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The latest episode of WWE SmackDown featured the highly-anticipated return of Seth Rollins to WWE programming. Apart from that, a major Elimination Chamber was also announced.
Big E defended his Intercontinental Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura, and the WWE Tag Team Champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler showed up to confront a surprising duo.
That said, let's look at all the developments from this week's WWE SmackDown that has gotten the fans talking. Do share your opinions and thoughts in the comments section below.
#5 Cesaro, Daniel Bryan, King Corbin, and Sami Zayn win Elimination Chamber qualifying matches on WWE SmackDown
In the first match of this week's WWE SmackDown, King Corbin teamed up with Sami Zayn to take on the father-son duo of Rey and Dominik Mysterio. In a backstage segment just before the bout, Sonya Deville pitched the idea of both the Superstars of the winning team of this bout qualifying for the Elimination Chamber match, which Adam Pearce was quick to approve.
The match was a pretty short yet fun affair that ended with Sami Zayn hitting Dominik Mysterio with a Helluva Kick to register the victory for the heel duo. It was an expected development, and WWE wisely avoided handing the win to the faces as Dominik Mysterio is still not experienced enough to fight in a Chamber match. Though Zayn and Corbin will obviously not win the Chamber bout, they are fine enough additions to the match.
In the main event of this week's WWE SmackDown, Cesaro teamed up with Daniel Bryan to take on SmackDown Tag Team Champions Bobby Roode and Dolph Ziggler in the second qualifying match of the night. After an excellent back-and-forth battle, Cesaro and Bryan came up on top. It was somewhat of an expected choice as the bout was heel dominated, and now with the two in the mix, it's fairly balanced.
The post-match angle saw all the competitors making their way to the ring and taking each other down. Kevin Owens was the last one to come out, and he took down everyone with picture-perfect Stunners. He took a chair, sat down, and directly spoke to Roman Reigns through the camera, who was watching the proceedings from backstage.
Though Owens seems like the logical choice for the winner, someone like Cesaro or Bryan could be a fresh challenger for the title and inject the main event scene on WWE SmackDown with freshness.
#4 Adam Pearce opens this week's WWE SmackDown, makes Elimination Chamber match announcement
In the opening segment of this week's WWE SmackDown, Adam Pearce made his way out to the ring and said that Roman Reigns will defend his WWE Championship inside the Elimination Chamber. Upon hearing this, Reigns, accompanied by Paul Heyman and Jey Uso made his way out. Heyman pointed out that although Reigns' contract reads he is obliged to defend his title at the pay-per-view, it doesn't say it has to be inside the Chamber.
Instead, Heyman pitched the idea of the Elimination Chamber match being used to determine the challenger for the Universal Championship. Though Pearce agreed, he pulled off a surprise when he said Jey Uso and Kevin Owens will be participants in the match, and others would be decided through qualifying matches on WWE SmackDown.
While an Elimination Chamber match is a welcome development, isn't it too unfair on the winner of the bout as he would have to face the champion on the same night? Also, there is no chance Reigns is dropping his title anytime before WrestleMania 37, which renders both the matches on pay-per-view completely predictable.
#3 Seth Rollins makes his highly-anticipated return to WWE SmackDown
Seth Rollins made his triumphant return to WWE SmackDown this week. Most of the members of the SmackDown roster stood at ringside to welcome the returning four-time World Champion. Rollins, donning a traditional black suit, said he was recently blessed with a baby girl, and that has changed his perception of the world. He then looked at all the Superstars surrounding the ring and said it's the greatest roster in the history of WWE.
While it felt like Rollins had reverted to his face persona, he quickly made his intentions clear by saying he would like to be a leader of everyone on the roster. He said he wants others to consider him as a father and mentor. Upon hearing this, all the Superstars walked away with just Cesaro around. However, just when even he was about to leave, Rollins attacked him. Daniel Bryan came to the rescue of his partner.
There are several possible feuds for Rollins on WWE SmackDown. While a rivalry with IC Champion Big E could be fun, another one with Bryan also makes a lot of sense. Considering it was Rollins who eliminated Bryan from the Rumble match, the two have history, and WWE should tap into it.
#2 WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler confront Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks on WWE SmackDown
WWE SmackDown Women's Champion Sasha Banks made her way out to the ring and said she's the only choice for Royal Rumble winner Bianca Belair for a match at WrestleMania 37. Soon after, Belair also made her way out, saying though she might be The Boss, she's not her boss.
WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler interrupted the segment and said nobody cares about who Bianca Belair challenges at WrestleMania 37. Belair and Banks then played clips of Jax and Baszler's losses to Lana and Naomi, respectively, on WWE RAW.
Upon seeing this, Jax and Baszler get furious and attack Banks and Belair. However, the two quickly find their way back and takes the heels down. Honestly, this is far from an interesting development. It's a WWE trope where two faces tag along with each other before their eventual clash with each other. This will possibly lead to a tag match on next week's WWE SmackDown, and it's hard to get excited about it.
#1 Big E is staring at a multitude of challengers for his IC title on WWE SmackDown
Big E defended his Intercontinental Championship against the recently-resurgent Shinsuke Nakamura on this week's WWE SmackDown. Just before the match, Apollo Crews confronted Big E, saying he wanted another shot at the IC title. However, the champion was in no mood to grant him another shot and asked him to leave the ring so that he could proceed with his title defense.
Just when the match was getting into its final gear, Crews interfered and attacked Big E, further moving towards the darker side. Going by the developments on today's WWE SmackDown, it seems like we are heading towards a multi-man match for the Intercontinental Championship sometime before WrestleMania 37, possibly at Fastlane 2021.
With Nakamura in the mix and Zayn also possibly finding his way into the scene after his Elimination Chamber match, considering he wasn't pinned on last week's bout, it has made the IC championship scene stacked. There's a chance that the WWE SmackDown creative might head towards the money-match between Big E and Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 37, but until then, the champion has many challengers to keep him busy.
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