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SmackDown was quite the show tonight. Welcome to this week's edition of things WWE subtly told us on SmackDown! As you can see by the title, this article is going to be heavy on what we felt was a brilliant show.
While we wish we would see the same kind of consistency every week, we understand that it's hard to do so when you're writing a show that has 52 episodes a year.
Without dragging it much further, let's jump right into SmackDown:
#7 An unexpected heel turn on SmackDown
Shorty G had a confrontation with King Corbin backstage. While it was tense at first owing to their past rivalry, Corbin seemed to indicate that the former Olympian had a lot to learn from him.
As you know, Corbin has been in a feud with Matt Riddle on SmackDown and following a win over Drew Gulak, The Original Bro had come out as well. While he had the upper hand on an exhausted Corbin, Shorty G came out of nowhere and attacked Matt Riddle, turning heel in the most unexpected way.
We honestly don't see too much potential with this Corbin-Shorty G alliance on SmackDown, but what we hope is that he ditches the "Shorty G" name and goes back to being Chad Gable.
With that said, it isn't the worst decision to have him turn heel. He hasn't had much going on for him for a good part of four years now and as long as he starts getting regular television time and character development, it could serve him well once the crowds eventually come back.
It's going to be interesting to see how the feud between King Corbin and Matt Riddle will play out on SmackDown going forward. We expect it to be the SummerSlam direction for Riddle, unless we see a free TV match between them soon.
#6 Sonya Deville's return also saw the possible hacker return and another new feud?
This was an interesting segment in multiple ways on SmackDown. Not only did we see the return of Sonya Deville after two months, but it was a segment that would lead to three potential storylines. It's not often that we see a segment achieve that, so we'll credit WWE and the creative team for doing a brilliant job with it.
The context - Mandy Rose was preparing to go for a date with Otis, only for Sonya Deville to sneak from behind and then attack her and humiliate her by chopping chunks of her hair off. With makeup seemingly smudged on Mandy Rose's face, Sonya Deville took an electric shaver and was ready to remove all the hair from Rose's head on SmackDown.
She was stopped by referees and backstage agents. However, what we noticed was the glitch in the screen while she was there - indicating that the Mystery Hacker storyline is, in fact, still alive. It seems to be closely connected to Sonya Deville since she was the first and only person "exposed" by the Mystery Hacker.
With Rose and Deville set to resume their feud and the Hacker possibly back, the third feud was hinted at when Otis and Tucker were checking on Mandy Rose backstage on SmackDown while The Miz and John Morrison were making sarcastic comments to Kayla Braxton. That looks to be a direction that we'll see on SmackDown going forward too.
#5 From one title to another for Gran Metalik
The Lucha House Party's Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik seem to be among the previously-underutilized Superstars benefiting from the pandemic era of WWE and overall lack of talent working the TV tapings for SmackDown and RAW.
They've been thrust right into the spotlight and for Gran Metalik, that meant earning an Intercontinental Championship opportunity against AJ Styles last week and facing him on tonight's episode of SmackDown for the title.
In the opening match of the night, Metalik would push Styles, but come up short as expected. Lince Dorado even suffered a post-match attack from AJ Styles, further cementing his place as a top heel on SmackDown.
However, that won't be the last title Gran Metalik is going for in WWE. Backstage on SmackDown, Dorado and Metalik confronted SmackDown Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura, indicating that they're going to be the next title challengers - possibly for SummerSlam. It's good that they're getting the spotlight they deserve.
As for AJ Styles, Matt Riddle could be next for him.
#4 Big E's first episode as a singles star and what he showed
Big E is now going to be a singles star for the foreseeable future on SmackDown, with Xavier Woods having been out for a long time and Kofi Kingston out for a minimum of 1.5-2 months.
Last week, Kofi Kingston gave his blessing to Big E to become a singles star and shine while the spotlight is on him and that began starting this week as he faced former WWE Champion, The Miz, on SmackDown.
It was a great showing for Big E, who showed an impressive arsenal and even won the match by a submission - something that we rarely get to see. We're interested to see how this attempt at singles stardom is going to go for Big E.
If things go well, WWE might seriously start considering focusing on a singles run for him on SmackDown while The New Day takes a backseat (while not outright disbanding). He has a lot to prove and the potential is there. We just have to see how far it goes.
#3 The end of a feud
We're happy to see a SmackDown feud get the right payoff it deserves. In the case of the Jeff Hardy-Sheamus feud, there was a lot wrong with it. Many people, including CM Punk and Matt Hardy, felt that bringing up Jeff Hardy's issues as a part of storylines makes it riskier for him to potentially relapse.
In his feud with Sheamus on SmackDown, Jeff Hardy's past issues with alcohol addiction and drugs were the central theme and there were times where it got uncomfortable as well. Last week, they faced off in a Bar Fight and it saw the return of The Willow version of Jeff Hardy as he defeated Sheamus.
Hardy came out on SmackDown and cut a great promo about how he's on the right path. As for Sheamus, he cut a promo backstage on SmackDown, indicating that he's done with Jeff Hardy - but not without taking shots at him and making excuses for his loss.
Just like that, the rivalry is over. We expected a SummerSlam trilogy clash, but it seems like WWE decided to move on - and we agree with that decision.
#2 Did the hashtag work?
Naomi has finally been getting the better of Lacey Evans on SmackDown. They faced off once again this week, but not before Lacey Evans took the time to mock the #NaomiDeservesBetter hashtag on social media.
They had a quick but solid match where Naomi managed to get one over her rival. While we're not sure whether it'll be the end of their feud or not, one thing seems to have worked - the hashtag. Whether it worked in terms of giving Naomi the win or simply giving her more screentime, we're not sure.
But since Naomi isn't in the title picture yet on SmackDown, a non-title feud with another top female star is the perfect spot to be in - especially when she's on the winning end of it. We feel that this should indirectly confirm the next title challenger and it seems to be high time that Naomi challenges for the SmackDown Women's Championship again.
She last lost the title at SummerSlam 2017 and it's been three years since that run. She deserves another crack at the title.
#1 That ending on SmackDown
This is one of those endings where it's so good and so shocking that you completely forget what happened right before that. The main event of SmackDown saw Nikki Cross challenge Bayley for the SmackDown Women's Championship in an Extreme Rules rematch.
The match was a standard Bayley title match, with the SmackDown Women's Champion retaining the title after beating Nikki Cross. Cross shoved Alexa Bliss in frustration and left. While that was just normal dissent between partners, it was what happened at the end that was the focal point of the whole show.
'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt came out and put the Mandible Claw on Alexa Bliss in an absolutely shocking end to SmackDown. The big question is - why Alexa Bliss?
Let's back up a little bit here. Remember how Alexa Bliss was featured as Sister Abigail in Braun Strowman's mind in the Swamp Fight at Extreme Rules? It was a flashback to Bliss and Strowman's time together in the Mixed Match Challenge - where the two teased a romantic angle.
In the opening segment of SmackDown, Bray Wyatt was in the Firefly Fun House and revealed that The Fiend won't stop until he gets what he wants. The search for Braun Strowman continues and this was likely a way to bring him back to TV and add more intensity to the feud.
Either way, it's a great way of adding interest and we can't wait to see how it all plays out when Braun Strowman returns!
One of Samoa Joe's colleagues had harsh words for him HERE
