Backstage News From January 6th Edition Of WWE Smackdown

There is some interesting information from behind the scenes for the January 6th edition of Smackdown including news on who was and wasn’t there.

The first episode of WWE Smackdown took place in Memphis, Tennessee on January 6th. The main event of the show featured The Usos retaining the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles against “The Banger Bros” duo of Sheamus & Drew McIntyre. It was not a clean win since The Usos cheated to win.

Other matches on the show saw Santos Escobar defeat Kofi Kingston thanks to some help, Karrion Kross & Scarlett beat Madcap Moss & Emma, Charlotte Flair retained the Smackdown Women’s Title against Sonya Deville and Ricochet beat Top Dollla. After the match, Top Dolla and his Hit Row allies turned heel by attacking Ricochet.

There are also some additional notes from the show provided by the good folks at Fightful Select, which is available via subscription. This is a listing of the match producers.

* Santos Escobar vs. Kofi Kingston was produced by Jamie Noble.

* Karrion Kross & Scarlett vs. Madcap Moss & Emma was produced by Shawn Daivari.

* Charlotte Flair vs. Sonya Deville was produced by Molly Holly.

* Ricochet vs. Top Dolla was produced by Adam Pearce.

* The Usos vs. Sheamus & Drew McIntyre was produced by Jason Jordan.

Triple H was backstage at the show as usual. William Regal was also there since he returned to WWE in a new role.

Even though he has returned to WWE as part of the Board of Directors, Vince McMahon was not at Smackdown. The WWE superstars on the show were not addressed as a group about a potential sale or Vince McMahon’s return. When WWE management spoke to staff (not wrestlers) on Friday, they said it was business as usual for the company with the same management team in place. At this point, Vince is only back in WWE to help facilitate a sale.

Scarlett teaming with her husband Karrion Kross was her first WWE TV match since 2016 match when she lost to Nia Jax on television in a squash match. Scarlett has been working recent WWE live events.

Bray Wyatt was not at Smackdown this week. Bray’s Royal Rumble opponent LA Knight did a promo to build their Pitch Black Match.

Next week’s edition of Smackdown has two big matches announced with GUNTHER defending the Intercontinental Title against Braun Strowman while Sami Zayn will face his former best friend Kevin Owens.