WWE SmackDown: 2 Superstars who flopped and 3 who impressed – ‘Coward’ Roman Reigns hits back, Kevin Owens brutalized with steel chairs before TLC (Dec 18th, 2020)
The go-home episode of WWE SmackDown before TLC 2020 was quite an interesting one. We saw the title rivalries gain a lot of hype ahead of the pay-per-view. The SmackDown Tag Team Championships were also on the line this week. Overall, the show was engaging for most of its duration. It is worth mentioning that the Universal Championship feud ended up stealing the show by the time it ended.
In this article, we will take a look at WWE Superstars who impressed us on SmackDown this week and those who didn’t. So, without further ado, let’s dig right in.
#1 Impressed on SmackDown: Roman Reigns
WWE Superstar Roman Reigns has been brilliant since his heel turn. Tonight's episode of SmackDown showed how he great he has been while transforming into The Tribal Chief. Roman Reigns was called out by Kevin Owens this week as the latter is set to challenge Reigns for the Universal Championship at TLC 2020. From calling him a hypocrite to labeling him as a coward, Owens' words certainly stung the Universal Champion, and he vowed that KO wouldn't even get to the pay-per-view.
Reigns was quick to tell Jey Uso that the latter needs to 'end' Kevin Owens. Annoyed of being called out by Owens each week on SmackDown, Roman Reigns had to ensure that The Prizefighter paid for the disrespect. During the two-hour-long show, Reigns ordered multiply attacks on KO and the latter kept getting back up. Finally, Reigns decided to take matters into his own hand and went inside the ring to address Owens' 'stubbornness' during the closing minutes of the show.
Reigns was cutting a rather compelling promo during which he talked about how he can't understand why people would sabotage their chance to feature in the main event alongside none other than The Tribal Chief. He was then interrupted by Kevin Owens, who wanted to have a direct conversation with Reigns. Instead, the latter unleashed hell on his challenger. He buried KO underneath multiple tables and chairs and continued hitting him with multiple chair shots. Reigns also put Owens through the tables twice before he started talking about how he is the most dominant name on SmackDown right now.
Roman Reigns is arguably the best heel in the business right now. He is absolutely nailing his role, which is huge, considering that he has been paired with one of the best performers in the entire business today. It's not an easy task to go toe-to-toe with Kevin Owens when it comes to engaging with him in a war of words. But an impressive Roman Reigns has managed to hold off on his own. If they end up translating this intensity in their feud into the in-ring action on Sunday, then it will certainly be one of the best WWE storylines on SmackDown in 2020.