This week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown was mostly about a continued push to establish the various feuds playing out on the show. By the end of the night it became clear there are two title matches we’re headed straight for.
First, Sasha Banks was a no show, keeping alive WWE’s long tradition of advertising matches and then failing to deliver on them. She was said to be in Los Angeles recording music. Instead, Lacey Evans, her planned opponent, got into a big brawl backstage with SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley.
Meanwhile, Braun Strowman kicked up a program opposite Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura in recent weeks and tonight overcame the odds — Cesaro and Sami Zayn wreaking havoc, of course — to pin the champ. And while they didn’t specify Strowman would earn a shot at the strap with the win, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where this is going.
The Royal Rumble pay-per-view on Jan. 26, 2020, in Houston only has four announced matches as of this writing. Perhaps these two will fill out the card.
Stay tuned.