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This week's SmackDown was a rather tight affair. It felt as complete as a show could get in these trying times. We got a solid A Moment of Bliss segment that rekindled Alexa Bliss' mixed tag team history with Braun Strowman.
In turn, we also saw the black sheep mask being planted that would remind us of The Monster Among Men's days as a Wyatt Family member. We would also get two new qualifiers for Money in the Bank ladder matches. Dana Brooke would beat Naomi while Daniel Bryan overcame Cesaro in a brilliant match.
The triple threat match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships would close the show. While the match was certainly entertaining, The New Day ending up as champions was a rather surprising decision.
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Like I've said already, SmackDown was a really good show this time around, so some of the opportunities that I will list may seem like nitpicking.
At the same time, there's always room for improvement in every show, so let's get into the same straightaway.
#5 Giving Elias a bigger push
Elias has been on the main roster since 2017 but has little to show for himself in all these years. Sure, he's a four-time 24/7 Champion, but that hardly does justice to the talent that The Drifter possesses.
Entering into his match against King Corbin at WrestleMania 36, Elias defied odds and picked up a huge win, despite having taken a huge fall from the podium at Performance Center on the SmackDown before 'Mania. Given how incredible he's been at evoking reactions out of audiences, this was the least that he deserved.
A win over one of the biggest heels should've propelled Elias onto better things. However, this week on SmackDown, he was laid out by King Corbin again. And as things appear, it seems as if Corbin is set to reclaim his honor by exacting revenge on Elias.
Not only does this halt The Drifter's much-needed push, but it also takes away from the credibility of one of the few popular faces on the Blue brand.
#4 Establishing a challenger for the Intercontinental Championship
It's been two weeks since WrestleMania, but we're yet to see Sami Zayn on SmackDown. At the same time, Zayn's friends from The Artist Collective, Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura, have been present and accounted for.
I can't stress how important it is to have all champions appear on shows in situations like these where WWE is losing viewership on its shows literally by the minute. However, since there hasn't been an update, we can't be sure as to the reasons behind Sami Zayn's absence. Who knows, it could be related to maintaining safety protocols?
At the same time, WWE shouldn't find it hard to book a new challenger for the Intercontinental title without Sami in attendance. The most simple way would've been to have Cesaro and Nakamura come out to the ring and gloat about The Artist Collective.
Thereafter we could have the prospective challenger coming out and complaining about Sami Zayn's absence to eventually spark a melee which would, in turn, finalize a title match.
WWE Creative can design much better storylines to set up a feud. All I am saying is that they should try to best to have all championships involved in the storyline and it's certainly possible to do so as far as the Intercontinental Championship is concerned.
#3 Better direction for the women's tag team division
It's no surprise that the women's tag team division has been an afterthought of sorts for Creative since the women's tag titles were officially announced in late 2018. Even as of now, Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross don't have any real threat to their championships.
The Kabuki Warriors were the only other credible team involved in the women's tag team scene for some time. Now, both Asuka and Kairi Sane seem to be primed for singles action again, with the former set to participate at Money in the Bank for the coveted briefcase.
So when it was officially confirmed that Carmella & Dana Brooke would be challenging for Alexa & Nikki's titles next week, there was some hope for the division. However, Brooke has now gone on to qualify for the Money in the Bank Ladder Match too, which more or less indicates the result we're going to get next week when the tag titles are on the line.
WWE has several Superstars who could slot into the women's tag division. However, with many of them out of commission due to the coronavirus outbreak, it would've been better if the company could've built Carmella & Dana Brooke as a credible team, for now at least.
#2 Avoiding monotony in the SmackDown tag team division
Big E pinned The Miz to reclaim the SmackDown Tag Team Championships for The New Day in a title change that certainly surprised many. There's no denying just how good The New Day are. Their popularity within the WWE Universe is what has made their gimmick stable over all these years.
At the same time, it just seems that we've seen enough of The New Day. The same can be said for The Usos who've been involved in the tag team scene in WWE since time immemorial. Nobody's denying the legacy of these two teams, but the SmackDown tag team division could certainly do with new pacesetters.
Miz & Morrison very much feel like a breath of fresh air. The Miz's mic skills makes up for incredible Miz TV segments and the duo's wrestling ability almost guarantees you a good match whenever they step inside a ring. Thus, it would've made much more sense to keep the titles on them for a while.
#1 Clearer storyline for Sasha Banks
Sasha Banks has been taking several hits over the last few weeks. She was literally knocked out by Lacey Evans with the Women's Right at WrestleMania and was laid out by Tamina this week on SmackDown, with The Sassy Southern Belle being involved as a distraction this time.
Now, as of last week, it felt like The Legit Boss was moving towards a situation where she would get tired of Bayley and turn on her, thereby challenging her for the SmackDown Women's Championship.
After the events of this week's SmackDown, however, it will be Tamina challenging for the title while Banks will tough it out in a Money in the Bank qualifier against Lacey Evans.
So where does Sasha go from here? Does she eventually win the Money in the Bank briefcase to challenge for a title? Does Tamina get involved to block her path again? For what it's worth, Evans did help her out this week so it only makes sense if she returns the favor.
In any case, where the whole storyline is headed is anybody's guess at this point which is a bummer because most fans want to see Sasha Banks finally getting a shot at her best friend's SmackDown Women's Championship.
