5 things WWE SmackDown got right before Clash of Champions

The episode of WWE SmackDown before Clash of Champions had a lot of promise as WWE had already announced a few segments and matches for the night before the show kicked off.

Jeff Hardy was scheduled to take on Sami Zayn on the night, while Alexa Bliss had a match against Lacey Evans. WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns was scheduled to come out for a segment before his match against his cousin Jey Uso, at WWE Clash of Champions.

King Corbin competed against Matt Riddle during the night. While The Original Bro put up a great fight, he lost the match to Corbin.

SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley cut a promo before her match against Nikki Cross on Sunday, while Shinsuke Nakamura took on Gran Metalik. The tension between Heavy Machinery and The Miz and John Morrison reached fever pitch on this week's SmackDown.

A few surprises kept the WWE Universe alive during the show, and we will look at the five things WWE got right on the final episode of SmackDown before Clash of Champions.

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#5 Cracks begin to form in The Luch House Party on SmackDown

The Lucha House Party have a big match scheduled for Clash of Champions, where they will challenge Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships.

This week, Gran Metalik took on Shinsuke Nakamura in singles action after losing to The Swiss Cyborg last week. With Lince Dorado and Kalisto in his corner, Metalik tried to get a headstart in the match. However, a knee to the face early on almost ended his hopes.

He managed to get back in the match soon after and impressed us with some great manoeuvres off the ropes. The Lucha House Party seemed to be united outside the ring as The King of The Ropes continued to take Nakamura down with some high-flying moves.

After a slingshot senton, Metalik dragged The Artist to the corner for a moonsault but landed on his feet when Nakamura rolled out.

Nakamura hit a running knee followed by a reverse exploder. He finished off Metalik with the Kinshasa to pick up the victory before Clash of Champions.

After the match, Kalisto did not help his partners as they suffered a beatdown from Cesaro and Nakamura. Dorado shoved him to the mat following the beatdown, clearly showing that the trio is on the verge of a breakup. A singles heel run could benefit Kalisto at the moment as the former United States Champion could get some top matches on SmackDown in the months to come.

#4 SmackDown Women’s Champion cuts a great promo before Clash of Champions

Since turning on her best friend Sasha Banks, on an episode of WWE SmackDown, Bayley has been much more vicious in her approach. This week, she was out in the ring once again to cut another heelish promo before her SmackDown Women’s Championship match at WWE Clash of Champions.

The Role Model did not waste any time to take a few shots at Banks, before turning her attention to her opponent for Clash of Champions, Nikki Cross.

She spoke about how she respected Cross for being a fighter but claimed that she wasn’t too happy with what Cross had to say about her last week. Cross had implied that Bayley was nothing without The Boss, and that’s something that did not go down well with the SmackDown Women’s Champion.

The Role Model promised to slap the smile off Cross’ face at Clash of Champions. She went as far as to threaten Cross with a steel chair, similar to the way she did to The Boss.

This was a good, direct promo that did not waste too much time and made the impact that was required. WWE has stretched some promos for too long in the past, and Bayley showed that less is more on certain occasions.

Talking about Banks in this promo allowed WWE to keep the rivalry between The Role Model and The Boss going, while addressing the match for Sunday. Will Banks return to take revenge on her former best friend at Clash of Champions?

#3 Sami Zayn gains some momentum on SmackDown

This week’s WWE SmackDown before Clash of Champions opened up with AJ Styles coming out to the ring for The Intercontinental Championship Ascension Ceremony.

Jeff Hardy, Sami Zayn, and Styles all had something to say to each other before their match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at Clash of Champions. Styles and Hardy agreed that Zayn was lucky to even be a part of the match on Sunday.

Zayn then hit both his opponents with a ladder before trying to leave. However, Adam Pearce came out and added Zayn to the match between Hardy and Styles to make it a Triple Threat affair.

While all three men performed really well, The Great Liberator took advantage of a Phenomenal Forearm from Styles to Hardy and stole the pin for the victory.

Not only did this allow Zayn to pin the actual Intercontinental Champion, but it also helped him build momentum before the big match. While historically the person who scores the victory before a pay-per-view usually goes on to lose the big match that follows, WWE has pulled back on such bookings in recent times.

Hopefully, The Great Liberator will finally become the one and only Intercontinental Champion on WWE SmackDown following Clash of Champions.

#2 Alexa Bliss in a trance once again on SmackDown

Alexa Bliss and Lacey Evans were booked for this week’s WWE SmackDown and The Sassy Southern Belle took the fight to her smaller opponent pretty quickly. While both women are not booked to have a match for WWE Clash of Champions, it seemed like SmackDown wanted to build towards something else from the beginning.

Bliss tried to take down Evans, but Evans had an answer to everything The Goddess tried to do to her.

While the action was even in the middle part of the match, ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt’s laugh began to echo throughout the ThunderDome.

Soon after, the lights turned red and a part of Wyatt’s music began to play. Bliss went into a trance once again and was out of sorts. She attacked Evans and the referee was forced to call for a disqualification.

Bliss did not seem to care as she took The Sassy Southern Belle out of the ring and hit Sister Abigail on the floor to lay out the blonde.

This was another great segment that helped build on Bliss’s turn and character development even more. This can be a big gamechanger for WWE SmackDown.

#1 The Big Dog's final message on SmackDown

Earlier on in the night, Jey Uso came out to the ring and asked why Roman Reigns stared him down last week on WWE SmackDown as though he wasn’t part of the family. A video package was played on the big screen with the A’noai family, talking about the rivalry.

Reigns and Paul Heyman watched from backstage on SmackDown, and Heyman told the WWE Universe that The Big Dog won’t make any comments until he is fully ready.

The final segment of SmackDown saw the WWE Universal Champion walk out before Clash of Champions as Alexa Bliss stared him down before leaving the arena. Reigns mocked Jey and said that he’d give his cousin the title but he wouldn’t know what to do with it.

After mocking Jey some more, he dropped the mic and left the ring. Jey then asked Reigns what was wrong with him and claimed that he was sick of living in The Big Day’s shadow.

As Jey was leaving up the ramp, Reigns came out to deliver a vicious Superman Punch to lay out his cousin. He yelled at Jey, reminding him that he will never take the title away from him.

This was a fantastic storyline development before the big clash on Sunday. WWE has built several family feuds in the past, but they’ve managed to build this one extremely well with this segment.

Reigns has got all the heat required behind him, while Jey is now the biggest underdog heading into WWE Clash of Champions.