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From a tale of three distinct promos to the 2021 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, this week's edition of WWE SmackDown featured many contrasting moments.
Night One of WrestleMania 37 is only a few hours away. The go-home episode of SmackDown before WrestleMania was neither groundbreaking nor a bad two-hour program. For the most part, this week's show was dominated by promos. Like the latest episode of Monday Night RAW, WWE scaled back on the newsworthy aspect of SmackDown just before their biggest pay-per-view of the year, for some reason.
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 (April 9, 2021).
#5 Daniel Bryan, Edge, and Roman Reigns cut their final promos before WWE WrestleMania 37
Ahead of Sunday's triple threat WWE Universal Championship match, Daniel Bryan kicked off this week's SmackDown with a heartfelt promo.
Bryan highlighted how for most of his career, he was accustomed to being told "no." This particular word impacted his status in WWE for a long time. However, his parents and mentors advised him to ignore the pessimistic feedback and turn that "no" into "yes."
At WrestleMania, Bryan promised that fans would see the best version of him in WWE.
Meanwhile, Edge cut an intense promo, where it became apparent that he was a man obsessed with his goals. However, his fixation over becoming the Universal Champion has now pushed him over the edge, no pun intended.
Edge's lengthy tirade on SmackDown might have been one of the best promos of his career, as the legend presented himself as a deranged yet sympathetic figure at the same time.
Finally, Roman Reigns ended this week's episode with a promo that highlighted how integral he is to WWE in 2021. The Tribal Chief believes the entire company revolves around him, and everything he is part of has a purpose.
Roman Reigns credits himself as the man who saves careers, but at WrestleMania, he won’t make Edge or Daniel Bryan’s dreams come true.
While the three men did not brawl during this week's WWE SmackDown, their separate promos added more significance to the Universal Championship showdown at WrestleMania.
#4 Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode outsmarted other WWE SmackDown teams to retain their titles
WWE WrestleMania 37 will not feature a match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships. Instead, the titles were defended by Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler during this week's SmackDown.
Rey and Dominik Mysterio, The Alpha Academy (Otis and Chad Gable), and The Street Profits (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins) took part in the Fatal-Four-Way WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship contest along with Roode and Ziggler.
Given that this was billed as one of two pre-WrestleMania special matches on the Blue brand, fans expected there to be a title change. But towards the end of this multi-team clash, Roode and Ziggler capitalized on the damage already done by other teams and retained the titles as a result.
Still, the losing teams will likely maintain their pursuits for tag team gold on WWE SmackDown. It just remains to be seen which specific team will rise above the rest to challenge Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler after WrestleMania 37 is over.
While The Street Profits have already tasted recent success in the tag team division, Rey and Dominik Mysterio could be the next babyface team to get the spotlight.
#3 WWE teased some conflict between Sonya Deville and Adam Pearce
During this week's WWE SmackDown, Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville had an interesting backstage conversation with each other.
The two onscreen officials did not seem to be on the same page regarding the SmackDown Tag Team Championship scenario. Deville questioned whether it was fair for Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler to defend their titles in a multi-team contest before WrestleMania.
As for WrestleMania, Deville made her opinion clear — she preferred a singles match between Roman Reigns and Edge instead of a triple threat clash involving Daniel Bryan. Deville walked away from the scene, teasing a potential power struggle between herself and Pearce in WWE.
This came across as an unexpected development on the final show before WrestleMania.
The Universal Championship picture could become even more chaotic after the upcoming pay-per-view. So if Deville and Pearce's conflict increases exponentially, backstage politics will likely surface to a bigger extent on WWE SmackDown.
Could Sonya Deville secure Adam Pearce's position in the long run? There are a few interesting directions WWE could take with this storyline after WrestleMania is over.
#2 Will Tamina and Natalya's push on WWE SmackDown last for long?
Tamina and Nia Jax faced each other on WWE SmackDown ahead of the two-night arc for the Women's Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania 37.
The match itself was nothing special, but it led to some last-minute consequences before WWE's upcoming pay-per-view. Reginald and Shayna Baszler tried to influence the outcome of the bout in Jax's favor. Baszler's interference led to a disqualification finish. But after the match, Tamina and Natalya stood tall, following a short brawl with Baszler.
Later backstage, Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan had a face-off with Billie Kay. As expected, Kay will also be part of the Tag Team Turmoil match on the first night of WrestleMania alongside Carmella.
Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke also cut into the segment with Lana and Naomi. As all four teams fought backstage, Tamina and Natalya entered the scene and emerged as the most dominant duo.
The question remains — will Tamina and Natalya carry on this momentum throughout WrestleMania? Of course, they need to win the Tag Team Turmoil on Night One to receive a WWE Women's Tag Team Championship match on Night Two of the pay-per-view.
Either WWE fans witnessed a sneak peek of what could go down at WrestleMania, or it might all be a misdirection from the actual outcome.
#1 Jey Uso's efforts were acknowledged in WWE SmackDown's Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
WWE Superstars from RAW and SmackDown took part in this year's Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the Blue brand.
This was also the final match of the night, which included some interesting sequences. Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander had to defend themselves against everybody else early in the match. As a result, they were eliminated from the multi-man melee in its initial stages.
RETRIBUTION vs. Mustafa Ali was another plot thread, as Ali eliminated T-Bar and Mace. Kalisto, Lince Dorado, and Gran Metalik tried to work it out amongst themselves, but none of them could make it to the end.
It all came down to Shinsuke Nakamura and Jey Uso as the final two competitors in the match. At the time, Uso needed this victory more than Nakamura, even though both stars were deserving candidates on their own. Eventually, Uso became this year's Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner.
Not only did this victory help recognize Jey Uso's unexpected rise on WWE SmackDown over the past few months, but it also tied in perfectly with Roman Reigns' promo after the main event.
The Tribal Chief believes that he saves careers, and the 2021 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner is living proof of that claim.
Do catch the latest edition of 'Smack Talk' in the video linked above, as the legendary Dutch Mantel joined Rick Ucchino and Sid Pullar III (SP3) to recap this week's WWE SmackDown.
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