WWE SmackDown Fallout: Roman Reigns Dominates, Women Steal the Spotlight, More

WWE's final stop on the road to TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on Friday night featured continued dominance by the undisputed king of the SmackDown brand, Roman Reigns, and the spotlight shone directly on the brand's immensely talented women's divsion.

The Tribal Chief sent one last emphatic message to Kevin Owens ahead of their TLC match for the Universal Championship, while Sasha Banks and Carmella continued the build to their battle at the pay-per-view.

Dive deeper into those topics, as well as the SmackDown Tag Team Championship match that saw The Street Profits weather the storm of Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler, with this recap of Friday's broadcast.

Roman Reigns again stood tall to close out SmackDown on Friday night, burying Kevin Owens underneath tables, ladders and chairs as he further established himself as The Head of the Table on the blue brand.

It was an interesting development in that Reigns has dominated the feud for the most part. Anytime he and Owens have shared the ring, The Tribal Chief that has been the aggressor. Of course, he benefited from cousin Jey Uso's interference, leading to a big Samoan Drop through the table, but there was no denying Reigns got the best of KO on Friday.

Which raises the question: Does that suggest Owens will win the Universal Championship on Sunday night, staying true to WWE's 50-50 booking formula?

That would be a resounding "no."

Reigns is leaving TLC with his title reign intact, making the relatively one-sided nature of this feud that much more confusing. Other than Owens' outburst and beatdown of Uso, he has never once been portrayed as Reigns' equal or a Superstar even remotely likely to dethrone The Big Dog on pay-per-view.

The build has been excellent; the promo work even better. The intensity is there, the aggression, too, but it would have been nice to see Owens get one over on Reigns heading into the pay-per-view—if for no other reason than to suggest he has a little more than a snowball's chance in hell of winning.

Now the match will live and breathe off its ability to tell a story and get the audience to invest. If their previous work is any indication, that will not be a problem.

See their Royal Rumble 2017 match for proof positive.

The next time a Jacksonville-based wrestling company tells you it can't properly highlight its women's division because there's only so much time on a two-hour broadcast, refer it to Friday's episode of SmackDown.

Over the course of the two-hour show, Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan defeated Billie Kay and Tamina, Bayley knocked off Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks and Carmella wrote the latest chapter of their feud ahead of Sunday's SmackDown Women's Championship clash.

The company's A-show highlighted its women's division in three separate segments while still managing to properly build feuds and pay-per-view matches featuring its male talent.

It can be done if one wants to do it.

WWE, for all of its creative missteps and booking downfalls in 2020, has done right by its female talent, and Friday's show was no different.

On the blue brand, there are no fewer than three ongoing stories involving women, all of which serve a purpose. The writing team deserves recognition for making the women's revolution a reality and not some trendy buzzword.

Even if it has some explaining to do regarding Bayley beating Belair after weeks of losing to other women who needed the win a hell of a lot less than the EST.

Faced with the challenge of two veteran competitors looking to dethrone them as SmackDown tag team champions, The Street Profits did what they have done since winning their first main-roster tag titles back in February: found a way to win.

Only slightly more underhanded than usual.

Seconds after Robert Roode grabbed a handful of tights during a rollup, Montez Ford countered and grabbed a handful himself, leading to a sneaky victory that sent Roode and Dolph Ziggler into a passionate protest.

There is no doubt the finish was booked to set up a rematch. It is the only way the heels can justify continuing to chase the titles after they have been defeated. For the Street Profits, though, it was nice to see a bit of edge.

Ziggler and Roode openly criticized the champs for being funny, even claiming "funny doesn't make money." While that is debatable, it was a welcome change of pace to see Ford and Dawkins doing what was necessary to retain their titles, even if it meant cheating just as their opponents had tried to moments earlier.

It remains to be seen whether this was a one-off or the start of an edgier direction for The Street Profits.

While they do not need to abandon their humor or charisma, an added element of seriousness when appropriate will only further cement their status as the premier team in WWE.