From an Intercontinental Championship main event to Alexa Bliss appearing on The KO Show, this week's edition of WWE SmackDown featured many contrasting moments.
Approximately one year ago (October 4), SmackDown debuted on FOX and the show would receive mixed reviews initially. As of this moment, SmackDown feels like the most important pro wrestling show on TV. So it's good to know that the Blue brand has finally found its groove with viewers almost one year later.
SmackDown featured some major plot developments after the Clash of Champions event, and even the least impressive aspects of the show felt standard, but never bad.
Which show was better this week, RAW or SmackDown? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
New Champs in WWE! More RIGHT HERE
Here are the five biggest news stories from this week's episode of WWE SmackDown (October 2, 2020).
#5: Carmella was revealed as WWE's 'Mystery Woman'
Even though the vignettes for WWE SmackDown's 'Mystery Woman' have been impressively shot each week, fans immediately figured out that Carmella was the mystery woman before the same was revealed on last night's edition of SmackDown.
Carmella talked about her career, and how she had lost her way in WWE for a while, specifically mentioning her time with the master of 24/7 title segments, R-Truth. Carmella cut a heel promo and blamed the fans for her dry spell in recent memory.
Carmella is no longer the moon-walking, trash-talking, princess of Staten Island, as her 'UNTOUCHABLE' gimmick resembles a modern-day glam diva in WWE.
Interestingly, Carmella also said that she would be ready to face competitors from both RAW and SmackDown after the Draft, which may hint towards Carmella being drafted to WWE RAW in the next few weeks.
Mandy Rose recently shifted brands, so Carmella moving to RAW as well might not be the wisest decision to make right now.
#4: Sasha Banks vs. Bayley for the WWE SmackDown Women's title was announced for next week's episode
Bayley faced Asuka in an impromptu SmackDown Women's Championship Match at WWE Clash of Champions, but Sasha Banks would later appear to earn some payback against Bayley.
On this week's WWE SmackDown, The Legit Boss made her way down the ramp and cut a promo to send a message to her former best friend. Banks said she knew Bayley was nowhere to be seen in the arena because she was afraid of The Legit Boss, but that wouldn't be a problem since both of them are slated to go one-on-one next week with Bayley's title on the line.
Next Friday's Draft special episode of WWE SmackDown features a stacked card. Big E vs. Sheamus (Falls Count Anywhere) was also announced for the Blue brand's upcoming show.
As for Bayley and Sasha Banks, it's likely that their feud won't end decisively when they face each other next week. This feud deserves a bigger stage, and Hell in a Cell could be a perfect arena for an ultimate grudge match between The Golden Role Models.
#3: Sami Zayn defeated Jeff Hardy by nefarious means to retain his WWE Intercontinental title
Sami Zayn became the undisputed Intercontinental Champion at WWE Clash of Champions in a pretty creative match. Zayn gloated about his victory on this week's WWE SmackDown. He dumped Jeff Hardy's Intercontinental title in a trashcan, which was an interesting setup to Zayn and Hardy's one-on-one clash.
Despite two newsworthy storylines involving Alexa Bliss and Roman Reigns occurring on the same episode, the Intercontinental Championship scenario was booked as the main event of this week's WWE SmackDown.
Jeff Hardy and Sami Zayn wrestled each other in a back-and-forth main event, where an exposed turnbuckle was used as the 'MacGuffin' for their rivalry.
Zayn exposed a turnbuckle in the ring before their match could begin, and The Great Liberator emerged successful by causing Hardy's head to strike the metal towards the end of this bout.
Sami Zayn didn't win in clean fashion against Hardy, which implies that both men could face each other in a rematch on SmackDown or at WWE Hell in a Cell.
#2: Roman Reigns subtly threatened Jey Uso with a big rematch at WWE Hell in a Cell
Roman Reigns and Jey Uso's storyline has exceeded expectations in WWE, which meant it had to be extended past its one-off premise beyond Clash of Champions.
Families often fight, and even though Roman Reigns brutalized Jey Uso at the aforementioned pay-per-view, Reigns said he didn't harbour any resentment against his cousin. The Tribal Chief called Clash of Champions a bad night just because of what he did to Jey. Reigns only wanted Jey Uso to earn a big payday for his family, but things went wrong when the latter didn't address Roman Reigns as The Tribal Chief of the Anoa'i family.
Reigns offered his cousin a rematch but also warned him that there would be long-term consequences this time around. What fans have buzzed about the most on social media is how Reigns called their rematch 'the highest stakes that any match has ever had in WWE history'.
That statement alludes to several possibilities, and Sportskeeda's own Riju Dasgupta has penned an article as to what Reigns meant by that sentence.
That sentence alone has distracted people from the fact that Jey Uso defeated a top-tier star like AJ Styles after his confrontation with Roman Reigns on this week's WWE SmackDown.
#1: 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt returned to WWE and attacked Kevin Owens during The KO Show with Alexa Bliss
As predicted before this week's WWE SmackDown aired live, The Fiend returned to the Blue brand and decimated Kevin Owens on The KO Show.
Alexa Bliss appeared as the special guest here, and her acting chops were on full display throughout this entire segment. Going back to normal seemed like an afterthought for Bliss. She was already infatuated with The Fiend right from the very beginning of her interview with Kevin Owens.
Kevin Owens realized that he had stepped into a trap far too late, and he paid the price for questioning Alexa Bliss and The Fiend's connection when the latter returned and attacked The Prizefighter.
This was equally as good as Roman Reigns and Jey Uso's segment from this week's WWE SmackDown, if not better.
'Fun House' Bray Wyatt is slated to appear on The KO Show for next week's Monday Night RAW, which should be interesting. Meanwhile, The Fiend will make his monumental in-ring debut on weekly television against Kevin Owens on the upcoming edition of WWE SmackDown.