5 Things WWE got right on SmackDown this week (March 20, 2020)

Just a few weeks to go until WrestleMania, and the company is bringing the best they can out of the current situation by dishing out episodes from the Performance Center.

This week’s show introduced Rob Gronkowski to the WWE Universe as he will be hosting this year’s two-night WrestleMania event. Roman Reigns and Universal Champion Goldberg took part in a contract signing, while Paige was appeared to confront Bayley and Sasha Banks.

Apart from that, we were treated to two fine tag team matches, which was a fine surprise considering the lack of wrestling on NXT this past Wednesday.

In this article, we will look at the 5 things WWE got right on this week’s SmackDown on the Road to WrestleMania.

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#5 Made the best use of available resources

This week’s show kicked off at the Performance Center with Michael Cole and Mojo Rawley introducing Rob Gronkowski to the WWE Universe. As we all know, Gronk will be the host of WrestleMania 36.

Rawley built hype around the big man’s arrival while reminding fans that he was, in fact, his best friend. Rawley also claimed that he was there to watch Gronk’s back as he knew that WWE is full of people who’d like to steal the spotlight.

Speaking of stealing the spotlight, that is exactly what happened as King Corbin walked out to interrupt Rawley and Gronk. After Corbin was nearly done talking, Elias interrupted and sang a song about Gronk fighting Corbin. Rawley and Gronk then worked together to trip Corbin and Elias tossed him out of the ring before the former New England Patriot pitched the idea of having a match between The Drifter and The Lone Wolf at WrestleMania 36.

The night kept ticking and even without Paige available in person, she was able to make the big announcement for the SmackDown’s Women’s Championship match this week. We got two good tag team matches too, while The Miz and John Morrison did a great job at getting more heat while poking fun at all the other tag teams.

Dolph Ziggler’s role during the night was limited but phenomenal, and overall WWE took all the talent available and used them well to deliver a strong episode under current circumstances.

#4 The contract signing

The match between Goldberg and Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship will likely main-event WrestleMania, and we aren’t complaining, at least for now.

This week, the masters of the Spear met in the middle of the ring for their contract signing. Michael Cole was there to moderate the situation and ask the competitors a few questions.

Reigns seemed confident, like always, and stated that every single Superstar wants to face him and he has defeated them all. He was sure that Goldberg would be next.

Goldberg didn’t take the younger Superstar’s words too lightly and threw around some insults himself, leading to a war of words between the two men.

The highlight for me was Goldberg stating that he’d been headbutting doors for years and that Reigns would feel the same. The two men finally signed the contract and ended the segment with a staredown rather than the usual brawl we’re used to seeing during contract signing segments.

This was, once again, a good segment considering the resources the company had at hand. The fact that there is no crowd in attendance will result in every single segment falling apart at the end as the Superstars get nothing to play off. Reigns and Goldberg aren’t the finest mic workers in the company, but they did just enough to make this match feel grander than it probably will be.

#3 Daniel Bryan and Drew Gulak's chemistry

Last week on SmackDown, Daniel Bryan and Cesaro had a good match before the action ended prematurely. The result saw a three-on-two beatdown which led to a tag team match on this week’s show.

Bryan and Drew Gulak partnered to take on Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura inside the squared circle. Bryan and Nakamura kicked off the action and then all four men kept tagging in and out to keep the ball rolling.

The talent in the ring was phenomenal and even without a crowd present, they did extremely well to keep the pace of the match and the energy high.

Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn’s team took control of the match later on and isolated Bryan for some time before he and Gulak were able to make a comeback.

The Yes Man delivered a Sunset Flip on Cesaro to pick up the pinfall victory. While the outcome was largely predictable, other than a disqualification due to Zayn’s interference, this was a great match with four of the finest wrestlers in the world.

What made things more interesting was how Gulak has progressed to become a top player, competing with the likes of Bryan, Cesaro, and Nakamura after being in a rivalry with Braun Strowman and falling down the ranks.

This will likely result in a match between Zayn and Bryan for the Intercontinental title, followed by a betrayal from Gulak.

#2 Paige’s big announcement

Last year, after Bayley turned heel with Sasha Banks by her side, almost every single fan was aware of the path WWE was thinking of taking on the Road to WrestleMania.

Rumors suggested that WWE was planning a big SmackDown Women’s Championship match between Bayley and Sasha Banks at WrestleMania 36. However, current circumstances seemed to have hurt the plans, and instead, Paige was handed the big job of revealing Bayley’s status for WrestleMania.

Paige joined the segment via video link and had a confrontation with the SmackDown Women’s Champion. After some talking, Paige revealed that Bayley won’t just face one woman at the Show of Shows, but take on five other women in a Six-Pack Championship match.

Bayley’s challengers were revealed to be Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans, Naomi, Tamina, and none other than Sasha Banks.

This was a good decision considering that the outcome of the match could influence how these two best friends will continue and could likely lead to a rivalry between them prior to SummerSlam, leading to a big match at the event.

#1 Otis’ rage

SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Miz and John Morrison hosted another episode of The Dirt Sheets. The two men mocked the fans of the other top tag teams of SmackDown by showing pre-recorded clips. Dressed up as the Superstars and fans of The Usos, The New Day, and Heavy Machinery, the heels tried to make things as entertaining as possible.

The two men then took on Heavy Machinery in a non-title tag team match. The bout saw Otis and Tucker use their size to dominate the Tag Team Champions and show why they deserve to take the title away from them.

Once Tucker was down and desperate to make a tag to Otis, Dolph Ziggler’s music hit and The Show Off arrived to distract Otis. He went on to interrupt the match to show Otis some pictures of himself and Mandy Rose, drawing the rage of The Gentle Giant.

He tried to attack Ziggler and grabbed a steel chair to beat him down but Miz and Morrison pulled the chair from the big man's hands and tried to beat him down themselves. They fell prey to the big man's rage as Otis started to thrash Miz and Morrison against a barricade.

Ziggler watched from the ramp as Otis ran Miz and s on the heels to draw a disqualification and end the match.

WWE is doing a good job with Otis and Rose’s story, and it will be interesting to see where they are heading with the tag teams of the division and the titles. Will Otis get a singles match against Ziggler at WrestleMania, or will he need to wait a little longer?