WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER 2/5: Continued Royal Rumble Fallout, Bianca and Edge Possibly Reveal WrestleMania Plans, Expectations for Other Storylines

WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER
FEBRUARY 5, 2021
TAMPA, FL. IN THE THUNDERDOME AT TROPICANA FIELD
AIRS ON FOX NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EST
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Michael Cole and Corey Graves

Match Results and Exclusives from Last Week

• Bianca Belair defeated Bayley.
• King Corbin defeated Dominik Mysterio.
• Daniel Bryan defeated A.J. Styles (Raw) via DQ which eventually turned into Bryan & Shinsuke & Intercontinental Champion Big E vs. Sami Zayn & A.J. & Cesaro which turned into Miz and John Morrison joining Sami, A.J., and Cesaro with Otis joining Bryan & Shinsuke & Big E and then eventually Sheamus (Raw). Sheamus, Shinsuke, Bryan, Big E, and Otis won the eventual 10-man tag match. Braun Strowman of Raw returned to WWE programming at the conclusion of the match.

Royal Rumble Results Pertinent to Smackdown and Exclusives

• Sasha Banks defeated Carmella to retain the Smackdown Women’s Championship.
• Bianca Belair won the Women’s Royal Rumble, eliminating finalist Rhea Ripley (NXT).
• Roman Reigns defeated Kevin Owens in a Last Man Standing match to retain the Universal Championship.
• Edge won the Men’s Royal Rumble, eliminating finalist Randy Orton (Raw).

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We are past the Royal Rumble and turn our attention towards Elimination Chamber, which comes to us in a little over two weeks on February 21. It’ll be a busy month as on the Sunday evening before that show, we’ll have NXT: Vengeance Day on February 14 (who’s rearranging their Valentine’s Day plans?). This week Edge appeared on both Raw and NXT, teasing who he will choose to face at WrestleMania. We didn’t see Bianca Belair, but a hype video WWE put out teases both of them appearing tonight and revealing their plans for WrestleMania.

No other matches and segments have been advertised as of this article being published.

Frank’s Analysis: Since Edge appeared on Raw and NXT this week, it’s not crazy to imagine him showing up tonight. Smackdown was the platform for the majority of his success during his “championship” years of 2006-2011. I could make a case for Edge facing any of the company champions, but Roman Reigns is the most exciting. As far as Bianca Belair goes, Sasha Banks is the best fit as her opponet. It’s not that a match with Asuka wouldn’t work, it’s just they haven’t built her up as a big deal. She’s been more fodder than anything for Sasha and Bayley when they were running together as a team and recently, she’s been involved in the story with Alexa Bliss.

Other Expectations and Final Thoughts

• I suspect they will follow up on the following stories tonight:
• What’s next for Dominik Mysterio? He lost two weeks in a row to King Corbin and there’s been visible tension between he and his father Rey.
• Where do things go with Intercontinental Champion Big E, Apollo Crews, and Sami Zayn? Sami has been filming his “documentary,” and has been out for justice ever since losing the Intercontinental title. He interrupted the most recent championship match between E and Apollo. Let’s not forget about Apollo conversing with Roman Reigns. That could still be in play if Apollo is heading down a “darker path.”
• What of the Smackdown Tag Team Championship? Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode currently hold the titles, but the Street Profits are lying in wait if you will. Adam Pearce’s assistant Sonya Deville suggested the Profits stay sidelined until Montez Ford’s knee injury heals, and other teams get chances. The question is, what are those teams?
• What’s next for Daniel Bryan? After vehemently declaring he was going to accomplish what he never did in his WWE career, which was win the Royal Rumble, he came up short this past Sunday. What is his path to the Universal Championship, if any moving forward?
• Where does Kevin Owens go after his third attempt at winning the Universal Championship? I’m not saying this is what they should do, but a while ago he and Daniel Bryan discussed teaming up. If Edge is going to go after Roman Reigns, I’m not sure where that leaves Bryan and Owens.
• What’s next for Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro? Nakamura appears to be a babyface these days and spent a little over 20 minutes in the Rumble. He nearly went the distance recently in a Gauntlet match to determine the challenger to Roman Reigns’ Universal Championship. Cesaro remains on the heel side of the ledger, and has been featured a bit more recently, but last a short period this past Sunday. I don’t know that there are big plans for those guys, but we’ll see.

Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Thank you for reading!