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RAW was a pre-recorded show this week. Having moved to Friday a few months ago, SmackDown will not be following suit and the Blue brand is expected to finish off the year on a high with tomorrow's episode being the last in 2019. Last week's episode had a couple of exciting moments as well.
The Mandy Rose-Otis love angle continued. Several tag team matches took place -- The New Day beat Cesaro and Nakamura, and the team of The Miz and Daniel Bryan earned a victory over King Corbin and Dolph Ziggler. The intense rivalry between Lacey Evans and Sasha Banks (and Bayley as well) took one step further when The Boss made fun of Evans' daughter.
The final SmackDown episode for the year will be filmed at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan, and here are three things we could see on the Blue brand this week:
#3 Sheamus makes his return to the ring
Sheamus, a four-time WWE Champion, made his return from an injury a few weeks ago. Even though The Celtic Warrior is back, he has yet to step foot in the ring and has been cutting intense backstage promos from a darkroom every week (something he did last week as well).
Week after week, he has been taking a jibe at the SmackDown roster, calling them weak and pathetic. While his promos have been entertaining, overdoing could spoil the excitement, and hence, we might finally see him stepping into the ring this week.
His segments suggest that he's coming back as a heel, which he has been for the majority of his career. With that in mind, he might find his next rival in a top babyface of the Blue brand. Chad Gable (Shorty G) is yet to find a significant opponent after his feud with Baron Corbin. Also, the high-flying Mustafa Ali could be another great opponent for The Celtic Warrior.
#2 Braun Strowman assaults Nakamura
Royal Rumble is still several weeks away, but WWE is currently building up feuds for the show. Besides two monumental Battle Royal matches, most titles should be on the line at the upcoming PPV, including the Intercontinental Championship, which hasn't been defended regularly of late. And Shinsuke Nakamura's next possible opponent was hinted on SmackDown last week.
Braun Strowman skipped a few episodes in the past few weeks and he also didn't take part in TLC. However, The Monster Among Men made his presence felt last week, confronting none other than the Intercontinental Champion.
First, Nakamura, Sami Zayn, and Cesaro met Strowman in his locker room, and they crossed paths on the same night once again when he came out to save The New Day from the trio.
It's a no-brainer that The Mountain of a Man is next in line to face the current champion and we could very well see the storyline progressing further on SmackDown this week. Strowman could wrestle Nakamura's new tag team partner Cesaro on this week's episode. After decimating The Swiss Superman, he could then put his hands on Nakamura, sending a strong message across to the Intercontinental Champion.
#1 Roman Reigns attacks Baron Corbin and costs him the triple threat match
A triple threat match is scheduled for SmackDown this week and the winner of the match will punch his ticket for Royal Rumble, earning a shot at the Universal Championship. The Miz, Daniel Bryan, and Baron Corbin will all be taking on each other.
Even though it looked like either Bryan or The A-Lister could be the next challenger for The Fiend, Corbin interrupted them last week, claiming himself to be a deserving man to challenge the Universal Champion (reason: he pinned Roman Reigns twice). With two babyfaces and a heel, it should be one interesting triple threat match.
WWE is known to book heels against babyfaces, which is what makes Corbin unlikely to win this match, considering The Fiend is already a bad guy. Moreover, a rejuvenated Bryan deserves another title shot to avenge his Survivor Series loss.
Having dominated The Big Dog for the past few weeks, Corbin has the momentum and a clean loss will not be suitable for him. Reigns, who skipped SmackDown last week, could return and influence the triple threat match, furthering the rivalry in the process.
