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Welcome to this week's edition of things WWE subtly told us on SmackDown. It was another good episode this week, but once again, WWE chose to spend half the show playing another old match. This time, it was John Cena vs Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania XXX - likely played to compensate for having no segment between Cena and Wyatt this week.
While Bray Wyatt and John Cena will always make the show better, the episode didn't feel like it lacked too much. It certainly wasn't the best episode of SmackDown we've seen but a good one to build to the two-day WrestleMania 36.
And WrestleMania is exactly what we're going to talk about, so let's jump right into it.
#7. Daniel Bryan's WrestleMania plans
We were treated to a solid match between Daniel Bryan and Cesaro - one that could steal the show on any given PPV. While it was clear that they held back from what they're capable of, it did a great job for the storyline progression and we love the alliance between Daniel Bryan and Drew Gulak.
Bryan would beat Cesaro and later on, we would find out that Drew Gulak will be facing Shinsuke Nakamura next week. If he can beat the former Champion, then Daniel Bryan will earn an Intercontinental Championship shot at WrestleMania 36 against Sami Zayn.
We expect a solid match next week with a lot of interference and ultimately, Gulak's victory. Daniel Bryan vs Sami Zayn for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania sounds incredible and we fully expect to see Zayn back at his in-ring best.
However, the stage is such where Daniel Bryan will be set up to win the title. Unfortunately, this means no title shot for Braun Strowman and another lackluster WrestleMania for him.
#6. A big change made to WrestleMania 36
It was clear when Bayley turned heel last year that her alliance with Sasha Banks was a long-term storyline. When you have a pairing like that for long, the idea is to pay it off at WrestleMania 36.
The rumor was that WWE wanted to go all-in on Bayley vs Sasha Banks at WrestleMania 36, but The Boss has been dealing with an injury for a while now. Even now, all rumors seem to indicate that she's still dealing with the injury - albeit to a lesser extent.
Bayley's confrontation with Paige happened over satellite and the former Women's Champion told Bayley that she's going to have to defend the SmackDown Women's Championship against Lacey Evans, Naomi, Dana Brooke, Tamina, and Sasha Banks.
While Sasha Banks was outraged at first over Paige announcing four different challengers, she was informed that she was a part of the match, resulting in her entire expression changing.
So it appears that the Sasha Banks vs Bayley match will be delayed and paid off at a later date. Perhaps SummerSlam?
#5. WWE is filling WrestleMania with more last-minute matches
WrestleMania 36 host and newly-signed WWE Superstar Rob Gronkowski opened the show along with Mojo Rawley. His music was awful and we hope they change that, but the purpose of his appearance was to help build another WrestleMania match.
King Corbin interrupted Gronkowski and started trashing him and Mojo, with the former NFL player suggesting that he face his current rival Elias at WrestleMania 36. While Corbin denied it, Elias accepted it and it appears as though the match is official.
Elias will finally get his first match at WrestleMania after 3 years on the main roster. It's a bit surprising that they haven't gotten him on the card before, but his appearances at WrestleMania 34 and 35 were in a non-wrestling capacity - as he confronted and was then confronted himself by John Cena back-to-back.
Both occasions saw him take the fall, but this year he's a babyface and WWE is making sure to fill-up the two-day WrestleMania with as many matches as possible.
#4. An Interbrand match to set-up a WrestleMania showdown
It's been clear for a while now that the plan for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 36 is for The Kabuki Warriors to face Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross. They were the team that the Japanese duo won the titles from and they've held onto it since, even main eventing the final PPV of the decade.
Asuka appeared last week on SmackDown and danced on the stage while causing a distraction, with Sasha Banks submitting Nikki Cross with the Bank Statement in their singles match.
This week, the former Champions were interviewed backstage and Alexa Bliss invited Asuka to return to SmackDown next week to face her - urging her to come through the front door instead.
We expect Kairi Sane to be with her and for Bliss to beat Asuka, setting up a women's tag team title shot. Whether Natalya and Beth Phoenix will be involved, we can't be sure. After the Hall of Famer's involvement with Randy Orton, it appears as though she may not be in the title picture this year.
#3. The SmackDown Tag Team title challengers
John Morrison seems to be relishing life as a Champion - the first title he's won in WWE in 11 years. He was gone for a long time and he's instantly back at the top of the tag team division on SmackDown.
Given the time of the year, the big question is as to who will challenge the duo at WrestleMania 36. The Miz and John Morrison asked the same question on their latest episode of The Dirt Sheet and portrayed The New Day and The Usos, mocking them and their entire gimmick. They even dressed as bacon to indicate Heavy Machinery, who they would later face.
That match was supposed to be one where Heavy Machinery could earn a title shot at WrestleMania if they beat the champions, but they didn't, and that was because it set up another non-title match entirely.
As of now, it appears as though The New Day and The Usos will be the SmackDown Tag Team Title challengers in a Triple Threat match at WrestleMania 36.
#2. Otis vs Dolph Ziggler is inevitable
All Otis wanted was a date with Mandy Rose on Valentine's Day. Instead, he was upstaged by Dolph Ziggler - the man who has been a thorn in his side ever since. We'll give credit to Otis and WWE - they've managed to make this work, and if an audience was present, Heavy Machinery's match against The Miz & John Morrison would get the best reaction of the night.
Watching Otis run riot is entertaining and Ziggler has done a great job as the bad guy as well. During the match, Ziggler would interrupt and sit on the commentary table before getting up and distracting Otis by showing him Instagram posts of him and Mandy Rose together.
This upset Otis, who assaulted Ziggler and would take all his anger out on the Champions. He began to use a steel chair and this ultimately cost Heavy Machinery a title shot at WrestleMania.
Otis vs Dolph Ziggler is inevitable and we can't wait to see the payoff.
#1. The seeds for Roman Reigns vs Goldberg was planted earlier than we thought
The main event segment of the night saw Roman Reigns and Goldberg make their match official with a contract signing. It was one of those rare contract signings that didn't end with a physical altercation.
It's likely a match so big that WWE doesn't want Goldberg and Reigns to have any physical contact until the match begins. That's fair enough and the intensity of the moment didn't require a brawl.
Michael Cole brought up an interesting tweet in January where Roman Reigns took a clear shot at Goldberg's ritual of headbutting his head against the door before coming out for a match.
While none of us realized it, WWE was planting the seeds for that match back then, even if they didn't have a full-fledged plan in place. Had Goldberg not been around, WWE would undoubtedly have gone with Roman Reigns vs 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt, but this is one of the main events of WrestleMania this year. Perhaps the first day.
Also read: 5 major ways WWE will benefit from an empty arena show at WrestleMania 36
