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The go-home episode of SmackDown was certainly an interesting one and perhaps one of the best shows in the past few weeks of WWE in the Performance Center. The road to WrestleMania is officially at the last stage, but even that statement doesn't seem to hold the same weight given the global circumstances.
Either way, it was a good episode of SmackDown and had some good storyline progression ahead of the so-called biggest show of the year. We doubt it'll be as big as the next few PPVs with a crowd, but given the WrestleMania name, WWE is going to go ahead with full steam and try to pull off an amazing card.
Perhaps it's one of those times when we have to sit back and realize that we're living in a historic era of pro wrestling. Despite the need for a limited crew, we hope that the sports entertainment juggernaut has a "WWE 24" special on the Network to highlight what happened in an era that we may never see again. Let's jump right into what WWE subtly told us on SmackDown.
#7. Did WWE foreshadow Daniel Bryan winning the title?
Daniel Bryan vs Sami Zayn is a great match on any show and they get to have WrestleMania as the platform to do what they do best. We haven't seen Sami Zayn wrestle too much over the last year, which is why we're excited to see what he's capable of when he faces Daniel Bryan in an Intercontinental title match at WrestleMania 36.
Daniel Bryan and Shinsuke Nakamura finally met in the ring, but it ended in a DQ in favor of Bryan (perhaps to save the match for a better stage later on) and the segment ended with Sami Zayn, Nakamura, and Cesaro standing tall, which seems to make it almost inevitable that Daniel Bryan will win his second Intercontinental title at WrestleMania 36.
#6. The end of the road for Fire and Desire
This was by far the most interesting segment on the show from a storyline perspective. Tucker from Heavy Machinery faced Otis' WrestleMania opponent Dolph Ziggler and it ended with a dusty finish before Ziggler tried to lay the beatdown on him.
Interestingly enough, Otis received a text as Tucker was getting prepared for the match, which made it clear that something was happening. When Ziggler was about to assault Tucker with the steel steps, Mandy Rose came out with Sonya Deville and pleaded for him to stop.
Those graphics which have been appearing "coincidentally" every other episode of SmackDown? They appeared again and a mysterious figure appeared, revealing footage of the night on February 14th, when Otis went for a date with Mandy Rose, only to be replaced by Dolph Ziggler.
The video revealed that the text that Mandy Rose sent to Otis about being late was done by Sonya Deville, who plotted it all with Dolph Ziggler. Rose left the arena with Deville chasing after her, indicating the end of their friendship. It all goes down at WrestleMania.
#5. The mysterious figure
The biggest question coming out of SmackDown was who the mysterious "hacker" figure was. As mentioned, we've been seeing graphics abruptly pop up on SmackDown for a while now. It's no coincidence and the initial thought was that it would set up the debut of Killer Kross - who many expected would skip NXT.
However, the Johnny Gargano-Tommaso Ciampa segment from last NXT had a video package that showed Kross' face, indicating his debut on the brand inevitable. So that rules him out of being the "hacker" figure that we saw on SmackDown.
After Mandy Rose and Sonya DeVille came out, the figure was seen in a hoodie and said: "The truth will be heard". He (or she) was the one that revealed the footage that may have led to the end of Fire and Desire.
The big question is as to who this figure is. The names that fans are speculating include the likes of Mustafa Ali and Ember Moon, but either way, it's most likely going to set up a big return.
#4. Did WWE work the rumor mill or is a match happening?
There were reports earlier about how The Miz was pulled from WrestleMania 36 and that the Tag Team ladder match was supposedly a triple threat match among one member of each team.
However, WWE may have fooled the wrestling media and sent out the wrong information. Either that or they're going to wait until the last minute and pull off a backstage angle at WrestleMania 36 where it'll lead to a singles match among three members.
Either way, The Miz and Morrison were used for the tapings and WWE continued to advertise the ladder match being a triple threat tag team bout. We hope that it's true because it would be much better that way, though we don't expect the match to stay intact as it is.
Either way, it's a weird time we're in and WWE has been taking advantage of the limited staff to prevent major leaks of the tapings.
Will the tag team match still happen in the end?
#3. What did the outcome of the triple threat mean for WrestleMania 36?
From the look of things, Tamina has gotten a bigger push in the past two episodes than she has throughout her career. She's one of the five superstars who will be competing for the SmackDown Women's Championship at WrestleMania, with the other four including the Champion Bayley, Sasha Banks, Lacey Evans, and Naomi.
Tamina, Evans, and Naomi had a good triple threat match in the first bout of the night and Tamina ended up with the win. Bayley tried to congratulate her, but the moment she turned around, she ate a superkick. Sasha Banks met the same fate and Tamina of all people stood tall on the final SmackDown before WrestleMania.
While she's being built as a dark horse, the likeliness of her winning is extremely slim. Perhaps she could get a title reign as a token of gratitude for her years of service, but even then, we can't imagine it being anything more than transitional. With that said, Bayley, Naomi, or Sasha Banks have the highest chance of walking out as Champion.
#2. An eerie final segment
This was our favorite of the night and it was apt that it ended the final SmackDown before WrestleMania. As you know, the last couple of episodes of RAW and SmackDown were pre-taped, which gave WWE the advantage of utilizing t for certain shots.
They tried that last week with Elias and King Corbin when the latter supposedly pushed Elias from the top of the stand to the ground. In this segment, John Cena's incredible promo was interrupted by 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt, who was standing in that exact spot and staring down at Cena.
It was an example of the art of storytelling without using any words. The last time we can think of that was when The Undertaker and Triple H set up their WrestleMania 27 match by simply staring at each other and not saying a word.
As you can see in the video above, The lights went off and Bray Wyatt appeared as himself right behind Cena and simply said "Let me in" before vanishing. This was a creative way to utilize the segment and we fully expect Wyatt to win at WrestleMania 36.
#1. WWE didn't feel the need to write Roman Reigns off
WWE's approach with the Universal Championship match at WrestleMania has left some big questions. Even before last week's episode of SmackDown, it was known that Roman Reigns pulled out of WrestleMania 36 citing health concerns. Since he's had a pre-existing life-threatening condition, he could be more vulnerable if he contracts coronavirus.
His decision was justified and WWE granted his request. There were rumors that Braun Strowman ended up replacing Roman Reigns and on the latest episode of SmackDown, it was confirmed.
However, there was no actual build to the match. Either Reigns pulled out after the taping was done or WWE simply felt that there was no need to build to the main event of night two at WrestleMania 36.
It's a bit of a questionable approach, though we don't know what the logistical details behind the decision were. Goldberg vs Braun Strowman was announced as the new Universal Championship match without addressing why Reigns pulled out. We expect Goldberg to defeat The Monster Among Men.
