[5.0] "This was an average event, but not a phenomenal way to kick off the new year. All the matches were alright, there weren? t any great angles or promos (outside of the already excellent KO/Roman feud). It? s definitely a shame that no match went longer than 10 minutes. The return of Deville could have been a lot better than it was, and the new IC Champ barely did anything. A definite middle of the road show."

[4.0] "The first WWE TV show I have watched in a while and a good reminder as to why I don't generally watch the main roster. A bunch of nothing matches that were all flawed in some way some more than others. I found this boring and I was able to watch it without commercials if I watched this live this would've been a real struggle."

[4.0] "I guess the first Smackdown of 2021 was alright. Nothing special or a match that sticks out, but overall entertaining enough TV-show building around Roman Reigns and his feud with Owens.. Big E -vs- King Corbin [1/2*], Big E & Apollo Crews -vs- King Corbin & Sami Zayn [* 1/2], Liv Morgan & Ruby Riott -vs- Natalya & Tamina [*], Bayley & Carmella -vs- Sasha Banks & Bianca Belair [* 3/4], Daniel Bryan & Otis -vs- Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro [**], Kevin Owens -vs- Jey Uso [* 1/2]"

[5.0] "It's a shame that no match went longer than 10 minutes Especially after last week's episode Top 3 of the Night 3. Big E 2. Kevin Owens 1. Roman Reigns"

[6.0] "The episode was fine in terms of entertaiment but the storylines are going too much randomly now for my tastes. Mandatory tribute to Brodie Lee of course. R. I. P."

[7.0] "I did enjoy main event and staff about Universal title, Sasha and Bianca vs. Mella and Bayley was great, second womens tag team match was okay but i didnt like the IC title staff"

[5.0] "Other than the excellent Reigns/Owens feud and the return of Daddy Deville (though I would have liked a better explanation than "Sonya got reinstated"), this was a very average episode, not really following up on the new viewers the show got last week. Liked Big E getting in several references to Brodie Lee during his promo."

[3.0] "Much worse than last SmackDown. The only thing that was interesting to watch is Reigns and Owens feud, but the all the rest was boring. And there were 4 tag team matches in a row. Are they kidding? Is it the first SmackDown of the year or a live event? Bad show. Not awful, but bad."

[7.0] "This might be a bit generous on my part, the action from the first hour or so bordered on bad more often than not and seemed to be aimed at angles rather than wrestling. Roman's strong promo and character work continue, but Owens needs to actually get some kind of upper hand over him sooner rather than later or this risks becoming too repetitive. That said, Roman and Owens work very well together so hopefully some kind of new wrinkle is coming. Bryan and Otis vs. Cesaro and Nakamura was predictably good, but also sadly predictable. On the whole the show began pretty strong, and ended pretty strong. The stuff in the middle continues to just kind of exist, an issue they need to iron out."