{"id":99026,"date":"2021-08-22T11:00:11","date_gmt":"2021-08-22T15:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=99026"},"modified":"2021-08-22T10:02:44","modified_gmt":"2021-08-22T14:02:44","slug":"smackdown-ascends-at-summerslam-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/08\/22\/smackdown-ascends-at-summerslam-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"SmackDown Ascends at SummerSlam 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

August 21\u2019s <\/span>SummerSlam 2021<\/i><\/strong>\u00a0event at Las Vegas\u2019s Allegiant Stadium was largely everything <\/span>World Wrestling Entertainment <\/strong>hoped that it would be. It was a massively attended live event, with a hint of Hollywood in the proceedings thanks to celebrity guests <\/span>Tiffany Haddish and Mario Lopez<\/strong>, a<\/strong>chieving two of WWE\u2019s objectives. In the same week that rival <\/span>All Elite Wrestling <\/strong>debuted legendary former WWE performer <\/span><\/a>CM Punk, <\/b>WWE managed to keep their name in the game with the returns of <\/span>Becky Lynch <\/b>and <\/span>Brock Lesnar\u00a0<\/b>at SummerSlam 2021<\/em>, seemingly on the Friday Night SmackDown<\/strong> side of things.<\/p>\n

\"Roman<\/p>\n

The Look of SmackDown Following SummerSlam 2021<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Both Lynch\u2019s and Lesnar\u2019s returns have been highly speculated about for months heading into SummerSlam. When the moments finally came, both were pitted against opponents currently on the <\/span>SmackDown<\/span><\/i> roster.\u00a0 Lynch was the <\/span>Raw<\/strong> Women\u2019s Champion in 2020, and vacated the title at the start of her pregnancy and parental leave. The title was up for grabs in a surprise twist to the women\u2019s <\/span>Money in the Bank<\/i><\/strong> ladder match that year, and the championship went to winner <\/span>Asuka<\/b>. However, Lynch\u2019s return pitted her against SmackDown women\u2019s champ <\/span>Bianca Belair<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Lynch quickly dispatched of Belair\u2019s slated opponent, <\/span>Carmella<\/b>, who was substituting for the absent <\/span>Sasha Banks<\/b>. After a few moments of feeling out each other\u2019s and the crowd\u2019s energy, Lynch and Belair spontaneously agreed to lock up for the championship. In mere seconds, after a slam and a pin, Becky Lynch was SmackDown Women\u2019s Champion. The seeds of an intriguing rivalry between the much-feted Belair and the iconic Lynch have been planted, and Sasha Banks, who will surely make much of Lynch seizing the opportunity that was originally meant for her, will undoubtedly be in the mix, too. The torch of the women\u2019s evolution is being passed to Belair from two women who built the house, and apparently, this will all take place on SmackDown, not Raw where so much of Lynch\u2019s and Banks\u2019s legends were written.<\/span><\/p>\n

From One Return to Another<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The other shocking return of the night, Lesnar, also looks set for a program with a SmackDown opponent, <\/span>Roman Reigns<\/b>. The \u201cBeast\u201d has been notoriously cooling his heels on his Canadian farm while both the combat sports and sports entertainment worlds speculated about what the hottest free agent in both milieus was going to do next. Roman Reigns fought a hard war against a determined, and at times dominant, <\/span>John Cena<\/b>, then Lesnar waltzed in<\/a>. Once again, a Superstar last seen on Raw seems to be poised for a SmackDown run.<\/span><\/p>\n

Raw predates SmackDown by about six years, first airing in 1993. Unlike previous WWE television products, it was live rather than taped, which contributed considerably to the spontaneous and provocative excesses of the \u201cAttitude Era.” Even as WWE\u2019s tone shifted back to family entertainment, Raw remained the \u201cA\u201d show, where the top tier of WWE\u2019s popular performers were showcased, where new arrivals from the <\/span>NXT <\/strong>roster were promoted. During the 2020 “Pandemic Era,”<\/a> a shift in popularity occurred between the red and blue brands. Monday Night Raw experienced some of the lowest ratings in its history, and was critically panned for its repetitive match combinations, unironically corny dialogue,\u00a0 the never-ending, opaque saga of the demonically possessed <\/span>Alexa Bliss<\/b>, and the divisive return of Eva Marie <\/strong>while Raw was housed in the crowdless Amway Center ThunderDome.<\/span><\/p>\n