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From AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy's confrontation to another twist in Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt's feud, this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown featured many contrasting moments.
At this point, it almost seems like the creative team have let their filter down when it comes to writing for WWE SmackDown. While this particular episode may result in a polarizing reaction from the fans, it certainly captured my attention from start-to-finish.
Due to the Blue brand's volatile creativity, it is impossible to predict the quality of the show on a weekly basis.
Which show did you like better this week, RAW or SmackDown? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Here are the five biggest news stories from this week's episode of WWE SmackDown (August 14, 2020).
#5: Kalisto made a surprise return as Lucha House Party stole the SmackDown Tag Team Titles
Before Gran Metalik and Shinsuke Nakamura faced each other in singles competition on this week's WWE SmackDown, Nakamura and Cesaro cut a backstage promo for the same.
In a childish turn of events, Lucha House Party (Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik) snuck behind the SmackDown Tag Team Champions and stole their titles.
This trope has become quite common in recent times. MVP declared himself the United States Champion at WWE Extreme Rules, and just this week, Brodie Lee stole the old TNT title to spite Cody on AEW Dynamite.
So Lucha House Party's actions weren't the biggest highlight of the night. However, later on, Gran Metalik secured a victory against Shinsuke Nakamura thanks to Kalisto's return. It created a distraction so that Metalik could deliver the diving elbow for a successful three-count.
It will be interesting to see how Nakamura & Cesaro manage to overcome the numbers game against their rivals now that Kalisto is back, but even then, there are far bigger things happening on SmackDown on a weekly basis.
#4: RETRIBUTION attacked Big E and John Morrison to kick-off SmackDown
RETRIBUTION has arrived and WWE fans haven't been completely positive about this concept. However, this week's WWE SmackDown saw RETRIBUTION making their biggest impact, to date.
This time, they crossed the boundaries by attacking two high-profile WWE names, Big E and John Morrison, as both were set to wrestle each other at the beginning of the show.
Michael Cole and Corey Graves assured that security had been posted at every nook and corner of the Performance Center, but none of that made any difference at the end of the night.
As the SmackDown locker room rallied to stand against RETRIBUTION, the miscreants created a misdirection later in the night, when Big E and Morrison wrestled again. With the help of some flickering lights, SmackDown Superstars thought that RETRIBUTION was going to enter the ring again, so all of them came out and surrounded the ring.
Instead, RETRIBUTION trashed the backstage area during the match, and by the time everyone assembled, it was too late.
Although Big E defeated Morrison eventually, the background noise and continuity overshadowed in-ring action on this week's WWE SmackDown. However, I will say that the writers wrote a good arc for RETRIBUTION last night.
#3: Asuka will now face both Bayley and Sasha Banks for their respective titles at WWE SummerSlam
WWE SmackDown hosted a Triple-Brand Battle Royal Match to determine Bayley's opponent at SummerSlam.
No matter what happens on the Blue brand, it's as if The Golden Role Models deliver perfectly every week. Both Bayley & Sasha Banks did a great job in announcing the competitors for the aforementioned match, but to their surprise, Asuka turned out to be one of the participants as well.
This booking decision made sense as Asuka defeated Bayley on the recent episode of WWE RAW, which made the former a #1 contender to face Sasha Banks at SummerSlam.
The Triple-Brand Battle Royal Match panned out in a good way too. Usually, these bouts can be a bit clunky in WWE, but AEW figured out a better and more structured approach to the same.
SmackDown followed in the same footsteps and delivered a well-structured Battle Royal Match this week.
Regardless, Asuka won the whole affair in an interesting turn of events, and now she could become a Double Champion at this year's WWE SummerSlam event.
#2: AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy came face-to-face in a segment that also featured TNA's Abyss
Christopher Joseph Parks has been a WWE producer since 2019, but Pro-Wrestling fans mostly remember him as the TNA icon, Abyss.
This week, AJ Styles introduced a new "ranking system", which was nothing but a sham because nobody in WWE is worthy enough to be on the same level as The Phenomenal One, according to Styles. Parks accompanied Styles throughout the night, and his facial expressions were on point every time the camera panned towards him.
Later, Jeff Hardy came out and cemented himself as the next challenger for the WWE Intercontinental Title. He beat up Styles and used a permanent marker to write his name on the "ranking" board.
This whole arc felt like a shot towards AEW's actual ranking system, and it would have looked cheap in any other situation, however, the segment worked mainly because of the history between all three men in the ring.
It felt like a TNA reunion of sorts, even though Hardy and Styles are foes here. Also, Joseph Parks was portrayed as The Phenomenal One's stooge the same way TNA's Rebel caters to Britt Baker's demands on AEW Dynamite.
But Abyss was just too good on this week's WWE SmackDown, and I wouldn't mind seeing him take up this role in the next few episodes as well.
#1: Braun Strowman attacked Alexa Bliss to play "mind games" with The Fiend
Poor Alexa Bliss has been through a rough few days as a character, and although "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt didn't want anything to do with her this week, it was Braun Strowman who unexpectedly slammed her on WWE SmackDown.
As a plot device, Bray got what he wanted out of her, which was to bait Strowman into a final confrontation at WWE SummerSlam. But Bliss had a few questions of her own, and the biggest one was why Strowman reduced their friendship to ashes last week.
Simply put, The Fiend changes anyone whom he overcomes, and a bald and creepy Braun Strowman is our Universal Champion after the Swamp Fight.
The Monster crossed a line and somehow managed to bait The Fiend by threatening Bliss this time around.
Everyone's character traits (maybe except The Fiend) are just all over the place here, it's unclear whether WWE opted for a double turn or a "heel vs. heel" feud last night, but there is no reason to root for Braun Strowman heading into SummerSlam.
When it comes to acting, it feels like Strowman is far behind Bliss and Wyatt, but I do like the dynamic between Strowman and The Fiend here, and it will be interesting to see if Alexa Bliss costs him the title at WWE SummerSlam.
By the way, what did you think about WWE moving forward with Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville's "Hair vs. Hair" match at SummerSlam? Check out the video linked above where Sportskeeda's Rick Ucchino caught up with Sonya Deville for an exclusive interview.
