4 Things WWE could have done differently on this week's SmackDown (21st February, 2020)
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This week's SmackDown was underwhelming, to say the least. The show started with a match - The Usos and New Day vs Miz & Morrison and Robert Roode & Dolph Ziggler, which was won by the team comprising of the reigning SmackDown Tag Team Champions.
Then, we saw Tucker getting furious with Mandy Rose backstage before Lacey Evans had a sit-down interview with Renee Young. A Symphony of Destruction match took place next featuring Braun Strowman and Elias vs Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro with the former team coming on top in an entertaining bout.
Furthermore, Daniel Bryan defeated Heath Slater, while Naomi got the better of Carmella and became the number 1 contender for the SmackDown Women's Championship at WWE Super Showdown.
The main event saw The Fiend and Goldberg come face to face for the first time and the latter planted a spear on the WWE Universal Champion to end the show. Here, we suggest the four things WWE could have done differently on this week's episode of the Blue brand.
#4 Shorty G and Apollo Crews' backstage segment
After weeks and weeks of losing matches against Sheamus, Shorty G told Apollo Crews this week that he is sick of everyone bullying him over his short height. It has to be said, almost everyone is bored with that but this backstage segment did nothing with regards to restoring Shorty G's lost momentum.
He came out of this segment looking weaker and it wasn't really a good thing for his character. Instead of this, it would have been brilliant to watch Shorty G attack Sheamus backstage and get his revenge on him. That would have shaped up this mid-card feud nicely and, for once, Shorty G would have looked good.
#3 Daniel Bryan's filler segments
Last week on SmackDown, Daniel Bryan squashed Heath Slater and this week, Slater demanded a rematch. Only this time, Drew Gulak was ringside trying to tell Bryan what he needs to improve in his wrestling style.
The match, quite expectedly, was won by Bryan again and although this match was short, light, and fun to watch, one has to say that Bryan can be used way better than this. Look at Sheamus for example, he isn't getting any meaningful feuds and neither is Bryan, so why not pit them against each other and see what comes out? That would be much better to see than these filler segments that will eventually get boring.
#2 Shinsuke Nakamura pinned by Braun Strowman
Another thing that happened this week on SmackDown was The Symphony of Destruction match, which was a fun bout to watch and the crowd was also into it. The problem wasn't the match. Instead, it was the weak ending that raised a few questions.
Elias and Braun Strowman won and it was Shinsuke Nakamura who was pinned by Strowman to end the bout, which could've and should've been avoided. Nakamura is the only genuine heel who is available to feud with the 'Monster Among Men' for the Intercontinental championship and it doesn't help when Strowman pins Nakamura twice in a matter of weeks.
Instead of this, Elias could have easily pinned Cesaro for the victory but that didn't happen and one can't make out why.
#1 Goldberg and The Fiend
When Goldberg met The Fiend for the first time this week, everything screamed underwhelming. Firstly, all the excitement was gone because two weeks before this, WWE announced that Goldberg will return to SmackDown, only for him to show up via satellite.
And secondly, there wasn't a surprise factor anymore as almost everyone knew the second they saw Goldberg that The Fiend will try and attack him.
Furthermore, the segment was too small to make the desired impact and one Spear from Goldberg to The Fiend wasn't enough to build the anticipation for this bout, unfortunately.
If only this segment was a little longer and if Goldberg could have somehow landed two or three Spears, along with a Jackhammer on The Fiend, then the overall experience would have improved and everyone would have thought that The Fiend might have a weakness, which would have been way more interesting, to say the least.