WWE SmackDown: 5 Biggest news stories - Roman Reigns punishes Jey Uso, tag team stars return (December 4, 2020)

From Kevin Owens disrespecting Roman Reigns to a Pat Patterson Tribute Match, this week's edition of WWE SmackDown featured many contrasting moments.

The Blue brand delivered another episode where Roman Reigns stole the show, which itself was worth watching regardless of how the rest of the show panned out. For the most part, SmackDown was an engaging show this week as stars paid tribute to WWE Hall of Famer, Pat Patterson, who recently passed away.

Which show was 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 (December 4, 2020).

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#5: Bayley's character may have entered a downward spiral phase on the road to WWE TLC

Undoubtedly, Bayley is one of the most important performers on WWE SmackDown today. Her presence is far too valuable when it comes to the female division of the Blue brand.

But since losing the SmackDown Women's title, Bayley was the first one to be eliminated by Peyton Royce in the traditional tag team match at Survivor Series 2020. On this week's WWE SmackDown, Natalya defeated Bayley via submission. Although Bayley was preoccupied with Bianca Belair - who was on commentary - throughout the match, viewers witnessed a clean finish to Bayley and Natalya's clash.

Could this be an early indication that Bayley's character is set to take more clean losses in the future?

Natalya has been around for so long that she didn't really need a decisive victory over Bayley within the context of this week's episode. Bianca Belair and Bayley's feud seems to be the main backdrop here, and Belair will likely end up being the winner of that rivalry in the long run.

Interestingly, Bayley has been on a losing streak since the August 24 episode of WWE RAW this year. Most of the losses occurred via disqualification or submission, but the SmackDown Women's title had justified Bayley's top position throughout her feud with Sasha Banks.

Without the title, will Bayley's character be able to maintain her status on Friday Night SmackDown?

#4: Six WWE Intercontinental Champions were paired up in a tag team match as a tribute to Pat Patterson; Big E made his debut entrance with new theme music

Big E showed up on this week's WWE SmackDown with a brand new theme song and a familiar entrance that dates back to a time before he became a part of The New Day. This was an exciting development for Big E, who is still a part of The New Day. But he has to carve his own path now that Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston are on WWE RAW, so the new theme music mashed with Big E's alternative entrance sequence and was a good development for his upcoming singles push.

Big E teamed up with Daniel Bryan and Rey Mysterio to face WWE Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler, and Shinsuke Nakamura in a Pat Patterson Tribute Match.

Towards the end, Bryan picked up a victory for his team via pinfall by using a small package on Zayn. After the match, the babyfaces confronted the heels, and Ziggler ended up taking some moves from Mysterio, Bryan, and Big E.

As far as the Intercontinental title scene is concerned, Daniel Bryan seems like one of the frontrunners to challenge Sami Zayn after Bryan pinned the Intercontinental Champion this week. It's possible that Big E could also rise to the occasion and challenge Zayn at the same time as Bryan, resulting in a triple threat situation at WWE TLC.

#3: Sasha Banks and Carmella got involved in a spiteful verbal exchange; SmackDown Women's Championship match confirmed for WWE TLC

After last week's segment where Sasha Banks earned some revenge against Carmella in a backstage ambush, both Superstars addressed each other from two separate places on this week's WWE SmackDown.

Both women engaged in a catty war of words as Carmella called Banks a 'Nicki Minaj wannabe'.

Carmella's diva character took pride in the fact that she just waltzed in and repeatedly ambushed Sasha Banks to earn a WWE SmackDown Women's title shot. She also mentioned that her title reign was longer than all of Banks' combined reigns, which angered The Legit Boss.

Their verbal exchange ended with Sasha Banks giving Carmella a one-on-one title match at WWE TLC 2020.

Carmella hasn't wrestled in WWE since April this year, so it will be interesting to see how her in-ring mentality will change during her upcoming title match with Sasha Banks.

It's unlikely that Banks will lose her SmackDown Women's Championship at the aforementioned pay-per-view, so it will be interesting to see how WWE will book Carmella on the road to TLC.

#2: Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake of The Forgotten Sons returned as King Corbin's henchmen on WWE SmackDown

Last week, the Mysterio family frequently distracted King Corbin when Corbin faced Murphy in a singles match. It came off as a bizarre temporary heel move on the Mysterio family's part, but the odds became even on this week's WWE SmackDown when King Corbin introduced his own backup in the form of Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake of The Forgotten Sons.

For those who don't remember, The Forgotten Sons were truly forgotten on the main roster after their third member, Jaxson Ryker, got huge heat based on his political comments made during the Black Lives Matter Movement back in June.

While Ryker didn't return to SmackDown alongside his teammates, it's good that WWE is making use of talented stars like Cutler and Blake who have been sitting on the sidelines for months.

During King Corbin's rematch against Murphy, Corbin ordered Cutler and Blake to attack Rey and Dominik Mysterio near ringside. The confusion and chaos allowed Corbin to pick up the victory over Murphy on WWE SmackDown.

Cutler and Blake's presence also adds a refreshing touch to Corbin's heel gimmick, but it remains to be seen if this pairing will work out in the long run.

Interestingly, Blake and Murphy were a popular team back in WWE NXT. That could definitely factor into this current storyline over the next few weeks.

#1: Roman Reigns bullied his detractors and Jey Uso on WWE SmackDown

Roman Reigns' character holds himself to a higher level than any person in any given situation. On this week's WWE SmackDown, Reigns got increasingly frustrated with Charly Caruso's questions in an in-ring interview segment to kick-off the episode.

People who surrounded Reigns, like Paul Heyman and Jey Uso, tried to take care of his business just like any aides would do for their mafia boss. While Paul Heyman knows how to do that job perfectly, Jey Uso's impulsiveness puts him in situations that can put Roman Reigns' empire at risk from crumbling in the long run.

Reigns found himself wrestling in a tag team main event on WWE SmackDown with Jey Uso against Kevin Owens and the person whom Uso ambushed last week, Otis.

The Tribal Chief arrived late to the main event on purpose, but Roman Reigns made his presence felt when he brutalized Otis outside the ring. When Jey Uso couldn't overcome The Prizefighter inside the ring, Reigns interrupted as the illegal partner and put Owens in a guillotine choke to cause a disqualification.

Both Jey Uso and Roman Reigns attacked Kevin Owens with steel chair shots after the match was over. Just when Uso thought that he was in Reigns' good graces, The Tribal Chief attacked his own cousin with a steel chair to put him in line.

This was a great example of character work from Reigns, who doesn't want his cousin to make immature decisions and indirectly jeopardize The Tribal Chief's Universal title reign as a result.

Kevin Owens also did a great job in matching Roman Reigns' intensity this week. Their Universal title bout at WWE TLC is now officially a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. So far, all signs are pointing towards the possibility that Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens' match at TLC will most likely be an entertaining clash.

Do catch Sportskeeda Wrestling experts Rick Ucchino and Denise Salcedo as they share their thoughts on all that went down during last night's WWE SmackDown in the video linked above.