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The latest episode of SmackDown was an entertaining one. While the Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman laid out a masterplan to take down Adam Pearce in the main event, the Intercontinental Championship match ended prematurely.
WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Charlotte Flair and Asuka made their way to SmackDown this week to take on The Riott Squad. On the other hand, the Blue brand's Women's Champion Sasha Banks wrestled Carmella's crony, Reginald, in an intergender match.
Apart from that, Kevin Owens delivered an incredible promo and then made his presence felt by interfering in the main event. Cesaro continued his brilliant run on SmackDown by defeating Dolph Ziggler this week.
That said, let's discuss all the talking points from this week's SmackDown that has got the fans buzzing. Do share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section.
#5 Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman laid out a masterplan to trap Adam Pearce on SmackDown; Kevin Owens comes to his rescue
In the opening segment of this week's SmackDown, Paul Heyman challenged Adam Pearce for a match in the main event of the night. Though this booking decision made little sense when the announcement was made, it added to the ongoing saga between Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Pearce.
Heyman made his way to the ring but turned the tables on the WWE Official at the last moment. In a moment of brilliance, Heyman said the card is subject to change and introduced his replacement for the match, the Universal Champion Roman Reigns.
The Tribal Chief didn't waste much time and started brutalizing Pearce from the get-go. However, the Tribal Chief's Royal Rumble opponent Kevin Owens made the save and took him down. For the first time since their rivalry started on SmackDown, Owens found himself in a dominant position. While Jey Uso's absence from this week's episode can be attributed to that, it nevertheless showcased KO as a threat to Reigns and his title reign.
The promo KO delivered tonight about his family was very emotional. While it's still hard to believe The Prizefighter walking away as the Universal Champion, he's doing some of the best work of his career and certainly deserves to have a run with the title.
On the other hand, Apollo Crews had seemingly aligned with Reigns last week, yet he didn't show up to make the save. Has that storyline been dropped or, the previous week's mentoring session was a one-off thing? Maybe we could get an answer to this at the Royal Rumble.
#4 SmackDown Women's Champion Sasha Bank takes on Reginald in an Intergender match
Up until now, Reginald has successfully played the role of Carmella's crony on SmackDown by helping her get an upper hand over the Blue brand's Women's Champion, Sasha Banks. After weeks of interfering in Banks' matches, an intergender bout pitting Reginald and The Boss was booked for today's episode.
As the case is with modern WWE intergender matches, Reginald hardly got any offense, as Banks successfully countered whenever he tried to execute a move. To his credit, he showcased exceptional athleticism and made Banks struggle to keep up with his pace at certain moments. Yes, there were some sloppy moments here and there, but it was quite an impressive in-ring debut by Reginald.
Though Banks was able to secure the victory, the odds are still very much stacked against her in this feud. While Sasha Banks vs Carmella for the SmackDown Women's Championship hasn't officially been announced yet, it will probably take place at Royal Rumble 2021.
Will the SmackDown Women's Champion be able to fend off both Carmella and Reginald to keep hold of her title?
#3 Sami Zayn interferes in the Intercontinental Championship match on SmackDown
Earlier on in SmackDown, Sami Zayn had handcuffed himself near the entrance ramp as a mark of protest for injustice done to him on last week's show. Apollo Crews had scored a cheap win over Zayn to get an IC title shot for this week's episode.
Hardly three minutes into the match, Zayn showed his true colors by releasing himself from the handcuffs. He quickly made his way to the ring and delivered a Helluva Kick to Crews to end the bout prematurely. It's pretty clear now that we are heading into a three-way feud for the IC Title.
A Triple Threat match may be the best opportunity for Zayn to win back the Championship. With Crews' alignment with Roman Reigns seemingly dropped from this week's SmackDown, it would become harder for him to become the champion.
As for Big E, it's only a matter of time when WWE decides to push him to do bigger and better things, as he can drop the title even without being pinned during the match.
#2 WWE Women's Tag Team Champions score a big win on SmackDown
In the opening match of this week's SmackDown, Women's Tag Team Champions Asuka and Charlotte defeated Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan. While the bout itself was short, The Riott Squad was booked well even in defeat. There was a moment in the bout where Ruby Riott almost scored a roll-up victory over Asuka. However, the referee was distracted by Billie Kay at that moment.
Even with the stars of Charlotte and Asuka's level in the mix, SmackDown creative wisely put the focus on the story of The Riott Squad and Billie Kay. Now that the former Ilconics member is seemingly out of the group, maybe an underdog performance at the Royal Rumble match is on the cards for her? Her current character is easy to relate with and root for, so it would be interesting to see how she's booked in the match.
As for Asuka and Charlotte, there's a complete lack of viable challengers for their titles at the moment. While Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler are showing signs of breaking up, the win Lacey Evans and Peyton Royce accumulated recently over the champions hasn't added up to anything. The Women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament can possibly present new teams who can compete for the title.
#1 Cesaro continues to be pushed on SmackDown
After registering a massive victory last week on SmackDown over Daniel Bryan, Cesaro faced Dolph Ziggler on the latest episode of the blue brand. While the match wasn't on the same level as Bryan vs Cesaro, this bout did have some special moments.
Bryan was on commentary during the clash and put over The Swiss Superman in a big way.
After being under-utilized for years, Cesaro is finally getting the spotlight he has always deserved. Though he has consistently been part of the tag team division and has won gold countless times, fans were clamoring for a fruitful solo run.
While Cesaro walking away as the Royal Rumble winner seems like a long shot, it would be intriguing to see how he's booked in the match.
Apart from this, his former tag partner Shinsuke Nakamura is also a part of the Royal Rumble match.
The two aligning to take down others and then eventually turning on each other would be fun to see. This could also result in the two starting a rivalry on SmackDown, leading to a singles bout at WrestleMania 37.
