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The latest episode of SmackDown has turned a potentially riveting storyline into a predictable one. With Adam Pearce all set to challenge Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship at Royal Rumble 2021 after last week's episode, a major turn of events saw him being replaced on medical grounds.
On the other hand, Daniel Bryan and Cesaro wrestled a tremendous bout that witnessed a genuinely shocking ending. Apollo Crews has seemingly turned to the dark side after aligning with Roman Reigns. Apart from this, Shinsuke Nakamura continued his new face run by accumulating a win over Jey Uso, and King Corbin dominantly defeated Rey Mysterio.
Women got the short-handed treatment as the SmackDown Women's Champion Sasha Banks and Carmella appeared only in a backstage segment. Bayley and Bianca Belair had a disappointing segment while Liv Morgan and Natalya wrestled a meaningless bout.
That said, let's discuss all the major points from this week's WWE SmackDown that has gotten the fans buzzing. Do share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section.
#5 Adam Pearce announces Kevin Owens as his replacement on SmackDown for the Universal Championship clash against Roman Reigns
In one of the most baffling booking decisions in recent memory on SmackDown, the Universal Championship picture has taken a complete U-turn with Kevin Owens emerging as the challenger for Roman Reigns' title at Royal Rumble 2021.
Earlier in the show, Paul Heyman approached Adam Pearce and told him that the Universal Championship at the pay-per-view is now a No-DQ match. However, Reigns quickly changed his mind and said he would want the bout to be a Last Man Standing match. Pearce relented, and thus a contract signing segment was announced as the main event of the night.
Saying that he's medically unclear to compete, Pearce used his authority to choose his replacement. Kevin Owens made his way out, and now he would face Reigns for the championship for the third time in a row.
It's hard to get excited about this one. Yes, Owens and Reigns are two exceptional performers who wrestled back-to-back incredible bouts, but there's a little chance that Owens ends up victorious at Royal Rumble.
Last week's Gauntlet match and the story with Pearce has seemingly become inconsequential. The decision to replace Pearce as the challenger seems to be a big cop-out after the mixed reactions from fans for last week's developments on SmackDown. Though it was strange, it was audacious and could have resulted in an interesting match-up.
#4 Shinsuke Nakamura defeats Jey Uso convincingly in the opening match on SmackDown
Jey Uso made his way to the ring to open SmackDown this week and announced himself as an entrant in the 2021 Royal Rumble match. He declared SmackDown as 'The Bloodline Show' and stated that he and his cousin, WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, call the shots here.
Soon enough, Shinsuke Nakamura made his way to the ring with his old theme song, solidifying his face turn. He said that if Reigns is The Big Dog, Uso becomes his puppy. It was surprising to see SmackDown go ahead with a match so early into the show.
The ensuing clash was pretty fun, with Jey Uso almost winning with a false finish, though the referee found his legs on the rope and nullified the pin. While Jey Uso was busy arguing with the referee, Nakamura took the opportunity to deliver a Kinshasa to him, to come up victorious.
Nakamura seems right on course of becoming the charismatic face he once was. And with Cesaro seemingly aligned with him, The King of Strong Style can soon fInd himself rising the cards, with a match against Reigns still a distant possibility.
#3 King Corbin dominantly defeats Rey Mysterio on SmackDown, to possibly start a feud with Dominik Mysterio
After feuding for several weeks on SmackDown, Rey Mysterio and King Corbin took on each other in a match that saw The Lone Wolf defeat Mysterio in a surprisingly clean and dominant manner. It was yet another entertaining bout this week on SmackDown, with the two Superstars engaging in back-and-forth action for a solid 12 minutes.
Dominik Mysterio was present in the commentary box during the match and got beaten down by Corbin when the latter instigated the former to attack him. The beatdown came into play as Rey Mysterio was distracted by the attack, and King Corbin delivered an End of Days to win the match.
Post-match, Dominik Mysterio was visibly angry with how things transpired and wanted to get his hands on Corbin. However, Rey Mysterio said that he was too inexperienced to stand a chance against him, but there was someone experienced they could go seek advice from. Who could that be? It's an intriguing development, with Murphy being the likely Superstar who can guide Dominik Mysterio through this ordeal.
#2 Has Apollo Crews aligned with Roman Reigns on SmackDown?
In one of the most surprising developments on this week's SmackDown, Apollo Crews was seen backstage with the reigning WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. The Tribal Chief was seemingly mentoring him about how to earn respect in the company.
With Apollo Crews losing his Intercontinental Champion match to Big E on last week's SmackDown, it was expected Crews would undergo a character change. However, the move to seemingly align the former US Champion with Reigns can prove to do wonders for him.
Several possible narrative opportunities have opened up with this terrific booking decision. Crews could end up defeating Big E for the IC title on next week's Smackdown by using underhanded tactics. On the other hand, working as Reigns' crony would also give him enough TV time, and in the process, could raise his stock on the brand.
No matter what, it will be good to see Crews finding a clear direction after languishing in the mid-card for way too long. His win against Sami Zayn later in the night showed that he has adapted heelish tendencies, and would continue to do so going forward.
#1 Daniel Bryan and Cesaro have a wrestling clinic on SmackDown
A couple of weeks ago on SmackDown, a match pitting Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro against Daniel Bryan and Otis took place. Though it was hardly memorable, the interactions between Bryan and Cesaro were absolutely electric, and the fans clamored for a singles clash between the two.
SnmackDown listened to the fans and booked the match this week. The two in-ring wizards weaved magic and had the best bout of the night, and possibly of the whole WWE programming this week. With endless amounts of reversals and counters, the two veterans of the business went all out and delivered a pay-per-view worthy match in the hardly 15 minutes they were granted.
Cesaro coming on top was a shocking outcome. Defeating someone of Bryan's stature has increased his stock big time, and he has momentum on his side heading into the Royal Rumble match. As for Bryan, this was his second straight loss in as many weeks on SmackDown, but going by WWE's booking patterns, this only increases his chances of winning the Rumble match.
