WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN RESULTS (1/12/2024)

Featured below are complete WWE Friday Night SmackDown results from Friday, January 12, 2024. The following report was written by Rajah.com reporter Matt Boone and our live coverage partner (@MattBoone0709) as the show aired live from 8-10pm EST. on FOX.

After the usual "WWE Then. Now. Forever. Together." opener, we shoot inside the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, NE. where Kevin Patrick and Corey Graves welcome us to the show.

The Bloodline Hijack Opening Match

The theme for Grayson Waller hits and out he comes accompanied by Austin Theory. As he settles in the ring, Patrick and Graves introduce themselves on camera and talk about the blizzard in Lincoln and the freezing temperatures outside.

They inform us that they're ready to melt our faces off tonight and then we shoot to a video package that shows how last week's show ended with Nick Aldis' Fatal-4-Way announcement for Royal Rumble, as well as the post-show digital exclusive segment that saw Roman Reigns tell Paul Heyman to "fix this."

Back live, we see Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso in the middle of an ambush attack on Cameron Grimes on the entrance aisle. Grayson Waller and Austin Theory are shown laughing and pointing from inside the ring. Security rushes to save Grimes, but The Bloodline duo beats them down as well.

Now The Bloodline duo head towards the ring where Waller and Theory think twice about going head-to-head with these two. They exit the ring and leave as Paul Heyman settles on the mic. "The Wise Man" talks about SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis, who is at ringside.

He calls Aldis the bad guy the fans should be booing at for essentially confirming that there will be a new champion at Royal Rumble with his Fatal-4-Way announcement. Aldis gets in the ring and for some reason tells Heyman they aren't equals, before assuring him the Fatal-4-Way is a done deal for the Rumble.

Aldis assures us that The Bloodline won't be ruining tonight's main event because The Bloodline are in the main event. He thanks Lincoln fans for turning up despite the blizzard.

He says to reward them, they'll see in tonight's main event The Bloodline trio (with Roman Reigns included, he says) take on Randy Orton, AJ Styles and LA Knight. Heyman goes to grab the mic but Aldis won't let it go.

Heyman tells Aldis he knows Reigns isn't here tonight. Aldis says he's right. He says Roman Reigns has once again started something that he doesn't seem to want to finish.

He tells The Bloodline they have until the main event of tonight's show to find a third man if you'd like, but if not, the match will go forward as a three-on-two handicap match.

Joaquin Wilde & Cruz Del Toro vs. Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo

Once the opening segment wraps up, the commentators run down the lineup for tonight's show as the official match graphics flash across the screen. The theme for Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo plays and out they come with Santos Escobar.

A vignette airs to show Santos' new alignment with the Lethal Luchadors. We return live after the vignette wraps up and we see Angel and Humberto posing on the ring apron as we head into a quick pre-match commercial break.

When we return from the break, we see Jimmy Uso backstage stressing out to Solo Sikoa about having to compete in a handicap match tonight, noting there won't be anyone that wants to team with them after all they've done. In comes Paul Heyman who assures him he'll find someone to team with them.

Heyman walks off telling Uso not to worry. Uso says he's worried and asks Solo if he's worried. Solo very, very calmly says he never worries. That's Tribal Chief stuff right there, folks! Back live inside the arena, the theme for the LWO duo of Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde hits and out they come.

Santos Escobar joins Patrick and Graves on special guest commentary as the bell sounds to get this one officially off-and-running. We see all four men brawl in the early goings, with the LWO duo sending Angel and Humberto out to the floor and hitting dueling flipping splashes onto them over the ropes.

Back in the ring, we see Angel and Humberto taking over after they pull the top-rope down to send Del Toro crashing down to the floor at ringside with authority. Santos pops up from his seat at commentary and laughs as we head into a mid-match commercial break.

As we settle back in from the break, we see the LWO duo fire up on offense with some breathe-taking high spots in the ring and to the floor. When things take a turn for the worse, Carlito's theme hits and out he comes through the crowd. He and Santos Escobar brawl to the back while in the ring, the heel duo get the pin while holding the ropes.

Winners: Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo

Carmelo Hayes, Grayson Waller & Austin Theory Backstage With Nick Aldis

Now we see Carmelo Hayes backstage talking with SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis in his office. Aldis tells him he impressed people in his U.S. Title Contender Tournament performance. Hayes says he wants to shoot his shot then. As he goes to ask for a spot in the Royal Rumble, in comes Grayson Waller and Austin Theory.

After some back-and-forth between Hayes and the duo of Waller and Theory, Aldis makes a match between Hayes and Theory, because Waller offered Theory up instead of himself. We head to another commercial break after this wraps up.

Carlito Wants To Fight, But Not For Paul Heyman

We return to see Paul Heyman walking backstage looking for partners for The Bloodline duo tonight. He asks Carlito and tries bribing him with an apple. Carlito says he wants to fight, but only wants to fight Santos Escobar.

He goes to walk off but stops, turns around and grabs the apple. He leaves and Heyman yells at him that the apple and a "Yes" to his request were a "package deal."

Logan Paul With A Message For Kevin Owens

We see a video package that shows Kevin Owens winning the U.S. Title Contender Tournament and knocking out Logan Paul afterwards. Now we shoot to a special recorded message from WWE United States Champion Logan Paul.

Paul talks into the camera with a black eye about how he isn't here tonight because he doesn't go to places like Lincoln, Nebraska and says he's busy.

He says he has been talking with his lawyers and Owens might be in legal trouble for hitting him with a dangerous weapon like a cast. He tells him if he shows up to the Royal Rumble with the cast on, their title match is off.

Bianca Belair vs. Bayley

The familiar sounds of Bianca Belair's theme hits the house speakers inside the Pinnacle Bank Arena as "The EST of WWE" emerges and begins heading to the ring for our next match of the evening. As she does, we head into a pre-match commercial break.

When we return from the break, we see Butch and Tyler Bate sitting together for a coffee. An enthusiastic Bate tries talking to Butch like they're going to be a team going forward. Butch isn't interested. Bate keeps working on convincing him and Butch seems to be listening.

Back in the arena, Belair is shown wrapping up her ring entrance. Her theme music dies down and the entrance tune for her opponent hits. On that note, Bayley makes her way out accompanied by fellow Damage CTRL members IYO SKY, Kairi Sane, Asuka and Dakota Kai.

The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this women's singles match. The commentators talk about the long history between these two as they mix it up in the early goings.

We see Belair controlling the offense early on, however Bayley starts to take over as we head into a mid-match commercial break. When we return, we see Bayley still taking it to Belair as the entire group of Damage CTRL are shown watching on from ringside.

Belair hits a sidewalk slam on Bayley to slow down her momentum. The crowd starts to rally behind Belair as she starts to take over on offense. Bayley ends up using Belair's long pony-tail as she ties it into the bottom rope.

Belair uses her long pony-tail to trip Bayley and eventually she unties it and frees herself. After some more back-and-forth action, we see Bayley send Belair to the floor in front of all of the Damage CTRL members. She motions for them to attack Belair while she ties the referee up, but they do nothing.

The referee notices Bayley signaling to them and turns to them. Bayley rolls out to go to work on Belair herself since they won't, but then rolls Belair in the ring and looks at Damage CTRL confused. She finally heads back into the ring but Belair is recovered and takes over, hitting her K.O.D. for the win.

Winner: Bianca Belair

Kevin Owens Invites Logan Paul On The KO Show

We see a special video message from Kevin Owens in response to the one from Logan Paul earlier in the night. "The Prize Fighter" acknowledges the legal threats from Paul over his cast.

Owens says it won't stop him from competing with a broken hand in their scheduled title tilt at the WWE Royal Rumble PLE later this month. He then invites Paul to appear as his special guest on The KO Show on next week's SmackDown. After this wraps up, we head to another commercial break.

The Final Testament Addresses The Pride

When we return from the break, we see a bummed out Bayley talking backstage with Dakota Kai as the rest of Damage CTRL hangs back a couple of feet away. Belair asks Kai why they didn't help. She says they didn't want to get her disqualified.

She mentions how they still want to win all the gold and reminds Bayley she still has a Royal Rumble match to win on her own. We then head back inside the arena where Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits, collectively known as The Pride, make their way out.

Lashley gets on the mic after highlights are shown of Karrion Kross and The Authors of Pain attacking them last week. He says all they did was start a fight they can't finish. The lights go out and Paul Ellering is shown on the top of the entrance ramp. He points to the big screen above him.

A special message with cuts and production effects airs with Karrion Kross with a new hair style talking with the brown-haired Scarlett about the new group he formed with The Authors of Pain and Paul Ellering, which is now known as The Final Testament.

Paul Heyman Not Having Any Luck

Paul Heyman is seen backstage looking dejected as he is having no luck finding partners for The Bloodline main event tonight. Up walks Pretty Deadly to suck up to Heyman in hopes of getting the spot.

He informs them only one can get it and reminds them it's against Randy Orton, LA Knight and AJ Styles. They change their mind. He tries asking Bobby Lashley as he walks by with The Street Profits, but again has no luck.

Carmelo Hayes vs. Austin Theory

A video package airs to bring newer fans up to speed on who Carmelo Hayes is. After it wraps up, we return live inside the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, NE. when the theme for the former NXT World Champion hits.

Hayes makes his way down to the ring for our next match of the evening and we head into a mid-match commercial break. When we return, we see Austin Theory make his way down to the ring accompanied by Grayson Waller.

The bell sounds to get this one officially off-and-running. We see some good back-and-forth action and then we head into a mid-match commercial break. When we return, we see Hayes firing up on offense.

He goes for a Spanish Fly off the top-rope but he and Theory violently collide heads and smack the mat with authority on the way down. The ref immediately calls for the bell and the match is stopped. Theory isn't moving much and Waller looks concerned as he checks on him. A replay is shown and it looks worse in slow motion.

Winner: No Contest

Handicap Match
Randy Orton, AJ Styles & LA Knight vs. Solo Sikoa & Jimmy Uso

It's main event time!

The commentators announce the Royal Rumble Fatal-4-Way Universal title contract signing for next week's show, as well as The KO Show with Logan Paul and a women's tag-title bout with Katana Chance & Kayden Carter defending against Isla Dawn & Alba Fyre.

We shoot backstage and we see Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa approach a dejected Paul Heyman to find out who he got for them as their partner. Heyman pretends to be confident in them and says he's no longer taking auditions for potential partners for them tonight.

He tells Jimmy not to worry and Jimmy again says he's worried in a comedic way, which Solo again calmly and confidently says he's not. Back inside the arena the theme for Randy Orton hits.

As "The Apex Predator" makes his way out for this scheduled three-on-two handicap main event, he is attacked from behind by Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso. Solo takes him out with a Samoan Spike. We head to a pre-match commercial break on that note.

When we return, we see Uso and Sikoa in the ring awaiting the arrival of their opponents for this main event contest. The theme for AJ Styles hits and out comes "The Phenomenal One." He settles in the ring and then LA Knight's entrance tune hits and the crowd goes wild.

Knight and Styles are arguing straight out of the gate, as neither can agree on who is going to start off the match. Orton is in the back being checked on by the medical staff and the match goes on as a tag-team bout for now. Sikoa and Uso end up dominating the majority of the action.

We head into a mid-match commercial break with The Bloodline in a comfortable offensive lead, and Knight and Styles still having trouble getting on the same page. When we return, we see much of the same until out of nowhere, Randy Orton's theme hits. Out he comes holding his throat heading to the ring.

The camera pans over to show Solo Sikoa looking like he sees a ghost, as it can now finally safely be said that he, like Jimmy all night, is "worried." He has reason to be as well, as Orton immediately tags in and takes over, hitting an RKO for the win.

After the match, the action continues, as Knight hits all of his trademark spots for huge pops. He and Styles and Orton proceed to pay back the favor to The Bloodline from last week, violently assaulting them with the ring steps and putting Solo through a table. Paul Heyman says "Call Roman Reigns" into his phone as this week's show goes off the air. Thanks for joining us!

Winners: Randy Orton, AJ Styles & LA Knight