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This week’s SmackDown episode steamrolled to build towards WWE’s next pay-per-view, Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2019 ( WWE TLC 2019).
Last week, SmackDown teased a match between ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt and Daniel Bryan. However, after The Fiend attacked Bryan later in the night, the match was never officially announced.
Instead, the brand gave us another interesting twist to that rivalry this week which we will watch unfold at TLC 2019.
Apart from that, former RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss returned to the ring, while a huge Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Match set up the challengers to The New Day’s belts.
In this article, we will look at the 4 things that the company got right on SmackDown this week.
#4 Alexa Bliss’ return to the ring
Alexa Bliss’ return to television last week was met with a huge pop from the SmackDown crowd and the WWE Universe made it clear that they were missing the Superstar.
This week on the Blue brand, Bliss made her return to in-ring competition after some time away. This helped in laying rest to all rumors that Bliss was badly injured and may never compete again.
Bliss took on Mandy Rose in a match where she clearly played a babyface character this week. The Goddess had Nikki cross to support her outside the ring, and Cross took out Sonya Deville to ensure that the heels wouldn’t steal a victory.
The Goddess delivered the Twisted Bliss to God’s Greatest Creation for the victory, and it was the right call to make to announce Bliss’ return.
While it’s heartbreaking to watch Rose fall from SmackDown Women’s Championship contention to repeated losses, Bliss is the Superstar SmackDown needs to focus on for now.
With Bayley playing a heel at the top partnered with Sasha Banks, the brand must create an engaging storyline where Bliss and Cross can work together to take away Bayley’s SmackDown Women’s Championship.
#3 The King & The Big Dog
The main event of the night saw Roman Reigns take on Dolph Ziggler in a one-on-one match in the build-up to his rivalry with Baron Corbin.
During the match, we saw King Corbin head out to oversee the proceedings and was carried out on a throne to the stage by his security staff.
While Ziggler did well to try and pick up the victory, going as far as to deliver a ZigZag, a Superman Punch to Corbin followed by a Spear to Ziggler allowed The Big Dog to pick up the victory.
After the match, Corbin’s security team attacked Reigns and The Showoff handcuffed Reigns to the steel post. Corbin continued to beatdown Reigns and the two heels dumped dog food on The Big Dog.
While the segment wasn’t all that good, the idea behind the segment was pretty clear. Reigns now seem like a bigger, more sympathetic babyface, while Corbin is the most despicable man in the locker room.
The two men will battle at TLC 2019, and we can expect Reigns to overcome the odds at the event to pick up a huge victory and move on to another rivalry.
#2 The Miz’s intensity
It’s great to see SmackDown utilize three of their best mic-workers to give fans a storyline unlike any other.
‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt convincingly defeated Daniel Bryan at Survivor Series and called him out to play again last week. However, an attack by The Fiend on Bryan at the end of last week’s transmission seemed to have made Bryan disappear.
This week, The Miz announced that he would find Bryan and try to help him. Bray Wyatt appeared on the screen and mocked The Most Must-See WWE Superstar, challenging him to a match at TLC instead.
He showed a picture of the A-Lister’s family, effectively changing Miz’s mood completely. As The Miz headed to the back, he walked past a red room where he saw a photo of his family with Wyatt. Wyatt then appeared out of nowhere to deliver a Sister Abigail in his Firefly Fun House attire.
This was an epic segment that utilized The Miz’s excellent acting to perfection. He was able to show the concern that was required to sell the segment while coming out looking like a big star even after many recent loses.
Wyatt vs. Miz will be a treat to watch, especially with Miz’s concern for his family’s safety and the safety of his archrival Bryan on his mind.
What a way to shift focus from one former WWE Champion to another!
#1 The Revival’s revival
The Revival won the SmackDown Tag Team Championships while belonging to the RAW roster, but lost the titles a month after moving to SmackDown.
The New Day have had a good run with the SmackDown Tag Team Championships for almost a month, and they haven’t seen any real competition since winning the titles.
The Revival, on the other hand, were doing well during their run as Champions, and their partnership with Randy Orton seemed to be doing really well with the WWE Universe.
Now that the two men are back to battle on their own, they were made part of an elimination No.1 contender Fatal 4-Way along with Heavy Machinery, The Lucha House Party, and Mustafa Ali & Shorty G.
In the end, The Revival delivered the Shutter Machine to eliminate Ali and Shorty G and pick up the victory.
The match was the best of the night, and it gave fans something to look forward to. While many would argue that it’s time for Heavy Machinery to rise, the Championships need to be moved to the heels before the other babyfaces can take them up.
Building Ali and Shorty G as a threatening tag team was also a good decision.
