WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER 10/9: Night One of the 2020 Draft, Best Friends Battle over Women’s Title, A Fiendish Challenge for KO, Falls Count Anywhere for Big E and Sheamus, Otis in the Court

WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER
OCTOBER 9, 2020
ORLANDO, FL. AT THE THUNDERDOME IN THE AMWAY CENTER
AIRS ON FOX NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EDT
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Michael Cole and Corey Graves

Top Three Developments from Last Week

• Roman Reigns was to be declared the tribal chief by Paul Heyman, but he insisted it be done by his cousin Jey Uso, whom he defeated at Clash of Champions. He said he wanted to help raise him up, and he loved him more than his brother did. He then offered another championship match at Hell in a Cell, with the “highest stakes” possible. Jey accepted. Here are Roman and Jey in separate WWE exclusives:

• Kevin Owens paid Smackdown a visit and had Alexa Bliss as his guest on the KO Show. He asked what was up with her lately regarding her alignment with the “Fiend” Bray Wyatt. She admitted having changed, and Kevin should do the same. She said she was cleansed of “all the lies” and said, with a sinister look, “let him in” when Kevin figured out that he was “here.” The lights went dark, Bray showed up, and gave Kevin the mandible claw.
• Sasha Banks called Bayley a coward and said she was using her to help keep the Smackdown Women’s Championship. She then challenged her to a championship match.

Draft and Items Advertised by WWE

Tonight, we begin the two-night draft which will end on Raw. WWE put out the rules and 60 eligible wrestlers on each night. For every two picks Smackdown gets, Raw will get three. Tag teams will be drafted as one pick unless the networks in conjunction with WWE officials agree to draft a wrestler as a singles act. Rather than cut and paste the rules and list of wrestlers, here’s a link to the WWE site where they have all the information:

https://www.wwe.com/article/wwe-draft-2020-rules-superstar-pools

We continue towards Hell in a Cell with a loaded show. Here’s what advertised, most of which was known on last week’s episode:

• Former best friends Bayley and Sasha Banks set to battle for the Smackdown Women’s Championship
• Kevin Owens and the Fiend set for brand-to-brand clash ahead of WWE Draft
• Big E to face Sheamus in Falls Count Anywhere match
• Otis set to defend his Money in the Bank contract in court

Smackdown Women’s Championship: Bayley (champ) vs. Sasha Banks

I talked about Sasha Banks coming out last week and challenging Bayley for the Smackdown Women’s Championship, which takes place tonight. It’s been a crazy ride for these two going back to when Bayley attacked Sasha several weeks ago. Bayley claims that Sasha was following her around while Sasha claims Bayley was using her to help retain the title. When Sasha returned following the initial attack, Bayley got to her from behind. At Clash of Champions, while Bayley was defending the Smackdown title against Asuka, Sasha attacked her during the match.

Bayley and Sasha’s history goes back a long way. Five years ago, they had a historic Iron Woman match at NXT: Takeover. They have been opponents before, were tag team champions, and even saw Dr. Shelby for anger management. Here’s Bayley tweeting about their match five years ago as well as Sasha on Talking Smack:

And 5 years later, I am still the iron woman!!!!!!!!!! #consistentchampion https://t.co/UJZ13cfJNS

— Bayley (@itsBayleyWWE) October 7, 2020

Frank’s Analysis: I think it’s way too soon for this match, but in 2020 it’s hard for WWE to hold off on anything. I just hope they have a good ending in mind because the fans deserve something that is satisfying and not in line with the series of garbage endings they’ve done lately.

Kevin Owens vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt

I covered what happened on Smackdown last week between Kevin Owens and “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt. Things continued onto Raw when Kevin invited Bray to the KO Show. Kevin said he felt differently since his interaction with the Fiend. Dark people have been targeting him lately including Aleister Black. Instead of showing up in person, Bray appeared via the Firefly Funhouse. He said Kevin was a new friend, but Kevin disagreed. He told Bray he could come to the ring and they didn’t have to wait until Friday, but Bray didn’t like bullies and neither does “he” (the Fiend). He finished by saying he has no idea what he’s gotten himself into, but he’ll find out on Smackdown. He then did his friendly goodbye.

Kevin said he would go after Bray, and as he was proceeding up the ramp Aleister Black attacked him. Black and Kevin have been in a feud for several weeks. Kevin and Bray go at it tonight in a brand-to-brand invitational match. Both men as well as Black are eligible to be drafted Monday night.

Frank’s Analysis: It’ll be interesting to see what happens as I see an alliance forming with Black and Bray along with Alexa Bliss. I just hope Kevin isn’t worse off after feuding with the Fiend, as others have before him.

Falls Count Anywhere: Big E vs. Sheamus

Big E is anxious to get his hands on Sheamus after Sheamus cost Big E a shot at the Universal Championship several weeks ago. Big E was to be in the fatal four-way to determine Roman Reigns’ opponent at Clash of Champions, but Sheamus attacked him before the match. He gave him White Noise onto the windshield of a car, causing him to miss several weeks. Big E since returned and last week challenged Sheamus to a match where he’d beat him in the stands of the Amway Center or maybe at Magic Kingdom. He did this on an inset promo where Sheamus defeated Shorty G (who’s apparently not aligned with King Corbin anymore? Not that that was good, but what happened between them?).

Later, the announcers said that Big E would take on Sheamus in a Falls Count Anywhere match. Here’s Sheamus in a WWE exclusive where he accepted Big E’s challenge:

Frank’s Analysis: Even though we saw Big E defeat Sheamus at Payback, I’m looking forward to this match. These guys are good for each other as Big E is getting a singles push and Sheamus, I think, has reached legacy star status where he can put someone over and still be credible. Their vastly different personalities work well together.

Otis Defends Money in the Bank Contract in Court

The Miz and John Morrison have been going after Otis and the Money in the Bank contract for weeks now. They apparently got Mandy Rose moved to Raw and threatened to take him to court over the contract. Two weeks ago, Otis said he would represent himself. He also pointed out that the Miz was the only name on the contract and attacked Morrison afterwards. Last week, Otis defeated Morrison in about two minutes.

Tonight, order will be called as Otis represents himself to keep the Money in the Bank contract. Here’s Otis in a WWE exclusive:

Frank’s Analysis: I still don’t understand on what grounds Miz is suing Otis, but I don’t care enough to think too hard about it. This is just dumb comedy that isn’t funny. Otis shouldn’t have Money in the Bank, crowds or no crowds. With such a lack of tag team depth they need Heavy Machinery to be strong.

Other Match Results and Segments from Last Week

• After the show-opening promo between Jey Uso and Roman Reigns, Jey defeated A.J. Styles one-on-one.
• Matt Riddle and Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado) defeated King Corbin and Smackdown Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura. Here’s Riddle in a WWE exclusive:

• The mystery woman was revealed as Carmella.
• Sami Zayn defeated Jeff Hardy to retain the Intercontinental Championship. Earlier, he threw Hardy’s title in a trash can. Clearly, he spoke to Madusa Miceli before the match.

Final Thoughts

If I were to add anything it would be regarding Roman Reigns, which is just the best story in WWE right now. I’m not sure he and Jey belong in Hell in a Cell considering they’ve already had a brutal match, but it’s fine. It’s much better than some of the matches where they force-fed two opponents in there with no reason to be in such a match. Obviously, I’m also looking forward to the draft. What I don’t understand are why champions eligible for the draft? Asuka is the Raw Women’s Champion. If she’s drafted to Smackdown, what does that mean? Is she stripped of the title? Does Bayley automatically go to Raw and they switch titles? They never address this, and it drives me bonkers. Maybe I’m the only one, but it would be nice if they clarified the rules for champions being drafted.

Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Questions and discussion are welcome. Thank you for reading!