5 Things WWE subtly told us on SmackDown: Possibly bad news for 'Demon' Finn Balor fans, Top star set for a big move to RAW?
Welcome to this week's edition of things WWE subtly told us on SmackDown. It was the eve of 9/11, and WWE paid tribute as beautifully as they normally do - 20 years on.
It was yet another great episode of SmackDown, airing from the iconic Madison Square Garden venue. When a show is so big, there needs to be big matches and segments. That's exactly what the company delivered on SmackDown this week from start to finish. Here's what WWE subtly told us in the build to Extreme Rules 2021.
#5 Roman Reigns gets two big challenges on SmackDown
SmackDown started with Roman Reigns getting acknowledged by the WWE Universe. It was quite the moment and quite the reaction until Brock Lesnar made his return to the blue brand after nearly two years.
The reaction understandably blew the roof off the building, and the crowd seemed to love babyface Brock Lesnar. It was tense because fans knew beforehand that this would be a somewhat Paul Heyman-centric confrontation.
Brock Lesnar asked Heyman in front of Roman Reigns (and The Usos) as to why he didn't tell the Universal Champion about his SummerSlam return, inferring that the Special Counsel knew beforehand.
Brock Lesnar gave Paul Heyman five seconds to acknowledge his challenge to Roman Reigns and even lifted him for an F5. Roman Reigns made the save by hitting a Superman punch on Brock Lesnar, while The Usos gave The Beast Incarnate superkicks as well.
It was obvious what The Usos' purpose in the opening SmackDown segment was - to be beaten down by Lesnar. That's exactly what happened, but not too much as they had a SmackDown Tag Team title defense in the main event.
Paul Heyman vs. Kayla Braxton is low-key the most hilarious feud on SmackDown right now. Braxton's determination to get the big scoop has annoyed Heyman on numerous instances, and the same happened this week as well.
Backstage, Paul Heyman was told off by Roman Reigns, who sounded bitterly disappointed in him. The face of SmackDown kept repeating "I saved you" to Paul Heyman - which isn't fully wrong.
After the main event of SmackDown, Roman Reigns seemingly accepted Brock Lesnar's challenge. But first, it's Finn Balor at Extreme Rules. After the tease on SmackDown last week, it was confirmed that The Demon is, in fact, back.
Pat McAfee said that Roman Reigns wouldn't be facing Finn Balor at Extreme Rules - but The Demon instead. We have mixed emotions about this.
While it's nice to see Balor's alter-ego, we're not sure how much Finn Balor wanted to bring it back.
To add to that, Demon Balor isn't defeating Roman Reigns. Since Roman Reigns vs. Demon Balor on SmackDown is likely to headline Extreme Rules over Bobby Lashley vs. Randy Orton, it might even be a clean finish.
Does The Demon need to lose this early into Finn Balor's second main roster run? It's certainly bad news for Balor fans, and WWE might be affecting the character negatively by already having the Brock Lesnar-Roman Reigns match lined up for the future.