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From Bray Wyatt and Vince McMahon crossing paths to a brand new stipulation announced for Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville's match at SummerSlam, this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown featured many contrasting moments.
WWE officially unveiled the "ThunderDome" on this week's episode, and as always, SmackDown featured some unexpected swerves that may or may not have positively swayed their fanbase. Friday's episode was memorable, to say the least. WWE did a decent job building towards this Sunday's pay-per-view event, SummerSlam.
Here are the five biggest news stories from this week's episode of WWE SmackDown on August 21, 2020.
#5: Jeff Hardy became the new WWE Intercontinental Champion
If there was one moment that most fans liked from last night's WWE SmackDown, it had to be that Jeff Hardy defeated AJ Styles to become a five-time Intercontinental Champion.
Honestly, people expected Styles to embark on a long run as the aforementioned titleholder. However, Hardy's chances became slightly higher from a booking perspective when WWE announced that the title match would take place on SmackDown instead of SummerSlam or Payback.
Hardy's title win could have interesting consequences at any one of WWE's two upcoming pay-per-view events.
Last night, the title match itself was quite different. Hardy had to sell a leg injury that occurred at the beginning of the show. So a proper rematch between Styles and Hardy is inevitable.
If there is one thing that soured this occasion, it would have to be that Hardy's victory speech was cut short because of timing issues. Regardless, he got a chance to catch up with his fanbase later backstage.
#4: Braun Strowman interrupted a face-off between The Fiend and Vince McMahon
WWE announced on Twitter that Vince McMahon would kick-off the first episode of SmackDown from the ThunderDome. As usual, fans couldn't help but speculate about what would go down, given the current situation with Retribution.
Instead of Retribution, McMahon's speech was cut-off by "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt, which sounded like an exciting proposition on paper. Althought, both personalities didn't make contact inside a WWE ring.
Braun Strowman interrupted and that was the last time Vince McMahon appeared in this episode. Before "The Monster Among Men" and The Fiend could get into a physical altercation, Retribution arrived.
WWE hasn't properly explained what Retribution's goals and motives are yet. So, there is no way to predict who they will choose to attack or when it will happen. This also makes their sporadic WWE appearances convenient enough to fit in other segments, as well.
At least Braun Strowman didn't bury these masked miscreants right away. It took the help of the SmackDown locker room to drive them out of the ring.
#3: Bayley and Sasha Banks teased a breakup just before WWE SummerSlam
At SummerSlam this Sunday, both Sasha Banks and Bayley will defend their WWE RAW and SmackDown Women's Championship respectively against Asuka.
On last night's WWE SmackDown, Corey Graves tried to introduce a little drama and conflict between Sasha & Bayley's friendship, which was immediately followed by an interruption from Naomi.
She offered to face both champions on the same night, and Corey Graves suggested a "Beat The Clock" challenge to make matters more interesting.
Sasha beat Naomi first and set a time limit of 3 minutes, 39 seconds. Bayley lost against Naomi before they could even match the previous time limit, so it was not a good night for the SmackDown Women's Champion.
As one could expect, WWE teased yet another breakup angle between the two, which is an obvious booking decision before SummerSlam. The cameras captured the pure joy on Sasha's face when Bayley couldn't beat her best friend's time, ensuring that she will take on Asuka second on Sunday.
Later, Asuka attacked "The Golden Role Models", but do not be surprised if both Banks and Bayley come out of SummerSlam weekend more united than ever.
#2: Sonya Deville vs. Mandy Rose at SummerSlam is now a "No Disqualification Loser Leaves WWE" Match
Things have changed considerably over the past few days as Sonya Deville went through a traumatic experience on Tuesday. No one can imagine how she must feel at the moment. WWE often includes real-life events into their storylines. Jeff Hardy's battles with substance abuse were the latest example on SmackDown.
This time, the writers must have felt that what happened to Sonya Deville in real-life was just too big to ignore. With that in mind, a Hair vs. Hair match seems a bit inappropriate for WWE's "Biggest Party of the Summer," especially if Sonya loses.
Still, they managed to make the announcement quite impactful from a storyline perspective as Sonya Deville cut one of her best promos in WWE to date.
Although Sonya Deville's peers were empathetic, her character didn't seem to flinch one bit in her quest to ruin Mandy Rose's life. Her immediate goal is to get rid of Rose for good. For that reason, Deville raised the stakes when challenged her to a No Disqualification Loser Leaves WWE match at SummerSlam.
Whether it's a Loser Leaves WWE or a Hair vs. Hair match, Mandy Rose should be the favorite to win from a booking standpoint. The only difference now is that the new stipulation could allow Sonya to take some time off to recover.
#1: Braun Strowman beat up "Fun House" Bray Wyatt backstage as The Fiend emerged from an ambulance at the end of the show
After the opening segment from this week's episode of WWE SmackDown, Bray Wyatt hosted a special edition of The Firefly Fun House where he mocked Alexa Bliss and Braun Strowman's friendship with the help of two puppets.
Later, Braun Strowman invaded the Fun House The beatdown the ensued spilled into WWE's backstage area. As you can see in the clip above, Strowman threw Bray Wyatt off a platform, which prompted officials to bring in an ambulance.
This resulted in an unexpected ending, where The Fiend emerged from the back of that very ambulance to end the episode.
Braun Strowman may not be the best part about this feud, but Bray Wyatt's creativity has added many dimensions to this storyline. There is no clear heel or babyface here as The Fiend has already brought out the worst in Braun Strowman.
We still don't know exactly how Bray Wyatt's lore works, but unlike Retribution, we know what The Fiend's intentions are. The ambiguity behind the character, as well as Strowman and Wyatt's arc on this week's WWE SmackDown, have created a certain intrigue that will hopefully attract viewers in time for SummerSlam 2020.
On Saturday morning, WWE announced that the Universal Championship match will be a Fall Count Anywhere Match.
Which show was better this week, RAW or SmackDown? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
