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With WWE Hell in a Cell just a couple of days away, it was up to SmackDown to deliver a solid episode to kick up the hype around the event. Only four matches had been announced for Hell in a Cell before SmackDown kicked off, and fans were hoping to see at least one or two more matches make it to the card during this week’s show.
Sasha Banks managed to hunt down Bayley and trap her in The Banks Statement to force her to sign SmackDown Women’s Championship match contract. This ensured that their match was made official and fans can now look forward to the former best friends battling it out inside the Cell.
A big eight-man tag team match took place on this week's SmackDown, while we saw Otis and The Miz have an interesting segment which led to a match between them for WWE Hell in a Cell. Seth Rollins and Murphy had a match during the night, while Roman Reigns put down the final condition for his match against Jey Uso for the WWE Universal Championship.
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In this article, we will look at the five things WWE got right on the final episode of SmackDown before Hell in a Cell.
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#5 Otis and The Miz get a match for Hell in a Cell on WWE SmackDown
Law and Otis took over this week’s WWE SmackDown as Mr. Money in the Bank looked to defend himself in a case with The Miz. The first segment saw Ron Simmons act as the bailiff and JBL was revealed as the judge. This set the tone for what fans could expect from the rest of the night.
In the second segment, Asuka, Rey Mysterio, and Tucker gave their testimonies while we also saw Teddy Long make a cameo as the court reporter.
Finally, JBL was ready to give his verdict. He revealed that Otis had done nothing wrong and was about to rule in his favor before The Miz claimed that he had one last piece of evidence.
He passed on a briefcase filled with money to JBL who immediately ruled the case in his favor. Otis will now have to defend his Money in the Bank contract against The Miz at Hell in a Cell.
This has been brewing for some time and we could see Otis lose the Money in the Bank contract at Hell in a Cell. It doesn’t seem like he’d be the one to dethrone Roman Reigns as the Universal Champion, and The Miz could benefit from the Money in the Bank contract instead.
#4 Bianca Belair finally gets a chance to make an impact on WWE SmackDown
The FastEST, SmartEST, and StrongEST competitor in all of WWE got an opportunity to compete in the SmackDown ring for the first time since the Draft. Bianca Belair’s last singles match outside WWE Main Event had come on an episode of RAW on August 3rd against Zelina Vega.
This week, she competed against Vega once again and looked to leave a mark on the Blue brand. Vega slapped Belair across the face early in the match, and this prompted The EST of WWE to get even more aggressive.
Belair performed some impressive moves against her smaller opponent and hit a great standing moonsault to make a point. Vega tried to make a comeback in the match with a few kicks and a hurricanrana but Belair took her down once again.
The EST showed her power by deadlifting Vega and dropping her on the top turnbuckle before finally hitting the KOD for the victory.
This was a fun match that allowed Belair to shine. It seems like WWE is holding back Belair a little bit to not have her reach the SmackDown Women’s Championship picture too soon, especially with the Bayley and Sasha Banks rivalry going on. However, we will likely see her reach that spot by early next year.
#3 Kevin Owens and Daniel Bryan tease forming a tag team on WWE SmackDown
Kevin Owens kicked off this week’s WWE SmackDown with another episode of the KO Show. He made a joke about the WWE Draft before introducing Daniel Bryan as his guest for the night.
The two men spoke about how they were looking forward to facing each other again and KO asked Bryan what he was looking forward to the most on SmackDown. Bryan revealed that he was most interested in watching the young talent showcase their skills on the Blue brand. He also wanted to see the WWE Intercontinental Champion defend his title every week on the show.
KO then revealed that he wanted to speak to The Planet’s Champion about the tag titles. He mentioned that he had never been the tag team champion in WWE, and Bryan said it’s because Owens loves to betray his friends.
Soon after, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode made their way out to talk some trash before SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Street Profits arrived. Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura also came out to show-off SmackDown’s tag team division strength before an eight-man tag team match got underway.
All eight men had some high moments during the match following which Montez Ford hit a big frog splash to pick up the victory for the babyface team.
This was a decent opening segment that teased a possible partnership between KO and Bryan. Both men seem to be without a rivalry at the moment, and it could be good to have them go on a tag team run before one turns on the other.
#2 Seth Rollins tries to do more damage to Murphy on WWE SmackDown
Before the match, Seth Rollins spoke about how much fun he would have while beating up Murphy once again. The match got started, and the two SmackDown Superstars fought for control from the get-go.
Rollins decided to have some fun and kept calling Murphy a disciple before Murphy grabbed his arm and turned it into an armbar. The Juggernaut was much more focused and determined in this match, and he continued to try and stay over the former Universal Champion.
Backstage, Aalyah was shown to be watching Murphy’s match against The Messiah, and Rey and Dominik Mysterio did not seem too happy with her choice.
Murphy brought back some of his 205 Live flair as he started to hit Rollins with some big high-flying moves and started to take control of the match. After a buckle bomb and some more strikes, The Messiah was able to defeat his former disciple with The Stomp.
The punishment for Murphy was still not over, and Aalyah tried to get Rey and Dominik to help The Juggernaut out in the ring. She went to the ring herself and pleaded with Rollins to stop beating Murphy up with a kendo stick.
Dominik Mysterio eventually came out but Rollins laid him out. Rey Mysterio was forced to come out with a steel chair to make the save.
This was a great match for Murphy who finally performed up to his potential against one of WWE’s best wrestlers. SmackDown needed some big matches this week, and both these men delivered.
The storyline between Aalyah and Murphy just keeps getting more and more interesting, and it will be worth seeing whether The Saviour of SmackDown has something up his sleeve for both of them.
#1 The Usos use their twin magic on Roman Reigns during WWE SmackDown
The final segment of WWE SmackDown had to be impactful with Hell in a Cell at the door, and the creatives decided to let Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman take charge.
The two men walked down to the ring, but before they could talk, Jimmy Uso provided a distraction by appearing in Reigns’ special suite on the big screen. He revealed himself and Jey Uso attacked Reigns from behind.
Jey Uso grabbed a steel chair but took a big boot from The Tribal Chief for his trouble. However, Jey Uso was all fired up and hit Reigns with a Superkick and followed it up with a Superfly Splash.
Jimmy Uso joined his brother in the ring but Reigns quickly recovered and grabbed a mic to address the WWE Universe. He told the brothers that if Jey Uso lost at Hell in a Cell then he’d have to acknowledge him as his Tribal Chief and fall in line or both Usos are out of the Anoa'i family.
This was a very good segment to end SmackDown and hype this match for Hell in a Cell. Roman Reigns and Jey Uso will likely headline the event, and fans will most probably see The Usos forced to join The Tribal Chief at the end of it.
