WWE went back and forth on the creative direction for Solo Sikoa on this week’s episode of SmackDown.
Solo tried to do a promo segment to address his recent loss to Roman Reigns during the Raw on Netflix premiere. The fans continued to boo him, so he left. Jacob Fatu did a highly praised in-ring promo before LA Knight stormed the ring to attack the rest of the Bloodline.
Braun Strowman made his return to even the odds and made the save for Knight.WWE incorporated Strowman’s real-life issues into the storyline, explaining that he had been recovering from an attack by The Bloodline. In reality, Strowman had been sidelined at the start of 2025 due to a severe illness.
WrestleVotes noted that original plans called for Solo to open SmackDown to address the loss before plans changed.
That Solo Sikoa segment was a hot topic of debate within creative today. The original rundown this morning had Solo opening the show to address his loss to Roman. #SmackDown
— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) January 18, 2025