5 Things WWE SmackDown got right this week (May 22, 2020)
WWE Backlash is only a few weeks away, and the Superstars of SmackDown were all geared up this week to build towards some clashes towards the event. However, some businesses had to be visited in order to build towards those clashes, as the Smackdown Superstars battled in the WWE Intercontinental Championship tournament to determine who would move on to the semifinals to compete against Daniel Bryan and Elias.
Bayley had a huge match on the night as she was up against WWE’s most decorated female Superstar and current NXT champion Charlotte Flair. A win against Bayley may have given Flair a chance to compete for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at Backlash.
Jeff Hardy was set to take on Sheamus during the night while old foes Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles were ready to go head-to-head. Michael Cole made a huge announcement prior to the match between Styles and Nakamura to shake up the SmackDown roster.
The Universal Champion was also featured on this week's SmackDown, while Otis and Mandy Rose once again tried to break away from the heels and move onto the next chapter.
In this article, we will look at the 5 things WWE got right on this week’s episode of SmackDown.
#5 The Universal Champion gets the better of the heels of SmackDown
This Friday night, SmackDown kicked off the show with another edition of The Dirt Sheet with hosts John Morrison and The Miz. The two mocked SmackDown’s Universal Champion Braun Strowman for being replaced by puppets in the Firefly Fun House and teaming up with Mr. Money in the Bank, Otis on last week's episode.
The heels even went on to questioned the decision to allow Strowman a shot at Goldberg for the Universal Championship in the first place.
The Monster Among Men interrupted the heels and exchanged a few harsh words. The highlight of the segment saw The Miz inform Strowman and the entire WWE Universe that Bray Wyatt wasn’t finished with him yet.
Morrison got fired up and laid down a challenge to Strowman on behalf of his partner. This led to a match between Strowman and WWE’s A-Lister that saw a lot of distraction from Morrison from the outside.
However, a running powerslam from the Monster Among Men was all it took to pick up the victory, after which it was announced that Strowman would defend his Universal Championship against Miz and Morrison in a handicap match at Backlash.
This was a good way to keep SmackDown’s top men on our screen, especially when we know that the champion may not be good enough on the mic. A match against the former Universal Champion could work in favor of Strowman and allow Wyatt an opening to get back at his former family member.