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SmackDown transitioned on to the FOX Network and the night kicked off in a grand way on Friday as Becky Lynch was the first Superstar to take to SmackDown’s newest stage.
After being interrupted by King Corbin, we saw The Rock come in and stack up the odds against the heels. Sportskeeda’s Tom Colohue had already reported that The Rock wanted to work with Becky Lynch, and that is exactly what he got because “it doesn’t matter what you think.”
After The Rock and Becky cleared the ring off King Corbin, the fans got the first match of the night which was an all-female match involving four of WWE’s biggest Superstars. As Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, and Bayley got the honors of opening up Friday Night SmackDown, fans couldn’t contain their excitement and took to social media to express their feelings.
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In this article, we will take a look at the 5 factors that may have prompted WWE to open the night's action with the Four Horsewomen.
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#1 The Rock’s will to work with Becky Lynch
Opening the show with a promo has become a norm in WWE over the years. We usually see a top Superstar take to the ring early on in the night to cut a promo which usually sets up a match for later on in the night or the main event.
However, this week's opening segment saw none of than Becky Lynch open up the night after a short address from Vince and Stephanie McMahon. It wasn’t long before King Corbin interrupted The Man of WWE and the two were at it before The Rock made his way out to the middle.
His arrival startled the fans and he immediately got the biggest pop of the night which surely woke up the entire WWE Universe. This was a huge segment that put Becky Lynch way over and established her as one of the top Superstars in the industry today.
Booking the tag team match between Becky & Charlotte and Sasha & Bayley right after allowed WWE to keep the fans invested in the action and the storyline, and kept Becky on top for most of the action.
It also allowed the women to dominate the opening part of the broadcast before the men took over later on, giving the fans even more memorable spots during the night.
#2 The need to crush critics
The women’s revolution took its sweet time, but has taken over WWE in the past year or so. This was made evident by WWE’s first all-female pay-per-view last year called WWE Evolution, and this year’s WrestleMania being main-evented by three top women.
While all that is extremely important for the WWE and has shown that the company is ready to give women equal chances, the emergence of the opportunities Saudi Arabia has provided WWE has constantly pulled criticism towards the company.
Since all Saudi Arabian shows have been stacked with male talent, WWE needs to keep reminding fans that they are as invested in the female talent as they are in the male talent.
With another pay-per-view in the Kingdom coming up at the end of the month, it was the right thing for the company to do to open the night with four top female Superstars and hush the critics even before they emerged.
While Becky Lynch and Charlotte have become WWE’s biggest Superstars, the company still comes under criticism that they do not handle their female talent equally. Therefore, such spots and matches remind the fans that the company is now doing everything it can to provide equal opportunities to women and keep them in the spotlight.
#3 Lack of Hell in a Cell match announcements
One of the biggest complains WWE fans have had this week is that the company hasn’t built towards its next pay-per-view well enough. Hell in a Cell is scheduled for October 6, and the company had only announced three matches before SmackDown began this Friday. One of the three matches was announced well in advance, even before Clash of Champions took place.
Before SmackDown started, fans were only aware of the RAW Women’s Championship match, while the SmackDown Women’s Championship match hadn’t been announced. After Charlotte applied her signature Figure Eight maneuver to Bayley and made her tap out, fans were finally ready for the big announcement.
Soon after the match, WWE announced that Bayley will defend her SmackDown Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair at the event on Sunday. This announcement took the number of matches announced for the event up to four, and finally gave fans and the company something to talk about before the event. With only the Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan and Luke Harper tag team match set from the blue brand for the event from the men’s side, this match is the only championship match announced from SmackDown.
#4 The only women’s match needed to leave a huge impact
There were some big matches and even bigger moments, throughout the night on the Season Premiere of SmackDown.
Universal Champion Seth Rollins took on Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura in a one-on-one match which was interrupted by none-other-than The Fiend himself. Other than that, 8 men competed in a tag team match which saw Braun Strowman come face to face with former Boxing Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury who was seated at ringside.
One of the best moments of the night saw Brock Lesnar end Kofi Kingston’s dream run as WWE Champion in under ten seconds, but face his biggest nightmare only moments after his match.
Shane McMahon too lost his job as Kevin Owens climbed the ladder to retrieve the briefcase which allowed him to “Fire” Shane in the process.
With such a stacked card with so many memorable spots, it would have been difficult to fit in the women’s match and make it as big a talking point. Therefore, having it open the night was the right thing to do as it allowed the women time to perform and also get the social media going before the other segments and matches played out.
#5 To make The Four Horsewomen even more well known
Minutes into the broadcast, we had Becky Lynch, Baron Corbin and The Rock in the center of the ring, and WWE showing that #SmackDown was the Number 1 trending hashtag on Twitter worldwide. That is exactly the power WWE and FOX have over the world of sports entertainment, and all the Superstars involved in the segment must have gotten a lot of social media boost during this time.
Following the segment with the Four Horsewomen allowed WWE to continue keeping the most well-known female wrestling faction in the eyes of the public as well as the social media.
Even The Rock’s fans following the action with little knowledge about wrestling would have been introduced to Becky Lynch and the Four Horsewomen right afterward. All this attention would have worked in favor of Sasha, Bayley, Becky, and Charlotte.
Keeping that in mind, fans have been expecting the company to do something big involving the Four Horsewomen of WWE and the Four Horsewomen of UFC for some time now.
Making the Four Horsewomen of WWE the talking point would have been the correct thing to do if WWE plans to have a huge segment or match down the line involving either four, or eight of these women.
