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Welcome to this week's edition of things WWE subtly told us on SmackDown before TLC. It was an interesting episode, even if it wasn't necessarily the best one. WWE did their job to build SmackDown to TLC and there were a few hits and misses.
This article won't focus on that, but some of the subtle indicators going forward on SmackDown and TLC:
#6 Will the Championship curse affect SmackDown Women's Champion Sasha Banks against Carmella?
Sasha Banks doesn't have the best track record when it comes to championship defenses, despite being on her sixth singles title reign since 2016. The Boss' current reign as SmackDown Women's Champion is the longest she has had in an individual capacity.
While the feud against Carmella on SmackDown hasn't been the hottest one on the show, they had a nice segment to wrap up the build to their SmackDown Women's title match at TLC 2020.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out. Carmella brought up Sasha Banks' terrible track record with title defenses, and it could play a bigger role than we think. Logically speaking, it wouldn't make sense for WWE to take the title off Sasha Banks when she's so early into her reign.
But that hasn't stopped them before, and it may not stop them now. While Carmella was doing all the trash-talking, Sasha Banks got her from behind and even her bodyguard once again, but Carmella ended up standing tall.
It was a good segment, but we fear that a SmackDown Women's title change is imminent. We're not sure if going with Carmella is the right decision now, but we would be happy to be wrong. Usually, when a Superstar stands tall on the go-home episode of RAW/SmackDown before a PPV, it indicates that they will lose. Carmella did stand tall, but it's hard to anticipate Sasha Banks' title matches.
#5 Bianca Belair might be the future, but Bayley is the present on SmackDown
In the last few weeks after losing the SmackDown Women's Championship, Bayley picked up a feud with SmackDown's fastest rising female star - Bianca Belair. It was the right feud at the right time, with many (including us) assuming that the Grand Slam Champion would put over Belair - the future of WWE.
That didn't turn out to be the case. On SmackDown, Bianca Belair and Bayley went head-to-head, and it was the former SmackDown Women's Champion that picked up the victory against the upstart.
Bianca Belair has been presented as the future of SmackDown and WWE, in general, but it appears as though Bayley is still the present. Having Bayley win was a good call, and it was essentially WWE telling Bianca Belair to hold her horses.
Her time will come, but it's better to keep Bayley relevant rather than immediately sacrifice her after her title reign to put over another star. It also keeps her in potential title contention down the line again.
#4 Same story, different day for The Street Profits
There hasn't been a single tag team on RAW or SmackDown this year that has been more dominant than The Street Profits. They held the RAW Tag Team Championships for around eight months before being drafted to SmackDown - now holding the blue brand's tag team titles.
They had a title swap and their dominance would continue on SmackDown, but has it gone too far? One of the big issues with their reign has been the overall lack of challengers.
They had a fun and friendly feud with The Viking Raiders, a seemingly never-ending rivalry with Andrade and Angel Garza, and on SmackDown, Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler are their rivals.
What all of them have in common is the fact that they fell short of winning the RAW/SmackDown Tag Team Champions. While The Street Profits are a good team, it's starting to get tiring to see the same outcome and the same finishes for every other match.
It will wear out soon enough, and WWE needs to make a major change to the SmackDown Tag Team division. However, it seems as though Vince McMahon has no interest in doing that.
#3 Otis is thriving on SmackDown with his new coach Chad Gable
Otis' SmackDown career has taken a new turn after losing the Money in the Bank briefcase to The Miz. While it seemed like he would go on a downward spiral after Mandy Rose's move from SmackDown to RAW, he has found a surprisingly good ally in Chad Gable.
We're glad that Chad Gable hasn't stuck around with King Corbin. He's better in his "tough coach" babyface role where he is encouraging Otis. On SmackDown this week, Otis faced Shinsuke Nakamura and defeated the former Royal Rumble winner.
It was a big one for Otis, and Chad Gable gave him a positive pep talk, albeit in his "tough coach" voice. Chad Gable hasn't done much on RAW or SmackDown these last four years, but this could be the start of something. Given that Otis has guaranteed TV time on SmackDown every week. it's a good way to push Gable into the fray as well. He has an entertaining character to pull it off.
#2 Will Big E's interjection in the Sami Awards lead to a title match on SmackDown?
Sami Zayn held a parody of the upcoming "Slammy Awards" with his own version on SmackDown - "The Sami Awards". Of course, the objective of it was to give himself all the accolades, and he did so for "Return of the year" and "Match of the year".
What Sami Zayn didn't realize was that his fellow-SmackDown star Big E manipulated one of the cards, and the Intercontinental Champion had a shocked expression when Big E was revealed to be the "Superstar of the year".
It was a good way to set up a match. As of this writing, a match for TLC hasn't been announced. It could be added at the last minute, but it wouldn't be surprising if WWE decided to keep it as a TV feud for SmackDown, similar to what they've been doing with The Street Profits.
Big E could be poised to become the next Intercontinental Champion, but Sami Zayn has had a great deal of momentum on SmackDown that could keep it in his favor.
#1 Will Kevin Owens get massacred after his SmackDown beatdown?
Kevin Owens had one of his worst nights to date on SmackDown. It essentially started with him getting beaten down by Jey Uso, and it ended with him getting beaten down by the former Tag Team Champion and Roman Reigns.
In between the start and finish, Kevin Owens got beaten up as well. Roman Reigns' tyrannical agenda has taken a darker turn, with the Universal title challenger refusing to acknowledge The Tribal Chief as the head of the table.
Roman Reigns ordered Jey Uso to "end" Kevin Owens on SmackDown, and that's what he set out to do. It was the final segment where Roman Reigns sent a message to the beaten-down Kevin Owens, only for his challenger to miraculously reappear.
He suffered yet another beatdown, and after Roman Reigns, Jey Uso, and Paul Heyman were done with their roles on SmackDown, they departed - all while Kevin Owens got up on the chair and stated that he would win the Universal title at TLC or die trying.
Is Kevin Owens set for a massacre at TLC? Guess we will have to tune-in this Sunday to find out!
