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Welcome to this week's edition of things WWE subtly told us on SmackDown! This was the best episode of the blue brand in the last few weeks, and we're happy to say that there was some major progress for the Royal Rumble 2021 PPV.
Let's jump right into what happened on SmackDown:
#6 Adam Pearce's return to the ring on SmackDown and the meaning behind it
SmackDown was headlined by a Gauntlet Match starring Sami Zayn, Rey Mysterio, Shinsuke Nakamura, King Corbin, and Daniel Bryan. While that's a relatively straightforward list of competitors, Paul Heyman and Roman Reigns once again pulled the strings to get a favorable outcome.
For starters, Roman Reigns got into a tense face-off with authority figure Adam Pearce in the opening segment of SmackDown. It all began when Roman Reigns said that he actually liked Kevin Owens. As for what happened to him last week on SmackDown, he blamed "Scrap Daddy" Adam Pearce.
Accusing him of not doing his job, things got tense between Reigns and Pearce. Later on in the episode, Paul Heyman dropped a bombshell on the WWE official fter pulling the strings, Adam Pearce would be in the Gauntlet match.
This already began an interesting story, and the gauntlet match on SmackDown was a solid one. It's the type of match that WWE always tends to do right, and the way it played out was great as well.
Adam Pearce was reluctant the whole time, and after Shinsuke Nakamura cleared house (we'll get to that part later), Roman Reigns and Jey Uso came to beat him up. They threw Pearce in the match and attacked him as well, before placing him on top of Shinsuke Nakamura.
What does this mean? The Gauntlet Match on SmackDown resulted in Adam Pearce becoming the No.1 contender for the Universal Championship at Royal Rumble 2021. In doing so, 5-time NWA World Champion Adam Pearce made his in-ring return after six years
It's an interesting one, and we'll do a separate article about why he's in that spot.
#5 The Street Profits' run of dominance ends on SmackDown
It's hard to dispute which Tag Team on SmackDown had the best 2020. The Street Profits emerged as the most dominant unit during the year. Until the January 8th episode of SmackDown, The Street Profits were essentially on an 11-month title reign.
We know that their RAW Tag Team and SmackDown Tag Team title reigns are counted separately, but we can't help but feel as though both reigns were continuous. So in a sense, The Street Profits had a long title reign.
Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode were the teams that finally ended up displacing them in a good match. It was high time that their reign of dominance over the Tag Team division ended. Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode always seem to find themselves in different Tag Team pairings, and now, they're the kings of the SmackDown Tag Team division.
It was a huge achievement on SmackDown and a well-deserved one for both veterans. The Street Profits would have gotten stale quickly on SmackDown had they not lost the titles.
#4 Apollo Crews is in a good position, but Big E reigns supreme on SmackDown
Apollo Crews challenged Big E for the Intercontinental Championship on SmackDown and it was an excellent way to get the show on track. It was a great showing for Apollo Crews, but he was never going to topple Big E this early into his Championship reign and push on SmackDown.
Apollo Crews had his time in 2020, but with performances like this, he could still be in secondary title pictures for a long time to come. Unfortunately, it wasn't his night on SmackDown.
#3 Rey Mysterio and King Corbin's feud begins
King Corbin's next major rivalry on SmackDown will be against Rey Mysterio. After attacking Murphy, the feud began, and Rey Mysterio was attacked by King Corbin after getting eliminated by Shinsuke Nakamura.
It was an interesting way to start a feud, and since Rey Mysterio was never going to win the Gauntlet match on SmackDown, it's good that a feud ultimately came out of it. Who will walk out victorious?
#2 Sonya Deville's new role on SmackDown
Since there wasn't too much progression in the women's division on SmackDown, we can lump it into one point. Bianca Belair and Bayley are still lightly feuding, Carmella is still unhappy with Sasha Banks, and Billie Kay is the funniest woman on the roster, but the most interesting bit was about Sonya Deville and her new role.
It appears as though Sonya Deville has taken on the role of Adam Pearce's assistant. It's not clear whether she is a heel or babyface, but nothing in her last two SmackDown appearances suggested that she was a heel.
It'll be an interesting role to be a part of, especially since she could also be involved with the Universal title feud on SmackDown heading into the Royal Rumble 2021 match.
It will be interesting to see how it works out for Sonya Deville on SmackDown. Hopefully, it's a story that leads to a solid in-ring return and a new, fresh direction for her. Sonya Deville was making good progress until the summer of 2019.
#1 Shinsuke Nakamura emerges as the star of SmackDown and turns face
SmackDown belonged to Shinsuke Nakamura, who put on his best performance in WWE since April 1st, 2016. The aforementioned date was when he made his WWE debut at NXT Takeover: Dallas - defeating Sami Zayn in the process.
He has been in important positions between 2016 and 2018, but he fell off the radar for a bit. Even so, he was accused of "phoning it in" and not giving his best to WWE.
It's clear that WWE is Shinsuke Nakamura's retirement plan, and on SmackDown, it became clear that the King Of Strong Style can do well when he wants to. The Gauntlet Match is always the perfect platform for one star to shine, and on SmackDown, it was Nakamura.
Nakamura ran through Rey Mysterio, King Corbin, and even pinned Daniel Bryan clean. After his assault by Roman Reigns and Jey Uso, it became clear that he quietly turned babyface. This means that his alliance with Cesaro is effectively over. What will be next for the babyface Nakamura on SmackDown after coming so close to Universal title contention?
