WWE SmackDown results, grades: Sasha Banks makes shock return and attacks Charlotte Flair before Royal Rumble

The Legit Boss is back in time for the Royal Rumble (Picture: WWE)

WWE shook thinks up on SmackDown as Sasha Banks made a surprise return before the Royal Rumble.

The Legit Boss has been out due to injury for almost a month now, with the company initially putting her recovery time at ‘six to eight weeks’ in an announcement made on January 8.

However, she was back in the mix on Friday night as she made an impression at the expense of SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair.

The Queen herself kicked off the show as she hyped up Saturday’s Rumble match and its unpredictability, noting the potential for betrayals, returns, bickering and more – but she was soon interrupted by Shayna Baszler.

The former MMA fighter promised to snap the champ like a twig if she gets the chance in the 30-woman bout, while Aliyah came down to boast about her record-breaking win over Natalya – with the latter out next to call her lucky.

Shotzi joined the fun suggesting she could sneak into the match and steal the win, but after Charlotte tried to regain control she was overshadowed by Banks making an unexpected comeback on the eve of the Rumble.

The decorated former champion – and Mandalorian star – slapped Flair, sparking a wild brawl with some quickfire eliminations as a tease for Saturday’s flagship bout, leading to Banks standing tall after throwing out Charlotte.

Seeing Sasha back already is huge for WWE heading into WrestleMania season, and it seems more certain than ever that there must be something big planned for the Rumble with her return coming the night before rather than at the event itself.

Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins get personal, Big E moves to SmackDown and Naomi finally beats Sonya Deville

This show was all about the Rumble and moving SmackDown’s stories along nicely, and it worked well.

The first match of the night saw Ricochet and Cesaro face Sheamus and Ridge Holland in a re-run of the Day 1 Kickoff clash which saw the latter get taken to the back after suffering a broken nose.

All four men were able to finish the entertaining bout this time round, with the Celtic Warrior and his protege picking up the win when Holland headbutted the Swiss Cyborg with his protective face mask followed by Northern Grit.

Naomi finally got her match with – and win over – Sonya Deville (Picture: WWE)

Sonya Deville tried to intimidate the referee by reminding him that she’s his boss, but he promised to call her match with Naomi right down the middle.

Considering Deville hasn’t wrestled a proper match since SummerSlam 2020, this was great as she and Naomi worked well together en route to the latter getting a much-needed victory.

Naomi celebrated and promised to win the Rumble, only for Sonya to come back out and reveal she’s putting herself in the match as well.

Sami Zayn came out for his re-imagined InZayn show – now a live podcast instead of the Jackass rip-off – with Jinder Mahal and Shanky as his inaugural guests, although he spent most of the time ranting about Johnny Knoxville as you’d expect.

Sami Zayn always shines (Picture: WWE)

Rick Boogs and Shinsuke Nakamura got involved with the latter kicking Zayn – who continues to be one of the most entertaining stars in the whole business – in the face before the IC Champ and his partner beat Shanky and Mahal in a fun but brief match.

Big E – who is now a SmackDown superstar once again – reunited with his New Day teammate Kofi Kingston to face Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss, who mocked the injured Drew McIntyre before things got underway.

The match was a fantastic reminder of how good E and Kingston are together, and they rightly got the win here.

Finally, the main event segment of the go-home show saw Seth Rollins and Universal Champion Roman reigns come face to face for a very personal verbal exchange.

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The Visionary referenced his wins over the Tribal Chief, and even gave a nod to his 30-day suspension for his Wellness Policy violation in 2016.

He turned his attention to his chair shot which broke up The Shield, which is where Roman’s mood shift as he insisted he will never forgive Seth for what he did to ‘us’.

The Head of the Table – clearly riled up – went for a Superman punch, but his former stablemate ducked and slipped out of the ring, laughing knowing he’s got Roman rattled.

WWE SmackDown airs Friday nights at 1am on BT Sport 1.

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