5 things WWE secretly told us on SmackDown through The Fiend & Daniel Bryan's contract signing segment
The Fiend made his presence felt on SmackDown Live once again this week, as he and Daniel Bryan were set to sign a contract for their upcoming Universal Championship match at Royal Rumble. Before The Fiend made his entrance, Bray Wyatt appeared on the screen for this week's Firefly Fun House episode.
Wyatt had a fax machine on his table, which wasn't working properly. He proceeded to tell Daniel Bryan that he is making a mistake facing The Fiend. Then, it happened. The lights went down and the current Universal Champion appeared out of nowhere.
For a second, he and Bryan stared at each other before attacking ruthlessly. It was The Fiend who got on top of things and he ended the segment with a Mandible Claw followed by a Sister Abigail.
He moved towards the table and signed the contract with his blood. As bizarre as it appears to be, we have to admit Wyatt's genius is extraordinary. This segment revealed a few things that the WWE Universe may not have noticed, here are 5 of them.
#5 Bray Wyatt won't disappear this time
The reason why The Fiend vs Daniel Bryan is a Strap Match is that the latter doesn't want the Universal Champion to disappear from the ring this time.
We saw The Fiend escaping from the ring last week. He had come to take out a returning Kane, but it was a ploy. Taking advantage of the distraction, Bryan attacked The Fiend and took out wisps of his hair as he disappeared through the ring.
It seemed a bit out of character for The Fiend, to be honest. He is one of the most feared wrestlers on the roster and, surprisingly, he walks away whenever there's trouble ahead of him.
This week's episode showed The Fiend we wanted to see - fearless. It's an indication that he won't disappear at the Royal Rumble. Isn't that the point of a Strap Match?
#4 Daniel Bryan will have to lose, once again
Even though Daniel Bryan has promised to win the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble, it doesn't seem like it will happen. He has tried his best to make us believe that it'll be him who wins at the Royal Rumble, but is it so?
We know The Fiend is at such a stage in his career where he can't afford to lose his Universal Championship. Otherwise, it'll pretty much destroy his momentum.
The only thing WWE can do safely is to let these two men provide the fight of the night before The Fiend hits the final blow and emerges victorious. Yes, it means Bryan will have to lose again but that's much better than The Fiend losing at the Royal Rumble.
This week's segment possibly revealed who's going to win at Rumble this Sunday. However, is there going to be a twist during the match? Was this week's main event to trick us into believing that The Fiend will retain? It's unlikely, but also a possibility.
#3 A shot at AEW, The MJF, and Cody Rhodes?
A few weeks ago, The MJF presented his terms which Cody Rhodes needs to fulfill if he wants to have a match with him. There were 3 of them: Cody can't touch MJF until the AEW Revolution, he will have to face Wardlow in a Steel Cage match, and that he will be lashed by MJF with a leather belt 10 times on live television.
Arn Anderson, Rhodes' advisor, asked for some time before his client makes a decision. In a later episode, Cody agreed to his former ally's terms.
If you watched the main event segment of this week's SmackDown closely, then you would have observed that The Fiend also lashed Bryan will a leather strap 10 times. This could be a reference to AEW Dynamite's, MJF and Cody.
It was so subtle that only a few fans would have noticed it, especially those who were watching it live in the arena. Did you notice it?
#2 The Fiend will always do the unusual
Whenever a contract signing takes place on live television, it's clear that there's going to be more than putting pen to paper, usually a brawl. We did see The Fiend and Daniel Bryan attack each other on SmackDown, but what happened, in the end, was unexpected.
The Fiend picked up a pen and ran it through his hand and finished the contract signing with his blood. This was one of the most strange things that he has done so far on the show. We know that he likes pain, but who hurts himself on purpose?
Is there a meaning hidden behind The Fiend's actions? Was there something Bray Wyatt wanted to tell his fans watching the show?
While we don't know the exact truth behind this segment, we are sure that the madness of The Fiend won't be ending sometime soon. There are going to be more unusual segments that we have never seen before on WWE Television.
This week's SmackDown showed only a glimpse of what Bray Wyatt's alter ego The Fiend has to offer.
#1 WWE has started to get the type of reaction they have wanted for The Fiend
When The Fiend hit himself with a pen which resulted in bleeding from his hand, the fans started chanting "you have issues". While to some, this may seem like a negative reaction, for others this segment was interesting.
The fans didn't know what The Fiend was going to do and when they saw him stab himself with a pen, they gave their unbiased reaction to the situation. We know that The Fiend's character is that of an eccentric, so it suits Wyatt's persona and that's what matters.
Fans chanting you have issues at The Fiend doesn't mean they are turning on him. Instead, it means that WWE has finally started to receive the kind of reaction the current Universal Champion deserves from the crowd.
He has successfully managed to keep his two characters different from each other, and the fans will treat them as separate entities too.
Quick Links
Anthony Akatugba Jr.