WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER 3/5: Bryan vs. Jey in a Cage with Universal Championship Implications, Bianca vs. Baszler

BY FRANK PETEANI, PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR


SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER
MARCH 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

  • Otis & Chad Gable defeated Rey & Dominik Mysterio.

  • Apollo Crews defeated Shinsuke Nakamura.
  • Tamina (w/Natalya) defeated Liv Morgan (w/Ruby Riott).
  • The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) defeated King Corbin & Sami Zayn.

  • Daniel Bryan and Jey Uso worked to a double count out. If Bryan won, he would have earned a Universal Championship match against Roman Reigns at Fastlane.

Items Advertised by WWE

We’re headed towards Fastlane which takes place on Sunday, March 21. It will be the last PPV before WrestleMania, and they’ll have a quick turnaround with just under three weeks until night one (April 10). A lot will start to become clear in the next few weeks, and that starts with tonight’s Smackdown. Here is what’s advertised for the show:

  • Daniel Bryan and Jey Uso set for high-stakes Steel Cage showdown.
  • Bianca Belair to battle WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Shayna Baszler.

Steel Cage Match: Daniel Bryan vs. Jey Uso
If Bryan Wins, He Earns a Universal Championship Match Against Roman Reigns at Fastlane

Last week, Daniel Bryan came up short in his chance to earn a Universal Championship match when he and Jey Uso worked to a double count out. After the match Bryan put the Yes Lock on Jey, but then Roman attacked Bryan. Bryan put the Yes Lock on Roman, but then got treated to a super kick from Jey. Roman followed up with a spear and then a guillotine. Roman stood over Bryan holding up his title belt.

On Talking Smack, Paul Heyman told Bryan he was authorized to offer him another chance at the Universal Championship under some conditions. He would have to defeat Jey in a rematch. If he doesn’t win, he must acknowledge Roman as the tribal chief and head of the table. Bryan countered and said he would wrestle Jey in the steel cage and agreed to the other condition. Here’s the segment from Talking Smack and also Roman talking a little trash on Twitter:

Frank’s Analysis: If only these Talking Smack segments were on TV. Everyone comes across so real and genuine. That said, I’m sure Bryan wins this although I’m 100%. With Edge having an issue with Bryan getting the title match ahead of him it’ll be interesting to see if he plays a role. I like the idea of teasing that Edge could face Bryan at WrestleMania if he beats Roman at Fastlane.

Bianca Belair vs. WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Shayna Baszler

Last week Bianca Belair chose Smackdown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks as her opponent at WrestleMania on the heels of winning the Royal Rumble. Before that, the two will pair up and challenge Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship at Fastlane. Two weeks ago, they teamed with Reginald and defeated Jax & Baszler who were joined by Bayley following an episode of “Ding Dong, Hello.”

Tonight, Bianca and Baszler lock up one-on-one. This is not their first rodeo, as they squared off two years ago at NXT Takeover: Phoenix two years ago for the NXT Women’s Championship. Bianca was un-de-fea-ted at the time but came up short. Here’s a clip of that match:

Frank’s Analysis: Ah yes, the good old days when Shayna was booked like a beast and not losing in three minutes to Charlotte Flair on Raw in an unadvertised match. Anyway, I could see Sasha and Bianca winning the tag titles and going to WrestleMania as opponents. It wouldn’t be the first time that tag team champions went at it in a major title match on the “big stage.” John Cena & Shawn Michaels were World Tag Team Champions heading into their WWE Championship match at the 2007 WrestleMania.

Other Expectations and Final Thoughts

These past few weeks have been quite busy for me. Last week I was a guest of Zack Heydorn, Pro Wrestling Torch Assistant Editor, for his VIP exclusive On the Canvas show. We broke down Johnny Gargano vs. Kushida for the NXT North American Championship. This past Monday, I joined Wade Keller on his Raw post show, and we went over two hours with callers and emails breaking down quite a newsworthy episode of Raw. This past Tuesday, Bruce Hazelwood of PWTorch.com joined me for the latest edition of my VIP exclusive show WWE Then and Now. We went back and reviewed No Way Out 2005 and all that went with that show including the genesis of “Super Cena.” In addition, we looked at current events. Go VIP to get all this great content!

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

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