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From 'The Fiend' accepting Finn Balor's Summerslam challenge to Kevin Owens planting Shane McMahon with a stunner towards the end of the show, this week's edition of WWE SmackDown Live (23rd July 2019) featured a lot of contrasting moments.
It felt that the blue brand tried to include major main roster plot points as much as they could within two hours. With RAW Reunion taking a break from the show's weekly storytelling format, last night's episode of SmackDown Live covered some important feuds in an efficient manner.
Here are a few interesting observations from this week's edition of SmackDown Live:
#3 The show's ending drew parallels between Kevin Owens and Stone Cold Steve Austin during the same week
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A lot of fans had expected Kevin Owens and Stone Cold Steve Austin to form a temporary alliance for one night only during RAW Reunion.
Surprisingly, RAW Reunion ended with an actual reunion without there being any twists and turns to the segment.
As the legendary Stone Cold Steve Austin closed this week's RAW by proposing a toast to the show's achievements throughout WWE history, Kevin Owens was the one to deliver stunners on SmackDown Live last night.
Instead of celebrating the moment, Owens made a triumphant statement for the future.
In a way, it is no coincidence that both of these moments occurred towards the very end of RAW and SmackDown Live this week. While the red brand focused on celebrating the past and the present, the blue brand brought us back to things that should really matter to fans and wrestlers alike.
Moreover, it comes off as no surprise that Kevin Owens' current position in the company reminds us of Steve Austin's role during the late 90s. So instead of combining both of these forces, WWE drew parallels between the two on separate occasions during the same week.
See WWE Smackdown Results, Highlights of the event, & more on WWE Smackdown Results page
#2 Will Shawn Michaels get involved between The Miz and Dolph Ziggler's renewed rivalry?
Last night's Miz TV segment was quite memorable because of Shawn Michaels' charismatic presence.
More importantly, a war of words ensued between HBK and Dolph Ziggler soon after. It is no secret that people have constantly compared Ziggler to Shawn Michaels throughout the former's WWE career.
Those comparisons eventually led to their encounter last night, where Dolph successfully super-kicked the Heartbreak Kid in front of the entire audience.
What remains to be seen is whether or not Michaels decides to repay the favour to Dolph Ziggler in the future. Was this a set-up for an HBK-Ziggler matchup at a future WWE event?
We know that both Ziggler and The Miz have had a show-stealing feud in the past, and even though they don't need HBK's assistance here, we could certainly see The Miz and HBK tag-team against Ziggler and one other superstar in the future or the Heartbreak Kid being the special referee in a match between the aforementioned duo.
What do you think?
#1 Firefly Fun House Bray Wyatt and 'The Fiend' are two opposite ends of the same stick
Fans were in for a treat in an unexpected Firefly Fun House bit during last night's SmackDown Live episode.
Finn Balor came out to challenge 'The Fiend' for a match at SummerSlam 2019. For those who thought that Balor's split-personality gimmick was charismatically brooding to watch, Bray Wyatt took this concept to a whole new level by referring to The Fiend as some sort of entity.
As a matter of fact, the Firefly Fun House version of Bray Wyatt accepted Balor's challenge on The Fiend's behalf.
We know that Finn Balor uses the Demon to deal with the toughest opponents by channelling his inner darkness. But The Fiend is portrayed as a separate version of Bray Wyatt that acts independently of his other personalities.
That is what makes the mystique behind Bray Wyatt's new persona even more intriguing.
If Finn Balor shows up at WWE SummerSlam as his normal self, expect The Fiend to squash him immediately to put the rest of the roster on notice.
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