5 Things WWE subtly told us on SmackDown: 2 stars forgotten in new faction, Top superstar to start going on a losing streak? (4th December, 2020)

Welcome to this week's edition of things WWE subtly told us on SmackDown. It was a happening episode that drew a lot of interest in the build to TLC.

Here's what WWE subtly told us this week on SmackDown!

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#5 What's the meaning behind King Corbin's new faction on SmackDown?

We're not pleased with the treatment of Dominik Mysterio since moving to SmackDown. One could argue that he was put on the sidelines ever since Aalyah Mysterio started making her presence on television and her angle with Murphy began.

With the angle getting a payoff and Murphy and Rey Mysterio both triumphing over Seth Rollins, they had to move on to new things. Apparently, new things on SmackDown now means Murphy wrestling while Dominik stands ringside looking like he's dressed to go to a party.

With that said, Murphy vs King Corbin on SmackDown was a solid match. While the Mysterio family was ringside to show their support, we saw the addition of two unexpected names to form a faction - Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake.

If you followed NXT over four to five years ago, you probably know that Blake and Murphy were tag team Champions together with Alexa Bliss as their manager. While a lot has changed since then, we're happy to see Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake back on TV.

They were essentially kept away from TV for a single irresponsible tweet by Jaxson Ryker back in June. This was when they were just getting their push as The Forgotten Sons, but two names have been forgotten.

Ultimately, Cutler and Blake attacked Rey and Dominik Mysterio and that allowed Corbin to hit the End of Days on Murphy for the win.

It seems that Corbin is finally getting a proper faction under him. However, we feel that it is missing two Superstars in the form of Jaxson Ryker and Chad Gable. While Chad Gable started the Alpha Academy, he would have been better off in the newly-formed faction. For Ryker, it would have been the perfect restart to his WWE career.

Chad Gable and Jaxson Ryker have been forgotten. While Ryker's situation is a little more understandable, Chad Gable is back where he started. This could mean another King Corbin push or at least one that starts a feud with The Mysterio family and Murphy.

#4 Is Bayley set to go on a downhill slope after losing the SmackDown Women's Championship?

Natalya isn't the weakest Superstar on the WWE roster, but when an athlete of Bayley's caliber faces her, there's a certain result that's expected. Bayley held the SmackDown Women's title for a whopping 380 days.

Not many Superstars on RAW or SmackDown can make that claim or have a title reign so long and impactful - but she did. After losing her rematch to Sasha Banks, it seemed as though her next feud would be against the rising star of SmackDown, Bianca Belair.

That's a feud that makes sense. However, what made little sense this week was Bayley losing to Natalya via the sharpshooter. This isn't even a knock on Natalya. However, if it's the start of a downward spiral storyline for Bayley, then we're all for it.

Such losses should be used in telling a story and that's what we believe is happening. Eventually, Bayley is going to have to put over Bianca Belair - highly-touted as the next big Superstar in SmackDown and WWE's women's division in general.

#3 The Intercontinental title picture could involve more than two people on SmackDown

WWE put out a heartfelt tribute to Pat Patterson on SmackDown after the passing of the great legend. It was a touching tribute and WWE even had his original Intercontinental title on display.

There was a tribute match involving six Superstars on SmackDown. It was Daniel Bryan, Rey Mysterio, and Big E vs Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler, and Shinsuke Nakamura.

Given how things went last week, we assumed that Big E would be picking up the win in the battle of former Intercontinental Champions. He played a vital role and it was Daniel Bryan who picked up the win on SmackDown for the babyfaces - getting the better of reigning Champion Sami Zayn.

With that, the Intercontinental title picture on SmackDown may have been blown wide open. Despite Daniel Bryan rumored to challenge Roman Reigns in January, he could still be in the Intercontinental title picture with Sami Zayn and Big E. For all we know, almost all the Superstars involved could be in a ladder match at TLC. Wouldn't that be perfect?

On a side note, Big E got a new theme song from fellow-WWE fan Wale.

#2 Sasha Banks and Carmella amp it up in a heated SmackDown Women's title feud

The type of sit-down interview we saw on SmackDown with Sasha Banks and Carmella was perfect to get their rivalry ahead without any actual physical contact. While Carmella has been getting the better of the SmackDown Women's Champion Sasha Banks since last month, this one made The Boss look a lot better.

Sasha Banks is simply better-suited in these kinds of situations and it reflected in how natural she was in her promos. She's come far since then and was essentially two women trading verbal jabs at each other.

Sasha Banks vs Carmella is now official for TLC and it will likely be the former Princess Of Staten Island's return match. She's been inactive for most of 2020, so it should be interesting to see how it plays out. Since Sasha Banks has seemingly broken the title defense curse on SmackDown, we see her walking away with the title at TLC.

Will Carmella be able to become a 2-time SmackDown Women's Champion at TLC? Or will Sasha Banks continue her reign?

#1 Roman Reigns, Jey Uso, and the case of Kevin Owens' title shot on SmackDown

Roman Reigns has been the highlight of SmackDown and WWE in general since returning at SummerSlam 2020. His heel persona has taken a life of its own and The Big Dog is now in a role that he should have been years ago.

Roman Reigns' storyline on SmackDown was about him confronting and berating Jey Uso while also dealing with Kevin Owens - the next man in line for a Universal Championship opportunity.

Roman Reigns has not only become the Tribal Chief, but he's a full-fledged tyrant as well. Kevin Owens called him out for how he was treating his family and even Kayla Braxton asked him at the start of SmackDown about why he was manipulating Jey Uso to do his bidding

While Roman Reigns denied it, Kevin Owens eventually came out and took shots at the Universal Champion. Roman Reigns and Jey Uso took on Kevin Owens and Otis in the main event of tonight's show.

While Otis had his doubts about Kevin Owens betraying him, it was Jey Uso who needed to be more concerned, when Roman Reigns didn't even show up at first for the main event of SmackDown.

Ultimately, the match ended in a DQ but Otis, Kevin Owens, and eventually Jey Uso felt the wrath of Roman Reigns, who stood tall to end the show.

The little intricacies of Roman Reigns' character has made him must-watch television and we can't wait to see how the TLC feud plays out.