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Welcome to this week's edition of things WWE subtly told us on SmackDown. We are well and truly on the road to WrestleMania, and a lot of things have been shaken up this week.
With several matches announced for WrestleMania on SmackDown, there are now 11 matches on the card for the two nights.
SmackDown this week saw a lot of good storyline progression and character development as well. However, the biggest change made was to the main event of Night two at WrestleMania 37. Let's begin with the most important rivalry on the card.
#6 SmackDown's WrestleMania main event undergoes a major change
Daniel Bryan opened SmackDown and refused to move until he got a Universal Championship opportunity at WrestleMania 37. It was Edge who confronted him, believing that Bryan was trying to take his moment away from him.
It wasn't the "old-grit" Edge who was simply happy to be back. This was the mean and nasty Rated-R Superstar of old who accumulated 11 World Championships over his career. If Fastlane teased a turn for Edge, this week's SmackDown more or less confirmed he is a full-blown heel now after 10 years.
There was a lot of tension in the feud and Edge speared Daniel Bryan in the opening segment. He even went to Adam Pearce and made threats to the WWE Official to persuade him from adding Bryan to the mix.
In an unlikely move, The Rated-R Superstar went to Roman Reigns' locker room to inform him that the situation affects both of them.
Make no mistake about it - Edge is a heel again. It's been over 10 long years since his turn to the dark side and this week's SmackDown confirmed that The Rated-R Superstar is back.
All three men had confrontations backstage with Adam Pearce, but the authority figure felt that Daniel Bryan had a fair argument.
Roman Reigns got his wish of having to defend the Universal Championship only once at WrestleMania. But the odds will be stacked against him as the main event of Night Two will now be a Triple Threat match involving Daniel Bryan.
Edge had the last laugh as he took out his WrestleMania 37 opponents and was ready to deliver a pair of Con-Chair-Tos to both men.
Edge's facial expressions to end the show were bar none and prove why he is an all-time great in a talent-stacked roster.
#5 Are The Mysterios on course for SmackDown Tag Team gold?
The SmackDown Tag Team Championship picture has been surprisingly under the radar this WrestleMania season. What has been surprising is the fact that the title scene involving two not-so-popular Champions has been straightforward and clear-cut.
There are four teams involved - Robert Roode & Dolph Ziggler (The SmackDown Tag Team Champions), The Street Profits, The Alpha Academy, and The Mysterios.
They all seem to have some victories over the other. It's all cyclical and it seems like we will get a Fatal Four-Way match at the Show Of Shows this year.
This week on SmackDown, Rey Mysterio defeated Dolph Ziggler - one half of the Champions. The Mysterios could win SmackDown Tag Team Title gold at WrestleMania are favorites at the moment. If that is the case, it will give Dominik the biggest highlight of his budding career.
It would also mark Rey Mysterio's first reign as a Tag Team Champion in over 15 years. The last man he held Tag Team Titles with was Batista.
#4 Apollo Crews makes a statement on SmackDown ahead of WrestleMania
Although we're not a big fan of the fact that a match that has been repeated on SmackDown and PPV is taking place at WrestleMania, we're happy for the two superstars involved.
The Intercontinental Championship match was made official on SmackDown. Big E will take on the resurgent Apollo Crews.
It's a good match between the two relatively younger superstars on the roster. Apollo Crews will be set for the biggest match of his wrestling career and it took him long enough to get a big spot on the Grandest Stage Of Them All.
This week on SmackDown, Crews teamed up with Alpha Academy (Otis & Chad Gable) to take on Big E and The Street Profits. It was an average match that didn't go on for long. But it wasn't the length of the bout that mattered.
The idea was to add to the feud between Apollo Crews and Big E. The former proved that the Fastlane defeat was just a fluke after he pinned the Intercontinental Champion on SmackDown.
It was a big statement made, and the two men will face off at Night 2 of WrestleMania 37.
#3 A big change in the Kevin Owens-Sami Zayn dynamic on SmackDown?
Last week on SmackDown, Kevin Owens was a close spectator for Sami Zayn's match. The latter tried to prove that there was, in fact, a conspiracy against him during the bout against King Corbin.
Sami Zayn lost and Kevin Owens told him to accept what happened and that there wasn't a conspiracy against him. For that, The Great Liberator gave him a Helluva Kick.
This week on SmackDown, Zayn was invited to the KO Show, where he revealed that Logan Paul will be appearing next week. Sami Zayn has been contacting Paul on Twitter and the latter has been responding as well.
Kevin Owens said that the only reason he wasn't doing anything to Sami Zayn was to issue a challenge for WrestleMania. Menacingly backing Zayn into the corner, The Great Liberator was forced to accept the match and it seems official.
Owens then laid out an attack to stand tall on SmackDown. Although Sami Zayn seems to be going crazy with conspiracy theories, the power dynamic seemed to change.
In this segment on SmackDown, Owens looked like the heel and Zayn like the babyface. Did we witness a possible double-turn on SmackDown?
#2 Seth Rollins' road to WrestleMania is set after SmackDown
In a good rematch from Fastlane, Seth Rollins faced Shinsuke Nakamura on SmackDown. While the PPV match was a bit more crafted and had a better touch to it, this was a solid affair for free TV on SmackDown.
Rollins won as expected and began a post-match beatdown on Nakamura. It was at this moment that Cesaro returned to the blue brand to save his old tag team partner. The Swiss Cyborg tried to Swing The Messiah but the former Universal Champion escaped.
Backstage on SmackDown, Seth Rollins was furious and issued a challenge to Cesaro for WrestleMania 37. This time though, The Messiah wasn't lucky as The Swiss star swung him numerous times before accepting his challenge.
Seth Rollins is traumatized by Cesaro's Swing and it's a solid but straightforward story on SmackDown heading into WrestleMania.
Given how Seth Rollins returned and the timing of Cesaro's push, we couldn't be happier for The Swiss Superman, who is now set to have his biggest match at WrestleMania.
#1 Did Sasha Banks finally turn heel on SmackDown?
Ever since Fastlane, there has been tension between the two competitors in the SmackDown Women's Championship match at WrestleMania. Once they lost their opportunity at the Women's Tag Team Titles, Sasha Banks took out her frustrations on Bianca Belair and labeled her a "rookie".
This week, a more focused and serious Belair defeated Natalya despite Banks trying to talk trash at ringside. The EST Of WWE even managed to slap Banks before going back in the ring and calmly getting the win.
The SmackDown Women's Champion attacked Belair after the match. It wasn't just this that seemed to make her look like the villain in this story. Her commentary on SmackDown had a snide and sarcastic tune throughout. She even told Michael Cole to refer to her as a Hall Of Famer.
The post-match attack only seemed to cement her position. The dynamic is interesting and we're glad that the feud will now be a straightforward one for the next couple of weeks.
Bianca Belair could be set to win the SmackDown Women's Championship and the match itself at WrestleMania should be an instant classic.
