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Welcome to this week's special edition of things WWE subtly told us on SmackDown's Draft (Day 1). It's the first of two special editions and we had multiple rounds of drafts with some game-changing brand switches.
Follow us to see what happened and what potentially lies ahead.
#7 A mix-up and a break-up in the WWE Draft on SmackDown
It's surreal to look back at The New Day's journey and to see just how far they've come. In almost six long years together, they have established themselves as arguably the greatest and most accomplished tag team in WWE history.
They're the longest-reigning Tag Team Champions in WWE history and they spent most of the last three years on SmackDown. They also lost the titles to Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro before Kofi Kingston took a hiatus and now Xavier Woods is back as well.
The New Day would recapture the SmackDown Tag Team titles and it was immediately revealed that as SmackDown Tag Team Champions, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods would be drafted to RAW. We're not sure how exactly that works, but what's more significant is the fact that Big E will be staying on SmackDown as a singles star.
While The New Day may not be officially broken up, they're no longer a unit like they were. This marks a break-up after six long years together and the decision was likely made so that WWE can prioritize Big E on SmackDown.
It's a decision that makes a lot of sense. While The New Day could be a unit forever, WWE knows that they only have a limited window to push Big E and SmackDown will be the brand where he continues to reside.
It's going to be interesting to see the way the career trajectory of Big E plays out and how WWE plans to have the SmackDown Tag Team titles on RAW.
#6 Sasha Banks and Bayley will go to hell after a controversial finish on SmackDown
We were a bit suspicious as to whether SmackDown's Draft Day would be the culmination of the Sasha Banks-Bayley feud. After all, it would be weird to invest over a year or two into a storyline only to pay it off on a small and forgettable Live TV match.
Instead, the SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley disqualified herself to retain the title, which was a clear indication that the feud would be going further. Sasha Banks will be staying on SmackDown after being drafted.
Bayley, on the other hand, is yet to be drafted. Sasha Banks, later on in the show, vowed to take the SmackDown Women's Championship for Bayley and challenged her to a match inside Hell in a Cell.
It's the perfect stipulation match for the storyline. Personally, we hope that it headlines the show since it's supposed to be the culmination of a storyline that's gone on for a few years on-and-off.
We expect a title change to happen at Hell in a Cell, especially since Bayley will complete a year as SmackDown Women's Championship by then.
#5 AJ Styles is leaving SmackDown...again
In what was perhaps the briefest SmackDown run that AJ Styles has had since joining WWE, he is once again been drafted to RAW. AJ Styles was on RAW from 2019 after spending over two-and-a-half years as the face of SmackDown - capturing two WWE Championships in the process.
He moved to SmackDown this year after real-life issues with Paul Heyman, only for Roman Reigns to return to SmackDown and align with Paul Heyman. While AJ Styles stated that it was water under the bridge for him, it became clear that he wasn't a fan of Paul Heyman and he took shots at him whenever he could.
As expected, AJ Styles was drafted to RAW and will once again be away from Paul Heyman. It also marks his exit from the Intercontinental title picture.
It's going to be interesting to see how AJ Styles fares away from SmackDown again and hopefully, it works out. He has the potential to be a legitimate WWE title challenger.
#4 Lars Sullivan is back on SmackDown
The last time we saw Lars Sullivan on SmackDown was in June of 2019. It's been exactly 14 months since his injury and he has had to go through a lot to get to his WWE return.
While his return period was slated to be six to nine months, there may have been many other factors coming into play when it came to WWE bringing back Lars Sullivan. For one, there was some controversy with regards to Lars Sullivan's past and WWE likely kept him out of the spotlight to ensure that people were either quiet about it or forgot about it.
Secondly, we don't doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic had a factor to play in keeping him away from SmackDown. But SmackDown is likely the brand that he will be staying at and it's for the better.
Lars Sullivan came out to take out the new makeshift tag team of Matt Riddle and Jeff Hardy after their win on SmackDown. What could WWE have planned for Lars Sullivan on SmackDown?
#3 Seth Rollins has a new home on SmackDown and he's being followed
Seth Rollins has a new home for the first time in four years and it's Friday Night SmackDown. Seth Rollins was one of the few superstars who was never drafted or had never changed brands since the re-introduction of the Draft.
That has finally changed and Seth Rollins was officially the first Superstar to shift brands in the WWE Draft. He's no longer the Monday Night Messiah. It's hard to imagine RAW without Seth Rollins, but what we know for sure is that it's a game-changing move.
He was in the midst of a heated feud with Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio and even Murphy. While it seemed like that rivalry would end with Rollins' move to SmackDown, it's simply pouring on from one brand to the other as Rey and Dominik Mysterio have been drafted to SmackDown.
It's going to have a big impact on SmackDown and we're interested to see how this feud plays out on a different brand. Hopefully, it puts more focus on Dominik Mysterio.
#2 What happened with Kevin Owens and 'The Fiend' on SmackDown?
'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt made his SmackDown in-ring debut on the Draft Special episode. As advertised, he faced Kevin Owens in a highly-anticipated match. It rightfully closed the show, but what was the fallout of it all?
For one, there was a rather creepy segment backstage on SmackDown where Kevin Owens was right in front of Alexa Bliss, who told him to "Let him in". Alexa Bliss' alliance with The Fiend has been exciting to watch and it only continues to unfold.
In the main event, Kevin Owens was close to defeating The Fiend via countout, but Bray Wyatt entered the ring on time before finishing Kevin Owens decisively. Nothing about the match indicated that it would be a storyline that we will see continuing. Neither The Fiend nor Kevin Owens was drafted, but we anticipate that it's something we will see on Monday. However, this could be a set-up for Kevin Owens having a big character change, subsequently pouring on to his feud on RAW against Aleister Black.
#1 Roman Reigns brings out a whole new side of him on SmackDown
This new Roman Reigns character might be the best that WWE has had in a few years now. This is The Big Dog that fans have been itching to see for the last five years. This heel Roman Reigns on SmackDown will be staying on the Blue brand after being kept there in the draft.
Also staying on SmackDown will be Jey Uso, but we imagine that Hell in a Cell is going to be nothing short of brutal to him. From Roman Reigns' new look to the style of his promo, he's been doing a great job in the last month carrying SmackDown and we're excited to see what he brings to the table.
Not only will he face Jey Uso inside Hell in a Cell, but for the first time, the match will have an "I Quit" stipulation.
This only further plays into what happened at Clash of Champions 2020 and we're excited to see how Roman Reigns unleashes this new, sadistic version of himself.
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