5 Things WWE subtly told us on SmackDown: Big ladder match teased for SummerSlam, Unpopular heel turning face after 6 years?
SmackDown this week was an interesting one, minus a couple of matches. For some reason, WWE decided to pan away from the hot live Cleveland crowd and hosted a couple of matches from SmackDown in a live rap concert in Miami.
In that concert, Wale introduced The Street Profits and Angelo Dawkins defeated Chad Gable. SmackDown Women's Champion Bianca Belair defeated Carmella to retain the title as well, seemingly ending their brief feud.
The problem was that none of the audience in the rap concert cared about the matches and why would they? It seemed like an odd move to put a ring in a rap concert, but it already happened.
Apart from that, it was a good episode of SmackDown and everything that took place within the designated Cleveland arena was entertaining to watch. Toni Storm's debut and victory over Zelina Vega was a notable part of SmackDown as well. Things are heating up as we get closer towards SummerSlam 2021 and here are a few things that WWE subtly told us:
#5 The Intercontinental title picture goes berserk on SmackDown
Big E came out for a celebratory segment on SmackDown, but it turned into something entirely different. Intercontinental Champion Apollo Crews came out and reminded E about how he lost to him at WrestleMania 37.
Things soon broke down and Dolph Ziggler, Robert Roode, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Cesaro - with the latter proclaiming his intentions to pursue the Intercontinental Championship.
From the look of things, a six-man tag team match could eventually be in order next week.
But who will emerge as the main contenders on SmackDown? Cesaro seemingly started a feud with the Alpha Academy last week, but that was quietly swept under the rug.
It's always good to see Cesaro in the title picture, but five other superstars getting involved seems a bit too much.
Firstly, it doesn't make much sense to have Big E pursue the Intercontinental title on SmackDown. Secondly, only Nakamura and Cesaro seem to be in a good spot to challenge him.
Either way, Apollo Crews' Intercontinental title reign could be doomed. If there are this many superstars involved in one title picture on SmackDown, a ladder match could be inevitable for the blue brand.