Despite not having two top draws in Cody Rhodes or Roman Reigns physically present, Friday's (pre-taped) episode of "WWE SmackDown" advanced several key storylines as the WWE calendar pushes toward perhaps the most significant episode of television programming in the company's history.

Of particular note, Solo Sikoa opened the show by accepting Reigns' challenge for Tribal Combat on the Jan. 6 debut of "Raw" on Netflix. In addition, Kevin Owens cut a promo and is still in possession of the Winged Eagle WWE Championship belt after his match and vicious attack on Rhodes at Saturday Night's Main Event.

The main event of the night was set to be the first Women's Tag Team Championship defense for the newly formed team of Bianca Belair and Naomi.

Here's what went down.

👟 Kicks of the night

No, we're not talking about Claymores when it come to Drew McIntyre this week. McIntyre is rapidly rising up my own personal power rankings, and his 'fit on Friday night only adds to the hype (pun intended).

McIntyre looked like the Scottish badass he is when he interrupted Sikoa's slightly-too-long promo to kick off SmackDown (more on this in just a second). I'm not sure he'll change his in-ring gear fully, but the black and blue vest, jeans and "Royal Toe" Jordan 1s were pure heat and should be the norm for him moving forward.

Great Scot

While we're here, I'm going to Ayr (no more Scottish puns, I swear) my grievances about McIntyre's presentation, fashion aside. I don't love his loose alliance with Sikoa. This feels like a moment for McIntyre as he's pretty over with fans and is just destroying everything in his path.

It's time to strike while the iron is hot, McIntyre should have called his shot in his promo and said to Solo "you take out Roman Reigns and I'll go for Cody, but make no mistake, I am coming for you." Granted, he did kind of hint at that, but let's just lock it in because — no disrespect to Big Jim Uso (I think this is still a thing) — McIntyre is bigger than that feud right now.

(It's been a while since I've broken this out but...)

✏️ Book it!: Rhodes vs. McIntyre vs. Owens for the Undisputed WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble.

But wait, there's more

The New Bloodline's influence on SmackDown continued in a triple-threat match featuring Sikoa, Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga vs. LA Knight, Apollo Crews and Andrade.

Maybe it was the two commercial breaks and one picture-in-picture segment that happened during the match, but it really felt a bit disjointed and didn't do anyone beyond Sikoa any real favors. After a hot tag, Knight looked strong, but got attacked by Shinsuke Nakamura, which ultimately turned the match into the New Bloodline's favor for good.

Crews taking the pin was the most logical outcome and Sikoa looked ruthless in picking up the win less than three weeks from Tribal Combat, but Andrade was battered and Nakamura taking out Knight — while extending their feud — seems to run counter to the character they are trying to build him into.

The Bloodline shouldn't need Nakamura's help and Nakamura should be confronting Knight or any challenger head-on.

The WABAC Machine

Unless you're a "Rocky and Bullwinkle" fan, that is a DEEP CUT.

Anyway, WWE threw it back — successfully, by the way — last weekend with Saturday Night's Main Event. We got caught up on all the big happenings of the event with a look back at Chelsea Green's historic Women' United States Championship win and Owens' ruthless attack on Rhodes. We also saw two excellent interviews/backstage segments.

Melo and the Monster

While I'd like to believe that the suits at WWE read my SmackDown recap last week and took my suggestion for more personality from Braun Strowman and Carmelo Hayes needing a win to heart, Friday's episode was pre-taped, so unless Paul Levesque has a WABAC Machine, it's impossible.

Anyway, Strowman made his way to the Grayson Waller Effect dressed as Santa Claus and tossing gifts into the crowd. It was a fun entrance and his banter with Waller and Austin Theory, as inconsequential as it may have been, was entertaining enough.

Then, Hayes' music hit.

Immediately I thought, "oh no, not again," but Hayes claimed he was ready for Strowman this week after getting squashed on last week's episode.

After some set deconstruction — erm, destruction — we saw that Melo was so ready that his showdown with the Monster of All Monsters earned the...

Uncrowned Gem of the Night 👑

While it won't win any Match of the Year awards, the finish here was super creative and protected both Hayes and Strowman. I loved this.

And Still ... And New, Too

Belair and Jade Cargill have been as dominant a women's tag team as we have seen maybe ever, and they have elevated the Women's Tag Team Championships to new heights. With Cargill out of action after a storyline ambush, Naomi has stepped in to be Belair's partner so she doesn't forfeit the titles.

From an in-ring action and storyline standpoint, the main event between Belair/Naomi and Nia Jax/Candice LeRae was the best collective portion of the show. All four women did phenomenal work in setting the stage — Naomi not wanting to touch the belts before getting a win with Belair was a magnificent touch — and then they all delivered when the lights shined brightest.

Ultimately, Naomi and Belair won the match and retained the titles — or won in Naomi's case.

And while the Naomi-Belair pairing doesn't offer the same powerhouse chemistry that Cargill-Belair did, there was a different feel to the match itself — the flow was a little more natural instead of fans essentially waiting for a hot tag to Cargill and for her to clean house.

These titles need to stay on Belair and Naomi until Cargill comes back and it almost NEEDS to be revealed that Naomi was the attacker when Cargill returns. This storyline is in its infancy right now but I believe it has the potential to be something truly special for 2025.

The best of the rest

• There are plenty of sports television production aspects sprinkled into what we see on a weekly basis. One I would have loved to see — or not see, to be more specific — is for WWE to shy away from showing Owens' Package Piledriver on Rhodes as often as they did. I know it's all storyline and whatnot, but what better way to really sell the injury/devastating nature of the move than to NOT show it a dozen times? We see this regularly (unfortunately) with gruesome injuries in the NFL — the telecast won't show them. WWE could adopt this pretty seamlessly.

• WWE did a really great job in presenting the history behind the Alex Shelley/Johnny Gargano match. From using a picture of the two of them from their training/indie days to the commentary team's discussion — particularly Corey Graves — the stakes felt a bit higher than usual. The match itself was fine, with my one critique being that Gargano should have winked at Tommaso Ciampa when he told him to stay backstage. It's in his logo for crying out loud! It would have drawn more heat to DIY and made complete sense.

• Speaking of commentary, Michael Cole continues to reference past TNA championship reigns of talent who have crossed over to WWE. In addition, there was a spot promoting TNA's upcoming shows. The working relationship between the two companies has produced some cool moments and sharing of talent, hopefully we see plenty more in the new year.

• One last commentary callout! Graves referencing Yukon Cornelius as Strowman chased Hayes through the crowd was absolutely perfect. Aside from Strowman bearing a striking resemblance to the stop-motion icon, it's a callback to one of the best holiday movie/specials of all-time — 1964's "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Sorry, "A Christmas Story" and "Elf" fans.

• We're still waiting on Tiffany Stratton to cash in her "Money in the Bank" briefcase, but we're inching ever closer it seems. Stratton rushed, as much as one in heels physically can, to Jax's aid after she busted her head on the ring post in the main event, and Jax demanded the briefcase to use as a weapon. She was caught by the referee as the match reached its climax. She's almost certainly going to blame Stratton to advance the story.

This was a pretty solid showing, especially heading to holidays and with the major Netflix "Raw" debut coming so soon. 👑 7.5 crowns. 👑