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Welcome to this week's edition of 'Things WWE subtly told us on SmackDown'. The latest episode was the penultimate one heading into WrestleMania, but this year feels all too different. It isn't just the empty crowds, but the way the circumstances have forced WWE into making some drastic changes for the WrestleMania 36 card.
The big news yesterday was that Roman Reigns was out of his match with Goldberg at WrestleMania 36 and as we know, the episodes were pre-taped. This may have led to a bit of confusion for viewers watching, but we'll break down some of those aspects for you to understand.
Apart from that and the unnecessary replay of Triple H vs Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 32, the show featured some solid matches and good segments and would otherwise be regarded as a decent episode of the show. Let's not drag it any further and jump right into it.
#8 Does a major twist await?
Otis and Dolph Ziggler had yet another tense moment backstage, with an agent/producer being forced to hold back Otis. In the verbal altercation, the two agreed to a match at WrestleMania 36, but what caught our eye was the segment where Ziggler was having a private word with Sonya DeVille - Mandy Rose's tag team partner.
They spoke about how "everything is falling into place" before Rose appeared and took Ziggler aside. She asked him if he thought it was necessary to rub it into Otis last week by showing him pictures of them together and Ziggler agreed that he went too far.
While Rose had no problem with the WrestleMania match, she didn't want to be fought over like she was some prize. We expect a major twist next week with DeVille, Ziggler, and perhaps even Robert Roode turning on Mandy Rose - aligning her with Heavy Machinery.
#7 The confusion with the main event
We hate to be the ones to address this, but with a big rumor being broken by Dave Meltzer on the Wrestling Observer Radio, the entire purpose of SmackDown's main event has been questioned.
The Usos and The New Day temporarily relived their old rivalry in a No. 1 Contender's match to face The Miz & John Morrison at WrestleMania 36. However, after Miz and Morrison got involved and attacked The New Day, it meant that a Triple Threat was due.
Michael Cole was immediately informed by WWE officials that due to the circumstances of the match, The Miz & Morrison would defend the SmackDown Tag Team titles at WrestleMania 36 against both The New Day and The Usos in a Triple Threat ladder match.
Meltzer confirmed on WOR that The Miz is out and that the match won't happen
It had to do, in some form with Miz being sick and The Usos not being happy about it and I don't really know much else. That's really all I was told.
This renders the entire main event pointless. But there's a reason that WWE went through with that anyway.
#6 More confusion over WWE advertising Roman Reigns vs Goldberg
This technically happened before, so this was the first confusing bit. It's no secret now that Roman Reigns is out of his match at WrestleMania 36 against Goldberg, with the scare of Coronavirus potentially damaging him due to his pre-existing health conditions.
We understand that this was likely taped before Reigns and WWE made the official decision, which meant that WWE would have to edit it out of the show - except they didn't. They aired it like a regular episode of SmackDown and as though the match is happening when that doesn't seem to be the case.
We've heard rumblings about who replaced Roman Reigns, but we're not going to mention anything since we don't want to spoil any possible WrestleMania surprise here. Either way, WWE even had a segment where Triple H spoke about Reigns vs Goldberg, having been one of the rare few to face them both.
Ultimately, it was a WWE production nightmare and for all intents and purposes, they decided to keep the Reigns-Goldberg parts in the show, perhaps to throw people off.
#5 Did Alexa Bliss earn a title shot for her team?
We enjoyed this match more than we did the main event. It's a bit surprising considering that The New Day and The Usos can have great matches against each other with their eyes closed, but Alexa Bliss and Asuka turned out to be two opponents who have surprisingly good chemistry together in the ring.
Alexa Bliss has never been a Superstar to focus too heavily on her in-ring work, particularly when she was a heel. There's nothing wrong with that because she made up for it in the character-front and admitted that she was holding back from doing anything too flashy.
She faced one-half of the Women's Tag Team Champions Asuka and the Japanese Champion would give Bliss one of the better matches of her career. It's matches like these that make you realize that there's the potential for a bigger match down the line. Alexa Bliss defeated Asuka and has likely earned a title shot at WrestleMania 36, where we expect her and Nikki Cross to win it back.
#4 WWE trying something different with the camera angles
The rumors this WrestleMania season has held a different kind of weight to them as compared to previous years, but there have been some good things to come out of it. With the empty arena shows and two-day WrestleMania, we genuinely believe that this is going to be a vital learning lesson for WWE in the long run.
They're now free to experiment with all sorts of different creative aspects of programming and there was a rumor that WWE will be trying more of the "Hollywood style" shots for episodes of RAW, SmackDown, and perhaps even WrestleMania 36.
We saw an example of this in the Elias-King Corbin segment. Elias was singing on top of a set, only for Corbin to come and attack him and push him off the platform. The angle made it look fantastic and it essentially confirmed the above rumor to be true.
We're glad to see WWE making the most use of the situation as they could come out fresh once the crowds start to come in again.
Also read: 5 major ways WWE can benefit from the empty arena shows at WrestleMania 36
#3 Sami Zayn vs Daniel Bryan and how it benefits Drew Gulak
Drew Gulak had to face former Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura this week, with the stipulation being that if Gulak beat Nakamura, Daniel Bryan would be guaranteed an Intercontinental title match at WrestleMania 36.
As expected, that's what happened and we'll now be getting Daniel Bryan vs Sami Zayn for the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania 36. In any other circumstance, that match is quite surreal, but the silver lining is that Drew Gulak is benefiting now more than ever.
It's even bigger than when he was WWE Cruiserweight Champion. It's clear that this is an alliance that Daniel Bryan personally pushed for and he's using his role in WWE now to help others as much as possible.
Had it not been for Daniel Bryan, there likely would have been no KofiMania last year and if this current alliance works, it could mean a huge push for Gulak. Also, we're glad that WWE decided to have Bryan help Gulak in order to protect Shinsuke Nakamura.
#2 The dark horse of the match?
The SmackDown Women's Championship match at WrestleMania 36 was supposed to be a six-pack challenge, but Dana Brooke was forced to pull out and she was put in quarantine - the same boat as Rey Mysterio.
What fans need to understand is that WWE gave the superstars a choice as to whether they want to be a part of WrestleMania 36 or not and that's likely why Carmella isn't participating and also why Corey Graves wasn't on commentary.
Either decision must be respected, but in the opening segment of SmackDown, the biggest dark horse of the Women's match was revealed - Tamina.
That's right, the woman who has never gotten a serious push before looked great - perhaps the best she has in years and stood tall after attacking the other two title challengers - Lacey Evans and Naomi.
Sasha Banks and Bayley got away, but more dissent was teased. However, Tamina could be the dark horse of her match.
#1 The Firefly Funhouse match
There are now two stipulation matches at WrestleMania 36 that we've never heard of. The first one is a 'Boneyard' match between The Undertaker and AJ Styles, while the second is a 'Firefly Fun House' match against John Cena.
If you immediately thought of the 'House of Horrors' match in 2017, it's time to forget about that. The circumstances were different and that stipulation was never going to get over. But Wyatt has done a great job of keeping the Firefly Fun House relevant and the only other Superstar who has entered it is Seth Rollins - though no explanation was given as to how he got there or how he exited or what happened when he left.
It was a great episode of Firefly Fun House, diving further deep into the psychotic personality of Bray Wyatt. The execution was done to perfection and it led to Wyatt inviting Cena to the Fun House for a match.
Expect something very different. It's going to be an outstandingly unique concept.
