WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from January 21

Every week on Bleacher Report, I take an in-depth look at WWE SmackDown to recap the action, offer analysis and grade the matches, segments and anything else that takes place on the show, as well as make a few predictions for future events.

This was the final show before Sunday's Royal Rumble pay-per-view. Several feuds were addressed, and those that weren't were given video packages.

Among all the build for the PPV, we got some good wrestling and a couple of entertaining moments. The Wyatt Family had another good night after ending Raw standing over the motionless body of Brock Lesnar.

Mauro Ranallo already feels like a natural in his new role as lead commentator. His energy and style of calling matches makes things more exciting.

Let's take a look at everything that happened on this week's SmackDown.

The New Day vs. Usos and Dolph Ziggler

Chris Jericho opened the show with a promo about the Royal Rumble. It's usually Y2J who interrupts people, but this time he was the one being cut off when The New Day came out to have a moment for Francesca the trombone, which Jericho broke on a recent edition of Raw.

After some verbal sparring, Jericho introduced Dolph Ziggler and The Usos as Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Big E's opponents for the night.

Putting these six men in the ring together was almost guaranteed to lead to something great. The action was a little slow at first, but it picked up as the match progressed.

Everyone contributed to the performance, but the ending, which saw The Usos and Ziggler hit a triple superkick to Woods, was the most entertaining moment.

Grade: A-

Notes and Highlights

• Why doesn't Big E wear a unicorn horn like Woods and Kingston?
• Fans mock Roman Reigns for his comment about tater tots, but they cheer Jericho for saying "Rooty, tooty, booty" over and over.
• It was cool to see Ziggler donning the paint like The Usos. It reminds me of when guys who would team with Sting in WCW would wear his face paint.
• The Usos should start wearing different color schemes so it's easier to tell them apart.

Becky Lynch vs. Alicia Fox

After Raw featured a ridiculously short Divas match, it was nice to see the women get a decent amount of time to work.

Alicia Fox is one of the most underrated talents in the company. She is experienced, agile and has the ability to get more physical when she needs to. 

Foxy and Becky Lynch kept the pace quick and the strikes stiff. They only had one segment, but they made the most of the time and put on a good match.

Lynch picked up the win with the DisArmHer while Charlotte and Ric Flair looked on with sour expressions from the commentary table.

Grade: B

Notes and Highlights

• Lynch's new jacket confuses me. Is she a phoenix now? What's with the wings?
• The way Flair was laying into Byron Saxton shows how good Flair still is at being an antagonist.
• Lawler's new heel persona was a little more evident while he was talking to Flair.

MizTV

The Miz and his terrible jacket hosted another episode of MizTV. The topic of conversation was the upcoming Intercontinental Championship match between Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens at the Royal Rumble. 

As usual, The Miz was interrupted. He got upset and decided to sit on the sidelines, dubbing this episode DeanTV. The crowd was more than happy to see the change.

Ambrose proceeded to lay out his plans for the Last Man Standing match. He went all around the ring to point out the different things he would use to hurt Kevin Owens.

Owens eventually came out to address his opponent. Ambrose prepared for a fight, but he was attacked from behind by The Miz. Owens came down to help, but he ended up turning on The Miz.

Ambrose got the upper hand and sent Owens running to end what was one of the best episodes of MizTV in quite some time. This is one of the best feuds in WWE today, and they will likely produce an incredible match at The Royal Rumble.

Grade: B+

Notes and Highlights

• The Miz would make a great manager. He could help out a lot of young talents who don't have the mic skills to get ahead.
• Owens has an old-school approach to his promos.
• Owens did a good job making the IC title seem important. The micard titles have been featured heavily in recent months, and it has definitely helped them feel more prestigious.

Bray Wyatt vs. Ryback

Ryback hasn't had much direction in recent weeks, so it was no surprise to see him lose this match. He put up a good fight, but the leader of The Wyatt Family was too much for him.

The outcome was predictable because it wouldn't make sense for the man who took down Lesnar on Raw to immediately lose to a guy without a storyline.

It was surprising to see them get two segments to work with, but it helped show how these big men have enough stamina to go for a long time.

Grade: C

Notes and Highlights

• It's nice to see Wyatt wrestling a singles match on SmackDown. It feels like we don't see him do that too often.
• Ryback should form a tag team with someone. He is fine on his own, but he would look even better if he had someone with a different set of skills backing him up.

Titus O'Neil vs. Stardust

What is the point of this feud? All Stardust and Titus O'Neil have done is trade a few wins. If nobody gets the advantage, nobody comes out of the storyline with a push.

To make matters worse, it never felt like either man got out of first gear. The pace was slower than it should have been, and the finish was predictable. Titus O'Neil picked up another pointless win.

They didn't have a terrible match, but neither man looked good.

Grade: C-

Notes and Highlights

• For someone with charisma to spare, O'Neil has a boring entrance.
• Stardust's shoulder pads are like an updated version of the spikes The Legion of Doom used to wear.

The League of Nations vs. Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns began with a promo talking about how he would retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble despite the odds he has to overcome.

Reigns put up a good fight, but The League of Nations was just too much for him to handle. However, the group was disqualified, so Reigns technically won.

Sheamus, Rusev, Alberto Del Rio and King Barrett punished Reigns until The Usos came out to lend a hand. The Wyatt Family appeared at the end to put Reigns down once and for all. 

Grade: B-

Notes and Highlights

• The Wyatt Family have been the last men standing at the end of two shows in a row. It's great to see the group finally being treated like an important faction.
• It was surprising to not see Ambrose come out to help Reigns.

Final Thoughts and Predictions

Sunday's Royal Rumble was the main focus throughout SmackDown, but there was still time for some good wrestling.

The Rumble is usually one of the more entertaining shows of the year, but the last two events were met with criticism because of the winners of the Battle Royals.

Brock Lesnar's participation should make things more interesting. Since the pay-per-view is almost upon us, all of this week's predictions will be about the matches on the card.

Predictions

• Dean Ambrose will retain the IC title.
• Becky Lynch will win the Divas title.
• The Usos will win the Tag Team Championships.
• The Dudley Boyz will win the Fatal 4-Way tag match.
• Kalisto will win the U.S. title.
• Roman Reigns will win the Royal Rumble.

What did you think of this week's SmackDown, and what are your Royal Rumble predictions?

Thanks for reading and follow me on Twitter: @BR_Doctor.