5 things WWE SmackDown got right this week: Roman Reigns kneels; Toni Storm makes an impact
WWE SmackDown advertised a big contest between King Woods and Universal Champion Roman Reigns for Friday night. Sasha Banks was also advertised to make her return after suffering a brutal beatdown at the hands of Shotzi a couple of weeks ago.
Meanwhile, Sami Zayn and Jeff Hardy were booked to compete in a high-stakes match on this week’s show. Both men found themselves on the SmackDown team for Survivor Series, but Adam Pearce had other plans.
Ridge Holland appeared in a backstage segment and came face to face with Cesaro. The two men discussed Sheamus’ loyalty before Holland revealed that The Celtic Warrior would return next week.
WWE booked a few high-stakes matches for this week’s show. A couple of changes were also made to Team SmackDown on Friday Night. Take a look at the five things WWE got right on SmackDown this week.
#5. Aliyah made her mark on WWE SmackDown
Instead of Roman Reigns, Sonya Deville kicked off Friday’s WWE SmackDown. She introduced the participants of the SmackDown women’s Survivor Series team: Natalya, Shotzi, Aliyah, and Shayna Baszler. She also introduced Sasha Banks, who made her return to SmackDown after two weeks.
Banks immediately went after Shotzi, and a brawl broke out. Naomi also came out to get in Deville’s face. This led to a six-woman tag team match.
The Boss teamed up with Naomi and Aliyah to take on Shotzi, Baszler, and Natalya. The heels isolated Aliyah and Baszler looked to end things early with the Kirifuda Clutch.
A tag to Naomi allowed the babyfaces to make a comeback. Both teams kept the action ticking before Naomi was isolated.
Aliyah tagged in soon after and went after Natalya. The former RAW Women’s Champion applied the Sharpshooter to the newcomer before Naomi helped her out. The sequence allowed Aliyah to roll up Natalya for the win on SmackDown.
After the match, Deville congratulated Aliyah before telling her that she had been removed from Team SmackDown. It was a good way to get SmackDown started. Instead of using the same formula week after week, WWE did well to bring in the women to kick things off.
Don’t worry sis! Once I get my hands on @ShotziWWE next week @WWEonFOX There’ll be a open spot for you 💙🔥Thank you for that W #KilleditTonight twitter.com/WWE_Aliyah/sta… https://t.co/KjYow0ncJp
Banks turning face will be beneficial for SmackDown. Meanwhile, the creative team did well to give Aliyah a strong start on SmackDown after an ordinary NXT career. WWE could look to team up a bunch of babyfaces to take down Deville in the weeks to come.