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SmackDown didn't have as much fanfare in comparison to RAW and NXT after Survivor Series. Five days after an ordinary showing at the pay-per-view, the focus of the brand was on the WWE Universal Champion ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt.
Although fans were not expecting too many surprises this week, we saw a few interesting returns on the Blue brand which are sure to refresh the roster and keep the current champions on their toes.
We also saw the SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley and Sasha Banks cut a similar promo to Seth Rollins' on RAW, while The New Day took to the ring to speak about Black Friday. In this article, we'll look at 4 things the company got right on the episode of SmackDown after Survivor Series.
#4 The New Day’s open challenge
At Survivor Series, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode won the 10-team Interbrand Tag Team Battle Royal for SmackDown on the pre-show. However, it was surprising that they weren’t given a chance to challenge for The New Day’s SmackDown Tag Team Championships as a reward for their win.
Instead, The New Day laid down an open challenge this week, which was answered by the loudmouth Sami Zayn and his clients Cesaro and Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura.
While Cesaro and Nakamura gave The New Day a good fight, the premier tag team of the brand was able to hold their nerves and fight through all of Zayn’s distractions to pick up the victory after Kofi Kingston delivered a Trouble in Paradise to Cesaro.
This was an interesting piece of booking, ensuring that the Tag Team Champions and other top stars involved stayed relevant to the brand. What made it the right thing to do was the fact that The New Day might continue their open challenges for weeks to come, as we could see an interesting pairing step up to the champions and give them a run for their money.
#3 Built Lacey Evans as a contender to the SmackDown Women’s Championship
In this episode, the women of the Blue brand believed they needed to address their miserable performance at Survivor Series. This brought SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley and SmackDown’s team captain Sasha Banks center stage.
As they expressed their shame and embarrassment at the rest of the locker room without pointing fingers at themselves, Lacey Evans took it upon herself to reply to the heels. Evans had a similar moment to Kevin Owens’ from Monday Night RAW, and the heel showed shades of turning face by standing up to the two top heels of the brand.
The fans were behind Evans for once, as she dropped Banks with The Woman’s Right before heading back to the locker room. This was an interesting segment, as it tried to establish Evans as a babyface and as a legit contender to the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
While Evans doesn't have many achievements on the main roster to justify another championship match, she has once locked horns with the RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch and could bring that experience into this feud.
The most deserving women to challenge Bayley for the title are Banks and Alexa Bliss, but the brand needs to give Bayley a few more contenders before moving on to one of the big ones.
#2 Sheamus’ return
He’s coming back, and he’s ready to make an impact! Fans had been waiting for the return of The Celtic Warrior for some time now, as his injury and time away from the ring resulted in the company breaking up one of the best tag teams of the decade.
Although Sheamus and Cesaro will be on the same brand once again, it seems like the company isn't going to pair them up once more, at least for now.
Instead, Sheamus’ promo was impactful in the way he called out faces and heels of the brand, not revealing which persona he will be returning in. He called SmackDown spineless and vowed to change the landscape, which could result in him returning to the top of the roster right away.
SmackDown is not short of big men at the moment but needs some impactful characters to keep fans guessing who will be contending for the top championships next year. The promo was not fancy but was to the point, which was extremely well done by the brand to make sure the message was delivered well.
Will Sheamus prove to be the undoing of ‘The Big Bog’ Roman Reigns or ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt?
#1 Revealed a new belt design for The Fiend
When ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt won the Universal Championship, fans began to speculate whether the company will reveal a new design of the belt because it was moving to SmackDown, especially for The Fiend.
While the company did change the color of the belt to go with the blue theme of the brand, it didn't make major cosmetic changes to its design. This week, Wyatt had promised to reveal a new face during the Firefly Fun House segment, but instead of a Superstar, he revealed a brand new Universal Championship design.
While the design of the championship may not be very appealing, it is a move in the right direction for a character that's much darker than the prize he holds. The revelation of a new championship design also signals that Wyatt will be having a long reign as the Universal Champion, and it could even last until WrestleMania 36.
