bayley.jpg
WWE

While Raw one night earlier featured a stunning heel turn to close the show, SmackDown Live on Tuesday night saw a man going deeper down the heel rabbit hole. Though, it's hard to act as if Erick Rowan's actions to close this week's edition of SmackDown had the same impact as Bayley laying out Becky Lynch with a chair on Monday night.

Speaking of Bayley, the explanation of her actions was a high point of the past few weeks of SmackDown. Fans were also treated to some solid in-ring action over a two-hour show that wasn't too badly hurt by a final segment which carried the feeling of being the result of a random creative decision.

Let's take a look at what went down when SmackDown landed in Norfolk, Virginia, on Tuesday night.

Big fan of WWE? Subscribe to our podcast -- State of Combat with Brian Campbell -- where we go in depth on everything you need to know in WWE each week.

Bayley is just a loyal friend

One night after shocking fans with an apparent heel turn after helping Sasha Banks attack Lynch with a chair, Bayley attempted to explain away her actions not as devious, rather born of pure loyalty. The kind of loyalty fans should expect of a champion and the kind of loyalty parents should want their children to model their behavior after. "Think about the kids," Bayley said. "Ever since I started doing all of this, every time I step into this ring I'm trying to make you guys feel the way I felt when I was a kid. When I was a fan. Now I have the opportunity, I'm in this ring, I'm the hero and I'm the role model. I'm trying to show your kids what it means to be loyal. That's why I couldn't turn my back on Sasha after things got rough."

After calling out Clash of Champions challenger Charlotte Flair for being "selfish," the SmackDown women's champ was interrupted by "The Queen." Predictably, Banks' music hit during Flair's retort. Flair went on the offense, attacking Bayley before taking Banks down as she entered the ring. This was met by a callback to Raw with Bayley laying Flair out with a steel chair. The chair was then handed to Banks, who took her own shots before handing it back for one last whack by Bayley.

Heels who believe their actions are heroic can be one of the most effective tools on a promotion's roster. And Bayley, claiming to be a hero while carrying out the actions of a villain, has become a stronger character for the move. Banks and Bayley have proven to be plenty threatening, taking out Lynch and Flair on back-to-back nights. Strong character work all around, and dynamic-changing storytelling for the women's roster. Grade: A

Erick Rowan is on his own

In the main event segment, Daniel Bryan maintained his claim of having "nothing to do" with Rowan's attack on Roman Reigns. "What no one can say ... what no one can say about Daniel Bryan is that he is a liar," Bryan said. "I have never lied to any of you. I hate liars! Here's what I am demanding. I am demanding an apology from Roman Reigns, not just for accusing me of something I didn't do, not just for spearing me last week, but I need an apology from Roman Reigns because he is calling me a liar."

As Reigns came to the ring, he was blindsided by Rowan who threw him into the ring steps before powerbombing "The Big Dog" into the ring post. Once the two hit the ring, Rowan hit the Iron Claw slam. Rowan called Bryan, whom he had somewhat shockingly struck on the outside earlier, "worse than everyone else" for thinking he could control him. Rowan then dared Bryan to step in the ring and slap him as he had last week. Bryan attempted to stop Rowan from putting Reigns through the announce table by slapping the big man only to be claw slammed through it himself as the show went off the air with Rowan berating a fallen Reigns.

I'm not entirely sure this was ever the plan for this storyline. I mean, Rowan breaking away from Bryan and going into Clash of Champions as a solo act against Reigns? That feels like a match that lost a ton of steam from the point when this was moving toward a Reigns vs. Bryan program. Maybe we get there eventually, but this feels like an odd way to reach that destination. Grade: C-

What else happened on SmackDown?

  • King of the Ring tournament semifinal -- Elias def. Ali via pinfall following a Drift Away. This was one of Elias' better matches on the main roster. It had an old-school approach with Ali working the arm and Elias working the leg. This all led to a missed 450 splash by Ali and Elias taking over and picking up the victory.
  • Samoa Joe cut a backstage promo saying he was attending SmackDown to scout his potential opponents for the King of the Ring finals.
  • Fire & Desire def. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross via pinfall with a combination knee and leg sweep. A necessary result of challengers over champs in non-title action to move toward a women's tag title match at Clash of Champions.
  • Randy Orton cut an in-ring promo continuing to call Kofi Kingston weak and not on his level. After calling out Kingston, the WWE champ was brought the entryway while being attacked by The Revival. Kingston attempted to fight back multiple times but ended up laid out by a Revival-assisted "Super RKO" from Orton.
  • King of the Ring tournament semifinal -- Chad Gable def. Andrade via pinfall following a roll-up. Good action in a relatively short match. The crowd was surprisingly hot for this one. Gable appeared to have the match won but Zelina Vega distracted the referee. As it seemed Andrade was about to hit the Hammerlock DDT, Gable reversed into a slick pin for the win.
  • Aleister Black def. Shelton Benjamin via pinfall following Black Mass. Black cut a backstage promo earlier in the evening saying he was coming to the ring and invited anyone who was looking to pick a fight.
  • Shinsuke Nakamura def. Andrew Howard via pinfall after a Kinshasa. Just Sami Zayn and Nakamura using an enhancement talent to take jabs at The Miz ahead of the intercontinental title match at Clash of Champions.
  • The 24/7 title changed hands multiple times. Bo Dallas pinned Drake Maverick backstage to win the title. Maverick pinned Dallas in the ring after Shinsuke Nakamura's win, and then was pinned by R-Truth at the top of the stage for the final title change of the evening.