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Welcome to this week's edition of things WWE subtly told us on SmackDown! Last week's episode of SmackDown was quite incredible, which is why we felt WWE should ideally have followed up with a solid show as well.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, but the positive is that the show had a fantastic ending. Without dwelling too much on the negatives of SmackDown as we so often do, let's jump right into the things that WWE subtly told us on SmackDown!
#5. Sheamus' entanglement with King Corbin on SmackDown
It's not too often that we get to see heel vs heel rivalries and matches in WWE, but it seems like they're experimenting with that a bit more these days. On RAW, we had a brief Nia Jax-Shayna Baszler interaction that was teased as a feud and on SmackDown, Sheamus crossed paths with King Corbin.
The first match of the night on SmackDown saw Sheamus take on Matt Riddle in a match that ended in a DQ thanks to Shorty G's interference. While Sheamus took care of Shorty G, he had a tense confrontation with fellow SmackDown star King Corbin, who he took issue with.
Later that night, King Corbin faced Jeff Hardy and this time, Sheamus attacked Hardy to cost Corbin the match. He was true to his word about moving on from Jeff Hardy and focused on King Corbin instead.
It led to a match between the two top SmackDown heels and Sheamus won thanks to a little assistance from Matt Riddle. While it might not be an outright face turn yet, could WWE eventually turn Sheamus face on SmackDown and have him align with Matt Riddle? That would certainly be interesting - but perhaps not the best idea. Either way, let's see how the story plays out.
#4. What was the meaning behind the chaos of the RETRIBUTION segment to end SmackDown?
RETRIBUTION is here. And they're not restricting themselves to RAW - They're taking over all brands, from the look of things. The final segment of SmackDown saw RETRIBUTION make their presence known and they chased off everybody - including the commentary team of Corey Graves and Michael Cole.
It's hard to assess and analyze what the actual meaning behind it could be - or what the actual motive is. However, it's clear that they're being presented as a rebellious anarchy faction whose faces we won't see for a while.
We noticed that there were two women in the group as well (and three men). It's hard to tell who it was, apart from a few glimpses that we have.
The identity of one woman appears to be former NXT star, Vanessa Borne. While there was some speculation about Chelsea Green as well, we can't be too sure of that. However, Borne's curly brown hair seems to be an indicator.
It was an incredible ending to a not-so-incredible SmackDown. We can't wait to see more RETRIBUTION!
#3. Is WWE unable to trust Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose to have a feud on SmackDown not involving others?
We'll admit that this was one of the more frustrating things about SmackDown. Last week, Sonya Deville made her long-overdue return to WWE television when she attacked Mandy Rose backstage on SmackDown and even chopped off bits of her hair.
However, we wonder why WWE can't seem to trust Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville to have a feud that doesn't involve others. Right now, the feud seems to be Heavy Machinery and Mandy Rose vs The Miz, John Morrison, and Sonya Deville - who recently aligned with the former SmackDown Tag Team Champions.
While Otis' presence might be there by default, we wonder why WWE can't give the two women the spotlight to have a feud that doesn't involve anyone else. Either it's a lack of trust from WWE's behalf or they just want more SmackDown stars to fill time on the screen.
Either way, we feel that having four other people involved for no reason will water down the actual purpose of the rivalry.
#2. Bayley's SummerSlam opponent won't be from SmackDown
Sasha Banks and Bayley, the "Golden Role Models" had an interesting segment with Stephanie McMahon tonight. We didn't see Stephanie McMahon berate them as she has with many Superstars in the past. Instead, she told the two SmackDown stars that the McMahon's hold no grudge, but criticized them for using a loophole to defeat Asuka and win the RAW Women's Championship.
It's clear that there's a lack of opponents for Bayley on SmackDown and despite the Naomi-Lacey Evans rivalry, it seems like WWE doesn't want the SmackDown Women's Champion facing a star from her brand.
Stephanie McMahon announced that next week, there would be an Interbrand battle royal to determine Bayley's SummerSlam opponent. And this is going to include Superstars from RAW, SmackDown, and NXT.
From the look of things, Bayley isn't going to be facing a SmackDown star at SummerSlam. She'll either be facing a star from RAW or NXT. The big question is as to whether that woman will be the one to end her 300+ day Championship reign.
#1. The interesting heel-face dynamic between Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt on SmackDown
Admittedly, this wasn't the best follow-up to what we felt was an incredible ending to SmackDown last week. Bray Wyatt opened the show in Firefly Fun House, once again stating his desire to go after Braun Strowman and the Universal Championship.
'The Fiend' also made an appearance and had another tense confrontation with Alexa Bliss. This time, however, he didn't go through with the attack. It wasn't your conventional WWE return and "run in" to make the save. Instead, it was a sweaty Braun Strowman with a camera zoomed into his face, telling The Fiend that he doesn't give a damn about Alexa Bliss.
What we noticed on SmackDown was that unlike most of 'The Fiend''s feuds, there isn't a conventional heel-babyface dynamic. Sure, you could look at Wyatt as the heel, but in reality, Braun Strowman isn't a babyface either.
Whatever it is, we just hope that it leads to an interesting match with good storytelling. SummerSlam could be where we see 'The Fiend' reign supreme again.
