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Welcome to this week's edition of things WWE subtly told us on SmackDown! It was an interesting episode with a great way to end the show. From new title contenders to returns and furthering of multiple storylines, it was a packed episode that went by rather quickly.
Of course, the big news coming into the SmackDown show was the debut of Matt Riddle and we'll be talking about that later on in this article.
#6 Just the beginning of the main story on SmackDown
Bray Wyatt "ended his silence" on SmackDown as the Firefly Fun House would make its big return for the first time in over a month. The last time we saw Bray Wyatt, he was "himself" at Money in the Bank 2020, losing to Braun Strowman in the Universal Championship match.
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Of course, right after this, he would return home to welcome the birth of his second child with Jojo Offerman, but a return to the title picture was always expected. When he lost to Strowman at Money in the Bank, the camera panned over his face, showing an angry reaction and hinting at the return of The Fiend.
While Wyatt unsurprisingly returned to the title picture on SmackDown, what unfolded in the final segment of the night was something we certainly didn't expect. The past has played a big role in his feud against Braun Strowman, but we didn't anticipate that he would possibly return as 'The Eater of Worlds'. While this could simply be a one-off, we wouldn't be surprised to see 'The Eater of Worlds' Bray Wyatt return to face Braun Strowman at WWE Extreme Rules 2020.
We can't be sure if there's going to be a title change or not, but Bray Wyatt was right about one thing - this is just the beginning. We could even see a scenario where the title changes hands at Extreme Rules, possibly setting up a trilogy match for SummerSlam where Bray Wyatt officially returns as 'The Fiend'.
It's been sometime since we've seen 'The Fiend' and even at WrestleMania 36, the role of that side of his character wasn't as big as we first thought. Either way, it's not a bad way to protect Strowman and keep The Fiend special.
WWE has done well over the last year to make sure that Bray Wyatt and The Fiend character hasn't been overexposed in any way - both on RAW and SmackDown.
#5 A big return to the title picture
This is an interesting one. SmackDown Tag Team Champions, The New Day, had a fun match against The Lucha House Party. It was a friendly competitive rivalry but it ended with the interference of Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro.
It's been a long time coming, as Nakamura and Cesaro have only been involved in the Intercontinental Championship picture until Sami Zayn vacated it. Nakamura was a singles competitor for the longest time but the focus went from him to Sami Zayn.
Since Zayn isn't around (and likely won't be for a while), it makes sense that WWE wanted to keep Cesaro and Nakamura together as a team. Now, the SmackDown tag team division has one more team with two big names.
Cesaro is a multi-time Tag Team Champion on both brands and is finally back in the tag team title picture for the first time since WrestleMania 35 over a year ago. It's always good to see him contest for a title and we're looking forward to seeing him potentially become a SmackDown Tag Team Champion again.
#4 What's the Rose-Deville story?
We're finally beginning to see some major character development in this feud on SmackDown. While the break-up has benefited Sonya Deville more in terms of her singles push, Mandy Rose has had the spotlight as well, getting regular TV time.
As it turns out, the rivalry between Fire and Desire isn't over just yet. Mandy Rose joined The Miz and John Morrison as a guest on Miz TV and to nobody's surprise, they instigated the entire scene.
Sonya Deville was unofficially invited to Miz TV on SmackDown and came out with a new look. It was a great bit of promo work by her and The Miz and John Morrison stood aside while laughing and knowing what was going to unfold. The night ended with Rose standing tall and a smack on the face for The Miz.
We anticipate that they're going to have a big payoff match soon - hopefully with a stipulation at WWE Extreme Rules 2020. In all likeliness, Deville will be the one to win that contest since she's getting a lot of focus now on SmackDown.
#3 Shorty G rolls on
Mojo Rawley was yet another superstar who thought that it was ok making fun of Shorty G with jokes about his height on SmackDown. Shorty G had a good segment backstage on SmackDown where he spoke about having eyes on the back of his head, while Rawley was behind him.
He ended up smacking Rawley in the face before their match and unsurprisingly, he beat him in a solid effort. What was interesting was how Michael Cole referred to it as an "upset", while Corey Graves shut that down and praised Shorty G for being a solid competitor on SmackDown.
We're happy to see that he's getting consistent TV time for the first time in years and hopefully, it leads to him finally getting the push that he deserves. While he's unlikely to be the hacker, the best thing that WWE can do is constantly allow him to prove himself. It's the perfect time to experiment with pushing different superstars and Shorty G/Chad Gable can be one of the most important names in the company if he continues at a consistent rate.
#2 A possible return to an old gimmick and the furthering of a story
We may have seen small traces of the old "SAnitY" Nikki Cross. While the former NXT faction has been long forgotten, SmackDown Superstar Cross is still very much in the Tag Team title picture after losing the championships to Sasha Banks and Bayley.
The Boss N' Hug Connection first made their presence known on SmackDown on the commentary booth, with Bayley threatening to take Michael Cole's job on the desk. They were out for The New Day-Lucha House Party match. Backstage on SmackDown, Alexa Bliss was hanging out with an old rival in Naomi along with other women on the roster, including Dana Brooke, Tamina, and more. She asked where Nikki Cross was and found out only later when her tag team partner went to assault Banks and Bayley on the SmackDown commentary desk.
While she was stopped by Bliss, SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley ended up throwing Sasha Banks under the bus by putting her in a match with Cross. Luckily, Banks ended up with the win.
#1 AJ Styles' next big feud
If AJ Styles is the face that runs the place, then Matt Riddle is the "Bro that runs the show". Riddle's SmackDown debut was expected and while some speculated a feud against AJ Styles, this seems to be the case.
AJ Styles was having his Championship celebration on SmackDown and Daniel Bryan was classy about it, going as far as putting the title on The Phenomenal One himself. However, The King of Bros, Matt Riddle, would make his debut known and it would lead to a non-title match against AJ Styles.
Similar to Styles vs Gulak last week, The Phenomenal One ended up losing, setting up a title shot for the future. However, Styles has another task in hand - to face Drew Gulak next week on SmackDown.
While we expect Styles to win, the big money feud to get to is AJ Styles vs Matt Riddle. That would be a great way to introduce him on Friday Night SmackDown and it would be incredible if Styles put him over.
Either way, Riddle should be the long-term plan, so he doesn't need to beat AJ Styles for the Intercontinental Championship.
Ex WWE writer blasts Liv Morgan HERE
