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SmackDown is learning how to deliver episodes without crowds, and this week’s show had some good action and drama that made it worth a watch.
The alliance between Drew Gulak and Danial Bryan seems to be brewing well, and Gulak had the chance to get Bryan an Intercontinental Champion opportunity at WrestleMania through a match against Shinsuke Nakamura this week.
The women of the division tried to build on the SmackDown Women’s Championship clash, while Bryan Wyatt stole the show following another great performance on the Firefly Fun House.
The fate of the SmackDown Tag Team Championship match for WrestleMania was also decided during the night, while King Corbin proved why he’s known as the biggest villain on the Blue brand.
In this article, we will look at the five things WWE got right on the penultimate episode of SmackDown before WrestleMania 36.
#5 Built the women’s matches
The night kicked off with SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley and her best friend Sasha Banks in the ring. Both women seemed confident - however, Banks did not look as comfortable as she usually is, possibly because of the big opportunity against her friend that lays ahead for her.
Lacey Evans soon interrupted the proceedings, and eventually a brief back and forth opened the doors for Naomi to barge in. After the four women were done insulting each other, Tamina arrived to make her first televised appearance since the Royal Rumble and headbutted Naomi, before delivering a Superkick to Evans. She then sent Bayley and Banks running, proving to be a real threat to the top title of the brand for the first time in a very long period.
Later in the night, Alexa Bliss finally got her hands on one-half of the Women’s Tag Team Champions, Asuka. The two women had a decent match and we saw Bliss deliver a good performance before picking up the win for her team.
While we aren’t sure whether the babyfaces will take on The Kabuki Warriors at WrestleMania 36 for the Tag Team titles, this was a good way to put the challengers over and give them a chance to build on the division after a very long time.
These two segments helped build on the women’s feuds we will likely watch unfold at WrestleMania 36.
#4 Elias’ big fall
SmackDown once again showed Elias out in the arena performing a new song. However, just like every other song of his, the punchline of the song compared King Corbin to crap.
This obviously did not sit well with The King of SmackDown, who arrived to beat down The Drifter and sent him falling off a platform 8-10 feet above the ground. The camera work was great in this one, and made matters look all too real to help build on this story.
Elias was seen getting some help from medical attendants, and Cole later confirmed that he’d been transported to a hospital, er, medical facility. This could either be to build further towards their clash and send Elias in as a huge babyface, or to postpone their scheduled match at WrestleMania.
From the looks of it, I feel that Elias will be unable to compete at The Show of Shows, delaying his rivalry with Corbin. Instead, WWE will use the angle to have Corbin replace a Superstar who may not be able to compete at WrestleMania for some reason, while giving the rivalry between Elias and Corbin to intensify.
#3 Daniel Bryan’s big match
Drew Gulak has become a really important part of SmackDown over the past few months, and his alliance with Daniel Bryan has done him wonders. But, on-screen, it seems like Bryan has been benefiting a lot more from partnering with Gulak than the other way around.
Sami Zayn had offered Gulak a chance to win an Intercontinental Championship match opportunity for his student if he could beat former champion Shinsuke Nakamura.
This week, both men met in the ring and the action was as good as expected.
Zayn took to the commentary table as The Artist took control of the match early on. Every time Gulak tried to fight out and gain momentum, Nakamura was able to outwrestle him and take back control of the proceedings.
The Artist set Gulak up for the Kinshasa, but missed thanks to some help from Bryan, allowing Gulak to roll him up and pick up the biggest victory of his career while helping Bryan get a huge match and opportunity at WrestleMania.
This was a good way for WWE to allow Bryan and Zayn to take place at WrestleMania 36 for the Intercontinental Championship. The way Gulak won could work into the storyline for the future and such victories with the help of Bryan could start frustrating him down the road, leading to a rivalry between the two men.
#2 The Tag Team Challengers
One of the biggest matches scheduled for this week was between former SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day and The Usos to determine who’d face the current champions, The Miz and John Morrison, at WrestleMania 36 for the titles.
Both teams were extremely determined and red hot, while the champions decided to watch on from commentary position.
The Usos decided to work on Big E during the initial stages of the match and did not allow him to make a tag to his partner. After taking a lot of beating, Big E made the hot tag to Kingston who exploded into the match to take back control for his team.
Both teams started to trade the action before Jimmy sent the former WWE Champion into the steel post to lose momentum.
After a while, the fight spilled over to the floor and The Miz and Morrison decided to get involved. They attacked both the teams, leaving them in a heap in the middle of the ring as the match ran into a no-contest.
Michael Cole interrupted to announce that the SmackDown Tag Team Championships match at WrestleMania would now be a Triple Threat Ladder Match with all three teams involved.
This was an interesting decision as it will allow WWE to use more star power for an event hit by certain issues. A Ladder Match may not be the right one with no crowd present, but a change of environment could help all three teams put on an excellent show!
#1 The Firefly Funhouse match at WrestleMania
Just a couple of weeks before his big clash with John Cena, Bray Wyatt unleashed a brand new episode of the Firefly Fun House.
Whispers poured out from his lantern as Wyatt told it to shut up, and exclaimed that it had its chance to get rid of Cena but failed. He then went on to concoct a recipe containing ingredients such as disappointment and self-loathing.
Wyatt added other ingredients, such as unnecessary opinions, into the mix in the form of fan-favorite Ramblin’ Rabbit and then blended it as we heard screams of the puppet.
From there on, Wyatt moved onto the real business at hand, and claimed that a huge star like Cena deserved a huge match rather than an ordinary one, and offered Cena to fight him in a Firefly Fun House Match at WrestleMania.
The villain then sipped his smoothie and claimed that there was one side effect from it all, which was followed by footage of The Fiend before the segment came to an end.
Fans had been expecting Wyatt and Cena to fight in a different match at WrestleMania, and now they can rest assured that it is something that will really happen. The segment was oddly interesting as it brought in the lantern and blended in Ramblin’ Rabbit to give fans a lot of content rather than just getting straight to the point. Full marks on creativity and story building to this one!
Did you enjoy SmackDown this week? Share your opinions in the comments down below!
