5 Things WWE subtly told us on SmackDown: Surprising direction for Edge at Fastlane, Popular star set for big title win after drastic character change? (February 26th, 2021)
Welcome to this week's edition of things WWE subtly told us on SmackDown! While we weren't too crazy about how the episode finished, there was a lot that happened.
We began the build to WWE Fastlane 2021 - which is only three weeks away. We're not sure how the company plans to fill the card, but no official match was announced on SmackDown.
But there is one interesting direction that was directly hinted at on SmackDown, and that's where we will start this week:
#5 The direction for Fastlane was made clear on SmackDown
Roman Reigns opened SmackDown as he usually does, and he closed the show - as he usually does. Not that we're complaining, because this version of Reigns on SmackDown is the best that we've seen in over eight years of his time in WWE.
The Tribal Chief kickstarted SmackDown by praising himself for stepping up and defending the Univeral Title when needed at the Elimination Chamber PPV. He even gave Edge the chance to back out of his Universal Championship opportunity at WrestleMania 37.
Instead, it was Daniel Bryan who interrupted the opening segment of SmackDown. Slamming Roman Reigns for praising himself, he challenged him to a Universal Title match on Fastlane.
Jey Uso told Daniel Bryan that he had to face him - the right-hand man, to earn a title shot at Fastlane. Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville made the match happen and booked it for the main event of SmackDown.
Edge, interestingly enough, didn't seem too happy. Despite being a babyface, we like the fact that he still holds that "self-interested" side of his persona from over 10 years ago. It's that kind of consistent subtlety in character that we enjoy - and Edge is a master of it.
Either way, Daniel Bryan vs Jey Uso ended in a double count out. As if the finish wasn't disappointing enough, Bryan fought back against the interfering Roman Reigns and got choked out to end the show. We understand the fact that Edge didn't come out - especially since Daniel Bryan told him to his face earlier on SmackDown that he didn't believe that The Rated-R Superstar could beat Roman Reigns.
Either way, we fully expect a Tag Team match featuring Edge & Daniel Bryan against Roman Reigns & Jey Uso at Fastlane - presumably in the main event.