt very much like an excuse to get Rollins on television as WWE goes back and forth on when it wants Randy Orton to return to television.

The segment proved that Rollins' heel shtick is getting over quite nicely but really served little other purpose.

Jey Uso (with Jimmy and Naomi) vs. Tyson Kidd (with Cesaro and Natalya)

Tyson Kidd took the fight to Jey Uso to start, then delivered a stiff kick to the left knee that took his opponent off the ropes and began focusing his attack solely on the injured limb. After a minute or so of working over the knee and calf of Uso, Kidd found himself kicked to the arena floor.

Jey took off for a suicide dive but Kidd caught him with a big kick to the face.

Jimmy Uso took out an interfering Cesaro but the brief distraction allowed Kidd to catch Jey with the twisting fisherman suplex for the pinfall victory in a quick, action-packed match. 

Result

Tyson Kidd pinned Jey Uso

Highlight

Kidd picking up a rare win on the main roster

Grade

C-

Analysis

There was hardly enough time for Kidd and Uso to show what they are capable of here. The two were part of a quality rivalry a few years back, when the former partnered with DH Smith in the Hart Dynasty and battled the twins over the tag titles, so there is no questioning the work they are capable of producing.

Kidd and Cesaro have developed some outstanding tag team chemistry in recent months and a war over the tag titles with the Usos should prove infinitely more interesting than the never-ending program Jimmy and Jey just emerged from with the Miz and Damien Mizdow.

John Cena Addresses Rusev

Rusev made his way to the ring as commentator Byron Saxton recapped the events of the Royal Rumble. Both the U.S. champion and his social ambassador, Lana, expressed their fury over Roman Reigns' win. The crowd booed him heavily, then broke out in a chant of "U.S.A."

He turned his attention to John Cena, whom he referred to as a "thing of the past." He offered up Cena's lack of titles as evidence of the claim, to which the franchise player responded by making his way to the ring.

Fans showered the ring with boos directed as Cena as he offered to shut Rusev's mouth for him.

"You just made the biggest mistake of your life," Cena warned Rusev, running down his list of accomplishments.

Cena cut an impassioned promo, offering to fight Rusev right now. Instead, Lana warned the undefeated Bulgarian Brute not to waste his time with Cena. The two had a tense staredown before Rusev backed down and out of the ring, drawing the loudest boos of the night.

WWE's poster boy vowed to beat Rusev at Fast Lane.

Highlight

"I was winning championships before you had pubes and [Lana] had boobs."—Cena

Grade

B+

Analysis

This was the absolute perfect way to lay the foundation for the rest of the feud.

Cena did not come out guns blazing as the protector of the United States. In fact, national pride was not the central focus of the story the two performers began to tell. Instead, it was young arrogance on the part of Rusev and his insistence that Cena is a thing of the past.

The WWE's top star responded by tallying his accomplishments and title victories, reminding Rusev just who he is and that, in fact, he is unlike any of the other stars that the United States champion has destroyed to this point.

It was a phenomenal change of pace for Rusev, whose ego would naturally be inflated after the year he had in 2014.

Now, he will face the biggest test of his young career. A loss to Cena will not hurt him but a poor performance will create doubt about his ability to perform at the main event level.

The Bella Twins Attack Paige

Renee Young interviewed No. 1 contender to the Divas Championship, Paige.

Before the young Brit could address her upcoming title bout, Nikki and Brie Bella interrupted and wasted little time poking fun of her appearance. They referred to her as a vampire, to which Paige laughed and blasted Brie with a forearm to the face.

Nikki responded with one of her own, stunning Paige. The sisters double-teamed their new rival and left her lying before walking off.

Highlight

Paige and Renee Young shared the television screen for a brief moment, so there was that.

Grade

C

Analysis

Paige's recognition as No. 1 contender to Nikki Bella's Divas Championship is well-deserved but, at the same time, came from out of nowhere. After all, commentators Michael Cole, JBL and Jerry Lawler made sure to discuss the twins' dominant victory over the Brit and partner Natalya on Sunday night.

The decision does allow Paige to step back into the spotlight and battle for the top prize in women's wrestling. With AJ Lee out of action, perhaps Paige will finally be given the opportunity to showcase just why she was one of the breakout stars of NXT in 2014.

Of course, there is always the possibility this latest program is yet another excuse to put the Bella Twins over, but one can hold out hope that is not the case.

The Ascension vs. Gold and Stardust

Fresh off a victory over the New Age Outlaws on Sunday, the Ascension battled former WWE Tag Team champions Gold and Stardust on Thursday night.

Konnor and Viktor isolated Stardust, pounding away on him in the corner. 

The Hartford crowd watched in stunned silence (Author's note: Or something like that) until Stardust made the hot tag. Goldust destroyed the former NXT tag champions before Stardust inexplicably tagged himself back into the match.

Goldust wound up on the arena floor while the Ascension finished Stardust off with the Fall of Man.

Result

The Ascension defeated Gold and Stardust

Highlight

Michael Cole openly trying to downplay the Ascension's win from Sunday night by referring to the New Age Outlaws as "long in the tooth" and likely drawing the ire of Billy Gunn and Road Dogg in the process.

Grade

D

Analysis

The booking of the Ascension to this point has been absolutely horrific, as it is apparent that those on the WWE Creative staff have no idea why the team succeeded as it did in NXT.

Rather than booking the team as a dominant duo that tears through any and all competition, Konnor and Viktor have squeaked by teams they should have no trouble defeating.

Thursday night, they battled Gold and Stardust in a match that saw the team struggle with Goldust after the hot tag.

So in recent weeks, the team was pummeled by the New World Order and APA, barely beat the Outlaws and would have lost to Goldust were it not for a poorly judged tag by Stardust. All of those stars, outside of Stardust, are well over 40 years of age.

Speaking of the Rhodes siblings, the growing dissension between the brothers in paint should make for some interesting television going forward, not to mention a potentially intriguing match at WrestleMania.

Casket Match: Daniel Bryan vs. Kane

Credit: WWE.com

The culmination of the intense rivalry between former tag team partners and friends Kane and Daniel Bryan headlined this week's episode of SmackDown. This time, however, they would battle in a Casket match.

Kane slammed Bryan early and delivered a big dropkick, attempting to end the match early. Bryan, as he has done throughout his career, showed tremendous perseverance, fighting back and attempting to place the Corporate Demon inside the casket.

Kane narrowly avoided falling into the casket following a dropkick as we headed to another brief break.

Back from commercial, Kane attempted to suplex his opponent into the casket. A big boot put Bryan nearer to a defeat but Bryan fought off Kane's onslaught, only to run right into a second boot to the face.

Kane continued to try forcing Bryan into the casket but found himself caught in a headscissors and pulled down into the casket.

Bryan climbed to the top rope and laid the Big Red Monster out at ringside with a cross body block. A second dive led to Kane driving him spine-first into the steel post. Kane tossed Bryan into the casket but the alert former WWE World Heavyweight champion escaped.

After minutes of playing punching bag for Kane, Bryan mounted a comeback, exploding across the ring with a clothesline, then unleashing a series of kicks about the chest of his opponent. A suicide dive followed, knocking Kane to the ground.

More kicks punished Kane as Bryan looked to incapacitate his former championship-winning tag partner.

Kane sent Bryan crashing over the announce table, then proceeded to blast him with repeated chair shots to the spine as Jerry Lawler proclaimed, "that's it, Daniel's done for."

Bryan mustered a series of dropkicks, but the third of which saw him caught in a Chokeslam. He recovered, through, locking Kane in the Yes! Lock. Kane responded and the action spilled back into the squared circle.

Bryan countered another Chokeslam attempt and the running double knee to the face sent Kane into the casket and allowed the beloved babyface to close the lid for the win.

Result

Daniel Bryan defeated Kane 

Highlight

The drama surrounding the finish was spectacular and helped to elevate the quality to the next level.

Grade

B+

Analysis

The main event of this week's show got off to a very slow start, and midway through, it appeared as though WWE Creative made a major mistake giving the contest the amount of time it did. 

With that said, both competitors bounced back to deliver a quality main event that used the casket to produce added drama.

Bryan took incredibly risky bumps, including a dropkick he delivered at ringside that led to him briefly holding his neck. Still, he looked as crisp and confident between the ropes as ever, proving that he is unlikely to adapt his in-ring style to ensure that no re-injuring of the neck occurs.

That could be a good thing for the quality of his work but a bad thing for his long-term health.

Kane deserves major props for his performance here, as he turned in one of his better performances of the last year in a match that, hopefully, brings about the end of the long rivalry.