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From a chaotic opening to Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman's blockbuster main event, this week's edition of WWE SmackDown featured many contrasting moments.
Aside from the main event, this would have been a normal episode of the Blue brand if not for the excitement of post-Draft encounters and the hype behind SmackDown's new season premiere on FOX.
As a whole, it was still an enjoyable episode of SmackDown on the Road to WWE Hell in a Cell 2020.
Which show was better this week, RAW or SmackDown? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Here are the five biggest news stories from this week's episode of WWE SmackDown (October 16, 2020).
#5: Lars Sullivan dominated Superstars by crashing a brawl that broke out during Stephanie McMahon and Triple H's promo on WWE SmackDown
The season premiere edition of WWE SmackDown kicked-off with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon welcoming the virtual WWE Universe, as a bunch of Superstars were standing together on the ramp.
Soon after, the entire SmackDown locker room started brawling with each other, and The Freak, Lars Sullivan, crashed the party to make a dominant statement.
Jeff Hardy and Lars Sullivan's battle, which was scheduled for this episode of WWE SmackDown, took place right away.
Sullivan managed to win this bout, and judging by the way he's been booked so far, a big push might be in the works for this man.
Lars isn't exactly a fan-favorite both in and out of the ring at the moment, but officially dubbing him as The Freak in WWE despite his real-life controversies doesn't help either.
The best-case scenario would be to hope that Lars Sullivan moves forward and makes good use of his second chance to outgrow his controversial reputation.
#4: Bayley refused to sign the contract for her WWE Hell in a Cell match against Sasha Banks
Sasha Banks and Bayley's long-term storyline has resulted in a match inside WWE's hellacious cell structure at the aforementioned Pay-Per-View. At least that is supposed to be the plan, but Bayley introduced a last-minute twist in her feud with Sasha by not signing the contract to make their Hell in a Cell match official.
Banks signed the contract first and cut a promo highlighting how she stuck by Bayley's side from NXT to the main roster, that is until Bayley changed their equation by turning against her.
It was previously established that either Bayley or Sasha could have turned on each other at any given moment, so Sasha saying that she had good intentions for her friendship with Bayley on last night's WWE SmackDown was a bit odd.
Apart from that, it will be interesting to see when and how exactly Bayley will sign the contract. In recent memory, Roman Reigns manipulated the circumstances of a Triple Threat Match contract to become the new WWE Universal Champion, perhaps Bayley could have a similar trick planned for Hell in a Cell.
#3: Seth Rollins interrupted a returning Daniel Bryan; Murphy re-ignited his feud with The Messiah on WWE SmackDown
The Monday Night Messiah has shifted his focus to becoming WWE SmackDown's Savior. Unfortunately, that plan didn't work out the way he wanted it to on the Blue brand's season premiere episode.
Daniel Bryan returned and cut a promo saying he was excited to face some of SmackDown's latest recruits from the WWE Draft. Rollins interrupted and asked Bryan if he was on the Messiah's side or not. Both men weren't on the same page, and a brawl erupted between them as a result.
Before Rollins could flee the scene, Rey and Dominik Mysterio arrived to trap him inside the ring. Murphy entered the scene as well, and he was the one who eventually proceeded to beat up the Messiah.
Even though Murphy offered to become allies with Rey and Dominik, The Mysterios weren't too keen on accepting Murphy as a good guy.
The Mysterio Family and Murphy's rivalry against Seth Rollins is far from over. Still, the tease of a potential Rollins vs. Bryan feud in the future seems like an exciting proposition for the WWE Universe.
#2: The New Day members bid farewell to each other in an emotional moment on WWE SmackDown
With Kofi and Xavier Woods being drafted to WWE RAW, last night's SmackDown marked their farewell match on the Blue brand alongside Big E.
The New Day trio faced Sheamus, Cesaro, and Shinsuke Nakamura in a six-man tag team match. The former team emerged victorious, as expected.
Before the bout could begin, Kofi and Xavier got emotional while cutting a promo inside the squared circle. Both of them weren't exactly at the highest point in their careers just before The New Day was formed, so it was hard to let go of the trio's bond after the 2020 Draft.
After the match, all three men embraced each other, and Big E said some thankful words to his teammates.
Even though it's not great to see The New Day being split apart under these circumstances, Big E will be getting a solo push on WWE SmackDown sooner rather than later. On the other hand, Kofi and Xavier are the top tag team champions over on WWE RAW.
As a whole, WWE fans got to witness one of the most genuine pro wrestling moments between three of the closest comrades in 2020.
#1: Roman Reigns forced Braun Strowman to submit with a new finishing move on WWE SmackDown
"This is how we eat. If I'm not on top, we don't do this. If I can do this to him [Strowman], imagine what I can do to you." Roman Reigns to Jey Uso.
Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman's highly publicized WWE SmackDown main event saw The Tribal Chief surprisingly being in control against The Monster Among Men, for the most part.
This became evident when Reigns successfully tapped out Strowman via a Guillotine choke, which is a great addition to his move-set as a heel.
After the match, another well-done confrontation between Jey Uso and Roman Reigns took place. Reigns turned his back and gave his own cousin the opportunity to hit him with a steel chair before Hell in a Cell. Jey refused and attacked him face-to-face instead.
The referees tried to break this up, which gave The Tribal Chief an opening to hit a Superman Punch on his cousin.
The season premiere of WWE SmackDown ended with Roman Reigns establishing his dominance over both Strowman and Uso.
Braun Strowman was used as a secondary plot device here. But it's important to note that Strowman's fall occurred in the context of SmackDown's best storyline at the moment, so it doesn't feel like a disservice was done to The Monster Among Men's creative path on WWE RAW.
By the way, Goldberg was watching the main event via a screen at the ThunderDome. The WWE Hall of Famer is contracted with the company until 2022-23. It's likely that upon returning, Goldberg may renew his feud with Roman Reigns that was supposed to culminate in a match at WrestleMania 36.
