{"id":102663,"date":"2020-08-14T09:41:01","date_gmt":"2020-08-14T14:41:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=102663"},"modified":"2020-08-14T09:41:01","modified_gmt":"2020-08-14T14:41:01","slug":"wwe-friday-night-smackdown-primer-8-14-monster-with-fiendish-wishes-triple-branded-battle-royal-big-e-vs-morrison-alexa-wants-to-talk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2020\/08\/14\/wwe-friday-night-smackdown-primer-8-14-monster-with-fiendish-wishes-triple-branded-battle-royal-big-e-vs-morrison-alexa-wants-to-talk\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER 8\/14: Monster with Fiendish Wishes, Triple-Branded Battle Royal, Big E vs. Morrison, Alexa Wants to Talk"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-1289262230\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><h3>WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER<br \/>\nAUGUST 14, 2020<br \/>\nORLANDO, FL. AT THE WWE PERFORMANCE CENTER<br \/>\nAIRS ON FOX NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EST<br \/>\nBY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR<\/h3>\n<p><em>Announcers: Michael Cole and Corey Graves<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Top Three Developments from Last Week<\/h4>\n<p>Last week\u2019s edition of Smackdown was jarring to say the least, as we continue to head towards SummerSlam which takes place on Sunday August 23. The location of the event has yet to be revealed. Here are the top three developments from last week:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Universal Champion Braun Strowman challenged \u201cThe Fiend\u201d Bray Wyatt to a match at SummerSlam.<\/li>\n<li>Stephanie McMahon advised Smackdown Women\u2019s Champion Bayley that her challenger at SummerSlam would be decided by a triple-branded battle royal.<\/li>\n<li>Retribution appeared at the end of the show and went after fans, spray-painted the ring, and took a chainsaw to the ropes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Items Advertised by WWE<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Braun Strowman promises a monstrous confrontation with \u201cThe Fiend\u201d Bray Wyatt<\/li>\n<li>Triple Brand Battle Royal announced to determine Bayley\u2019s SummerSlam challenger<\/li>\n<li>Big E looks for another win into build momentum with clash against John Morrison<\/li>\n<li>Alexa Bliss will sit down for an interview to discuss her run-ins with \u201cThe Fiend\u201d Bray Wyatt<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Braun Strowman Seeks to Confront \u201cThe Fiend\u201d Bray Wyatt<br \/>\nAlexa Bliss to Discuss Run-Ins with Bray<\/h4>\n<p>We\u2019ll talk about these items in the \u201csame section\u201d as they are tied in together.<\/p>\n<p>Last week via the Firefly Funhouse, Bray Wyatt made his intentions clear as he wants to win back the Universal Championship. He urged Braun to give \u201chim\u201d (Fiend) what he wants, or he will come and find him. Later, Bray was in the ring as the Fiend with Alexa Bliss, whom he gave the mandible claw a week earlier. It looked like he would do something again to her when she caressed his face and he turned away. Next, Universal Champion Braun Strowman appeared on the big screen. He said he didn\u2019t care about Alexa, was \u201cthe thing that nightmares are made of,\u201d and was willing to give Fiend what he wanted at SummerSlam.<\/p>\n<p>Tonight, Braun seeks a confrontation with Bray as they head towards their match (which is in WWE\u2019s official preview of SummerSlam). In addition, Alexa will \u201csit down\u201d and talk about her recent confrontations with Bray. It\u2019s not clear with whom she will talk. This past week, Braun tweeted out the lyrics to Johnny Cash\u2019s \u201cAin\u2019t No Grave\u201d and another cryptic tweet:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Well, meet me Jesus, meet me. Meet me in the middle of the air<br \/>And if these wings don&#39;t fail me I will meet you anywhere<br \/>Ain&#39;t no grave can hold my body down<br \/>There ain&#39;t no grave can hold my body down!!!<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; The Monster of all Monsters (@Adamscherr99) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Adamscherr99\/status\/1292088385763528704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 8, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Beneath the stain of time <br \/>The feeling disappears <br \/>You are someone else <br \/>I am still right here <br \/>What have I become?  <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FaceYourFears?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FaceYourFears<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; The Monster of all Monsters (@Adamscherr99) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Adamscherr99\/status\/1293893751031693313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 13, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: I really hope Fiend is not winning the Universal Championship, but it very well could go that way. As far as Alexa\u2019s involvement it\u2019s still interesting to me. I hope she doesn\u2019t turn out to be \u201csister Abigail.\u201d I could oddly see Nikki Cross playing that role, but that would be a waste of her talent. I would bet Braun saying he didn\u2019t care about her was to protect her. Showing anger might push Fiend in storyline to more horrifying things to her, but we\u2019ll see if that\u2019s where this goes. Braun was horrible on the screen, and thus I hope they pull back on the fake-monstrous tone.<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Triple Brand Battle Royal to Determine Challenger for Smackdown Women\u2019s Championship<\/h4>\n<p>Last week, the holders of \u201call the gold\u201d in Bayley and Sasha Banks had a video conference in the ring with Stephanie McMahon. Stephanie expressed her frustration with them taking advantage of the stipulation she set forth several weeks ago for the Raw Women\u2019s Championship match in which Sasha defeated Asuka via count out when Bayley was attacking Kairi Sane prior to her departure from WWE. They began kissing up to Stephanie including plugging the WWE Network (for just $9.99!) when she said she wanted to challenge them a bit. While she said Sasha could be defending her Raw title against Asuka (which we know now she will as a result of Asuka beating Bayley on Raw), a triple-branded battle royal will determine the challenger to Bayley\u2019s Smackdown Women\u2019s Championship at SummerSlam.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not known whom will partake in the battle royal tonight, as WWE likely wants to keep that close to the vest to get you to tune in and watch.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1701055146\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: I thought about Mia Yim right away, and then Rhea Ripley. I know it\u2019s been talked about on the Torch how it could be a way for Nikki Cross to win and get another title match, which if that\u2019s the case don\u2019t you have to have her win the title? It doesn\u2019t feel right to shoot up Mia or Rhea although either one of them would inject fresh blood into Smackdown which has nobody\u2026yes I said nobody outside of Bayley and Sasha (who is technically Raw now seeing as she\u2019s the Raw Women\u2019s Champion?).<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Big E vs. John Morrison<\/h4>\n<p>Big E continues his singles push as he does one-on-one with John Morrison tonight. Two weeks ago, he defeated Morrison\u2019s partner the Miz. Last week, he spoke with Kayla Braxton backstage about his current run. He talked about being an entertainer, tag partner, and a friend. He said that moving to singles matches lifts him up rather than being an anchor or a burden.<\/p>\n<p>Big E and Morrison aren\u2019t strangers. It was Miz &amp; Morrison that defeated New Day (Big E &amp; Kofi Kingston) at Super Showdown for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship. New Day won it back on an episode of Smackdown when Big E defeated Jey Uso of the Usos and Miz in a triple threat match where each team was represented by a single member.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: This is straight forward. I expect a Big E win. I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if there were some shenanigans, but everyone would be better served if they did a clean win and let Morrison push him to the limit. I like the Big E push, and don\u2019t mind he hasn\u2019t just had a total revamp of his character. He looks like he\u2019s having fun, as he always does. It\u2019s better that way.<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Other Match Results and Segments from Last Week<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Matt Riddle defeated Sheamus via DQ when Chad Gable attacked Riddle. This angered Sheamus who confronted King Corbin about sending out Gable to interfere in his match. Here\u2019s Matt in a WWE exclusive:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Matt Riddle satisfied with serving justice to King Corbin: SmackDown Exclusive, August 7, 2020\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/y69MT0iehfY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sonya Deville was a guest of Miz and John Morrison on the Dirt Sheet. She said she had no respect for her former friend Mandy Rose, whose hair she cut a week earlier.<\/li>\n<li>Co-holder of the Smackdown Tag Team Championship Cesaro defeated Lince Dorado of Lucha House Party. Here\u2019s Cesaro and his partner Shinsuke Nakamura in WWE exclusives where they blow off Kayla Braxton and speak of plans for a \u201cchampion\u2019s lounge\u201d:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Shinsuke Nakamura &amp; Cesaro blow off Kayla Braxton: SmackDown Exclusive, August 7, 2020\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9KTWsom3ez0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Nakamura &amp; Cesaro make plans for the \u201cChampion\u2019s Lounge\u201d: SmackDown Exclusive, August 7, 2020\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/R74R9POGi-0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Jeff Hardy defeated King Corbin via DQ when Sheamus attacked Hardy, with whom he recently had a long-term feud.<\/li>\n<li>Sheamus defeated King Corbin.<\/li>\n<li>Heavy Machinery (Otis &amp; Tucker) and Miz and John Morrison wrestled to a no-contest when Mandy Rose attacked Sonya Deville, who was in the corner of Miz and Morrison.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Final Thoughts<\/h4>\n<p>So much happened last week that, to me, was not productive. You could say the DQ finishes made sense, and they probably did, but wrestling has worked better when those type of finishes are done few and far between which helps them stand out. It makes the matches more important when real finishes are given and there are more worthwhile discussion points with that rather than DQs, interferences, distractions, etc. Also, get to the point with Retribution and tell us what this is about. I wish WWE would think more about the fan sitting down and watching for the first time, or the casual fan, and what would they think watching that episode. My guess if you don\u2019t know the real DNA of WWE is that it will produce more eye rolls and \u201cI ain\u2019t watching this\u201d thoughts instead of being compelled to see what happens next.<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Questions and discussion are welcome. Thank you for reading!<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-3549373817\"><div id=\"pwtor-3787249586\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER AUGUST 14, 2020 ORLANDO, FL. AT THE WWE PERFORMANCE CENTER AIRS ON FOX NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EST BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR Announcers: Michael Cole and Corey Graves Top <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2020\/08\/14\/wwe-friday-night-smackdown-primer-8-14-monster-with-fiendish-wishes-triple-branded-battle-royal-big-e-vs-morrison-alexa-wants-to-talk\/\" title=\"WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER 8\/14: Monster with Fiendish Wishes, Triple-Branded Battle Royal, Big E vs. Morrison, Alexa Wants to Talk\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":102669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,52,4403,27,5893,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prowrestlingnews","category-opnionandanalysis","category-smackdown-primer","category-specialists","category-tvprimers","category-news_wwe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2020\/08\/braunbray-1.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102663"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102671,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102663\/revisions\/102671"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}